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In Maitreya’s name

by brother Kim

At his deathbed about 491B.C. Buddha comforted his beloved disciple, Ananda with the prediction that after many years a new enlightened teacher should come into the world. This became his last instruction to his followers. On the question of Ananda about how they will know him, Buddha answered that he shall be known by the name Metteyya (Sanskrit: Maitreya), which means loving kindness (Pali: Metta, Sanskrit: Maitre)! But as it has been predicted that many false Christ's shall appear in the world, so it has come to be under then name of Maitreya. The Buddhist nations one by one experienced leaders, who saw themselves as the incarnated Maitreya. However, these leaders have been local manifestations without universal significance as it should be expected in the case of Maitreya. Compared to hundreds of disciples of the Buddha, it is expected that Maitreya shall have thousands (Digha-nikaya III, 75). A typical Sanskrit version of the predictions of the Maitreya depicts a universal scope of his appearance. The Maitreya will be noticed and worshipped by the entire world and it is expected that "the entire earth shall be crowded with his holy ones" (Edward Conze, Buddhist Scriptures, Baltimore: Penguin Books 1959, p. 241). It is expected that the Buddha is the object of his disciples' veneration both during his earthly existence and after his annihilation, until the appearing of the Maitreya, but then the loyalty shall pass over to Him (Judson's Burmese Dictionary quoted by Van Ram Oke, Rangoon: Baptist Press 1953, 711). Who could this Maitreya be? When will he appear? In this chapter this prediction - that a new enlightened teacher shall appear on earth - is analyzed, and it is asked if these last words of Buddha could be seen as a prophecy about the coming of Christ.

From where comes the name of Maitreya?

According to the internationally known expert in Buddhism, Edward Conze, the name Maitreya had its origin in Persian eschatology, i.e. the teaching about the last times (Buddhist Scriptures selected and translated by Edward Conze, Middlesex, England, Penguin Books Ltd. 1959, 237). It is an important information. For the Persian empire conquered the Babylonian empire, which in 586B.C. had destroyed Jerusalem and brought the Jews into exile in Babylon. Since he was born in 563B.C, it is soon realized that Buddha lived the first part of his life at the time of the Jewish exile and his last years until his death in 491B.C. during the time of the Persian governing in the Middleeast. For the Jews the exile became a time of a new spiritual movement. The temple and the sacrificial religion became a finished chapter with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. In stead the Law of Moses and the synagogue took the high seat in the religious life of the Jews, and the development towards the law religion of the Pharisees had begun. However, even more important in the religious life of the Jews became the expectation about the coming Messiah, i.e. the Christ, the anointed king and savior. The prophet Daniel interpreted a dream of emperor Nebuchadnezzar as the arising of four world empires and their final dissolution with the coming of the son of man on the clouds to inaugurate his eternal kingdom (Daniel 2:36-45 & 7:13-14). When Jesus Christ finally appeared on earth, the whole Israel, which at that time lived during the reign of the fourth empire, was filled with expectations about the coming of their Savior. Even if it is impossible to come up with any definite conclusions, on the drawn historical background – that the time of the Buddha coincided with the Jewish exile in Babylon - there are very good reasons to assume that the expectations about the coming of Messiah and Metteyya (Sanskrit: Maitreya) could have sprung from one and the same source.

What is the meaning of the name Maitreya?

As mentioned above the name Maitreya means "loving kindness". Therefore, let's go back to the origin of the Jewish and Christian theology, when God first revealed his character to the prophet Moses with the following words: "And the LORD passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. (Exodus 34:5-7a). The name Maitreya, which means loving kindness, therefore indeed communicates true knowledge about the character of God. It is the God of Moses and the ancestor of Jesus Christ, king David, which this statement is about (Psalms 86:15).

