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Maitreya

future Buddha in Buddhist eschatology
For for the Theosophical concept, see Maitreya (Theosophy).

Maitreya ( मैत्रेय Sanskrit), Metteyya (Pali), also known in some Buddhist literature as Ajita ( अजित Skt. ), is regarded as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology.

He will teach the Dhamma, lovely in its beginning, lovely in its middle, lovely in its ending. ~ Gautama Buddha
Many await My Coming with reverence and also with some fear. This is inevitable. My Coming will mean the end of the old order of things. All that is useless, no longer serving the purposes of man, can now be discarded. (Maitreya's Message No. 4)

Quotes about

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  • For eight thousand years he will live the household life in four palaces Sirivaddha, Vaddhamāna, Siddhattha and Candaka - his chief wife being Candamukhī and his son Brahmavaddhana. Having seen the four signs while on his way to the park, he will be dissatisfied with household life and will spend one week in practicing austerities. Then he will leave home, travelling in his palace and accompanied by a fourfold army, at the head of which will be eighty-four thousand brahmins and eighty four thousand Khattiya maidens. Among his followers will be Isidatta and Pūrana, two brothers, Jātimitta, Vijaya, Suddhika and Suddhanā, Sangha and Sanghā, Saddhara, Sudatta, Yasavatī and Visākhā, each with eighty four thousand companions. Together they will leave the household and arrive on the same day at the Bodhi tree.
  • The World Teacher is that Great Being Whom the Christian calls the Christ; He is known also in the Orient as the Bodhisattva, and as the Lord Maitreya, and is the One looked for by the devout Mohammedan, under the name of the Iman Mahdi. He it is Who has presided over the destinies of life since about 600 B.C. and He it is Who has come out among men before, and Who is again looked for. He is the Great Lord of Love and of Compassion, just as His predecessor, the Buddha, was the Lord of Wisdom. . . . He is the World Teacher, the Master of the Masters, and the Instructor of the Angels, and to Him is committed the guidance of the spiritual destinies of men, and the development of the realisation within each human being that he is a child of God and a son of the Most High.
  • He has been for two thousand years the supreme Head of the Church Invisible, the Spiritual Hierarchy, composed of the disciples of all faiths. He recognises and loves those who are not Christian but who retain their allegiance to their Founders – the Buddha, Mohammed and others. He cares not what the faith is, if the objective is love of God and of humanity. If men look for the Christ Who left His disciples centuries ago, they will fail to recognise the Christ Who is in the process of returning. The Christ has no religious barriers in His consciousness. It matters not to Him of what faith a man may call himself.
    • Alice Bailey in The Reappearance of the Christ, Lucis Trust (1948)
  • Profoundly interesting is this world-tragedy of conflict to those who see in it a necessary preparation, a clearing of the ground, for the coming of the World-Teacher and for the new civilisation... The terrible lesson now being taught, the widespread suffering, the devastation by sword and fire, the poverty caused by the dislocation of trade, the tension, the bankruptcies... But through this Armageddon the world will pass into a realm of peace, of brotherhood, of co-operation, and will forget the darkness and the terrors of the night in the joy that cometh in the morning...
  • And so, looking over the world at the moment, there seems little likelihood that when He comes He will be welcome. A few will recognise Him as they ever have done, and maybe, as the characteristics of the coming race are those of spirituality, there will be more to welcome Him, for the spiritual life is spreading to-day, and those who are of the Spirit will know the law of the Spirit; and I would fain leave you with the thought tonight that that is a truth, that the Supreme Teacher will again ere very long be incarnate upon earth, again made manifest as Teacher, again walking and living amongst us as last He walked in Palestine. Splendid as is the hope, mighty as is the inspiration, there is nothing too glorious to be possible for the ever-unfolding Spirit in man, and the hope of to-day is that that spirit is spreading, despite the characteristics of our time; that men are becoming more liberal, more tolerant, more ready to recognise that which is true and just.
  • Now in those days, brethren, there shall arise in the world an Exalted One by name Maitreya (the Kindly One) an Arhat, a Fully Enlightened One, endowed with wisdom and righteousness, a Happy One, a World-knower, the Peerless Charioteer of men to be tamed, a teacher of the devas (angels) and mankind, an Exalted One, a Buddha like myself. He of His own abnormal powers shall realize and make known the world, and the worlds of the devas, with their Maras, their Brahmas, the host of recluses and brahmins, of devas and mankind alike, even as I do now. He shall proclaim the norm, lovely in its beginning, lovely in its middle, and lovely in the end thereof. He shall make known the wholly perfect life of righteousness in all its purity, both in the spirit and in the letter of it, even as I do now. He shall lead an Order of Brethren numbering many thousands, even as I do now lead an order of Brethren numbering many hundreds.
