Mi-Lo-Fwo:
Maitreya
Buddha
Maitreya,
"The Friendly and Benevolent One" or "One Who
Possesses Loving-kindness" is widely adored by the Chinese
Buddhists for his willingness to grant help to those who direct
their minds towards him. He is also known as Ajita, 'the Unconquered'
and ranks equal with the other great Bodhisattvas such as Avalokitesvara,
Manjusri, Samanthabadra, Mahasthamaprata and Ksitigarbha. As
the next Buddha-to-be he alone enjoys the distinction of being
the only Bodhisattva recognised and popularly accepted by both
Mahayanist and Theravadin countries.
Maitreya
has taken numerous incarnations in various Buddhist countries
and China has had quite a fair share of them. Historically,
the most important amongst them, is said to be that as the son
of a King of Varanise in Central Asia. Record has it that he
was born with the full thirty-two marks of a superior being
who subsequently became a disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha and was
one of the main interlocutors in the Mahayana Sutras where he
conversed with some of the great disciples of the Buddha.
Although
he is, strictly speaking, still a Bodhisattva of the ninth stage,
the tenth being that of a fully Enlightened Buddha, he is often
worshipped as a Buddha in anticipation of his becoming the next
Blessed One in the future. Both as Bodhisattva and Buddha he
now resides in the Tusita Heaven, the Heavenly Realm of the
Devas, where all the Buddhas-to-be will always reside; pending
their appearance as Buddha on earth to save mankind and thereby
traversing the tenth and final stage or 'Bhumi', to attain Supreme
Buddhahood for the sake of benefitting all sentient beings.
Being
compassionate, Maitreya always grants help willingly to those
who pray to him with faith and the simple prayer to recite is:
"NAMO
MI-LO FWO"
The
manner of praying to Maitreya is similar to those methods as
described in the sections on Kuan Shih Yin and Amitabha Buddha.
Firm faith, purity of intention and effort will be the main
factors of success of their prayers. Among the many reasons
for worshipping Maitreya or Mi-Lo-Fwo are these two most outstanding
aspects:
1.
To take rebirth in Tusita Heaven, a kind of Pure Land, so
as to receive the teaching of the Dharma.
2. To gain sufficient merits so as to obtain a rebirth during
His appearance on earth, to hear His teachings and be saved
by Him.
Generally
the Chinese worship him for wealth and happiness and there are
those who even believed strongly that he is able to bequeath
them with children as one of his most popular forms is that
with five children surrounding him. However the images of him
that are found in the temples normally depict a fat genial laughing
figure with a mountainous belly, in a sitting posture, and having
a large bag beside him.
Because
of this appearance, many people choose to call him 'The Laughing
Buddha'. Such a depiction by his Chinese devotees is a far cry
from what other Buddhists of other lands imagined him to be,
but this does not mean that the Chinese do not revere him as
much as others do. This portraiture of him came about as a result
of one of his memorable emanations in China during the end of
the Tang period and the beginning of the Wu-Tai Dynasty (907-1060).
There was a learned monk whom everyone addressed as Pu Tai,
meaning 'Cloth Bag', as he was always seen carrying a large
hemp bag wherever he went. He was a native of the Chekiang Province
who went about propagating the Buddha Dharma. No one really
knew his true name although he had called himself 'Chi Tze',
and because of his bag, the people preferred to refer to him
as 'the monk with the sack'. Here he appeared as one who is
extremely kind, jovial and helpful and although he had no home
or temple which he could call his own, he was always in a cheerful
mood. He wandered about here and there to beg for food, giving
advice and teaching to those who cared to hear him, or he could
be seen collecting all kinds of things which he would put into
his bag. To the worldly ones this act may be reckoned as an
act of greed but it really meant that he was ever seeking to
help deliver beings into his Pure Land.
As
the people got to know him better they soon discovered that
he was also extremely good at reading their fortune and predicting
the weather. Even by his daily actions they were able to guess
the outcome of the weather conditions for whenever he was seen
hurrying around in wet sandals, rain was sure to follow, and
whenever he was seen wearing shoes and relaxing here and there
bright and sunny days would prevail. He also had many other
peculiarities some of which bore similarities with those of
another famous monk CHI KUNG of the Sung Dynasty. Pu Tai was
often seen to be sleeping very comfortably on the snow during
the cold winters and resisted taking a bath during the hot summers.
He died in a sitting posture at the corridor of a temple and
left behind a verse which said:
"Maitreya
is a real Maitreya, who manifests uncountable transformed
bodies.
Constantly he manifests before living beings who are not able
to recognise them!'
Through
this verse, people later began to accept him as an incarnation
of the Maitreya Buddha, which also explains the accepted appearance
of the current day's depiction of him.
In
his many other recorded incarnations in China, he frequently
appeared as great and learned persons whose lives have been
recorded in many books. The followers of the Tien Tao Movement,
an energetic religious Order which embraces all the three great
Chinese religions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, claimed
that Maitreya made his appearance in China as their great teacher
at the beginning of this century. However all these are but
the minor transformed bodies of the Great Being whose real essence
is now residing in the Temple of the Palace of the Seven Jewels
of the Tusita Heaven. Buddhists are more concerned with his
final incamation when he ascends to the state of a Fully Enlightened
Buddha to save countless beings from the world. In the meantime
one should direct his energy to develop a strong affinity with
Maitreya Buddha by reciting his name daily and living in a virtuous
manner.
Maitreya
Buddha's birthday is celebrated on the 1st day of the 1st moon
of the Chinese lunar calendar which coincides with the Chinese
New Year Day, a day of joy in which all families traditionally
keep pure and holy by avoiding the eating of any meat.
