像法

(sa) saddharma-pratirūpaka; the formal or image period of Buddhism; the three periods are 正像末, those of the real, the formal, and the final; or correct, semblance, and termination. The first period is of 500 years; the second of 1,000 years; the third 3,000 years, when Maitreya is to appear and restore all things. There are varied statements about periods and dates, e.g. there is a division of four periods, that while the Buddha was alive, the early stage after his death, then the formal and the final periods.