"Medicine Buddha" Stone Basket

Tayata, Om Bekadze Bekadze

Maha Bekadze Bekadze,

Radza Samungate

Soha

May the many sentient beings who are sick, 

quickly be freed from sickness. 

And may all the sicknesses of beings 

Never arise again.

INSPIRATION

For the past 2 years I have participated in a show called "Think Square" where every piece in the show must be five inches by five inches.  The show was started by local printmaking professor Andrea Knarr who I met while taking a framing class.  As you all may know I don't normally print small.  So this year I wanted to come up with a print that I would find interesting and be a challenge.

My original idea was to print a gold buddha on a dark stone.  I have plenty of dark stones in my yard around my mill stone fountain, but they are all a little wide and I wasn't sure if they would fit into the frame.  I chose one that I thought might work but decided I should also take a trip down to the river to collect a few more stones that would fit into the frame.

I had a truly lovely morning looking for stones.  The river water was higher than normal so the bigger rocks I was interested in were covered by water.  I had to take my shoes off, roll my pants up, and wade out, feeling my way with my toes.    I asked the river to reveal to me any stones that might want to come home with me.  I would spy a potential rock in the clear water and make my way slowly over to it.  As I waded over, the water would get cloudy from stirring the sediment.  I learned I had to be still in order to see again...life lessons from river stones.  Eleven volunteers (pictured above) came home with me.

Once back in the studio I realized that gold ink might not show up on my new rocks.  I thought about printing in black ink but that didn't excite me.  Then I remembered a trip I took in 2014 to California where a friend and I visited the "Land of Medicine Buddha" (click here to see more photos of that trip).  The "Medicine Buddha" is a beautiful blue buddha who, according to Wikipedia, is held to be extremely powerful for healing of physical illnesses and purification of negative karma.  

In the traditional paintings (Tibetan thangkas) 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. According to the legend, he transformed himself into a radiant blue light Buddha at a large gathering of people and taught/transmitted the knowledge of healing and medicine. Thus, he is often depicted with blue skin or holding a blue medicine jar.

The Medicine Buddha mantra has powerful vibrations for healing, both mind and body healing. (Source: The Spruce)

I was intrigued by the symbolism, the healing and loved that he was holding a sprig of a plant. I decided to print the stones in a deep "Medicine Buddha" blue.

PRINTING

I had never printed a linocut plate on stone before, but began in the usual way with a sketch.  I scanned my sketch and traced it in Illustrator.  Illustrator was helpful for getting the lotus flower more symmetrical.  Below you can see my original sketch and the printed Illustrator sketch sized to fit the size of the stones.

I then transferred my sketch to my lino plate and carved my design.  While carving I decided to add a halo at the last minute.  Even though I knew the excess plate would eventually get cut away, I enjoyed carving the lines around the buddha and imagined healing energy radiating in all directions.

Below is a short video of me inking the plate for the first time and printing a test print on paper.  

As you can see in the video, the first print was terrible and had too much ink.  I realized a better print was achieved by pressing the plate a second time onto the paper.  Below you can see the hair detail after a second print.  I was so excited that my Japanese hole punch worked so well at making perfect buddha hair circles.  Sadly, the hair detail did not print very well on the rocks.

At some point I also realized I liked the print better without the halo so I cut it away.  Below you can see my giant mess.

Once the prints dried I brought them upstairs to photograph them on my dark lacquered chest.

After printing six buddha stones in blue I decided to do a quick test of printing with gold ink onto my one dark stone.  Below you can see my test prints on paper and the final print on the dark stone.

I probably could have used the gold buddha for my "Think Square" piece, but I ended up loving the symbolism and meaning of the "Medicine Buddha."  So I chose one of the blue buddhas and started the second phase of my project...weaving a basket around the stone.  

STONE BASKET

Below you can see the basket starting to take shape.

Instead of just having a floating basket stone in the middle of the frame, I decided I wanted it to hang from a piece of wood.  I have tons of pieces of wood hanging around the studio and thought it would be perfect to have it slightly bent, like the weight of the stone was pulling it down.  Luckily I got out my trusty, old Dremel tool and it was perfect for the job.

Above you can see I wove the jute rope into the basket and then wrapped it around the wood.  I had to be very careful to make sure it would fit in the five inch square mat. 

Below are a couple photos of me weaving the basket.  

I liked George's artsy photo of me peeking through the reed.

I wasn't sure I was going to include beads and thought I would try some old gold or brass beads I had stashed away.  I liked them but the hole wasn't big enough to thread the reed through.  So I ended up heading to Michael's where I found these nice wooden beads.  (I also bought some beautiful blue stone beads but again, the holes weren't big enough).

The next image shows the beginning of weaving the rim.

I didn't know quite how many times I would weave the ribs back in and before I knew it the rim got kind of beefy.  I liked it but was a little worried about it fitting in my frame.

George modelling the buddha stone basket.

FRAMING

I was correct in my worry about the thickness of the basket.  So much thought and energy went into figuring out how to adjust for this problem.  In the end I went with George's suggestion to cut a hole in the back of the frame so it wouldn't press so much against the plexiglass.

