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.
s
|