Page 64 - Popular Deities of Chinese Buddhism (Illustrated) and Symbols

Despite his great popularity, temples dedicated to him are very

scarce so that those who wish to worship him may do so at tem-

ples where his images can be found. He is often found in a triad

with Sakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha, and his sym-

bols are either the medicine bowl or the pagoda. When depicted

alone, he holds his symbol with his left hand and he is normally

attended to by his prominent disciples, the Great Bodhisattvas

‘Radiance of the Sun’ and the ‘Radiance of the Moon’.

In the Sutra of the Master of Healing Sakyamuni Buddha de-

scribed Yao Shih Fwo to Manjusri Bodhisattva thus:

“Eastward from here, beyond Buddha-land about ten times as

numerous as the sands of the Ganga, there is a world called ‘e

Pure Crystal Realm’, the Paradise of Yao Shih. Its Buddha has

a few titles, such as e Master of Healing, Azure Radiance

Tathagata, e Arhat of Perfect Knowledge, the Perfect Mind

and Deed, e Well Departed Sugata, e Knower of the World,

e Peerless Nobleman, e Man Who Brings e Passion of

Men Under Control, the Teacher of Devas and Men….”

While still a bodhisattva, he made Twelve Great Vows to free

living beings from the bondage of karma. He vowed to guard

their progress towards enlightenment, to help them keep their

precepts, to free them from the snares of wrong religious prac-

tices and false doctrines, to provide food and drink for the hun-

gry, to restore the bodies of the deformed, to rescue those facing

execution and to lead them to a happy and tranquil life. e

full text of the Twelve Vows cannot be given fully here but the

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