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Healing Meditation
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meditation mantraprayer wheels prayer flags stupasherbal medicine incensedistant healing dying creditsTibetan Pages DirectoryTibetan
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Buddhism is very practical. All of the Dharma is based on Buddha's discovery that suffering is unnecessary: Like a disease, once we really face the fact that suffering exists, we can look more deeply and discover it's cause; and when we discover that the cause is dependent on certain conditions, we can explore the possibility of removing those conditions. Buddha taught many methods for doing that, and the Tibetans have preserved and refined many of them over the centuries. The spiritual and psychological entanglements that lead to suffering also can result in illness of all sorts. Many Tibetan Buddhist methods and tools for awakening, for removing those entanglements, also promote relaxation and healing. In traditional Tibetan culture, practicing meditation and using prayer wheels, incense, prayer flags and other methods all work together with Tibetan herbal medicine in healing illness and maintaining health. You can use this page as a way of learning more about Tibetan culture, or you can actually try out some of the techniques to see if they might be useful in improving your own health. These methods of spiritual healing require no training in Buddhist theory and little practical instruction, and the equipment required is inexpensive and available by mail. Meditation is especially simple -- you probably have the necessary equipment already: A human body, awareness, some emotional energies, and an environment are about all you need. You do need a little basic instruction to get started, with any of these methods, and this page will lead you to resources for acquiring the tools and learning to use them. The real learning, though, and the benefits, come from practicing. The more you practice, the more you learn. It's very simple.
There's one book I'd like to
mention, because it presents a fairly balanced overview of the various
healing traditions of Tibet:
Tibetan Healing: The Modern Legacy of Medicine Buddha Peter Fenton  Full of stories and interviews,
illustrated with photos,
charts, and drawings, it offers a glimpse
of all the many facets of healing that were integrated in traditional
Tibetan
culture. Exploring physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of
healing, Fenton includes topics like healing sounds and symbols, and
shamanic healing
and divination, which are rarely addressed in books on Tibetan medicine.top of page |
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The meditations included are the basic
mindfulness/awareness
practice (sitting practice), tonglen, and Chenrezig, Green Tara, and
Medicine
Buddha visualization practices.
For some of us, especially those who have problems related to stress and alienation, finding a meditation practice that is easy for Western people to connect to in a genuine and whole hearted way may be the best approach, even if it is not traditionally considered to be a meditation especially connected with health and healing. Two approaches come to mind that have inspired very many students; both of them were created especially for Western people by respected lamas. To learn more about them, take a look at these pages:
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Tibetan
Medicine Resources
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The
Prayer Wheel  Rolls
of thin paper, imprinted with many, many copies of the mantra (prayer) Om
Mani Padme Hum, printed in an ancient
Indian script
or in Tibetan script, are wound around an axle in a protective
container,
and spun around and around.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying this mantra, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerfully benign attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Spinning the written form of the mantra around in a prayer wheel is said to have the same effect, and including many copies of the mantra multiplies the benefit. The
Benefits of Prayer WheelsA short teaching by Lama Zopa, Rinpoche: "Just touching and turning a prayer wheel brings incredible purification and accumulates unbelievable merit." "One idea I have is to use them for healing. Anyone with a disease such as AIDS or cancer, whether or not they have any understanding of Dharma, can use the prayer wheel for meditation and healing." The
Meaning of the Mantra explanations of the prayer (mantra) Om Mani Padme Hung
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 Tibetans
have an age-old tradition of printing prayers from hand-carved wood
blocks
onto colored squares of cotton. These flags are then strung together
and
hung at mountain passes, over homes and temples, or anywhere the wind
will
blow their prayers to the universe, to appease the local spirit powers
and grant the wishes of the person who hung the flags. (The most
fervent
wish of nearly all Tibetans is that every being of any sort, in
whatever
realms of existence they  may reside, should be happy and free from
suffering,
and that the individual making the wish should have the
good fortune to
be allowed to assist in the liberation of all beings, without
exception.)
