The first mention of the Maitreya in a Theosophical context occurs in the 1883 work Esoteric Buddhism by Alfred Percy Sinnett (1840-1921), an early Theosophical writer [REF].
According to the Theosophical exposition, in the current stage of Planetary Evolution the position of Maitreya in Earth's Hierarchy is that of the so-called Boddhisatva, originally a Buddhist concept [REF].