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The `bodhisattva'

The traditions relating to bodhisattva, those who are on the threshold of
becoming Buddhas, are manifold. One destined to be a Buddha must
finally be born as a man, so the bodhisatva does not tarry for long in the
heavens of delight.

The bodhisattva who stirs the imagination and holds the greatest
promises for the Thai villagers is Maitreya, the next Buddha who will

arrive to bring salvation to the world. Maitreya is revered by all Buddhist
sects as the coming saviour, and his name signifies one who is full of love
toward all beings.

It is believed that the Buddha himself elected Maitreya as his successor
and that Maitreya now resides in the Tusita Heaven (Dusit in Thai), the
heaven of contented beings, from where he watches over and promotes
the interests of Buddhism. He awaits the time when he will appear on
earth as Maitreya Buddha.[4] Tradition has it that the Buddha predicted
that his teachings will last for 5,000 years, at the end of which they will
no more be respected or even remembered because of the world's corruption
and degeneracy.

According to the Vinaya, the Buddha had fixed a time limit of 500 years
starting from his death during which the Law would last. The same period
is confirmed by Nagasena in his dialogues with King Milinda. It appears
that Buddhagosa in the fifth century A.D. extended the duration of the
message in this world to 5,000 years. He foresaw five successive steps of
retrogression, at intervals of one thousand years: first, the disappearance
of the acquisition of the degrees of sanctity, then of the observance of the
precepts, of the knowledge of the Scriptures, of the exterior signs of
religion, and lastly of the corporeal relics of the Master which would be
gathered together and cremated at Bodhgaya (Coedès 1964). Apparently
this prophecy motivated, at various critical dates in the reigns of famous
kings, the holding of convocations, writing of Scriptures and revival of
religious enthusiasm. The most recent manifestation in our time was the
2,500th year (Buddha Jayanthi). The Siamese cosmological treatise, the
Traibhumikatha, was produced long ago under similar inspiration.

To this pessimistic prophecy, however, Buddhist tradition has joined
an optimistic messianic one. Maitreya, the next Buddha, will descend at
the end of this decline. Religion will wax again, arahats will arise, men
will be freed from toil and care, hunger, old age, and sickness. We shall
see later that Buddhist ritual in the village dramatizes with great expectations
the coming of the next saviour. It is therefore relevant to compare
Maitreya with the Buddha. The Buddha belongs to the past; his teachings
exist but he is extinct; it is possible that he is not in direct contact with
this world. Maitreya lives in heaven, is interested in the present order
of things as well as in the future, and his descent into the world from
heaven is imagined to bring collective salvation and benefits to those

who will be fortunate enough to see him at that time in the status of
human being.

However, it is not in the countries of Theravada Buddhism but in those
in which the Mahayana form prevails that the concept and cult of the
bodhisattva has been greatly elaborated. There bodhisattvas abound—the
most glorious of whom are Manjusri, Avalokitesvara and Vajra-pani.
They are imagined to be permanently in the celestial worlds in benevolent
relationship with humanity. Mahayana Buddhism, it would seem, has
systematically incorporated the existing gods into its pantheon and transformed
them into benevolent mediators and future Buddhas who will not
necessarily descend to earth as human Buddhas.

These Mahayanist developments are echoed in the so-called Hinayana
countries, which have at various times been fertilized by Mahayana
influences. We have already noted that Sinhalese, Burmese and Thai
kings were elevated to the status of bodhisattva. In certain situations,
messianic Maitreya status may be claimed by charismatic leaders of
popular rebellions against established kingship (Mendelson 1963). In
Ceylon the protective guardian god Natha has been identified with
Maitreya, and others like Saman and Skanda are regarded as bodhisattva
whose role is to guard and protect both the Buddhist religion and the
secular kingdom. Parallels can be found in other societies; but insofar
as we are concerned with religion in the Thai village of Phraan Muan it is
sufficient to remember that it is Maitreya alone who enjoys the adulation
and the anticipations of a bodhisattva.