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From: Paul.Gillingwater@actrix.gen.nz (Paul Gillingwater)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Some Questions (2)
Message-ID: <1991May31.225752.17661@nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 31 May 91 22:57:52 GMT
References: <1991May29.192025.13902@nas.nasa.gov> <1991May30.155617.8703@nas.nasa.gov>
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In article <1991May30.155617.8703@nas.nasa.gov> dogen@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (John Chq) writes:
> 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

Sorry, not quite true.  The theosophists never claimed that K. was
the actual incarnation of the Maitreya Buddha.  They did claim that
he was a particularly special person, who was being trained to act
as a "vehicle" for the Maitreya, who would "overshadow"
Krishnamurti.  

Some observers from that time suggest that this "overshadowing" may
have occured on a few occasions, but K. chose a different path, one
which IMHO is more appropriate to current secular conditions.  Early
theosophical leaders made the mistake that their "Masters" had
warned them of, i.e. establishing a theosophical "popery".  The
decision by K. to repudiate all claims to messiahship was the only
realistic option he could take.  His subsequent life and teachings
show how perceptive this early teachers (Leadbeater et. al.) were in
identifying him as something quite special.

> 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.

There have been some extremely interesting prophetic manuscripts
translated at the University of Dharmasala in northern India in
recent years, particularly one set by a US scholar.  Although I have
not seen the translations personally, while visiting India four
years ago I heard descriptions of a great southern land with a large
red rock (Australians may recognize uluru), plus a geographic
description of a country with two large islands and one small island
(NZ).
-- 
Paul Gillingwater, paul@actrix.gen.nz