It is said that hanging prayer flags is certain to yield greater peace,
happiness, and health for oneself, for ones loved ones and neighbors,
for
strangers in the area, and even for ones enemies. "Due to the compassionate intention of those who create and those who hang the flags, and the movement of the wind itself, the blessings of the prayers are carried throughout all realms, pervading the minds of beings with peace and well-being." Prayer
Flags and Auspicious Days Ordering Prayer Flags 
Chagdud
Gonpa Foundation Many more sources -- search for "prayer flags" Books Tibetan Prayer Flags: Send Your Blessings on the Breeze by Diane Barker, Blessings on the Wind top of page |
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This is Om Mani
Padme Hum,
the famous mantra of Chenrezig, written in Tibetan script. It is said
that
all the teachings of the Buddha are contained in this mantra. Tibetan
Buddhists
believe that saying the mantra (prayer), out loud or silently to
oneself,
invokes his powerful benevolent attention. Viewing the written form of
the mantra is said to have the same effect, and it is often carved into
stones, placed where people can see them.
The
Meaning of the MantraExplanations of the prayer (mantra) Om Mani Padme Hung Mani
Graphics: Symbols
of Awakening Images of the mantra  Human Voice Mantras by Peter Fenton"Mantras
are also among the most
ancient healing techniques. One very important use of mantra for
healers is in
invoking the Medicine Buddha to bless medicines or produce other
healing
effects. Mantras are also dedicated to healing specific illnesses or to
bring
about specific results such as long life, clearing obstacles from one's
life
path, spiritually purifying food and offerings, and so on."
Recordings Four Gates Tibetan Chants and Music Try searching amazon.com or
another online source of music for
"Tibetan chants". top of page |
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Healing incense can be
ordered on
line. Search for
"tibetan healing incense" These incenses are also available from Tibetan handicrafts stores. The following three brands of medicinal incense all have essentially the same formula. They are effective for symptomatic relief from stress, depression and tension, headache, and asthma, and are totally natural, safe, non-toxic and non-habit-forming. Used by many people who have allergic reactions to ordinary incense. TARA HEALING INCENSE: Tara healing incense has been
used for
centuries. It is prepared according to the Tibetan medical system with
over 30 different herbs.  AGAR 31 HERBAL INCENSE: Contains
all the
thirty-one herbal & mineral ingredients essential for reducing
stress
created by the different "wind" disorders. Basically the same formula
as
Tara incense, but better quality.  NIRVANA BRAND: aroma-therapeutic incense. Prepared by T.J. Tsarong and Himalayan Herbal Co. of Gangtok, Sikkim..  top of page |
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by Carol S. Hyman
Excessive fear of death distorts (and shortens) lives, and seems to be responsible for many of the more bizarre and inhumane excesses of our American medical system. In our search for sustainable, effective, respectful health care practices, ideas that could contribute to a sane and compassionate integrated health care system, we've found nothing as simple, basic, workable and cost effective as coming to terms with death and the process of dying -- something we can do as individuals, as families, as communities and as a culture. top of page |
Originally a mound that housed the Buddha's
relics, the stupa became an important artistic and architectural form
throughout
the Buddhist world. In Tibet, traditionally, when a great meditation
master
died a Stupa would be built to enshrine the teacher's remains and
act as a focal point for his students and others in the absence of the
teacher. Information about Stupas, Stupas Under
Construction, How
to build a stupa, Centers with Stupas, and more. Introduction ... Stupas under construction ... How to Build a Stupa ...
Centres with stupas ... Information/symbolism Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, a meditation master who helped to bring the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, died in 1987. His students and admirers built a stupa 108 feet tall. Made of specially designed reinforced concrete, The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, That Liberates on Seeing, is intended to last a thousand years. Today, the stupa open to the public at
Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado. The Web
site tells the story of how modern technology and ancient wisdom have
come together
to build this Stupa, who is building it...and why. top of page |
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 Dream Flag Your Comments and Suggestions Revised on June 22, 2005 Copyright © 2002, 2005 Dharma Haven top of page |
Spinning
the written form of the mantra around in a Mani
wheel (prayer wheel) is also believed to give the same benefit as
saying
the mantra, and Mani
wheels, small hand wheels and large wheels with millions of copies of
the
mantra inside, are found everywhere in the lands influenced by Tibetan
Buddhism. Here's a page about Mani
wheels: 
