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.
Since the inception of Share International magazine, Benjamin Creme’s Master has provided articles to be published not only at the time they were written, but also whenever appropriate according to world circumstances. Indeed, many of these articles seem more relevant now than when they were first published. The following article, written in 2005, has been chosen now to inspire hope, since it describes so vividly how “Maitreya will open the hearts of all who can respond, and, turning men from the fear and division of the past, ready them for the glory of the future.”
It is becoming ever clearer that the momentum of change is growing steadily throughout the world. Event follows so quickly on event that few can discern the logic of the sequence by which the new supplants the old. We, your Elder Brothers, recognize the inevitability of this process and watch it with satisfaction, knowing, as We do, that all is moving towards the more perfect expression of the Plan.
For men, however, this is a time of testing and trouble as they seek to understand and cope with the effects of their actions. The logic of happenings escapes them and makes them doubt the divinity in which they place their trust. Thus, for men, has it always been, as they struggle blindly to enforce their will or to escape the consequence of their endeavours.
As we move from age to age, such periods of tension and indecision are repeated again and again. Each new age brings into the world new and unfamiliar forces which gradually impose themselves on men and invoke response. Thus it is today, as men search dimly for the new direction which the new age energies demand of them. Some there are who sense the way and seek to educate their brothers in the required action. Many, though, are afraid of change and see only an impending chaos and breakdown if the ‘radicals’ have their way.
Into this divided world has come the Christ. His is the task to reconcile these disparate groups and to bring order out of the present confusion and tumult. That His is not an easy task should be apparent to all. That the gulf between the groups is vast and entrenched is equally clear. How, then, must He work to bridge the chasm between the old and fearful and the burgeoning new? How, too, can He counter the deep materialism which is the hallmark of the present time? How deal with the intolerance of the religious groups and help them to experience unity?
Presenting Himself as a man among men, Maitreya will make no claims, demand no allegiance. Simple and direct will be His approach, moderate and calm His manner. His clarity of mind will arrest attention. His wisdom will overcome men’s fears. His sincerity of utterance will melt men’s hearts and remove the burden of hate and greed. Thus will men experience a new appearance of divinity, one which includes them in its manifestation, and sees no distance or separation.
As the Embodiment and Agent of cosmic power and love, Maitreya will open the hearts of all who can respond, and, turning men from the fear and division of the past, ready them for the glory of the future.
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 BC and his Master.
The letters published here describe encounters and experiences some of which were confirmed by Benjamin Creme’s Master, while the more recent letters carry no such confirmation. It is the writers’ and the editors’ experience, based on familiarity with such occurrences, plus the writer’s own intuitive response, which gives them the confidence to judge these encounters to be significant and meaningful — both personally and generally. Some experiences seem specific to the individual concerned while others speak for themselves in providing hope and inspiration to all. We present them for your consideration.
Dear Editor
In 1982 Maitreya the Christ appeared at my home in his ‘spiritual body’ wearing a shining white robe; again, in 1987, I visited the White Eagle Lodge in Hampshire, [and] the Christ Jesus was also there in his ‘physical body’, wearing Western clothes.
In the late 1990s I bought Psychic News magazine where you had advertised about the World Teacher. It was the first time I had seen the advert; he is the same one who had appeared to me. I gave out a few leaflets about him, but this caused a lot of trouble for me locally. I also wrote to Tony Blair the Prime Minister about him, about housing, education and health, and social justice. The waiting game has caused me a lot of nervous trouble, and I hope the World Teacher will soon start his mission for a better world for all people. I wish him well and you also.
Dear Editor
This is the story of an encounter on 22 October 2016 at the Share International Exhibition in Munich.
After we had finished the exhibition, six group members sat together at a table for a concluding discussion. An African man joined us, asking what kind of event we had had. Someone told him that the exhibition was already over but that he was nevertheless welcome to sit with us. The man replied: “for me there is never an end.” We were startled, and one group member told him about the exhibition´s subject. The man went on to tell us that he was “…Prince Mukadi, I just arrived from Leipzig where I represented my foundation, St Bell Amani, in a German foundations conference. I also had the opportunity to speak to the Minister-President of the German state of Saxony there. I plan to visit Leipzig again, and also Dresden and Bautzen.” These were cities that members of our group had planned to hold lectures in.
