BHAISHAJYAGURU: UNFAILING HEALER OF THE UNIVERSE

BHAISHAJYAGURU: UNFAILING HEALER OF THE UNIVERSE

BHAISHAJYAGURU: UNFAILING HEALER OF THE UNIVERSE [2008]: DIGITIZATION

Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism has four main traditions (the suffix pa is comparable to “er” in English):

Nyingma(pa), The Ancient Ones, the oldest and original order founded by Padmasambhava, a Tibetan master, and relies on very early esoteric scriptures known as tantras. In this school there is a good deal of emphasis placed on meditation.
Kagyu(pa), Oral Lineage, has one major subsect and one minor subsect. The first, the Dagpo Kagyu, encompasses those Kagyu schools that trace back to Gampopa. In turn, the Dagpo Kagyu consists of four major sub-sects: the Karma Kagyu, headed by the Karmapa, the Tsalpa Kagyu, the Barom Kagyu, and Pagtru Kagyu; as well as eight minor sub-sects, all of which trace their root to Pagtru Kagyu. Among the eight sub-sects the most notable of are the Drikung Kagyu and the Drukpa Kagyu. The once-obscure Shangpa Kagyu, which was famously represented by the 20th century teacher Kalu Rinpoche, traces its history back to the Indian master Niguma, sister of Kagyu lineage holder Naropa. This is an oral tradition which is very much concerned with the experiential dimension of meditation. Its most famous exponent was Milarepa, an eleventh century mystic who meditated for many years in mountain caves before eventually reaching enlightenment.
Sakya(pa), Grey Earth, headed by the Sakya Trizin, founded by Khon Konchog Gyalpo, a disciple of the great translator Drokmi Lotsawa. Sakya Pandita 1182–1251CE was the great grandson of Khon Konchog Gyalpo. This school very much represents the scholarly tradition.
Bon(pa) Has been recognized by H.H. Dalai Lama in this life and in his fifth life, as the fifth core tradition of the Buddha Dharma roots of the Himalaya abode. Bön differs from all other Buddhism by that it is expressed as a religion, the word bön are translated as meaning religion. Bön is founded by Lord Gshen Rab Miwo before The Shakyamuni (Siddharta Gautama). The Bönpa stems from the indigenous shamanic practices of Tibet.
Statue of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa Sect, on the altar in His Temple (His birth place) in Kumbum Monastery, near Xining, Qinghai (Amdo), China. Foto by writer Mario Biondi, July 7, 2006Gelug(pa), Way of Virtue, also known as Yellow Hats, whose spiritual head is the Ganden Tripa and whose temporal head is the Dalai Lama, who was ruler of Tibet from the mid-17th to mid-20th centuries. It was founded in the 14th to 15th century by Je Tsongkhapa, based on the foundations of the Kadampa tradition. Tsongkhapa was renowned for both his scholasticism and his virtue. The Dalai Lama belongs to the Gelukpa school and is regarded as the embodiment of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion (the equivalent of Avalokitesvara).
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—
Origin
Bhaiṣajyaguru is described in the eponymous Bhaiṣajyaguru-sūtra (Jp. 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. Jōruri) in the eastern quarter, where he is attended to by the bodhisattvas Nikkō and Gakko. Yakushi is notably absent from the Mandala of the Two Realms, but is one of the Thirteen Buddhas.

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.

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.

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.

Tibetan Buddhists consider the Medicine Buddha Empowerment to be the most powerful blessing for healing, dispelling sickness and for awakening the innate healing wisdom that lies within every individual.

At the Shenpen Osel website (external links section) the very venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche gives a wonderful and detailed commentary on the Medicine Buddha. One will need to download “Acrobat Reader” program offered free at the site in order to use the PDF file. At their site click on Volume 4, Number 1 to download the commentaries and sadhana on the Medicine Buddha.

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.

The Uses for the Medicine Buddha Mantras in Tibetan Buddhism
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. The practice should be repeated each day until the illness is cured.

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.
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—

BHAISHAJYAGURU: UNFAILING HEALER OF THE UNIVERSE belongs to the following groups:

ART ACTION UNION - CREATIVE ACTIVISM, Art Inspired by Dreams, AW Welcome Center, Current Issues, Mixed Media, Religious Art & Photography and Underground USA Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints and Framed Prints