Category Archives: mappō

mappō, Nattier Decline

Once upon a Future Time: Counterfeit vs. Semblance

In sum, the division of the duration of the Dharma into two distinct and sequential periods is found in only a small number of canonical sūtras. And of these, only a tiny minority associate such a division with the career of Śākyamuni Buddha. It is particularly noteworthy that several of the sūtras that in East Asia became most closely identified with the division of the Buddha’s Dharma into sequential periods —in particular, the Pure Land and Lotus sūtras — do not apply a distinction between saddharma and saddharma-pratirūpaka to the teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha himself. The reading of these texts as if they contained such a distinction (supplemented by a third period of mo-fa, to be discussed below) is thus a contribution of later commentators, who in interpreting these texts through such a lens gave them an entirely new meaning.

We can distinguish, then, between two distinctive (though not entirely separate) uses of the term saddharma-pratirūpaka, which seem to have emerged in roughly the following sequence:

  • a first phase, during which the term refers to the total duration of the Dharma after a given Buddha’s death; and
  • a second phase, during which saddharma-pratirūpaka is restricted in meaning to only the latter part of this period, the second of two sub-periods in the lifetime of the Dharma.

In neither case, however, is the saddharma-pratirūpaka referred to in explicitly pejorative terms. Rather, it refers to the real and ongoing presence of the saddharma, whether it is used to refer to part or all of the period when this will be the case.

In light of the analysis given above it now seems quite peculiar that the translation of saddharma-pratirūpaka (and of its Chinese counterpart hsiang-fa) most frequently encountered in English-language studies is “counterfeit Dharma.” For in none of the passages cited above would such a translation make sense. In none of these texts is there any implication that the saddharma-pratirūpaka is a fake or a forgery of the True Dharma; rather, it refers to the presence of the True Dharma itself, in all or part of its duration. Even when a clear-cut distinction between periods of saddharma and saddharma-pratirūpaka begins to emerge, the latter period is still viewed as positive (if slightly less so than that in the preceding versions), and is credited to the account, so to speak, of a given Buddha as part of the total duration of his teachings.

Once Upon A Future Time, p85-87

The term “semblance,” then, serves as a suitable equivalent of the Sanskrit term pratirūpaka, and conforms in meaning to Chinese hsiang and Tibetan gzugs-brnyan as well. The term “counterfeit” should clearly be abandoned, as it represents a radical misunderstanding of the significance of this expression in Mahāyāna usage.

Once Upon A Future Time, p89
mappō, Nattier Decline, Books

Once upon a Future Time: The Missing Mo-Fa

nattier-once-upon-bookcoverTo the specialist in East Asian Buddhism, one of the most striking features of the texts reviewed in the previous chapter is that not a single one of them contains any reference to the concept of mo-fa (Jpn. mappō), lit. “end-dharma” or “final Dharma.” For it was not any of the timetables discussed above, but rather a three-part system culminating in a prolonged period of mo-fa, that was to become the most influential historical frame of reference in the Buddhist schools of China, Korea, and Japan.

Building on the concepts of saddharma (“True Dharma”) and saddharma-pratirūpaka (“semblance of the True Dharma”) that we have already met in the Indian sources, East Asian Buddhists formulated a system of three periods in the history of the Buddhist religion, which were expected to occur in the following sequence:

  • a period of the “True Dharma” (Ch. cheng-fa /Jpn. shōbō, corresponding to Skt. saddharma) immediately following the death of the Buddha, during which it is possible to attain enlightenment by practicing the Buddha’s teachings;
  • a period of the “Semblance Dharma” (Ch. hsiang-fa / Jpn. zōbō, a term patterned on but not identical to Skt. saddharma-pratirūpaka), during which a few may still be able to reach the goal of enlightenment, but most Buddhists simply carry out the external forms of the religion; and
  • a period of the “Final Dharma” (Ch. mo-fa / Jpn. mappō, a term for which no proper Sanskrit equivalent exists), during which traditional religious practice loses its effectiveness and the spiritual capacity of human beings reaches an all-time low.

While this system is known only in East Asian Buddhist sources, it is clearly constructed with reference to elements that were already known in India.

