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Buddha Maitreya is the Buddha of the future, also known as the Laughing
Buddha, is the one to follow up the historical Buddha Sakyamuni. He waits
in the Tusita heaven for the moment he is to appear on earth as the Buddha
of the fifth world cycle. At present he is considered as one of the
dhyani-Bodhisattvas, the creators of the universe. In the future he will
be like Sakyamuni, a mortal manusi Buddha who lives on earth for a while
in order to teach mankind the doctrine. Maitreya, 'the loving one', is
widely worshipped in the Himalayan regions.
Future History
Shakyamuni Buddha
predicted that due to the inevitable degeneration of the times, his own
teachings would last just five thousand years before disappearing from
this world. People will grow more and more immoral and their lifespan will
gradually decrease, as will their health, stature and fortune. While such
delusions as miserliness, hatred and jealousy gain strength, the world
will go through prolonged periods of famine, disease and continuous
warfare until it eventually resembles a vast battlefield of graveyard.
Thereupon Maitreya will appear, not in his fully evolved buddha form, but
as a person of regal bearing, very handsome and taller than those around
him. On seeing this unusual being, people will be filled with wonder and
faith, and will ask how he came to have such an attractive appearance.
Maitreya will reply that this is due to his practice of patience, avoiding
giving harm to others, and if others will also abide in love and
tolerance, they could become similar to him.
Maitreya's
appearance will mark a great turning point in the fortunes of this world.
As more and more beings follow his example, their store of merit, and
consequently their lifespan, will increase. Eventually people will live in
health for such a long time that the sufferings of old age and death will
scarcely be known. At that time, their observance of morality will grow
lax as people become more and more involved in the pleasures of their
existence. With this laxity will come another gradual shortening and
degeneration of their lifespan until eventually beings once again will
become suitable ripe to take sincere interest in the spiritual path. When
the human lifespan as increased again to many thousands of years, and when
the planet will be entirely dominated by a benevolent wheel-turning
sovereign (Chakravartin) named Shankha, it is at this time that Maitreya
Buddha will descend from the Tushita buddha field (devaloka) where he now
resides, to appear in this world as the fifth founding Buddha of this
world age. Maitreya will be born the son of a Brahmin priest, and will
renounce the world and attain enlightenment in a single day, not requiring
six long years. The world in this time will be politically neutralised,
and therefore the warrior class and its martial virtues will be obsolete.
Thus he will be born among the intellectuals, the priests, and his
teaching will bring the gentler emotions to the fore.
His teachings will
not deviate from that of previous Buddhas, except for an interesting
tradition that he will not teach any esoteric Tantras (most likely hinting
that Maitreya's mission will in general be more effective than
Shakyamuni's). This does not show a difference in the perfection of
liberative techniques of the two Buddhas, rather a difference in the
evolutionary stage of the human beings on the planet (Shakyamuni Buddha
taught at a time of violence and widespread militarism, and had to turn to
the martial qualities of toughness, ascetism and determination toward the
pursuit of enlightenment.
Shakyamuni Buddha
also predicted that those who followed his teachings would be reborn in
the first circle of Maitreya's entourage and would be able to complete the
spiritual path under Maitreya's guidance.
The Maitreyavyankarna or "The Prophecy Concerning
Maitreya"
translated by Edward
Conze in his Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Books, 1959), pages 238-242.
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, O 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
advisor will be a Brahmin, Subrahmana by name, a very learned man, well
versed in the four Vedas, and steeped in all the lore of the Brahmins. And
that Brahmin 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 will speak these
words: "This is my last birth. There will be no more 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 supreme 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 state.
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 Sangha, 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.
