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Buddha Maitreya is the future Buddha to come. At present, Maitreya is a Bodhisattva who resides in the Tushita Heaven (The garden of joy) awaiting the auspicious moment, still in the distant future, to descend to earth and incarnate as the next, and last Buddha of this world with the purpose of bringing deliverance of all sentient beings. Buddha Maitreya was incorporated into all the major Buddhist traditions as a connecting link to the future and he came to be identified as the deity link to the future lives of the believer. This depiction of Buddha Maitreya is typical of the Tibetan - Nepali style of sculpture.
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