17.25" x 12.75" Medicine Buddha Thangka Painting

Medicine Buddha -  The Supreme Healer

Noble One, you should think of yourself as someone who is sick,
Of the Dharma as the remedy,
Of the Buddha as a skillful doctor,
And of your diligent practice as the way to recovery.

The Medicine Buddha, or Bhaisajyaguru, is the Buddha of Healing.   Meditating on the Medicine Buddha is considered to be a powerful method  for increasing healing powers, allowing practitioners to alleviate their own sufferings as well as those of others. Through his boundless compassion  and generosity, Bhaisajyaguru helps sincere seekers overcome  physical illness and infirmity. But even more importantly, the Buddha is  the skillful doctor who heals the great disease afflicting all sentient  beings. By providing the Dharma as a profound antidote to the  poisons of attachment, hatred and ignorance, he lifts the veil of  delusion and points the way to freedom.

Gestures and Attributes

The Buddha is depicted with his right hand extended downward,  palm open, with thumb and index finger touching. This posture is known as  Varada Mudra, or the gesture of granting wishes. This mudra symbolizes  Bhaisajyaguru's kindness, charity and compassion toward all beings.  In the same hand he lightly grasps a sprig of the Myrobalan  plant, an important healing herb in Ayurvedic medicine. It is believed that  this plant has the power not only to heal the body, but also to free one from  the inner sicknesses of attachment, hatred and ignorance. His left hand lies  in his lap with palm upward in the gesture of meditation (Dhyana Mudra),  representing the eradication of all sickness and suffering through the realization  of absolute truth. In the same hand he holds the traditional begging bowl of an  ordained Buddhist monk. The bowl contains a sacred medicinal nectar that cures  all ills, hindrances and obstacles.