The Study On The Belief Of Maitreya In Ancient India

The belief of Maitreya has played a significant role in the development of Buddhism both in ancient India and the world. As one of the earliest forms of Indian Buddhism, the belief of Maitreya has run through the history of Indian Buddhism, promoting the formation of and its interaction with the Mahayana Buddhism. Functioning as a medium in the eastward propagation of Buddhism, the belief of Maitreya itself has won a broad development prospect in China and east Asia. However, it is still a neglected field and remains little explored. Up to now, no research available provides a detailed and clear tracing of development and transformation of the belief of Maitreya in ancient India. And the present studies on the Chinese belief of Maitreya are also incomplete and discontinuous, which hinders the successive as well as transformational development of the belief of Maitreya in China.Therefore, this paper takes the belief of Maitreya as an objective for a multi-sided and multi-perspective study. Taking the actual situation of India into consideration, based on the historical and archaeological resources, scriptures and folk legends, this research attempts to reveal the characteristics of the Indian belief of Maitreya and trace its development as well as transformation in history.The conclusions obtained are as follows:1. The belief of Maitreya can not be equated with the belief of the pure land of Maitreya, for the latter is the result of the propagation and transformation of Indian belief of Maitreya in central Asia and China.2. The Maitreya of the Future was evolved from the mythologies of Maitreya. The concept that regards Maitreya as the future Buddha came into being at the times of Sakyamuni when he gave the prediction that Maitreya would become Buddha in the future, which also is the foothold for all forms of the belief of Maitreya.3. One hundred years or so after the nirvana of Sakyamuni, the belief of Maitreya of the Future was established, symbolized by the volume 44 of Ekottarikagama in which the scripture of Maitreya marks the appearance of the earlier form of Indian belief of Maitreya. Indeed, the earlier form of Indian belief of Maitreya, the Buddha of Future, followed the Dharma preaching of Sakyamuni times, which seemingly worshipped the Maitreya, actually still adored the Sakyamuni Buddha.4. The maturity of the ancient Indian belief of Maitreya is marked by the belief of Maitreya's descent upon the temporal world, regarding Maitreya as the present Buddha, Sakyamuni the past, and taking the preaching methods and the objective of adoration typical of Maitreya.5. The completion of the Indian belief of Maitreya is marked by the combination of both the descending and ascending stories of Maitreya.6. The integration of Tantra and the Indian belief of Maitreya is shown by some typical characteristics in scriptures, images and self-cultivation, mainly by the simplified methods of self-cultivation.7. The Indian folk belief of Maitreya is in conformity with, as well as different from the scriptures. The belief of Maitreya, such as meeting Maitreya in Tushita Heaven, being alive for Maitreya, going to be born in Tushita, attending three Buddhist assemblies given by Maitreya in the after life, the belief of Maitreya's incarnation, the efficacy of prayer to Maitreya statue, elevates the Maitreya to a holy and high position of a representative of wisdom and Dharma, from which legends of efficacious transformation bodies of Maitreya derived, but acting only as the supplemental, subsidiary and secondary to the belief of Maitreya.8. The interaction with other thoughts of Buddhism has enriched and perfected the Indian belief of Maitreya. Prajna provides it with the ideological basis. The Characteristic feature of its self-cultivation, the three flavors of the Mind of kindness, is formed under the influence of Dhyana-contemplation. Yogachara school endowed Maitreya with the position of a greater thinker, which plays an important role in the propagation and development of the belief of Maitreya. Although the ancient Indian belief of Maitreya was affected by the thought of the Dharma extinction, it is irrelevant to "an evil world" and "end to void", etc. The combination of the belief of Maitreya with Chakravartin is presented in scriptures by a change from the dualistic structure mode, the belief of Chakravartin-Maitreya of the Future, to the single structure mode, the belief of Maitreya of the Future which basically hides the role of Chakravartin as a universal monarch.9. All in all, the structure of the ancient Indian belief of Maitreya is of three dimensions, futuristic, realistic and after-life attentive, with the religious pursuits in this mortal world as the core content.10. The historical process of ancient Indian Maitreya belief's emergence, evolution and continuous improvement not only was the result of interaction and logical evolution among various factions, different theories, different religious orientations as well as different practice within Buddhism, but also the inevitable outcome of echoing between the social historical process with the Buddhism culture in the process of its expansionary transmission. The theoretical and practical issues included in the Maitreya belief have had the spiritual, cultural, and social characteristics in different levels, and reflected the human's tireless efforts on coping with the world reality, resolving the present suffering and pursing the future happiness.