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MARCH 2008 issue Volume 27 Number 2
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This is an abridged, electronic version of SHARE INTERNATIONAL
magazine.
The magazine has a non-paid staff only, carries no
advertisements and is published by SHARE INTERNATIONAL
FOUNDATION, a non-profit, non-governmental organization in
association with the Department of Public Information at the
United Nations.
SHARE INTERNATIONAL is a monthly magazine, bringing together the
two major directions of New Age thinking -- the political, and
the spiritual. It covers news, events and comments bearing on
Maitreya's priorities: an adequate supply of the right food;
adequate housing and shelter for all; healthcare and education
as a universal right; the maintenance of ecological balance in
the world.
Abridged hard-copy versions available in Dutch, French, German,
Japanese, Romanian and Spanish.
SHARE INTERNATIONAL's chief editor is Benjamin Creme, British
artist, esotericist and author. His challenging message has
evoked a world-wide response: Maitreya, the World Teacher, is
now among us in full physical presence.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Christ as Teacher
by the Master -, through Benjamin Creme, 10 February 2008
Signs of the time
Forces of Light
A tribute to Mahari**** Mahesh Yogi
A Great Soul has departed the world
Aiming to cure blindness
Interview with Geoffrey Tabin
by Jason Francis
Venezuela's social revolution
by Patricia Pitchon
Voice of the People
Outlines of the future -- A compilation
Letters to the editor
Questions and Answers
Background Information:
The emergence of the World Teacher -- in brief
Hard-copy subscription information
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(Through these electronic files, the magazine *Share
International* makes available a compilation of its contents.
Permission is given to reproduce these articles in magazine,
newspaper or newsletter format, provided that credit is given to
*Share International* and clippings are sent to: PO Box 41877,
1009 DB Amsterdam, Holland. Copyright (c) 2008 Share
International. All Rights Reserved.)
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"Commercialization has humanity by the throat and is squeezing
every generous thought and gesture out of their lives. The souls
of men can endure little more of this oppression and are crying
aloud in their agony and frustration."
The Master -
THE CHRIST AS TEACHER
by the Master -, through Benjamin Creme, 10 February 2008
Many people await and expect the emergence of the Christ but hold
a very distorted view of how that will affect humanity. Many await
Him as a Spiritual Magician Who will cancel out their and others'
shortcomings, and so establish everlasting peace. Theirs is a very
passive view of this vast and complex happening. For Maitreya,
Himself, it is an op****tunity to come into a dynamic interaction
with humanity, to establish the Principles of the Divine Plan, and
to inaugurate the era of Right Human Relation****p.
This entails the active response and participation of men and
women everywhere: a worldwide, continuous process of change in
outer structures and inner perceptions.
Maitreya does not see as particularly open and fruitful those
areas of the world where Christians are in the majority. Nor do
other major religions inspire in Him more hope of understanding.
To be sure, in all religions are men and women who are ready to
respond and to act for the benefit of all. Likewise, in every walk
of life, in every country in the world, people await the signal
that will summon them to action on behalf of their brothers and
sisters, known and unknown.
Many await the Christ as the Judge, sent to chasten and punish the
lawbreakers. Maitreya, the Christ, is a Teacher, and will indeed
teach man the Laws of Life, but a Judge He never was, nor does
punishment hold a place in His vocabulary. He will seek to inspire
men to know themselves as souls in incarnation, travelling a
journey of self-discovery together, and helping each other along
the way. He will affirm that competition hinders and deflects men
from their path, rendering sterile each glimpse of the soul's
nature.
Commercialization
Men have strayed far from that Path. Commercialization has
humanity by the throat and is squeezing every generous thought and
gesture out of their lives. The souls of men can endure little
more of this oppression and are crying aloud in their agony and
frustration. They wonder, then, at the upsurge of crime and mayhem
committed by the young in every land.
Maitreya will acquaint men with the origin of wars and military
action around the world. He will show how even the climate and
weather are disaffected as a result. Men have much to learn about
the effects of their actions, and the need for discipline and
care.
The Christ comes to teach. Men, free will intact, must respond in
order to grow. The Christ, Maitreya, never uses force, even if
thus we would the sooner learn. He knows that only that which is
undertaken by man's free will is lawful and likely to bear fruit.
SIGNS OF THE TIME
In His Message of November 1977, Maitreya said: "Those who
search for signs will find them". Ever since, an increasing
number of miraculous phenomena have flooded the world:
appearances, crosses of light, healing wells, weeping icons and
statues.
In May 1988, an associate of Maitreya stated in *Share
International*: "The signs of Maitreya's presence in the world
will continue to increase. He is going to flood the world with
such happenings that the mind can never comprehend it."
>>>Argentinean girl cries 'wooden tears'
A nine-year-old Argentinean girl cries 'wooden tears'. The
phenomenon began in November 2007 in the Argentinean town of
Colonia Liebig, in Corrientes province.
