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• Signs of the time
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Master's article

The ultimate triumph

by the Master —, through Benjamin Creme

When a nation comes to adulthood, to maturity, it relates to other nations in a completely different way than hitherto. It begins to respect the Rule of Law, which binds all nations together in mutual responsibility and need. The sign of a growing maturity is precisely this respect for the laws which men have found necessary to living together in peace. From time to time, a nation may feel powerful enough to ignore the law which irks its ambition to dominate, and to make war despite the warnings of restraint from its friends. Thus it is today that the United States, now, alone, a ‘superpower’, vexes and worries the people of more mature nations who have grown to see the folly of unilateral action outside the Rule of Law. The young and over-confident ‘superpower’, flexing its muscles, will overreach itself, and the sooner this happens the safer for the world. Already a steadily growing chaos exacts due cost in loss of life, both American and Iraqi. The seal of Pandora’s Box has been broken and from it has stepped a monster, out of control. To be sure, the US administration wear as brave a face as they can muster, but behind the scenes, they are worried indeed, and seek desperately a less than ignominious method of withdrawal. Meanwhile, the defeated Iraqi army fights a guerrilla war with some success, while religious groups, seizing their opportunity, increase the tension with calls for civil war. Thus, the paramount adventure of the American President, designed to demonstrate the invincibility of the United States, has little to show for its efforts and very much still to lose.

Folly
When, at last, the US Government sees for itself the folly of this reckless and unnecessary war, it will not, of course, admit this to the world. Rather, it will seek to gain the support of the United Nations to extricate itself from this embarrassing blunder, and, if possible, to lay the blame elsewhere.

Suffers
When, among nations, the Rule of Law is ignored, the whole world suffers. Thus, today, the tension which has accompanied this futile demonstration of military strength affects millions, innocent of all terrorist action or mayhem. The world is struggling now with epidemics of all kinds as the human immune system breaks down under the stress. Did the warmongers but realize the karmic effects of their ill-considered actions, they might well make amends and take sightings for another course. Maitreya, meanwhile, watches carefully this inharmonious situation, ready to intervene if necessary, ready to emerge when possible. Remember that Maitreya is in no doubt about the ultimate triumph of those who stand behind Him, who value peace and justice, freedom and love. He knows that these are the mainsprings of human existence and comes to see them enthroned in all.
(Read more articles by the Master)

Questions & Answers

Q. (1) Did the US Administration really ask the British Government to collect information by eavesdropping on other United Nations representatives and even the Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in the run up to the Iraq war? (2) Did the British intelligence actually do it? (3) Why would the Americans ask the British? Surely they would be able to do it for themselves?

A. (1) Yes. (2) Yes. (3) I have no doubt that they could, and probably did, in any case. But to get the involvement of the British, who were perhaps closer to the UN than the Americans felt themselves to be, allowed the blame, if it were discovered (which it has been), to land squarely on British shoulders.

Q. It appears that the US administration is covertly trying to oust democratically elected presidents in Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti, and the international free press appears to be ignoring what is going on. In addition, it seems that a US group called the National Endowment for Democracy and right wing oil interests in Venezuela are supporting NGOs there, calling for recall of President Chavez. In Haiti the Associated Press is taking sides with the opposition to the President, where a million strong showed up in support of Aristide but there are no reports in the newspapers. (1) Are these attempts orchestrated by the CIA and/or private American corporate interests? (2) Was the US administration directly or indirectly involved in the Haiti coup? (3) Are they also trying to oust Chavez in Venezuela?

A. (1) By both the CIA and American corporate interests. (2) Yes, directly. The CIA placed Aristide in power. They also undermined him and eventually removed him when he went his own way. (3) Yes.

Q. There will be worldwide peace marches and demonstrations on 20 March 2004, the anniversary of the day the war in Iraq began, to protest about “A year of lies: 20.3.03 to 20.3.04”. Now that the war is over, do you think there is any point in doing this?

A. Yes, very much so. The more the people of the world show their governments that they cannot make illegal wars in the name of their reluctant people, the sooner we will come to an end of this inglorious phase. Governments have to understand that their function is to serve the needs of their people, not to make war against other governments.

Q. Stories have emerged of British soldiers during the recent war in Iraq being lamentably undersupplied with clothes and equipment. Some were sent into war with a ration of only five bullets because there were no more to go round and with mobile phones which were unworkable in the conditions, instead of reliable radio walkie-talkies. Could these reports really be true?