And Shakra, the
thousand-eyed, the replendent king of the gods, rejoiced greatly, saluted
the leader of the world, and praised him as follows: "Homage to you, O
noblest of men! Homage to you, the best of all men! Have pity on the
multitude, O Lord!" And also Mara, the greatly powerful, will be there,
and he also will salute the leader of the world, and praise him. And,
surrounded by his retinue of gods, Brahma also will proclaim the true
Dharma with his heavenly voice. And the entire world shall be crowded with
Arhats, whose outflows have dried up, who have got rid of their faults,
who have shaken off all the bonds which tie them to becoming. Joyously the
gods, men, Gandharvas, Yakshas, and Rakshasas worship the teacher, and so
do the mighty Dragons. They also will lose their doubts, and the torrent
of their cravings will be cut off: free from all misery they will manage
to cross the ocean of becoming; and, as a result of Maitreya's teaching,
they will lead a holy life. No longer will they regard anything as their
own, they will have no possessions, no gold or silver, no home, no
relatives! But they will lead a holy life of chastity under Maitreya's
guidance. They will have torn the net of the passions, they will manage to
enter into the trances, and theirs will be an abundance of joy and
happiness; for they will lead a holy life under Maitreya's guidance.
For 60,000 years
Maitreya, the best of men, will preach the true Dharma, which is
compassionate toward all living beings, and when he has disciplined in his
true Dharma hundreds and thousands 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 for future good! Those therefore who long for
spiritual greatness, let them show respect to the true Dharma, let them be
mindful of the religion of the Buddhas!
Ketumati: The City Of Wonders
In that city of
Ketumati, not a single person will live in a hut made of wood and leaves.
Everyone will live in palaces made of the seven types of gems. In all of
Jambuudviipa, no one will engage in cultivation, in trade or in any other
profession; and no one will suffer from hunger. In suitable places of the
earth, a self-generating rice paddy will appear which will bear pearl-like
grains with a fragrance but no chaff. When the harvest of one of those
plants is taken, sixteen amunus (a measure of volume equal to
approximately four bushels) and eight laas (a measure of volume equal to
approximately one bushel) will remain after two thousand two hundred and
seventy-two carts have been loaded! When this rice is cooked in a golden
bowl on a hearth of gems on a fire arising from jotirasa [gems], everyone
will consume it with tasty meats and other curries. When people feel the
need to relieve themselves, a blue cloud will rush up to them and provide
a cover. Instantly, a pit will
appear in the ground. When they have answered nature's call, the pit will
disappear and a pond of water will take its place. When they have washed
in that pond, the cloud will disappear. Thus the city of Ketumati will be
like a heaven. As it has been said:
There will be a
glorious city called Ketumatii inhabited by very rich people where there
will be beautiful houses, pandals and gates which will shine like a
heavenly city.
Jambuudviipa: The Wonderland
At that time,
Jambuudviipa with all its [area of] ten thousand yojanas (a measurement
approximately equal to seven miles) will be similar to the kingdom of
Ketumatii, being as prosperous as a wedding house in season. In these
kingdoms, men and women will wash and bathe in ponds with banks of white
sands upon which stairs made of the seven types of gems lead down. These
ponds will be frequented by swans and other birds and will always be
covered by five types of water lilies. People will wear heavenly scents
and creams, wreaths of divine flowers, selected ornaments and adorn
themselves with garments and clothes freely given by the kalpa v.rk.sas
(heavenly wishing trees which appear during the first phases of a kalpa
during the time of an enlightened buddha that provide for all human
material wants). They will enjoy the taste of heavenly-scented rice, sit
and lie on comfortable beds with heavenly bedspreads, sleep while
listening to music and watch the dancing of artists who resemble the
artists in heaven. They will awaken from sleep hearing music and see their
wealth and comforts by the light of lamps burning with scented oil. They
will be especially happy when they see their great wealth of cash, grains,
elephants, horses, servants and labourers. As their minds will be full of
happiness, they will enjoy this life full of luxury and comfort. None of
them will suffer from the ninety-eight or ninety-nine types of illness nor
from the two hundred and three accidents. Their bodies will be as healthy
as the gods. As it has been said:
The people of
Jambuudviipa will be rich and prosperous. They will always be happy and
gay, peaceful in mind, enjoying the five types of comforts, adorning their
bodies with various ornaments which, devoid of all ailments, will shine
like the bodies of the gods.
