Once, the Blessed One was staying near Sarvati in Jeta Grove, where the Anathapindika　monastery is located.
Venerable Maha Kassapa went to the Blessed One, and when he arrived, he bowed to the Blessed One and sat by his side.
He was sitting there and said to the Blessed One:

“What is the cause? Lord, what is the reason?
Previously there were fewer precepts and more bhikkhus established to the final stage.
But now, although the number of precepts has greatly increased, the number of bhikkhus who have been established to the final stage has decreased.
Why is this? ”

"That's right, Kasapa. When the existence of the true Dhamma is degenerating and disappearing, there will be more precepts, and yet the number of bhikkhus established to the final stage will decrease.
The true Dhamma will never disappear unless counterfeits of the true Dhamma arise in the world.
However, if a counterfeit of the true Dhamma arises in the world, the true Dhamma disappears.

Unless gold counterfeits occur around the world, gold will not disappear, but just as gold will disappear if counterfeit gold products occur around the world, gold will not disappear.
As long as there are no counterfeits of the true Dhamma occurring in the world, the true Dhamma exists. However, if a counterfeit of the true Dhamma arises in the world, the true Dhamma disappears.

“It is not the property of the earth that annihilates the true Dhamma. It is not the nature of water…the nature of fire…the nature of wind that annihilates the true Dhamma. The real law doesn't disappear like a ship sinking all at once. It is precisely the unworthy people that arise here that extinguish the true Dhamma.

These five downward qualities tend to confuse and annihilate the true Dhamma. Which five? There are times when monks, nuns, male laypeople, and female laypeople live without respect or reverence for the Venerable. They don't respect for Dhamma, for Sangha, for practice, for concentration. These are the five qualities that lead to decline, leading to confusion and disappearance of the true Dhamma.
<Counterfeiting of the true Dhamma (decline of the law)
 Sadhammapartirpaka Sutta (SN 16:13)>

Of course, gold does not disappear just because there is fake gold. What happens is that it becomes unused. People find imitation gold easier to use. A further meaning of this sermon may be that as long as only real gold exists, people will not question its authenticity. If there is both real and fake gold, there will be a question of which is real, all gold will be doubtful.

Also, people will use the one that is easier to use and the one that suits their tastes depending on price and purpose. This also applies to our religious beliefs and religious groups.

As a result, the diversity of beliefs in modern society has arisen, and new religions with various ideas and practices have come into existence.

The background of this sutra cannot be ruled out as the origin of the current Mahayana Buddhism.

The Buddha’s teachings of “Dharma” and “Practice” consist of “precepts” and “meditation,” and precepts are given as rules for self-control that are essential for practicing meditation. Therefore, it can be seen that in the early monastic orders there were many bhikkhus who devoted themselves purely to the practice of meditation, so the minimum number of precepts was sufficient. However, from the time of Buddha’s heyday to his later years, as a result of the success of his missionary work in various parts of India over the years, the number of monastery in each region increased dramatically. As a result, there were cases in which Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis became neglectful of their meditation practices with castaway of precepts. It is easily thought that the number of precepts had to be increased over time due to this.

Well, what about the modern situation?
Even today, there are 227 precepts for bhikkhus at Theravada temples in Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Laos.
However, not all of these 227 commandments apply to modern times.