Maitreya is a Sanskrit word called Maitri which means ‘friendship and derived from the noun called ‘Mitra’ meaning friend. Maitreya is a bodhisattva as per the Buddhist tradition. This deity is believed to appear in future on the Earth. Maitreya is a Sanskrit word. In Buddhist eschatology, this deity is considered to be the world’s future Buddha. The future Buddha would attain complete enlightenment and teach the purest form of dharma.
He is called Ajita in Buddhist literature like the Lotus Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. This deity will be the successor to Gautama Buddha (the present Buddha) according to scriptures. Maitreya will arrive in this world at a time in future when major part of the terrestrial world would have forgotten what dharma is. New religious movements in the modern times like Yiguandao and other Buddhist regions in the past like the White Lotus, have adopted this deity for his millenarian role.
Maitreya had been a famous figure in northern India during the first centuries CE in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara where he was represented along with Gautam Buddha. He was often called the Sakyamuni sage of the Shakya. The names Maitreya and Shakyamuni were used interchangeably by Buddhist artisans in China during the 4th to 6th century.
In 529 a stone culture dedicated to Maitreya in the Quingzhou cache records of which are seen in the inscription in the Qingzhou Museum, Shandong. Development of the religious belief of Maitreya is seen as early as the 3rdcentury CE. Wearing clothes of Indian royalty or a monk, Maitreya is pictured typically with both feet crossed at the ankles or feet on the ground, or seated on a throne, awaiting his time. He adorns a small stupa in his headdress and stands dressed in jewels as a bodhisattva.
