Mappō

Mòfǎ 末法 (Chinese), mappō まっぽう (Japanese), “end of the Dharma” or “end of the Buddhism”, is the three era old last which composes a cycle of Buddhist cosmology. During this period, of which the duration can vary from five hundreds to ten thousand years according to the sources, the monastic community becomes undisciplined, the doctrines and the practices are lost, the social order is degraded and of the natural disasters occur. When Buddhism entirely disappeared, new a Bouddha arrives and a new cycle begins. According to this belief, humanity entered the era mappō between the Life and XIe centuries, and the next Buddha will be Maitreya. This opinion is shared by the near total of the Buddhist currents, even if they do not draw all the same conclusions from them.

Although the belief in the succession of the Buddhas and the cycles of evolution-involution, inspired of cosmology Hindouiste, is present as of the origins of Buddhism, it is in China and in Japan that the concept of mòfǎ/mappō took importance, in the economic situation of disturbed historical periods and, for China, the existence of a religious culture familère of the Messianisme and Millénarisme. The concept of final era plays a big role in the doctrines of some currents, in particular the Pure Ground and Nichiren, like in certain movements syncretistic Taoïste S and new currents religious Chinese.

Cycles of the dharma

Hinayana

In the faded gun, the Buddha refers to disappearance in a distance future of its doctrines. A famous passage is that where, accepting the women in the orders, he predicts nevertheless that the existence of nuns will shorten the duration of radiation of its teaching from thousand to five hundred years. In fact, in certain passages, Gautama leaves entrendre that the dharma was already declining of its time; the faded gun considers very long megacycles indeed including smaller cycles. Several dialogs describe a future golden age announced by the advent of a cakkavatti (Sanskrit: cakravarti ), “turner of wheel” (bringing great changes) mentioned in the Cakkavatti-Sihanda Suttanta . Buddhaghosa describes obliteration by stages of the lesson of the Buddha: no Arahat will appear more, then the lesson will lose their contents to keep only their form, which itself will end up disappearing; finally, the memory of the Buddha itself will be erased, and the last of its relics will be joined together with Bodh-Gaya, place of its illumination, to be incinerated there. A certain time afterwards, Maitreya, which currently resides in the sky of Tusita where the Bodhisattva S await their final rebirth, will appear for “will give the wheel of the dharma on the way”.

Mahayana

In the current mahayana, there exists a variety of opinions as for the duration of the process, the decline beginning thousand, thousand five hundreds or two thousand years after the Parinirvana (death of the Buddha). The period of mòfǎ, which lasted only five hundred years in the old texts, was lengthened to five thousand, then ten thousand years.

As example, the Sutra of the large assembly (Mahasamnipata will sutra CH: Dàjíjīng 大集經; ja: Daijikkyo) translated Sanskrit into Chinese at the 4th century enumerates in its booklet 55 three eras (CH: Sānshí 三時; ja: Sanji), subdividing the two first into two, is a five five hundred years periods total each one (CH: wǔ Ge wǔ bǎi suì 五箇五百歳; ja: 五箇の五百歳 go No gohyaku sai):

the era of truth dharma (正法 CH: zhèngfǎ; ja: shōbō) includes/understands:

the age of the illumination (解脱堅固 CH: jiětuō jiāngù; ja: gedatsu kengo)
the age of the meditation (禅定堅固 CH: chándìng jiāngù; ja: zenjō kengo)

the era of the pretense of dharma (像法 CH: xiàngfǎ; ja: zōhō) includes/understands:

the age of the reading, recitation and listening (of the Sutra S) (読誦多聞堅固 CH: sòngduōwén jiāngù; ja: dokuju tamon kengo)
the age of the construction of the temples and the Stupa S (多造塔寺堅固 CH: duōzào tǎsì jiāngù; ja: tazō tōji kengo)

the era of the end of the dharma (末法 CH: mòfǎ; ja: mappō) begin with the age from the conflicts (闘諍堅固 CH: zhēng jiāngù; ja: tōjō kengo), characterized by disorders, famines and natural disasters; the teaching of Buddhism loses any saving capacity and ends up disappearing completely.

The most widespread opinion seems to be that the three eras respectively last five hundreds, thousand and ten thousand years.

China

One finds in medieval China an important treating corpus of texts of the end of the dharma, circulating individually or as a part of works like the Sutra of the large assembly or the Sutra mahaparinirvana . Several writings carrying as titrates the End of the dharma reported by the Buddha are without equivalent in Sanskrit or faded, and must be regarded as local apocryphal books. The concept of mòfǎ has a particularly strong presence for the medieval period with an apogee under the Dynastie Sui and the Tang. Authors like R.L. Nadeau propose some great factors with this success:

Feeling of crisis due to the difficulties of times: end of the Han (220) until the beginning of Sui (581), the country knows one long period of punctuated division of wars and Buddhism undergoes some persecutions.
sometimes contestable Quality of the monks, subsidized monasteries being a refuge for a population whose motivations are not always spiritual.
Collusion of part of the clergy with the capacity, the sovereigns of the kingdoms of North while often waiting for administrative services and policies.
sectarian, particularly important Competitions as from the 6th century. In particular, the newcomers (Sanjie, Tendai, Chan) regard the currents installed as declining and recommend against clerical institutionalism a revival also implying the laic ones.
Attracted soteriologic figures: Amitabha, Maitreya, Ksitigarbha and Manjusri is most known. Their worship combines easily with waiting millenarist. Amitabha is the central deity of the Pure Earth, Ksithigarbha that of the Sanjie school. The worship of Maitreya was spread rather early in Central Asia and in medieval China where its iconographic representations are numerous. There will remain an important Messianic figure for small movements throughout the Chinese history, and will be even adopted by certain spiritual currents of Western origin like the Théosophie.

The mystic millenarist based on the concept of mòfǎ was maintained until our days primarily in small syncretic sects (Buddhism Taoïsme - Confucianisme).

Japan

The disorders which the country with the fn knows 10th century are explained by the approach of mappō, whose idea was spread in the easy classes during second half of the Period Heian. It is used as background with the foundation in 964 of Kangaku-e (勸學會), company of encouragement being studied which gathers monks Tendai and pupils of the universities (daigaku 大學) of the capital, future administrators. The start date of the decline is even fixed by some at the seventh year of Eishyo (1052). This same year, the regent Fujiwara No Yorimichi transforms a palate of summer into temple (Byōdō-in) devoted to the Amitabha Buddha, whose role of saver is appreciated in these times when traditional Buddhism lost its capacity. It is precisely the argument of the founders of the Pure Earth (jodo) in Japan, Hônen (1133-1212) and more particularly Shinran (1173-1263), patriarch of Shinshu Jodo. They are pressed on a text of Genshin (942-1017) Essence on the rebirth in the Pure Earth .

The concept of mappō plays a less important part during the end of the eras Kamakura and Muromachi, but knows a certain renewal at the 14th century within the framework of regional sectarian fights. Nowadays there still exists in certain currents Pure Ground, in particular Shinshu jodo, and Nichiren Buddhism.

See too

External bonds

Translation in English of a Chinese apocryphal book
Mappo today according to a sect Pure Ground

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