怛他揭多也(tathagataya)来自tathagata，是如来；阿啰喝帝(arhate)来自arhat，为应供或阿罗汉。三藐三勃陀耶 (samyaksambuddhaya)为正等觉、正等觉者之意，英文为one who has attained to complete enlightenment。合起来是：如来．应供．正等觉；为常见的如来称号。
藏传的〈药师小咒〉： Tayata ,Om Bekanze Bekanze Maha BeKanze Radza Samudgate Soha 意为：唵！药！药！大药！药王！生起来！刷哈！亦即将「大药、药王」并称为「大药」。「祈求生起能解除众生病痛的药」之意。
A Buddha is one who has achieved a state of perfect
spiritual enlightenment. In this case, the Medicine Buddha is a fully
enlightened being who has unlimited compassion to all living beings. The
Medicine Buddha’s formal name is Bhaisajyaguru Vaidurya Prabharaja, which means
Master of Healing, Azure Radiance or Master of Medicine and King of Lapis
Lazuli Light.
Notably, the Medicine Buddha protects all living beings from
attachment; hatred; and ignorance, which Buddhists text indicates are the root
cause of illnesses. But more than that, the Buddha of Medicine also protects us
from danger and negative energies or spirits.
Mission of MBVA
The aim of the Medicine Buddha Vaidurya Association is to
raise funds to construct and maintain a temple for the Medicine Buddha. The
temple would in turn aid us in helping to spread the wisdom of the Medicine Buddha.
We sincerely hope that his teachings can spread far and wide to help as many
people as possible.
In the Sutra on the Foundations of Mindfulness, it states
that by establishing a temple, placing holy objects inside and providing rooms
and bedding needed by the Sangha, which means the Buddha’s followers, your
merits will continuously increase from life to life for eons and never be lost.
These merits will then lead you towards ultimate
happiness, enlightenment. Hence we also hope to spread the merits of
establishing a temple for the community of Buddhists and to provide a place for
the community of Buddhist to gather and seek refuge with the Medicine Buddha.
About the Medicine
Buddha
The Medicine Buddha is usually shown as having blue or
Lapis Lazuli colored skin, seated on a lotus seat in the vajra posture whilst wearing
the three robes of a monk. His left hand is in the mudra of meditative
equipoise which holds a bowl filled with medicine nectar. Meanwhile, his right
hand is in the mudra of supreme giving which holds the stem of the medicinal Arura
plant. He is also sometimes shown to be flanked by two bodhisattvas
Suryaprabha, symbolizing the light of the sun, and Candraprabha, symbolizing
the light of the moon.
8 Medicine Buddha Brothers
The Medicine Buddha is also often depicted together with 7 other brothers. Many eons ago, seven Bodhisattvas strongly prayed for the temporal and ultimate happiness of all sentient beings, and that their names would have the power to heal both the mental and physical illness of sentient beings. They vowed that their prayers would be actualized during these times when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. How do these prayers work? One of the ten powers of a Buddha is the power of prayer, which means that all the prayers that they make are fulfilled. These seven Bodhisattvas attained full enlightenment, and along with Shakyamuni Buddha, became known as the eight Medicine Buddhas. Below is the list of the eight Buddhas.
1. Medicine Buddha Renowned Glorious King of Excellent Signs (Supari Kirti Tanama Sri Raja)
Of glorious renown; of glorious features; gold in colour, in the mudra of giving protection.
2. Medicine Buddha King of Melodious Sound, Brilliant Radiance of Skill, Adorned with Jewels, Moon and Lotus (Sva Ragosa Raja)
Master of melodious sound; yellow in colour, in the mudra of granting the supreme
3. Medicine Buddha Stainless Excellent Gold, Great Jewel Who Accomplishes All Vows (Suvarna Bhadra Vimala)
Of the best and purest of gold; of the colour of the golden waters of the Jambu; in the mudra of teaching Dharma
4. Medicine Buddha Supreme Glory Free from Sorrow (Asokot Tamas Sri Raja)
Of the glory that is freedom from pain. Pale red in colour; in the mudra of meditative equipoise
5. Medicine Buddha Melodious Ocean of Proclaimed Dharma (Dharma Kirti Sagara)
Proclaimer of Dharma, ocean of melodious sound. Pink in colour; in the mudra of teaching Dharma
6. Medicine Buddha Delightful King of Clear Knowing, Supreme Wisdom of an Ocean of Dharma (Abkijya Raja)
Supreme in knowledge; of the colour of coral; in the mudra of granting the supreme
7. Medicine Buddha Guru King of Lapis Light (Bhaisjya Guru)
The light of Lapiz the guru of medicine. Blue in colour, in the mudra of granting the supreme
To be adorned by the 112 signs and marks of an enlightened being
8. Shakyamuni Buddha
The mighty prince of the Sakya clan: of the colour gold; in the mudra of pressing the earth who gave the Medicine Buddha mantra and promised that those who supplicated the seven tathagata Medicine Buddhas and recited the mantra 8?000 times would be freed from all obscurations formed by past deeds, would not be struck down by illness, would enjoy a long life with no untimely death, free from the harms of death, enemies, arguments, fighting and separation; and would not fall into the hands of oppressors and that all wishes would come true.
