A Poem about the Coming Buddha

-From BuddhaNature.com

I am Maitreya, the buddha of the sun

I shine with equal love upon all

I am called the coming Buddha not because I will manifest in physical form
But because I come to those at advanced stages of the spiritual path

and say: "Be blessed friends, and give blessings".

**

I am called the buddha of friendship

For I take all beings as equals

And do not accept the hierarchies of institutions.

My love shines equally upon persons, groups, cultures, and worlds

I call them to live in universal love and compassion

I am white and golden, harmonious and full of richness

Like a symphony, I unite the competing themes in the universe.

I am found in optimism, in hope, and in faith

And in those who look for a better tomorrow

I bless the discouraged and the lonely

The fearful and the mournful

I give them a way out of the prisons of their hearts

I liberate beings from confinement

And show a brilliant and infinite future.

There are many forms of liberation within the universe

In the vast galaxy of changing forms

Each moment of insight, each movement of growth

Each turning away from the past

Is a kind of liberation.
To turn away from identity entirely is a rare blessing

Those who do this do not look to me.

Those who seek me need strength and determination, in life and in meditation

They need hope and encouragement, and this I give them.

Knowing that there is a more perfect world

Allows them to improve this one

Knowing that there are buddhas and bodhisattvas

Allows them to strive for more perfect awareness

Knowing that there is something to look forward to

Allows the bondage of the past to fall away.

I am the buddha of hope, and of striving

So that transient beings may improve the world for other transients

Though the universe grows and disintegrates and comes back again in glory

I shall stay to bless the crowds who strive towards truth.

** NOTE: This statement goes against buddhist doctrine in the Vajrayana and Mahayana
traditions which holds that Maitreya will incarnate on earth as a bodhisattva at some future
time, and become an enlightened buddha during that incarnation.