a buddhist perspective

Maitreya will succeed Sakyamuni Buddha to become the fifth Buddha in the Saha world. He presently resides in the inner court of the Tusita heaven. Tusita is a Sanskrit word meaning “being aware that one has enough.” What is the criterion for attaining Buddhahood? To know that one has enough! One who is aware that one has enough will attain Buddhahood. Therefore, bodhisattvas who are waiting to succeed [become the next Buddha after the current one has entered parinirvana] Buddhas live in the Tusita heaven and not anywhere else.

Those who know that they have enough desire nothing. Those who are not content still have desires. In this sutra, Maitreya is listed here to signify that those who learn and practice this Dharma door are like bodhisattvas who are waiting to succeed Buddhas. This is truly a method that is hard to believe. But this is the truth, because when one practices this Dharma door, one will attain Buddhahood in one lifetime.

Maitreya is now in the Tusita heaven and in the future will descend to this world to manifest his birth and his attainment of Buddhahood. When we practice this Dharma door, we will be reborn in the Western Pure Land and, once there, we will learn from Amitabha Buddha. We will also perfectly attain Buddhahood in one lifetime. We do not have to wait until another lifetime. That is why Sakyamuni Buddha introduced the Western Pure Land to us.

…We Pure Land practitioners should emulate Maitreya: whenever and wherever we meet someone, we should always put our palms together and say “Amituofo” with a smile. We should not discriminate whether what this person says is good or bad. What he says should not affect us. If this person says something good, we reply with “Amituofo.” If this person says something bad, we also reply with “Amituofo.” We turn all right and wrong, and good and bad, into the thought of Amituofo, the thought of great compassion.

~ From Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

Maitreya appears as a layperson in India but as a monastic in China. The image of Maitreya is modeled on the monk Budai. Budai was a monk of the Southern Song dynasty. Nobody knew his real name. He carried a big cloth bag (budai) every day. When people made offerings to him, he would put the offerings in the bag. This is why people called him Budai Monk, and he became well known by this name.

He roamed the streets every day. When someone asked him what Buddhism was, he smilingly put the cloth bag on the ground, indicating that Buddhism teaches letting go. When asked what one should do after letting go, he picked the bag up, put it on his shoulder, and left. In other words, Buddhism teaches one to first let go of everything, and then, after one has let go, one takes up the helping of all beings. Budai was a bodhisattva. He answered the question without saying a word, and his answer carried a very deep meaning.

Budai did not die of any illness. He revealed his real identity as Maitreya incarnate at the end of his life, just before he died. Since then, in China, the image of Maitreya has been modeled on the monk Budai.

Ancient sages praised Budai as “having generated an impartial mind and having developed a joyful look.” This praise teaches us to be impartial to all beings and to look happy. “A joyful look” means that someone has a tender loving heart. It means the person has affection. Mahayana Buddhism often talks about compassion, which is affection. But this affection is not based on emotions. This is why Buddhism uses the term compassion instead of affection to avoid misunderstanding.

If the affection is sincere, pure, and impartial, and is based on wisdom, Buddhism calls it compassion. We can see that the affection of people of this world is insincere, impure, partial, and is not based on wisdom. Their affection is fickle, not everlasting. The affection of Buddhas and bodhisattvas towards all beings is eternal because they are not selfish, and they do not have wandering thoughts, discriminations, and attachments. Their affection flows from the true nature and accords with sincerity, purity, non-discrimination, and wisdom. So we should start our practice with generating an impartial mind and developing a joyful look.

~ From Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

Master Chin Kung tells us that in his early years of learning Buddhism, he asked Zhangjia Living Buddha about the difference between Buddhas and bodhisattvas. They were in Zhangjia Living Buddha’s living-room where there was a clock hanging on the wall.

In those days, clocks required winding for them to work. The part that required winding was a spring, a piece of flexible metal that was wound very tightly. The gradual unwinding of the spring made the clock tick. Even when the spring was unwound completely, it still curved and did not straighten out completely.

Zhangjia Living Buddha used this spring as a metaphor. Bodhisattvas are like that spring, which does not straighten out completely even when unwound. In the case of Buddhas, however, the spring has completely straightened out when unwound. Zhangjia Living Buddha meant that bodhisattvas have not turned their sentience to wisdom 100 percent.

