The Decline of the Dharma or Ages of the Dharma, refers to traditional Buddhist accounts of how the Buddhist religion and the Buddha's teaching (Dharma) 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 where spiritual practice is very fruitful and ending with an age of strife, in which Buddhism is eventually totally forgotten. Buddhist accounts of this process culminate in the eventual arrival of Maitreya, the awaited Buddha of the future.
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 the centuries.
Ages of the Dharma
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 assume 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 be born to teach Dharma (usually considered to be millions of years in the future).
The teaching of the decline of the Dharma is found in early Buddhist sources.中國末法思想探微 . References to the decline of the Dharma over time can also be found in 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 societal degeneration and that only after a period of strife and disaster will the cycle reverse to a period of gradual improvements.Nattier 1991, p. 25. Different authors and traditions offer varying accounts of the timeline of decline.Nattier 1991, p. 28.
Cakkavatti Sutta
One of the earliest sources which contain a Buddhist discussion of historical decline is found in the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta (Dīgha Nikāya 26) of the Pāli Canon (as well as in various parallel sources in other canons, like Dīrghāgama sutra number 6).Nattier 1991, pp. 13–15. The sutra recounts the story of a legendary universal monarch (Chakravarti) who lived far in the past. This king governed righteously and upheld the Dharma, ensuring peace and prosperity. Over time, successive kings neglect the Dharmic principles and fail to uphold the Dharma. 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 sutra 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.
The sutra 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 Dharma during a time of renewal. Under Metteyya’s guidance, people will again follow the path of virtue and wisdom, achieving liberation.
Theravada sources The Vinaya (Monastic Rule) of the Theravada school (Cullavagga X, 1,6.) claims that the true Dharma will only last for 500 years. It states that the true Dharma (saddhamma) would have lasted longer (1000 years) if not for the admission of women into the monastic Sangha as bhikkunis.Nattier 1991, p. 28. This claim also appears in the texts belonging to other Sthavira schools, including the Dharmaguptaka, Sarvastivada, and Mahisasaka schools but it does not appear in any single text surviving from the Mahasamghika school.Nattier 1991, pp. 29–32. As Nattier writers "Modern scholars have generally been reluctant to accept this pronouncement as representing the words of the Buddha, finding it more reasonable to assume that it emerged in misogynist circles sometime well after the Buddha's death."Nattier 1991, p. 30. She also argues that since the claim is not found in any Mahasamghika works, this suggests the claim developed somewhat after the first schism.
The now standard view in the Theravada school is a timetable of decline lasting five thousand years.Nattier 1991, p. 58.By contrast, refer to This schema was first taught in the works of the fifth century commentator Buddhaghosa.Nattier 1991, p. 56. This time table is divided into five one thousand year periods. In each period, there is the disappearance of certain elements of the Dharma:Nattier 1991, p. 57.
Disappearance of attainments (Pali: adhigama): In the first one thousand years, people gradually lose the ability to attain all the four stages of enlightenment. Disappearance of the method (patipatti): In this period people gradually stop practicing meditation and keeping precepts properly. Disappearance of learning (pariyatti): Gradually, the scriptures begin to be lost until all are lost at the end of this period. Disappearance of signs (nimitta): monks abandon the robe and enter into secular life. Disappearance of relics (dhatu): gradually the relics of the Buddha stop being worshiped and are lost.
Abhidharma 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.Nattier 1991, pp. 15–16. The zenith of goodness is a time when human beings live 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 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.
In Mahayana sources
Various Mahayana sutras contain different accounts of the ages of the Dharma and the periods of Dharma decline. Both the Diamond Sutra and the Lotus Sutra contain mentions of a period of decline in the future, though these sutras do not provide explicit accounts of this idea. In one passage from the Diamond Sutra, Subhuti asks the Buddha if there will be any beings who will understand the teaching of the sutra "in the future time, in the latter age, in the latter period, in the latter five hundred years, when the True Dharma is in the process of decay."Nattier 1991, pp. 35–37. Similarly, the Lotus Sutra also mentions a period "after the Tathagata's parinirvana, in the latter age, in the latter period, in the latter five hundred years."
According to Edward Conze, the term "the last five hundred years" (paścimāyāṃ pañcaśatyām in Sanskrit) seems to assume a series of five-hundred-year periods, of which the "last five hundred years" is an age of decline. However, Nattier argues that this term was likely just referring to the five hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvana (physical death).Nattier 1991, p. 34.
Some sutras contain different time tables however, the Mahayana Nirvana Sutra for example, mentions a period of seven hundred years, not five hundred. The passage states: "After seven hundred years have passed since my death, the True Dharma will be broken, decayed, and brought to ruin by sinful Māra."Nattier 1991, pp. 37–38. The sutra goes on to explain how even in the time of corruption, decline and decadence, the Buddhist community (sangha) will continue to exist for some time, even if many monks won't be living in the traditional way. The real danger of this period, according to the Nirvana Sutra, is that many people will reject the Mahayana sutras and the eternity of the Buddha, teaching that his death was final and that he was a mere mortal.Nattier 1991, p. 39.
Another sutra which is related to the Nirvana Sutra focuses on the topic of the Final Age. The Sūtra of the Total Extinction of the Dharma (佛說法滅盡經) contains the following prophecy of the final period:After my final nirvāṇa, when the Dharma is about to perish, in the evil world of the five heinous crimes, the paths of Māra will flourish. Māras will become ascetics and disrupt my path. They will wear worldly clothes but delight in monastic robes of five colors. They will drink wine, eat meat, kill living beings, crave flavors, have no compassionate hearts, and harbor hatred and jealousy toward one another.Translated from T0396 佛說法滅盡經 (CBETA) (「吾涅槃後法欲滅時，五逆濁世魔道興盛。魔作沙門壞亂吾道，著俗衣裳，樂好袈裟、五色之服；飲酒噉肉，殺生貪味；無有慈心，更相憎嫉。)Other sutras mention a time of one thousand years. The Bhadrakalpika Sutra for example, states "The true Dharma (saddharma) will last for five hundred years, and likewise the semblace of the true Dharma (saddharma-pratirūpaka)."Nattier 1991, pp. 46–47. This one thousand year timetable is also found in other sources like the Dazhidulun. Still other sutras, like the Candragarbha Sutra of the Great Collection, have a timetable of 1,500 years, with the true Dharma lasting for 500 years and the age of the "semblance of the true dharma" (saddharma-pratirupaka) lasting for a thousand years.Nattier 1991, pp. 48–49.
Candragarbha Sutra 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. There are different editions of this text. One of these provides a different schema of five five-hundred year periods (, Chinese: ; Japanese: ), each of which is less ideal for practicing Buddhism than the last.Nattier 1991, pp. 54–55. This schema, which covers a span of 2,500 years was also very influential in East Asian Buddhism and it was widely quoted and relied upon by Chinese and Japanese authors.Stone, Jacqueline I. (1985). Seeking Enlightenment in the Last Age: "Mappō" Thought in Kamakura Buddhism: (I), The Eastern Buddhist New Series, 18, (1), pp. 28–56.
These five ages are: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.
The true Dharma age, in which Buddhist believers resolutely cultivate wisdom and achieve liberation. The age in which Buddhists can resolutely practice meditation. The age in which Buddhists resolutely study, recite, listen to and learn the teachings. The age in which Buddhists focus on building temples, stupas and undertake repentance. The age of decline, in which the Dharma has diminished and believers quarrel with each other.
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.Marra, Michele (1988). The Development of Mappō Thought in Japan (I), Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 15 (1), pp. 26–27.