A. Amazingly, yes. The British soldiers even got the nickname ‘the borrowers’ from the US soldiers. Such was the lack of equipment, even armoured jackets, that many solders looked fatalistically on their chances of survival.

Q. I am happy about having found your website and to learn about Maitreya and his teachings. It has allowed me to open my eyes and find a lot of answers to my questions. But there is something that I don’t understand. Since I have read about Maitreya, I have become hyper-sensitive. Every time I see something sad or horrible on television, or even if I see an old woman walking down the streets or something beautiful, I start to cry. If somebody tells me his sorrows or pains I can feel it emotionally or even physically as if I am this person. I would like to know if I can do something about it, because I can’t control it and I am starting to feel ridiculous in the eyes of my friends and people in general. Since I have known about Maitreya, I have an inner conflict. I don’t know how to incorporate Maitreya’s teachings into my material life and into this material society. There is no day that ends without me thinking about the world’s problems. It makes me apathetic and I feel guilty and useless. I know that you are not a psychologist, but if you could give me some advice, it would certainly help me.

A. This reaction is a brilliant expression of how a sensitive response, even to the ideas, the thoughts and the inner meaning of Maitreya’s words, opens the heart. That is what has happened in this case. The writer is responding (correctly) with what Maitreya calls “honesty of mind and sincerity of spirit” inherent in all of us, but unfortunately seldom so well displayed. It is an expression of the underlying oneness and unity of humanity. Maitreya, however, also advocates the development of detachment, I suppose what Buddhists call dispassion, the lack of which gives this individual such a difficult time. He/she can learn to experience vividly all the pain and suffering in the world but when the decision is made to do something about it, to get involved in its cure, the first step in detachment can be taken. As doctors and nurses learn to deal with the most harrowing experiences without getting emotionally involved, their detachment allows them to carry out their necessary work. That is why Maitreya rates detachment so highly in the qualities to be acquired. Maitreya Himself is omnipresent, experiences moment to moment the pain and suffering, the terrible, ongoing agony of millions throughout the world, yet is detached and filled with joy; otherwise He could not help them or carry out His mission. Involvement in service is the ideal way to gain detachment. The writer might consider joining a Transmission Meditation group as a first step in that direction. If I may say so, I find this letter a beautiful and eminently correct response to the thoughts and ideas of Maitreya, the Lord of Love.
(More questions and answers)

Letters to the editor:

Over a number of years, some of the Masters, in particular Maitreya and the Master Jesus, have appeared, in different guises, to large numbers of people around the world. They also appear at Benjamin Creme's lectures and meditations, giving people in the audience the opportunity to intuitively recognise Them. Some people recount their experiences to Share International magazine. If the encounters are authenticated by Benjamin Creme's Master, the letters are published. These experiences are given to inspire, to guide or teach, often to heal and uplift. Very often, too, the Masters draw attention to, or comment on, in an amusing way, some fixed intolerance (for example against smoking or drinking). Many times They act as saving 'angels' in accidents, during wartime, earthquakes and other disasters. The following letters, previously published in Share International magazine, are examples of this means of communication by the Masters.

Lone ranger

Dear Editor, Ever since we met, my wife has spoken to me and others about an experience she had as a teenager, with friends on a horseback camping trip through the Sangre De Cristo Mountains of Colorado. As they crossed a very high and narrow trail on the range, her saddle came loose and she hung, almost upside down, looking down a gorge 1,000 feet below. Suddenly, a man on horseback appeared, dismounted, and uprighted her and fixed her saddle. She said he never spoke but had beautiful, twinkling blue eyes. Smiling, he bowed slightly, remounted his horse, followed them down into the valley and then went on his way. He had a beard and long brown hair. Can you identify who this rescuer was?
RB, Denver, Colarado, USA. (Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the ’man on horseback’ was the Master Jesus.)

Time for reflection

Dear Editor, At the beginning of Benjamin Creme’s lecture in Barcelona on 14 February 2004, after the overshadowing, I saw reflected on a mirror behind Benjamin Creme a couple that were leaving the hall. I only saw their backs. The woman was rather short, with short dark hair and a bit plump. The man, who I did not see so clearly, was taller and I think fair-haired. A thought crossed my mind: “How soon they are leaving the lecture!” Who were these two people?
IO, Huesca, Spain. (Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the man was Maitreya and the woman the Master Jesus.)

