Dear Thomas,

You say:

> So, to believe this Bodhisattva is a future Buddha is only in the
> Mahayana tradition, not in the Pali Buddhism.

Then how do you understand the passage in DN26 ?? Quoting the Walsh
translation for convenience: "And in the time of the people with an eighty
thousand-year lifespan, there will arise in the world a Blessed Lord, an
Arahant fully-enlightened Buddha named Metteyya etc etc". Are you
suggesting that prior to becoming a Buddha, Metteyya is not a bodhisattva ?
Or are you suggesting that after becoming a Buddha, Metteyya changed his
name from his previous bodhisattva name ? Or do you dismiss DN26 as a
Mahayana infiltration or something ?

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge