Maitreya

File:MaitreyaSeated.jpg

Artistic representation of Maitreya from Gandhara, 2nd century

Maitreya (Sanskrit: मैत्रेय; Pali: Metteyya) is regarded in Buddhism as the Buddha of the future and the great coming world teacher. The name is probably derived from the Sanskrit word "maitri", which means "universal love". His coming is predicted, depending on the source, to be 3,000, 5,000 years or 30,000 years after Buddha Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). Rudolf Steiner has stated that the Maitreya will ascend to Buddhahood exactly 5,000 years after Gautama Buddha, that is, in the sixth post-Atlantean cultural period.

Coming 5th Buddha of this Aeon

As the coming Buddha, Maitreya is the only Bodhisattva recognised in Theravada Buddhism. He is also known in Mahayana and is particularly important in Tibetan Buddhism. There he is one of the so-called Eight Great Bodhisattvas, also called the Eight Great Sons of Buddha. In Tibet's first monastery, Samye, one of the four large temples on the side of the main temple is dedicated to Maitreya. According to the Pali canon, Maitreya is currently and until his appearance on earth in the "Tushita" heaven, the fourth and most beautiful of the six deva worlds, where all Buddhas live before their final rebirth. In this life his name is Nathadeva.

The historically known depictions sometimes show Maitreya standing, but mostly sitting. Unlike other Buddha or Bodhisattva images, his feet touch the ground, symbolising that he has not yet fully taken his place. In his left hand he holds a water vessel in many depictions.

Reception in the West

The belief in the appearance of a future world teacher is present in various religions and religious movements. In the West, the myth of the appearance of a future Buddha has been taken up and treated many times in theosophy and esotericism, whereby the original Buddhist teachings in this regard were partly rejected and partly reinterpreted in the sense of the respective movement.

In the West, Rudolf Steiner in particular has dealt significantly with the Maitreya phenomenon, but also, for example, the Turkologist Annemarie von Gabain and the religious philosopher Volker Zotz (among others).

Rudolf Steiner on the Maitreya Buddha

The future Maitreya Buddha will ascend to Buddha-dignity in the sixth post-Atlantean cultural epoch. Until then he will incarnate again and again as a Bodhisattva on earth. One hundred years before Christ he was incarnated as Jeshu ben Pandira. He lived in this incarnation as an important leader of the Essenes and taught that the time would soon come when the Christ would appear in the physical body.

Literatur

• Abegg, E.; Der Buddha Maitreya; 1946
• Alan Sponberg, Helen Hardacre: Maitreya the Future Buddha, Cambridge 1988, ISBN 0-521-34344-5 - eine religionswissenschaftliche Untersuchung
• Damien Keown: Dictionary of Buddhism, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 019860560-9
• Volker Zotz: Maitreya. Kontemplationen Über den Buddha der Zukunft. Mit einem Geleitwort von Anagarika Govinda. Hann Münden 1984, ISBN 3-87998-054-3 - eine religionswissenschaftliche Untersuchung aus buddhologischer Sicht
• Valentin Tomberg: Die vier Christusopfer und das Erscheinen des Christus im Ätherischen. Schönach (Achamoth Verlag) 1994
• Elisabeth Vreede/Thomas Meyer: Die Bodhisattvafrage, Basel 1989
• Adolf Arenson: Rudolf Steiner und der Bodhisattva des 20. Jahrhunderts. In: Adolf Arenson,Ergebnisse aus dem Studium der Geisteswissenschaft Rudolf Steiners, Heft 2, Freiburg i.Br. 1980
• Heinz Eckhoff: Rudolf Steiners Aufgabe unter den grossen Eingeweihten - Gedanken zur Bodhisattva-Frage, Stuttgart 1997
• Herbert Pfeifer: Neues zur Bodhisattva-Frage?. In: Mitteilungen aus der anthroposophischen Arbeit in Deutschland, Michaeli III/1998, Nr. 205, S. 223 - 231
• Herbert Wimbauer: Die Individualität Rudolf Steiners, das offenbare Geheimnis der Anthroposophie (3. Auflage 1993)
• Hermann Keimeyer: Wie findet man die Meister in höheren Welten?, 2 Bände, Überlingen 2004/2005
• Martin Kriele: Anthroposophie und Kirche. Erfahrungen eines Grenzgängers, Freiburg - Basel - Wien 1996
• Willi Seiß, Das Erscheinen des Christus im Ätherischen – ein zentrales Anliegen Tombergs. In: Valentin Tomberg: Leben – Werk – Wirkung, Band II, Schaffhausen 2000, S. 46 – 58
• Judith von Halle: Rudolf Steiner - Meister der weissen Loge. Zur okkulten Biographie, Vlg. für Anthroposophie, Dornach 2011
• Martinus: Das Ewige Weltbild, Band 2, Martinus Institut, Kopenhagen 2001
• Martinus: Die Menschheit und das Weltbild, Kleine Schriften Nr. 8, Martinus Institut Kopenhagen 1998
• Uwe Todt: Anthroposophie und Martinus Geisteswissenschaft. Aspekte eines zukünftigen Christentums, Novalis Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-941664-51-7, Verlagsauskunft , contents
• Uwe Todt: Martinus – Leben und Werk, Band I.: Martinus‘ Leben 1890-1981, eine Biographie, Novalis Verlag, Schaffhausen 2007; Band II.: Sein Werk. Ein zusammenfassender Überblick mit geisteswissenschaftlicher Erörterung, Novalis Verlag, Schaffhausen 2008, ISBN 978-3-907260-46-3 und ISBN 978-3-907260-48-7; Rezension (Günter Röschert)
• Uwe Todt: Kosmisches Wissen. Der neue Weltimpuls des Dänen Martinus, Novalis 2012, ISBN 978-3-941664-30-2, contents
• Rudolf Steiner: Das Ereignis der Christus-Erscheinung in der ätherischen Welt, GA 118 (1984), ISBN 3-7274-1180-5 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Das Matthäus-Evangelium, GA 123 (1988), ISBN 3-7274-1230-5 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Das esoterische Christentum und die geistige Führung der Menschheit, GA 130 (1987), ISBN 3-7274-1300-X English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.