Buddhist eschatology, like many facets of modern Buddhist practice and belief, came into existence during its development in China, and, through the blending of Buddhist cosmological understanding and Daoist eschatological views, created a complex canon of apocalyptic beliefs. These beliefs, although not entirely part of orthodox Buddhism, form an important collection of Chinese Buddhist traditions which bridge the gap between the monastic order and local beliefs of Imperial China.
Although the main source of writings describing eschatological beliefs in Chinese Buddhism are so called “apocryphal” texts, these are an invaluable source of information in the study of Buddhism as it was actually practiced, as the available monastic sources depicting Buddhism are merely the tip of an iceberg, of which the body is still mostly submerged and hidden from view (Zürcher (Perspectives) 169). These eschatological Buddhist groups began to appear in China from AD 402 (Overmyer 46), and escalated in number and intricacy from the Sui until the Song dynasty. Therein is where many lay and cleric groups (of laymen and clergy) such as the White Lotus Society and Amida Buddhist clergy appeared and took to propagating eschatological scriptures.
There are two major points of Buddhist eschatology: the appearance of Maitreya and the Sermon of the Seven Suns.
Maitreya
Buddha described his teachings disappearing five thousand years from his passing, corresponding approximately to the year . At this time, knowledge of dharma will be lost as well. The last of his relics will be gathered in Bodh Gaya and cremated. There will be a new era in which the next Buddha Maitreya will appear, but it will be preceded by the degeneration of human society. This will be a period of greed, lust, poverty, ill will, violence, murder, impiety, physical weakness, sexual depravity and societal collapse, and even the Buddha himself will be forgotten. This will be followed by a new golden age (see below).
The earliest mention of Maitreya is in the Cakavatti (Sihanada) Sutta in Digha Nikaya 26 of the Pali Canon.
Maitreya Buddha is then foretold to be born in the city of Ketumatī in present-day Benares, whose king will be the Cakkavattī Sankha. Sankha will live in the former palace of King Mahāpanadā, but later will give the palace away to become a follower of Maitreya.Vipassana.info, Pali Proper Names Dictionary: Metteyya
In Mahayana Buddhism, Maitreya will attain bodhi in seven days, the minimum period, by virtue of his many lives of preparation. Once Buddha, he will rule over the Ketumati Pure Land, an earthly paradise associated with the Indian city of Varanasi or Benares in Uttar Pradesh. In Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhas preside over a Pure Land (the Buddha Amitabha presides over the Sukhavati Pure Land, more popularly known as the Western Paradise).
At this time he will teach humanity of the ten non-virtuous deeds (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech, covetousness, harmful intent and wrong views) and the ten virtuous deeds (the abandonment of: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech, covetousness, harmful intent and wrong views). He is described by Conze in Buddhist Scriptures:
He currently resides in Tushita, but will come to Jambudvipa as successor to the historic Śākyamuni Buddha. Maitreya will achieve complete enlightenment during his lifetime, and following this reawakening, he will bring back the timeless teaching of dharma to this plane.
Sermon of the Seven Suns
In the Sattasūriya sutta (sermon of the "Seven Suns") in the Aṅguttara Nikāya [AN 7.66] of the Pali Canon,Bhikkhu Sujato (Translator), Numbered Discourses 7.66, 7. The Great Chapter: The Seven Suns (Sattasūriyasutta), https://suttacentral.net/an7.66/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin the Buddha describes the ultimate fate of the world in an apocalypse that will be characterized by the consequent appearance of seven suns in the sky, each causing progressive ruin until the Earth is destroyed:
The canon goes on to describe the progressive destruction of each sun. A third sun will dry the mighty Ganges and other great rivers. A fourth will cause the great lakes to evaporate, and a fifth will dry the oceans. Finally the final suns will appear:
The sermon completes with the planet engulfed by a vast inferno.
Developments
Buddhists believe that the historical Buddha Shakyamuni is only the latest in a series of Buddhas that stretches back into the past. The belief in the decline and disappearance of Buddhism in the world has exerted significant influence in the development of Buddhism since the time of the Buddha. In Vajrayana Buddhism and various other forms of esoteric Buddhism, the use of tantra is justified by the degenerate state of the present world. The East Asian belief in the decline of the Dharma (called mappo in Japanese) was instrumental in the emergence of Pure Land Buddhism. Within the Theravada tradition, debate over whether Nirvana was still attainable in the present age helped prompt the creation of the Dhammayutt Order in Thailand.