However, the name does not only preach God in Heaven, but also the Christ. For God himself came to earth as the man Jesus "in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7). At times the meaning of the name Maitreya has been translated "friendliness". It should therefore be noticed that the primary spiritual accomplishment of the Christ was reconciliation, which at the root means a change from enmity to friendship (Colossians 1:20-21). We have good reasons to identify friendliness with Jesus Christ, who came to earth exactly to remove "hostility" and bring new friendship between God and man, and among men (Ephesians 2:14-18).

Buddha's prediction about the coming Maitreya

Together with the meaning of the name Maitreya Buddha mentioned a list of 14 characteristics of the enlightened spiritual teacher of the new age. Immediately before his death Buddha said to his beloved waiter Ananda:

I am not the first Buddha who came 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, auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable leader of men, a master of angels and mortals. He will reveal to you the same eternal truths, which I have taught you. He will preach his religion, glorious in origin, glorious at the climax, and glorious at the goal, in the spirit and in the letter. He will proclaim a religious life, wholly perfect and pure; such as I now proclaim.... He will be known as Metteyya, which means "he whose name is kindness" (The Teachings of Buddha compiled by Paul Carus revised and abridged edition, London: The Open Court Publishing Company 1915, p. 127).

Naturally, it will have to be the object of a deeper investigation to what extend the details from this quotation of Buddha fits Jesus Christ, as the Holy Scriptures of the Bible testifies about him. According to my own comparisons the prediction in this quotation about the Maitreya fits completely Jesus Christ, except for a few problems of difference in interpretation, caused by the special Buddhist worldview.

What could the designation Buddha mean in a Christian context?

Firstly the designation Buddha is not a proper name, but a title. It represents a spiritually enlightened or a wise holy man – a concept, which it is perfectly legitimate to speak about in a Jewish or Christian context. Only could Christians not accommodate the Buddhists metaphysical notions of reincarnation and the aspiration for buddhahood through countless existences. Let us therefore follow the lead and look for historical enlightened sages in this world. Not to confuse Christianity and Buddhism we first exclude from our search the instruments of God's special revelation: Moses and the prophets of Israel. The searched holy men must be found outside the nation Israel. Actually such holy priests and prophets appear in the Holy Scriptures of the Bible. For instance the chosen Abraham met and recognized the Canaanite king of Salem, Melchizedek as the priest of the most high God (Genesis 14:18-20). Also the Babylonian Balaam, who says about himself, that he is one, who clearly sees the visions of the almighty, prophesizes about a coming great king out of Israel, the Christ (Numbers 24:15-19). Even in the New Testament there is referred to a particular prophet of Crete descendant called Epimenides, who according to historical traditions went through a ministry of reconciliation for the city Athens, which had broken a promise about amnesty and got upon itself a pest over the city (Don Richardson. Eternity in their Hearts, Ventura, CA: Regal Books 1984, pp. 9-25). This event is the historical background of the altar for the unknown god in Athens, who the Apostle Paul recognized as the true God (Acts 17:23). There is in fact good reasons to believe that Paul knew the history behind the unknown altar; for after pointing out the altar he immediately quoted Epimenides with the words: "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). There is indeed no reason from a Biblical point of view to be offended about the title Buddha, and for such reason reject Buddha's prophecy about the great coming spiritual teacher with reference to the Christ. For Buddha, who invariably lived a holy life until his death, is in many ways of the same caliber as Melchizedek and Epimenides. Since it is also realized that Jesus Christ at the same time is described as the last priest of the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:17 & 24), there are no reasons not to consider the Christ as an enlightened Buddha. The historical Buddha of course is not the Christ, but Jesus is both an enlightened Buddha and the Christ in the same way as he according to the letter to the Hebrews is priest, prophet and king in one and the same person. There could also not be any confusion of persons; for the coming Maitreya is obviously never thought about as another coming of the historical Buddha.

Could the Christ be characterized as supremely enlightened?

It is one thing to assign the title Buddha to Jesus Christ, it is quite another to point out the content of it in Him. Is the Christ really supremely enlightened? The first thing to ascertain is naturally that the Eastern religions always has recognized the light in Jesus Christ. But we also have to take a closer look at the relationship between Jesus and Buddha's concrete experience of nirvana and enlightenment (bodhi).

