Wood block depicting the three Buddhas of the past, present and future and text in Tibetan labelling the Buddhas as such.
Buddhas of the three times (Wyl. dus gsum sangs rgyas) — the Buddhas of the past, present and future, often represented by Dipamkara (the Buddha of the past), Shakyamuni (present) and Maitreya (future) In this example the text under each is: The Buddha of the Past (Wyl. mar me mdzad or Dipamkara), The Buddha of the Present (Wyl. Shakya rgyal or Shakya, the Victorious) and The Buddha of the Future (Wyl. Byams pa mgon or Maitreya) As you can see, the only variation [between the standard names and the names in the Horniman example] is referring to the Buddha as Shakya, the Victorious. The victory being referred to here is the victory, not over physical enemies or obstacles but rather the fundamental obscurations such as desire, anger and ignorance etc. that prevent beings from seeing the true nature of things. All Boddhisattvas or also referred to as the Victorious Ones who are endowed with and characterised by single -pointed determination and altruistic motivation to help liberate all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment or freedom from rebirth into Samsara or the mundane world or realms where birth, growth, decay and death are cyclic and unavoidable.
