List of Buddha claimants
http://Buddhism.2be.net/List_of_Buddha_claimants
From Buddhist Encyclopedia
This short list of Buddha claimants is a list of people who claimed to have attained enlightenment and became Buddhas, claimed themselves to be manifestations of Bodhisattvas, called themselves the Buddha himself, or have been honored as a Buddha or Bodhisattva due to either being a reincarnation (such as the Dalai Lama or the Panchen Lama), popularity and proof of auspicious signs.
Many in recent times have also claimed themselves to be Maitreya, the next Buddha to succeed the historical Sakyamuni Buddha.
An asterisk (*) indicates a significant number of followers, while a double dagger (‡) marks those referring to a royal line of deification rather than an individual.
Who
| Image
| When
| What
|
| *Guan Yu |  | 160-219 | Legendary military warrior during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. Today, many people, including both police and mafia, consider him to be a divine object of reverence. In certain schools of Taoism and Chinese Buddhism he has been deemed as divine or having semi-divine status. The reverence for him may date back to the Sui dynasty. He is widely accepted by many Buddhists as a Bodhisattva that guards the Buddhist faith and the temples. He is known as Sangharama in Sanskrit. |
| ‡Gung Ye | 901-918 | A Korean warlord and king of short-lived state of Taebong during the 10th century, claimed himself as living incarnation of Maitreya and ordered his subjects to worship him. His claim was widely rejected by most Buddhist monks and later he was dethroned and killed by his own servants. | |
| *The Dalai Lamas |  | 1395-present | In Tibetan Buddhism, the successive Dalai Lamas form a tulku lineage of Gelugpa leaders which trace back to 1391. Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama to be one of innumerable incarnations of Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lama was the head of the Tibetan government, administrating a large portion of the country from the capital Lhasa. The Dalai Lama is the supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism, and the leaders of all four schools consider the Dalai Lama to be the highest lama of the Tibetan traditions. The current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. |
| ‡Nurhaci | 1559-1626 | Also known as Emperor Tai Zu. Founder and leader of the Qing Dynasty, believed he was a manifestation of Manjushri Bodhisattva. | |
| *Lu Zhong Yi | 1849-1925 | The 17th patriarch of the I-Kuan Tao, proclaimed himself as an incarnation of Maitreya. | |
| ‡Wu Zetian | 625-705 | The first and only ruling female emperor in the history of China, and founder her own dynasty, the Second Zhou dynasty, and ruling under the name Emperor Shengshen. She gained popular support by advocating Buddhism but ruthlessly persecuted her opponents within the royal family and the nobility. She proclaimed herself an incarnation of Maitreya, and made Luoyang the "holy capital." | |
| Peter Deunov | 1864-1944 | Also known as Master Beinsa Douno. Spiritual teacher, founder of a teaching and school of Esoteric Christianity. Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, identified Master Beinsa Douno as manifestation of Maitreya in the late 20th century. | |
| *L. Ron Hubbard | 1911-1986 | The founder of the Church of Scientology. He declared himself "Metteya" (Maitreya) in the 1955 poem Hymn of Asia. His editors indicated, in the book's preface, specific physical characteristics said to be outlined -- in unnamed sanskrit sources -- as properties of the coming Maitreya; properties which Hubbard's appearance aligned with neatly and perfectly. | |
| Samael Aun Weor | 1917-1977 | Claimed to have been the incarnation of Maitreya, as well as the avatar Kalki. | |
| Benjamin Creme | 1922– | Founder of Share International, proclaims the present existence of a "World Teacher" called Maitreya | |
| Jim Jones | 1931–1978 | The leader of the Peoples Temple cult. Also claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus and the Buddha. Further, he added that he was the reincarnation of Akhenaten, Father Divine, and Vladimir Lenin. | |
| Ruth Norman | 1930s | Leading member of the Unarius Academy of Science. She claimed to have had 55 past lives. One of these was as the Buddha. Others included Socrates, King Arthur, Confucius, and a King of Atlantis. | |
| *Lu Sheng-yen | 1945- | Founder of the True Buddha School. Professes to be the incarnation of Padmakumara, a deity in Sukhavati, calling himself "Living Buddha Lian Shen". | |
| Raël | 1946– | Raël claims that in 1973, he was visited by extra terrestrial beings, who gave him the message that he was to found a movement which would apparently bring the world to a new enlightenment. 1973 was the same year that Rael published his first book that concerns his alleged encounter. The International Raelian Movement currently has approximately 60,000 followers in 86 countries worldwide. He claims to be the Maitreya based on evidence such as the traditional year of the arrival Maitreya, Buddhist year 3000. There are two calendars in Buddhism, corresponding to the Northern branch (1973 AD = "Northern" Buddhist year 3000) and Southern branch (1973 AD = "Southern" Buddhist year 2417). Other alleged support for this claim includes anicient Buddhist wall carvings which depict drawings of the arrival of UFOs in the mountains. According to the Raelian Movement, Rael had allegedly experienced his ufo encounters in an inactive volcano which he had previously frequented. | |
| *Ching Hai | 1950s | A meditation master who professes to be an incarnation of God, the Buddha, and the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, popularly known as Guan Yin, for which her meditation method is named after. | |
| Hogen Fukunaga | 1951- | In 1987 after an alleged spiritual event he claimed to realize he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and the Buddha. | |
| *Li Hongzhi | 1951- | Founder of Falun Gong who is said to have proclaimed himself as a Buddha, though he has denied this. | |
| *Ram Bahadur Bomjon |  | 1989- | A 15-year old Nepalese Buddhist monk who many have hailed as a new Buddha, with some to have seen light emanating from the teenager's forehead. Despite his protestations of not attaining enlightenment, many continue on insisting he is a Buddha. |
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See also
- List of bodhisattvas
- List of people considered to be deities
- List of people who have claimed to be Jesus
- List of people considered to be avatars
- List of messiah claimants
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Bibliography
- Hogue, John Messiahs: The Visions and Prophecies for the Second Coming (1999) Elements Books ISBN 1-86204-549-6