Basically the word nirvana signifies extinction of the self, i.e. the end of all sinful desire, all revenge in anger and the end of the reign of self in man. About this we can say that Jesus never had any cause to repent from sinful desire, because he as the Son of God came into this world as holy and lived without sin all his life (Luke 1:35 & Hebrews 4:15). But he also abstained from returning any kind of evil for evil. He even forgave his own executioners (Luke 23:34). Finally, he did not allow himself to be dictated by the self. He obeyed his Father in Heaven in all things (John 5:19). Even before facing a painful death He did not put himself first, but He submitted to the Father's will that he should die on a cross for the sins of all the world (Luke 21:41-44). For the sake of unsaved people, with himself as the sacrifice, there was brought due judgement upon all the powers of desire, hatred and selfishness (Romans 8:3). It is written about the Maitreya that he shall win enlightenment and enter the homeless state in one day (Buddhist Scriptures selected and translated by Edward Conze, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. 1959, page 240). Now Jesus Christ as the Buddha lived in the homeless state from the time of his baptism, which began his ministry on earth (Matthew 8:20). However, in his death Jesus Christ in a way entered a particular kind of homeless state by being separated from his earthly body in the place of the dead. In this lies the special spiritual merit of Jesus, that He brought atonement for our offenses trough his undeserved death on the cross and conquered death by his resurrection from the dead as testified by all the Apostles (1. Corinthians 15:3-7).

After having considered the meaning of the word nirvana let us look upon the word enlightenment (bodhi) in a traditional Buddhist perspective. It is said about Buddha that he knew his own course of life and that of others and the way to full freedom from all suffering. It is especially spoken about as "full knowledge" (panna), which slowly in translations into English has come to mean something like divine omniscience. Among New Age believers it is often insisted that Jesus had special spiritual knowledge, because he in his youth spent some time in India. However, from our perspective Jesus Christ did not know Buddha as a son of man. But as the Son of God with the omniscience of God he already knew Siddharta Gautama, when he was sitting under the Bod tree. It could be what is suggested in the Gospel of John in the story about Nathanael. Jesus said to him that he had already seen him, an all through noble man, sitting under the figtree. Nathanael got impressed and broke out and praised his Lord unreserved: "You are indeed the Son of God" (John 1:44-51). The special connection, however, is that the Bod tree of Buddha also was a kind of figtree. Concerning omniscience the Apostles experienced and witnessed that Jesus did not have to ask anybody about others. For He knew what was in all men and women (John 2:24-25). And that Jesus himself went through the fire of suffering does not necessarily imply that he didn't know the way to the cessation of suffering. For one, who always turns away from suffering, could never know life in its full extent. Even Buddha did not turn away from sufferings in his search for truth. However, after the pain of the crucifixion and the horror of death the earthly suffering is over for him. For Jesus Christ rose from the dead and cannot die again. Death is no longer master over him anymore (Romans 6:9). Jesus Christ new exactly, who he was, where he was coming from and where he was going. For he said: "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going" (John 8:14a). And he had the courage to walk the way set before Him by God. The Way to the end of suffering is indeed fully known by Him, who said: "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 16:6a).

Again according to the Buddhist scholar Edward Conze the enlightened Maitreya were expected to preach the true teaching (Dharma), which shall remove "all ill, i.e. the fact of ill, the origination of ill, (and) the transcending of ill" (Buddhist Scriptures selected and translated by Edward Conze, Middlesex, England, Penguin Books Ltd. 1959, 240). The Buddhist meaning of "ill" should be assumed, which is the three enemies of foolishness, desire and hatred that causes sufferings. Now in the case of Jesus earthly preaching ministry, there was never any distinction between healing from suffering of sickness etc. and the forgiveness of the sins that leads to earthly holiness and eternal life without suffering (Mark 2:1-12).

Could the Christ be called a holy one?

