Page 66 - Popular Deities of Chinese Buddhism (Illustrated) and Symbols

Seventh Vow, which specifically pledges to relieve man of physi-

cal illness and to dispel his spiritual confusion, earned him the

title of ‘Physician of Soul’, runs like this:

“I vow that, after my reincarnation and having attained Per-

fect Enlightenment, those who are tormented by diseases, who

have nobody to whom they can seek for help, without a refuge,

without a doctor, without medicine, without relatives, without a

home; these poor and miserables beings shall all of them be free

from diseases and pains, and shall enjoy perfect health of body

and mind, once my name reaches their ears. ey shall have

families, friends and properties a-plenty, and shall all be brought

to the supreme Enlightenment of Buddha.”

rough the perfection of these Great Vows, the bodhisattva has

attained Buddhahood and thus became known as Yao Shih Fwo,

the Buddha who is able to bestow all kinds of benefits to those

who have faith in him.

In the same Sutra the Buddha Sakyamuni also revealed to

Manjusri that:

“A woman may suffer from great pain while giving birth. If she

can whole-heartedly worship the Buddha of Medicine and to

invoke the name Tathagata, worship Him, and make offerings

to Him, all pain will vanish, the newly born will have a sound

and healthy body; whoever sees him will rejoice at his being so

clever, so strong and healthy; and no demon comes to rob him

of his vitality.”

 