Just then we were asked to leave the place because the hosts wanted to close for the night. The prince offered his help: “I would gladly handle this for you. Would you mind?” He went outside to talk to the host. A group member´s daughter, who went outside with them, came back and excitedly said that he told her he was a prince!
The man came back smiling and told us he had managed to negotiate five more minutes for our conversation. One group member then asked him if he would like to have some information material about Share International. “But I am still HERE,” the man said with a serious expression on his face. Some of us told him how nice it was that he had decided to sit down with us. It was a cheerful atmosphere.
He asked us whether we knew about the meaning of his foundation´s name, “Bell Amani” (it means ‘bell of peace’ and it turned out that there actually is a foundation of that name).
After that we finally left the venue. Outside the man turned to us and asked in a particular manner: “Are you 'AT PEACE' (which has a meaning similar to 'being satisfied' in German) with today?”
“You mean if we had wished for something different today?” one group member replied. “Well, actually, we always wish for more attendants at our events.” “That was not what I asked”, the man insisted. “Again: what was my question?” We looked at each other. “You forget very quickly,” the man said, “we might have to meditate together more often”.
A woman told him: “You asked us whether we were satisfied with today's work.” “Yes – that was my question. Are you AT PEACE with today?” He pointed to his heart. “Satisfaction comes from within. To be AT PEACE with something is an inner state. So, are you AT PEACE?”
“Well, obviously often one is not completely satisfied,” the colleague replied.
“This is not about 'one' — who is 'one'? This is about YOU and ME. We are connected right now,” the prince replied, pointing from her heart to his. This had a deep impact on us. The man continued to speak to us, giving the impression that he wanted to both teach and encourage us. What we had achieved as a group that day had been the collaboration of individuals, each with his or her own set of talents. That is what it was about, he told us. Everyone contributes, all those different characters.
“Many people demonstrate AGAINST something, war, for example. But what are they FOR? For peace. And peace starts from within,” again pointing to his heart, adding: “You can only give what you have. And if that is what you give, it's very precious. THIS IS YOUR TASK IN LIFE.”
We present here phenomena which, to the editors, are “signs of hope” and “signs of the time”. Fortunately, our current stock of phenomena confirmed as real and genuine by Benjamin Creme’s Master is fairly large. However, in future we will also present material which has not been confirmed. We undertake to be as thorough as possible in our investigation of each ‘miracle’ or ‘sign’ and will present them for your consideration only, since we cannot now make use of the confirmation and additional information which in the past was always provided by Benjamin Creme’s Master. Further details, when available, are given in the captions to the photographs.
USA — On the night of 21 December 2019, a witness in Rome, New York took video of a large, silent, triangular aerial object with lighted points and a glowing center that hovered at tree top level. “It was hovering over my backyard for about 10 minutes then it just vanished…” the witness reported. (Source: mufon.com)
Portugal — In early November 2019, a witness in Gondomar observed and took video of a fleet of dozens of glowing, pulsating aerial objects that moved simultaneously and changed direction. “It is the third time (the lights) appeared in the sky and (were) followed by a round orange light that looks like a fireball but makes no noise and moves at great speed,” the witness reported. (Source: mufon.com)
More than twelve years after the start of the global financial crisis, the public may be under the impression that the economy is back to normal and is even doing quite well: the United States has been growing uninterruptedly for more than ten years, thus experiencing their longest expansionary phase since at least 1854; the euro area, which was on the verge of exploding in 2012, seems to have recovered some degree of stability and cohesion; and China is successfully pursuing its own development path, having become a key part of the global economic system and its main growth engine.
However, if we take a long-term perspective and analyze the factors underpinning this apparent success, the picture looks radically different and there are many signs of fragility.
The lost growth
In the background of all recent economic development lies a deep and far-reaching structural shift: the downward trend of growth in advanced economies since the 1970s.
Among all the economic indicators, growth is unquestionably the one that attracts most attention. It measures the increase in the volume of goods and services produced in the economy. In more technical terms, it is defined as the annual percentage change in gross domestic product (GDP). The mainstream view is that an economy is healthy when it grows quickly, while it is sick when it has a low or even negative growth rate.
By that standard, there is indeed a malaise in advanced economies: while their growth was on average 5 per cent per year in the 1960s, it dropped to 3 per cent in the 1980s, 2.5 per cent in the 2000s, down to a meagre 1.5 per cent in the 2010s. In particular, the recovery after the 2007-2008 global financial crisis and the recession that ensued has been surprisingly weak by historical standards.
