Medicine Master Sutra
with Commentaries
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Sutra of the Merit and Virtue of the Past Vows of
Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata
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PART 1 – INTRODUCTION
Translated by Tang Dharma Master of the Tripitaka Hsüan-Tsang on imperial command
English Translation by the Buddhist Text Translation Society
Commentaries by Venerable Master Hua
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SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA came to the Saha world in order to help living beings resolve the problem of birth and death. He was born into a royal family, but he renounced the wealth of the kingdom and left his home in order to pursue the Truth. After he attained Buddhahood beneath the Bodhi Tree, he contemplated the living beings in the Saha world and discovered that we have the deepest affinities with two Buddhas-Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata in the East and Amitabha Tathagata in the West.
Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata is the Buddha of the Land of Vaidurya Light in the East. This Buddha bestows blessings and long life on people and helps them in times of disaster and difficulty. Amitabha Buddha of the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the West made a vow that whoever recites his name single-mindedly will be able to take his or her karma along and be reborn from a lotus in his Buddhaland, and that when his or her lotus opens he or she will see the Buddha and awaken to the patience of non-production.
The “Mantra of the Two Buddhas” says,
Two Buddhas proclaim and transform in the Saha world
Aksobhya in the East, Amitabha in the West.
Although Aksobhya (Medicine Master) Buddha is in the Vaidurya Land and Amitabha Buddha is in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, both of these Buddhas teach and transform the living beings of the Saha world. They have deep affinities with each and every one of us. Medicine Master Tathagata is also known as “Medicine Master Buddha Who Quells Disasters and Lengthens Life;” Amitabha Tathagata is known as both the “Buddha of Limitless Life” (Amitayus) and the “Buddha of Limitless Light” (Amitabha).
If you are mindful of Medicine Master Buddha, he will bestow blessings and long life upon you and save you from disasters, illnesses, and offenses. He fulfills the wishes of all living beings. Amitabha Buddha enables beings to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If you wish to be reborn in that land, simply recite Amitabha Buddha’s name. If you wish to be born in the Vaidurya Land, then recite the name of Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata.
During their lives, people would like to avert disasters and live to a ripe old age. At death, they hope to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Therefore, in Buddhism, there are red plaques for extending life, which are associated with Medicine Master Buddha Who Quells Disasters and Lengthens Life. This Buddha’s light shines upon your life-source. If you wish to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss when you die, then you can recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha.” You can see that we are basically inseparable from these two Buddhas.
Yet we don’t recognize or know very much about these two Buddhas. We might want to be mindful of them, but we don’t even know their names. That’s why Sakyamuni Buddha introduced them to us, telling us about their names, their vows, and their merit and virtue. Hence the name of this Sutra is the Sutra of the Merit and Virtue of the Past Vows of Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata.
“Medicine Master Vaidurya Light” is the name of this Buddha. Tathagata is one of the ten titles of all Buddhas. “Past Vows” refers to the vows to achieve Bodhi that Medicine Master Buddha made before he became a Buddha. If we sincerely make vows, we will certainly reap the fruits of those vows. They won’t be in vain. Vows are also a form of karma. If we make good vows, we will reap good results; bad vows bring bad results. Each person must make his own vows of his own initiative. Once we have made vows, there will be a driving force pushing us to accomplish those vows. Medicine Master Buddha made wholesome vows in his past lives, so he accomplished wholesome karma and reaped wholesome results.
His vows are wholesome because he made them for all living beings. He didn’t vow, “When I become a Buddha, I’ll enjoy my blessings and forget about other living beings.” Having attained the greatest happiness, the Buddha wants to share it with all beings. He perfected his wholesome karma by practicing the Bodhisattva path in life after life. He made a great Bodhi resolve to benefit, enlighten, and rescue all beings. Forgetting themselves and thinking only of living beings, Bodhisattvas make wholesome vows, create wholesome karma, and reap the wholesome result of Buddhahood. When they become Buddhas, they are not arrogant. A Buddha is just the same as the other living beings, except that he has wisdom. He has truly left confusion behind and returned to enlightenment.
We create karma in our every word and deed, and many of them are bad. We might have an occasional good thought, but it is too weak to overcome our bad thoughts. If we were to tally up all our karma on the computer, we would find more bad karma than good. That’s why quite often, our lives can get worse and worse. In each life, due to the impure karma we have created, we meet hard times and end up lost and lonely. Unlike the Buddha, we haven’t always made wholesome vows, cultivated wholesome karma, and reaped wholesome results. Since the evil in our minds outweighs the goodness, we fall lower and lower in each successive life. When we try to make wholesome vows, our selfishness gets in the way. Sometimes we do good deeds, but our real motive is just to present a good image. Thus, the karma we create is very often not wholly good. Since our good intentions are usually polluted by selfish thoughts, quite often, we would experience more suffering than happiness in our lives.
Our happiness is not real. It is not the genuine happiness that arises from the virtues of “permanence, bliss, true self, and purity” of our inherent natures. The things we find happiness in are not genuine or lasting. When we dance, drink wine, or go to the theater, quite often, we “turn our backs on enlightenment and unite with the dust,” deluding ourselves into thinking that we are happy.
“Is there no happiness in the world, then?” you ask. Think it over. Many forms of worldly happiness are indirect causes of suffering. Take clothing, food, and shelter, for instance. People like to dress up in style. But when you put on fancy and expensive clothes, they turn into a yoke around your neck. You can’t move around freely, or stand naturally, or sit or lie down comfortably either. Why not? It is because you want to protect your fancy, expensive outfit. Just think about it: A human being, the highest of all creatures, becomes a slave to his clothes!
