འཕགས་པ་བྱང་ཆབ་སམས་དཔའ་བྱམས་པ་དགའ་ལྡན་གནམ་ད་སྐྱ་བ་བླངས་པའ་མད intro.2

intro.2

According to tradition, Maitreya is a bodhisattva said to be currently abiding in the Heaven of Joy (Skt. Tuṣita), whence he is prophesied to return to our continent of Jambudvīpa as the next buddha of this Fortunate Eon (Skt. bhadrakalpa). Maitreya was the first bodhisattva to inspire a devoted following in India, anticipating the later development of other bodhisattva cults, such as those of the bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mañjuśrī. The cult of Maitreya flourished in India as early as the first centuries of the Common Era, but the figure of Maitreya became especially popular in Central and East Asia, starting in the fourth century ce. Moreover, in his role as the future buddha, Maitreya has continued to play an important role in practically all forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism up to the present.