mappō

mappō, in Japanese Buddhism, the age of the degeneration of the Buddha’s law, which some believe to be the current age in human history. Ways of coping with the age of mappō were a particular concern of Japanese Buddhists during the Kamakura period (1192–1333) and were an important factor in the rise of new sects, such as Jōdo-shū and Nichiren.

According to a view of cosmic history widely held in almost all Buddhist countries, the period following the death of the Buddha is divisible into three ages: the age of the “true law” (Sanskrit saddharma, Japanese shōbō); the age of the “copied law” (Sanskrit pratirupadharma, Japanese zōbō); and the age of the “latter law,” or the “degeneration of the law” (Sanskrit pashchimadharma, Japanese mappō). A new period, in which the true faith will again flower, will be ushered in some time in the future by the bodhisattva (“buddha-to-be”) Maitreya (Japanese Miroku).

The length of the three periods depends on the interpretation given in various texts; according to some reckonings the first age lasted 1,000 years, the second age for another 1,000 years, and the third age will continue for 10,000 years. Assuming the date of the Buddha’s death to be 949 bce, Japanese Buddhists calculated that the age of mappō began about 1052 ce.