Maitreya teachings
Maitreya was the central deity worshipped by the first folk salvation religions, but in later developments of the sects he was gradually replaced by the Limitless Ancient Mother (無生老母 Wúshēng Lǎomǔ),[2] although Maitreyan eschatology continued to have a place in their doctrines.
[4] By 715, as testified by an edict, wearing white clothes, that was originally a practice common to lay Buddhist congregations, had become a distinctive feature of Maitreyan sects.
In other words, when difficult living conditions prevailed and criminals were rampant in society, people in general really yearned for a “messiah”, like Maitreya, who could vanquish all the villains and stabilize the world.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei, Fa Qing (法庆), a monk from Jizhou, proclaimed himself the “New Buddha” (新佛), with Li Gueibe (李歸伯) as the “Tenth-Level Bodhisattva” (十住菩薩), claiming to attain Buddhahood through the Bodhisattva path thus calling himself the “Great Vehicle Buddha” (大乘佛) and founded the Mahayana sect (大乘教), also known as the Mahayana Maitreya sect (彌勒大乘教).
[15] In addition, Gao Tancheng (高曇晟), a Buddhist monk from Huaizhou, and Liu Ningjing (劉凝靜), a woman from Wannian County in Sichuan, all claimed that Maitreya had descended to the world and rebelled.
"[16] A novel titled The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt (三遂平妖傳) by Luo Guanzhong in its content reflects the general public's view of Maitreya at that time.
[19] At that time, there was a man named Shi Pudu (釋普度) from Donglin Temple in Lushan, who had inherited the millenarian teachings left by Huiyuan (慧遠), and was committed to reviving the White Lotus faction.
In the second year of the Taiding era (1325), Zhao Chousi (趙丑廝) and Guo Pusa (郭菩薩) of the White Lotus Sect in Xizhou, Henan Province, preached that “Maitreya Buddha will rule the world” and gathered many people to rebel.
[22] In the third year of Emperor Shun's reign (1337), the White Lotus Sect in Chenzhou, Henan Province, claimed that Maitreya Buddha had been born and gathered to burn incense.
In the fourth year of Emperor Shun's reign (1338), Peng Yingyu (彭瑩玉) who was the head of the Maitreya Sect[23] and Zhou Ziwang (周子旺), a monk from Yuanzhou, Jiangxi Province (now Yichun, Hubei Province), persuaded the people to recite the name of Maitreya Buddha, burning torches and incense at night, and holding rituals, and organized a rebellion of the White Lotus Sect, which was based on the Manichaean belief of “Belief in the Bright Light” (崇尚光亮信仰).
Peng fled north and spread the teachings about the coming of Maitreya, the Buddha of fortune and his rays of light illuminating all humanity, who would end suffering.
[30] A Second White Lotus Rebellion broke out in 1796 among impoverished settlers in the mountainous region that separates Sichuan from Hubei and Shaanxi as a protest against heavy taxes imposed by the Manchu rulers of the Qing Dynasty.
Lin Qing, who was one of the leaders of the rebellion, declared himself the reincarnation of Maitreya, the prophesied future Buddha in Buddhism, using banners with the inscription "Entrusted by Heaven to Prepare the Way", a reference to the popular novel Water Margin.
Among the popular religions that are considered to share the same ideology and characteristics as the Maitreya sect are Xiantiandao (先天道) and Yiguandao (一貫道), which combines the teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
