Medicine Buddha’s Original Vows and Merits: Complete Chinese Text

Thus have I heard.

Once the Blessed One was traveling through the countries and stayed beneath the Music Tree in Vaishali. Eight thousand monks, thirty-six thousand great bodhisattvas, kings, ministers, brahmins, householders, gods, dragons, yakshas, humans and nonhumans gathered around him reverently, and he taught them the Dharma.

Empowered by the Buddha, Manjushri rose, bared one shoulder, knelt on his right knee, bowed and joined his palms. “World-Honored One, please teach the names of the buddhas and the exceptional virtues of their original vows, so that beings in the age of the semblance of Dharma may hear, remove karmic obstructions and find well-being.”

The Buddha praised Manjushri: “Excellent! Out of great compassion you ask me to teach the buddhas’ names and the virtues of their vows, to free beings bound by karmic obstructions and benefit those in the age of the semblance of Dharma. Listen carefully and reflect well; I will explain.” Manjushri replied, “Yes, we gladly wish to hear.”

The Buddha said: “To the east, beyond buddha-lands as numerous as ten times the sands of the Ganges, is a world called Pure Lapis Lazuli. Its buddha is Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata, worthy of offerings, perfectly awakened, complete in knowledge and conduct, well gone, knower of the world, unsurpassed, a tamer of persons, teacher of gods and humans, Buddha and Blessed One. While following the bodhisattva path, he made twelve great vows so that beings might find fulfillment.”

The first great vow: “When I attain unsurpassed perfect awakening, may my light illuminate immeasurable, countless and boundless worlds. May my body bear the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor characteristics, and may all beings become no different from me.”

The second great vow: “When I awaken, may my body be like lapis lazuli, clear within and without, pure and unstained, with vast light and towering virtue, firmly at ease and adorned with a network of radiance surpassing sun and moon. May beings in darkness receive illumination, go where they wish and carry out their work.”

The third great vow: “When I awaken, through boundless wisdom and skillful means may all beings receive inexhaustible necessities, so that none lacks what is needed.”

The fourth great vow: “When I awaken, may those following mistaken paths be established securely on the path of awakening, and may those following the vehicles of disciples and solitary buddhas be established in the Mahayana.”

The fifth great vow: “When I awaken, may the countless beings practicing pure conduct within my teaching keep their discipline intact and fulfill the three collections of precepts. Even if they transgress, may hearing my name restore purity and prevent descent into painful destinies.” The three collections concern refraining from harm, cultivating good and benefiting beings.

The sixth great vow: “When I awaken, may beings troubled by their bodies, faculties, appearance or understanding, by difficulties seeing, hearing, speaking or walking, by bodily deformity, skin disease, mental disturbance or other painful conditions hear my name, attain an upright form and understanding, have complete faculties and be free of illness.” The text’s historical descriptions of bodies and disease are not measures of a person’s worth today.

The seventh great vow: “When I awaken, may those beset by illness, without help or refuge, doctor or medicine, family or home, poor and suffering, hear my name even once and have illness removed, body and mind at ease, family and necessities in abundance, and ultimately attain unsurpassed awakening.”

The eighth great vow: “When I awaken, may women oppressed by the many troubles of being female, who deeply wish to leave the female body, hear my name, become male with the characteristics of a man, and ultimately attain unsurpassed awakening.” This presentation of transformation into a man as liberation belongs to the scripture’s historical framework; it is not this site’s judgment that women are inferior.

The ninth great vow: “When I awaken, may beings escape Mara’s net and the bonds of non-Buddhist doctrines. May those lost in the dense forest of mistaken views be guided to right view, gradually practice the bodhisattva path and swiftly attain perfect awakening.”

The tenth great vow: “When I awaken, may those arrested under royal law, bound, whipped, imprisoned or facing execution, or overwhelmed by countless disasters and humiliations, their bodies and minds tormented by grief, hear my name and through my merit and power be freed from every sorrow and suffering.”

