Jose Antonio Cangco was born in the Philippine Islands. He was brought up as a Catholic and studied high school and college under the Jesuits at the Ateneo de Manila University. He is a management graduate and later completed a degree in accountancy. He worked at the National Housing Authority, a government agency, for ten years, then worked in the United Arab Emirates for another five years. He self-published a book of poetry, and managed his own business until December 2006. He is the head and founder of The Superior of Maitreya Ministry, Inc. a SEC registered (CN 200510432) non-stock, non-profit religious organization. To date, he gives lectures and seminars.

"I am not the first Buddha who came upon Earth, nor shall I be the last. I came to teach the truth, and I have founded on earth the kingdom of truth. The truth will be propagated and the kingdom of truth will prosper for about 500 years. Then for a while the clouds of error will darken the light, but in due time another Buddha will arise, and he will reveal to you the self same eternal truth which I have taught you. The Buddha who will come after me will be known as Maitreya, which means 'he whose name is kindness'."

- Siddharta Gautama, The Buddha

It is written in several texts that Maitreya is a Boddhisattva and sometimes as Maitreya Buddha. A Boddhisattva is a different lineage from a Buddha but the state when both a Boddhisattva or a Buddha is no longer reborn is known as Buddhahood. Jesus Christ was a Boddhisattva who had reached the stage of Buddhahood while Siddharta Gautama is, you guessed it, a Buddha.

In his previous reincarnation, a Boddhisattva was known as a Mahasattva Bodhisattva. A Buddha was called a Pratyeka Buddha. In this context, before Christ became a Boddhisattva, he was also a Mahasattva Boddhisattva. One of the best known of Buddha's disciples was Sariputra, a Pratyeka Buddha.

Maitreya is not the reincarnation of Siddharta Gautama, Jesus Christ, Abraham, or Moses. When Buddha died, he was not to be reborn anymore and Maitreya is not his reincarnation. Maitreya is a distinct and separate entity. Therefore anybody who claims that he is a reincarnation of the Buddha or, in the future, that he is a reincarnation of Maitreya, does not understand what is meant by Buddhahood.