By Venerable Master Hsing Yun
Founder of Fo Guang Shan
Oh great, compassionate Medicine Buddha!
Please listen to my report.
There is truly too much suffering in the world these days:
The crimes of arson, murder, and theft;
The cruel oppression of corrupt officials;
The turbulence of politics and the economy;
The disasters of earth, water, fire, and wind;
All these often make people lose everything they own
In the blink of an eye.
The suffering of being bedridden with a lingering illness
Resulting from an imbalance of the four great elements;
Even heroes moan and groan and have difficulty being at ease;
The sea of karma that is filled of passions and delusions
Resulting from greed, anger, and ignorance
Rolls unceasingly like roaring waves and billows.
Oh great, compassionate Medicine Buddha!
If we do not depend on you now,
How can we escape the sea of suffering?
If we do not rely on you now,
How can we subdue our defilements and resentments?
Today, I sincerely chant your name, and
Pay respect to your image,
Not to ask you only to bless myself,
But to hope that all beings obtain your great protection
To live and work in peace and contentment,
And in happiness and harmony.
Oh great, compassionate Medicine Buddha!
We understand thoroughly:
That, in this world of impurity,
All natural disasters and human-made calamities
Are caused by collective karma;
That, on this impure, mundane earth,
Physical and mental suffering
Is caused by the passions and delusions of life.
If we want to thoroughly eliminate calamities and disasters,
We must first eliminate the karma of our own wrongdoings;
If we want to establish the Pure Land of the East,
We must first purify our bodies and minds.
Therefore, I would like to pray to you, Medicine Buddha,
To eliminate our greed and anger,
To eliminate our ignorance and struggles.
We are willing to transfer all our good-rooted merits
To all beings in the dharma realms.
May everyone live freely
And everything turns out as they wish.
Furthermore, great, compassionate Medicine Buddha!
I pray to you to bestow your great power on us for protection;
I will undertake the following, pure, original vows:
First vow: May all sentient beings be equal and at ease;
Second vow: May all undertakings benefit the masses;
Third vow: May panic and terror be kept far away;
Fourth vow: May all sentient beings calmly uphold bodhi;
Fifth vow: May man-made calamities and natural disasters disappear completely;
Sixth vow: May all physically-challenged beings be rehabilitated back to normal;
Seventh vow: May all beings suffering from diseases be restored to health;
Eighth vow: May all human relations foster mutual understanding and harmony;
Ninth vow: May all beings with wrong views turn over a new leaf;
Tenth vow: May all prisoners suffering unjustly come to know justice;
Eleventh vow: May society and the masses live in affluence;
Twelfth vow: May all beings be tolerant and respectful.
Oh great, compassionate Medicine Buddha!
We make offerings to you
With our pure deeds of body, mouth, and mind;
We take you as our model
With our zealous progress in the study of precept, meditation, and wisdom;
I pray that you give, with your great compassion,
Your respect-inspiring virtues all over the dharma realms
To fulfill our wishes,
To let our human world also establish the Pure Land of the East.
Oh great, compassionate Medicine Buddha,
Please accept my sincerest prayer!
Oh great, compassionate Medicine Buddha,
Please accept my sincerest prayer!
(Excerpted from “A Prayer for Pilgrimage 朝山祈願文)” from Pearls of Wisdom: Prayers for Engaged Living by Ven. Master Hsing Yun)