The online edition of Share International magazine presents a selection of items from the printed edition. Each online edition includes a complete article by Benjamin Creme's Master. Most other articles reproduced here, covering a wide range of topics, are excerpts. The online edition usually also includes a selection of Questions and Answers, Readers' letters, and photographs of Signs of Maitreya's presence.
See the full table of contents of the printed edition at the foot of the page.
From the inception of Share International magazine, Benjamin Creme’s Master provided an article every month for nearly 35 years. These were intended to be published not only at the time they were written, but also whenever appropriate according to world circumstances.
When one looks deeply into the present situation in the world, two things stand out as particularly important: the danger of war and the acceleration of the Earth’s ecological imbalance. There are, of course, many other problems: the economic debacle which affects many countries, especially in the West; the huge increases in the price of food, especially the staple diet of many millions; the huge, and growing, disparity in living standards between the rich and the poor.
All of these problems are important and require early resolution. The two first named must command the attention of all sensible men and governments for they present the greatest threat to man’s well-being. Wars, large and small, should by now be unthinkable, but, sadly, this is not the case. Even a world which has known the folly and futility of war at its most terrible has still not relinquished, totally, that abomination. The governments are seduced into thinking that old ways will, after all, render up their coveted prize. The weapons of war, therefore, have become indispensable and a major trading asset. While the weapons are there they will be used. Small wars beget large wars as more countries become involved. Large nations fight by proxy through their allies and so prolong unimportant quarrels into war. This major danger must be abandoned by all nations. It threatens the very existence of men on Earth.
Apart from war, nothing so profoundly affects the future of all men as much as pollution. Some countries have recognised this fact and have taken some steps to limit pollution and global warming. Others, sometimes the chief polluters, deny the reality of global warming despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Daily, now, the climatic changes prove beyond doubt that the planet is sick and needs immediate and skilful care to re-establish equilibrium. Time is running out for men to halt the transformation which is being daily wrought on planet Earth. Every man, woman and child must play their part in the task. Time is, verily, running out. S.O.P. Save Our Planet!
(Share International, October 2012)
These articles are by a senior member of the Hierarchy of Masters of Wisdom. His name, well-known in esoteric circles, is not yet being revealed. Benjamin Creme, a principal spokesman about the emergence of Maitreya, was in constant telepathic contact with this Master who dictated his articles to him.
At every lecture he gave around the world, and virtually every day of his life, Benjamin Creme was asked numerous questions covering a vast range of topics. We draw on this large recorded resource and present here a selection of previously unpublished answers provided over the years by Mr Creme and his Master.
Share International has a reserve of unpublished letters which were confirmed by Benjamin Creme and his Master to be genuine encounters with Masters, or with a ‘spokesperson’.
Over the last few days [written in November 2010], I’ve been remembering, or been reminded of, an experience that happened a few years ago. I cannot remember the exact date, but it occurred whilst sitting on the stones of a beach one winter’s day, in a place called Torre, Sicily.
At that time, my acceptance of the existence of Hierarchy and of all existence being one, and of there being a divine Plan for the evolution of our species, was relatively new and fragile still. I had been involved in a long and seemingly futile struggle with the past — trying to free myself from it and failing to find a way — and it seemed as if I would never be free of the consequences of past actions, or achieve purpose or peace in the present, let alone understand what love was or what it meant.
As I was sitting there watching the sea and sky, I seemed to hear a kind and inspiring voice inside me saying that the past would no longer seem quite so real, and that its effects would gradually dissolve like the little pockets of black cloud in the otherwise serene sky above me. I seemed to be drawn into a kind of conscious trance, wide awake and attenuated, yet simultaneously fixated on what was happening within.
My attention was directed to the small black clouds above. As I gazed at one, it diminished, then disappeared before my eyes. I thought — blinking — that I’d imagined it. So I moved my gaze to another cloud and it, too, visibly melted, leaving nothing in its place but blue sky. Gradually, as I moved my gaze from cloud to cloud, each dark shape broke up then vanished, until the whole sky was stainless and clear.
After that experience, I felt reassured and any number of other feelings, including awe, gratitude, hope. And, as ‘predicted’ the past gradually ceased to haunt and depress me. Eventually, I found my right place in time.
In one way, I know that it doesn’t matter where the experience came from, but I write about it because I think that sharing such experiences, giving them voice, is necessary. And that receiving help and such comfort as I’ve described will become part of our common parlance and consciousness, recognized as being not out of this world, but part of the greater existence to which we all belong, yet some deny for fear of being scorned. I know the times are changing, helped in no small way by magazines like Share International.
We present here “signs of hope” and “signs of the time” which have not been confirmed by Benjamin Creme’s Master. We present them for your consideration only since we unable to verify their ‘miraculous’ nature.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty. In 2017, ICAN was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work. Beatrice Fihn, ICAN’s Executive Director, was interviewed for Share International by Ana Swierstra Bie.
Share International: The war in Ukraine has exposed the fallacy of the claim that nuclear weapons deter war. Instead they appear to function more like a carte blanche for the aggressor nation, prohibiting other countries and NATO from interfering for fear of escalating the situation.
Beatrice Fihn: Indeed, the assumption that we can rely on the concept of mutual deterrence is wrong. Nuclear deterrence is always done against a background of being prepared to threaten to murder civilians en masse in order to get what you want. Many who defend the current system claim that this mutual deterrence brings stability. I see it quite differently. President Putin’s threat accompanies the invasion of another country. That is blackmail! This shows how vulnerable we are. The US can’t help Ukraine because it has nuclear weapons. This situation shows that nukes are a disadvantage.
The deterrence theory is deeply irrational. It is about the idea that you would be prepared to commit global suicide. This is never justifiable nor rational. And the other side knows that. …
SI: Our times have thrown a most scary light on the prospects for humanity when immature, irresponsible, impulsive and power-hungry leaders get their finger on the nuclear button. But we should surely be equally concerned about how sane and responsible it is for any nation to keep such weapons, irrespective of the nature of their current leadership? And then there is of course also the reality of cyber-attacks and other technological advances.
BF: There are no good hands for nuclear weapons. We know that people don’t always take rational decisions. We also know that accidents can happen. Now, the world is hoping that Putin will do the right thing and won’t use nuclear weapons. This is the security strategy of many countries, such as the US. But this is very fragile. We are living on wishful thinking that it won’t happen again.
SI: Technical, mechanical and human errors do happen. Should we put it down to massive luck that a major disaster has not yet occurred in connection with the huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world?
BF: Yes, we’ve been very lucky. There have been many near-misses, accidents. A lot of scientists have said that kids born today have higher likelihood to experience nuclear war than not. That is terrifying! We’ve also recently seen that India accidentally launched a missile on Pakistan. If that had happened between a US base and Russia, we could have stumbled into nuclear war with catastrophic consequences. If we continue down this path, we are on a very dangerous journey. People do act irrationally, unpredictably. We can’t guarantee that it won’t happen, so we have to eliminate them instead. …
SI: What do you see as the immediate next step needed on the path towards a planet free from the scourge of nuclear weapons?
BF: A lot of people are recognizing now how vulnerable we are because of nuclear weapons. They don’t feel safe to put their family’s future into the hands of Putin or other leaders of countries with nuclear weapons. Historically, the most progress we’ve had in nuclear disarmament has come after crises. I think this is the moment where people should become active. We need to tell politicians that we have to stop being naive; we have to define a plan of how to get rid of nuclear weapons.
The powerful have always lost their power when the masses have stood up. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is such a revolution. The minority of nuclear weapons states can’t continue to dictate the terms. For too long, a few states have decided the fate of the other countries through their possession of nuclear weapons and their belief in nuclear deterrence. The rest of the world has been hostage to this situation. The TPNW is about this, about taking control of the future of our planet. Now we are changing the game. We are creating new laws and changing the system. To be safe, we need to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons.
For more information: www.icanw.org
Sri Satya Sai Baba, who passed away in 2011, left millions of devotees in a wide range of countries, and a very important legacy in many fields, including health and education, having established on His Ashram in Puttaparti, in India, colleges for both boys and girls, and an excellent hospital where patients were not turned away if they could not pay.
He taught that humanity is one, and set an example in His Ashram, where people of all castes ate together. This was a very practical way to challenge an important aspect of the Indian caste system, still deeply embedded in many social customs and in many areas of life in India. In His own words: “There is only one caste, the caste of humanity; there is only one God, and He is everywhere.”
In His inclusive approach He extolled the great truths found in all religions, and this was expressed even in the elementary school Primers that were part of the Education in Human Values which He developed. This programme was eventually adopted as an all-India programme for schools by the Indian government, and by now has spread to schools in many different countries. In each country, Sai Baba urged educators to identify the exemplary men and women who contributed in important ways to their culture and well-being in various fields, and urged that discussions about Human Values in relation to them should form part of a range of subjects in school (for example, not just in ‘religion’ or ‘social studies’ or ‘history’ but across them), so as to develop in young people an awareness of what values and virtues a human being can have, can admire and should try to develop.
