Who is the Medicine Buddha and what is his role in Tibetan healing tradition?
The Medicine Buddha, called Sangye Menla in Tibetan, is one of the most significant deities of Tibetan Buddhism. He is not simply a Buddha of physical healing. He embodies healing in its widest sense: freedom from all forms of suffering, physical, mental and spiritual. Whoever calls on the Medicine Buddha is not asking only for health. They are asking for the root of health, freedom from ignorance and attachment.
The depiction of the Medicine Buddha is clear and unmistakable. His skin is deep blue, the colour of lapis lazuli, a stone used in Tibetan healing tradition for centuries. In his left hand he holds an alms bowl filled with medicinal herbs, among them myrobalan, one of the most important healing plants of Tibetan medicine. His right hand is open in the gesture of giving and likewise holds a sprig of myrobalan. This gesture symbolises a readiness to offer healing without conditions.
In the Tibetan tradition the Medicine Buddha has a practice of his own, the Menla practice. It comprises mantras, visualisations and prayers that can be practised alone or in a group. Hospitals and clinics in Tibet and Nepal often have a Medicine Buddha statue in the entrance area, as a sign of the intention to heal and of the compassion that should carry any medical practice.
A Medicine Buddha statue is particularly suited to people who themselves have to do with illness or healing, whether as patients or as carers. It is also a meaningful gift for people in difficult health situations. At tibet-markets.ch we carry Medicine Buddha statues in various sizes and finishes, all handmade, iconographically correct and carefully chosen.