  • And in that time of the people with an eighty thousand-year life-span, there will arise in the world a Blessed Lord, an Arahant fully-enlightened Buddha named Metteyya, (Maitreya) endowed with wisdom and conduct, a Well-Farer, Knower of the worlds, incomparable Trainer of men to be tamed. Teacher of gods and humans, enlightened and blessed, just as I am now. He will thoroughly know by his own super-knowledge, and proclaim, this universe with its devas and maras and Brahmas, its ascetics and Brahmins, and this generation with its princes and people, just as I do now. He will teach the Dhamma, lovely in its beginning, lovely in its middle, lovely in its ending, in the spirit and in the letter, and proclaim, just as I do now, the holy life in its fullness and purity. He will be attended by a company of thousands of monks, just as I am attended by a company of hundreds. (25)
  • The Buddha of the present time is the Lord Gautama, who took his last birth in India about two thousand five hundred years ago...Seven Buddhas appear in succession during a world-period, one for each race, and each in turn takes charge of the special work of the Second Ray for the whole world, devoting himself to that part of it which lies in the higher worlds, while he entrusts to his assistant and representative, the Bodhisattva (Maitreya), the office of World-Teacher for the lower planes. For One who attains this position Oriental writers think no praise too high, no devotion too deep, and just as we regard those Masters to whom we look up as all but divine in goodness and wisdom, so to an even greater degree do they regard the Buddha.
  • Now at this time in the remote past to which we have referred, humanity should have begun to provide its own Teachers; but we are told that no one had quite reached the level required for the incurring of so tremendous a responsibility. The first-fruits of Humanity at this period were two Brothers who stood equal in occult development; one being he whom we now call the Lord Gautama Buddha, and the other our present World-Teacher, the Lord Maitreya. In what way they fell short of the required qualifications we do not know; but, out of his great love for humanity the Lord Gautama instantly offered to make himself ready to undertake whatever additional effort might be necessary to attain the required development. We learn from tradition that life after life he practised special virtues, each life showing out some great quality achieved.
  • The Lord Maitreya, whose name means kindliness or compassion, took up the office of Bodhisattva when the Lord Gautama laid it down, and since then He has made many efforts for the promotion of Religion. One of His first steps on assuming office was to take advantage of the tremendous magnetism generated in the world by the presence of the Buddha, to arrange that great Teachers should simultaneously appear in many different parts of the earth; so that within a comparatively short space of time we find not only the Buddha Himself, Shri Shankaracharya and Mahavira in India, but also Mithra in Persia, Laotse and Confucius in China, and Pythagoras in ancient Greece.
  • What is now called Christianity was undoubtedly a magnificent conception as He originally taught it, sadly as it has fallen away from that high level in the hands of ignorant exponents since. It must not be assumed, of course, that the teaching of brotherly and neighbourly love was new in the world. As St. Augustine said in His book De Civitate Dei,
    The identical thing that we now call the Christian religion existed among the ancients, and has not been lacking from the beginnings of the human race until the coming of Christ in the flesh, from which moment on the true religion, which already existed, began to be called Christian...
  • Readers of the Bhagavad Gita will also remember the teaching of love and devotion with which it is filled. The Bodhisattva also occupied occasionally the body of Tsong-ka-pa, the great Tibetan religious reformer, and throughout the centuries he has sent forth a stream of His pupils, including Nagarjuna, Aryasanga, Ramanujacharya, Madhavacharya, and many others, who founded new sects or threw new light upon the mysteries of religion, and among these was one of His pupils who was sent to found the Muhammadan faith.
    The sending out of the teachers I have mentioned above is only part of His work, which is not confined to humanity, but includes the education of all creatures on earth, and among them the Deva evolution. He is thus the Head of all the faiths at present existing, and of many others which have died out in the course of time, though He is of course responsible for them only in their original form, and not for the corruption which man has naturally and inevitably introduced into all of them as the ages have rolled by. He varies the type of religion to suit the period of the world’s history at which it is put forth, and the people to whom it is given; but though the form may vary as evolution proceeds, the ethics are ever the same.
  • The Bodhisattva also occupied occasionally the body of Tsong-ka-pa, the great Tibetan religious reformer, and throughout the centuries He has sent forth a stream of His pupils, including Nagarjuna, Aryasanga, Ramanujacharya, Madhavacharya, and many others, who founded new sects or threw new light upon the mysteries of religion, and among these was one of His pupils who was sent to found the Muhammadan faith.... He is thus the Head of all the faiths at present existing, and of many others which have died out in the course of time, though He is of course responsible for them only in their original form, and not for the corruption which man has naturally and inevitably introduced into all of them as the ages have rolled by...
  • They will ask, "Can the time of Maitreya create a New Era?" Answer, "If the Crusades brought a new age, then truly the Era of Maitreya is a thousandfold more significant." In such consciousness should one proceed.
