Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!uunet!stanford.edu!eos!data.nas.nasa.gov!news From: dogen@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (John Chq) Subject: Re: Some Questions (2) References: <1991May29.192025.13902@nas.nasa.gov> Date: Thu, 30 May 91 15:56:17 GMT Approved: prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov Organization: Northwestern University Sender: news@nas.nasa.gov Message-ID: <1991May30.155617.8703@nas.nasa.gov> Lines: 34 In article <1991May29.192025.13902@nas.nasa.gov> moorthy@hctdemo.leis.bellcore.com (moorthy) writes: > > What do different Buddhistic schools say about the next Avatar? > (Is there a concept of Avatar in Buddhism?) > > Is there an authentic account of "Kalki" Avatar ( the next Avatar) in > Hindu scriptures? > /moorthy Concerning Buddhism, as I recall, during this 'cycle of time' there are 3 bodhisattvas, Dipankara who arrived before the Buddha, Siddhartha who was the historical Buddha, and Maitreya who is yet to arrive (though the Theosophists claim Krishnamurti was the incarnation of Maitreya). There is an interesting Buddhist 'prophesy', in the Tibetan tradition (?) which states that "when the iron bird flies and horseless carraiges are used, the Dharma will be born in the land of the red man." I'm not exactly sure of the accuracy of my recollection. I'm sure others on this board are more knowledable on this subject. I should also add that the zen tradition, while not disagreeing with this prophesy, says it is of little importance whether or not the Avatar Maitreya comes or not. What is most important is your awarness of this present moment of existence. Of course, this is also the tradition that says "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!" (Please don't take this literally). 8-) J. C. -- ******************************************************************************* -- John Cha "The present is always more interesting than the future or the past" *******************************************************************************