Maitreya’s descent and awakening

The wise Śāriputra, who could follow the Buddha in turning the wheel of the Dharma and was a great general of the Buddha’s teaching, felt compassion for living beings and said to the Buddha: “World-honored One, earlier and later sutras say that Maitreya will descend and become a buddha. I wish to hear fully about Maitreya’s virtues, spiritual powers, and the adornments of his land. Through what giving, what moral discipline, and what wisdom can living beings come to see Maitreya?” The Buddha then told Śāriputra: “I will now explain this fully to you. Listen with undivided attention. Śāriputra, the waters of the four great seas will gradually diminish by three thousand yojanas. At that time the land of Jambudvīpa will be ten thousand yojanas long and eight thousand wide, level as a mirror, with splendid flowers and soft grasses covering the ground. Trees of many kinds will flourish with flowers and fruit, all thirty li tall. Cities and towns will stand so close together that a chicken can fly from one to the next. People will live eighty-four thousand years, possessing wisdom, dignity, beauty, and strength, and will be secure and happy. They will have only three afflictions: first, the need to relieve themselves; second, the need for food and drink; and third, old age. Women will marry only when they reach five hundred years of age. “At that time there will be a great city called Ketumatī, twelve yojanas long and seven wide, exceptionally beautiful, splendidly adorned and clean. It will be filled with people of merit, whose merit brings prosperity and security. The city will be made of the seven precious substances. Its towers, doors, openings, and windows will all be of precious materials, and nets of pearls will spread over them. The streets and lanes will be twelve li wide, swept and sprinkled clean. A powerful nāga king named Duoluoshiqi (多羅尸棄) will have his palace in a pond near the city. Each midnight he will send down a fine rain to settle the dust. The ground will be moist, as though coated with oil, and travelers will raise no dust. Through the merit of the people of that age, columns of luminous pearls, each ten li high, will stand throughout the streets. Their brilliance will make day and night alike, so lamps and candles will no longer be needed. In cities, houses, and lanes there will not be even the smallest clod of earth: pure golden sand will cover the ground, with heaps of gold and silver everywhere. A great yakṣa spirit named Batuoboluoshesaijia (跋陀波羅賒塞迦), meaning ‘Good Teaching’ in the language of Qin, will continually guard this city and sweep it clean. If there is any bodily waste, the earth will open to receive it and then close again. When people are about to die, they will naturally go to the burial ground and die there. The age will be peaceful, without enemies, robbers, or thieves. No one in cities or villages will shut their doors. There will be no distress or calamities of flood, fire, weapons, famine, or poisoning. People will always be kind, respectful, harmonious, and gentle, restraining their senses and speaking humbly. “Śāriputra, I am now giving you a brief account of the wealth and happiness of that land and its cities. In its parks, ponds, and springs, water possessing the eight excellent qualities will arise naturally. Blue, pink, red, and white lotuses of many colors will cover it. Steps made from four precious substances will surround the ponds. Birds will gather harmoniously: geese, ducks, mandarin ducks, peacocks, kingfishers, parrots, śāri birds, kuṇālas, jīvaṃjīvakas, and other sweet-voiced birds will always be there. There will also be countless other kinds of birds with beautiful calls. Fruit trees and fragrant trees will fill the land. Jambudvīpa will always smell sweet, like a fragrant mountain. Its flowing water will be excellent, sweet to taste and relieving ailments. Rain will fall in season, crops will flourish, and weeds will not grow. One sowing will yield seven harvests: very little labor will bring an abundant crop. The food will be fragrant and delicious, filling people with strength. “At that time the land will have a wheel-turning king named Śaṅkha, with an army of four divisions. He will govern the four continents without military force. His thousand sons will be brave and strong, able to defeat enemies. The king will possess seven treasures: a golden wheel, an elephant, a horse, a jewel, a woman, a treasurer, and a military commander. In his land there will also be a terrace of the seven precious substances, a thousand zhang high, with a thousand summits and a thousand wheels, sixty zhang wide. There will be four great treasure stores, each surrounded by four yi smaller stores: the Yilebo (伊勒鉢) store in Gandhāra, the Banzhoujia (般軸迦) store in Mithilā, the Piṅgala store in Suraṣṭra, and the Śaṅkha store in Vārāṇasī. These four great stores will each measure a thousand yojanas in length and breadth, be filled with precious things, and have four yi smaller stores attached to them. Four great nāga kings will guard them, one each. The four great stores and their smaller stores will rise of themselves from the ground in the shape of lotus flowers, and innumerable people will go together to see them. At that time the precious things will have no guards. People who see them will feel no greed or attachment, discarding them on the ground like broken tiles, stones, grass, wood, or clods of earth. Those who see them will feel disenchanted and think: ‘In the past, living beings harmed and killed one another for these treasures, stealing, robbing, deceiving, and lying, causing the sinful conditions of birth and death to increase continually.’ Nets of precious substances will spread over Ketumatī. They will be adorned with jeweled bells, which a gentle breeze will stir to produce harmonious sounds, like struck bells and chimes. “In that city there will be a chief brahmin named Miaofan (妙梵, ‘Wondrous Brahmā’) and a brahmin woman named Brahmāvatī. Maitreya will take birth with them as his parents. His body will be purple-gold, bearing the thirty-two marks. Living beings will never tire of looking at him. His bodily strength will be immeasurable and inconceivable. His radiance will shine without obstruction; the light of sun, moon, fire, and jewels will no longer be apparent. His body will be a thousand chi tall, his chest thirty zhang wide, and his face twelve zhang and four chi long. His body will be complete and incomparably handsome, perfect in its marks and excellences, like an image cast in gold. His clear physical eyes will see ten yojanas. His constant radiance will shine in all four directions, a hundred yojanas on each side. The light of sun, moon, fire, and jewels will no longer be apparent: only the Buddha’s supremely subtle and wonderful radiance will remain. “Maitreya Bodhisattva will contemplate how the world’s five objects of sensual desire bring many troubles, and how living beings sink into the great cycle of birth and death and deserve compassion. Through this right reflection, he will take no pleasure in household life. King Śaṅkha and his ministers will present the jeweled terrace to Maitreya. After receiving it, Maitreya will give it to the brahmins. They will immediately dismantle it and divide it among themselves. Seeing this splendid terrace perish in a moment, Maitreya Bodhisattva will know that all phenomena likewise pass away. Cultivating the perception of impermanence, he will leave home to practice the path and sit beneath the dragon-flower bodhi tree, whose trunk, branches, and leaves reach fifty li high. On the very day he leaves home, he will attain unsurpassed, complete awakening. Then the gods, nāgas, and spirit kings, without showing themselves, will rain down flowers and incense as offerings to the Buddha. The entire three-thousandfold great-thousand world system will shake greatly. Light from the Buddha’s body will illuminate immeasurable lands, and all who are ready to be liberated will see him. “Then the people will each think: ‘Even if we enjoy the five sensual pleasures for vast numbers of years, we cannot escape the suffering of the three bad destinies. Wives, children, and possessions cannot save us. The world is impermanent, and life is difficult to preserve for long. We should now practice the holy life in the Buddha’s teaching.’ Thinking this, they will leave home to practice the path. King Śaṅkha, respectfully surrounded by eighty-four thousand ministers, will also leave home to practice. Eighty-four thousand intelligent and wise brahmins will likewise leave home within the Buddha’s teaching. An elder named Sudāna, who is the present elder Sudatta, will leave home together with eighty-four thousand people. The brothers Lishidada (梨師達多) and Pūrṇa will also leave home with eighty-four thousand people. Two ministers loved and honored by the king, Candana and Sumana, will leave home within the Buddha’s teaching with eighty-four thousand people. King Śaṅkha’s jewel-woman, Shemipodi (舍彌婆帝), who is the present Viśākhā, will leave home with eighty-four thousand attendants. The king’s crown prince, named Tianse (天色, ‘Heavenly Color’), who is the present Tiposuona (提婆娑那), will leave home with eighty-four thousand people. A brahmin youth related to Maitreya Buddha, named Sumati, sharp in faculties and wisdom, who is the present Uttara, will leave home within the Buddha’s teaching with eighty-four thousand people. In this way, innumerable multitudes, seeing the world’s suffering, will leave home in Maitreya Buddha’s teaching. “Seeing the assembled multitudes, Maitreya Buddha will think: ‘These people have come to me neither for heavenly pleasures nor for the pleasures of this present life, but for the conditions that lead to the constant happiness of nirvāṇa. They have all planted roots of goodness in the Buddha’s teaching. Śākyamuni Buddha has sent them and entrusted them to me. That is why they have now come to me, and I now receive them. Some have come through the merit of reciting, analyzing, and determining the meaning of the collections of Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma. Some have come through giving people clothing and food and cultivating moral discipline and wisdom. Some have come through offering banners, canopies, flowers, and incense to the Buddha. Some have come through giving, observing the fast, and cultivating loving-kindness. Some have come through bringing happiness to suffering beings. Some have come through moral discipline, patient endurance, and pure kindness. Some have come through providing regular meals to the monastic community and supplying food at fasting, teaching, and offering gatherings. Some have come through moral discipline, extensive learning, meditation, and wisdom free from the outflows. Some have come through building stupas and making offerings to relics. Excellent, Śākyamuni Buddha! He has skillfully taught such vast multitudes of living beings and brought them to me.’ “After praising Śākyamuni Buddha three times in this way, Maitreya Buddha will teach the Dharma, saying: ‘You living beings have accomplished something difficult. In that evil age, among short-lived people filled with desire, anger, ignorance, and confusion, you were able to observe moral discipline and perform meritorious deeds. This is exceedingly rare. In that age people did not recognize their parents; ascetics and brahmins did not know the teaching of the path. They troubled and harmed one another as the age of weapons approached, deeply attached to sensual desires, jealous, deceitful, flattering, corrupt, perverse, and false, without compassion, killing one another, eating flesh, and drinking blood. That you could practice goodness among them is rare. Excellent, Śākyamuni Buddha! With great compassion he spoke truthful words among suffering beings, declaring that I would come and liberate you. Such a teacher is extremely difficult to encounter. With profound compassion for the beings of that evil age, he rescued them from suffering and brought them security. For your sake, Śākyamuni Buddha gave away his head, cut off his ears, nose, hands, feet, and limbs, and endured suffering to benefit you.’ “In this way Maitreya Buddha will guide and console immeasurable living beings, making them joyful, and then teach the Dharma. People of merit will fill the gathering, respectfully accepting his words with faith, longing for the great teacher, each wishing to hear the Dharma. They will all think: ‘The five sensual desires are impure, the root of every suffering. We can also put away grief and distress, knowing that the conditions of both suffering and pleasure are impermanent.’ Seeing that the assembled people’s minds are pure, gentle, and receptive, Maitreya Buddha will teach them the four truths. Those who hear will attain the path to nirvāṇa together. “Maitreya Buddha will then be in the Flower Grove garden, a hundred yojanas in length and breadth, filled with the assembly. At his first teaching assembly, ninety-six yi people will attain arhatship; at the second, ninety-four yi; and at the third, ninety-two yi. Having turned the Dharma wheel and liberated gods and humans, Maitreya Buddha will take his disciples into the city to seek alms. Immeasurable hosts of Pure Abode gods will respectfully follow him into Ketumatī. As he enters, he will manifest many spiritual powers and immeasurable transformations. Śakra with the gods of the desire realm, and the Brahmā king with the gods of the form realm, will perform countless kinds of music, sing the Buddha’s virtues, and rain down heavenly flowers and powdered sandalwood as offerings. Banners and canopies will stand throughout the streets and lanes. Fine incense will burn, its smoke like clouds. As the World-honored One enters the city, the great Brahmā king and Śakra will respectfully join their palms and praise him in verse: “‘The perfectly awakened one, honored among the two-footed, Has no equal in the worlds of gods and humans. The World-honored One with ten powers is exceedingly rare, The unsurpassed, supreme and excellent field of merit. Those who make offerings to him are born in heaven. We bow our heads to his incomparable great diligence.’ “Then gods, humans, rākṣasas, and others will see the Buddha subdue the powerful Māra. Immeasurable multitudes of living beings will rejoice greatly, join their palms, and cry: ‘How rare! How rare! The Tathāgata’s spiritual powers and perfect virtues are inconceivable.’ Gods and humans will scatter multicolored lotuses and māndārava flowers on the ground before the Buddha, piling them knee-high. In the sky the gods will perform countless kinds of music and sing his virtues. Then, during the first and last watches of the night, Māra the king will awaken the people and say: ‘You have obtained human birth and encountered a favorable time. You should not let sleep cover your minds throughout the night. Whether standing or sitting, always be diligent and mindful. Examine closely how the five aggregates are impermanent, suffering, empty, and without a self. Do not be heedless and fail to follow the Buddha’s teaching. If you commit evil deeds, you will certainly regret them later.’ The men and women in the streets will repeat these words: ‘Do not be heedless and fail to follow the Buddha’s teaching. If you commit evil deeds, you will regret them later. Diligently apply yourselves and strive for the path. Do not lose the benefit of the Dharma and merely live and die in vain. Such a great teacher, who removes suffering, is extremely difficult to encounter. With firm diligence, you will attain nirvāṇa’s lasting happiness.’ “Then Maitreya Buddha’s disciples will all be handsome and accomplished in dignified conduct. Disenchanted with birth, aging, illness, and death, they will be widely learned, guard the treasury of the Dharma, practice meditation, and escape desires like birds emerging from their shells. Maitreya Buddha will wish to visit the elder Mahākāśyapa. With the fourfold assembly he will go to Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa and see Mahākāśyapa on its summit. The assembled men and women will be astonished. Maitreya Buddha will praise him: ‘The monk Mahākāśyapa was a great disciple of Śākyamuni Buddha. Before the assembly, Śākyamuni Buddha always praised him as foremost in ascetic practices. He mastered meditation, liberation, and samādhi. Although possessing great spiritual powers, he was not proud. He brought great joy to living beings and always had compassion for the lowly, poor, and distressed, rescuing them from suffering and bringing them security.’ Maitreya Buddha will praise Mahākāśyapa’s skeletal remains: ‘Excellent, one of great spiritual virtue! Mahākāśyapa, great disciple of the Śākya Lion, you cultivated your mind in that evil age.’ Seeing Mahākāśyapa praised by Maitreya Buddha, vast multitudes will become disenchanted with the world and attain the path. They will remember how Śākyamuni Buddha, in an evil age, taught immeasurable beings and enabled them to possess the six spiritual powers and become arhats. The place of teaching will be eighty yojanas wide and a hundred long. Everyone there, sitting or standing, near or far, will see the Buddha before them, teaching them alone. “Maitreya Buddha will remain in the world for sixty thousand years, compassionately enabling living beings to gain the Dharma eye. After he passes into final nirvāṇa, the teaching will also remain in the world for sixty thousand years. You should strive, develop pure minds, and perform good deeds. Then you will see Maitreya Buddha, the light of the world, without a doubt.” When the Buddha had spoken this sutra, Śāriputra and the others joyfully accepted and upheld it.