Medicine Buddha Mantra
“Medicine Buddha Mantra” is a calligraphy painting of this mantra in Chinese by Jinhui Wu. It is an artistic, cultural and spiritual representation of hope during the current crisis. The work is written on fine paper with traditional brush pens. The uniqueness of this work lies in the ink which is the mixture of writing ink and the drops of the juice of the local cactus at the artist’s backyard in Tucson. The combination of the characters resembles a wooden fish—a wooden percussion tool used during Buddhist rituals usually involving the recitation of sutras and mantras. The composition indicates the equal power of the written words and the chanting of the mantras.
About the Artist
Jinhui Wu is currently a doctoral candidate in East Asian Studies and a junior fellow of the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Arizona. Wu earned their first M.A in Language Education from University of Leeds, and second M.A in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from University of Colorado at Boulder. Jinhui has taught Chinese language and culture courses for years and was a Fulbright fellow. Wu is currently working on Chinese Buddhism and literature in late imperial China.
