Prayers for recovery from illness, good health, and peace of body and mind are carried on the flame of the homa. You can apply online.
Next service
October 8, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Offering 500 yen per wish
from 8:00 p.m.
8th of each month Yakushi Homa
The 8th is the ennichi of Bhaisajyaguru. At Byodoji we perform the homa before the Medicine Buddha from 8:00 p.m. on the 8th of every month.
Bhaisajyaguru is the teacher of the Eastern Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli, who vowed to remove the illnesses of beings and grant peace of body and mind. His full name is Bhaisajyaguru, the Lapis-Lazuli Radiance Tathagata.
Sokusai means removing illness and misfortune and keeping body and mind well. We pray by joining Bhaisajyaguru's power to free beings from illness with the flame of the homa.
Submit your name and wish from home. We read them aloud and pray at the rite, and you can attend remotely by live stream.
The Yakushi Homa is a prayer for recovery from illness and peace of body and mind, performed as a fire rite before Bhaisajyaguru.
A homa is a Shingon rite in which the wisdom-fire is kindled in the homa hearth and, while reciting the mantra, sticks are offered one by one into the flame. We read aloud each applicant's name and wish as we offer the sticks and pray.
Bhaisajyaguru vowed to remove the illnesses of beings and make body and mind at peace. Looking to that power to free beings from illness, we pray for healing, health, and the averting of calamity.
The 8th of each month is the ennichi of Bhaisajyaguru. An ennichi is a day of deep affinity with a particular Buddha; it has long been said that praying or visiting on such a day forms an especially strong bond of merit.
At Byodoji we perform the Yakushi Homa on the 8th, Yakushi's ennichi, praying for the health and well-being of that month.
Bhaisajyaguru is the Buddha who himself vowed to remove the illnesses of beings and make both body and mind at peace.
The Bhaisajyaguru Sutra sets out the Twelve Great Vows he made while still a bodhisattva. The seventh is a vow to save beings who suffer from illness.
May it be that, when I attain awakening in a future life, if beings are oppressed by many illnesses, with no rescue and no refuge, no physician and no medicine, no kin and no home, poor and full of suffering, then as soon as my name once reaches their ears, all their illnesses shall be removed and their body and mind made at peace.
Bhaisajyaguru's root vow to remove illness and grant ease. This is the basis of prayers for recovery.
Easing not only the body but the suffering of the mind, bringing peace.
Removing misfortune and keeping life well and whole.
on korokoro sendari matogi sowaka
oṃ huru huru caṇḍāli mātaṅgi svāhā
This is widely recited as the heart-mantra of Bhaisajyaguru, chanted to remove the suffering of illness and to pray for peace of body and mind.
Along with your prayer request, you can receive items matched to the honzon of this service.
Apply for one prayer and one item together.
Apply for one prayer and one item together.
Apply for one prayer and one item together.
Items are delivered after the prayer service. You can change the wish and quantity on the application screen.
On the night of the 8th, before Bhaisajyaguru, the homa unfolds as follows.
STEP 1
Online or at the temple office, write your name and wish and make an offering. Byodoji receives your application and reads it aloud to pray at the homa.
STEP 2
The officiant forms the mudra before Bhaisajyaguru, recites the mantra, and kindles the wisdom-fire in the homa hearth.
STEP 3
Reading aloud each applicant's name and wish, we offer the homa sticks one by one into the flame and convey them to Bhaisajyaguru.
STEP 4
We dedicate the merit of the homa toward each applicant's recovery, health, and peace of body and mind. Remote participants can see their prayer card appear on screen and be drawn into the Buddha.
A prayer for health is not for oneself alone. Together with the wish for the recovery of family and those close to you, you may also pray for your own peace of body and mind.
The Yakushi Homa can hold many prayers for the well-being of body and mind.
For those who pray for recovery from illness and the keeping of health.
For those facing surgery or treatment, and for the family who pray for their recovery.
For those who wish to ease bodily trouble or heaviness of heart and be at peace.
For those who wish to keep misfortune at a distance and live in good health.
You can apply at the temple office or online. Online applicants, too, have their name and wish read aloud and prayed for at Byodoji, and may attend the rite by stream.
8th of each month, 8:00 p.m. / Now accepting
Performed on the night of Yakushi's ennichi, before Bhaisajyaguru, the Buddha of medicine and healing.
Select "Yakushi Homa" in the application form. You may also apply for several homa rites, or for prayers over a period (six months or a year).
We also accept annual prayers, read aloud at the Yakushi Homa on the 8th of each month for a full year. Choose a period of "12" months in the form.
Compare Byodoji's five monthly Goma rites by wish, including prayers for healing, protection from misfortune, work, and memorial services.
Choose from five Goma rites by your wishDetailed guide to Ganfuji prayers for healing from cancerAnswers to common questions about applying for the Yakushi Homa.
Yes. Anyone may apply, regardless of faith or denomination.
Yes. You may apply on behalf of family, friends, or others. Please write their name and wish.
Yes. Each name and wish you submit is read aloud and prayed for one by one at Byodoji's homa. The prayer is the same whether or not you visit.
Yes. We accept annual prayers read aloud at the homa on the 8th for a full year. Choose the period in the form.
Yes. The homa from 8:00 p.m. on the 8th is live-streamed. From home, you can join your hands to the flame through the stream.
Bhaisajyaguru is the Buddha who vowed to remove illness and make both body and mind at peace. The flame of the homa on the 8th is for looking to that healing power on Yakushi's ennichi.
To all who pray for their own health or that of their family, we offer the Yakushi Homa on the 8th of each month. We pray sincerely for the peace of your body and mind.
