41b. Buddha Metteyya – 1682
Several other details can be predicted for Buddha Metteyya as they are part of
the list of thirty things that are true of all Buddhas: He will live regularly at a
monastery at Jetavana. His bed there will be on the same spot as those of past
Buddhas. He will perform the Double Miracle at the gateway to the city of
Sāvatthī. He will teach the Abhidhamma to his mother in the Tavatiṁsa Deva
world. He will descend from that Deva world at the gateway to the city of
Saṅkassa. He will lay down a rule of training whenever necessary. He will tell
the story of one of his past lives (
Jātaka
) whenever necessary. He will teach the
Chronicles of the Buddhas (
Buddha-vaṁsa
) to a gathering of his relatives.
Several details have to do with his day-to-day habits: He will give a friendly
welcome to monastics when they arrive. He will spend the Rains Retreat where
he is invited to and will not leave without asking permission. Each day, he will
carry out the duties to be performed before and after meals and for the three
watches in the night.
[24]
The Lineage in the Future (
Anāgata-vaṁsa
) says his eyelashes will be thick, that
the eyes will be broad and pure, not winking day or night; and that with his
physical eye he will be able to see large and small things all around for ten
leagues without obstruction.
Rays of six colours will radiate from his body and illumine the 10,000 world-
element. The major and minor marks will always be visible as countless
hundreds of thousands of rays which will shine in all directions for 25 leagues.
Through the merit acquired when the blood flowed from his head when he
offered it to Buddha Sirimata, his radiance as a Buddha (
Buddha-pabhā
) will
shine from the summit of the world (
Bhavagga
) to the lowest of the hells (
Avīci
),
and the offering of his head and the drops of blood will mean that the radiance
from the hair between his eyebrows will be unlimited.
People will not be able to distinguish night from day. The only way they will
know when it is night is through the sound of bird cries and the closing of the
blossoms and leaves of lotuses and water lilies. They will know it is day by the
cries of birds going to seek food and the opening of the flowers and leaves of
lotuses and water lilies.
Wherever Buddha Metteyya walks, lotuses will spring up for him to step on.
This is said to be the result of his great effort in the past life when he was the
Bodhisatta King Saṅkha and went to Buddha Sirimata. The main petals of the