Once Upon A Future Time, p65-66
mappō, Nattier Decline, Dollarhide Senji-Shō, Stone Last Age, WONS, Blog, Books

The Problem With Mappō

Is it time to let go of our attachment as Nichiren Buddhists to the doctrine of Mappō, the Latter Age of Degeneration?

Back on Aug. 17, 2019, I wrote a blog post entitled “Does the Eternal Buddha’s Teaching Lose Its Potency?” I argued then that the Lotus Sutra clearly teaches that the Eternal Buddha is always present. How could his teaching decline?

To explore the issue, I recently picked up Jan Nattier’s “Once Upon A Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline.” The first half of of Nattier’s 1991 book is devoted to establishing the roots of the prediction of the decline in Buddhism.

From Nattier’s book I learned of Kenneth Dollarhide’s “Nichiren’s Senji-Shō: An Essay on the Selection of the Proper Time.”  The book, published in 1982 as Volume One in Studies in Asian Thought and Religion, includes a description of Nichiren’s life and the Age of the Last Law.

Finally, I picked up Jacqueline Stone’s two-part journal article “Seeking Enlightenment in the Last Age: Mappō Thought in Kamakura Buddhism,” [PDF] which was published in 1985 in the Spring and Autumn editions of The Eastern Buddhist.

Over the next several weeks I will be publishing excerpts from these  sources.

Before that, I want make clear that Nichiren did not contend that the Lotus Sutra would lose its effectiveness over time. In Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 25-27, Nichiren writes:

QUESTION: Do you have any scriptural passages proving that the Lotus Sūtra alone will remain even after other sūtras all disappear?

ANSWER: In the tenth chapter on “The Teacher of the Dharma” of the Lotus Sūtra, Śākyamuni Buddha declared in order to spread the sūtra, “The sūtras I have preached number immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, and hundred millions. Of the sūtras I have preached, am now preaching, and will preach, this Lotus Sūtra is the most difficult to believe and to understand ” It means that of all the sūtras which the Buddha has preached, is now preaching, and will preach during 50 years of His lifetime, the Lotus Sūtra is the supreme sūtra. Of the 80,000 holy teachings, it was preached especially to be retained for people in the future.

Therefore, in the following chapter on “The Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” the Buddha of Many Treasures emerged from the great earth, and Buddhas in manifestation from the worlds all over the universe gathered. Through these Buddhas in manifestation as His messengers, Śākyamuni Buddha made this declaration to bodhisattvas, śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, heavenly beings, human beings, and eight kinds of supernatural beings who filled the innumerable (400 trillion nayuta) worlds in eight directions:

“The purpose of the Buddha of Many Treasures to emerge and gathering of Buddhas in manifestation all over the universe is solely in order for the Lotus Sūtra to last forever. Each of you should vow that you will certainly spread this Lotus Sūtra in the future worlds of five defilements after the sūtras which have been preached, are being preached, and will be preached, will have all disappeared and it will be difficult to believe in the True Dharma.”

Then 20,000 bodhisattvas and 80 trillion nayuta of bodhisattvas each made a vow in the 13th chapter on “The Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra”, “We will not spare even our lives, but treasure the Unsurpassed Way.” Bodhisattvas emerged from the great earth, as numerous as dust particles of the entire world, as well as such bodhisattvas as Mañjuśrī and all also vowed in the 22nd chapter on the “Transmission,” “After the death of the Buddha … we will widely spread this sūtra.” After that, in the 23rd chapter on “The Previous Life of the Medicine King Bodhisattva” the Buddha used ten similes in order to explain the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra over other sūtras. In the first simile the pre-Lotus sūtras are likened to river-water and the Lotus Sūtra, to a great ocean. Just as ocean water will not decrease even when river-water dries up in a severe drought, the Lotus Sūtra will remain unchanged even when the pre-Lotus sūtras with four tastes all disappear in the Latter Age of defilement and corruption without shame. Having preached this, the Buddha clearly expressed His true intent as follows, “After I have entered Nirvana, during the last five-hundred-year period you must spread this sūtra widely throughout the world lest it should be lost.”

