Past Buddhist Thought - Kakobutsushisou

...The statues of Buddha in Amaravati in the south have spiral hair on their heads and flexible limbs, which are characteristic of South India. With the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, emphasis was placed on the practice of altruistic acts to save all living beings, whether by monks or laypeople, and the existence of various concrete Buddhas was sought, in addition to the abstract Dharma of Buddha. In addition to Shakyamuni faith, the idea of ​​a past Buddha, which holds that there was a Tathagata in the past, and the idea of ​​Maitreya, who is currently training in Tushita Heaven, will appear in this world 5.67 billion years from now to save all living beings, were born. However, the future was considered too far away, and the idea of ​​a Buddha in the future (Buddha of another land) arose, in which one could meet the Buddha and go to paradise if one went to the Buddha's land, and the Pure Land of Muryoju Buddha (Amida Buddha) in the west and Akshobutsu Buddha and Yakushi Buddha in the east were envisioned.

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "Past Buddhist Thought" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…また南方のアマラーバティーの仏像は，頭部が螺髪（らほつ）となり，肢体も柔軟で南インドの特性がよく表れている。大乗仏教が興起すると，出家，俗人を問わず，衆生済度の利他行の実践が強調され，抽象的な仏の〈法〉のみならず，具象的なさまざまな仏の存在が求められるようになり，釈迦信仰のほかに，過去にも如来ありとする過去仏思想や，現在兜率天に修行中の弥勒菩薩が，56億7千万年後にこの世に出現して，衆生を済度するという弥勒思想も生まれる。しかし未来は遠すぎるとして，仏国土に行けば仏に会えて往生できるという来世仏(他土仏)の考えが起こり，西方の無量寿仏(阿弥陀仏)，東方の阿閦仏や薬師仏の浄土が想定された。…

※「過去仏思想」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報