Dr. Paul Carus, in his _Buddhism and its Christian Critics_, pp. 150-51, says: "According to the orthodox Buddhist conception, there is no doubt about it that the incarnation of Buddha, in the person of Gotama Siddharta, has passed away. Gotama has died, and his body will not be resurrected. But Buddha continues to live in the body of the Dharma--_i.e._, the law or religion of Buddha; and, in so far as he is the truth, he is immortal and eternal." "The whole world may break to pieces, but Buddha will not die. The words of Buddha are imperishable." The idea of the appearance of a periodical Messiah was extant throughout the Jaino-Buddhist times, thousands of years before Gotama Buddha entered upon his mission in the field of religious reformation. "Millions of Buddhists still believe that their Lord will come again to redeem his people, appearing as Maitri."[J] The twenty-three Buddhas who preceded Gotama--"the immortal saints universally acknowledged by the Jains as coming to earth in divers ages to aid and bless mankind"--have been recorded, with their names, fathers' names, and symbols, reaching as far back, it has been calculated, as 6,000 B.C. "The Blessed One said: 'The Buddha that will come after me will be known as Maitrâiya, which means he whose name is Kindness.'" [J] _Vide_ General Forlong's _Short Studies in the Science of Comparative Religions_. The conception of a mystical Trinity was introduced into both the Christian and Buddhist systems of belief at a late stage of their development. In the case of Buddhism it arose from the simple formula:-- "I take refuge in Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha"-- that is, in the Prophet, the Law, and the Church. These afterwards were interpreted to stand for the Self-Existent, the Son (Logos) or Sophia (Wisdom), and the Holy Ghost (or uniting principle). Gotama has also been said to possess three personalities, and every one of them is of equal importance.[K] "There is the Dhârma Kâya; there is the Nirmâna Kâya; there is the Sambhôga Kâya. _Buddha_ is the all-excellent truth, eternal, omnipresent, and immutable; this is the Sambhôga Kâya, which is in a perfect state of bliss. _Buddha_ is the all-loving teacher, assuming the shape of the beings whom he teaches; this is the Nirmâna Kâya, his apparitional body. _Buddha_ is the all-blessed dispensation of religion; he is the spirit of the Sangha and the meaning of the commands which he has left us in his sacred word, the Dhârma; this is the Dhârma Kâya, the body of the most excellent law." [K] _Vide Gospel of Buddha_, by Paul Carus, p. 227.