Raoul BirnbaumCritiques

A detailed look at the Medicine Buddha (Bhaisajyaguru), which also covers the various related bodhisattvas and cosmologies (the Lapis Lazuli world, the myrobalan fruit, the bowl of amrta, the Seven (sometimes 8) Buddhas of the Lapis Lazuli Radiance, the Masters of Healing, the 12 Yaksha Generals (and their relatinship to the 12 astrological houses and the Big Dipper), the attendant bodhisattvas All-Pervading Solar Radiance [Suryavairocana] and All-Pervading Lunar Radiance [Candravairocana]).

Healing is an important concept in Buddhism and while one of its meanings is healing as in the cure of diseases, healing in Buddhism is more importantly "the healing process as a metaphor for spiritual growth with the Buddha as the Supreme Physician and the Buddhist Teachings termed the King of Medicines" (p. 3)

Extensive selections from various sutras and ritual examples illustrate iconographic details, although the black & white photos are of very poor quality. The references to esoteric Buddhism in China are especially helpful as they remain amongst the first to have given us insight into some of its beliefs and practices as seen in the cult of Bhaisajyaguru.

There are also excellent references to the other 'healing Buddhas' of Buddhism--Avalokitesvara, Samantabhadra, and Amitabha together with some of their rituals and iconography.

The book is still, in my opinion, the best single source on the subject, in addition to an article by S. C. Bosch Reitz in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin's (Vol. 19, No. 4), April 1924, "Trinity of the Buddha of Healing." It is a volume I have returned to several times.