The prophet Isaiah in many ways prophesized about the coming of Christ, and in at least one occasion he called him the holy one of Israel (Isaiah 29:18-19). In the prophecy about the birth of Christ Jesus he is called a holy one by the angel, who pronounced his birth to Mary (Luke 1:35). Even in the first great confession of the Apostle Peter - that Jesus is the Christ - Peter uses the designation "God's holy one" about him (John 6:69). Finally Peter quoted king David for the promise that his holy one not will be abandoned to see decay in his grave. For Jesus rose from the dead after three days (Acts 2:27). A holy one is therefore one of the designations, which by many of the different writers of the Holy Scriptures are used about the Christ.

Is the Christ bestowed with wisdom?

Even if the child Jesus soon was recognized as filled with wisdom, the people in his hometown got exceedingly amazed about his wisdom, when they heard him begin his earthly ministry in Nazareth (Matthew 13:54). The Apostle Paul proclaimed Jesus as the wisdom of God in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:24) and later wrote that all the treasures of wisdom is found in him (Colossians 2:2-3).

Is the Christ auspicious?

Jesus Christ came to proclaim the happy message that the kingdom of God had come near in his person. He demonstrated the new reality through healing all sickness and suffering among the people (Matthew 4:23). However, it all only was the beginning on the good things, which shall come, when Jesus Christ brings his disciples into his eternal kingdom, which he has gone away to prepare (John 14:1-3). It will be a kingdom, where the young lion and the calf will grass together, and where people will neither harm nor destroy each other. For all the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD (Isaiah 11:6-9).

Does the Christ know the universe?

Who could be better known with the universe than the Christ? For the Holy Scriptures of the Bible teaches that everything was made by Him and for Him, and that without Him nothing came into existence (John 1:3). He is the co-creator of all things, not only the visible, but also the invisible (Colossians 1:16-17). It's not like that matter came into existence through Him, while spiritual things came in another way. And the Holy Scriptures teaches us that from the beginning everything was good (Genesis 1:31). All things whether spiritual or material had its origin in Him, and therefore He is totally unlike the Indian creator god Brahma, who was only perceived as the maker of matter and thereby the creator of illusion. It was this pseudocreatorgod Brahma that Buddha for good reasons rejected. Yes, the Christ indeed knows his own universe!

Is the Christ a leader without comparison?

No other spiritual leader has ever had such a great number of disciples as Jesus Christ. He has disciples on all five continents. But the cause is exactly that the Christ is a spiritual leader without comparison. After He with his word had calmed the storm on a lake his disciples were amazed about Him and asked: "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" (Matthew 8:27). Or about whom else has it been said: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:6-7a). And seen from another perspective: Has any other spiritual shepherd ever consented to give his life for his sheep? (John 10:11).

Is Christ the master of angels and mortal?

The Christ is indeed Lord over all. For the Devil fled from Him and angels served Him (Matthew 4:11). And as it is written: "He is the firstborn from the dead" (Colossians 1:18), and God has given Him the name above all names, so that every knee in Heaven and on earth shall bow before Him and confess that Jesus Christ is LORD (Philippians 2:9-10). Even the call to all the peoples to become his followers builds upon the spiritual reality that all authority in Heaven and earth is given to Him (Matthew 28:18). He is the one, who by the Father is seated "far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come" (Ephesians 1:21). Yes, Jesus Christ is indeed the LORD of angels and mortals.

Did the Christ teach the same truth as the Buddha?

It might suggest a spiritual problem to think that Jesus Christ should teach the same eternal truth as Buddha. However, in such way it is necessary to approach the wise Buddha, whose moral teaching in the eight-fold path not can be perceived as much different from the requirement of the Ten Commandments for men to live in right relationship with each other (Exodus 20:12-17). Even the Apostle Paul witnessed that everything, which can be known about God, not is hidden from anyone. It is open to all men and women to know about the ways of God through observing God's creation (Romans 1:19). But the statement about the same truth does not necessarily imply that the teaching of the two should be identical, neither that the Christ should be limited by the spiritual vision of Buddha.

