Decline of the Dharma

For other meanings of "Latter Days", see Latter Days (disambiguation). For other uses of Three Ages, see Three Ages (disambiguation).
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The Decline of the Dharma, also known as the Ages of the Dharma (Chinese: fa shi), are names for traditional Buddhist accounts of how the Buddhist religion is believed to decline throughout history. It constitutes a key aspect of Buddhist eschatology and provides a cyclical model of history, beginning with a virtuous age and ending with an age of strife, in which Buddhism is eventually totally forgotten. This is then believed to eventually lead to the arrival of a new Buddha, Maitreya.

There are various accounts of this process of Dharma decline, which begins with Shakyamuni Buddha's death and continues throughout the generations as society and its knowledge of the Buddha's teachings decline over hundreds of years.

Ages of the Dharma

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Further information: Dharma § Buddhism

There are different accounts of the decline of the Buddha's teaching (Buddha Dharma), i.e. Buddhism. These Buddhist accounts of longue durée history and temporal cosmology always assumes a cyclical pattern of virtue and decline. In degenerate times, the current Buddha's teachings fall into disregard and are forgotten. In virtuous times a new Buddha will at some point (usually considered to be millions of years in the future) be born to ensure the continuity of Buddhism.[1]

The teaching of the decline of the Dharma is found in early Buddhist sources.[2][3] References to the decline of the Dharma over time can also be found Mahayana sutras, including the Diamond Sutra and the Lotus Sutra.

Mahayanist and Nikaya (non-Mahayanist) sources all agree that our current time period is now on the downward slope of degeneration and that only after a period of strife and disaster will the cycle reverse to a period of gradual improvements.[4]

Cakkavatti Sutta

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Detail of a sculpted railing at Phanigiri depicting a Chakravartin

One of the earliest sources which contain a Buddhist discussion of historical decline is found in the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta (Digha Nikaya 26) of the Pāli Canon (as well as in various parallel sources in other canons, like Dīrghāgama sutra number 6).[1] The sutta recounts the story of a legendary universal monarch (cakkavatti) who lived far in the past. This king governed righteously and upheld the Dhamma, ensuring peace and prosperity. Over time, successive kings neglect the Dharmic principles and fail to uphold the Dhamma. They become greedy, unjust, and self-serving. Over time, societal values erode, leading to widespread poverty, crime, and moral decay. With each generation, human lifespan diminishes, reflecting the decline of moral and spiritual qualities. The sutta also describes how lifespan decreases from 80,000 years (when the wheel turning king ruled) to as little as 10 years during the peak of societal degeneration. In this bleak period, violence and lawlessness prevail, and society becomes increasingly fragmented and chaotic and people take refuge in caves to escape the fighting.[1]

The sutta then describes a turning point in history. A few individuals retreat from the chaos, renouncing violence and embracing moral conduct. Their example inspires others to change, gradually restoring societal harmony. As moral conduct improves, human lifespan begins to increase again, and the conditions for prosperity and peace are reestablished by a new wheel turning king called Sankha. Eventually, the Buddha Metteyya (Maitreya) arrives. He is the next Buddha after Shakyamuni, who will teach the Dhamma during a time of renewal. Under Metteyya’s guidance, people will again follow the path of virtue and wisdom, achieving liberation.[1]

Abhidharma

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The Buddhist scholastic literature of the Abhidharma traditions provide more elaborate accounts of the various historical ages of the Dharma. The most influential such Abhidharma account in the northern tradition is found in Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. The text divides the cosmological history of the universe into four kalpas (a huge span of time), which is further divided into twenty antarakalpas (sub-eons). Each antarakalpa during the last kalpa of the universe is said to oscillate between periods of social and ethical growth and decline.[5] The zenith of goodness is a time when human beings live to be 80,000 years and during the nadir, lifespans have shrunk to 10 years. During the zenith of moral progress, there is peace and abundance, while the at the end, there is only war. This then oscillates back to a time of gradual improvement until a new Buddha arrives, and the cycle begins again.[5]

In Mahayana sources

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Various Mahayana Sutras contain different accounts of the ages of the Dharma and the periods of Dharma decline.

