Editing Mitra (section)

==Buddhist Maitreya ==
{{Main|Maitreya }}
Maitreya  is sometimes represented seated on a throne, and venerated both in [[Mahāyāna]] and non-Mahāyāna Buddhism. Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya  may have come from the ancient [[Proto-Indo-Iranian religion|Iranian]] [[deity]] ''Mithra''. The primary comparison between the two characters appears to be the similarity of their names. According to Tiele (1917) "''No one who has studied the Zoroastrian doctrine of the [[Saoshyant]]s or the coming saviour-prophets can fail to see their resemblance to the future Maitreya.''"<ref name="Tiele, p. 159.">{{cite book |first=C.P. |last=Tiele |title=The Religion of the Iranian Peoples |translator-first=G.K. |translator-last=Nariman |location=Bombay |publisher=The Parsi Publishing Co. |year=1917 |url=https://archive.org/stream/religionofirania00tielrich#page/158/mode/2up |page=159}}</ref>

[[Paul Williams (philosopher)|Paul Williams]] claims that some [[Zoroastrian]] ideas like Saoshyant influenced the beliefs about Maitreya , such as expectations of a heavenly helper, the need to opt for positive righteousness, the future millennium, and universal salvation.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} Possible objections are that these characteristics are not unique to Zoroastrianism, nor are they necessarily characteristic of the belief in Maitreya .