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彌勒

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: Maitreya

Senses:

  • A major Mahāyāna bodhisattva. His name is derived from the Sanskrit the maitri (Pāli mettā), which means 'lovingly kind,' or ' benevolent.' He is understood to be bodhisattva who will appear in this world to become the next Buddha after 5,670,000,000 years when he ends his life in the Tuṣita Heaven 兜率天. He is said to have been born into a Brahman family in southern India. His two epithets are  'benevolent'  慈氏 and Ajita 阿逸多 ( 'invincible.' ) He presides over the spread of the saṃgha, and protects its members. Thus being seen as a kind of future savior, Maitreya devotion (see 彌勒信仰) is a phenomenon observed through a wide range of Buddhist cultural and sectarian traditions. Though he is mentioned only once in the Nikāyas, abundant references are made to Maitreya in the Lalitavistara, Divyāvadāna and Mahāvastu, where he is mentioned as the one who is born in the Tuṣita Heaven, where in an inner palace he reveals the Dharma to the Heavenly Beings. In the concluding verse of Visuddhimagga, 淸淨道論 Buddhaghoṣa has expressed his earnest desire to attain arhatship in the presence of Maitreya. He is known by the epithet 'Invincible' (Ajita), which is transliterated as 阿逸多, and translated as 無勝 and 無能勝 Also transliterated as 迷諦隸, 梅低梨, 梅怛麗, 梅怛藥, 梅怛邪, 每怛哩, 昧怛, and 彌羅.

    Maitreya is typically pictured seated, with both feet on the ground, indicating that he has not yet completed ascending his throne. He is dressed in the clothes of either a bhikṣu or kṣatriya, and is usually seen standing, adorned with jewels. A scarf is always tied around his waist.

    (Skt. maitraka, maitrī, maitreya-gotra, ajita) [Charles Muller; source(s): JEBD, Hirakawa]
  • Maitreya (or Maitreyanātha) the semi-legendary figure usually named as the founder of Yogâcāra Buddhism 瑜伽行派. He is thought to have lived from around 270–350 CE, and is the putative author of such Yogâcāra works as the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra 瑜伽論, the Madhyânta-vibhāga 中邊分別論. He is credited with the establishment of such basic Yogâcāra notions as consciousness-only 唯識, the three bodies of the Buddha 三身, the three natures 三性, and the ālayavijñāna 阿賴耶識. He is said to have been the teacher of Asaṅga 無著. Transliterations include: 梅呾利, 梅呾利曳那, 梅呾囉曳尼, 梅呾黎, 梅呾麗藥, 昧怛履曳. [Charles Muller; source(s): Nakamura]
  • In esoteric Buddhism, the bodhisattva occupying the northeast direction in the center court of the eight-petaled lotus 中臺八葉院 in the Garbhadhātu maṇḍala 胎藏界曼荼羅. Seed syllable: yu (derived from yogeśvari). Secret name 密號: xunji jin'gang 迅疾金剛. His mudrā is the lotus añjali 蓮華合掌. His mantra 眞言: namaḥ samantabuddhānāṃ mahāyogayogini yogeśvari khāñjalike svāhā. The color of white flesh 白肉色, his left hand is the mudrā bestowing fearlessness 施無畏印. His right hand holds a lotus atop which is a vase. The vase is said to hold water of wisdom 智水. Pouring it represents the elimination of obstacles leading to enlightenment. A jeweled stūpa 寶塔 appears on his jeweled headdress 寶冠. The Darijing shu 大日經疏 (T 1796; fasc. 1) identifies Maitreya (rendered 慈氏菩薩) as the four immeasurable states of mind 四無量心 of the Buddha. His name is derived from maitrī 慈 (benevolence). This benevolence is born from the family 種姓 of the Tathāgata. Elsewhere (fasc. 20) Maitreya is identified as great benevolence and compassion 大慈大悲.

    References:

    Somekawa, Eisuke, Michihiko Komine, Tenyū Koyama, Hisao Takahashi, and Takayuki Hirosawa. 1993. Mandara zuten 曼荼羅図典 . Tokyo:  Daihōrinkaku.

    [Jeffrey Kotyk; source(s): FGD]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bulgyo sajeon 233a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 1197d

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 235

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 197b/220

    Zen Dust (Sasaki) 341

    Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga) 13-P375, 18-P36

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 1296a

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0438

    Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) ⑩319d

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)4812c,3953b, (v.1-6)4923b

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1689-1

    Lokakṣemaʼs Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Karashima) 318

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 1993-09-01

    Updated: 2020-01-26