MYSTERY OF MAITREYA

After the creation of the Order of Nuns, Gautama Buddha had told Ananda thus:

“Ananda, if women had not obtained the going forth from the house life into homelessness in the Dharma and Discipline declared by the Perfect One, the holy life would have lasted long, the holy life would have lasted a thousand years. But now, since women have obtained it, the holy life will not last long, the holy life will last only five hundred years.”

(The Life of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Nanamoli, p.106)

There are two important prophecies indicated by the above statement of Gautama Buddha. Firstly, the purity of his teachings lasted only for five hundred years from his time. This means that since the beginning of the first century CE the purity of his teachings has been lost and the so called Buddhists no longer lead a holy life. Secondly, it indicates the arising of Maitreya Buddha in the sixth century CE as the holy life was supposed to last for thousand years if the order of nuns was not created.

Regarding Maitreya Buddha, Gautama Buddha had prophesied thus:

“There will arise in the world, a Buddha named Maitreya, a holy one, a supreme one, an enlightened one, endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe.

What he has realized by his own supernatural knowledge he will publish to this universe. He will preach his own religion, glorious in its origin, glorious at its climax, glorious at the goal, in the spirit and the letter. He will proclaim a religious life wholly perfect and thoroughly pure; even as I now preach my religion and a like life do proclaim. He will keep up the society of monks numbering many thousands, even as I now keep up a society of monks numbering many hundreds.”

(Chakkavatti Sinhnad Suttanta D.III, p.76)

The Sanskrit word “Maitreya” or its equivalent in Pali, “Metteya” means “loving, compassionate, merciful and benevolent”. It also means kindness, friendliness, sympathy, etc. One Arabic word which is equivalent to all these words is “Rahmat”. The Arabic-English lexicon by Lane gives the definition of “Rahmat” as “mercy, pity, compassion, tenderness of heart, inclination requiring the exercise of favour and beneficence; pardon and forgiveness.”

The last of all the prophets was Muhammad (peace be upon him) who came near about thousand years after the passing of Gautama Buddha. The word “Muhammad” is also spelt as “Mahamet” or “Mahomet” and in various other ways in different languages. “Mahamet” or “Mahomet” is comprised of “Maha” and “Metta”. The word “Maha” in Sanskrit and Pali means “Great and Illustrious” while “Metta” means “Mercy”. Therefore “Mahamet” or “Mahomet” means “Great Mercy”.

Regarding Prophet Muhammad, Allah – the Almighty God says in the Holy Qur’an:

‘And We have sent you not [O Muhammad], but as a Mercy for all creatures.’ (21:107)

In his prophethood days, Muhammad (peace be upon him), in fact, was called the “Merciful” which is “Maitreya” in Sanskrit.

According to Gautama Buddha, all the Buddhas of past and future had or will have two foremost disciples and one servitor. It is a well-known fact that Prophet Muhammad had two foremost disciples and one servitor. The comparison is as follows:

Prophet (Buddha) -/- Two foremost disciples -/- Servitor

1) Siddhartha (Gautama) -/- Upatissa and Kolita -/- Ananda

2) Muhammad (Maitreya) -/- Abu Bakr and Umar -/- Anas

And Muhammad (pbuh) did keep a society of monks numbering many thousands. At the time of his death there were over one lakh of his companions/disciples.

According to Gautama Buddha, the following are the six criteria for identifying a Buddha:

(1) A Buddha attains supreme and perfect insight at night-time.

(2) On the occasion of his complete enlightenment he looks exceedingly bright.

(3) A Buddha dies a natural death.

(4) He dies at night-time.

(5) He looks exceedingly bright before his death.

(6) After his death a Buddha ceases to exist on earth.

Now, let us see how these criteria fit in the life of Prophet Muhammad.

(1) Muhammad (pbuh) attained supreme insight and prophethood at night-time. And this can be understood by the following verse of the Holy Qur’an:

‘We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power.’ (97:1)

(2) Muhammad (pbuh) instantly felt his understanding illumined with celestial light.

(3) Muhammad (pbuh) died a natural death.

(4) He expired at late night just before dawn.

(5) According to Anas (r.a.), Prophet Muhammad looked exceedingly bright on the night of his death.

(6) After the burial of Prophet Muhammad he was never seen again in his bodily form on this earth.

Thus, one can clearly see that all the six criteria mentioned by Gautama Buddha for identifying a Buddha had been completely fulfilled by the personality of Prophet Muhammad.

Now, after examining all the above mentioned facts, it can be safely concluded that Prophet Muhammad was indeed the much awaited Maitreya Buddha.

In Buddhist texts, there are also mentioned some other things like during the time of Maitreya Buddha human beings will live for 80,000 years, women will marry at the age of 500 years, etc. These things just lack common sense and were mere interpolations which can be termed as nonsensical just to confuse a reader.

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