After opening the frame up 10 times to remove dust (and removing the very sticky double-sided taped spacers), I thought the piece was done.  Yet, somehow there was another piece of dust.  I had the clever idea to use a piece of tape to get the dust off the plexi, but the tape left a little bit of adhesive on the glass.  Luckily, I had "The Works" which is a plexi-safe cleaner.  I very gently rubbed the plexi but the adhesive would not come off.  In addition I had created numerous circular rub marks.  I kept fussing with it but to no avail.  At some point I realized the plexiglass was ruined and would have to buy another frame.  

Long story short, a fellow Tiger Lily Press member came to my rescue and had an extra frame.  Thank you so much Fred Daniel!!!  I was able to buy his frame and switch out the plexiglass.  When I went to bed that night I had the feeling of completion and slept well!  That is until the next morning when I went down to the studio and found that a piece of rope hair had unfortunately made its way between the plexi and the mat.  I wanted to pull my hair out!  But George helped me open the frame up one last time and I VERY carefully removed the hair and sealed it back up again.  Needless to say I breathed a big sigh of relief when I dropped it off.

The Think Square show runs from July 2-26th at the Cincinnati Learning Collaborative in East Walnut Hills.  The opening is Friday, July 2nd from 4-7pm.  The show includes work by 63 amazing local artists.  All pieces in the show are 5''x5'' and sell for $130, framed.  There will also be an online viewing option on the Collab's website.

My husband George Farnsworth deserves a big thank you for all his time listening to me fret and help working through this project.  Without his love and support these crazy projects would not be possible.  Thank you so much Georgie.   

SYNCHRONICITY

I have to tell you one final story.  Somewhere in the middle of this project I switched purses.  I took everything out of one purse at the dining room table and put it into my pretty blue bag from Guatemala.  The next day I was walking through the dining room into the kitchen when I saw a piece of paper on the floor.  When I picked it up and unfolded it, I realized it was the scrap of paper that came with a tiny stone that I purchased a couple years ago.  The words on the paper read, "Lapis: Stimulates inner vision to give you wisdom, insight and good judgement." I wondered if the little stone was still in my purse.

I found my purse and reached in, hoping that it was still there.  I was so happy when I felt the cool, smooth stone between my fingers.  Both the stone and the scrap of paper had been in that purse for many years. I decided it was time to take the stone out where I could see and feel it more often.  I didn't realize until I was writing this post that the "Medicine Buddha" is sometimes called the "Lapis Lazuli Light Buddha!"  I love synchronicity and when the universe gives me a sign like that, I take it as a message I am on the right path.

MEDICINE BUDDHA

If anyone is interested in learning more about Medicine Buddha healing, here is a nice description of the practice: 

Giving a simplified description of the practice, we can say that it begins with preliminary mantras and prayers and then—and this is the wonderful part—one visualizes the Medicine Buddha, blue in color like the Vaiduriya jewel. One then goes on to visualize the Medicine Buddha’s healing energy radiating in all directions, especially to the person named, practicing the healing mantra Tadyatha Om Bhekhaze Bhekhaze Maha Bhekhaze Bhekhaze Radza Samungate Swaha for at least one mala or 108 repetitions, and then one dissolves into the “great seal of emptiness," or rests the mind in the natural state, and dedicates the merit to all sentient beings. It is a beautiful, transformational sadhana which heals both the person who is the focus of attention as well as the practitioner. The practice is most effective when the person suffering is engaged in the process—they also practice the healing mantras and invite the healing in. (Source: Buddhist Door)

And this article by David Michie, "How to Invoke the Medicine Buddha" provides a wonderful description of the practice.  Here is a beautiful excerpt:

Visualize Medicine Buddha sitting, looking at you. He is depicted as having a dark blue (lapis lazuli) body, this being an archetypal color of healing. With his left hand he holds a bowl of healing nectars, and with his right a medicine plant. In your visualization, he is at about the height of your forehead, a few feet in front of you, gazing at you with as much love as a mother for her only child. He is everything beautiful gathered into one.

And here are two YouTube links so you can hear the mantra:

If you are on a healing journey, I send you strength, wish you good luck, and hope the blue light of the "Medicine Buddha" envelopes you in love and well-being.

ADDNENDUM: DOUBLE SYNCHRONICITY

The day I was printing the stones I was in the basement listening to Pandora as I always do.  In the middle of printing a song came on that I had never heard before.  This happens sometimes and I hardly notice.  But this particular song caught my attention because it sounded quite different from my usual music.  At the time I thought it sounded African.  And what I really noticed was that it was SO repetitive and went on and on.  I simply noted it and couldn't even look at my phone because my hands were inky.  

At the end of writing this blog post I went to YouTube and entered "Medicine Buddha Mantra."  It came up with several options.  When I clicked the song by Maneesh de Moor (second one above), I couldn't believe my ears!  It was the same song I heard while printing earlier in the week!  What are the chances that the Medicine Buddha mantra would come on while I was printing Medicine Buddha stones!?  It felt like a giant wink from the universe.  I am so grateful for it and to be doing what I am doing.  Thank you universe!