Mahayana Bodhisattva Path
We are along with Dharmākara in a journey together toward complete spiritual liberation. It is like a “three-legged race.”
The Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra mentions that Bodhisattva Dharmākara becoming Amida Buddha has been guiding us to perfect enlightenment for the past ten kalpas.
Gradually Sudden
If we take a more gradualist approach, we can see that the development of Mahayana Buddhism is a very, slow natural progression. This is Mahayana Buddhism as an evolution not a revolution. In other words, the development of Buddhism should be viewed as a continuum rather than as a series of sudden events.