The Fifth Buddha

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This is the fourth in a series about organizations that reflect some of the new values and teachings that have come into the world in this age that has witnessed the dawning of the Bahá’í Faith.

The Maitreya Project at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh in northern India is erecting a 152m bronze statue of the Buddha. Buddhists await the advent of “Maitreya-Amitabhá.” Even though the Buddha’s texts were revealed in the Pali language, “Maitreya” is from the Sanskrit “maitri” meaning “universal loving-kindness,” while “-abhá” is a form of “Bahá” (Glory) in Arabic. Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be that Universal Manifestation, the Promised One of all ages, the fulfillment of all millennial prophecies.

The physical outlay of the Maitreya Project has some striking simlilarities to Bahá’í Houses of Worship, which are to be surrounded by a number of other facilities, including universities, hospitals, and even drug dispensaries. (The present stage of the Houses of Worship has yet to realize these adjuncts.) According to the Maitreya Project website http://www.maitreya-statue.org/, there are plans for “temples, exhibition halls, a museum, library, audio-visual theatre and hospitality services. All will be set in beautifully landscaped parks with meditation pavilions, beautiful water fountains and tranquil pools. The buildings and grounds of the Project will contain a remarkable and inspiring collection of sacred art.” (Projected cost: $250 million.) Bahá’í Houses of Worship are all surrounded by gardens and fountains (pictured above is the Lotus Temple, near New Delhi). The bronze statue is designed to stand for at least 1,000 years. The Bahá’í structures on Mount Carmel were specifically designed and built with Mediterranean marble to also last a millennium.

There are glaring differences, of course. Building the Maitreya statue is intended to create, economic stability, as well as spiritual and social renewal, in and around the Project site, whereas the Bahá’í Houses of Worship are part of global plans and visions, and there will never be any admission fees or donations accepted. And though the Buddha is revered by the Bahá’ís, there are no representational images, nor will there ever be. Interestingly, in the early days of Buddhism, there were no images of the Buddha, only symbols or ciphers. The idea entered the East via the Greek statues brought by Alexander the Great’s armies. Since by then no one knew what the Buddha had looked like, He was portrayed as an Adonis-like young man sitting in the lotus position. As time went on, the form of the Buddha took on various cultural ideals in different places.

As a Bahá’í, I ask myself, will they come to recognize Bahá’u’lláh as that “Fifth Buddha,” the Maitreya-Amitabha, or wait another thousand years?