    • Morya, Agni Yoga , 1, (1929)
  • Once a woman stopped between images of the Blessed Buddha and Maitreya, not knowing to Whom to offer her reverence. And the image of the Blessed Buddha uttered these words, “According to My Covenant, revere the future. Standing in defense of the past, direct your gaze toward the dawn.”
    • Morya, Agni Yoga , 95, (1929)
  • "Wisdom in all," recalls the Hindu. "Cooperation in all" will be added to this in the Age of Maitreya. Not only by command, not just by harmony, but by the lightning-bolt of directed thought are the co-workers united... Each era has its own call. The power of thought will be the evocative principle of the New World.
    • Morya, Agni Yoga, 101, (1929)
  • No name will provoke so many attacks as that of Maitreya, for it is bound up with the future. Nothing provokes so much fear and irritation in people as thinking about the future... Striving toward the future, be ready for battle. Do not hide your striving, for fire strives upward and only a high degree of striving will strengthen our union... It is essential not to fear to broaden your labors, for this is the best way to co-measurement. Sitting under one particular tree, one may think that it is the center of the world. But, expanding the essence of one's spirit through the entire world, one becomes like Fire, all-pervading.
    • Morya, Agni Yoga, 336, (1929)
  • Often people will not look at reality, but insist on their own misperception... Understand once again that the time of changes of continents is approaching. Maitreya is coming, in the vanguard of science, addressing its new frontiers. All the problems of science and of the evolution of all that exists are of concern to the Teacher.
    • Morya, Agni Yoga, 344, (1929)
  • The prayer uttered by Christ when leaving Earth was not heard by people. The prayer uttered by Buddha was not heard by people. The prayer that will be uttered by Maitreya knocks like lightning at the gates of the human spirit.
    • Morya, Infiniti I, (1930)
  • You are correct in speaking of humanity’s lack of insight. When we approach the ominous hour, all forces must be strained for the mighty step. It has already been told that the Epoch of Maitreya is approaching, and the signs are strewn as fiery seeds; hence, the ominous hour will be one of Light for those who are in step with the Cosmic Magnet. Hence, the ominous hour will be as a future Light for those who battle for the significance of the Epoch of Maitreya. Hence, cooperation with Us brings the predestined victory. Therefore, the co-workers who walk in self-denial will be victors.
  • Maitreya is coming, radiant with all fires. His Heart is aflame with compassion for destitute humanity. His Heart is aflame with the affirmation of the new Covenants.
    • Morya, ' Hierarchy, 3, 1931
  • Each Lord has his keynote. The Epoch of Maitreya proclaims woman. The manifestation of Maitreya is linked with the confirmation of the Mother of the World, in the past, present, and future.
    • Morya, ' Hierarchy, 13, (1931)
  • How stupid are all who deny hope! How blind are those who affirm the advantage of wars! How few are the consciousnesses that can perceive the regeneration of the planet by way of culture! Certainly, those who do not comprehend creativeness by means of higher measures will perish in the same old upheavals. Those who do not comprehend the new ways are greatly in need of understanding the Epoch of Maitreya. The Banner of Peace and of the Lords will open all ways!
    • Morya, ' Hierarchy, 390, (1931)
  • The various concepts of the will should be thoroughly thought through and delineated... The Epoch of Maitreya is the Age of the Heart! Only with the heart can you fathom the value of Maitreya’s treasures! Only with the heart can you understand how greatly all accumulations and all straight-knowledge are needed for the future.
    • Morya, ' Heart, 74, (1932)
  • All the crusades in humanity’s past are nothing in comparison with the March of Maitreya. I affirm that the Great Battle means the renewal of the Earth. The future should be understood not as a battle but as podvig. One can expect battles not only in the usual sense but also as a reconstruction of life... You can understand how the intensification of energy is laying a new step for the planet’s progress. No one should be surprised that chaos breaks through, for the Battlefield is enormous. Let us not forget to notice even the smallest manifestations. There is so much diversity in the clashes between the fundamental forces of the Universe!
    • Morya, Heart, 184, (1932)
  • When slavery, the shame of the World, is manifested, then one must expect a change of epoch. Can one expect the advent of Maitreya to be possible only in four hundred thousand years? Many times has confusion been caused by mere words. It is impossible to imagine the Earth submerged in darkness for another thousand of years. Just picture the progression of evil! Therefore the most fierce Armageddon can be regarded as salvation.
  • Maitreya will be 88 cubits (132 feet/ 40 meters) tall and will live for 88,000 years. Like Maṅgala Buddha, his rays will make people hard to distinguish between day and night.
    • Myanmar Encyclopedia, Volume 9
  • The scriptures say that Maitreya will attain bodhi in seven days (which is the minimum period), 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 (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech, covetousness, harmful intent and wrong views) and the ten virtuous deeds (the abandonment of: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech, covetousness, harmful intent and wrong views).
 
