Maitreya
Maitreya, Metteyya, is regarded as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he is referred to as Ajita.
According to Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is a bodhisattva who will appear on Earth in the future, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor to the present Buddha, Gautama Buddha. The prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya refers to a time in the future when the dharma will have been forgotten by most on the terrestrial world.
Maitreya has also been adopted for his millenarian role by many non-Buddhist religions in the past, such as the White Lotus, as well as by modern new religious movements, such as Yiguandao.
Characteristics
One mention of the prophecy of Maitreya is in the . It implies that he is a teacher of meditative trance sādhanā and states that gods, men and other beings:General description
Maitreya is typically pictured seated, with either both feet on the ground or crossed at the ankles, on a throne, waiting for his time. He is dressed in the clothes of either a bhikṣu or Indian royalty. As a bodhisattva, he would usually be standing and dressed in jewels. Usually he wears a small stupa in his headdress that represents the stupa with relics of Gautama Buddha to help him identify it when his turn comes to lay claim to his succession, and can be holding a dharmachakra resting on a lotus. A khata scarf is always tied around his waist as a girdle.In the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, Maitreya is represented as a northern Indian nobleman, holding a kumbha in his left hand. Sometimes this is a "wisdom urn". He is flanked by his two acolytes, the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu, who founded the Yogacara tradition.
The Maitreyasamiti was an extensive Buddhist play in pre-Islamic Central
Asia. The Maitreyavyakarana in Central Asia and the Anagatavamsa of South India also mention him.
Maitreya's Heaven
Maitreya currently resides in the Heaven, said to be reachable through meditation. Gautama Buddha also lived here before he was born into the world as all bodhisattvas live in the Heaven before they descend to the human realm to become Buddhas. Although all bodhisattvas are destined to become Buddhas, the concept of a bodhisattva differs greatly in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. In Theravada Buddhism, a bodhisattva is one who is striving for full enlightenment, whereas in Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is one who has already reached a very advanced state of grace or enlightenment but holds back from entering nirvana so that he may help others.In Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhas preside over pure lands, such as Amitābha over Sukhavati. Once Maitreya becomes a buddha, he will rule over the Ketumati pure land, an earthly paradise sometimes associated with the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, India, and in other descriptions, the Shambhala.
In Theravada Buddhism, Buddhas are born as unenlightened humans, and are not rulers of any paradise or pure land. Maitreya's arising would be no different from the arising of Gautama Buddha, as he achieved full enlightenment as a human being and died, entering parinibbana.
Activity of Maitreya in the current age
In Mahayana schools, Maitreya is traditionally said to have revealed the Five Treatises of Maitreya through Asanga. These texts are the basis of the Yogacara tradition and constitute the majority of the third turning within the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma.Future coming of Maitreya
According to Buddhist tradition, each kalpa has 1,000 Buddhas. The previous kalpa was the vyuhakalpa, and the present kalpa is called the bhadrakalpa. The Seven Buddhas of Antiquity are seven Buddhas which bridge the vyuhakalpa and the bhadrakalpa:- Vipassī
- Sikhī
- Vessabhū
- Kakusandha
- Koṇāgamana
- Kassapa
- Gautama
The coming of Maitreya will be characterized by a number of physical events. The oceans are predicted to decrease in size, allowing Maitreya to traverse them freely. Maitreya will then reintroduce true dharma to the world.
His arrival will signify the end of the middle time, the time between the fourth Buddha, Gautama Buddha, and the fifth Buddha, Maitreya, which is viewed as a low point of human existence. According to the Cakkavatti Sutta: The Wheel-turning Emperor, Digha Nikaya 26 of the Sutta Pitaka of the Pāli Canon, Maitreya Buddha will be born in a time when humans will live to an age of eighty thousand years, in the city of Ketumatī, whose king will be the Cakkavattī Sankha. Sankha will live in the palace where once dwelt King Mahāpanadā, but later he will give the palace away and will himself become a follower of Maitreya Buddha.
The scriptures say that Maitreya will attain bodhi in seven days, by virtue of his many lives of preparation for buddhahood similar to those reported in the Jataka tales.
At this time a notable teaching he will start giving is that of the ten non-virtuous deeds and the ten virtuous deeds.
The Arya Maitreya Mandala, an order founded by Anagarika Govinda, is based on the idea of the future coming of Maitreya.
Buddhist texts from several traditions say that beings in Maitreya's time will be much bigger than during the time of Sakyamuni. In one prophecy his disciples are contemptuous of Mahakasyapa, whose head is no larger than an insect to them. Buddha's robe barely covers two fingers making them wonder how tiny Buddha was. Mahākāśyapa is said to be small enough in comparison to cremate in the palm of Maitreya's hand.
Foretold biography
Maitreya will be born to the Brahmins, Tubrahmā and Brahmavadi in Ketumatī, which will be ruled by King Saṅkha, a Chakravarti. Maitreya's spouse will be Princess Sandamukkhī. His son will be Brahmavaṁsa. After the birth of his son, Maitreya will leave to practice asceticism. He will practice for 7 days. After the practice, he will be awakened under a Mesua ferrea tree. The disciples of Maitreya Buddha are:- Asoka, an Agraśrāvaka and the right-hand chief disciple
- Brahmadeva, an Agraśrāvaka and the left-hand chief disciple
- Sumana, the right-hand Agasāvikā
- Padumā, the left-hand Agasāvikā
- Sīha, a primary attendant.
