Maitreya is the earliest bodhisattva around whom a cult developed and is mentioned in scriptures from the 3rd century. He was accepted by all schools of Buddhism and is still the only bodhisattva generally honoured by the Theravada tradition. The name Maitreya is derived from the Sanskrit maitrī (“friendliness”). Maitreya, in the Buddhist tradition, the future Buddha, presently a bodhisattva residing in the Tushita heaven, who will descend to earth to preach anew the dharma (“law”) when the teachings of Gautama Buddha have completely decayed.