Maitrya buddha: the Future Buddha that is yet to come

According to Buddhist text and tradition maitreya buddha is believed to be bodhisattva who is to come in the future just like sakyamuni buddha did in the past. He will achieved nirvana and teach the people of earth about Dhrama just like predecessor  bodhisattva did.

• According to  Buddhist text Maitreya buddha will be the successor of living buddha i.e Gautam buddha.

• The prophecy of Maitreya buddha coming back to the terrestrial world is accepted by most of the major Buddhist school of Buddhism in different Buddhist countries. 

The name maitreya is taken from the Sanskrit world maitri meaning kindness, love, friendliness or goodwill. Thus maitrya has been referred to as the ‘loving one’ or ‘friendly one’.

                        According to the tradition of Buddhism Gautam buddha prophesied to his disciplines that after the planet had been steeped in a period of darkness, lord buddha would be descend to earth to preside over an  age of enlightenment. Buddhist today await maitreya's coming in much the same way that Christian await Jesus' second coming. In studying the the elements of  historical buddhism we should remember the maitreya is not so relevant to us as a past bodhisattva or a future Buddha's he is gloriously relevant to us a very present ascended master in our midst having full buddhic power and attainment, which he may transmit to us through  teachings and initiation.

                          Maitreya, the coming Buddha,the future Buddha ,plays many roles in the various Buddhist traditions throughout the Far east. Nor only is the guardian of the Dharma but he is also an intercessor and protector, a guru who personally initiates his devotees, a messenger sent by the Eternal mother to rescue her children, a messiah who descends when the world is in turmoil to judge the wicked and save the righteous, and last but not least he is the laughing Buddha.

                            Buddhist believed that Maitreya is coming at some future date (some put it at thousands, millions and even billions of the years from now), we affirm that the ascended master maitreya has come and is here today to  initiate all who qualify themselves to be his students.

Many Buddhist texts contain variation of the legends that mahakashyap, a disciple of gautam buddha who took over the leadership of the sangha after gautam's passing is in deep meditation inside a mountain awaiting the coming of the maitreya so that he can pass him Gautama's robe.

Shakyamuni instructed four of his disciples mahakashyap, kundopadhaniya, pindola,and rahula, not to enter nirvana,but instead to remaining the world until maitreya  appears. Buddhist teach that maitreya mastered the initiations of the Bodhisattva path in his past embodiment s and is thus worthy to become a buddha. Most approximately, he is called maitrya because he attained the samadhi called maitrya, meaning “compassion”.

Origin of maitrya —

Maitrya makes his first appearance in Buddhist scriptures in the cakkavatti sutta of the pali tripitka(Digha Nikava26). In this sutta, the spoke of future time in which the Dharma is entirety forgotten. Eventually,"Another Buddha– metteya(maitreya)–will gain Awakening, his monastic sangha numbering in the thousands, "the buddha said.

This is the only time the historical Buddha is recorded as mentioning Maitreya.

                           One mention of the  prophecy of Maitreya is prophesied in the Sanskrit Text, the Maitreyavyakaran(the prophecy of Maitreya), stating that gods ,men, and other beings will worship maitrya; it implies that he is teacher of trance sadhana:" will lose there  doubts and the torrents of cravings will be cut off: free from all a misery they will manage to cross the ocean of becoming; and, as a result Maitreya's teachings they will lead a holy life. No longer will they regard anything as their own, they will no possession, no gold or silver, no home , no relatives.! But they will lead the holy life of chastity under Maitreya guidance. They will torn the net of the passions, they will manage to enter into trances, and their will be an abundance of joy and happiness, for they will lead a holy life under maitreya guidance.

             

Attributes of maitreya buddha

• Many Maitreya buddha statue show him with different attributes, hand mudras and postures.
• It is believed that the Maitreya buddha statue show all attributes show must be bodhisattva.
• Most of the Maitreya buddha statue are depicted with the both hand in dharmachakra mudra.
• In many statue bodhisattva matriya are also represented as lotus flower,wheel of dharma as well as a ritual vase in each hand .
• The wheel of dharma on the top of lotus shows emphasize on Maitreya Buddha's mission to speed and teach Dharma to all beings. The rituals vase on the top of the lotus emphasises that Maitreya buddha will be born in the low caste family just like shakyamuni buddha was born in the high caste family.
• Many people have claimed to be incarnation of maitreya: such as xiang gaining(China), wu zetian(China), Hung ye(Korean), Lu zhongyi(China), etc. Most recent among them is ‘Ram Bahadur Bomjon’or Pakden Dorje’ of Nepal.                                                  Maitrya Buddha is known as Bhyams pa in Tibet. Maitrya Buddha is the bodhisattva who will next buddha after shakyamuni Buddha.

Some FAQs about Maitreya buddha–

Who is current buddha?

Dalai lama said to be current buddha_

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai lama, is - according to Tibetan Buddhist belief -a reincarnation of past lama who  decided to be reborn again to continue his work. He has been based in india since fleeing Tibet after the unsuccessful 1959 uprising.

(Source– BBC news)

Is Maitreya a jesus?

The most obvious reason Jesus couldn't have been the enlightenment Maitreya in first  century lifetime is that Maitreya is not due to appear until the Buddha's teaching have been lost to the world. This means that any claim to anyone who has yet existed being Maitreya is invalid. The Buddha shakyamuni ("our" buddha) himself was destined not to appear until the teachings of  previous buddha Dipankara had been lost to the world. (Source –Watchman.org)

When will maitreya reveals himself?

According to Buddhist text , maitreya,  the future buddha is reveals himself  when the teaching's of buddha have been lost to the world.

Some scholars says that, Jesus is the maitreya, Hindu says that krishna is the lord maitreya, Muslims says that  prophet Mohammad is the lord maitreya. But Buddhist says that future buddha is yet to come.