THE STATUE OF MAITREYA BUDDHA

Reading the Nihonshoki, and the Kojiki, we find some interesting clues regarding the religious concepts of the Hada tribes that pertain to their Middle Eastern origins. In the second half of the sixth century, the influence of the Buddhism and other new thoughts from abroad on the Yamato Court became so great that clashes broke out between a faction favoring the acceptance of Buddhism and other continental ideas and an opposition group which resisted the new religion as well as all changes. The victory of the pro-Buddhist faction in about 587 cleared the way for a more rapid acceptance of Chinese ideas and knowledge, and under the able leadership of the Crow Prince Shotoku, many startling reforms were undertaken.

Shotoku Taishi was a zealous Buddhist, as well as a capable statesman, and it was largely through him that Buddhism became firmly established in the Japanese court circles. He founded a number of monasteries and temples. For this reason he has often been described as the Constantine of Japanese Buddhism. But his fame does not rest on this alone: he framed a code of laws which is known as the Seventeen article Constitution, encouraged the introduction of the Chinese arts and science to Japan, and brought the use of the Chinese calendar.

During his reign, there was among the kingdoms in Korea strife in which the Prince Shotoku intervened by sending an army to fight against the kingdom of Silla. After completing their campaign in success, the Japanese soldiers brought back F with them a statue of Buddha, the image of which looked entirely different from all other statues which preceded it. According to the Nihonshoki, "The Prince Shotoku said to the noblemen in the court, 'I have in my possession a precious statue of Buddha. Is there anyone among you who would receive it in reverence and worship it?' Then Hada-no-Kawakatsu, a nobleman of the Hada tribe, raised his voice and said, 'I will!' He received the statue in reverence, and, in order to enshrine it, built the temple of Hachioka. " The temple was later called "Koryuji" or "Uzumasa-dera", and is located at present in the northwestern part of Kyoto.

This was the famous "Statue of Miroku-Bosatsu" or the "Maitreya Bodhisattva. " The statue is carved from red pine wood, commonly found in Korea. The face of the statue does not resemble Korean nor Japanese, neither Chinese nor Indian. It looks more like Greek or Iranian, or the inhabitants of Central Asia.

What bearing did this statue have on the Hada family? Why did Hada-no-Kawakatsu so willingly receive it from the Prince Shotoku as his guardian deity? What was the characteristic of this Maitreya faith?

To answer these questions, we must look into the cultural history of Northern India and Central Asia, including such countries as Afghanistan and Russian Turkestan. In those days the kingdom of Gandhara was in its prime glory, and Buddhism in that area was influenced by the cultures of the Mediterranean world, and reached a new stage in its development, commonly known as "Mahayana Buddhism" (literally, the "great vehicle to salvation.")

In what way was Buddhism influenced by other religions, and grew as Mahayana Buddhism? Briefly, the influence from the Persian Zoroastrianism with its emphasis on the idea of light, was crystallized as the faith in the "Amitabha Buddha", which in Sanscrit means the "Infinite, Eternal Light. " And the Messianic faith of Judaism gave an impetus to the rise of the Maitreya faith; Brahamanism with its ascetic emphasis became the mother of Zen Buddhism. Out of the inspiration of Christianity and Manichaeism, which upheld the eternal life, were born the enthusiastic faith in the "Lotus Sutra" and the "Manthula" (the True Word) faith of the "Great Sun Sutra"

But how did Judaism ever come to affect Buddhism in such a way, as to produce the faith of "Maitreya - Bodhisattva"? "Bodhisattva" means literally, "enlightenment-being," and refered to the one on the way to enlightenment, that is, a ''Buddha-to-be."

The word "Maitreya," was derived from the Greek word "Metatron, " which means "change of time, " a word used to denote the time when the Messiah would come to save the earth. "Metatron" in its broad sense could also be said to represent the ushering-in of the Messianic age.

It is quite obvious that this concept is directly derived from the Messianism which is so vital a part of the Middle Eastern religion. "Maitreya Bodhisattva" is the Lord of heaven who will come to earth after 5,670,000,000 years to save all living beings. It should be borne in mind that "Maitreya Bodhisattva" has nothing common with primitive Buddhism, except the concept of imagery.

The motivating force behind this new religion was the people of the Middle East who had been dispersed after the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity and had reached these Central Asian areas, before the start of the common era.

It is well known that some of the "ten lost tribes" migrated to Central Asia. It is these tribes that were the ancestors of the Hadas. Present-day Middle Eastern people are descended from the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who inhabited the kingdom of Judah, when the original kingdom of Israel split into two separate countries: Israel and Judah. When Israel was conquered, the ten tribes who inhabited that country were dispersed to the four corners of the earth. Only the kingdom of Judah remained, and hundreds of years later when Judah was also conquered, its inhabitants, although they were dispersed, managed to stay together, not too far at first from Judaea. Their strong religious feelings and traditional ties held them together, and the present-day Middle Eastern people are descendants of these two tribes of Israel. The other ten tribes have been irretrievably lost in the maelstrom of time and history. The intent expectation of these Hebrew people could not but affect the communities in which they lived, and its effect can be seen abundantly in the Maitreya faith of Messianic expectation .

This was the religion that the Hada tribes took with them when they emigrated to Japan from Central Asia. This was why Hada-no Kawakatsu so readily received the statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva. There still remains a temple of Maitreya faith in the precinct of the Shrine of Usa Yahada, signifying the close relationship between the Hada people and the Maitreya faith.