Bhaisajyaguru
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| Bhaisajyaguru | |
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 Standing Bhaiṣajyaguru Buddha at the Gyeongju National Museum. Korea's National Treasure no. 28.
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| Sanskrit: | Bhaisajyaguru |
| Chinese: | Yàoshīfó |
| Japanese: | Yakushi |
| Tibetan: | Sangye Menla |
| Information | |
| Venerated by: | Mahayana, Vajrayana |
| Attributes: | Healing |
Bhaiṣajyaguru (藥師佛 Ch. Yàoshīfó, 薬師 Jp. Yakushi), more formally Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabha (Jp. 薬師瑠璃光如来 Yakushirurikō nyorai) and also known as the Master of Healing or Medicine Buddha, is the Buddha of healing. His full name means "Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light". In Mahayana Buddhism, Bhaiṣajyaguru represents the healing aspect of the historical Buddha Sakyamuni. The use of the analogy of a Buddha being depicted as a doctor who cures the illness of suffering using the medicine of his teachings appears widely in Buddhist scriptures.
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[edit] Origin
Bhaiṣajyaguru is described in the eponymous Bhaiṣajyaguru-sūtra (Jp. 薬師経 Yakushi-kyō) as bodhisattva who made and fulfilled 12 vows, two of them related to healing. On achieving Buddhahood, he became the Buddha of the realm of Vaidūryanirbhāsa (Jp. 浄瑠璃 Jōruri), or "Pure Lapis Lazuli", in the eastern quarter similar to Akshobhya Buddha. There, he is attended to by the bodhisattvas Nikkō (Jp. 日光菩薩) and Gakkō (Jp. 月光菩薩), symbolizing the sun and moon respectively. Yakushi is notably absent from the Mandala of the Two Realms, but is one of the Thirteen Buddhas.
[edit] The Twelve Vows
The Twelve Vows of the Medicine Buddha upon attaining Enlightenment, according to the Medicine Buddha Sutra[1] are:
- To illuminate countless realms with his radiance, enabling others to become a Buddha too.
- To awakened the minds of sentient beings through his light of lapis lazuli.
- To provide the sentient beings with whatever material needs they require.
- To correct heretical views and inspire beings toward the path of the Bodhisattva.
- To help beings follow the Moral Precepts, even if they failed before.
- To heal beings born with deformities, illness or other physical sufferings.
- To help relieve the destitute and the sick.
- To help women who wish to be reborn as men achieve their desired rebirth.
- To help heal mental afflictions and delusions.
- To help the oppressed be free from suffering.
- To relieve those who suffer from terrible hunger and thirst.
- To help clothe those who are destitute and suffering from cold and mosquitoes.
[edit] Iconography
Bhaiṣajyaguru is typically depicted seated, wearing the three robes of a Buddhist monk, with a lapis-colored jar of medicine nectar in his left hand and the right hand resting on his right knee, holding the stem of the aurara plant between thumb and forefinger. In the sutra, he is also described by his aura of lapis lazuli-colored light.
[edit] Role in Chinese Buddhism
The practice of veneration of the Medicine Buddha is also popular in China, as he is depicted as one of the trinity of Buddhas, the others being the founder Gautama Buddha and Amitabha of the Pure Land sect. Like Tibetan Buddhists, Chinese Buddhists recite the mantra of the Medicine Buddha to overcome sickness. He is also closely associated with ceremonies for temple donors and for transferring of merit to such donors.
[edit] Role in Japanese Buddhism
Starting in the 7th century Yakushi has been the object of a popular cult in Japan, largely supplanting the previous cult of Ashuku (Akshobhya). Some of Yakushi's role has been taken over by Jizō (Ksitigarbha), but Yakushi still presides over the Japanese Buddhist memorial service to dead.
In Japanese Shingon Buddhism, the following mantra is used:
[edit] Role in Tibetan Buddhism
The practice of Medicine Buddha, the Supreme Healer (or Sangye Menla in Tibetan) is not only a very powerful method for healing and increasing healing powers both for oneself and others, but also for overcoming the inner sickness of attachment, hatred, and ignorance, thus to meditate on the Medicine Buddha can help decrease physical and mental illness and suffering.
The Medicine Buddha mantra is held to be extremely powerful for healing of physical illnesses and purification of negative karma. One form of practice based on the Medicine Buddha is done when one is stricken by disease. The patient is to recite the long Medicine Buddha mantra 108 times over a glass of water. The water is now believed to be blessed by the power of the mantra and the blessing of the Medicine Buddha himself, and the patient is to drink the water. This practice is then repeated each day until the illness is cured.
[edit] Mantras in Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism also teaches that the Medicine Buddha mantra can be used to liberate the animals one eats[citation needed]. The practice involves reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra and then blowing on the meat. It is held that the dead animal, wherever it has been reborn, will be liberated from its suffering and reborn into a happy existence.
This is the long version of the Medicine Buddha Mantra in Sanskrit:
- namo bhagavate bhaiṣajyaguru vaidūryaprabharājāya vathāgatāya arhate samyaksambuddhāya tadyathā: oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajya-samudgate svāhā [1]
Another version of the long mantra is as follows:
- oṃ namo bhagavate bhaiṣajyaguru vaidūryaprabharājāya tathāgatāya arhate samyaksambuddhāya tadyathā: oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye mahābhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye rāja samudgate svāhā
When pronounced by Tibetan buddhists, it sounds like:
- oṃ nah moe bah-ga-va-tay bye-saya-guru vye-dur-yah proba-raja-yah, tata-gata-yah, arh-ha-tay, sam-yak-sam buddha-yah tay-ya-tah om bay-kah-jay bay-ka-jay mah-hah bay-kah-jay bay-ka-jay rah-jah sah-moo-gah-tay, so-hah
This is the short version of the Medicine Buddha Mantra, which is known as the Medicine Buddha Heart Mantra:
- (tadyathā) oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye mahābhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye rāja samudgate svāhā
When pronounced by Tibetan buddhists, it sounds like:
- (tey-yah-tah) oṃ, beck-ahn-zay beck-ahn-zay, mah-hah beck-ahn-zay, rod-zah sah-moo-gah-tay, so-hah!
[edit] References
- ^ a b Sutra of the Medicine Buddha. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
[edit] External links
- The Medicine Buddha Sutra in PDF Format
- Image of Medicine Buddha
- Medicine Buddha Resources
- Online teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism (features a discussion on the Medicine Buddha practice)
- Bhaiṣajyaguru mantra in Siddhaṃ script and Tibetan Script
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