There is no consensus among economists about the cause of this continuous slowdown of growth. One explanation, put forward by US economist Robert Gordon, is that the most welfare-improving discoveries have already been made (railroad, electricity, petrol engine, airplanes, telephone, vaccines and antibiotics) and that the innovations of the recent decades are much less far-reaching in comparison. Another possible explanation is that many recent innovations do not fit well into the private market economy: think of Wikipedia, the free software movement, and more generally the whole knowledge economy, whose immaterial productions can be consumed in a non-exclusive way.
In any case, the conventional view is that economic growth is a desirable thing, because it leads to higher living standards for the population. There is of course some truth in this assertion, especially when applied to the poorest countries where basic material needs are not met for a large share of the population: some economic growth is sorely needed there. Nevertheless, growth should not be pursued at all costs, nor should it be mistaken for a well-being indicator. On one hand, various socially or ecologically destructive activities contribute to GDP growth (weapons manufacturing, advertising, deforestation, short-lived goods); on the other hand many creative and useful activities, because they take place outside the monetary sphere, are not included in GDP.
Beyond a certain level of development, growth can even become harmful. It is pretty obvious that continuing with our obsession for growth is ecologically unsustainable; we have already reached the point where our material demands exceed the resources of the planet, and thus far economic growth has always led to an increase of those demands. From that perspective, the gradual waning of growth that we are witnessing in advanced economies is positive news. The degrowth of some sectors (extractive industries, intensive farming, transportation) will even be necessary if the ecological balance of the planet is to be restored.
We present a selection of quotations on the theme of ‘Education’. The quotations are taken from Maitreya (Messages from Maitreya the Christ and Maitreya’s Teachings – The Laws of Life), Benjamin Creme’s Master (A Master Speaks, Volumes One and Two), and Benjamin Creme’s writings. (See also the compilation ‘The new education’, Share International July/August 2008.)
Schools and colleges will lose their institutional aspects and integrate more and more with the society in which the child is found. A closer relationship, therefore, between school and work will become the norm, and open the way for “schools without walls”. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, Maitreya’s Mission Volume Two)
The young everywhere need and are demanding their freedom and the right to be treated not as subservient imbibers of predigested knowledge but as adventurers seeking the answers to their questions and the fulfilment of their dreams. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, Maitreya’s Mission Volume Two)
It is increasingly apparent that existing systems and institutions are incapable of responding to the challenges of the time and the demands of the people. Creative ways of thinking free from ideology are needed, allowing for a revolution of ideas to take place and new ways of living to emerge, based on altogether different values from those that are currently so pervasive; values that cultivate co-operation, tolerance and understanding in place of competition, prejudice and ignorance, and allow for a sense of unity and social responsibility to flower naturally.
At the heart of the required changes — which need to be both gradual and radical — must be education. Like all our current structures, education throughout the world is in crisis; while some flourish under the present approach, most do not. Competition, coupled with reward and punishment, and conformity characterize much of institutionalized education; the pressure on children and young people to conform to a stereotype and pass examinations is intense, triggering a global mental health epidemic among under-25-year-olds, leading in some cases to suicide.
There are of course good schools with wonderful teachers everywhere, but they are handicapped by ideologically driven policies issued by nationalistic government departments that are obsessed with economic growth and have little understanding of the needs of the child. New methodologies are required that foster a sense of freedom in the child/young person, encourage group responsibility and allow true individuality and creative independent thinking (thinking freed from sociological and psychological conditioning). This is essential if the children of today are to find within themselves the resources needed to save our planet and reshape society along more just lines.
Education and purpose
Central to the urgent reforms in education needs to be an expanded definition of purpose/s; a defined series of interrelated aims underpinning all aspects of education, a deeper understanding of the nature, or constitution, of the human being and the psychological impact of certain teaching and indeed parenting methodologies. It seems logical that whatever primary purpose the ‘new’ education might have it should be consistent with an agreed purpose of life. There may be various contradictory views on such a fundamental question; however, it should be possible to make certain general statements that will allow for broad interpretations and open-minded investigation to take place.
To put it baldly, there are two longstanding, opposing attitudes to educating the child: one largely sees the child as a ‘blank page’ or ‘empty vessel’ to be gradually inscribed with the knowledge and skills to fit them for the society they will grow into. This is thought to be an old, Victorian idea but it still underpins some of the approaches to education today.