Throughout the entire Buddhist world the rocks on the roadsides, with the images of Maitreya, point out the approaching future. From the most ancient times until now this Image has been erected by Buddhists who know the approach of the New Era . In our day, venerable lamas, accompanied by disciples, painters, and sculptors, travel through the Buddhist countries, erecting new images of the symbol of aspirations toward the radiant future. ~ Helena Roerich

Foundations of Buddhism, by Helena Roerich (1930)

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  • According to tradition, the Blessed One preordained the Bodhisattva Maitreya as his successor. “And the Blessed One said to Ananda, ‘I am not the first Buddha who has come upon Earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One, a supremely enlightened One, endowed with wisdom in conduct, embracing the Universe, an incomparable leader of men, a ruler of devas and mortals. He will reveal to you the same eternal truths, that I have taught you. He will establish his Law, glorious in its origin, glorious at the climax, and glorious at the goal, in the spirit and in the letter. He will proclaim a righteous life, wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim. His disciples will number many thousands while mine number many hundreds.’ “Ananda said, ‘How shall we know him?’ “The Blessed One said, ‘He will be known as Maitreya!’ ”  (Paul Carus, The Gospel of Buddha) The future Buddha, Maitreya, as his name indicates, is the Buddha of compassion and love. This Bodhisattva, according to the power of his qualities, is often called Ajita—the Invincible.
  • It is interesting to note that reverence of many Bodhisattvas was accepted and developed only in the Mahayana school. Nevertheless, the reverence of one Bodhisattva, Maitreya, as a successor chosen by Buddha himself, is accepted also in the Hinayana. Thus, one Bodhisattva, Maitreya, embraces the complete scope, being the personification of all aspirations of Buddhism.
  • What qualities must a Bodhisattva possess? In the Teaching of Gotama Buddha and in the Teaching of Bodhisattva Maitreya, given by him to Asanga according to tradition in the fourth century (Mahayana-Sutralankara), the maximum development of energy, courage, patience, constancy of striving, and fearlessness was underlined first of all. Energy is the basis of everything, for it alone contains all possibilities.
  • Throughout the entire Buddhist world the rocks on the roadsides, with the images of Maitreya, point out the approaching future. From the most ancient times until now this Image has been erected by Buddhists who know the approach of the New Era. In our day, venerable lamas, accompanied by disciples, painters, and sculptors, travel through the Buddhist countries, erecting new images of the symbol of aspirations toward the radiant future.
  • Buddha, as the source, and Maitreya, as a universal hope, will unite the austere followers of the Teaching of the South with the multiformity of the North. That which is most essential for the immediate future will definitely manifest itself. Instead of swelling the Teaching with commentaries, it will again be restored to the beauty of the value of concise conviction. The new time of the Era of Maitreya is in need of conviction.
  • Life in its entirety must be purified by the flame of achievement. The great Buddha, who preordained Maitreya, prescribed the path for the whole of existence. For those wise and clear covenants, the manifestation of the new evolution is calling. The demand for the purification of the Teaching is not accidental. The dates are approaching. The Image of Maitreya is ready to rise. All the Buddhas of the past have combined their wisdom of experience and have handed it on to the Blessed Coming One.


