Just in case we really are as lazy and deviant as we think and we fail to make it out of samsara in this fourth age under the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, we still have the chance to make up for it.
Buddha Maitreya will appear to us in the future (the fifth age) when all is dark and delusions have worsened incredibly to teach the Dharma again and to bring us out of suffering.
Maitreya was the heart disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha and as Shakyamuni left Tushita heaven, he passed his crown to Maitreya, inviting him to his seat as an indication that Maitreya would be the next Buddha. And so, Maitreya resides as the current monarch in Tushita Heaven, awaiting the time when he will descend to teach us in samsara.
Maitreya’s skin is golden like a thousand rays of the sun for he brings increase and great growth to our spiritual practice. His hands, held in the mudra of teaching, represent the defining act in which he will manifest – to teach and turn the wheel of Dharma.
He has promised that when he appears, his teachings shall follow a sutra path, concentrating on the practice of the six paramitas in extensive form. He sits upright, forward in full readiness to arrive and teach us, and his form resembles ours to represent that he will manifest in that way to help us out of our suffering.
We need not wait until he appears on Earth to follow his practice. Doing it now gives us the assurance that we can be one of his foremost disciples when he teaches in the future.
More importantly, practicing Maitreya now has the immediate effect of achieving the six paramitas, letting go and embracing all others. Practice to him helps us to attain pure views, the same virtuous qualities as our guru and great, immense LOVE for that is what his own name means.
His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):
OM MAITREYA MAM SOHA
