Maitreya

Maitreya South and Central Asia
Or Metteyya, is the name of the Buddha who is yet to come. This is in accord with the Buddhist notion that there is a series of Enlightened Ones, existing before and after the historical Buddha. Maitreya is regarded as living at the moment in a Tusita heaven at the apex of the sensual universe. In China as Mi-lo this aspect of his myth underwent considerable development, his abode becoming identified with a sanctuary from the endless round of birth. In Tibet and China there are rock-cut inscriptions which read, ‘Come, Maitreya, come!’