Healing Guru Rinpoche – Ogyen Menlha
Healing Guru Rinpoche (Main figure)
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(Top to bottom): Healing Guru Rinpoche and Dorje Shugden.
Deity: Healing Guru Rinpoche (English)
Alternative names: Guru Padmasambhava Bhaisajyaguru (Sanskrit); Ogyen Menlha (Tibetan)
Guru Rinpoche, also known as Guru Padmasambhava, is highly revered within all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and there are three well-known stories regarding his birth. The first recounts his birth from a lotus in the Dhanakosha Lake in the country of Oddiyana and is why he has the epithet “Lotus-Born”. The second tells of his birth in North India as the son of a king, while the third suggests he was from South India and the brother-in-law of Santarakshita, abbot of the famed Nalanda Monastery.
It was in the 8th Century that Santarakshita travelled to Tibet to establish the first monastic institution there under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen, who is considered the second of Tibet’s three great Dharma kings. However, Santarakshita faced many supernatural obstacles to the founding of the monastery due to the interferences of local mountain gods and spirits scared of losing their disciples to the Buddhist faith. Santarakshita invited Guru Rinpoche to Tibet to subdue the obstructive beings who opposed the spread of Buddha’s teachings.
Guru Rinpoche waged supernatural war against these deities and won due to his high spiritual attainments. Instead of vanquishing these obstructive beings, he chose to follow the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and bound them to oath never to harm sentient beings again. They promised to protect and provide for practitioners on the Buddhist path. One such being was Nechung, also known as Pehar Gyalpo. Once a powerful spirit from Persia, he came to reside in Tibet and after battling with Guru Rinpoche, he was subdued. Nechung also promised to aid the “Holder of the White Lotus”, meaning an emanation of Chenrezig. When the powerful line of Dalai Lamas arose, Nechung came to their aid for temporal matters, as the Dalai Lamas are considered emanations of Chenrezig. Since that time, Nechung has come to be regarded as one of the State Dharma Protectors of Tibet.
Orgyen Menlha or Healing Guru Rinpoche is a special manifestation of Guru Rinpoche in which he appears in the aspect of Medicine Buddha. In the Dudjom Tersar lineage, Orgyen Menlha represents the outer form of the Lama, and the practice is delineated in the text called Orgyen Menlha Dutsi Bum Zang. Those who engage in his practice are able to receive inner and outer healing of one’s body, speech and mind. Inner healing is the pacification of one’s psychic poisons of ignorance, hatred and desire, the source of all our negative karma and obscurations. In addition, Ogyen Menlha purifies negative karma of the body, which is the cause for us to suffer physical illnesses and diseases.
Deity: Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden is the emanation of the bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjushri and he has taken the form of a Dharma Protector in order to safeguard Buddha’s teachings, especially the special teachings on the Middle Way view. Reminiscent of Manjushri’s form, Dorje Shugden carries a meandering sword and rides a snowlion that represents the fearlessness of a fully enlightened Buddha. Thus, he has great strength to overcome obstacles of the body, speech and mind and to create suitable conditions for our spiritual practice to flourish.
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Well done to the artist concerned. Beautiful art paintings of healing Guru Rinpoche an Indian tantric master and Dorje Shugden. Guru Rinpoche is more commonly known as Padmasambhava, the second Buddha a totally enlightened being. Guru Rinpoche is widely credited with bringing Buddhism to the Tibetan lands. Amazing he is capable of seeing through time to predict troubled times in the future.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.