Maitreya is 'the Buddha of the future'. He is currently
giving teachings to the heavenly beings at his residence in the Tusita heaven
and waiting for his time to take the place of Sakyamuni as the Buddha of the
fifth world cycle. In the future Maitreya will be like Sakyamuni, a great savior
and re-newer to establish on earth a new era and guide the mankind to the path
of Buddha. Maitreya, 'the offer joy one' is an important and popular deity who
is widely worshipped in the Himalayan and East Asian regions. Because he is
also frequently alluded to in Pali exegetical literature, Maitreya is hence the
only Bodhisattva recognized throughout Theravadin and Mahayana.
As predicted by Shakyamuni Buddha, due to the inevitable cycle
of Samsara (the wheel of life) his
teachings would last fifteen thousand years before disappearing from this
world. People's immorality, after that, will gradually increase. As the merit
of life decrease their life-span and fortune will thus degenerated, the world
will result in a vast battlefield of graveyard. After 5670000000 years, as the
cycle of lifespan changing from decrease to increase, people's health and
spiritual quality will gain positive improvement. As the human lifespan
increased again to 80 thousands of years, the world will be entirely dominated
by a benevolent wheel-turning sovereign named Shankha.
The world in this time will be politically
neutralized, and therefore the warrior class and its martial virtues will be
obsolete. People will be living in a prosperous society with peaceful and
joyful environment. That is the time when Maitreya Buddha will descend from the
Tushita heaven to this world. Maitreya will be born the son of a priest, and
will renounce the world and attain enlightenment in a single day, unlike
Shakyamuni's six-year of practice. Due to the high intellect of the audience,
Maitreya will only offer three Dharma lectures to the public. The principle of
his teachings will not deviate from any previous Buddhas' Dharma, except for
the emphasis in the perfection of liberation techniques. Unlike Shakyamuni's
asceticism, Maitreya's followers will not have any material and spiritual
obstacle; this new teachings will offer joy and happiness to interpret Dharma
for the ultimate enlightenment.
Shakyamuni Buddha has predicted that those who followed Maitreya's
teachings would be reborn in the
Tusita heaven and would be able to complete the spiritual path under Maitreya's
guidance.
A Chinese monk called Shi-Ts (?-916) was believed as an emanation
of Maitreya (called Mi-Lo-Fo). His
laughing figure with a fat belly uniquely represents Maitreya in China and has
been commonly adopted by Vietnamese (called Di-Lac), Korean and Japanese
(called Miroku) Buddhist since. This localized transformation is one of the
most popular Buddhist figures in East Asia.
For more information
A Brief History of Maitreya - by Venerable Lama Thubten Yeshe
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