Maitreya will appear in the future, some thirty thousand years hence. At present Maitreya is believed to reside in the Tutshita. heaven, awaiting his last rebirth when the time is ripe. His name is derived from mitra, 'friend,' friendliness being a basic Buddhist virtue, akin to Christian love.
Sariputra, the great general of the doctrine, most wise and resplendent, from compassion for the world asked the Lord: 'Some time ago you have spoken to us of the future Buddha, who will lead the world at a future period, and who will bear the name of Maitreya. I would now wish to hear more about his powers and miraculous gifts. Tell me, 0 best of men, about them !'
The Lord replied: 'At that time, the ocean 'will lose much of its water, and there will be much less
of it than now. In consequence a world-ruler will have no difficulties in passing across it. India,
this island of Jambu, will be quite flat everywhere, it will measure ten thousand leagues, and all men
will have the privilege of living on it. It will have innumerable inhabitants, who will commit no
crimes or evil deeds, but will take pleasure in doing good. The soil will then be free from thorns,
even, and covered with a fresh green growth of grass; when one jumps on it, it gives way, and
becomes soft like the leaves of the cotton tree. It has a delicious scent, and tasty rice grows on it,
without any work. Rich silken, and other, fabrics of various colours shoot forth from the trees. The
trees will bear leaves, flowers, and fruits simultaneously; they are as high as the voice can reach and
they last for eight myriads of years. Human beings are then without any blemishes, moral offences
are unknown among them, and they are full of zest and joy. Their bodies are very large and their
skin has a fine hue. Their strength is quite extraordinary. Three kinds of illness only are known-people must relieve their bowels, they must eat, they must get old. Only when five hundred years
old do the women marry.
'The city of Ketumati will at that time be the capital. In it will reside the world-ruler, Shankha by name, who will rule over the earth up to the confines of the ocean; and he will make the Dharma prevail. He will be a great hero, raised to his station by the force of hundreds of meritorious deeds. His spiritual adviser will be a Brahmin, Subrahinana by name, a very learned man, well versed in the four Vedas, and steeped in all the lore of the Brahamins. And that Brahman will have a wife, called Brahmavati, beautiful, attractive, handsome, and renowned.
'Maitreya, the best of men, will then leave the Tushita heavens, and go for his last rebirth into the womb of that woman. For ten whole months she will carry about his radiant body. Then she will go to a grove full of beautiful flowers, and there, neither seated nor lying down, but standing up, holding on to the branch of a tree, she will give birth to Maitreya. He, supreme among men, will emerge from her right side, as the sun shines forth when it has prevailed over a bank of clouds. No more polluted by the impurities of the womb than a lotus by drops of water, he will fill this entire Triple world with his splendour. As soon as he is born he will walk seven steps forward, and where he puts down his feet a jewel or a lotus will spring up. He will raise his eyes to the ten directions, and ill speak these words: "This is my last birth. There will be no rebirth after this one. Never will I come back here, but, all pure, I shall win Nirvana!"
'And when his father sees that his son has the thirty-two marks of a superman, and considers
their implications in the light of the holy mantras, he will be filled with joy, for he will know that,
as the mantras show, two ways are open to his son: he will either be a universal monarch, or a
supreme Buddha. But as Maitreya grows up, the Dharma will increasingly take possession of him,
and he will reflect that all that lives is bound to suffer. He will have a heavenly voice which reaches
far; his skin will have a golden hue, a great splendour will radiate from his body, his chest will be
broad, his limbs well developed, and his eyes will be like lotus petals. His body is eighty cubits
high, and twenty cubits broad. He will have a retinue of 84,000 persons, whom he will instruct in
the mantras. With this retinue he Will one day go forth into the homeless life. A Dragon tree will
then be the tree under which he will win enlightenment; its branches rise up to fifty leagues, and its
foliage spreads far and wide over six Kos. Underneath it Maitreya, the best of men, will attain
enlightenment- there can be no doubt on that. And he will win his enlightenment the very same day
that he has gone forth into the homeless life.
'And then, a supreme sage, he will with a perfect voice preach the true Dharma, which is auspicious and removes all ill, i.e. the fact of ill, the origination of ill, the transcending of ill, and the holy eightfold path which brings security and leads to Nirvana. He will explain the four Truths, because he has seen that generation, in faith, ready for them, and those who have listened to his Dharma will thereupon make progress in the religion. They will be assembled in a park full of beautiful flowers, and his assembly will extend over a hundred leagues. Under Maitreya's guidance, hundreds of thousands of living beings shall enter upon a religious life.
'And thereupon Maitreya, the compassionate teacher, surveys those who have gathered around him, and speaks to them as follows: "Shakyamuni has seen all of you, he, the best of sages, the saviour, the world's true protector, the repository of the true Dharma. It was he who has set you on the path to deliverance, but before you could finally win it you have had to wait for my teaching. It is because you have worshipped Shakyamuni with parasols, banners, flags, perfumes, garlands, and unguents that you have arrived here to hear my teaching. It is because you have offered to the shrines of Shakyamuni unguents of sandalwood, or powdered saffron, that you have -arrived here to hear my teaching. It is because you have always gone for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Samgha, that you have arrived here to hear my teaching. It is because, in Shakyamuni's dispensation, you have undertaken to observe the moral precepts, and have actually done so, that you have arrived here to hear my teaching. It is because you have given gifts to the monks-robes, drink, food, and many kinds of medicines-that you have arrived here to hear my teaching. It is because you have always observed the sabbath days that you have arrived here to hear my teaching.". . .
'For 60,000 years Maitreya, the best of men, will preach the true Dharma, which is compassionate towards all living beings. And when he has disciplined in his true Dharma hundreds and hundreds of millions of living beings, then that leader will at last enter Nirvana. And after the great sage has entered Nirvana, his true Dharma still endures for another ten thousand years.
'Raise therefore your thoughts in faith to Shakyamuni, the Conqueror! For then you shall see
Maitreya, the perfect Buddha, the best of men! Whose soul could be so dark that it would not be
lit up with a serene faith when he hears these wonderful things, so potent of future good! Those
therefore who long for spiritual greatness, let then, show respect to the true Dharma, let them be
mindful of the religion of the Buddhas!'
