Medicine Buddha Retreat
by Venerable Thubten Chodron©
Sravasti Abbey, Newport, Washington, USA
Part 1: 2 November - 2 December 2007

The 2007-08 winter retreat on the Medicine Buddha practice, together with Lamrim meditation, will be held in two segments. Teachings from the first segment, from 2 November to 2 December, are below.

Teachings from the second segment, 6 January to 9 March 2008, are available here.

3 November

Explanation of the Medicine Buddha Sadhana
Venerable Chodron explains the practice and visualization. She talks about how to incorporate the lamrim meditations into the practice.
• [59 minutes] : Download mp3 file
• Download transcript in Word format
      (PC: Right-click | Mac: Option-click)

Prostration to the 35 Buddhas
Venerable Chodron explains the purification practice of prostrations to the 35 Buddhas.
• [24 minutes] : Download mp3 file

4 November

Medicine Buddha Retreat Motivation
Venerable Chodron talks about the motivation for doing the retreat and practice. She talks about having the opportunity and being fortunate to do retreat to cultivate our good qualities. She also talks about watching the mind and bringing problems into the meditation.
• [21 minutes] : Download mp3 file
• Download transcript in Word format
      (PC: Right-click | Mac: Option-click)

13 November

Q&A
• The more I do purification the more negative things come up. Is this normal?
• Is part of karma some external force that acts on us to act positively or negatively?
• What is the thing that connects the action to the result in karma? How does the intangible karmic seed become the tangible result?
• Are we trying to drop our preconceptions and the story line when we do the meditation?
• Why can I sometimes make a connection with the Medicine Buddha visualization and sometimes I don't? Sometimes I may as well be visualizing a cartoon character.
• Is there a way to focus on the qualities of the Medicine Buddha without the visualization?
[64 minutes] : Download mp3 file
• Download transcript in Word format
      (PC: Right-click | Mac: Option-click)

27 November

Q+A
• Where does the mind stream reside?
• Why do we get a buzz out of being angry?
• Discussion on the causes of anger
• Where is the obscuration in the mind?
• Is there a vibe or energy to the Medicine Buddha's qualities?
• Do the Buddhas have karma?
• What are the twelve links?
[50 minutes] : Download mp3 file
note: recording is incomplete
• Download transcript in Word format
      (PC: Right-click | Mac: Option-click)