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Three ages

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The most common schema in East Asian Buddhism of the ages of the Dharma is the three ages of the Dharma. These three divisions of time following Buddha's passing are:[6][7][8][9]

  1. Age of the Right Dharma (Chinese: 正法; pinyin: Zhèng Fǎ; Japanese: shōbō, Sanskrit: saddharma-kāla), also known as Former Period of the Dharma. This refers to the first thousand years (or 500 years) during which the Buddha's disciples are able to uphold the Buddha's teachings;
  2. Age of Semblance Dharma (Chinese: 像法; pinyin: Xiàng Fǎ; Japanese: zōhō), also known as Middle Period of the Dharma. This is the second thousand years (or 500 years), which only resembles the right Dharma.
  3. Degenerate Age of Dharma or Latter Age of the Dharma (Chinese: 末法; pinyin: Mò Fǎ; Japanese: mappō, Sanskrit: paścima-kāla), which is to last for 10,000 years during which the Dharma declines.

Four ages

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Tibetan Buddhism generally follows a four age model, similar to the Hindu concept of the four yugas. The first is a virtuous age, and the following ages progressively decline in terms of the five degenerations: lifespans decrease, defilements increase, beings (become difficult to teach), times (wars and famines and other disasters increase), views (false beliefs proliferate).

The four ages in this schema are:[10]

  1. The age of completeness, a time of mostly virtue and goodness.
  2. The age of three-quarters, in which the degenerations begin
  3. The age of two-quarters, in which the degenerations increase further.
  4. The age of strife or the degenerate age, a time in which the degenerations become the worst, and murder and other forms of evil become very common.

Five ages

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The Candragarbha Sutra (CH: Yuezangfen 月藏分, Moon Treasury Section) of the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra is a key source for the doctrine of Dharma decline. This text provides a different schema of five five-hundred year periods (五五百歳, Chinese: wǔ wǔ bǎi sùi; Japanese: go no gohyaku sai), each of which is less ideal for practicing Buddhism than the last.[11]

According to Rhodes, these five are:

(1) the age in which Buddhist believers resolutely cultivate wisdom, (2) the age in which they resolutely practice meditation, (3) the age in which they resolutely listen to and recite Śākyamuni’s teachings, (4) the age in which they resolutely build temples and undertake repentance, and (5) the age in which the Dharma has diminished and believers quarrel with each other.[12]

The fifth and last age of decline is one in which the people would be incapable of practicing the Buddha's Dharma. Eventually the Buddhist teachings would be totally lost, leading to the need for a new Buddha to be born in the world. This time period would also be characterized by unrest, strife, famine, and natural disasters.[11]

Saviors of the degenerate age

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While the coming of the decline of Dharma and the age of strife is certainly a time which Buddhists looked upon with trepidation, the various narratives also provided some hope. This came in the shape of Buddhist savior figures which could help people through these difficult times.

Relief of Maitreya surrounded by devotees, Kushan or Kidarite, Hadda, Afghanistan.

Traditionally, the most important figure who is held to herald the end of the degenerate age is the future Buddha Maitreya (Pali: Metteya).[1] In both Mahayana and Theravada, devotion to Maitreya and cultivation of meritorious actions is said to help a person be reborn in a place and time that would allow them to meet Maitreya. This could refer to Maitreya's current abode in Maitreya's inner court in Tushita heaven or to the time in the future when Maitreya arrives on earth.

Apart from Maitreya, there are also kingly figures associated with the future chakravartin king who will usher in the future golden age. In some sources, this king is named Sankha and he is seen as someone who will unite the world, rule virtuously and promote virtue. This occurs just before the descent of Maitreya. Tibetan Buddhism, influenced by the Kalacakra Tantra, has a more elaborate mythos, which teaches about a future king named Kalki, who rules a virtuous Buddhist kingdom called Shambala. He is also seen as someone who will defeat non-Buddhist barbaric invaders (mlecchas) in a great war. This myth is likely borrowed from Hindu myths of the Kalki avatar.[13]

In Mahayana, certain other figures are also venerated as saviors who offer guidance, protection, and liberation during the degenerate age. One prominent savior figure is Amitābha Buddha, central to Pure Land Buddhism. Amitābha vowed to create a pure peaceful realm, Sukhāvatī, where beings could be reborn through faith in him. This provides an accessible path to liberation for all, bypassing the challenges of the degenerate age by allowing them to escape this world and be reborn in the pure land. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is also seen as a savior figure, offering immediate assistance to those in distress and physical danger. Kṣitigarbha is also known for his vow to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in the six worlds, in the era between the death of Gautama and the rise of Maitreya.[14]

In the Lotus Sutra, Viśiṣṭacāritra is entrusted to spread Buddhist dharma in the age of Dharma decline and save mankind and the earth. He and countless other bodhisattvas, specifically called Bodhisattvas of the Earth (of which he is the leader), vow to be reborn in a latter day to re-create Buddhist dharma, thus turning the degenerate age into a flourishing paradise. Gautama Buddha entrusts them instead of his more commonly known major disciples with this task since the Bodhisattvas of the Earth have had a karmic connection with Gautama Buddha since the beginning of time, meaning that they are aware of the Superior Practice which is the essence of Buddhism or the Dharma in its original, pure form.

