Spiritual Healing

in Buddhist Tibet
Tools for Healing,
Relaxing and Awakening
Buddha of Compassion

introduction meditation
mantra
prayer wheels
prayer flags
stupas
herbal medicine
incense
distant healing
dying
credits
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Introduction
Before the communist takeover, Tibet was a Buddhist country, and
Tibetan Buddhist culture still survives somewhat in some of the
neighboring countries like Bhutan and Nepal, and in refugee
communities in India and in the West.
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.
"Just do it!"
-- Chgyam Trungpa, Rinpoche

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.
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Meditation Practice
Buddhism offers many different types of meditation to help
individuals move toward the goal of awakening, and some of them are
are considered especially useful for people interested in promoting
healing for themselves or for others. We've developed a set of pages
devoted to healing practices that are suitable for beginners:
Tibetan Healing Meditation
The meditations included are the basic mindfulness/awareness
practice (sitting practice), tonglen, and Chenrezig, Green Tara, and
Medicine Buddha visualization practices.
Medicine Buddha Resources
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:
The Ancient Wisdom of Shambhala

Karmapa's Gift: Meditations for Western Students

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Tibetan Medicine
Tibetan Medicine Resources
Tibetan Medical Clinics and Pharmacies

This page includes a section on herbal

Self-Help Preparations

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Prayer Wheels

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:
The Prayer Wheel: Spiritual Technology from Tibet
If you go look at it, lots of copies of the mantra will be spinning
around on the hard drive of your computer while you read it.

The Prayer Wheel

Tibetan prayer wheel is a device for spreading spiritual blessings

and well being. 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 Wheels

A 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

Digital Prayer Wheels

Turn your hard drive into a prayer wheel
Prayer wheels generated by Javascript
Prayer wheels as animated GIF images
Download a prayer-wheel screen saver

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Prayer Flags
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.

The Power of Windhorse

by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche

"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

Dharmashop.com
Radiant Heart Prayer Flags
Snow Lion

Many more sources -- search for "prayer flags"

Books
Tibetan Prayer Flags: Send Your Blessings on the Breeze
by Diane Barker,
Blessings on the Wind
by Tad Wise
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Mantra
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.
Tibetan Healing Meditation
Includes mantras and visualization practices for

Chenrezig, Green Tara, and Medicine Buddha

The Meaning of the Mantra

Explanations 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

Songs Of Awakening/Roads Of Blessings

Mantras sung by Tibetan Monk Lama Gyurme, combined with music
played by French keyboard wizard Jean-Philippe Rykiel.

Try searching amazon.com or another online source of music for

"Tibetan chants".
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Healing Incense
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..

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Distant Healing
Many Tibetan lamas of all traditions will perform special spiritual
practices (pujas) for the benefit of individuals who are ill or recently
deceased. A donation is appropriate to cover the cost of the materials
(incense, etc.) used in the practice. Additional funds to support the

work of the lamas are always welcome; Tibetans believe that such
gifts add to the effectiveness of the blessing ceremony.
Tibetan Buddhist Centers
Healing Buddha Foundation is a very good example of this type of
practice. On their Web site they have a page devoted to offering
"special pujas and distant healing for Buddhists and non-Buddhists
alike who are experiencing all types of difficulties - physical,
emotional, mental, or spiritual." Special Pujas and Distant Healing
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Death and Dying

Living and Dying: A Buddhist Perspective
by Carol S. Hyman
"If we learn to let go into uncertainty, to trust
that our basic nature and that of the world are
not different, then the fact that things are not
solid and fixed becomes, rather than a threat, a
liberating opportunity. Then we are free to savor
what life offers, to taste the texture of each
moment fully, whether the moment is one of
sadness or joy."

Dying Without Shame; Dying Without Panic

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.

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Stupas ( Chten )
"Because a stupa is built in the open air many beings, human
and non-human, will go around it and thus many will benefit."
Turning the Wheel of the Dharma: The Immeasurable Benefits
of Stupas: A teaching given by the Venerable Thupten, Rinpoche
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.
The Stupa Information Page
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

Building a Stupa

The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya

Chgyam 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.

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Credits
The image of Four-Armed Chenrezig seen on this page came from a
Web site titled "Dharma Center" in Finland which, unfortunately, is
no longer available on the Web. However, the Web site clearly
expressed the intention that the images could be freely used for any
respectful purpose.
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Revised on June 22, 2005
Copyright 2002, 2005 Dharma Haven
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