Today I’m going to talk about Buddha, let’s talk about the three generations of Buddha. A Buddha is a person who has perfected merit and wisdom. In layman's terms, a Buddha is a person of great wisdom, great compassion and great power. Let’s talk about “Erecting the Buddha of the

Buddha's light shines everywhere

Today we talk about Buddha, mainly about the third Buddha .

A Buddha is a person who has perfected merit and wisdom. In layman's terms, a Buddha is a person of great wisdom, great compassion and great power.

Buddha in the narrow sense refers to Sakyamuni a person. Buddha in a broad sense refers to all Buddhas. All sentient beings may become Buddhas after practicing for three countless kalpas.

In Mahayana Buddhism, the main object of reverence is the Buddha of the Three Generations. The third Buddha is divided into "upright third Buddha" and " horizontal third Buddha " .

Let’s talk about “ Standing Three Times Buddha ” first. “Standing Three Times Buddha” is calculated based on time. It is also called Three Times Buddha , including past Buddhas, present Buddhas, and future Buddhas.

The Buddha in the middle is the current Buddha, namely Sakyamuni Buddha, which is often called Tathagata Buddha.

Sakyamuni, whose real name is " Gautama Siddhartha", is the founder of Buddhism. He was originally the prince of the Sakya tribe Suddhodana . Because he was deeply aware of the sufferings in life, he decided to become a monk and practice Taoism when he became an adult. Finally, after seven days and seven nights of meditation under the Bodhi tree, he finally understood the reasons for the sufferings in life and the results of his cultivation.

The Buddha on the left is past Buddha , that is, Ran Deng Buddha .

Buddhist scriptures say that when the Buddha was born, his body was as bright as a lamp. He was the Buddha in the 91 kalpas before Sakyamuni Buddha (the world from birth to destruction is one kalpa), and before Sakyamuni became a Buddha, Lantern The Buddha once gave him a " prophecy", predicting that he would become a Buddha in the future. Therefore, the lamp-burning Buddha is called the past Buddha.

Burning Buddha

The Buddha on the right is the future Buddha, namely Maitreya Buddha.

Buddhist scriptures say that according to the prophecy of Tathagata , his disciple Maitreya Buddha will come back to the world fifty-six billion years after his death, inherit his throne and become a Buddha, so Maitreya Buddha is called For the future Buddha.

Since Buddhism entered the Central Plains, it has been continuously Chineseized. The image of Maitreya Buddha is also very different from before. Now it has become a chubby monk with a smile on his face and a cloth bag in his hand.

Maitreya Buddha

Upright Third Buddha

Let’s talk about “Horizontal Third Buddha”. “Horizontal Third Buddha” is calculated in terms of space, including Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha and Medicine Buddha.

The Buddha in the middle is still Sakyamuni Buddha, the Tathagata Sakyamuni, who is in charge of the central Saha world.

The Saha world is the real world where people live. "Whisao" means tolerable, which means that sentient beings in this world have a strong ability to endure suffering.

Sakyamuni Buddha is responsible for the mission of living in the world to save people and to save all sentient beings.

There are two attendant Bodhisattvas of Sakyamuni Buddha . One is the "Great Wisdom" Manjushri Bodhisattva , specializing in wisdom; the other is the "Great Practice" Samantabhadra Bodhisattva , specializing in "principles and virtues".

Sakyamuni Buddha

The Buddha on the left is Amitabha Buddha, the Tathagata Amitabha, who is in charge of the Western Paradise.

The Western Paradise is also called the Western Pure Land and the Pure Land of Amitabha. The people in this world are all "good people", so there is no much suffering, so it is called "Ultimate Bliss".

Amitabha Buddha mainly uses his power of vows to lead all living beings to the Land of Ultimate Bliss and escape from the cycle of suffering, so he is also called " The Leading Buddha". Generally, the main purpose of praying to Amitabha is to pray for liberation after death.

In the early Tang Dynasty, the Pure Land Sect was founded, advocating the practice of "reciting the name of the Buddha", that is, just by "reciting the name of the Buddha" and yearning for the Pure Land in the West, it is possible to gradually become a Buddha. Therefore, "Namo Amitabha" has become a term used by Buddhists to surrender to the Buddha wholeheartedly. Namo is pronounced nā mó, which means to pay tribute and return to life.

There are also two Bodhisattvas accompanying Amitabha. One is the "Great Compassion" Guanyin Bodhisattva , who specializes in saving and liberating sentient beings in distress and freeing them from all kinds of pain and troubles; the other is the "Great Courage" Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva , who specializes in protecting sentient beings from evil spirits.

It is recorded in the " Sad Flower Sutra " that Amitabha Buddha was the King of Dharma before he became a Buddha. His name is Wu Zheng Nian. After he became a Buddha, his four sons all became Bodhisattvas, namely Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, Manjushri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.

Amitabha

The Buddha on the right is the Medicine Buddha, also called Pharmacist Glazed Light Tathagata, who is in charge of the Eastern Glazed World.

Medicine Buddha was originally a Brahma who raised two sons and vowed to save sick and suffering sentient beings. After being praised and instructed by the Tathagata of Lightning, he became the Medicine Buddha. His two sons also became his two great attendant Bodhisattvas, namely Sunlight Bodhisattva and Moonlight Bodhisattva .

The Oriental Glazed World is the pure land of Medicine Buddha. The ground there is paved with glass, and even the Buddha's body is as transparent as glass. Under the leadership of the Medicine Buddha, all sentient beings have no evil desires, and everyone yearns for peace, giving people supreme majesty and beauty.

Generally, the main purpose of praying to Medicine Buddha is to pray for peace and happiness in this world. Medicine Buddha can bless people in the world to eliminate disasters, prolong life, and cure diseases. Many old people and patients will worship Medicine Buddha for health and longevity.

Sunlight Bodhisattva can ward off demons and natural disasters, and destroy all sins; Moonlight Bodhisattva can protect physical health, increase wisdom, eliminate disasters, prolong life, and eliminate illnesses.

Medicine Buddha

Heng Sanshi Buddha

How to distinguish these Buddha statues?

Generally speaking, the Buddha with burning lanterns performs the Dharma seal and sits upright with a snail hair. It is said that Dharma seal is one of the postures of Buddha statues. The thumb and middle finger (or index finger, ring finger) are twisted together, and the other fingers are relaxed naturally.

The statue of Sakyamuni Buddha is begging for alms with his left hand and his right hand touches the ground (palm facing inward).

The Medicine Buddha statue generally holds a medicine tower and stands on a lotus flower.

Amitabha Buddha usually holds a lotus in his left hand and holds it in his right hand, or he wears the Amitabha seal and sits upright with a conch hair. Amitabha Seal means with the two palms raised under the navel, the right hand folded on the left hand, and the two thumbs touching.

In addition to worshiping the three Buddhas, some temples also worship the Three-Kaya Buddha, namely the three bodies of Sakyamuni, the Dharmakaya, the Sambhogakaya, and the Response Body.

Dharmakaya Buddha is Vairochana Buddha , Sambhogakaya Buddha is Lusena Buddha , Yingshen Buddha is Sakyamuni Buddha, which will not be described in detail here.

If a person is pious and kind, and believes he will be blessed by the Buddhas, his whole family will be safe, happy, and healthy, everything will go well, and all his wishes will come true!

Three Body Buddha