In China, Buddhist eschatology was strengthened by the Daoist influence: the messianic features of Maitreya are widely emphasized. The figure of Prince Moonlight 月光童子 obtains prominence unknown in the Sanskrit sources. Thus, one of the Tang dynasty apocrypha predicts his rebirth in the female form, thus creating religious legitimacy for the Wu Zetian Empress's usurpation. Furthering the Daoist associations, the "Sutra of Samantabhadra" portrays Prince Moonlight dwelling on the Penglai Island in a cave.
Buddhism believes in cycles in which life span of human beings changes according to human nature. In Cakkavati sutta the Buddha explained the relationship between life span of human being and behaviour. As per this sutta, In the past unskillful behavior was unknown among the human race. As a result, people lived for an immensely long time—80,000 years—endowed with great beauty, wealth, pleasure, and strength. Over the course of time, though, they began behaving in various unskillful ways. This caused the human life span gradually to shorten, to the point where it now stands at 100 years, with human beauty, wealth, pleasure, and strength decreasing proportionately. In the future, as morality continues to degenerate, human life will continue to shorten to the point where the normal life span is 10 years, with people reaching sexual maturity at five.
Ultimately, conditions will deteriorate to the point of a "sword-interval", in which swords appear in the hands of all human beings, and they hunt one another like game. A few people, however, will take shelter in the wilderness to escape the carnage, and when the slaughter is over, they will come out of hiding and resolve to take up a life of skillful and virtuous action again. With the recovery of virtue, the human life span will gradually increase again until it reaches 80,000 years, with people attaining sexual maturity at 500. According to the Pali Canon, it is at the zenith of this new golden age that Maitreya will appear (DN 26:25).
According to Tibetan Buddhist literature, the first Buddha lived 1,000,000 years and was 100 cubits tall, while the 28th Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (), lived 80 years and his height was 20 cubits. This is on par with the Hindu eschatology, which says this age is the 28th Kali Yuga.
In other traditions, such as Zen, a somewhat utilitarian view is taken. The notion often exists that within each moment in time, both birth and death are manifest. As the individual "dies" from moment to moment, they are equally "reborn" in each successive moment, in what one perceives as an ongoing cycle. Thus the practitioner's focus is shifted from considerations regarding an imagined future endpoint, to mindfulness in the present moment. In this case, the worldview is taken as a functional tool for awakening the practitioner to reality as it exists, right now.
Causes of the end of true dharma
Due to the notion of the three stages of Dharma as taught by the Sakyamuni Buddha, eschatological thought is inherent to Buddhism in that non-permanence affects the sangha and Dharma teachings, just as it affects all other facets of the visible world. What differentiates eschatological groups from orthodox clergy, however, is the belief that the period of the decline of the Dharma has already begun, and that the end of Dharma is close at hand. These teachings, often propagated by self-appointed messianic figures, run counter to the state approved Buddhist teachings, as they often criticize or deplore the “current” state of affairs both within the government and the people. There are of course many sources for this eschatological belief, and throughout the history of Buddhism in China, there have been various calculations determining the beginning of the decline of Dharma. While the True Dharma period (wherein the Buddha’s teachings are taught accurately and salvation is possible) was originally said to last 1000 years, one of the first sources of anxiety within the clergy was the acceptance of women in the monastic order, which was said to have reduced the time of True Dharma to 500 years. This is accounted for in the tale of Mahapajapati, in which a woman devoutly follows the Buddha after having been refused entry into his order, until Ananda convinces the Buddha to allow her to join the other disciples. He then tells Ananda:
When asked to explain why the acceptance of women into the clergy would have such an impact, it is said that he explained as such:
Thus it seems that women in the clergy, for one reason or another, were seen as a factor which sped up the process of the decline of Dharma. Otherwise, and more importantly, the cessation of Dharma was seen as being caused by the “moral laxity of the disciples, and [could] be recovered if the disciples reform[ed]” (Chappell 125). This is where a divide appears in eschatological groups: while some believe that the True Dharma can be recovered through more assiduous practice and a return to correct transmission, understanding and application of True Dharma (Chappell 127), other groups believed that it was due to incorrect political practice from the state, and that a Saviour was required in order to overthrow the established order and set up a new era of peace and True Dharma. These ideologies were of course frowned upon by the court and such apocryphal texts, deemed dangerous, heretical, and subversive (Zürcher (Perspectives) 170), and were a source of inspiration for the burning of apocryphal scripture. Of these saviours, one Bodhisattva in particular was eventually linked with China and so is an ideal candidate for the study of these anti-establishment groups: the Bodhisattva which came to be called Yueguang, or Prince Moonlight.
During the Song Dynasty