Maitreya's Invitation To Buddhahood
At that time, when
the human world is more comfortable that the heavens and when men will
live for eighty-four thousand years, all the 'Sakras, Brahmaas, Suyamas,
Santu.sitas and Sunirmitas, all the brahmanaas and devas of the ten
thousand universes which surround this fortunate galaxy (Mangul-Sakvala)
of ours, will gather and approach Bodhisattva Maitreya living in the
Tusita heaven and invite him as follows:
'O Great Lord, now
is the time for you to become a Buddha.'
Then the great
bodhisattva [will say]: 'Time, country, continent, family and mother;
having observed these five, the buddhas will be born.'
Bodhisattva Maitreya's Final Birth As Prince Ajita
Thus having looked
into these five great matters and having confirmed by the devas that the
time is right for him to become Buddha, he will be conceived in the womb
of a brahman woman named Brahmawathie, the wife of the brahman
Subraahma.na, the chief advisor to the great king Sa.nkha. Then, after a
lapse, he will be delivered from his mother's womb into the hands of Mahaa
Brahmaa before a huge gathering of brahmaas and devas of the ten thousand
universes. With the appearance of his thirty-two marks, many miracles will
occur and all the universes with mountains such as Cakravaala, Meru and
Yugandhara will quake. Then growing day by day like the waxing moon and
with all the glory and prosperity of a child in heaven, he will become a
young prince.
By means of the
meritorious power of the Bodhisattva Maitreya who will be named Prince
Ajita, three palaces called Vardhamaanaka, Siddhaarthaka and Candra, made
of the seven types of gems, will arise out of the earth and be his
residences for the three seasons. Each palace will consist of seven
stories and on each floor there will be millions of small rooms. Around
each palace there will be seven walls of the seven types of gems. At the
gates of the palaces will be pandals made of variegated gems. At the edge
of the roofs of those palaces will be a golden mesh which will make music
similar to that of the five types of instruments. On top of the palaces
seven flags made of the seven types of gems will be hoisted. The whole
city will vibrate with the continuous sound of golden chimes attached to
the feet of the people. On the walls of the great palaces, decorative
scenes of the following will be clearly visible: lines of palms, lions,
elephants, coaches, peacocks, swans, curlews, storks, eagles, garudas,
naagas, devas, brahmaas, creepers, trees, lakes, oceans, ships full of
gold, silver and coral. Jambuudviipa and other great islands (continents),
Ketumati and other great cities, and other cloth paintings shining with
the colours of the rainbow. Daily, showers of heavenly flowers will fall
on top of those palaces. On every floor of those palaces, there will be
seven thousand well-decorated chambers, seven thousand thrones made of the
Vaiduurya gem, seven thousand parasols with handles made of gems and beds
covered by multicoloured sheets. The pinnacles of the palaces will be made
of gold. Around each palace, rows of elephants, numbering seven thousand
in all, dressed up and attired with ornaments, will stand guard with their
leader named Chaddanta. Seven thousand horses, whose leader will be named
Valaahaka, will also be fully attired and waiting on guard. Seven thousand
coaches shining like golden mountains will fly flags made of gems. On each
floor, seven thousand dancing girls will await dressed up and ready to
dance. The leader of the dancing girls will be Queen Candra- mukhii, who
will be one of a kind, unsurpassed in her beauty. She will shine with the
sixty-four kinds of feminine qualities. She will be not too tall, nor too
short, nor too thin, nor too fat, nor too dark, nor too fair. In her
exquisite beauty, she will be more divine than human. Sandalwood scent
will issue from her body and the scent of water lilies from her mouth. The
glow of her body will cover an area of twelve riyan (a measurement of
length approximately one cubit or half a yard). Her body will be as soft
as well-cleaned cotton. She will have the five qualities of beauty: beauty
of bones, beauty of muscles, beauty of complexion, beauty of hair and
beauty of age. This will be her final rebirth as she will have completed
all the necessary merits to become an arhant and attain nirvana. As it has
been said:
Having great amounts
of merit earned over a vast period of time, being extremely beautiful,
soft and gentle, having a pretty face like the moon, the wife of the
bodhisattva will also be in her final birth.
