Buddha (nyorai)
Hōkai Shōe Yuge Jinzū Nyorai
法海勝慧遊戯神通如来
One of the Seven Medicine Buddhas (Shichibutsu Yakushi). The first vow in the Yakushi Rurikō Shichibutsu Hongan Kudoku Kyō teaches the wish that people may be freed from the suffering of harming life or deceiving others to make a living, and may strive in good deeds.
This introduction is based on materials from Shōhōin (Tobi Fudō). It is summarized within the scope of the beliefs and traditions those materials convey, and does not present explanations or customs common to all schools, shrines, and temples.
English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む
The wish for people seen in the first vow
The first vow of the same sutra teaches the wish that people may be freed from the suffering of harming life or deceiving others to make a living, and may strive in good deeds. This is one example of the original vows taught in the sutra, not a statement of all the vows of this nyorai.
Source: CBETA／義浄訳
The pure land told of in the sutra
Gijō's translation of the Yakushi Rurikō Shichibutsu Hongan Kudoku Kyō records the name of the pure land as "Zenjū Hōkai" (善住宝海) and describes it as lying in the east, beyond countless buddha worlds. Shōhōin's introduction uses the spelling "Zenjū Hōkai Koku" (善住法海国). Here the differences between sources are given separately.
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, from Zenmyōshō Kichijōō Nyorai to Yakushi Rurikō Nyorai, said to dwell in seven pure lands in the east. Within Yakushi faith they are enshrined with prayers for salvation from the suffering of illness and the like. 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
Prayers handed down as the Shichibutsu Yakushi rite
Shōhōin introduces the Shichibutsu Yakushi rite, which enshrines seven Yakushi figures, and the tradition that Ryōgen of the Tendai school prayed for safe childbirth in the regent's family. 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
Sources (in Japanese)
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：法海勝慧遊戯神通如来」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：目次」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：七仏薬師」（2026-10-14 確認）
- CBETA／義浄訳「薬師瑠璃光七仏本願功徳経（大正蔵14・451）」（2026-10-16 確認）