Power walking

Dear Editor, On 15 January 2004, in the evening, we were on our way home after giving a regular talk about the Emergence of Maitreya. At the nearby tube station, we passed the ticket barriers and headed towards the escalator. As we descended we saw a young man with casual clothes passing the ticket barriers in a hurry. He walked with crutches and seemed to have a broken lower left leg. It amazed us because he was walking with his crutches much faster than anyone else. When we were halfway down to the platform, we turned and saw that he was already at the top of the escalator. Then, our amazement grew. Instead of standing on one of the steps and letting the escalator bring him down, he was actively descending step by step with his crutches! We turned back, looked at each other and commented that this young man was quite reckless, as he was in real danger of falling down the escalator and breaking all his bones! On the platform we looked to see if he had managed to get down safely and saw him coming in our direction, so fast that he seemed to be running more than walking with his crutches. When he was in front of us, he suddenly stopped for a fraction of a second. Time seemed to stop. He slowly turned his head towards us and looked at us with such loving and laughing eyes of complicity, and with a smile that went from ear to ear. We smiled back at him. Then he continued his rush towards the other end of the platform and we lost sight of him in the crowd. His very strange behaviour and the look in his eyes made us wonder if he was just a normal young man. Was he someone special?
CF and HL, Barcelona, Spain. (Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the young man with crutches was Maitreya.)

Hands-on healing

Dear Editor, On 12 January 2004, I was at home, sleeping. Suddenly I suffered from an acute pain in my belly. I placed a photo of the hand of Maitreya on me and said: “Please, Maitreya, help alleviate the pain I am suffering,” explained what I was feeling and placed my hands on the photo. I went to sleep again. Around an hour later I started to feel little movements in my hands, that stopped after a while and then started again after some minutes. After several cycles, my hands seemed glued to my belly, as if they were absorbed by it. Then they started to vibrate with an extraordinary power, as if electricity was passing through my hands deep into my body, scanning the belly zone. I felt as if something was taken out of me which exited through my breathing. Could you tell me what happened and why? Was Maitreya involved?
Pilar Milara, Valencia, Spain. (Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms this experience to be a healing from the Master Jesus.)

All under control

Dear Editor, In 2002, some months after Maitreya’s handprint appeared in a bathroom in Barcelona, I was in my bookstore. My business partner spotted a man looking at some books, who she said was a well known Spanish dowsing expert, and encouraged me to show him a postcard of ‘Maitreya’s handprint’ to hear his opinion on it. I introduced myself, showed him the postcard without explaining the story behind it, and asked him if he would like to examine it with his pendulum. He agreed, got his pendulum and placed it just above the postcard. In no time, both the pendulum and his arm started to move vigorously backwards and forwards, in a sweeping movement. It seemed as if he had no control at all of his arm and the pendulum, which were moving as if they had a life of their own. He seemed to be feeling unwell, probably because of his vain efforts to stop his arm, and the unknown nature of the happening. Then suddenly, his arm and the pendulum stopped just in the middle of the postcard and started a new movement, this time from left to right and back again. The movement was as vigorous as before and the man seemed again to have no control of his arm movement. After a while the pendulum and his arm stopped. He seemed totally perplexed and commented that the postcard with the hand was indeed something very powerful and that he had never in his life experienced such a vigorous and uncontrolled movement of the pendulum and his arm, nor seen such a movement that resembled the outlining of a cross. I told him I was not surprised, as the ‘handprint’ was of the Christ, and explained to him some background information about Maitreya and his Emergence. He thanked me, still somewhat perplexed, and took the postcard and left. Did something special happen?
MD, Barcelona, Spain. (Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that Maitreya was responsible for the movement of the man’s arm and pendulum.)

SIGNS

Tears of stone

Doctors in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, are puzzled by a strange phenomenon: an eight-year-old girl who has been weeping “tears of stone” for a month. Scenes of the child weeping the miracle tears have been captured on video. So far medical science has not been able to provide an explanation, and doctors who have examined the girl thoroughly have pronounced her to be fit and healthy. Her father has so far counted eight stones which have fallen from her eyes. The ‘stones’, each the size of a grain of wheat, have been subjected to laboratory tests where they were discovered to be unlike normal stones, consisting instead of calcium, magnesium, carbon and uric acid. The tiny tear-grains have now been sent to a geological laboratory for further tests in an effort to explain the phenomenon.
(Source: Utrecht Nieuwsblad and De Telegraaf, the Netherlands) (Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the phenomenon is authentic. The stones are manifested by Maitreya.)