Note that for in order to invoke energy from the Medicine Buddha, one has to pay respect to all the Medicine Buddha brothers during the Sadhana (Spiritual Practice) and Wish Fulfilling Jewel Sutra Ritual. The Sadhana and Wish Fulfilling Jewel Sutra Ritual are discussed towards the end of this blog post.
12 Yaksa Generals of the Medicine Buddha
In addition, those who make offerings to the Medicine
Buddha would also receive the assistance of the 12 Yaksa Generals. These Yaksa
Generals each represent 1 of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals and they also aim to
release living beings from suffering and calamity. See below for a detailed description of each general.
Name
Sanskrit
Picture
Colour / Depiction / Zodiac Animal
Bikara Taishō or Bikyara
Vikarala
red; armed with a three-pointed vajra; boar
Shotora Taishō
Catura
blue; armed with mallet or sword; dog
Shindara Taishō or Kimnara
Sindura
yellow; armed with rope or fly-whisk, pilgrim’s staff (khakkara); rooster
yellow; armed with vajra; rat ; leader of the twelve generals
Upon achieving buddhahood the Medicine Buddha became the
Buddha of the eastern pure land and from there he watches over all living beings. In
addition, he also made 12 great vows and promised to heal all livings beings
from physical, mental, and spiritual illness. These include providing for our
physical needs such as food and water; material needs such as money and wealth;
and purifying our spiritual illness and negative karma. Most importantly, those
who recite the Medicine Buddha Heart Mantra and perform the Medicine Buddha
rituals diligently will avert untimely deaths which would lead to extreme
hardships.
Medicine Buddha Heart Mantra
Short form mantra: TAYATA OM
BEKANDZE BEKANDZE MAHA BEKANDZE RADZA SAMUDGATE SOHA
Explanation: This mantra aims to
eliminate all sufferings, below is a detailed explanation of each phrase in the
mantra.
Tayatha
- Just like this.
Om
- Om is chanted to harmonize oneself with the under-current tone of the
universe.
Bekandze
- Bekandze means eliminating pain, the first bekandze refers to eliminating
actual suffering felt by the body and mind.
Bekandze
- The second bekandze refers to eliminating the cause of suffering which is
caused by karma and disturbing thoughts. Eliminating the cause of suffering is
important otherwise one will just merely feel temporary relieve before
suffering again.
Maha
Bekandze - Maha means great, hence this represents the great eliminating of even
the subtle imprints left on the consciousness by disturbing thoughts. So the entire
phrase bekandze bekandze maha bekandze contains the whole path to
enlightenment, which represents the ultimate medicine.
Radza
– King.
Samudgate
Soha – Means to establish foundation for the devotion within ones heart. This is
done in order to realize the elimination of suffering.
Long form Mantra: OM NAMO Bhagawate BhaisajyaGuru Vaidurya prabha RaDZAya Tathagataya
Arhate Samyaksam buddhaya / TAYATA OM BEKANDZE BEKANDZE MAHA BEKANDZE
RADZA SAMUDGATE SOHA
Explanation: The long mantra is
essentially the same as the short mantra except that there are additional
phrases in front. These additional phrases call out to the Medicine Buddha and signify
one’s devotion and trust to the Medicine Buddha. Notably, these additional
phrases are said to help one better connect to the Medicine Buddha since one is
earnestly calling out to him.
Om
- We begin with Om to harmonize oneself with the under-current tone of the
universe.
Namo
- Means yielding or full of trust; can also mean to bend or bow, and might mean
to melt into.
Bhagawate
- Means in intimate relation to the Divine and often means the entire cosmos.
Bhaisajyaguru Vaidurya Prabha –
The phrase refers to the name of the Medicine Buddha. Bhaisajyaguru means master of healing and Vaidurya
Prabha means divine deep blue light, like that of Lapis Lazuli.
Rajaya
- Means Great King
Tathagataya
- Means once came or once gone.
Arhate: One who has conquered the cycle of birth and
death.
Samyaksam
Buddhaya - Perfectly enlightened.
The
rest is the same as the short mantra.
Below is a video of the long form mantra:
By reciting the Heart Mantra of the Medicine Buddha, one
would be actualising the meaning of the path contained in bekandze bekandze
maha bekandze, and this would help to cease the defilements, gross and subtle,
and purify the ordinary body, speech and mind and attain the vajra holy body,
speech and mind. After reciting the mantra one would then be able to do perfect
works for other living beings. This is especially important for those who wish
to perform healing work or is a physician, as it takes a cleansed body and mind
to heal others.
Medicine Buddha Sadhana
Elsewhere, it is also good to practice the Medicine Buddha
sadhana before reciting the Heart mantra. This helps to increase the power of
the mantra as the sadhana would help you better connect with the Medicine
Buddha. In short the sadhana is an ego-transcending spiritual practice to invoke energy from the medicine buddha for the betterment of all life and to heal the suffering of others. In the Medince Buddha Sadhana, one has to pay respects to the 7 Medicine Buddhas in order to invoke their energies. The sadhana can be found at the link below.
This powerful practice is designed for people who are dying or have already passed away, and also for individual success in all kinds of activities. This Sutra ritual requests great and powerful energy from the Medicine Buddha and his brothers in order to fulfill ones greatest wishes.