On Eastern Crossroads: Legends and Prophecies of Asia, Helena Roerich (1930)

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  • The Treasure is returning from the West. On the mountains the fires of jubilation are kindled. Behold the road! There walk those who carry the Stone. Upon the Shrine are the signs of Maitreya. Out of the Sacred Kingdom is given the date when the carpet of expectation may be spread. By the sign of the seven stars shall the Gates be opened. “By fire shall I manifest My messengers. Gather the prophecies of your happiness.” Thus are fulfilled the prophecies of the ancestors and the writings of the wise ones... The approaching Maitreya is symbolized with His feet set upon earth—the symbol of haste. (Prophecies of Shambhala and Maitreya)
  • It is predicted that the manifestation of Maitreya will come after the wars. But the final war will be for the True Teaching. But each one rising up against Shambhala shall be stricken in all his works. And the waves shall wash away his dwelling. And even a dog will not answer to his call. Not clouds but lightning shall he see on the final night. And the red messenger shall rise up on pillars of Light. The teaching indicates that each warrior of Shambhala shall be named the invincible. The Lord Himself hastens and His banner is already above the mountains! (Prophecies of Shambhala and Maitreya)
  • The Blessed Buddha bestowed upon you the cherished Maitreya to approach the New Era. Thy Pastures shall reach the Promised Land. When thou tendest thy flocks, dost thou not hear the voices of the stones? These are the toilers of Maitreya who make ready the treasures for thee. When the wind murmureth through the reeds, dost thou understand that this is the arrows of Maitreya flying in protection? When lightning illumineth thy camps, knowest thou that this is the light of thy desired Maitreya? To whom shall the watch upon the first night be entrusted? — To thee! (Prophecies of Shambhala and Maitreya)
  • The Tashi Lama shall ask the Great Dalai Lama: “What is predestined for the last Dalai Lama?” “The denier shall be given over to justice and shall be forgotten. And the warriors shall march under the banner of Maitreya... “Those rising against Shambhala shall be cast down. To the obscured ones the Banner of Maitreya shall flow as blood over the lands of the new world. To those who have understood, as a red sun.” (Prophecies of Shambhala and Maitreya)
 
A Page from the Sacred History of the Lord Buddha. The Predestined Maitreya

A Page from the Sacred History of the Lord Buddha: The Predestined Maitreya

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  • The eyes of the child Prince opened early to the miracles of the world. Naught escaped his penetrative attention.
    The King said, “Perception is the crown of the Lord, but the strength of His arm is His shield. Let Him strengthen His arm with the bow. Let the children of the noble Kshatriyas compete with the Prince.”
    The Queen Mother added, “If penetration is the crown of the Lord, and the strength of His arm is His shield, then the glory of the Lord is His mercy and His wisdom. I would that my near one should be surrounded by the Devas of Wisdom who created the Vedas.”
  • Then an old sage turned to the King saying, “Reverend Mother, and thou, Lord, command me to combine your wishes. Command me to bring unto you her whom we call the daughter of the Great Nag, whom we have sheltered in our house. And for seven years have we marveled at her wisdom and the strength of her bow. Verily she is worthy of the hand which has inscribed the wisdom of the Vedas.”
    “Let her be brought here,” commanded the King.
    The wise councilor brought a young being, saying, “Maitri, send the worthiest greeting to our King.”
  • Unheard of was it to see a seven-year-old girl in a white garment, her bow and arrow in hand and a dagger in her girdle. The crown of heavy dark hair was not restrained by the fillet of the Nag and the eyes peered out sadly and sternly.
    The King said, “Maitri, if you can send the arrow, transfix yonder peacock.”
    Maitri bowed to the King and said, “I may not take life from an animal; but permit me, King, to pierce an apple on the top of the apple tree.”
    The King commanded Maitri to be companion to the Prince and greatly admired the wisdom of her who was found on the shores of the lake.
  • Many years did the Prince spend with Maitri, calling her at times Stern One, or Glowing One, or Warrior, or Seeress of the Wisdom of Nagi.
  • Maitri opened before him the door of the Path.
  • When the powerful Lion returned and with the roar of Truth mantled the mountains, Maitri guarded for Him his best pupil and pronounced, “She shall glorify the sight of Thy labors.”
  • The Lord of Truth answered, “Maitri, manifested Councilor and Keeper. Thou who hast hidden thy wisdom from the crowd. Thou shalst assume My place as the Lord of Compassion and Labor. Maitreya shall lead the nations towards Light. And the arrow of achievement shall bestow the apple of Knowledge.”
  • What has been said is as true as that the Temple of Knowledge shall be erected near the site of the glorification of the Teacher. What has been said is as true as that the pupil of the Blessed One shall give her name to the Temple of Knowledge. The base of the manifestation of Truth is affirmed by the labors of life.
    Given in Chorten-Karpo.

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