Opposing this is the view that the child brings, from the beginning, an innate quality that may gradually develop to become the person they already are in potential. Of course, in classroom practice these two views may overlap as ‘developing knowledge and skills’ and ‘developing potential’, and teachers may well argue that a mixed approach is necessary. Nevertheless these two approaches reflect two fundamentally different views of the person — the materialist and the spiritual. For the ‘development’ proponent, the child is something more than the physical, and neither the brain, nor genetics, nor the environment add up to the whole.
“We are all souls in incarnation”
As Benjamin Creme put it: “We are all souls in incarnation”, and as Graham Peebles stresses in this issue, all part of one, divine whole. Knowing about reincarnation, that we are a soul in incarnation, that this life is one of many, just one opportunity to advance a little further along the path to complete spirituality, could make a great difference to our approach to education. For one thing, the idea that we are all souls affects how we approach other people, and it gives teachers another way of judging — or preferably, not judging — their pupils: a fundamental respect for what they are, rather than simply what they can do, their knowledge and skills. Many teachers, whatever their beliefs, have this fundamental respect for their pupils but some do not. And sometimes, even if they do, in practice it is not always easy to maintain.
The idea of ‘education as development’ is given a rather different gloss in the light of the frequently-quoted statement by the Master Djwhal Khul (through Alice Bailey) in Education in the New Age: “All activity which drives the human being forward towards some form of development – physical, emotional, mental, intuitional, social – if it is advance of his present state is essentially spiritual in nature and is indicative of the livingness of the inner divine entity.”
For many years now, all over the world protests have been increasing, people demanding better living conditions and an end to corruption in steadfast demonstrations and strikes that last many months.
France: Started in late 2018, the yellow vests movement (“mouvement des gilets jaunes”) was beginning to falter after more than a year of weekly demonstrations. At the end of 2019, it was followed by more traditional union protests against the government’s pension reform. The movement started with a large demonstration gathering 1.5 million people all over France on 5 December. Many sectors went on lengthy strikes — transport, education, garbage collectors, hospitals — to protest against the new pension reform.
Lebanon: The protest movement entered its fourth month. Protesters denounce a serious economic crisis and a political class accused of corruption and incompetence. The demonstrators demand a government by independent people, rejecting the current practice of giving positions in government according to religion.
Iraq: Since October 2019, many demonstrations have taken place in Iraq calling for an overhaul of the corrupt elite. Demonstrators protested in their thousands in spite of being targeted by snipers. In January 2020, 200,000 people took part in a march in Baghdad, demanding the US withdraw troops from Iraq.
Iran: In November 2019, a major protest took place following an increase in the price of petrol. Despite the brutal repression, many Iranians took to the streets again following the missile downing of a Ukrainian Boeing plane, that killed 176 passengers on 8 January. The demonstrators blamed the government for its lies and its refusal to acknowledge its responsibility for the crash.
India: The protests that have erupted in recent months in India are of such magnitude that they have been compared to the “movement for national independence” of the early twentieth century. Overlooked by the independence movement, the oppressed Hindu castes came to the aid of other religious minorities.
The protests now concern two recent legal measures, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which grant nationality on the basis of religion. In the state of Assam in northeast India, 2 million people (out of a total of 33 million) have been unable to prove their nationality, thus making them vulnerable to statelessness.
On 8 January 2020, millions took to the streets in a general strike against the anti-social government policies, shutting down transportation and industry across the country. It is estimated that 250 million people participated in the strike, making the action the largest of its kind in Indian history.
(Source: Le Monde, France; CommonDreams.org)
March 2020
Full contents of the printed edition
- The Master —, through Benjamin Creme: Maitreya’s task
- Maitreya’s Message No. 120, 26 February 1981
- Point of view: UN report: Rising inequality affects more than 70 per cent of the globe
- Graham Peebles: Education: expanding purpose
- Phyllis Creme: Opposing views of education
- Compilation: Education - A new dimension (Part 1)
- Signs of the time: Light phenomena worldwide
- David Korten: The time for postponing climate action is over
- Sébastien Villemot: The ‘Japanification’ of the world economy and the crisis to come
- S.O.P. — Save Our Planet: Ocean temperatures hit record high
- Voice of the people (an overview of recent developments)
