Why is Baha'u'llah the 5th Buddha?

Few more references about the prophecies of the Buddha. Speaking of the Buddha Maitreya (or Metteya) He said: “He will be known as Maitreya, which means ‘he whose name means kindness’.” The human name of Baha’u’llah was Mirza Husayn Ali and Husayn in Arabic means also ‘kindness’. A coincidence?

“His disciples will number many thousand, while mine number many hundred.” In the Bible, chapter 33 of Deuteronomy, Moses, just before his death on Mount Nebo, blessed the tribes and said: “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned down over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes.” He referred to His Own Dispensation [Sinai], to that of Jesus [Seir], to that of Muhammad [Mount Paran] and to Baha’u’llah with His myriads of holy ones, i.e. the martyrs, the saints and the teachers of His Faith. Moses, when pronouncing these words, used the past tense even for events still to come after Him. Probably in the worlds beyond, of the two coordinates space and time, the latter is not real. But that is another issue the modern scientists debate.

“All the Buddhas teach the same truth. … All the Buddhas are one in essence. …”

There are also prophecies about the time of the “return” of the Manifestation of God both in Hindu and Buddhist books and traditions. They are quite complex and long to explain in details. Those interested can refer to the existing publications. Here it is worth to mention one more specific about the time of the coming of Metteya (or Maitreya) Buddha:

“Sariputta asked the Buddha: ‘The Hero that shall follow you as Buddha of what sort is he? I want to hear of him in full. Let the Visioned One describe him.’
Gautama Buddha replied: ‘I will tell you, Sariputta, listen to my speech. In this auspicious aeon three leaders have there been: Kakasandha, Konagamana and the leader Kassapa too. I am now the perfect Buddha; and there will be Metteya too before this auspicious aeon runs to the end of its years. The perfect Buddha, Metteya by name, supreme of men.’
Sariputta: ‘How will it occur?’
Buddha: ‘After my passing there must first occur the five disappearances.’
Sariputta: ‘What five?’
Siddharta: ‘The disappearance of Attainment (in the Religion), the disappearance of proper Conduct, the disappearance of Learning, the disappearance of the outward Form, the disappearance of the Relics. There will be these five disappearances.’ …..
Then, when the Dispensation of the Perfect Buddha is 5000 years old, the relics, not receiving reverence and honour, will go to places where they can receive them.’…

Gautama Buddha described the degraded state of the world at the time of the coming of Metteya:
“Thus, brethren, from goods not being bestowed on the destitute, poverty grew great … stealing … violence … murder … lying … evil speaking .. adultery … abusive and idle talk … covetousness and ill-will … false opinions … incest, wanton greed and perverted lust … till finally lack of filial and religious piety and lack of regard for the head of the clan grew great. From these things growing, the life-span of those beings and the comeliness of them wasted …
Among such humans, the ten moral courses of conduct will disappear, the ten immoral courses of action will flourish excessively; there will be no word for moral among such humans – far less any moral agent. Among such humans, brethren, they who lack filial and religious piety, and show no respect for the head of the clan – it is they to whom homage and praise will be given, just as today praise and homage are given to the filial-minded, to the pious and to them who respect the heads of their clans …
The world will fall into promiscuity, like goats and sheep, fowls and swine, dogs and jackals. Among such humans, brethren, keen mutual enmity will become the rule, keen ill-will, keen animosity, passionate thoughts even of killing, in a mother towards her child, in a child towards its mother, in a father towards his child and a child towards its father, in brother to brother, in brother to sister, in sister to brother…”

“There is no disappearing of the true Dhamma until a counterfeit dhamma arises in the world. Once a counterfeit dhamma arises, then there is a disappearing of the true Dhamma. It is when foolish persons arise here that they make this true Dhamma to disappear.”

In the baha’i writings it is stated that the true Dhamma has been replaced by a desire for material things:

“Today, all the people of the world are indulging in self-interest and exert the utmost effort and endeavour to promote their own material interests. They are worshipping themselves and not the divine reality, nor the world of mankind. They seek diligently their own benefit and not the common weal. This is because they are captives of the world of nature and unaware of the divine teachings, of the bounty of the Kingdom and of the Sun of Truth.”

“The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive it? Is it within human power, O Hakim, to effect on the constituent elements of any of the minute and indivisible particles of matter so complete a transformation as to transmute it into purest gold? Perplexing and difficult as this may appear, the still greater task of converting satanic strength into heavenly power is one that We have been empowered to accomplish. The Force capable of such a transformation transcendeth the potency of the Elixir itself. The Word of God, alone, can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required for so great and far-reaching a change.”

~ The God of Buddha by Jamshed K. Fozdar
Buddha Maitreya-Amitabha has appeared by Jamshed K. Fozdar
Buddhism and the Baha'i Faith by Moojan Momen
The Gospel of Buddha by Paul Carus
Bhagavad-Gita as it is by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Holy Bible, New International Version
Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, ch. 68
Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, XCIX