Dear Dr. Lal,
Thank you very much for your detailed and insightful response Sir.
Your explanation has helped me better understand the rarity of a Buddha’s appearance, and how these events occur within a world system. It has deepened my appreciation for how fortunate we are to be born during a time when the teachings of a Buddha are available.
I would be grateful if you could kindly clarify a few related points:
1. During long periods such as the 91 mahā kappa where no Buddha appears in our world system, is it possible that a Sammā Sambuddha arises in another world system within the 10,000 cakkavāla (i.e., nearby planetary systems), or is there always only one Buddha anywhere at a given time?
2. If only one Buddha arises at a time, does that mean it is always this particular world system (our “Earth system”) that becomes the birthplace of Buddhas during those rare mahā kappā?
3. I also came across the explanation that the Bodhisatta who became Gautama Buddha encountered many previous Buddhas over extremely long timescales. I would be grateful if you could shed some light on whether those Buddhas all arose within the same world system or across different world systems.
Thank you once again for your invaluable guidance and for maintaining the PureDhamma website for the benefit of many practitioners.
With metta and gratitude,
Jayesh