21/06/2025
Medicine Buddha Mandala: Meaning and Structure
The Medicine Buddha Mandala is a sacred diagram central to Tibetan Buddhist healing practices and visualization meditations. At its core, it represents the enlightened qualities and healing power of the Medicine Buddha, also known as Bhaishajyaguru, who is venerated as the master of medicine and the "doctor of souls and bodies".
Levels of the Mandala Practice
The Medicine Buddha Mandala is traditionally understood on three levels:
External Level: This involves acts of devotion to the Medicine Buddha, such as making offerings and engaging in rituals related to healing and medicine.
Internal Level: Here, practitioners engage in ta***ic visualization, identifying themselves with the Medicine Buddha and their environment with the pure land of healing energies.
Absolute Level: The ultimate aim is to realize the true nature of the self, embodying the qualities of the Medicine Buddha—continuous manifestation of healing power and realization of the Trikaya (the Buddha’s body, speech, and mind).
Visual Structure and Iconography
The Medicine Buddha is depicted at the center of the mandala, seated on a lotus throne, often inside a palace that symbolizes his pure land (Sudarshana).
He is typically shown with a deep lapis lazuli blue body, wearing monastic robes, and displaying two key attributes:
Right hand: Resting on the knee, holding the stem or fruit of the myrobalan (arura) plant, symbolizing healing.
Left hand: In the meditation mudra, holding a bowl of medicinal nectar or herbs.
The mandala’s surroundings often include gardens of medicinal plants, minerals, and other substances used in Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine, as well as depictions of other Buddhist and Hindu deities, rishis, and lineage masters.