Contemplating the meaning of this passage, I believe that the character “after” following “after I have entered Nirvana” is meant to be “after the extinction of those sūtras preached in forty years or so.” It is, therefore, stated in the Nirvana Sūtra, the postscript of the Lotus Sūtra:

“I shall entrust the propagation of this supreme dharma to bodhisattvas, who are skillful in debate. Such a dharma will be able to last forever, continue to prosper for incalculable generations, profiting and pacifying the people. ”

According to these scriptural passages the Lotus-Nirvana Sūtras will not become extinct for immeasurable centuries.

Quotes from Mappō discussion

mappō, Kern, WONS, Blog

Returning to Kern’s translation of the Lotus Sutra

Recently I’ve been exploring the concept of Mappō, the Latter Age of Degeneration. To that end I’ve read the first part of Jan Nattier’s “Once Upon A Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline,” which details the history and sources of the idea that the Buddha’s teaching decline after his Parinirvāṇa. That led me to re-read Nichiren’s Senji Shō, Selecting the Right Time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple.”

It was while I was reading Nichiren’s letter that I noticed this:

Moreover, Tripitaka Master Pu-k’ung’s works have many mistakes. Calling the Buddha who was revealed in the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata, the Buddha of Infinite Life, as he does in his Esoteric Rites Based on the Lotus Sutra, was apparently a blunder. It is not worthy of discussion that he mixed up the arrangement of the chapters in the Lotus Sutra by placing the 26th chapter, Dhārāṇis, next to the 21st chapter, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgata, and moving the 22nd chapter, Transmission, to the ends.

When I last read this letter in 2018, I missed the significance of Pu-k’ung’s variation in the order of the Lotus Sutra chapters. Nichiren, of course, considered Kumārajīva’s fifth-century Chinese translation of the original Sanskrit to be the most accurate translation. (See this story about Kumārajīva’s tongue.)

Pu-k’ung, however, is using the same order found by Jan Hendrik Kern, who published the first English-language translation of the Lotus Sutra in 1884. Kern’s translation was based upon a Nepalese Sanskrit manuscript written on palm leaves and dated 1039 CE. (See this chart on the organizational differences.)

The glossary in the back of Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, has this to say about Pu-k’ung:

Pu-k’ung, Tripitaka Master (Fukū)
Also known as Amoghavajra, 705-774 CE. The sixth patriarch of the Shingon sect. Born in northern India, Pu-k’ung came to China at the age of thirteen and entered the Buddhist order under the guidance of Vajrabodhi studying esoteric Buddhism. After Vajrabodhi’s death, he visited India and returned with twelve hundred fascicles of sutras and discourses. He was trusted by the three reigning Emperors: Hsüan-tsung of the T’ang dynasty and two successors, who established esoteric Buddhism as the state religion. He translated sutras such as Hannyarishu-kyō, Heart and Perfection of Naya Wisdom Sutra and Bodaishin-ron, Treatise on Bhodi-Mind. Pointing out his mistakes in the Bodaishin-ron and failure in praying for rain, Nichiren condemned him for slandering the True Dharma.

What this suggests is that the order of the sutra Kern found in a 1039 CE text was actually the order used in India centuries earlier.

The following three Chinese translations exist today.

  1. Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the True Dharma – 286 CE, translated by Dharmarakṣa, (born in the 230’s CE, died at age 78.), Ten volumes, 27 chapters.
  2. Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma – 406 CE, translated by Kumārajīva (344-413 CE or 350-409 CE), Seven volumes, 27 chapters. Later enlarged edition consists of eight volumes, 28 chapters.
  3. Appended Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma – 601 CE, translated by Jñānagupta, (523-605 CE) and Dharmagupta (d. 619 CE), Seven volumes, 27 chapters.

Interestingly, an English translator of the Tibetan translation of the Lotus Sutra, says:

The Tibetan version matches in content the version translated into Chinese by Jñānagupta and Dharmagupta in 601–02, and also matches the Nepalese Sanskrit manuscripts.

So the alternate order of the chapters was present as far back as 601 CE.

stories, mappō, LS32

The Relation Between true Dharma and merely formal Dharma

The relation between sincere respect and its expressions in gestures and words is something like the relation between true Dharma and merely formal Dharma. And yet expressions of respect even when respect is not sincerely felt can still be good. What we can think of as ritual politeness – saying “Thank you” when receiving something, even if we do not feel grateful; asking “How are you?” when greeting someone and not even waiting for a response; saying “I’m sorry” when we do not really feel sorry – can all contribute to smoother social relations. Just as true Dharma is greater than merely formal Dharma, being truly grateful is greater than expressing gratitude in a merely formal way, and heartfelt sincerity is greater than merely conventional politeness, but even social conventions and polite expressions can be an important ingredient in relations between people and can contribute to mutual harmony and respect.