Take Equal-enlightenment Bodhisattvas for example. They have turned 99 percent of their sentience to wisdom, but there is still 1 percent of sentience left, unlike Buddhas who have turned their sentience to wisdom 100 percent. Therefore, sentience and wisdom are one, not two. When we are awakened, it is called wisdom. When we are deluded, it is called sentience. Equal-enlightenment Bodhisattvas still have one last part of ignorance: the ignorance of Mark of Arising. This ignorance is sentience. If that part of ignorance is eradicated, their wisdom will be ultimate and perfect.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

This name means “immovable.” After the Buddha entered nirvana, many of his students also did so, one after another. Pindola-bharadvaja was told by the Buddha to stay in this world to be a field of good fortune. Therefore, this venerable is still in this world. The Study Report says: “He would receive offerings from the beings in the Dharma-ending Age and would be a field of good fortune for humans and devas.”

Pindola-bharadvaja resides in this world permanently. If we want to make offerings to the Three Jewels, we can hold a non-discriminating great assembly like the ancients did. In this assembly, the offerings are made to all who attend, without discrimination. There will be saints and sages who come to receive our offerings. When they come, those who hold this assembly will be planting a field of good fortune through their offerings. Pindola-bharadvaja often goes to such assemblies. But since he manifests as a monk, he will not be recognized. He will go to the assemblies hosted by those who are sincere in their offerings.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

Vakula means “kind countenance.” Vakula had a kind appearance and people felt joy when looking at him. He was “foremost in longevity.”

The Buddha taught that all worldly pursuits can be categorized into three groups: wealth, wisdom, and health and longevity. Think about this. Is there anyone who does not want these? These are karmic results. We must plant the causes before we can have the karmic results. It is said: “In Buddhism, every sincere request will receive a response.” Why? Because the Buddha knew the law of cause and effect and thus knew which cause would bring about which effect.

The underlying cause of having wealth, wisdom, and health and longevity is giving. The Buddha taught us to cultivate both good fortune and wisdom. In this phrase, good fortune goes before wisdom. There is a Buddhist saying: “Cultivating wisdom without cultivating good fortune will result in an arhat not receiving any offering; cultivating good fortune without cultivating wisdom will result in a royal elephant wearing precious jewelry.”

The first statement is about a person who cultivated wisdom and attained arhatship. But as he did not cultivate good fortune, no one made offerings to him when he went out on alms rounds. The second statement is about a person who cultivated great good fortune but not wisdom. He fell into the path of animals and was reborn as an elephant. As the elephant had good fortune, it was kept by a king. Whenever the king went out, he rode on this elephant, and so this elephant got to wear precious jewelry.

Therefore, the Buddha taught us to cultivate both good fortune and wisdom. If one does not cultivate either one, one will be poor for all future lifetimes. It is most important that we believe the Buddha’s teaching.

Many universities and graduate schools today teach various methods to attain wealth. When we look at the courses they offer, we see that they teach students how to make use of catalytic conditions, not how to plant causes. Take business administration, for example. They do case studies. How did rich people get started? How did they run their businesses? How did they make so much money?

The experts and professors explain clearly and logically, but they themselves do not make much money. They spend their lives teaching in the universities, and if they are good at teaching, they may acquire a good reputation. When they retire, companies may hire them as consultants. They still do not attain great wealth. Since they know so many ways to make money, why can’t they attain great wealth for themselves? It is because what they learn and teach concerns “conditions,” not “causes.”

This is like planting a crop. These experts have the technical knowledge and can analyze the soil, water, climate, air, and fertilizer. The problem is that they do not have seeds. Not even an expert can harvest a crop without planting seeds. If one does not have wealth in one’s destiny, one cannot attain wealth regardless of what good methods or ideas of money making one has. If one has wealth in one’s destiny, one does not need to know any of these methods, for whatever one does, one will attain wealth.

Only the Buddha could explain this fact clearly. Where does wealth come from? From one’s practice of giving of wealth in previous lifetimes. The more one gave in past lifetimes, the more money one will have in this lifetime. If one was unwilling to practice the giving of wealth in past lifetimes, one will not attain great wealth now, no matter what skills one learns. After completing some courses, one will, at most, make money for a company. One will be an employee of that company and will not become its owner.

The giving of teachings will bring the karmic result of wisdom, and the giving of fearlessness will bring the karmic result of health and longevity. When we see that Vakula was foremost in longevity, we know that he had practiced the giving of fearlessness over many lifetimes. This was a good person, greatly compassionate and willing to help all those who encountered difficulties. His karmic result was longevity.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra