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.
Sooner or later, the reality of their interdependence will dawn upon the nations and their leaders. This realization will bring about an entirely new attitude to the problems with which, today, they wrestle, and will lead to easier, and wiser, solutions of these difficulties. A gradual change in outlook will replace the present fierce competition and confrontation with mutual understanding and co-operation. That not all nations will proceed in this direction at the same pace, must be said, but the effectiveness and obvious sanity of the method will encourage even the least sanguine, eventually, to see the benefits for all. Each step forward will cement this process and hasten the movement towards co-operation. In this way, a healthier relationship will evolve between the nations, leading in time to a true sense of brotherhood.
Many smaller nations recognize, already, the reality of interdependence but lacking power their voices go unheard. Large and powerful nations scorn such notions, their pride in self-sufficiency blinding them to the truth of their relationship with the world.
Man evolves but slowly and needs time and experiment to make significant advance, but precisely in this way do these achievements become stable and permanent.
The United Nations is, of course, the forum in which the voice of the smaller nations can be raised and heard. This is only possible when the Security Council, with its arbitrary veto, is abolished. It has outlasted its usefulness and must soon give way to a United Nations Assembly free of the abuses of power and veto.
Then will we see the nations acting without restraints imposed by Great Power veto and financial inducement. Those who call loudest for democracy in foreign lands are strangely blind to its absence in the halls of the United Nations.
Men must come to realize that the people of all the nations are one and equal, dependent each upon the other. No one nation owns, nor can rule, the world. No one nation can stand alone against the rest. The days of empire and dominion are past. Man is on the threshold of a new understanding of his role on planet Earth. This involves a change in his relationship to his fellow travellers on the path to wisdom and true stewardship of the planet’s bounty.
We, your Elder Brothers, will help men to make this change. Maitreya will set before men the alternative to action and the transformation of the world. He will show that without a change of direction the future would be difficult and bleak indeed. He will also inspire men to realize their interdependence, the reality of their Brotherhood.
(Share International, October 2005)
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.
In His very first Message to the public via Benjamin Creme, on 6 September 1977, Maitreya, the World Teacher, pointed to major problems facing the world and explained: “I come to change all that; to show you the way forward — into a simpler, saner, happier life — together. No longer man against man, nation against nation, but together, as brothers, shall we go forth into the New Country.”
Now, more than ever, we need to take these words to heart and allow ourselves to be reminded that brotherhood and sanity are not optional but essential in a world that cannot afford division, enmity and war. Yet here we are — in the midst of a devastating war near the end of the first quarter of the century.
The year 2025, and our present time, is significant to readers familiar with the Ageless Wisdom Teaching, the work of the Masters of Wisdom, and Benjamin Creme’s close working relationship with his Master. Share International magazine exists to make known the fact of Maitreya’s presence, the fact of the existence of a divine Plan for this planet and the work of the custodians of that Plan — the Masters of Wisdom. We have outlined the process of Maitreya’s emergence and explained the difficulties involved in that process — difficulties created by humanity’s general lack of insight, its inability to rise above materialism, its habits of fear, greed and separativeness.
Given these factors, in addition to the effects of the Forces of Materiality, no specific date could be given for when Maitreya could present Himself to the world. However, the Master Djwhal Khul, writing through Alice A. Bailey, indicated that the year 2025 is a significant date in the process of Maitreya’s Emergence. It is also the end of the first quarter of the century, a time when from ancient tradition the Masters of the Spiritual Hierarchy hold a special meeting to assess the past, and to adjust and plan for the next phase of Their work and the plan for our planet.
It is possibly no coincidence that a war has broken out just when conditions were looking favourable for Maitreya to come forward. The Forces of Chaos are engaged in a last-ditch attempt to derail the emergence into fully acknowledged public life of Maitreya and the Masters. Above all, they are determined to distract, to weaken through fear and division, and to keep humanity in a state of blind chaos. The horror we see relayed in our media, both mainstream and alternative, both fact and disinformation — all of this plays into the hands of those forces working to hold back the inevitable — the ‘return’ of the Christ. This momentous event signals the establishment of a new spiritual dispensation in which we all know ourselves to be part of One Great Life — all needed, all interconnected, all with purpose and meaning, all proceeding in line with the Plan of the One Consciousness “in whom we live and move and have our being”. …
The following are answers by Benjamin Creme, previously published in Share International magazine, to some questions which are relevant to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
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’.
