This 8.75″ Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) statue is finished entirely in oxidized copper — no gilding — with exceptionally fine hand-carved engravings throughout the robes and lotus throne visible in the warm, aged copper surface. The detail work on this statue is more elaborate than the standard engraving found on simpler pieces: scroll patterns, floral motifs, and robe folds rendered with the precision that the Newar lost wax sculpting tradition produces at its best. The statue was handcrafted in Patan, Nepal by a master artisan of the Shakya caste. At 8.75″ on a single lotus throne this is a compact personal altar size whose material and craft quality reward close attention.
The Buddhist understanding of the causes of illness is more nuanced than a simple equation of bad karma with disease. In the Tibetan medical tradition, illness arises from multiple interdependent conditions: physical causes (diet, environment, seasonal factors), mental causes (the three mental poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance conditioning the three humors), and karmic causes (actions from this and previous lives creating the predispositions that shape how physical and mental conditions manifest). Medicine Buddha’s practice addresses specifically the karmic and mental dimensions — not as a replacement for physical treatment but as the dimension of healing that physical treatment cannot reach. A virtuous life following the Dharma path, including Medicine Buddha practice, works at the level of the karmic predispositions and mental afflictions that condition how suffering arises — addressing the roots rather than only the manifestations. This is why Medicine Buddha’s practice is understood in the Tibetan tradition as complementary to formal medical treatment rather than an alternative to it. Learn more in our Medicine Buddha guide.
Medicine Buddha Statue Features
Medicine Buddha sits in full lotus posture on a single lotus throne, his right hand in the Varada mudra — the gift-giving gesture, palm open and facing outward, draped over the right knee — holding the stem of the myrobalan plant between thumb and index finger. His left hand rests in the Dhyana mudra holding the lapis medicine bowl of three nectars in the open palm, healing the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance at their root. He bears the traditional marks of an enlightened being: the ushnisha, elongated earlobes, three neck lines, and clockwise-curling hair coils among the 32 marks of a great being.
Authentic, Handmade in Nepal
Every statue and ritual item is handcrafted in Patan, Nepal, using traditional lost wax casting and comes with a certificate of authenticity issued by Nepal's Department of Archaeology, verifying its materials, technique, and origin.