The son of the
mahaabodhisattva will be named Prince Brahmavardhana and will be the
eldest of one thousand sons.
In each palace there
will be four pits of treasure one yojana in length, one yojana in width
and one yojana in depth. At the four corners of the palace, four kalpa
v.rk.sas will arise up out of the ground and bear all kinds of clothes and
ornaments. Mahaabodhisattva Ajita, accompanied by a retinue of women
wonderfully attired and replete with feminine grace, will enjoy the five
types of worldly comforts for a period of one thousand years in each of
these mansions according to the season. As it has been said:
The residential
mansions of that bodhisattva will have floors made of gems, walls
decorated with paintings, garlands of scented flowers hanging here and
there, and will be full of pretty maidens dancing and singing.
Because of the power
of Bodhisattva Ajita, all the kings in the eighty-four thousand kingdoms
of Jambuudviipa led by the cakravartin Sa.nkha together with multitudes of
human and divine kings, will approach him and say: 'Lord, we have all come
to serve you.'
The bodhisattva will
reply: 'I have enormous numbers of attendants and followers here. You may
all go back to your own palaces and rule your countries [from there].' And
so he will allow the kings and gods to go back. About eighty-four million
ministers who were formerly the bodhisattva's companions in heaven and now
born into the various families of the city of Ketumatii will continuously
surround him as his guards.
Ajita's Great Renunciation
The great
bodhisattva, enjoying all comforts similar to heaven's will live a lay
life for eighty thousand years until one day on his way to the royal park,
the devas will create the figures of an old man, a sick man and finally a
corpse. After seeing these three signs and becoming disillusioned with
samsaara, he will give up the three-fold intoxications of being obsessed
with youth, health and life. Upon seeing a fourth figure conjured up by
the devas, the figure of a renouncer, he will decide to become a bhikkhu.
Having engaged in sporting activities in the royal park and returning to
the city on a road decorated by the devas, he will go up to the fourth
floor of his mansion, enter his chamber brightly illuminated and scented
by golden lamps and enjoy physical rest for seven days while engaging in
pradhaanavirya (this is the great resolution of a bodhisattva not to leave
his seat under the bodhi tree, even if his body suffers to the point of
deterioration, until he has gained enlightenment). On the full moon day of
Vesak when all buddhas attain buddhahood, and on the day when Queen
Candamukhii delivered Prince Brahmavardhana, he will wish to set forth on
the great renunciation. Instantly, all the gods of the ten thousand worlds
of this universe will congregate. In all the eighty-four thousand kingdoms
of Jambuudviipa a mighty commotion will ensue as everyone will be saying:
'It is Prince Ajita's renunciation, today.'
Then King Sa.nkha,
followed by a large crowd of dancers and people, will go up to the golden
hall of the bodhisattva. And remaining various castes and social levels
(k.satriyas, braahma.nas, vai'syas and 'sudras), male and female devotees
and ordinary people from all countries and states will bring flowers,
scents, flags, banners, umbrellas, banana leaves, pots, wreaths and so
forth and gather around the palace. In the sky, innumerable gods will
change themselves into tiny figures bearing scented flowers in their hands
and will fill the whole of space with sounds of 'sadhu' (an affirmative
acclamation meaning roughly 'holy' and/or 'amen') and divine music. The
entire earth will be covered with precious stones, flowers and powders,
dropped by the gods and brahmaas watching from Cakravate mountain and
other cosmic mountains. At the moment that the mahaabodhisattva thinks of
renunciation, his mansion with its seven walls and seven gates together
with all the dancers and attendants will instantly lift off into the sky.