Nichiren Buddhism and Maitreya as metaphor
According to the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren Buddhism, all people possess the potential to reveal an innate Buddha nature during their own lifetimes, a concept which may appear to contradict the idea of Buddha as savior or messiah.Although Maitreya is a significant figure in the Lotus Sutra, the explanation of Nichiren is that Maitreya is a metaphor of stewardship and aid for the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, as written in the Lotus Sutra:
In much of his writing, Nichiren mentions the traditional Buddhist views on Maitreya but explains that the propagation of the Eternal Dharma of the Lotus Sutra was entrusted by Shakyamuni to the Bodhisattvas of earth: Thus, each individual can embody the character of the Maitreya because he is a metaphor for compassion:
Maitreya claimants
The following list is just a small selection of those people who claimed or claim to be the incarnation of Maitreya. Many have either used the Maitreya incarnation claim to form a new Buddhist sect or have used the name of Maitreya to form a new religious movement or cult.- In 613 the monk Xiang Haiming claimed himself Maitreya and adopted an imperial title.
- In 690 Wu Zetian, empress regnant of the Wu Zhou interregnum, proclaimed herself an incarnation of the future Buddha Maitreya, and made Luoyang the "holy capital." In 693 she temporarily replaced the compulsory Dao De Jing in the curriculum with her own Rules for Officials.
- Gung Ye, a Korean warlord and king of the short-lived state of Taebong during the 10th century, claimed himself as the living incarnation of Maitreya and ordered his subjects to worship him. His claim was widely rejected by most Buddhist monks and later he was dethroned and killed by his own servants.
- Lu Zhongyi, the 17th patriarch of Yiguandao, claimed to be an incarnation of Maitreya.
- L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the belief systems Dianetics and Scientology, suggested he was "Metteya" in the 1955 poem Hymn of Asia. Numerous editors and followers of Hubbard claim that in the book's preface, specific physical characteristics said to be outlined—in unnamed Sanskrit sources—as properties of the coming Maitreya were properties with which Hubbard's appearance supposedly aligned.
- Samael Aun Weor – stated in The Aquarian Message that "the Maitreya Buddha Samael is the Kalki Avatar of the New Age." The Kalkian Avatar and Maitreya Buddha, he claimed, are the same "White Rider" of the Book of Revelation.
- Ram Bahadur Bomjon openly identifies himself with the "Next Buddha" Maitreya, calls himself Maitriya Guru and his followers claim "He plans to unite the world through a single Maitri religion, Maitri language and Maitri culture." He is a controversial figure currently under investigation for rape, and separately for the disappearance of four of his ashram members.
- Adi Da was suggested by his devotees to be Maitreya:
- Followers of B.R. Ambedkar in the Dalit Buddhist Movement regard him as a bodhisattva, the Maitreya, although he never claimed it himself.
- Many scholars and analysts claimed Hindu Avatar Kalki as Maitreya.
- Some Muslim writers including of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community claimed Islamic prophet Muhammad as Maitreya.
Maitreya sects in China
Pre-Maitreyan Buddhist messianic rebellions
Southern and Northern Dynasties
- 515: The 'Chinese Rebellion'. In the late summer of that year, the renegade monk Faqing 法慶 married a nun and formed a sect in the Northern Wei province of Jizhou 冀州 with the assistance of a local aristocrat named Li Guibo 李歸伯. Li Guibo was given the titles of Tenth-stage Bodhisattva, Commander of the Demon-vanquishing Army, and King who Pacifies the Land of Han by Faqing.
- 516: The Moonlight Child Rebellion. Toward the end of that year, another sect was discovered by local authorities in Yanling, Jizhou. A man named Fa Quan and his associates were claiming that an eight-year-old child Liu Jinghui was a Bodhisattva called the Moonlight Child, and that he could transform into a snake or a pheasant. They were arrested and sentenced to death on suspicion of seditious intent, but Jinghui had his sentence commuted to banishment on account of his youth and ignorance.
- 517: Early in the spring of that year, surviving remnants of the rebels regrouped and mounted a sudden attack on the capital of Yingzhou province, which lay just northwest of their original base in Bohai prefecture. They were repelled only after a pitched battle with an army of slaves and attendants led by Yuwen Yan, the son of the provincial governor, and nothing more is known of their fate.
Maitreyan rebellions
Sui Dynasty
- 610: On the first day of the Chinese New Year, dozens of rebels dressed in white, burning incense and holding flowers proclaimed their leader as Maitreya Buddha and charged into the imperial palace through one of its gates, killing all the guards before they were themselves killed by troops led by an imperial prince. A massive investigation in the capital implicated over a thousand families.