When we bow in respect before a buddha image, is it an expression of deep respect or merely a habit? When the object of our sutra recitation is to get to the end as quickly as possible or to demonstrate skill in reading rapidly, is our recitation anything more than a formality?

When we take a moment to pray with others for world peace, are we expressing a profound aspiration for world peace, an aspiration that is bound to lead to appropriate actions, or are we simply conforming to social expectations? Probably in most cases, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, where our gestures and expressions are neither deeply felt nor completely superficial and empty. It is possible, after all, to be a little sincere or a little grateful. We should, of course, try to become more and more genuinely grateful and sincere, but we should not disparage those important social conventions, often different in different cultures, found in one way or another in virtually all cultures.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p 217-218
stories, mappō, LS32, d25b

The Phases of the Dharma

Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva, we are told, lived in an era of merely formal Dharma. In Buddhism it is often taught that there are three or four phases of the Dharma, what we might think of as phases in the life of the Dharma. The first can be called the phase of true Dharma; the second, merely formal Dharma; and the third, the end of the Dharma. One common interpretation has it that in the first phase, the phase of true, real, correct, or right Dharma, following the life of a buddha in the world, the Buddha’s teachings are taught and practiced and awakening is sometimes achieved. We can think of this as a time of living Dharma, a time when the Dharma has a deep impact on people’s lives. In the second phase, the teachings are practiced but awakening is generally not possible because the teachings are only superficially held and practiced. In the third phase the teachings exist but they are not practiced at all, not embodied in the lives of people. Sometimes a fourth phase is added, a period in which the teachings themselves are no longer even present. Eventually, another Buddha emerges and the cycle begins again.

While this pattern of phases is quite common in Buddhism, we do not find it in the Dharma Flower Sutra. There we find the end of the Dharma mentioned directly only twice, and perhaps indirectly twice, but never in connection with the phases of true Dharma and merely formal Dharma. These first two phases, on the other hand, are often mentioned together, suggesting that there is a two-phase cycle in which a new phase of true Dharma follows a phase of merely formal Dharma. In Chapter 20, this two-phase cycle is clearly endorsed. Setting the scene for the appearance of Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva, we are told that “after the true Dharma and merely formal Dharma had entirely disappeared, another buddha appeared in that land.” (LS 338) And this event of a period of true Dharma not only preceding but also following a period of merely formal Dharma is said to have happened two trillion times in succession!

We can only speculate as to why this three-phase cosmology is not in the Dharma Flower Sutra. My sense of it is that in the context of the Dharma Flower Sutra it is not appropriate to believe that the end of the Dharma, the third phase, is inevitable. Virtually the whole thrust of the Sutra is to encourage keeping the Dharma alive by embodying it in everyday life. It simply would not make good sense to repeatedly urge people to keep the Dharma alive by receiving, embracing, reading, reciting, and copying it, and teaching and practicing it if a decline of the Dharma were inevitable. The Dharma Flower Sutra teaches that the bodhisattva path is difficult, even extremely difficult, but it cannot be impossible. Even the many assurances of becoming a buddha that we find in the first half of the Sutra should, I think, be taken as a kind of promise that supreme awakening is always possible.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p212-213
mappō, d27b, WONS

The Sūtra for the Latter Age

Śākyamuni Buddha, the World Honored One, preaches to Bodhisattva Moon Store in the Sūtra of the Great Assembly, fascicle 51: “The period of 500 years following My death is characterized by the firm attainment of emancipation (when many are able to attain Buddhahood); the following five centuries is a period of steadfast practice of meditation (when there are many practicers of the Buddhist way); the third 500-year period is of steadfast reading, recitation and hearing of the Buddhist teaching (when the reading and recitation of sūtras and the study of Buddhist teaching are prevalent); the next five centuries is the period of the steady building of many temples (when many temples and towers are built); and in the following 500 years there will be many quarrels and lawsuits within the Buddhist world and the True Dharma will disappear.” Now, it has been over 220 years since we entered the Latter Age of Degeneration, the period which is predicted in the sūtra when “There will be many quarrels and lawsuits within the Buddhist world and the True Dharma will disappear.”