In May 2008, I went to Venice, Italy, for a few days. On the first night there, I visited St Mark’s Square. It was about 9 o’clock. As I approached the square, a gentleman sitting on a bench caught my eye. He wore a dark-coloured baseball cap, had blue eyes, was about 5 foot 7 inches tall and in his late fifties. He was speaking on a mobile phone in what I think was Italian as I heard him say "pronto" clearly.
After standing in front of the basilica for a short time, I sat on a bench near him. I closed my eyes in silent contemplation. I could feel his gaze on me and, after a few moments, I opened my eyes and turned to look at him. He appeared to be looking at me, but just above my head. I was very comfortable in his presence and felt a silent communication between us, as though he had an understanding of me.
After a few moments, I smiled at him, turned back, and closed my eyes, still aware of his presence. After sitting a while longer, I got up and began to walk back towards my hotel. He acknowledged me saying, "Adieu". I smiled and gently bowed my head towards him before walking away.
It puzzled me that he had said goodbye in French when I had heard him speaking Italian earlier and I had not indicated my nationality, which is English. Unknown to me at the time, I was to visit Paris, France for a few days the following month. A friend has since told me that ‘a-dieu’ can be interpreted as "to God".
I was very reassured by this experience. Was this one of the Masters, please?
I am a member of a Vienna-based Transmission Meditation group. We also give regular information sessions about Maitreya. On 18 June 2008, we had planned such a session — as always open to the public. While four of our members were involved in making final preparations, a lady who was advanced in years entered the room about an hour before the lecture was due to start. When she reached the information desk — which was covered in your books about Maitreya — she declared that she was well-informed about all these topics. The lady and some group members had a brief conversation.
On closer examination afterwards, all of us felt that she had given remarkable and personal hints while talking with us. She also showed interest in your books, selected one and asked us to have a closer look. Then she looked around to find a suitable place to sit and said with considerable emphasis: "I need more light!" When we offered to turn up the lighting, she started to smile, then refused. After staying with us for a while, she said goodbye and, before leaving the room, she turned round at the door and said: "I shall return."
She did not come to the information session but, at the end of that session a remarkable-looking young man entered the room. He was unusually friendly and showed a keen interest in Transmission Meditation. He also left us permanently impressed.
Can you tell us more about these two occurrences?
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.
USA – A self-proclaimed ‘UFO hunter’ in Mineral Bluff, Georgia, employs a unique method whereby he aims a time-lapse programmed camera at the sun for a lengthy period, then downloads and inspects the images one frame at a time. On 28 August 2021, the camera captured a disc-shaped object with multiple lights or windows that “moved away from the sun extremely fast”. (Source: mufon.com)
What, only the day before, had looked like an unrealistic and crazy hypothesis materialized on 24 February 2022. Russia, the second largest military power in the world but possessing the largest nuclear arsenal, launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine some of whose neighbours are NATO countries. Immediately, world tension reached a level that had not been observed since the end of the Cold War, and we were all instantly reminded of the risk of a devastating global nuclear conflict. As Pope Francis put it, “we had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past.”
