A summary of information about the Medicine Buddha and Medicine Buddha Vaidurya Association (MBVA)

Introduction

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.

Refer to the following link below for more details about the promises that each of the Buddha made
http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=2519.0

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
Makora Taishō or Makura	Mahoraga		white; armed with axe; monkey
Haira Taishō	Pajra		red; armed with mallet, a bow or arrow; sheep
Indara Taishō or Indatsura	Indra		red; armed with staff or halberd; horse
Sanchira Taishō	Sandilya		gray; armed with sword or conch shell; snake
Anira Taishō	Anila		red; armed with trident or arrow; dragon
Anchira Taishō	Andira		green; armed with mallet or fly-whisk; rabbit
Mekira Taishō	Mihira		yellow; armed with vajra; tiger
Basara Taishō or Bajira	Vajra		white; armed with sword; ox; the one who protects mankind, bringing people's aspirations to fruition
Kubira Taishō	Khumbhira		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.

1. Tayatha - Just like this.
2. Om - Om is chanted to harmonize oneself with the under-current tone of the universe.
3. Bekandze - Bekandze means eliminating pain, the first bekandze refers to eliminating actual suffering felt by the body and mind.
4. 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.
5.  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.
6.  Radza – King.
7. 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.

1. Om - We begin with Om to harmonize oneself with the under-current tone of the universe.
2. Namo - Means yielding or full of trust; can also mean to bend or bow, and might mean to melt into.
3. Bhagawate - Means in intimate relation to the Divine and often means the entire cosmos.
4. 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.
5. Rajaya - Means Great King
6. Tathagataya - Means once came or once gone.
7. Arhate:  One who has conquered the cycle of birth and death.
8. Samyaksam Buddhaya - Perfectly enlightened.
9.  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.

http://www.kopanmonastery.com/files/prayers%20and%20practices/short_Medicine_Buddha_Practice.pdf

In addition you can read up about the story of the Medicine Buddha through his Sutra.

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/medbudsutra.pdf

Medicine Buddha Wish Fulfilling Jewel

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.

Below is a link to the ritual

http://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/education/prayers/mbpujalttrbklt.pdf