e two most adored Buddhas of the distant past, whose exist-
ence were revealed to us by Sakyamuni Buddha himself, are
shown seated by his sides. A B, e Buddha
of Boundless Light and Limitless Life, the Creator of the West-
ern Paradise (Sukhavati) where all Pure Land Buddhists hope
to take rebirth into, sits on the right hand side of Sakyamuni
Buddha. B-G, the Healing Buddha, the Creator
of the Eastern Paradise, also known as the Medicine Buddha
because of his healing powers, is seated on the left.
Just below the Buddhas are the ree Great Bodhisattvas. A
Bodhisattva or P’usa, in Chinese, is an Enlightened Being who
forsakes Nirvana and accepts rebirth into the suffering worlds
of Samsara for the sake of relieving the pains of sentient beings
and leading them to the path of enlightenment. e six sam-
saric realms or worlds are those belonging to the gods, asuras,
humans, animals, ghosts and hell-beings.K S Y P’ or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva can be
seen seated just below Sakyamuni Buddha and is flanked by her
two famous disciples ‘G Y’ and ‘J G’. Being
the personification of Compassion, Kuan Yin is easily the most
popular of all the Deities of the entire pantheon.W-S P’ or Manjusri Bodhisattva, the embodiment
of Wisdom, is the figure seated upon the lion which represents
the ‘wild mind’ which meditation transforms. P H P’
or Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, the personification of Perfect
Activity and Happiness, is depicted as seated upon the white