Invoking the Master of Remedies at Blue Beryl Dharma Center

Participants of the Tibetan Healing Circle drink water from a Bhumpa (vase) which contains Tibetan herbal medicine pellets. The pellets were blessed personally by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and are a type of vibrational medicine revered by practitioners for their powers of spiritual protection and healing.

A diverse group of people filter into the Dogtown storefront. From the dark city street, they enter a bright, warm room. They find the space very inviting, lightly scented with saffron and sandalwood and filled with colorful images everywhere they look. A man dressed in maroon and yellow robes stands in front of an elaborate altar, filling bowls with water, adding a few flowers, adjusting the position of a statue. He steps back to look at it as an artist would review his latest painting.

The group has been coming together for more than two years. They may be meditators, Buddhists, or spiritual seekers. They may be therapists, healers, or bodyworkers. They may be struggling with their own illnesses or chronic pain, but they all have one thing in common: they believe that there is a spiritual force that facilitates healing, and that this humble Tibetan Lama might lead them to it. That healing force is the Medicine Buddha, and the Tibetan Healing Circle invokes the healing powers of Medicine Buddha Meditation every month at Blue Beryl Dharma Center in St. Louis.

Lama Lobsang Palden is the teacher who leads these evenings of healing meditation. "The eight Medicine Buddhas of the four directions give healing medicine," Lama Lobsang says. "If you do Medicine Buddha meditation while taking any kind of medicine, Medicine Buddha will bless the medicine and amplify its healing power. Medicine Buddha purifies sickness, purifies karma, and brings peace."

Lama Lobsang is a joyful and friendly being who emanates the light of devoted spiritual practice. He has studied Tibetan Buddhism nearly his whole life, beginning in his homeland of Tibet, where he entered a monastery as a boy at Amdo, his hometown. When he was about 13 years old, he was recognized by local lamas as a tulku, or reincarnation of a high lama. He then began intensive training in Buddhist philosophy and meditation. At age 18 he escaped Chinese-occupied Tibet, making an arduous three-month journey across the Himalayas into India. There he fulfilled his dream of meeting his master, His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Lama Lobsang lived in monasteries in India for over a decade, and he traveled the world extensively before settling in St. Louis in 1999. In May of 2003, Lama Lobsang and his students opened the first Tibetan Buddhist Dharma Center in St. Louis.

Blue Beryl Dharma Center a non-profit center for Tibetan Buddhist practice, has two main purposes: to preserve and perpetuate Tibetan Buddhist Dharma and culture by providing a center for the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism; and to promote health by offering traditional Tibetan holistic healing practices such as Yantra Yoga, Tibetan Healing Massage and Medicine Buddha Meditation. The name "Blue Beryl" is related to the traditional healing work practiced at the Center. It refers to the earliest illustrated treatise on Tibetan Medicine, The Blue Beryl treatise, which was created during the 17th century by Sangye Gyamtso. Sangye Gyamtso's original paintings from the Blue Beryl treatise hung on the walls of Tibet's earliest medical institute, Chagpoori Medical College.

Traditional Tibetan medicine is not only commited to healing the body of illness and disease, but is also a path in which body, mind and spirit can be liberated from suffering. Medicine Buddha is also known as the "Master of Remedies." Dr. Yeshi Donden, former personal physician to the 14th Dalai Lama, has said, "As Buddha represents the awakened intelligence of all beings, he is considered the primordial source of all branches of healing."

For Tibetan physicians and healers, the Buddhist ideals of wisdom and compassion aid in attending to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients. Tibetan doctors visualize themselves in the form of the Medicine Buddha and recite texts invoking his presence, such as:  "As all sentient beings, infinite as space, are encompassed by the compassion of the Master of Remedies, may I too become their guide. May I quickly attain the healing powers of the Medicine Buddha, and lead all beings into his enlightened realm."

Participants of the Tibetan Healing Circle at Blue Beryl Dharma Center practice mantras, mudras and meditations which purify karma and provide spiritual protection. Traditional pujas (meditation rituals) are performed for the elimination of illness, pain and negativity. Using Tibetan mantra and meditation, the Healing Circle asks the Medicine Buddha for healing assistance. On some evenings, Lama Lobsang teaches energy work for healing the subtle and physical bodies, including chakra and crystal healing, which he demonstrates on the members of the Healing Circle. The students practice these healing techniques on one another.