法苑珠林 8.10

8.10

Question: In this Bhadrakalpa, Buddhas do not appear in the kalpas of formation, destruction, and emptiness, but only in the kalpa of duration. In this kalpa of duration, moreover, only eleven antarakalpas remain in the future. How can nine hundred and ninety-six Buddhas appear in the world at one time? Answer: Truly, the Tathāgata is difficult [to conceive]; the Buddhas of antiquity also presented such difficulties, and harmonizing the meaning is somewhat difficult. Now, relying on the Sutra of Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata and the Sutra of the Names of the Buddhas, the way can be broadly known. Let us first record the text of the Sutra of Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata, and afterwards cite the Sutra of the Names of the Buddhas to harmonize them. Kalpas have differences in length; thus the Sutra of Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata says: At that time, Śākyamuni Buddha addressed the great assembly, saying: "In the past, countless kalpas ago, during the Latter Dharma of the Buddha Prabhāprabhāsa, I left the household to study the Way and heard the names of these fifty-three Buddhas. Having heard them, I joined my palms and rejoiced in my heart. Furthermore, I taught others to enable them to hear and uphold them. Others, having heard them, successively taught one another, reaching up to three thousand persons. With different mouths but the same voice, they single-mindedly paid homage with reverence, and immediately transcended the transgressions of birth and death spanning countless billions of kalpas.