The Medicine Buddha is a healing Buddha from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition he is surrounded by various herbs and medicine, with halos of healing energy radiating from his head and body. As the Medicine Buddha’s vow was to help heal all the sick and the injured, he is often called upon to help eliminate sickness. Usually portrayed seated with a jar of medicine in his left hand, often blue-colored, the Medicine Buddha’s right hand is resting on his knee in the mudra of blessings, with a stem of a healing plant in between his thumb and forefinger.Sometimes the Medicine Buddha is also called the Blue Buddha, or the Lapis Lazuli Light Buddha. The Medicine Buddha is a profound practice for healing physical,

Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) is a well-known Tibetan religious philosopher. In his iconic form, wearing a tall yellow hat, he is the center of the Gelugpa (Tib. dge lugs pa) sect that was dominant in Tibet until the Chinese takeover in 1951, and whose de facto leader is the Dalai Lama. The historical Tsongkhapa flourished in the period immediately following the final redaction of the Buddhist canon in Tibetan translation (Tib. bKa’ ‘gyur, pronounced Kanjur). He propounds a distinctive Middle Way (Sk. madhyamaka, Tib. dbu ma pa) philosophy by differentiating between Candrakīrti’s (fl. ca. 600) correct Consequentialist (Tib. thal ‘gyur pa, Sk. *prāsaṅgika) interpretation of the works of the Indian philosopher Nāgārjuna (third-fourth century), and an incorrect Autonomist (Tib. rang rgyud pa, Sk. *svātantrika) interpretation by Bhāviveka (also known

Overview Buddhism was introduced into Tibet from India and China beginning in the 600s. Over the succeeding centuries, Buddhism became the dominant cultural form in Tibet, exerting a powerful influence not only over religion, but also over politics, the arts, and other aspects of society. Tibetan Buddhism eventually spread into Mongolia and Nepal, as well as into China, where it received imperial patronage especially during the Yuan (1260–1368) and Qing (1368–1644) dynasties. Tibetan Buddhism inherited many of the traditions of late Indian Buddhism, including a strong emphasis on monasticism (Tibet was once home to the largest Buddhist monasteries in the world), a sophisticated scholastic philosophy, and elaborate forms of tantric practice. At the same time Tibet continued its tradition of

Tibetan Buddhism is a religion in exile, forced from its homeland when Tibet was conquered by the Chinese. At one time it was thought that 1 in 6 Tibetan men were Buddhist monks.Norbulingka Palace © The best known face of Tibetan Buddhism is the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since he fled Chinese occupation of his country in 1959. Tibetan Buddhism combines the essential teachings of Mahayana Buddhism with Tantric and Shamanic, and material from an ancient Tibetan religion called Bon. Although Tibetan Buddhism is often thought to be identical with Vajrayana Buddhism, they are not identical – Vajrayana is taught in Tibetan Buddhism together with the other vehicles. History Buddhism became a major presence in Tibet towards the end