People like to eat good food, but even the most delicious food decomposes once it is ingested. If you ask people to regurgitate their food and eat it again, no one would do it.As for shelter, there’s a saying:
One may have ten thousand mansions,
But one doesn’t need more than eight feet of space to sleep in at night.
One may have ten thousand acres of fertile fields,
But one can only eat three meals a day.
Why should you work so frantically all day long, without a moment’s rest, just for the sake of clothing, food, and shelter? When death arrives, you say to the Ghost of Impermanence, “Wait, I haven’t finished taking care of my affairs. Can’t you let me have a little more time?” The Ghost of Impermanence shakes his head and says, “Sorry, I can’t let you live even a minute longer.” And so off you go to die. What’s the point at all? Failing to see things the way they really are, we spend our lives madly pursuing fame and fortune. This is where we differ from the Buddhas.
The Buddha has a clear view of everything. He has seen through everything and put it down, and so he has attained comfort and ease. When he saw through everything, he vowed to benefit living beings and practice the Bodhisattva Way.
Merit and virtue: Merit is created externally, while virtue is accumulated internally. One creates merit by building temples, repairing bridges or roads, or doing other work to benefit others. Virtue exists within one’s self and doesn’t rely on anything external. A virtuous person doesn’t have a bad conscience. He has no reason to feel ashamed before the heavens or before other people. He doesn’t cheat others or himself. In everything he does, he creates outer merit and amasses inner virtue. A saying about virtue goes:
Good done in the hope that others will notice is not genuine good.
Evil done in the fear that others will find out is truly great evil.
Don’t boast about yourself, saying, “I’ve done good deeds. I’ve received the five precepts, the eight precepts, and the Bodhisattva precepts!” Virtuous deeds are done without others knowing. If you want others to notice your good deeds, you are not virtuous. If you try to cover up your bad deeds, then your offenses are great indeed.
Buddhists should not be boastful or competitive, saying, “I’ve done many good deeds and made lots of donations! I really do a lot to support Buddhism!” People with such an attitude are not fit to be Dharma-protectors. Therefore, in studying the teachings, we should remember this point: we should value genuine practice, not false publicity. This is very important. As Buddhists, we must be models for the world. If we have integrity and hold to our principles, other people will respect us and be influenced by us. That is merit and virtue.
“Sutra” refers to the eternal Dharma, to teachings that are not subject to change. Since the Sutras are the teachings of sages, we should never delete or add even a single word to them. The word “Sutra” has many meanings, but in general, they do not go beyond the four meanings: “stringing together”, “attracting”, being “constant”, and being “a standard”.
The Four Meanings of Sutra
- “Stringing together”: The principles and meanings spoken by the Buddha are strung together from the beginning to the end.
- “Attracting” means gathering all living beings.
- Being “constant” means never changing from the ancient times to the present. Whether the Sutras are spoken by the Buddhas of the past, present, or future, they are the same.
- Being “a standard:” A Sutra is a standard followed by all Buddhas and all living beings of the past, present, and future. By definition, a “standard” is honored by all throughout time.
The word Sutra has the meaning of “a chalk-line,” for it is like the marking line that carpenters used in ancient times for making straight lines. Sutra also means “a bubbling spring”, for it is like water gushing forth from a spring.
Now let us continue to explain the words of the title, “Sutra of the Merit and Virtue of the Past Vows of Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata.” “Master” refers to the Buddha, who is a great king of physicians, one who can heal the sicknesses of all people. No matter what sort of incurable disease you have, the Buddha can certainly cure you. Even if you are supposed to die, he can bring you back to life. Therefore, he is the “Medicine Master.”
“Vaidurya ” is a translucent substance. It is also the name of Medicine Master Buddha’s land of reward, where he is the teaching host. His body, which is made of Vaidurya, is pure and lustrous both inside and out. This Buddha thoroughly understands all the various kinds of medicines. In ancient China, the Emperor Shennong [c.2838 B.C.] was said to have tasted all the various medicinal herbs. His body was also as if transparent. When he ingested a medicine, he could observe its effects in his stomach and see what channels the medicine travelled to. He tasted all the medicinal herbs and classified them as sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, or salty; as cold, hot, warm, or neutral in nature; and as poisonous or nontoxic. “Light”: this Buddha’s body has an inner and outer radiance and is a pure, bright storehouse of light.
“Tathagata” is one of the ten titles of a Buddha. The ten titles are: Tathagata (Thus Come One), One Worthy of Offerings, One of Proper and Universal Knowledge, One Whose Understanding and Practice are Complete, Well Gone One Who Understands the World, Supreme Lord, Regulating Hero, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, and World Honored One. Originally, every Buddha had 100,000 titles, but that was too many for people to remember, so they were later condensed to 10,000. That was still too many, so they were reduced to 1000. But 1000 was still too numerous, so they were decreased to 100. One hundred titles were still too many, so they were reduced to only ten titles. These ten titles do not belong exclusively to any particular Buddha; every Buddha has them. All Buddhists should know these ten general designations for the Buddhas. Some people who know nothing about Buddhism think “Tathagata Buddha” is the name of a Buddha, but actually, every Buddha can be called Tathagata. Tathagata (“Thus Come One”) means: “Following the Way which is: ‘Thus, he comes to realize right enlightenmen’ “.
“Past Vows” refers to vows that the Buddha made in past lives, not to vows made in the present life.
Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata of the Eastern Land is also known as “Aksobhya Buddha.” Medicine Master Buddha belongs to the Vajra Division in the East. The Vajra Division emphasizes the Dharmas of Subduing, which can overcome the heavenly demons and those of external sects. The demons and externalists become subdued as soon as they see the Vajra Dharma-protectors of the Vajra Division. If you sincerely recite the Surangama Mantra, which contains Dharmas of Subduing, you will have the constant protection of 84,000 Vajra Treasury Bodhisattvas.
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