WORLD SCAN

“Showing up the lies!” Illegal surveillance compromises UN

On 15 February 2003, Maitreya was seen and filmed, in the guise of a Caribbean man, among the people at the Peace March in London (see Share International, April 2003). “I am proud today to hear brothers and sisters SPEAKING THE TRUTH and showing up the lies, THE LIES, that’s beautiful!” He said. Now, a year later, the lies are becoming more and more exposed.

Increasing numbers of people in public service and political life have come forward with complaints of illegal surveillance and the consequent compromising of the UN’s democratic process.

• Former UK minister Clare Short has reported seeing transcripts of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s conversations, and referred to the UK’s “spying on Kofi Annan’s office and getting reports from him about what was going on” in the run-up to the UN vote on the invasion of Iraq.

• Boutros Boutros Ghali, Mr Annan’s predecessor as UN Secretary-General, said that as soon as he took the post he was warned that his office, residence, car and phone were all bugged “without hesitation” by UN member states. He deplored the surveillances as “a violation of the United Nations charter…. It complicates the work of the Secretary-General, of the diplomats,” he said, “because they need a minimum of secrecy to reach a solution.”

• Dr Hans Blix has confirmed that he was aware of being routinely under surveillance during his visits to Iraq as UN Chief Weapons Inspector. Reports accredited to a member of the Australian intelligence service say that transcripts of Dr Blix’s mobile telephone calls in Iraq were shared between the US and Britain, and their allies Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Dr Blix assumed that his New York office was also bugged. Diplomatic circles are viewing the alleged bugging of Dr Blix — whose mission was considered the final chance to avoid war — as part of a concerted effort to sabotage a peaceful solution.

• Richard Butler, former UN chief weapons inspector and now governor of Tasmania, said he knew he was under surveillance at the UN as he was shown transcripts of his own conversations. Deploring the practice of spying as illegal and harmful to the UN’s peacemaking process, he said: “I was utterly confident that in my attempts to have private conversations, trying to solve the problem of disarmament of Iraq, I was being listened to by the Americans, British, the French and the Russians. And they also had people on my staff reporting what I was trying to do privately … There was abundant evidence that we were being constantly monitored.”

• Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, Mexican ambassador to the UN during the run-up to the Iraq invasion, has complained of the bugging of a meeting in early March 2002 to find a compromise solution, attended by delegates from those nations — Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan — whose votes were critical if the US and UK were to win the backing of a second UN resolution. The document drafted at their evening meeting was criticized as “unacceptable” the following morning by a US diplomat, when only those present at the meeting could possibly have known its content. Mr Aguilar Zinser has criticized US surveillance activity as “violating the UN headquarters agreement”. Mexico and Chile have both asked the US and UK for explanations of the actions which Mexico says “would affect the confidence that should exist between nations”.

• A number of UN delegates have corroborated the illegal surveillance of UN offices and delegates, quoting having to hold confidential conversations in the café deep in the UN basement, or walking around Central Park, where background noise would distort material collected through directional microphones. (Source: BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, The Observer, UK; Associated Press)

Bush implicated in more lies

A recently-published book by the Washington Times’ Pentagon correspondent has thrown into question assertions by the US and UK throughout 2002 that no decision had been made to go to war, pending the outcome of UN negotiations. Revelations in Rowan Scarborough’s Rumsfeld’s War include:

• a secret national security Presidential directive laying out the goals and objectives for a war on Iraq, signed by George W. Bush on 16 February 2002, over a year before the invasion;

• a major Iraq war exercise code-named ‘Prominent Hammer’ conducted by General Tommy Franks in March 2002;

• General Franks’ April 2002 Iraq invasion plan briefing to the joint chiefs of staff which “... called for 200,000 to 250,000 troops and a two-front landwar ... striking from Kuwait and from Turkey”; • excerpts from a July 1999 Defence Intelligence Agency briefing on potential threats to the US which described Iraq under Saddam Hussein as a threat only if sanctions were lifted.

• Rumsfeld’s response to the 11 September attacks — “This is not a criminal action,” he told Bush at the time. “This is war.” — a declaration which, together with Bush’s stated desire for retaliation, shifted the US view from terrorism as a criminal matter to a global ‘war on terror’.

