Medicine Buddha Puja on Lhabab Duchen
Geshe Thubten Sherab
November 22, 2024
Medicine Buddha Puja: Ultimate Healing
Please join us for a precious Medicine Buddha Puja on Lhabab Duchen!
We are so fortunate that Geshe Thubten Sherab has graciously agreed to lead us in person, in the Gompa, and on Zoom.
Friday, November 22nd at 8:00 AM-9:00AM (PT)
Lhabab Duchen, one of the four great holy days of the Buddhist calendar, takes place this year on November 22.
Lhabab Duchen celebrates Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s return to Earth from the God Realm of the Thirty-Three after teaching Dharma for several months to the gods, including his mother, Mayadevi, who had died a week after Buddha’s birth and been reborn there. As a merit multiplying day, the karmic results of actions done on this day are multiplied 100 million times. This amazing result is taught in the Vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
The Medicine Buddha puja purifies and heals on all levels: physical, mental, spiritual, and environmental. Medicine Buddha is the manifestation of the healing energy of all enlightened beings. Prayers to Medicine Buddha are especially powerful because of the extensive prayers they made to benefit us sentient beings. It is considered particularly powerful for people who are sick or have recently died and for bringing both temporal success and the ultimate success of enlightenment.
Because this is a practice belonging to Action Tantra, it is best to refrain from eating black foods (including meat, eggs, onion, garlic, and radishes) on the day of the puja. It is also best to avoid these foods in offerings.
Practices for Merit Multiplying Days
Specific practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for these special days include:
- Taking the eight Mahayana precepts: students can receive the lineage of these precepts from a specially produced video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche granting them, which was edited from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation video series, recorded in May 2020 at Kopan Monastery.
- Reciting the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels
“It is very important that the elaborate Medicine Buddha puja be done regularly in order to benefit all. Medicine Buddha puja is also something that can be done for people who are dying, or who have already passed away, and also for individual success in all kinds of activities. This Medicine Buddha practice is extremely powerful and beneficial especially when it is done with extensive offerings beautifully arranged.”
— Lama Zopa Rinpoche
We hope you can join us! All are welcome.
Registration
Registration is required and you will receive your online access information immediately upon registering.
The text for this puja is The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel composed by Panchen Losang Chokyi Gyaltsen, available from FPMT.
Prayer Requests– If you would like to request a dedication for yourself or someone else, please make a prayer request here.
Puja Sponsorship– You will have the opportunity to sponsor the puja by making a donation in the “Puja Sponsorship” section during registration.
What is a Puja?
Pujas are traditional ceremonies in Tibetan Buddhism that involve prayers, offerings, and rituals. Their primary purpose is to create merit, purify negative karma, and invoke blessings for the well-being of individuals or communities. Pujas are often directed toward overcoming obstacles, promoting harmony, achieving success in spiritual and worldly activities, and generating positive energy for healing or protection.
Pujas typically include reciting prayers, chanting mantras, making offerings (such as food, incense, or flowers), and meditating on the presence of enlightened beings. These rituals help practitioners connect with the enlightened qualities of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, thereby invoking their blessings for guidance, protection, and spiritual support.
The FPMT emphasizes the importance of performing pujas with a sincere and altruistic motivation, aiming for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Some common pujas performed within the FPMT include:
- Medicine Buddha Puja (for healing and health)
- Tara Puja (for protection and removing obstacles)
- Lama Chöpa (offering to spiritual teachers)
- Protector Pujas (for clearing hindrances and negative energies)
Teacher
Geshe Sherab was born in Manang, Nepal in 1967 as the second of five sons. He attended Kopan monastery at the age of 9 around 1976 and was ordained by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. After 10 years of study in Kopan, he went to Sera Je Monastery for further studies in 1987, and graduated as a Geshe at the end of 1999. After that, he joined Gyumé Tantric College for a year and went on to teach young monks at Kopan for a year. In 2001 he was sent by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to New Mexico–to serve and help at…
Learn more about Geshe Thubten Sherab