The Education in Human Values Series, Primer II, for the upper elementary grades, includes Hindu, Zoroastrian, Hebrew, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Sikh and Islamic prayers. In the final paragraph of this Primer, Sai Baba says: “May we do away with our differences and shed all our bad qualities and, while becoming repositories of goodness, work for the unity of all nations.” …
There is no better time than now to develop and deepen our service to our fellow human beings. This is the path to the Divine, as Sai Baba taught through personal example and through inspirational teaching. His motto, well-known to many, is: “Love All, Serve All”. His service included healing hundreds of thousands of people from a wide range of illnesses, as many can attest. He often produced sweets for children, seemingly out of nowhere, to their delight and His, as well as Holy Ash (Vibhuti) that, under his specific instruction in particular cases, also had healing qualities; and even jewellery for devotees. A group of Swamis once admonished Him over this, but Baba told them: “I give what people want, so that they may want what I have to give.” And what He gave in abundance was unmistakeably, to all those who have experienced it, Divine Love.
Many people were transformed by these experiences. They inspired a deep faith and joy, and a determination to implement significant changes in their attitude to life, paying attention to Baba’s encouragement to “Start the day with Love, Live the day with Love, End the Day with Love.” …
Every day that passes brings new evidence that the world is immersed in troubled waters while our ability to solve our problems at the global level still lacks consistency. Bad news keeps coming from all sides. People are caught up in fear and suffering. They long for guidance and for a clear direction to get out of this turmoil. But, as Share International readers know, Maitreya warned long ago that we would be heading to the edge of the precipice but, He said, we would not fall into the abyss.
We are beginning to understand the inter-relatedness of our problems and to understand that we have to implement co-ordinated solutions in order to overcome the global crisis. …
… more and more people are realizing the unity of life, the interdependence of nations and the need for a global action plan that will address all the plagues and scourges that we, humanity, have created ourselves. The multiple crises have opened the eyes of many to the fact that only a co-ordinated and co-operative response will bring the necessary transformation, and that we all have our role to play. …
The Ukraine crisis is creating a shock of awareness. Many Ukrainian civilians, for example, hardly believe that the horrors they now witness are actually happening in this twenty-first century. But the heartfelt response of people from neighbouring countries like Poland and from all over the world is a demonstration of our real fundamental unity and of our loving nature. It is a demonstration that we inwardly know that we share the same life. It is also a tangible sign that humanity as a whole does not want war anymore.
The war in Ukraine has also evidenced the interdependence between nations. Many have discovered that Europe has been highly dependent upon Russia for its needs in oil and gas. And many more have discovered that nations in North Africa have relied on Ukraine for wheat and sunflower oil, for instance. Thus a better understanding of our fundamental interdependence is taking place in a way which is meaningful for the most people.
Each nation has something to bring to the international community. Sane and intelligent co-operation seems therefore more appropriate than a battlefield where nations are competing under the rule of the ‘free market’.
Everywhere, the difficulty of making ends meet is necessitating a re-evaluation of what makes a fairer society; sharing appears to be a relevant solution to an increasing number of people. Thus the results in the first round of the recent Presidential elections in France where the youth voted massively for the leftist candidate who promotes equity and social justice, together with a strong commitment to the environment. …
Listening to Maitreya
Momentum is building; the spiritual crisis that humanity is going through seems to be reaching a turning point.
At the same time, those of goodwill seem to be strengthening their will and ranks. It becomes more and more obvious that this multi-polar crisis can only be solved if we set up an ambitious plan that will tackle all the major components of this crisis simultaneously. It needs a combined set of plans in the political, diplomatic, economic, environmental, social, agricultural, cultural, scientific and educational spheres.
It means a joint effort of political parties, groups of the civil society, diplomats, international multilateral organizations and of ordinary people of goodwill, and a common banner to link them all in an inter-related network.
It is not unlikely that the present peak of the crisis will result in a stronger alignment of all the ‘Forces of Light’, as defined by the Masters of Wisdom, at all levels, individual, national and international. As far as humanity is concerned, this crisis could be a sign that humanity is more ready to listen to Maitreya’s advice than we might at first think.
June 2022
Full contents of the printed edition
- The Master —: S.O.P. — Save Our Planet!
- Jeffrey D. Sachs: Ending the war of attrition in Ukraine
- Ana Swierstra Bie: Ridding the world of the deadliest scourge
- Jason Francis: The Human Library — “Learning to unjudge someone”
- Dominique Abdelnour: Saint-Germain, his lives, activities and talents
- Signs of the time: Miracles will flood the world
- Patricia Pitchon: Inspiration and guidance from Sri Satya Sai Baba
- Anne Marie Kvernevik: Ecological Economics — a process of change towards sustainability, fairness, and freedom? Part II
- Luc Guillory: Turmoil and hope
- Scaling up ancient technology to cut atmospheric carbon
- Letters to the editor
- Benjamin Creme: Questions and answers