The eleventh great vow: “When I awaken, may beings afflicted by hunger and thirst who do harmful deeds to obtain food hear my name and hold it in mindful remembrance. I will first satisfy their bodies with excellent food and drink, then establish them in lasting peace through the taste of Dharma.”

The twelfth great vow: “When I awaken, may those too poor to have clothing, troubled day and night by mosquitoes, flies, cold and heat, hear my name and hold it in remembrance. May they receive fine clothes, jeweled ornaments, flower garlands, fragrant ointments, music, performances and other things that delight them, according to their wishes.”

“Manjushri, these are the twelve subtle and excellent vows made by Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata while following the bodhisattva path.”

“Neither an eon nor longer would suffice to describe these vows and the adornments of this buddha-land. It is wholly pure, without women, painful destinies or cries of suffering. Its ground is lapis lazuli, its paths marked with gold, and its cities, gates, palaces, pavilions, windows and nets are made of seven treasures, equal in splendor to the Western Land of Bliss. The two great bodhisattvas Sunlight All-Illuminating and Moonlight All-Illuminating lead the countless bodhisattvas and preserve Medicine Buddha’s treasury of true Dharma. Faithful women and men should aspire to birth there.” Describing the absence of women as a feature of a pure land reflects this text’s historical framework.

The Buddha continued: “Some know neither good nor evil, cling to greed and stinginess, do not understand giving or its results, hoard wealth and guard it closely, and feel that giving to a beggar cuts their own flesh. Some will not use their wealth even for themselves, much less share it with parents, spouses, children, servants or those asking for help. The text says such people are reborn as hungry ghosts or animals. Yet if they once heard Medicine Buddha’s name as humans, recalling it in that painful state brings rebirth as humans, with memory of past lives. Fearing those sufferings, they cease clinging to sensual pleasure, delight in giving and praise generosity, until they would give even head, eyes, limbs, blood and flesh to those who ask, let alone possessions.” Bodily self-giving is the scripture’s idealized image of generosity.

“Some accept the training but break its precepts; some keep the precepts but break the rules of conduct; some observe both but abandon right view; some retain right view but neglect learning and fail to understand the scriptures’ deep meaning. Others are learned yet arrogant, exalting themselves, condemning others and the true Dharma, becoming Mara’s companions and leading countless beings into danger. The text describes endless wandering in hell, animal and ghost realms as the result. Hearing Medicine Buddha’s name leads them to abandon wrongdoing, cultivate good and avoid painful rebirth. Even those unable to reform before falling there may, through the vow’s power, hear the name, return as humans, gain right view and diligence, train their minds, leave home for monastic life, keep discipline, understand profound meaning, abandon arrogance and slander, avoid Mara’s company and complete the bodhisattva practices.”

“Those who are greedy and jealous, praise themselves and disparage others, the text says, suffer long in the three painful destinies, then become cattle, horses, camels or donkeys, beaten, hungry, thirsty and burdened with loads. Even as humans they may be born into low status and enslaved without freedom, in the social language of the period. Yet the good condition of having heard Medicine Buddha’s name allows them to remember and take heartfelt refuge. Through the Buddha’s power they are freed from suffering, gain keen faculties, wisdom and learning, seek excellent teachings and good friends, sever Mara’s net, break the shell of ignorance, exhaust the river of afflictions and escape birth, aging, illness, death, grief and distress.”

“Some delight in division and litigation, distress themselves and others, multiply harmful deeds of body, speech and mind, and plot injury. They summon spirits of forests, trees and graves, kill beings to offer blood and flesh to yakshas and rakshasas, write enemies’ names or make their images for curses, and use sorcery or corpse-raising spirits to destroy life and body. The text says those who hear Medicine Buddha’s name cannot be harmed by such acts. Instead, all develop kindness, bring one another well-being, abandon malice and resentment, rejoice and find contentment in what they receive, and benefit rather than invade one another.”

“Monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen and other faithful people may observe the eight abstinence precepts for a year or three months, wishing through this goodness to be born with Amitayus in the Western Land of Bliss and hear the true Dharma, yet remain uncertain. If they hear Medicine Buddha’s name, eight bodhisattvas come at death to show the way, and they are spontaneously born in jeweled flowers there. Some are born in heaven, their goodness not exhausted and without returning to painful destinies. When their heavenly lives end, they may be born as wheel-turning rulers of the four continents who establish countless beings in the ten good paths, or into noble, brahmin or wealthy households, with wealth, fine appearance, family, wisdom and the strength of a great wrestler. It also says that women who hear and uphold the name will not again receive a female body.” That final clause reflects the text’s historical view of gender.

Manjushri vowed: “In the age of the semblance of Dharma, I will use many means to let faithful people hear Medicine Buddha’s name, even while they sleep. If they uphold, recite, explain or copy this scripture, or have others copy it, honor it with flowers, incense, garlands, necklaces, banners, canopies and music, place it in a five-colored bag and set it on a high seat in a clean place, the Four Heavenly Kings, their attendants and countless heavenly beings will protect it. Wherever this treasured scripture circulates and is upheld, its vow’s virtue and hearing the name prevent untimely death and the loss of vital energy to harmful spirits; energy already taken is restored, bringing bodily and mental ease.”

The Buddha replied: “It is so. Those honoring Medicine Buddha should place an image on a clean seat, offer flowers and incense, decorate the place with banners, observe the eight abstinence precepts for seven days and nights, eat pure food, bathe and wear clean clothes. They should abandon defilement, anger and harmful intent, cultivate impartial loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity toward all beings, praise with music and song, and walk clockwise around the image. They should recollect the vows, recite the scripture, consider its meaning and explain it. The text promises fulfillment of wishes for longevity, wealth, office or children. It says that reverent offerings dispel nightmares, ominous signs and strange occurrences, and that wholehearted recollection and offerings free one from fears of water, fire, weapons, poison, cliffs, elephants, lions, tigers, wolves, bears, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, house centipedes, mosquitoes and flies, as well as invasion or bandit rebellion.”

“The text says that those who throughout life serve no other gods but take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and receive the five, ten, four hundred bodhisattva, two hundred and fifty monk or five hundred nun precepts may, if they transgress and fear painful rebirth, recollect Medicine Buddha’s name and make reverent offerings to avoid the three painful destinies. It also says that women in severe childbirth pain who wholeheartedly invoke, praise and honor this Buddha have their suffering removed, and their children have complete bodies, pleasing appearance, intelligence, peace, little illness and protection from nonhuman beings taking their vital energy.” These counts of precepts and the stance toward other gods belong to the scripture.

The Buddha asked Ananda whether he trusted the profound, hard-to-understand realm of Medicine Buddha’s virtues. Ananda replied that he did not doubt the scriptures because the Tathagata’s body, speech and mind are pure: sun and moon might fall and Mount Sumeru shake, but the buddhas’ words would not change. He said that those weak in faith might doubt how remembering one Buddha’s name could bring so much merit, slander the teaching, lose great benefit and wander in painful destinies. The Buddha answered that those who wholeheartedly uphold the name without doubt cannot fall there. This profound realm is difficult even for disciples, solitary buddhas and bodhisattvas not yet established on the stages to understand fully, apart from those one life away from buddhahood. Ananda’s acceptance too came through the Tathagata’s power. Human birth and reverence for the Three Treasures are difficult to obtain, and hearing Medicine Buddha’s name is harder still. An eon would end before the Buddha’s practices, skillful means and vows could be exhausted in speech.

The bodhisattva Rescuing Liberation rose, bared the right shoulder, knelt and joined his palms. He described people in the age of the semblance of Dharma weakened by prolonged illness, unable to eat or drink, with dry throats and lips and signs of death, surrounded by weeping family and friends. Though the body remains in bed, consciousness is taken by Yama’s messengers before the king, where an accompanying spirit presents the record of good and harmful deeds for judgment. If relatives take refuge in Medicine Buddha, invite monks to recite, light a seven-tiered lamp and raise five-colored life-prolonging banners, the text says consciousness may return. After seven, twenty-one, thirty-five or forty-nine days, the person awakens as from a dream, remembers the results of deeds and refuses wrongdoing even at risk of death. Therefore the text urges upholding the name and making reverent offerings within one’s means.

