Three Periods of Buddhism/Three Ages of Dharma, known as: True Dharma(正法), Semblance Dharma(像法) and Dharma Ending Age(末法)
Upon Buddha entrance into Parinirvana, His teachings will only last for 5,000years, but Lord Maitreya will only come to Earth after 12,000 years upon Shakyamuni Buddha demise. Which means after 5,000 years passed since Buddha’s demise, there will be 7,000years of dark ages where no dharma is alive. When the Buddha was not far away from people, people can still realise enlightenment. When Buddha is too far away, the less beings can realise enlightenment. The dharma is the Buddhist teachings which reveals the truth of life and the universe. So the Dharma is the truth. We are currently in the degenerate age.
Let’s discuss the three different ages of Buddhism starting from 483B.C. when Buddha entered Parinirvana:
(i) (0–1000th) years, True Dharma Age (正法): where the right teachings exist and people are still practising rightly. Attaining enlightenment by self-effort is possible. Since this period is still very close to the Nirvana of the Buddha. The Buddha’s impression was clear and strong. People in this era had very strong faith and practiced very diligently. Buddha’s Dharmas still not yet degenerate, and are passed down accurately. One will be able to attain enlightenment as long as he keeps the percepts.
(ii) (1000–2000th) years, Semblance Dharma Age (像法): refers to a longer time after Buddha passed away. People didn’t have the chance to meet Buddha in person. What they saw was only Buddha images. The true teachings become a bit obscured. They absorbed Buddha-dharma indirectly. Their practices weren’t as concentrated. People still practice but only a handful of them can realise enlightenment by self-effort. Keeping percepts no longer sufficient to bring about enlightenment. One has to practice meditation. Through meditation, he is able to out off death and get out of the Three Realms. It is like a man whose life is hanging by a thread, which can break anytime. The pulse of the Dharma is weakening; the enthusiasm to spread, cultivate, and uphold the Dharma has already been diluted. It is not easy to cultivate Buddhism. Not many people really apply Dharma in their lives. Even if they want to experience it, apply it to their lives, their understanding of Buddhism is very vague.
(iii) (2000–12000th) years, Dharma Ending Age: the final 10,000 years, which is known as the Age of Degeneration. During this time, there is only a diluted form of teachings exist, and rarely anybody practices, and almost no being can realise enlightenment by their own effort. It is said to have begun in the Sui or Tang dynasty. The idea of Dharma-ending Age stemmed from a sense of crisis. After suffering from political persecution, Buddhists perceived Buddhism was on the verge of extinction. In addition, there were fewer and fewer Buddhists. Some Buddhists felt that Buddhism would soon die out. This lead to the arise of the concept of Dharma-ending Age.
Ghost and demons getting more powerful (For example: lots of businessmen and celebrities are manifestation of demons.) Worst still, we idolise these so called “successful” people, without knowing that they are bringing the earth energy into darkness. Maras/Demons will also disguise as Sangha. There will still be real Sangha who helps the old and sick people, but they will arouse jealousy of the fake Sangha. The fake Sangha will create troubles for the real Sangha until they can no longer stay in the temple. Real Sangha will eventually forced to love in the jungle. The fake Sangha will abandon the dharma and eventually let the temple rot away and unmaintained. Fake Sangha only knows greed, and are not willing to help the poor. (Eg: Buddha predicted Nalanda University being abandoned.) Women are more diligent than men in cultivation. Less and less men will search for the Dharma, but still some women will. As a result, the public will lose confidence in Dharma. Whenever they meet with Sangha, it will be like dirt on the ground.
All kinds of calamities will appear. Drought, lack of harvest, pandemic, uncountable numbers of sick people (Eg: Covid scenario). Normal people even though hardworking, but subject to various exploitation. Life becomes unbearable. Human only care about enjoyment. Bad people getting more and more. Trees getting less, like sands in the ocean. Day and night getting shorter, times going faster. Life getting shorter. Some women who cultivate diligently, will live till 80 or 90 years old, or even 100 years old.
There will come a day when the world will happen a great flood covering the earth. This flood won’t subside. But everybody thought the flood will subside after a while and thought that this is a normal circumstances. Human regardless of race and status, all will be floating or submerge in water, eaten up by fishes or sea creatures. This is because human use hunger and pandemic to hit others due to their own greediness. If human still refuse to repent, divine gods will create a great flood to destroy the whole world. The great flood according to Buddhist sutras, will not kill everyone abruptly, but will only kill some people. Before the total annihilation of all sutras or extinction of dharma, there will be a short period of glorious time. There will appear a Moonlight Bodhisattva (月光菩薩). The dharma will flourish again for 52 years. After that, dharma will disappear. Sutras will be lost. Monk robes will de-coloured. The first sutra to disappear is Shurangama Sutra, and then Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra. After that, all 12 volumes will slowly disappear. All sutras and buddhist texts will disappear and will never be found. There will be no more dharma or sangha. This is like the sniffing out of oil lamp. After that, there will be limitless darkness.
After a long long time, Maitreya will appear. That time, all poison will disappear. Weather will be good. Harvest will be abundant. Trees will be tall and strong. Human height will be 8ft tall. Age will be 84,000 years. This can be found in The Sutra of the Total Annihilation of the Dharma（佛說法滅盡經）
According to Guru Rinpoche, Dharma-ending Age will start when iron birds (aeroplane) flying in the sky and iron horse (car) running on the ground. In this era, human do not need to go out. Human just sit in front of a mirror, will know all the happenings around the world.
For more details on Dharma Ending Age, visit the next article: https://medium.com/@digitalbuddha1008/details-of-dharma-ending-age-%E6%9C%AB%E6%B3%95-or-kali-yuga-3b301bdf3739