• Rumsfeld’s orders to Special Operations forces, in a highly-classified July 2002 directive to Air Force General Richard Myers: “The objective is to capture terrorists for interrogation, or if necessary, to kill them, not simply to arrest them in [a] law enforcement exercise” — a mandate which authorized the tracking and killing of terrorists without signed Presidential authority or congressional notification.

Scarborough’s information is based on classified documents obtained during his investigation into the ‘global war on terror’ as experienced by the office of US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld (The Washington Times is known to have contacts with top-ranking civilian staff within the defence department). The US national security council, however, refused to comment on the claims over Bush’s February 2002 war directive. “I don’t do book reviews,” said a White House official. (Source: The Washington Times, USA; The Guardian, UK) Rowan Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War: The Untold Story of America’s Anti-terrorist Commander. Regnery Publishing Inc., USA, March 2004. ISBN 0895260697.

Benjamin Creme — thirty years preparing the way for Maitreya

In March 1974 Benjamin Creme formed, in London, the first Transmission Meditation group, and began his public work of preparing the way for Maitreya, the World Teacher. Now, 30 years on, there are around 650 Transmission Meditation groups in over 40 countries, and his information is known to millions of people around the world.

Q: I understand that in March 1974 your Master suggested that you invite a few people to take part in the first Transmission Meditation ever. That was precisely 30 years ago. That first group of some 12 people has grown to several hundred in many countries of the world. Is this kind of group work a new venture for Hierarchy, was it experimental in nature, did it mark a new phase in Hierarchical work? If so, could you enlarge on this?

Benjamin Creme: The Master gave me a list of 14 names to invite for a talk on meditation and allied matters, two of whom dropped out after the first meeting. I introduced Transmission Meditation, but above all talked about the Reappearance of the Christ, outlining briefly why Hierarchy were engaged in this kind of work and what They proposed to do. I invited the people to take part in the first group Transmission Meditation. I had been receiving the same kind of Transmissions, but individually, alone, for a long time; many, many hours a week were spent in this way. This was the first time a group — because it is essentially a group meditation — was involved. Before that I had built, under the Master’s directions, the Tetrahedron. A friend did the glass and base for it and I put together the instrumentation inside. I also built a Spiritual Energy Battery under the Master’s instructions. That was really quite a work and took me many weeks to find the material to do it with.

Then the Master suggested we had a Transmission. It was very short, maybe half an hour. Then the Master suggested we had a cup of tea. Meantime, I connected the battery to the Tetrahedron so it took the place of the group, and the Transmission went on but using the energy which had already been put in the battery through the group. The battery was made in such a way that it can store spiritual energy and this can be sent out through the Tetrahedron instrument instead of through a group. That battery took weeks to make but we only used it that once. It was simply to show us that it could be done. We never had the reason or opportunity to use it again, because always, from that time on, the energy was sent through the group. I still have the battery but it sits unused. Group work was not a new venture, but this particular type of group work was entirely new. It was a development of the Triangles Movement which had been introduced in the late 1930s by the Master Djwhal Khul through Alice A. Bailey, where three people form a triangle. They can be anywhere in the world, but they know each other, and have agreed at a time convenient to them to link up mentally and visualize a triangle of light above their heads and to see their triangle as part of a huge network of such triangles which covers the world. In this way the energy invoked by the use of the Great Invocation is potentized. More energy can safely be placed through three people who are a triangle than through the same three individuals who are not a triangle.

That in principle is the basis, too, of Transmission Meditation. This work is a new venture for Hierarchy. It is only possible because it involves a much more mental alignment. That does not mean to say that all people who do Transmission Meditation are mentally polarized, but they are people who are coming up to halfway between the first and the second initiation, which is the point where you shift from astral to mental polarization, about 1.5-1.6, so they are attaining a degree of mental focus which has hitherto been lacking.

For long ages the energy of Hierarchy has been disseminated through the religious groups of all kinds throughout the world, and most people in the religious groups, like most people in the world, are astrally polarized. The seat of consciousness is the astral plane, so this limits the amount and the type of energy which is possible to release into the world without distortion. The astral planes, the planes of illusion, colour the thoughts and feelings of the people, and so distort the spiritual energy.