Did the Christ proclaim a perfect and pure religious life?

What stands out concerning the harmony of the two teachings is however, that the Christ as the Buddha proclaimed the necessity to live a holy life. This is the message from the Lord, which is witnessed by all the Apostles as one. Matthew quotes the words of Jesus: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Peter connects back to the Law of Moses with the expression: "Be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy'" (1. Peter 1:15-16). John declares that everyone, who says that he knows the Christ, is obliged to live as He lived (1. John 2:3-6). Finally, Paul writes that the goal of his ministry is "that he may present everyone perfect in Christ" (Colossians 1:28). Just like the way of Buddha the Way of Christ prescribes holiness and perfection.

Is the religion of the Christ glorious in origin, climax and goal?

The religion of the Christ begins with the glorious creation of the world. It comes to its climax with the appearance of Jesus Christ on earth, and it ends with the inauguration of the eternal Kingdom of God. It is indeed glorious in its origin, climax and goal!

Is the Teaching of Christ taught in spirit and letter?

One could hardly find a better statement about the nature of the Way of Christ. For the words and the teaching of Jesus Christ has been recorded by the apostles as the guideline for all discipleship of Him. Without the Holy Scriptures we would soon get lost in bewilderment. Though there is some warning about a religion of letter. For Jesus said: "The Spirit gives life…. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life" ( John 6:63), and "the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you" (John 14:26). Consequently, The Spirit and the Holy Scriptures work side by side. No-one could come to know the Christ and get to believe in Him without the proclamation of the Word (Romans 10:17), and no-one could fully understand the Holy Scriptures without the participation of the Spirit of God. For the Scriptures have been inspired by the Spirit, and they are interpreted authoritatively with the help of the Spirit (2. Peter 1:20-21).

When will the Maitreya come?

Now the interpreted quotation does not say anything about the time of the Maitreya. However other Buddhist Scriptures offer some words about his time. There are two perspectives of the question in mind, of which the first of them is quantitative. Some mention astronomical numbers of years, which should apparently pass by before his coming. Such would indeed make the message of Maitreya's coming completely irrelevant to all. It is also not all Buddhists, who interpret such numbers literally. For the expectation of his coming has always appeared and appears here and there in different Buddhists sects. More important is it however that such predictions hardly could be ascribed to the mouth of Buddha.

The other perspective gives some qualitative statements about the time of the Maitreya. He is expected to come after a time of decay. For it is not only the self, which by Buddhists are considered impermanent. All things are impermanent – even the teaching of the Buddha. It is of course a sensitive topic to talk about if Buddhism is in the process of decay as an outsider. However about the times of decay the Buddhist expert Edward Conze writes that the first Buddhist followers only expected the teaching of the Buddha to last for about 500 years. A further degrading of the way was expected to happen up till about 2.500 years after Buddha (Edward Conze. Buddhism: Its Essence and Development reprinted 1959 with foreword by Arthur Waley, New York: Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Row Publishers 1951, pp. 114-15). From Buddha's time and forward fewer and fewer experienced the fruit of the way, i.e. nirvana and spiritual release. At the time of the birth of Christ the new Mahayana Buddhists dismissed the practice of the eight-fold path as the way to enlightenment. In 1200 A.D the founder of the Pure Land School in Japan, Honen said that, at his time, the only thing all people would be able to practice of the teaching of Buddha might be a simple act of faith (Edward Conze, Buddhism: Its Essence and Development, New York: Harper & Row Publisher 1959, pp.114-118). In modern Japan some older Buddhist sects have almost been reduced to religions of the dead, who are boldly spoken of as Buddhas (hotoke-sama) without regard to any practice of a holy life-style in this world (Sir Charles Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. 1935, p. 185). Had one counted with 500 years, then the coming of the Maitreya would have been just about the time of the birth of Jesus, since Buddha died in 491 B.C.

Which statements about the Maitreya are authentic?

