Toh 870 intro.4

intro.4

According to a number of canonical works, the Buddha Ratnaśikhin is a buddha from the past in whose presence the Buddha Śākyamuni trained during earlier lifetimes, prior to his awakening. The Play in Full, in describing Śākyamuni’s service to former buddhas, mentions that Śākyamuni “offered a candle to Ratnaśikhin.”² Vasubhandu’s Abhidharmakośa identifies Ratnaśikhin as the buddha under whom Śākyamuni completed the first of his three “incalculable eons” of training.³