Hōkai Raion Nyorai

Wishes for people, seen in the first vow

In the first vow of the same sutra, the vow is taught as a wish that people may grow their trust in the Three Treasures of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and regain the mind that aims for enlightenment. This is one example of the original vows taught in the sutra and does not describe all of this buddha's vows.

Source: CBETA／義浄訳

The Pure Land described in the sutra

In the Yakushi Rurikō Shichibutsu Hongan Kudoku Kyō translated by Gijō, the name of this Pure Land is given as "Hōdō," and it is described as lying in the east, beyond countless buddha worlds.

Source: CBETA／義浄訳・飛不動尊 正宝院

Seven Pure Lands in the east, and prayers for good health

The Seven Medicine Buddhas are a group of buddhas said to dwell in seven Pure Lands in the east, from Zenmyōshō Kichijōō Nyorai to Yakushi Rurikō Nyorai. Within Yakushi devotion, they are enshrined by people praying for relief from the suffering of illness and other things. The Pure Land of the last of them, Yakushi Rurikō Nyorai, is called the Jōruri Pure Land.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院

A prayer handed down as the Shichibutsu Yakushi rite

Shōhōin introduces the Shichibutsu Yakushi rite, in which seven Yakushi images are enshrined, and the tradition that Ryōgen of the Tendai school prayed for safe childbirth for the regent family (sekkanke). This is the history of a rite performed with the seven buddhas as one set.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院

Related kami and buddhas

• Shichibutsu Yakushi七仏薬師