Cultural Trades between the Kushan Dynasty and the Chinese Western Regions

Most of the Gandharan monks were performers of yoga (yogacara). Following their belief, yogacaras could hold a close communion with the Maitreya Budhisattva in the Tusita Heaven, if they mastered the secret of yoga exercise. Such an affinity between Gandharan yogacaras and Maitreya, would suggest to us some idea of Maitreya's origin ; when the Kushans invaded southwards in the first century A.D., the Buddhists of Gandhara would have done their best to persuade the Kushan conquerors to convert to Buddhism. In Central Asia the Kushans held their own religion akin to Zoroastrianism. The dialogue between them might result in such a syncretism as Messiah Maitreya of Buddhism. Buddhism has survived, though having lost its purity, and has been able to spread its influence from Gandhara towards the Western Regions and China.