Medicine Buddha Ceremony

Schedule for the day:

09:30 Recite the Medicine Sutra 10:50 Grand Meal Offering before the Buddhas

11:05 Blessing Ceremony and Memorial Service

12:20 Vegeterian Lunch for the Public

阿彌陀佛！

普法禪寺2023 年六月二十五日舉辦的藥師法會中，您可以為自己及家人朋友，乃至法界ㄧ切眾生立上消災，超薦牌位，把法會的殊勝功德回向給他們。歡迎您把握因緣，儘早登記。請使用以下兩個Google Form來登記 (消災牌位，超薦牌位分開填寫)。此次法會牌位登記的截止日期為 6/19(週ㄧ)。

消災祈福牌位連結

https://forms.gle/kDbgJo71qkzTQhJn9

超薦牌位連結

https://forms.gle/GPjy6bSNsML5yTHJ6

Amituofo!

At the Medicine Buddha Ceremony on June 25 (Sun), you will have the opportunity to set up blessing and/or memorial tablets for yourself, friends, family, and even all sentient beings. We will sincerely dedicate the merits of the chanting and practice in the ceremony to them. Please use the two Google Forms (links below) to enter information for the tablets you wish to set up. The registration deadline for the tablets will be 6/19 (Mon).

Blessing Tablets registration

https://forms.gle/kDbgJo71qkzTQhJn9

Memorial Tablets registration

https://forms.gle/GPjy6bSNsML5yTHJ6

There are many practices leading to enlightenment, each suiting people with different needs and dispositions. The Medicine Buddha Ceremony is particularly effective for those seeking relief from ailments of body and mind. In the ceremony, participants gather in a buddha hall specifically adorned for the occasion, and chant The Sutra on the Original Vows and Merits of the Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata. According to the sutra, chanting with single-minded concentration and utmost sincerity brings the following benefits:

First, those who suffer from physical ailments, or are poor and deprived, or who often encounter misfortunes will find relief from suffering, gain material abundance, and increase their blessings. Second, those who have broken the precepts, the rules of conduct set by the Buddha, can alleviate the karma resulting from their transgressions.

When the Medicine Buddha was practicing the Bodhisattva Way, he vowed to help the sick and poor reach enlightenment. He made twelve great vows specifying how he would abate their suffering with expedient means before setting them on the path to buddhahood. Attending the Medicine Buddha Ceremony is an expedient means to increase our blessings and bring relief to bodily illnesses. These, however, are only temporary blessings. To realize the true benefits of the ceremony, we must cultivate the mind to be “undefiled, free of anger, malice and discrimination, and give rise to the wish to bring benefits, peace, and happiness to all sentient beings with kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.”

The verse above is how the Medicine Buddha Sutra describes the buddha mind. With the wisdom of emptiness, it no longer attaches to any phenomena; with the compassion and vows to relieve the suffering of others, it is free from anger and malice. When we chant, practice, and live every moment of our lives in abidance with the buddha mind, we will surely attain enlightenment.