Introduction

i.1Maitreya’s Setting Out narrates the stories of two previous lives of the bodhisattva Maitreya and explains the circumstances for his initial arousing of the mind set on awakening. The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the Buddha of the future era. He is the only bodhisattva widely accepted outside the Mahāyāna traditions, although his role there is much less central than in the Mahāyāna schools of India, China, Tibet, Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. His future coming is predicted in the Pali canon, where he is mentioned in the Cakkavattisīhanādasutta of the Dīgha Nikāya, and in the Mahāvastu, a canonical text of the Lokottaravāda school of the Mahāsaṅghikas. The prophecy of the future awakening of Maitreya is told in the Mūla­sarvāstivāda-vinaya, in the Bhaiṣajya­vastu, the sixth chapter of the Vinayavastu. Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas, such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a preacher of the Dharma. Some of the most famous Mahāyāna sūtras in which Maitreya occupies a central role are The White Lotus of the Good Dharma (Toh 113), The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Toh 176), The Rice Seedling (Toh 210), The Stem Array (Toh 44-45), The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Toh 12), and The King of Samādhis (Toh 127).

i.2Despite his central role in the Mahāyāna tradition, there are very few canonical texts devoted exclusively to the bodhisattva career of Maitreya, and there are no extended hagiographies concerned with this figure. In the Tibetan Kangyur, we do however find a few short sūtras, such as Maitreya’s Rebirth in the Heaven of Joy (Toh 199) and The Prophecy of Maitreya (Maitreya­vyākaraṇa), describing the circumstances leading to his awakening, his future appearance in the world, and the methods to apply if one wishes to be reborn close to him at that time. Other sūtras in which previous lives of the bodhisattva Maitreya are recounted include The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, The Sublime Golden Light (Toh 555, Toh 556, Toh 557), and The Question of Maitreya (Toh 85). Considering his importance throughout the Buddhist traditions, as well as the scarcity of canonical materials focusing on his bodhisattva career, Maitreya’s Setting Out is an important resource for anyone interested in Maitreya. In spite of this fact, it appears that this sūtra has previously received little mention in modern scholarship.

i.3The sūtra takes place in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, where the Buddha is residing with many monks and bodhisattvas. When Maitreya requests the Buddha to answer some questions, the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī interposes himself, telling Maitreya that the Buddha will only speak if Maitreya can present his inquiries in a nonconceptual manner. When Maitreya confirms that he would never present his inquiries in any other way, the Buddha proceeds to teach.

i.4The Buddha Śākyamuni first narrates in great detail the story of a past king, known as Golden Color, who worshiped the Buddha Pure Golden Light for millions of years. At the end of this period, through the skillful teaching of Pure Golden Light, the king gave rise to the mind of awakening, renounced his household, and became a monastic. At this point in the story, the Buddha dramatically reveals that King Golden Color was in fact a previous incarnation of the bodhisattva Maitreya and that all members of the present assembly at Śrāvastī were also present in the retinue at that time. Interestingly, the Buddha mentions here that he himself initially gave rise to the mind set on awakening eighty-four thousand eons after Maitreya did so.

i.5Next, the Buddha recounts the story of a monk, Dṛḍhamati, who lived long ago during the time of the Buddha Ratnacchatra. Absorbed within the meditation of loving kindness, the monk Dṛḍhamati could lead beings into that absorption by simply passing by their homes. Amazed by such miraculous displays, all the gods proclaimed in unison that this monk should be called Maitreya (the Loving One). Accordingly, the Buddha Ratnacchatra prophesied that henceforth the monk Dṛḍhamati would be known as the bodhisattva great being Maitreya, even after reaching awakening. The sūtra then comes to a close as everyone rejoices in the words of the Blessed One.

i.6As this sūtra today appears to exist only in Tibetan, we have produced our translation exclusively from the versions contained in the Tibetan Kangyur, basing ourselves on the Degé block print with reference to the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). The colophon to the Tibetan translation states that it was prepared by Yeshé Dé in collaboration with the Indian paṇḍitas Prajñāvarman, Jinamitra, and Surendrabodhi. We can therefore date the Tibetan translation to the late eighth to early ninth centuries, a dating that is also attested by the text’s inclusion in the early ninth-century Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) catalogue.