By the power of the bodhisattva and the cakravartin, the
rest of the assembly will also be lifted into the sky. Whoever wishes to
renounce along with the bodhisattva will see each other in the air. Then
the ten thousand mahaabrahmaas in their ten thousand mahaabrahmaa worlds
will bear ten thousand white parasols each three yojanas high over the
head of the bodhisattva. In the same manner, ten thousand 'Sakras will
come blowing then thousand conches, one hundred and twenty riyan long.
Then thousand Suyama kings of gods will stand fanning the bodhisattva with
ten thousand fans. Ten thousand Santu.sita kings of gods will fan then
thousand palmyra fans made of gems. Then thousand musicians of the gods
who are pa~nca`sikha ['five crested; the name of a divine musician in the
Diigha Nikaaya who comes for counsel to the Buddha because he is love-
sick.] will play the vii.naa. Forty thousand varam gods will guard the
four directions bearing swords in their hands. Thirty-two male and female
deities will bring heavenly flowers and powders in caskets of gold and
silver. A further eight thousand captains will protect the bodhisattva
bearing swords in hands. Holding gold and silver flags, asuras will
surround the bodhisattva. Devanaagaraajas will bear torches made of gems.
Divine garudas will gather to sing songs of praise. Human-like beings will
also come to sing in their sweet voices. As it has been said:
Pretty kinnaras and
kinnara maidens gathered in his garden will make him happy by fascinating
performances of dance and song.
Furthermore, apsaras
and gandharvas will throng from ten directions singing and dancing.
Surrounded and followed by all these divine and human beings in such a
festive mood, the air will be filled with the sounds of dancing mountains,
leopards, yak.sas, the gods' singing 'saadhu', along with the praises of
the asuras and applause from the brahmaas.
The bodhisattva,
having gone to his bodhi tree, will descend from the sky with his mansion.
Mahaabrahmaa will bring him the eight requisites for monkhood. The
mahaabodhisattva will come down out of his mansion and cut off his hair
with his golden sword, throw it up into the air, and receive the eight
requisites. At the door of his palace, he will become a bhikkhu. On that
day, eighty-four thousand brahmans will follow the lead of the bodhisattva
and become bhikkhus. At that time, two brahman brothers named Isidatta and
Puura.na will become bhikkhus with eighty-four thousand followers. Two
other brahmans named Hitamitra and Vijitamitra, capable of becoming
arahants at hearing the first sermon will enter the order with eighty-four
thousand followers each. A merchant by the name of Siddhaartha will enter
the sangha with a company of laymen numbering eighty-four thousand. A
laywoman named Sudhaana will enter the order with eighty-four thousand
followers. Two of her well-known friends, Ya'sovatii and Vi'sakhaa, who
made much merit during the lifetime of our buddha, will enter the order
accompanied by their retinues of eighty-four thousand followers each.
Large numbers of people belonging to the four castesf living in and out of
the city will become bhikkhus on that same day. As it has been said:
Eighty-four thousand
brahmans, all masters of the Vedas, will become bhikkhus following
Metteya.
The Battle With Maara -- Lord Of The Dead
This great
bodhisattva, having made his renunciation, becoming a bhikkhu observing
`siila, bathing in the river to cool his body, eating delicious milk-rice
cooked in heavenly juices by his [former] queen Chandramukhii, sending his
alms-bowl upstream to the abode of the naagas, sojourning for a day amidst
festivities and offerings along a path prepared by attendant devas and
brahmaas from the ten thousand universes, taking eight handfuls of arrow
grass offered by a devotee, will approach his Naaga 'Srii Bodhi from the
right side, circumambulate the tree three times in pradak.si.naa fashion
[a clockwise circumambulation of a sacred object], examine the ground and
spreading grass on that unconquerable spot, sit on the special seat of
victory which will spontaneously spring up from the earth, place his back
against the trunk of that bodhi [tree], and will await on that Diamond
throne (vajraasana) in fourfold determination. At that moment, Vasavarti
Maara, living in his abode and knowing that the bodhisattva awaits in
four-fold determination to become a buddha, will think thus: 'I will not
allow him to become a buddha; I will throw him out of the universe taking
him by his legs.'
