“Behold, ladies… all these stories concern everyone who is here,” the Buddha said to
Visakha.

“How do they concern us, Lord?” Princess Suppavasa, who was sitting on the outer
edge of the other side, spoke audibly, but we all heard clearly due to the blending of
mental communication.

“Firstly, during my midpoint, or about 2,500 years from now, the world will enter the
‘Kali Yuga,’ which is the era of maximum decline in every aspect, including the decline
of the environment, resulting in the abnormality and volatility of the weather; the
decline of human and animal health, a consequence of environmental degradation; the
decline of the way of life, a consequence of health decline; and lastly, the decline of
morality, which is the factor that causes all the aforementioned declines. People of that
time will only have hatred and exploitation, filled with deceit and traps. People will use
emotions to determine the fate of their lives and society, especially those who govern
the country. If they lack mindfulness and virtue, it will be the most fragile era because
the world is ready for a great catastrophe at any moment. Because at that time,
weapons of mass destruction will appear, powerful doomsday fireballs ready to kill
every living thing on Earth. Currently, the leaders of powerful kingdoms each possess
enough doomsday fireballs to destroy the entire world in an instant. Therefore, it is the
most dangerous decline because whenever those kingdoms fight, the world will
immediately enter catastrophe,” the Buddha began to explain.

“Secondly, at that time, the world will need help from someone. The world will need
great individuals to help transform it from the maximum decline to the maximum
prosperity, to help purify the minds of every human being so that they can enter the
state of Arhat mind, Buddha mind, or the noble mind filled with pure love and
compassion, free from any conditions. It is about creating a new standard for the
human world.”

“When these two events converge, between the maximum decline of the world and the
necessity to rectify it to have the maximum prosperity in Dharma, it is like trying to
instantly transform a vicious demon into a noble person, and not just transforming any
group or kingdom, but transforming all people so that the world is ready to enter the
Golden Age.”

“Currently, there is an individual who has spiritually volunteered to salvage that
situation. He has set this intention since a past life, that he will be the one to correct the
misunderstandings about my teachings, to make them correct for the full 5,000 years.
And he has also vowed to create the world at that time into a paradise, a land of peace.”

“Who is that individual, Lord?” Mahapajapati asked.

“Originally, that individual was supposed to be born as a Buddha before me. But
because I intentionally created a symbol that made him understand that I would be born as a Buddha before him, the karma from that time has resulted in his birth as a
Buddha overlapping with my era, even though it is not yet time. His birth this time is a
plan that was determined in advance, that during that time, a severe event would occur,
so this individual must help salvage the situation, turning bad into good. And that time
will be considered the starting point of his era, the time of the simultaneous birth of
the next Buddha, or who you know as Maitreya Buddha,” the Buddha explained.

“Is this the same matter that you mentioned before, Lord? The time when you declined
to accept the offering of two pieces of cloth from me, but instead told me to offer them
to the newly ordained monk, and you said that the person I offered the cloth to was the
next Buddha who would be born in this Bhadrakalpa?” Mahapajapati continued to ask.

“That’s right, revered mother… Achita is the one who will be born as Maitreya Buddha
in the future,” the Buddha said.

After the Buddha mentioned Achita’s name as the one who would be born as Maitreya
Buddha, the voices of everyone there became clamorous, like being in the midst of a
flock of sparrows taking flight.

“Behold, venerable ones, may everyone please remain calm. If there is anything you do
not understand, please clarify it with him now,” the Buddha suggested.

At the end of the Buddha’s voice, silence immediately prevailed. The sound of crickets
and cicadas appeared. It was so quiet that I could hear my own breathing. And at this
time, I felt Achita’s thoughts arising, which I knew immediately that he was
intentionally asking me.

“Whoever you are, a noble soul or whatever, please tell me what I must do,” he asked in
his mind.

“I am you in the future. In truth, I don’t know much either. I have come to know my
own story, and I have just realized that you are me in the past. Today, we have both
come to know stories that we do not know, and I have no ability to rectify the future
world from decline to prosperity like a paradise. I only know one thing: for this
mission, I must rely on companions who once vowed to undertake this mission
together,” I replied in his thoughts.

“I also feel that I will have many companions. They are waiting for me in the future
because I have seen them in a vision,” Achita replied back in his thoughts.

“Then who are those companions? Why don’t you ask the Buddha?” I suggested.

“Alright,” Achita replied.

“Oh, Lord, a part of the Buddha… now I duly acknowledge that I vowed to become a
Buddha in the future a long time ago, with the name Maitreya. But I would like to ask
about the companions in my vision, who those people are, where they come from, and
what their origins are,” Achita asked the Buddha.

“Achita, before I answer your question, I have something to tell you. Generally, those
who have attained Arhatship do not have to be reborn again. They are said to be free
from suffering, free from the cycle of rebirth, able to completely sever all defilements.”

“And when they attain enlightenment, while they still have life remaining, they intend
to do everything possible to help as many human beings as possible to be free from this
bondage, just as they received that opportunity from the Buddha.”

“And in the long existence of this world, each era will always have events that cause the
world to enter decline from time to time, sometimes even being devoid of the noble
Dharma for a while. During that time of decline, noble individuals will appear to be the
ones to initiate the light for humanity. We will call those noble individuals ‘those who
know themselves to be Buddha’ or simply ‘Buddha.’ But to become a Buddha, they
must have special qualities beyond the ordinary: they must sacrifice themselves
greatly, allowing their souls to return to wander in this world of ignorance for
hundreds and thousands of lifetimes until they are born in the time of decline,
according to their own intention.”

“During the time from when they start setting their intention until the era when they
are born as a Buddha, I will call the soul that volunteers to be born a ‘Bodhisattva.’

The important quality of being a Bodhisattva is being a giver or a sacrificer. And from
now on, your soul will be called a Bodhisattva for another 2,500 years. Please accept
this condition willingly,” the Buddha emphasized this important quality to Achita.

“I accept willingly, Lord… But what I am curious about is the story about the origins of
the companions who are waiting for me in the future,” Achita continued to ask.

“Behold, Achita, they are not waiting for you in the future. They will go with you. It’s
just that they have not yet set their intention to go at this time.”

“Who are they and where are they, Lord?” Achita asked.

“This is why we have gathered today…” the Buddha said before falling silent. He
allowed an atmosphere of stillness to become apparent amidst the moonlight on the
full moon night, which was beginning to be perpendicular to the sky.