As people advance — and more and more people are coming up to the first initiation, or have already taken the first initiation and are moving towards the second initiation — a higher type of work, which Transmission Meditation is, can be done. There are groups now all over the world who have the time and, above all, the desire to serve. The desire to serve comes as a result of soul contact. Those approaching the first initiation have a degree of soul contact, which is relatively new in the human condition.

Today some 3-4 million people in the world are standing on the threshold of the first initiation. This is tremendously important for the world. It will mean a great heightening of the spiritual vibration in humanity, so that fast evolution can take place. It is also true to say that many more highly evolved souls are coming into incarnation, and have been doing so for the last 20-30 years, and so have now reached a point when they are more ready for this kind of work. The groups were formed for this purpose but they also form the basis of the groups involved in the Reappearance of the Christ and the Externalization of the Hierarchy. Groups in every department of life are involved in the Reappearance work, knowingly or not, in particular the political and economic groups, who have a huge role to play in this. However, the first, initial, approach to the general public has been made since 1974 by the groups with which I am associated. They are specifically charged with the task of making known the externalization of the Hierarchy and the actual physical presence of the World Teacher, the Lord Maitreya, and the 14 Masters Who are physically present in the world.

It was a new venture for Hierarchy because a group had not worked in this way, because Transmission Meditation was not yet formed, and there were not enough people ready to do Transmission Meditation. Transmission Meditation requires a degree of soul contact which is not every-day. It is very much a minority of people who are sufficiently soul-infused to have the desire for service of a kind which seems abstract but is absolutely cogent and precise, and is the transmission of the energies which transform the world. It is our response to energies which transforms the world. It does not happen just by our making decisions. These decisions are the result of our response, idealistically, to energies. These energies embody certain great ideas, these ideas become our ideals; as we put the ideals into effect, so our world is changed. See Share International magazine itself for the rest of this fascinating interview which will be serialized in coming issues."

Benjamin Creme lectures — first time accounts

Since 1974 Mr Creme has given thousands of lectures on Maitreya’s emergence in the UK, throughout Europe, the USA, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada and other countries. He encourages his colleagues also to convey the information in this most direct way, face to face. Coming from all walks of life, audiences hearing Benjamin Creme for the first time often remark how his ‘message of hope’ has changed their lives. The following accounts have been written by various people who have attended his monthly lectures in London.

Idina Le Geyt, London, UK (Researcher)
When I went to Friends House for the first time 24 years ago, I was filled with excitement. I was familiar with the Alice Bailey teachings, and with meditation, and had felt for a long time that the Second Coming could indeed be here. Around the walls of the lecture room were beautiful messages, calling for justice, sharing the world’s resources, rescuing the starving millions. Benjamin spoke forcefully of the injustice, the blasphemy, of men, women and children starving in a world of plenty. His statistics were shocking and I felt such shame that I wanted to crawl under my chair and hide. He explained clearly the Ageless Wisdom Teachings and spoke of the Christ’s imminent return and the Day of Declaration when all eyes would see Him. I was filled with awe and joy. At eight o’clock Mr Creme announced that we would receive a message from Maitreya Himself. The room hushed; the lights were dimmed, and Mr Creme began to speak in slow, measured tones with long pauses which made it sometimes difficult to grasp the full meaning. The Message from Maitreya that evening was about the “Pool of Love, from which all men may drink” (Message No.110, 24 September 1980), which touched me greatly. During the meditation, Benjamin Creme looked at each of us, and waves of energy flowed from him. On the first three visits I was able to see these energies, the first time as white light filling the room, so bright that the figures of the audience fell away, only their outline remaining visible, and Mr Creme was enveloped in a pulsating glow of light which reached the ceiling. Opening and closing my eyes did not halt the phenomenon. On the second visit the room became infused with rosy-pink (the colour of Maitreya, I realized later) and on my third visit, it was golden. I never experienced this brilliance again, and felt that it was a glimpse behind the veil to give me encouragement. After that I never missed a meeting, and knowing of the certain presence of the Christ and the Masters put a completely different perspective on life, a precious reassurance that, in spite of all the world’s cruelty and danger, “all will be well”.

