Maitreya Buddha in a Community

“The second coming of Christ (Maitreya) will be an enlightenment of the inner spiritual man.” – Ricardo B Serrano

“Your main savior is yourself.”

“Maitreya will remain for 60,000 years, providing direct spiritual guidance to his many disciples during his lifetime and, after he passes away, his teachings will last another 80,000 years, indirectly benefiting many more. Thus, through the power of his great, enlightened loving-kindness, Maitreya will provide limitless benefit to countless mother sentient beings.

In the absolute sense Maitreya is subject to neither death nor rebirth; he is forever benefiting all mother sentient beings. Furthermore, he once declared, “Anybody keeping just one vow of moral discipline purely during the time of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings will become my personal disciple when I appear and I shall liberate all such disciples,” and he faithfully keeps this promise, his sworn oath and pledge.

Therefore, those of us fortunate enough to have met the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and maintained some level of pure discipline are guaranteed to make direct contact with Maitreya, become his disciple and quickly achieve enlightenment.”

Lama Yeshe dedicated the merit of this translation as follows: “Because of this merit, may our life’s energy be dedicated to the realization of Maitri-love, the actual nuclear weapon capable of destroying all external and internal enemies, just as Maitreya Buddha did, and may we reach the great state of equanimity, in which there are no neurotic friends, enemies or strangers.”

Maitreya (loving friend) is also known as the “Buddha of the Future” because he is said to be the next Buddha who will appear on Earth. Maitreya is often linked with the Amitabha Buddha, as they are both seen as saviors who will help sentient beings in their journey towards enlightenment.

By tradition, Shakyamuni Buddha was the 4th Buddha of our age. The fifth and final Buddha of our age (bhadrakalpa) will be Maitreya — who will arrive when the last of the Dharma has vanished.

Maitreya at Leshan city, Sichuan, China

Many religions believe in a coming World Teacher, knowing him under such names as Christ, Krishna, Lord Maitreya, Imam Mahdi, Bodhisattva, and Messiah. These terms are used everyday with Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish versions of the Great Invocation.

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May The Christ return to Earth.

From the center where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men –
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the center which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

People of goodwill throughout the world are using this invocation daily in their own language. Join them in using the Great Invocation every day – with righteous intent, thought and dedication. Use this Invocation and encourage others to use it. No particular group or organization is sponsored. It belongs to all humanity.

To realize our buddha nature is Guru Yoga’s goal and purpose.
– Ricardo B Serrano

We’re all buddhas. We just don’t recognize it. We are confined in many ways to a limited view of ourselves and the world around us through cultural conditioning, family upbringing, personal experience, and the basic biological predisposition toward making distinctions and measuring present experience and future hopes and fears against a neuronal warehouse of memories.

Once you commit yourself to developing an awareness of your buddha nature, you’ll inevitably start to see changes in your day-to- day experience. Things that used to trouble you gradually lose their power to upset you. You’ll become intuitively wiser, more relaxed, and more openhearted. You’ll begin to recognize obstacles as opportunities for further growth. And as your illusory sense of limitation and vulnerability gradually fades away, you’ll discover deep within yourself the true grandeur of who and what you are.

Best of all, as you start to see your own potential, you’ll also begin to recognize it in everyone around you. Buddha nature is not a special quality available to a privileged few. The true mark of recognizing your buddha nature is to realize how ordinary it really is—the ability to see that every living creature shares it, though not everyone recognizes it in him- or herself. So instead of closing your heart to people who yell at you or act in some other harmful way, you find yourself becoming more open. You recognize that they aren’t “jerks,” but are people who, like you, want to be happy and peaceful. They’re only acting like jerks because they haven’t recognized their true nature and are overwhelmed by sensations of vulnerability and fear.
– Mingyur Rinpoche, excerpts from We are all buddhas, Nityananda is the divine presence

Regularly working with the psoas (muscle of the soul) through the 5 Tibetan Rites can help transition from a state of chronic stress (tight) to a state of ease and “soulful” connection (released).