Followed by his
maara forces (the Dasabimbaras -- who are ten times heavier than the
earth) fierce and dangerous as they descend to the threshold of the
universe, Maara will crane his neck to see but will fail even to approach
Bodhisattva Maitreya, whose face is the symbol of compassion, and will
beat a path backward in retreat. At this time, the sun, fifty yojanas in
size, will shine its thousands of rays on the 'mountain of setting' like a
great wheel being drowned in the ocean; meanwhile, the moon, forty-nine
yojanas in size, will rise up out of the east as if to bathe the whole
world in a milky ocean.
The Enlightenment
At this time, the
great bodhisattva, awaiting underneath the bodhi tree, will illuminate the
entire region around him with a golden halo emanating from his body. All
the gods and brahmaas of the ten thousand universes, having followed him
during his renunciation and paying tributes by music and dance, will
continue to sing his praises. The sky will fill with showers of heavenly
fragrant flowers. Then that mahaabodhisattva, taking up his Diamond throne
under the bodhi tree, which itself is like a parasol made of emeralds,
will sit in the hall of the universe illuminated by the golden light of
the moon and surrounded like a curtain by the Cakravate mountains.
Multitudes of gods and men will await in hopeful fashion. The great
bodhisattva will then develop the special power of remembering past births
during the first watch of the night; during the second watch, he will
cultivate the power of seeing distant things; and in the last watch of the
night while meditating on the twelve facets of pratiityasamutpaada in
ascending and descending orders, he will gain omniscience and attain
buddhahood just as the first rays of the morning sun appear.
Instantaneously, as
on the day of his conception, the thirty-two auspicious signs will appear.
The ten thousand universes will be adorned with earthly and divine flowers
thickly and tightly arranged in wreaths on tables of floral design. That
omniscient Maitreya, having attained all-perceiving wisdom making the
entire world filled with celebration, will begin to express his exultation
in words [after] spending seven weeks [in meditation on dhamma] under the
bodhi [tree].
Maitreya's Salvific Message
Pondering the depth
of his dharma during the eighth week and accepting an invitation [to
preach] from Mahaa Brahmaa, going into a grove of Naa trees called
Isipatana and sitting amidst an assembly of human and divine beings
covering over one hundred yojanas, the entire length and width of this
universe, the Buddha will turn the wheel of dharma which consists of the
four noble truths: the truth of unsatisfactoriness, the truth of the
origin of unsatisfactoriness, the truth of the elimination of
unsatisfactoriness, and the truth of the way to final emancipation. Then
billions of human beings and countless multitudes of devas and brahmaas
will attain nirvaanas by understanding the four truths and their fruits.
While Maitreya saves
the world by preaching his dharma, the cakravartin Sankha will offer to
Maitreya and his great sangha his royal palace covering twenty-five
yojanas, give his enormous wealth to beggars and the poor and, approaching
the Buddha with a vast retinue, worship him with utter devotion, listen to
his dharma, cleanse his mind, attain nirvaana and enter the sangha with
all his followers by Maitreya's simple inducement: 'Come, O bhikkhu'. Then
all of the gods and men will approach the Buddha and ask him questions
regarding the four noble truths. The Buddha will respond in order to help
them attain nirvaana. As a result, eighty-four thousand billions of men
and gods will be saved from the ocean of sa.msaara. That ocean of
sa.msaara, filled with the water of suffering with its waves of birth, old
age and sickness, its whirlpools of desirous forms and sounds, its fish
being like the various passions, residence of the female water-demons, is
fed by the river waters of desire. Its length, width and depth can never
be fully measured. Maitreya saves all beings sunk into the ocean of
sa.msaara who are about to fall into the furnace of hell under the sea
which is shaped like the head of a mare."
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Source:
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo/index.htm
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Update : 01-01-2003