Although the expansion of the conflict on a global scale has so far been avoided, Russia’s actions have already caused untold sufferings to the Ukrainian people. Several thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers have been killed by the Russian army, and even more have been wounded. More than four million people have become refugees — which means that Europe is now experiencing its largest refugee crisis since World War II — while more than six million have been internally displaced. The psychological trauma suffered by survivors is likely to have consequences for decades, especially for children and soldiers. The massive destruction of civilian buildings and infrastructure will have long-term negative economic consequences, while at the same time being indicative of war crimes committed on a large scale. …
… our solidarity must obviously go first and foremost to Ukrainians, who should be supported by every possible means. The humanitarian aid offered by Western governments is a step in the right direction, though more could be done, for example through the cancellation of Ukraine’s external debt which amounts to about $130 billion. More importantly, the solidarity displayed by ordinary citizens, especially in Eastern Europe, is a very positive development. There are numerous and heart-warming stories of ordinary people who spontaneously gave a helping hand, by driving or housing refugees, by donating money, food or medical supplies, or by volunteering in organizations that provide the needed logistical support. This expression of solidarity and of human goodwill is a sign of hope in this difficult context, and marks another step by humanity towards unity and sharing. Let’s hope that this experience helps us to realize, especially in the West, that refugees from other conflicts — such as Afghanistan, Syria, or Yemen, among others — go through similar sufferings and deserve the same help and display of brotherhood.
Beyond the immediate material help, political action is another powerful means by which war can be stopped and peace restored. Ordinary citizens have an important role to play, and, by expressing their will, they can force governments to take the right steps towards peace. Demonstrations against the war in Ukraine have been held in numerous cities around the world, for example with more than 100,000 people marching in Berlin, Germany, on 27 February 2022. This is a sign of hope for the world, and an expression of growing people power. …
Ove D. Jakobsen is Professor in Ecological Economics at Business School Nord University in Bodø, Norway. He holds Master’s degrees in Marketing and Philosophy and a Doctorate in Economics. He has published 17 books, including Anarchism and Ecological Economics — A political platform for ecological economics; Integral Ecology and Sustainable Business; Transformative Ecological Economics — Process Philosophy, Ideology and Utopia.
Professor Ove Jakobsen was interviewed by Anne Marie Kvernevik for Share International magazine about his book, Ecological Economics — A perspective from the Future.
The way we see the world, the paradigm we hold on to, will influence our attitudes, actions and the choices that we make on both a micro and macro level, and even on a global scale.
In his book Jakobsen presents the central world views which are important in our world today: the present dominating, mechanistic paradigm, and the organic paradigm, which is bringing change into the present world situation. …
Share International: What is ‘ecological economics’ and can you describe important principles?
Ove Jacobsen: Ecological economics includes many different positions and factors, not only economic; it is, among other disciplines, a combination of economic, ecological, philosophical, and natural sciences. The point is that the economics is presented in the context of both nature and of culture. That is the main difference between ecological economics and mainstream economics, which is more-or-less removed from nature and from the context of culture.
Over the last 10 to 15 years, I have asked 53 different contributors about a wide definition of ecological economics1. All of them say that we have to change our way of understanding the world we live in. We are integrated in the ecosystems, we are based in a cultural tradition, we have to integrate these factors into our economy and we also have to change the idea of rationality defined as the behaviour of ‘economic man’. By that definition, the rational economic actor is someone who maximizes his own profits. Instead we are ecological human beings which means we have to be responsible for all humans and also for nature as a whole.
There are two key principles in ecological economics. First, we need natural growth instead of constant physical growth which is not possible on a finite planet. We cannot use more than what is possible within the limits of the ecosystems. Second, we must share the resources in a fair way. Most of the rich world has to reduce its consumption of resources and increase its focus on quality-of-life dimensions, while those who suffer economic hardship need more. So it is a question of ‘fair share’, we have to share the resources in a fair way. To acquire this we must have more focus on responsibility, fairness and qualitative dimensions. That said, these principles are not in conflict with the need also to focus on the production of physical resources: We need to produce goods to live well. But the problem today is that there is too little focus upon the more qualitative dimensions of life.
SI: What would you say is the goal of ecological economics?
OJ: The goal is to contribute to sustainable development, based on a high quality of life for human beings and all other living creatures in the whole ecosystem. It is also to ensure a fair share of resources, and to develop a living economy — an economy that has long term perspectives. …
Ove Jakobsen, Ecological Economics — A perspective from the Future. Flux Forlag AS, Oslo
For more information: www.ovejakobsen.com