- 613: A skilled magician named Song Zixian claimed to be Maitreya in Tang County, and allegedly could transform into the form of a Buddha and make his room emit a glow every night. He hung a mirror in a hall that could display an image of what a devotee would be reincarnated as: a snake, a beast or a human being. Nearly a thousand "from near and far" joined his sect every day, and he plotted to first hold a Buddhist vegetarian banquet, or wuzhe fohui, and then attack the emperor who was then touring Yingzhou. The plot was leaked, and Song was arrested and executed, along with over a thousand families of his followers.
- 613: The monk Xiang Haiming claimed to be Maitreya in Fufeng prefecture and led a rebellion. The elite of the Chang’an area hailed him as dasheng, or holy man, because they had auspicious dreams after following him, and his army swelled to several tens of thousands before he was defeated by government troops.
Tang Dynasty
- 710: Wang Huaigu declared, "The Shakyamuni Buddha has declined; a new Buddha is about to appear. The House of Li is ending, and the House of Liu is about to rise".
Song Dynasty
- 1047: Army officer Wang Ze led a revolt of Buddhists expecting Maitreya; they took over the city of Beizhou in Hebei before they were crushed. The Song Dynasty government declared Maitreya Sects to be "heresies and unsanctioned religions". Tens of thousands of Maitreya Sect followers were killed.
Yuan and Ming Dynasty
- 1351: The Red Turban Rebellion. Han Shantong, leader of the White Lotus Society, and Army Commander Liu Futong rebelled against the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty. Shantong's anti-Mongol slogan was "The empire is in utter chaos. Maitreya Buddha has incarnated, and the Manichaean King of Light has appeared in this world."
- In 1355, Han Shantong's son, Han Lin'er, was proclaimed "Emperor of the Great Song" by Liu Futong. Liu Futong claimed Han Lin'er was a direct descendant of the Zhao royal family who ruled the Song Dynasty. After Liu Futong's death, Zhu Yuanzhang took up command of the Red Turban Rebellion and later assassinated Han Lin'er to become the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty. According to Beijing University,
Qing Dynasty
- 1796: The White Lotus Rebellion. It broke out among impoverished settlers in the mountainous region that separates Sichuan province from Hubei and Shaanxi provinces. It apparently began as a White Lotus Society protest against heavy taxes imposed by Manchu rulers of the Qing Dynasty.
- 1899: The Boxer Rebellion. Chinese rebellion from November 1899 to September 7, 1901 against foreign influence in such areas as trade, politics, religion and technology that occurred in China during the final years of the Qing Dynasty. By August 1900, over 230 foreigners, tens of thousands of Chinese Christians, an unknown number of rebels, their sympathizers and other innocent bystanders had been killed in the chaos. The uprising crumbled on August 14, 1900 when 20,000 foreign troops entered the Chinese capital, Peking.
Speculation
Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya may have come from Mithra, the ancient Indo-Iranian deity. The primary comparison between the two characters appears to be the similarity of their names, while a secondary comparison is that both were expected to come in the future.Paul Williams claims that some Zoroastrian ideas like Saoshyant influenced the beliefs about Maitreya, such as "expectations of a heavenly helper, the need to opt for positive righteousness, the future millennium, and universal salvation". Possible objections are that these characteristics are not unique to Zoroastrianism, nor are they necessarily characteristic of the belief in Maitreya.
It is also possible that Maitreya Buddha originated with the Hindu Kalki, and that its similarities with the Iranian Mithra have to do with their common Indo-Iranian origin.
Non-Buddhist views
Theosophy
In theosophy, the theosophical Maitreya has multiple aspects signifying not just the future Buddha, but similar concepts from other religious or spiritual traditions.In early 20th century, leading theosophists became convinced that an appearance of the Maitreya as a so-called "World Teacher" was imminent. A South Indian boy, Jiddu Krishnamurti, was thought to be destined as the "vehicle" of the soon-to-manifest Maitreya; however the manifestation did not happen as predicted, and did not fulfil theosophists' expectations.
Post-theosophical movements
Since the growth of the theosophical movement in the 19th century, and influenced by theosophy's articulations on the Maitreya, non-Buddhist religious and spiritual movements have adopted and reinterpreted the concept in their doctrines. Share International, which equates Maitreya with the prophesied figures of multiple religious traditions, claims that he is already present in the world, but is preparing to make an open declaration of his presence in the near future. They claim that he is here to inspire mankind to create a new era based on sharing and justice.In the beginning of the 1930s, the Ascended Master Teachings placed Maitreya in the "Office of World Teacher" until 1956, when he was described as moving on to the "Office of Planetary Buddha" and "Cosmic Christ" in their concept of a Spiritual Hierarchy.
In 1911, Rudolf Steiner claimed "Roughly three thousand years after our time the world will experience the Maitreya Buddha incarnation, which will be the last incarnation of Jeshu ben Pandira. This Bodhisattva, who will come as Maitreya Buddha, will also come in a physical body in our century in his reincarnation in the flesh — but not as Buddha — and he will make it his task to give humanity all the true concepts about the Christ Event." Steiner is careful to distinguish Jeshu ben Pandira as somebody entirely distinct from Jesus of Nazareth, as the Maitreya is entirely distinct from the Christ being. The Maitreya does work in support of the Christ being, as does Gautama, the current Buddha.