When Ananda asked how to make the offerings, banners and lamps, Rescuing Liberation answered: “For someone seeking release from illness, keep the eight abstinence precepts for seven days and nights; provide food and necessities to monks within one’s means; worship Medicine Buddha at the six periods of day and night; recite this scripture forty-nine times and light forty-nine lamps. Make seven images, with seven lamps before each, each lamp as large as a cartwheel and kept alight for up to forty-nine days. Make five-colored banners forty-nine hand-spans long, and release living creatures of various kinds up to forty-nine. The text says this overcomes danger and prevents seizure by harmful spirits.” A hand-span measures the spread hand. These are ritual descriptions within the scripture.

“When an anointed ruler faces epidemic, invasion, rebellion, unusual stars, eclipses, untimely wind and rain or drought in the rainy season, the ruler should develop compassion for all beings, pardon prisoners and honor Medicine Buddha as described. Through this goodness and the vow’s power, the text says the land becomes peaceful, weather timely, crops ripe and beings healthy and happy; violent yakshas cease harm, ominous signs vanish, and the ruler’s life, appearance and strength improve. If empresses, consorts, heirs, princes, ministers, palace women, officials or common people suffer illness or danger, offerings of five-colored banners, sustained lamps, release of living creatures, flowers and incense likewise bring relief,” it continues.

When Ananda asked how a life already ended could be prolonged, Rescuing Liberation described nine untimely deaths. The first includes dying from a minor illness for lack of medicine or care, receiving the wrong treatment, or trusting frightening predictions, divination and animal sacrifices in a futile search for longevity, dying and entering a hell with no stated time of release. The second is execution under royal law. The third is indulgence in hunting, entertainment, sex and drink, losing restraint and having vital energy taken by nonhuman beings. The fourth is fire; fifth, drowning; sixth, being eaten by animals; seventh, falling from a cliff; eighth, poison, spells or corpse-raising spirits; ninth, dying of hunger or thirst without food or drink. The text recommends cultivating merit and making banners and lamps so that one’s natural lifespan may be completed, and says there are countless other untimely deaths. This reflects its historical account of death and causation.

“King Yama governs the registers of the world and, the text says, examines and punishes offenses according to their weight: lack of filial care, the five grave offenses, insulting or damaging the Three Treasures, violating ruler-subject relations or destroying faith and discipline. Thus I encourage beings to light lamps, make banners, release creatures and cultivate merit, so that they may pass beyond distress and avoid calamities,” Rescuing Liberation explains.

Twelve yaksha generals were present: Kubira, Vajra, Mekira, Andira, Anira, Sandira, Indara, Haira, Makora, Shindara, Shotora and Bikara. Their Chinese spellings and order follow the source text displayed here.

Each general had seven thousand yaksha attendants. Together they said: “Through the Buddha’s power we have heard Medicine Buddha’s name and no longer fear painful destinies. United in heart, we take lifelong refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and vow to shoulder the burden of all beings and bring them benefit and ease. In any village, town, country or secluded forest where this scripture is circulated, the name upheld and reverent offerings made, we and our attendants will protect those people, release them from suffering and fulfill their wishes. Those seeking escape from illness or danger should also recite this scripture, tie our names in five-colored threads, and untie the knots when their wishes are fulfilled.”

The Buddha praised the generals: “Excellent! Great yaksha generals, if you wish to repay the kindness of Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata, you should always benefit and bring well-being to all beings in this way.”

Ananda asked what the teaching should be called and how to uphold it. The Buddha answered: “Call it the Teaching of Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata’s Original Vows and Merits; also the Twelve Divine Generals’ Wish-Fulfilling Sacred Formula for Benefiting Beings; also the Removal of All Karmic Obstructions. Uphold it accordingly.” When the Blessed One finished, the great bodhisattvas, disciples, kings, ministers, brahmins, householders, gods, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans and nonhumans all rejoiced, accepted it and put it into practice.