Adrian Jackson, London, UK (Physics teacher)
The first time I went to one of Benjamin Creme’s lectures was in 1983, to satisfy my curiosity after seeing him on a local TV programme in Yorkshire a few years earlier when he announced the presence of the ‘Christ’ in the world. He seemed to me to be a sensible and straightforward kind of guy and I just wondered what kind of experience or motive would lead anyone to make such an amazing claim as this. I quite enjoyed the atmosphere at the beginning of the meeting that began with a meditation and everyone was quiet and sat with his or her eyes closed. Naturally I wanted to see what was going on and simply looked around me and at Mr Creme. He was slowly looking at everyone in the room in a very peaceful manner as though giving some kind of blessing to everyone. Then I noticed a rather amazing thing: as his eyes moved from person to person I noticed his entire visage disappear beneath a glowing orb of brilliant yellow or golden light. It only lasted maybe one or two seconds but it was a very definite experience and I could not convince myself that I somehow imagined it — it definitely happened. I continued to look at his face but it did not happen again nor did it happen at any subsequent meeting I have been to. I am a trained scientist with two degrees in physics and have a general approach to life that says that the only healthy mind is a sceptical one. From this point of view I was not impressed by the story and it did not make any particular sense to me. I did however agree with the general diagnosis of world ills and the trouble we are in, but not with his predictions and the spiritual backdrop to all of this. He did say however that of course he cannot prove any of this, and that’s fair enough. However I did think about my experience for a long time after that and continued to go to meetings and developed an interest in ‘spiritual matters’. It gradually seemed to me that there was ‘enough to go on’ to take his story seriously and keep an ‘open mind’ about its possible truth.

Richard Elphick, Worthing, UK (Support worker for people with learning difficulties)
On attending my first talk by Benjamin Creme, what made the lasting impression on me was the sheer compassion that he had when speaking about the starving millions. I can say with all honesty that I (being a member of various Oxfam campaign groups, etc) have never heard a man or woman, spiritual or not, speak with such compassion on behalf of downtrodden humanity. It brought home to me vividly how the principle of sharing and justice are not trendy ideas to pay mere lip service to, but the cornerstones of life for all of us. Further, that each man or woman wherever they came from can play an active part in working towards a fairer world for all. Another impression made was the weight of the information being presented in a very simple, down-to-earth manner, with humour as well as the more serious points. I felt at the time, and since, inspired by it to view my own life as a form of practical service, instead of placing my own needs first.

Gill Fry, London, UK (Nurse)
In the summer of 1986 I went to a Benjamin Creme lecture in London after seeing an advertisement in The Guardian newspaper. After recently travelling in south-east Asia and India, I had been pondering about the connections between the different religions, and was immediately drawn to the message. The room at Friends Meeting House was bustling with lots of people: all ages, backgrounds, people on their own, groups of friends. It was relaxed, yet buzzing. Benjamin Creme sat on a high stool and explained that the ‘overshadowing’ from Maitreya would begin. A message from Maitreya was played: the phrases came out slowly and powerfully and the ideas resounded inside one. All sense of time disappeared and a tremendous sensation of love and well-being seemed to fill the room. The place was silent except for the occasional intake of breath or sigh. I opened my eyes to peek a look: Mr Creme’s face looked quite different: older, more oriental features, and shiny. Benjamin Creme started his talk by asking us to listen with an open mind, remarking that a truly open mind is a very rare thing. Sentence after sentence was like a revelation: sometimes I’d get left behind pondering on what he’d just said, thinking: “Yes, that’s so true!” He spoke in a way and at a pace that was easy to understand: ideas spontaneously flowing, developing, returning naturally back to the central theme again. Abstract concepts seemed crystal clear, as if one was experiencing it now, and when he spoke so matter-of-factly about reincarnation, the soul, the fact of Maitreya and the Masters, I knew it made sense. What was so unusual about his talk was the way he connected so many subjects together: solving the outer problems of the world alongside esoteric truths. He spoke in a calm, detached way, never sounding fanatical or trying to persuade us he was right. The audience appreciated the jokes that peppered his talk, and he seemed to be enjoying it too. After the talk Mr Creme took questions from the audience: the session was lively and I got the impression that here was someone who literally had the answer to any question! The evening ended with a final powerful blessing from Maitreya, which left me imbued with an exquisite energy, my mind stilled. As I left the room nobody spoke to me — there was a definite feeling of free will and no pressure or anything demanded of me. Mr Creme’s lecture was so inspiring: I felt safe and certain that everything would work out, and left infused with hope, for which I was very grateful. That first lecture changed my life and I now think of my life as having two distinct parts: before and after I knew what I heard that evening. It was like stepping into reality, and at last seeing where we were heading.