（1） Maitreya the bodhisattva. 'Maitreya'， means 'benevolent.' The bodhisattva who will appear in this world to become the next Buddha after 5，670，000，000 years when he ends his life in the Tus!ita Heaven 兜率天. According to tradition， he was born into a Brahman family in southern India. His two epithets are 慈氏 "benevolent" and Ajita 阿逸多 "invincible." He presides over the spread of the sangha， and protects its members. There are numerous Maitreya sutras.
（2） Maitreya （or Maitreyana^tha） the semi-legendary figure usually named as the founder of Yoga^ca^ra Buddhism 瑜伽行派. He is thought to have lived from around 270-350 CE， and is the putative author of such Yoga^ca^ra works as the Yoga^ca^rabhu^mi-/sa^stra 瑜伽论， the Madhya^nta-vibha^ga 中边分别论， and so forth. He is credited with the establishment of such basic Yoga^ca^ra notions as conscious construction-only 唯识， the three bodies of the Buddha 三身， the three natures 三性， and the a^laya consciousness 阿赖耶识. He was the teacher of Asan%ga 无著.