미륵보살과 그 하생시기에 대한 고찰

Abstract

Maitreya ideology along with Amitabha ideology are important ideas that perform significant roles in Buddhism. Also, Maitreya ideology is a very friendly idea in that it is closely related to the world we live in. And Maitreyabodhisattva are important ideological backgrounds and bodhisattva of this Maitreya ideology. It is known that Maitreyabodhisattva is currently dwelling in Tuṣita-deva and edifying the heavenly people there. But the most important thing is when this Maitreyabodhisattva will be born on this land. This is because the rebirth of the Maitreyabodhisattva is not irrelevant to the expectation of removing the anguish and pain of the people by making this world a Buddhist land. In addition, there are many places in the Three Scriptures to the rebirth period of Maitreyabodhisattva. And looking at this, there are a total of 18 types. Therefore, the specific time is very diverse so it is too difficult to unify all into one. As far as we know, 5.67 billion years is only a theory of 『賢愚經』 or 『菩薩處胎經』. But this cannot represent the rebirth time. And this doesn’t even fit with arithmetic calculations. Therefore, we need a consensus to doctrinally unify the rebirth time of the Maitreyabodhisattva. And one of the methodologies is the lifespan of Tuṣita-deva which is consistent with all doctrines. According to the Buddhist doctrine, the lifespan of Tuṣita-deva is 4,000 years and this is all said to be consistent throughout the Three Scriptures. And 400 years of the human lifespan corresponds to a day of Tuṣita-deva. According to this calculation, Tuṣita-deva’s 4,000 years correspond to the 576 million years of the human world. Maitreyabodhisattva is said to come down to the human world after spending 4,000 years in Tuṣita-deva. Based on that Maitreyabodhisattva is reborn 576 million years after Buddha's death. And the scriptures that accurately describe this are 『本事經』 and 『分別論』. In general, all scriptures are considered Buddha's words. Therefore, the contents of each scripture cannot be ignored unilaterally. There is a need to unify the rebirth time of the Maitreyabodhisattva to 576 million years.