Interpretations

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The teaching of the decline of the Dharma and the various ages of Buddhism is found in all Buddhist traditions, who interpret and explain it in many different ways.

Theravada

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Some Theravada Buddhist sources teach that Buddhism would decline after five thousand years.[15][16]

East Asian Buddhism

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The ages of Dharma is an important teaching in East Asian Mahayana. This teaching is important in the Lotus Sutra schools (Tiantai, Tendai) who believe that different Buddhist teachings are valid (i.e., able to lead practitioners to enlightenment) in each period due to the different capacity to accept a teaching (機根, Chinese: jīgēn; Japanese: kikon) of the people born in each respective period.Nanyue Huisi (515-577), the third Patriarch of the Tiantai school, was one of the first Chinese authors to examine the concept and provide an analysis of what it meant for Buddhist practice in his time.[17]

The doctrine of Dharma decline is also central to Pure Land Buddhism. Pure land Buddhists believe that we are now in the latter age of "degenerate Dharma", which means that the Buddhist paths based on self-effort, the "path of sages" which relies on discipline and meditation, are no longer effective or useful for most people. Pure Land followers therefore attempt to attain rebirth into the pure land of Amitābha, where they can practice the Dharma more readily.[18][19][20][21][22][23]

The first figure to teach the Pure Land view of the age of Dharma decline was patriarch Daochuo (562–645), who writes:[24]

That is why it is stated in the Yuezang section of the Ta-chi ching (大集月藏經): ‘In our age of Dharma decline, even though countless sentient beings may cultivate the path through practice, not one will attain it.’ This age now is the era of Dharma decline, and a corrupted world of the five defilements is now manifest. The gate to the Pure Land is the only path by which people may reach [enlightenment].

Nichiren Buddhism similarly uses the Dharma decline teaching to argue that only its own teaching of Lotus Sutra devotion is effective during this era.[25][26]

The Sanjiejiao was an early Chinese sect that taught about the age of Dharma decline.[27][28]

Some monks such as Dōgen and Xuyun had alternative views regarding dharma decline. Dōgen believed that there is no Mò Fǎ while Xuyun thought Mò Fǎ is not inevitable.[29][30]

Some Chinese folk religions taught that the three ages were the teaching period of Dīpankara Buddha, Gautama Buddha, and the current era of Maitreya.[31][32][33]

Tibetan Buddhism

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Tibetan Buddhist views are informed by the Buddhist tantric literature. The Kalacakra tantra contains a prophecy of a holy war in which a Buddhist king will win.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Nattier 1991, pp. 13-15
  2. ^ "初期大乘佛教之起源與開展20". Archived from the original on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  3. ^ 中國末法思想探微
  4. ^ Nattier 1991, p. 25.
  5. ^ a b Nattier 1991, pp. 15-16
  6. ^ Tzu, Chuang (2012). Fa Xiang: A Buddhist Practitioner's Encyclopedia. Buddha's Light Publishing. pp. 4, 5. ISBN 978-1-932293-55-5.
  7. ^ Marra, Michele (1988). The development of mappō thought in Japan (I), Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 15 (1), 25. PDF
  8. ^ Blum, Mark L. The Origins and Development of Pure Land Buddhism: A Study and Translation of Gyonen's Jodo Homon Genrusho, pp. 77-79. Oxford University Press, Mar 21, 2002
  9. ^ Hattori 2000, pp. 15, 16
  10. ^ Jamgön Kongtrul. The Treasury of Knowledge: Book One: Myriad Worlds, p. 134. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1995.
  11. ^ a b Marra, Michele (1988). The development of mappō thought in Japan (I), Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 15 (1), 26-27. PDF
  12. ^ Rhodes, Robert F. (2017). Genshin's Ōjōyōshū and the Construction of Pure Land Discourse in Heian Japan, p. 30. (Pure Land Buddhist Studies). University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0824872489.
  13. ^ Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2015). Buddhism in Practice. Princeton University Press. pp. 202–204. ISBN 978-1-4008-8007-2.
  14. ^ The Earth Store (Treasury) Sutra
  15. ^ Dicks, Andrew (May 2015). Enlightening the Bats: Sound and Place Making in Burmese Buddhist Practice. pp. 25-26 and 32-33. pp 25-26:Many of the Burmese Buddhists I spoke with referenced a five thousand year period of decline noting that the current sāsana of the Buddha Sakyamuni who lived in India during the 5th century BCE, is already half way towards its complete disintegration. As time passes after the death of a Buddha, the sāsana becomes increasingly opaque until it finally disappears. There may be a period with no Buddha, and then a future Buddha descends from the celestial abodes, is born, and restores the sāsana on earth once again. Burmese Buddhist historian, Alicia Turner, has identified multiple chronologies for the decline of the sāsana that range from one hundred to five thousand years (2014). In the time of decay, also known as the Kaliyuga, all traces of the Tipitaka and their supporting practices eventually vanish destabilizing the sāsana and triggering its dissolution. pp 32-33:The Angata vamsa (dating to roughly 13th century) specifically depicts five stages in the decline of the sāsana. The first stage articulates the loss of the ability for monks to reach the four stages of enlightenment: sotapanna (stream-enterer), sakadagami (once-returner), anagami (non-returner), and arahant (fully awakened). The second stage relates the loss of patipatti (practice). In this stage, monks lose the ability to meditate and maintain their precepts. The loss of pariyatti (textual study) is the third stage and depicts the disappearance of the Tipitaka. The fourth stage illustrates the loss of maintaining even appearances of piousness i.e. respectful speech, attire, work, and morals. In this stage, monks no longer behave as monks. They are illustrated as married and working people. The final stage illustrates the disappearance of the Buddha's relics as they are returned to the location of the Buddha's enlightenment and engulfed in flames (ibid.)
  16. ^ By contrast, refer to Bhikku Bodhi : The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha - A Translation of the Anguttara Nikaya. Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi. 2012. p. 1805. cf Note 1747- And this expression 'a thousand years' is said with reference to arahants who have attained the analytic knowledges. Following this, for another thousand years, there appear dry-insight arahants; for another thousand years, non-returners; for another thousand years, once-returners; for another thousand years, stream-enterers. Thus the good Dhamma of penetration will last five thousand years. The Dhamma of learning will also last this long. For without learning, there is no penetration, and as long as there is learning, there is penetration.
  17. ^ 釋性玄 (June 2009). 佛教末法思想在中國之受容與開展 (PDF) (master thesis) (in Chinese (Taiwan)).
  18. ^ "末法时期, 净土成就"佛经出处考
  19. ^ "道綽的末法觀念與淨土門的創立" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  20. ^ 溫金柯 (2006-04-18). "「末法」與「淨土念佛得度」考--由道綽《安樂集》衍生的重要觀念之檢討" (in Chinese (Taiwan)).
  21. ^ 仏教の「末法」キリスト教の「終末」
  22. ^ Kyoshin Asano, The Idea of the Last Dharma-age in Shinran's Thought (Part 1), Pacific World, Third Series Number 3, 53-70, 2001 PDF
  23. ^ Kyoshin Asano, The Idea of the Last Dharma-age in Shinran's Thought (Part 2), Pacific World, Third Series Number 4, 197-216, 2002 PDF
  24. ^ Blum, Mark L. The Origins and Development of Pure Land Buddhism: A Study and Translation of Gyonen's Jodo Homon Genrusho, p. 79. Oxford University Press, Mar 21, 2002
  25. ^ 日莲心目中的《法华经》
  26. ^ Asai Endo (1999). Nichiren Shonin's View of Humanity: The Final Dharma Age and the Three Thousand Realms in One Thought-Moment, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 26 (3-4), 239-240
  27. ^ "佛教末法觀之我思". Archived from the original on 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  28. ^ 再論三階教的歷史定位
  29. ^ 佛教末法观的现代意义
  30. ^ "City of 10,000 Buddhas - A Sure Sign of the Proper Dharma".
  31. ^ "清代教门惑众手法". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  32. ^ "清代"邪教"与清朝政府- 正气网 清代"邪教"与清朝政府". Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  33. ^ 了道金船 三佛通书

Bibliography

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