In the 23rd chapter on “The Previous Life of the Medicine King Bodhisattva” of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7, Lord Buddha Śākyamuni together with the Buddha of Many Treasures spoke to Star King Flower Bodhisattva, “Spread this sūtra widely in the world during the fifth 500-year period after My extinction lest it should disappear, allowing devils, devils’ people, various gods, dragons, yakṣa demons, and kumbhāṇḍa devils to take advantage of the situation.”

Considering the time and country for spreading Buddhism, according to the Sūtra of the Great Assembly, as the first four 500-year periods matched exactly as predicted by the Buddha, how would only the fifth 500-year period miss the mark? Looking at the state of affairs today in the world, great countries of Japan and Mongol are at war. Does it not tally with the conditions in the fifth 500-year period? As we reflect on the statement in the 23rd chapter of the Lotus Sūtra cited above with this prediction of the Sūtra of the Great Assembly, the Holy Proclamation, “Spread this sūtra widely in the world during the fifth 500-year period” means “Spread the Lotus Sūtra in Japan,” does it not?

Soya Nyūdō-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lay Priest Lord Soya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 169-170.

mappō, LS32, d32b, 2buddhas

The Promise of Protection

Samantabhadra specifically promises to protect those who “preserve this sūtra in the troubled world of five hundred years after.” … [T]he phrase “five hundred years after” was no doubt originally intended to designate the five hundred years following Śākyamuni’s parinirvāṇa, when the sūtra’s compilers believed they were living. However, East Asian commentators took the “five hundred years after” (which can also be read in Chinese as “the last five hundred years”) to mean the last of five five-hundred-year periods in the gradual decline of Buddhist practice and understanding said to take place over the 2,500 years following the Buddha’s passing. For Nichiren, it designated the beginning of the Final Dharma age, when he and his contemporaries believed they were living. This expression “five hundred years after” occurs twice in the “Bhaiṣajyarāja” chapter and three times in the present chapter. For Nichiren it predicted in the Buddha’s very words both the task being shouldered by himself and his disciples and the surety of its fulfillment. It designated the time when the buddhahood of ordinary people could be realized. As he wrote: “Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō will spread for ten thousand years and beyond, far into the future. Its merit can open the blind eyes of all sentient beings in the country of Japan and block the road to the Hell without Respite [Avici]. … A hundred years’ practice in the Land of Bliss cannot equal the merit gained from one day’s practice in this defiled world, and propagation [of the dharma] throughout the two thousand years of the True and Semblance Dharma ages is inferior to a single hour’s propagation in the Final Dharma age. This is in no way because of Nichiren’s wisdom, but solely because the time makes it so.”

Two Buddhas, p262
mappō, LS32, d25b, LS Introduction

Age of Counterfeit Teachings

The terms, “Age of Right Teachings” and “Age of Counterfeit Teachings,” express the Buddhist view of history. It is believed that for a while after a Buddha has entered Nirvana, people will remember his teachings correctly, put them into practice, and attain enlightenment. However, as time passes, those teachings will become mere academic formalities. People will know about them and be able to discuss them, but they will no longer practice them diligently and attain enlightenment. This second period is called the Age of Counterfeit Teachings. Finally, the teachings will decay altogether. People will neither practice them, understand them, nor attain enlightenment. This is the Age of Degeneration, when Buddhism declines and finally fades away. It is believed by most scholars that the first and second periods last for a thousand years each. The Age of Degeneration can drag on for as long as 10,000 years. In any case, Never-Despising Bodhisattva lived during the second of these three periods, an Age of Counterfeit Teachings.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

mappō, LS32, d27b, d32b, LS Introduction

The Age of Degeneration

The Age of Degeneration lies in the future after Sakyamunis earthly lifetime. It does not denote a specific era. Whenever we ordinary people reflect seriously on the quality of our lives, we realize that we live far from the spirit of the Buddha. Our minds are soiled with evil and illusions. This actual state of human beings is what is called the Age of Degeneration. The Lotus Sutra warns us that it will be our normal state once the Buddha has departed from among us.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra