(d) Bhaisagya Buddha (Yaksayorae-bul, in Korean)

Bhaisagya Buddha is the Universal Healer or Medicine Buddha. He provides relief not only from disease and misfortune, but also from igno-rance, which is the greatest ill to Buddhists.

Usually Bodhisattvas, not Buddhas, hold attribute objects. The alms bowl and the medicine bowl (which evolved as a symbol from the alms bowl) are the only exceptions. Sakyamuni and Amitabha hold the alms bowl, or sometimes hold their hands in a mudra suggestive of holding the vessel, and Bhaisagya Buddha holds the medicine bowl.

The alms bowl is one of the very few personal possessions of Buddhist monks. It repre-sents the sincere offerings of believers and the humility of monks.

Images of Bhaisagya Buddha closely resem-ble those of Amitabha except that the latter is usually golden, while the former is almost always white. Though Bhaisagya Buddha usually holds the medicine bowl in both hands, he sometimes holds it in only one hand, the left. In this case, the right hand assumes the pose of the "absence of fear" which, although certainly appropriate to his role as a healer, is usually associated with Amitabha.