From the point of view of the original prophecy of the Buddha it indeed makes sense to present the Christ as the expected Maitreya. However, such does not imply that disciples of Jesus Christ could recognize all statements, which throughout times has been said about Maitreya by different Buddhist teachers and writers. The true Christ is always understood upon the ground of the Holy Scriptures of the Bible. For other statements it is of some importance if they can be connected with the historical Buddha. Generally, the Buddhist Pali Canon is more historically authentic than the Mahayana Buddhist preachings, which by various teachers have been put in the mouth of an exalted Buddha, teaching in a heavenly environment. With the introduction of Mahayana it unfortunately happened that the expected Maitreya got mixed up with the multitude of so-called aspiring candidates for buddhahood termed Boddhisattwas.

Does Maitreya's name communicate true knowledge about the Christ?

In spite of the problems mentioned above it brings less confusion to present the Christ in the name of Maitreya than the use of local names for god about the most high God. For these names often makes no distinction between god and man. In Japanese the word for God can also be used about a dead ancestor. In Thai and Burmese the name for God can also be used about a king or a monk. It is somehow different with Chinese. In China a genuine name for God is used, i.e. Shang Ti, which is the name of the highest God, whom the emperor originally approached once a year as the foundation for his ruling authority. In Korea a similar local name for God is used. In my personal judgement it is absolutely essential that the chosen word for God's name communicates true knowledge about the true God. So the important question we have to ask ourselves is if the name Maitreya communicates a true understanding of the Christ.

There are always some good reasons to be skeptical, when a case is about new understandings of prophetic statements and unknown spiritual truths. But sometimes Christians have no objections against such, if it concerns the predictions of the coming of Christ in the Old Testament of the Bible. We are for instance not critical about the prophecy that the new king shall be named Emmanuel, even if Jesus Christ never was addressed in this way during his time on earth. Since Emmanuel means "God with us", we quickly understand the Christ as the coming of God to earth.

It is exactly the same with the name Maitreya, which meaning testifies about the loving kindness of God in Christ. But to further eradicate some doubts let us finally look upon the prediction of Buddha from the perspective of God. If we believe in the living God and the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, we must ascribe Him insight in the choice of the translation of the Hebrew Messiah in the Greek translation of the Old Testament of the Bible (LXX: Septuaginta). Messiah became the Greek "Christos", still with the same meaning as the anointed one, i.e. the chosen king on the throne of David. But to our great surprise we find that the word, which speaks about God's loving kindness in Greek is "Chrestos". Translated back into Greek the Sanskrit word Maitreya might become Chrestos. One might say that the sound of the name of Christ means loving kindness in the original language of the New Testament of the Bible. The pronunciations of the two words "Christos" and "Chrestos" are indeed so close that a Roman document by mistake speaks about commotion among the Jews caused by a certain Chrestos.

The best to be said, however, is that the two words together proclaim the true picture of the Christ. For that he is loving kindness is indeed true, but it is not the whole truth about God in Christ. For an attribute could never be a person. So the heart of the Christ is loving kindness, but as a person He is the anointed king, the heir and the Lord of the coming kingdom of God. The true Christ is both Savior and Lord.

Will all receive Him?

Naturally, it cannot be possible that two teachers of absolute universal significance both should be revealed in the world. Logically, it could only be one and the same. Therefore, there is no meaning to distinguish between the Maitreya and the Christ. It is just different names for the same expectation that a universal Savior of the human kind shall be born into the world (Genesis 3:15). This should however not be understood as if all things have been said in this case. For it is still debated, who this spiritual Teacher and Savior might be. The Jews, who expected the coming of their Messiah, did not recognize him in Jesus. Even when the Apostle Paul proved from the Holy Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ, the Jews opposed him (Acts 19:28). In the same way nobody should expect that all Buddhists might understand and receive their true Maitreya. But as his disciples we point to the person Jesus Christ of Israel, on whose Name we believe, as the true revelation of the loving kindness of God on earth.