three existences ［三世］ ( san-ze): Past existence, present existence, and future existence. Used to indicate all of time, from the eternal past, through the present, through the eternal future. In Buddhism, they are the three aspects of the eternity of life, linked inseparably by the law of cause and effect. In the sutras, expressions such as “the Buddhas of the three existences” and “the Buddhas of the three existences and ten directions” indicate all Buddhas throughout eternity and boundless space.