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Lama Zopa Rinpoche with group in front of the large Maitreya Buddha statue in Lagan, Kalmykia, Russia, 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive,” His Holiness the Dalai Lama says in his book The Art of Happiness. As students of Dharma know, love and compassion are essential to Buddhist practice. When we think about bringing more love into the world and into our practice, we can think about the Maitreya Buddha.
Lama Yeshe, who founded FPMT with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, taught on the yoga method of Maitreya Buddha at Maitreya Instituut, the FPMT center in the Netherlands, in 1981. These teachings were collected in the book Universal Love: The Yoga Method of Buddha Maitreya. In it, Lama Yeshe says, “Maitreya is the manifestation of the love of all the buddhas—the supreme beings who have achieved limitless, universal love.”
So, who is Maitreya Buddha? Chapter 4 of Universal Love shares the following:
“Countless eons ago, having made many offerings, Maitreya took bodhisattva vows from the Tathagata Great Power in front of many other buddhas. From that moment on he has led countless sentient beings to enlightenment, guiding them along the path of the three higher trainings of discipline, concentration, and wisdom by means of the three vehicles: Shravakayana, Pratyekabuddhayana, and Mahayana.
“While practicing as a bodhisattva he specialized in the meditation on great love. He not only taught this path to others but also meditated upon it continuously himself, often stationing himself at the gate of a city and contemplating deeply on loving kindness. His meditation was so powerful that people passing by close enough to touch his feet would themselves receive the realization of great love. This greatly pleased the tathagatas of the ten directions, who rejoiced in his actions and predicted that in all his future lives as a bodhisattva and a buddha he would be known as ‘Love’ [Skt: Maitreya; Tib: Jampa]. This is how he received his name. …
“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.”
If you would like to include Maitreya Buddha in your practice, the Foundation Store offers the Arya Maitreya’s Promise Dharani PDF and an audio recording of Lama Zopa Rinpoche reciting this dharani.
Rinpoche has explained the benefits of reciting this dharani as follows:
- By listening and reciting the mantra daily, and reflecting and meditating on the meaning, one will not be reborn in the lower realms. Even if an animal hears the mantra, it does not get reborn in the lower realms.
- One will be reborn as a Wheel-Turning King for thousands of lives with a lifespan lasting thousands of eons of devas’ lifespans.
- One is able to engage and live in the path of the ten virtues.
- One receives all the enjoyments one is looking for.
- Maitreya Buddha will never let this sentient being suffer poverty and so forth.
- Even when a sentient being is in hell, Maitreya Buddha will definitely come and look for it and will give the prediction of enlightenment by causing the being to reincarnate in the human realm.
You can read Rinpoche discussing the benefits of reciting the Maitreya Buddha mantra during a teaching in Bodhgaya, India, in 2006.
Additional materials related to Universal Love are available on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
You can find a full catalogue of FPMT prayers, practices, and advice materials on FPMT.org.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.