The tears, which look like little wooden chips, appeared suddenly
from one day to the next. Those who have examined the young girl
say that there does not seem to be anything wrong with the child's
eyes but that her eye seem to be exuding small pieces of wood or
tiny pieces of vegetable matter, rather like twigs. "We are
amazed, she shed a great amount of wood chips and her eyes are not
congested. The wood chips are similar to mate herb twigs",
explained one witness. (Mate is a South American herbal tea.)
Nestor Anocibar, examining magistrate of Ituzaingo, confirmed that
the nine-year-old girl is shedding small wood chips. (Source:
*Diario de Cuyo*, Argentina)
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that Maitreya is manifesting
this miracle.)
>>>The ultimate potato
Pastor Renee Brewster of Marion County, Florida, was starting to
make potato salad for her church one day in January 2008. She
said, "I was hesitant about making the potato salad because Sister
Frankie makes the potato salad at church and I said, 'Lord if it's
not for me to make potato salad then send me a sign.'" Brewster
thought she had received a sign when the first potato she cut into
looked rotten, and she put it aside. But her 10-year-old
granddaughter asked her to take another look. Brewster saw an
unmistakable image in the middle of the potato. "That's Jesus on
the cross," she said. The image has strengthened her faith and
desire to help people at the church. "I just want people to know
God is still as real today as he was back then and he can show up
any time he gets ready," said Brewster. (Source:
www.myfoxorlando.com)
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that the Master Jesus manifested
this miracle.)
[photo of miracle can be seen on our website at
share-international.org/magazine/SI_current.htm#signs]
FORCES OF LIGHT
"Im****tant events are taking place in many parts of the world.
People everywhere will be astonished by the re****ts. These will
include sightings, in unprecedented numbers, of spacecraft from
our neighbouring planets, Mars and Venus in particular. Nothing
like this increased activity, over vast areas of the Earth, will
have been seen before. Those who have steadfastly refused to take
seriously the reality of this phenomenon will find it difficult to
deny. More and more accounts of contact with the occupants of the
spacecraft will add their testimony to the fact of their
existence. Miraculous happenings of all kinds will continue and
multiply in number and variety. The minds of men will be baffled
and amazed by these wonders, and this will cause them to ponder
deeply." (Benjamin Creme's Master, from 'The gathering of the
Forces of Light', *Share International*, March 2007)
>>>UFO sightings around the world
Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that the following re****ts are
all authentic sightings of spacecraft from the planet Mars:
Kazakhstan -- A local police chief witnessed a UFO plunge into a
river in northern Kazakhstan in the early hours of 5 January 2008.
The witness re****ted seeing a ****ny flying object enter the Belaya
river, located in the May district of Kazakhstan's Pavlodar
region. However, divers who later searched the river found no
unusual objects and water samples were found to be normal.
(Source: Interfax News Agency, Russia)
UK -- *Isle of Wight*: Several people re****ted seeing a UFO on 27
January 2008. Frank Webb and his wife saw a silent, glowing craft
heading west to east across the sky at around 8.20 pm. The object
had no navigation lights. "I was in the RAF for 22 years as an
engine technician, so I thought if I could hear it I could work
out what it was. But there was no sound whatsoever. It was weird."
Web said the UFO was approximately the size of a medium-size
aeroplane, flying at an altitude of between 400-500 feet and was
covered in yellow lights. After Webb's sighting was re****ted in a
local newspaper, three other witnesses came forward. Local
residents Richard McFarlane, Barry Holland and Paul Westmore
re****ted they had seen a UFO on the same day. "It was a yellow
ball in the sky," McFarlane said. "It had a haze around it and it
wasn't moving at all. We watched it for ages."
USA -- *Northern California*: A resident of Yreka re****ted seeing
a UFO on the evening of 8 January 2008. Mary Hay saw a "slightly
wedge-shaped" craft fly above her while at a gas station around
8pm. Hay said the object had three rows of lights underneath it,
the middle row longer than the others. The object flew from east
to west, "then disappeared very quickly," she said. (Source:
*Siskiyou Daily News*, USA)
*Southern California*: There was mass media coverage after
multiple sightings of lights in the sky in January 2008. On 1
January, Fox News Channel 6 quoted many re****ts of UFOs over San
Diego at around 12.30am, and showed a short clip of the event
filmed from the suburb of Clairmont (viewable on YouTube). The
eyewitnesses describe the UFOs as being huge, with lights, and
making no sound at all before disappearing at lightening speed
into the distance.
*Texas*: On 8 January 2008 at around 6.16pm, Steve Allen (a pilot
of 30 years' experience), Lance Jones and Mike Odom were admiring
the sunset outside the latter's home in Selden, Texas, when they
suddenly noticed fla****ng lights about 3,500 feet above ground
level. "The ****p wasn't really visible and was totally silent, but
the lightspan was about a mile long and a half mile wide," Allen
said. "The lights went from corner to corner. It was directly
above Highway 67 travelling towards Stephenville at high speed --
about 3,000 miles per hour is what I would estimate."
Allen said the lights were not those of a normal aircraft but were
more like strobe lights, and that they reconfigured themselves
from a single horizontal line into two sets of vertical lights he
estimated to be approximately one-quarter of a mile apart. "Then
they turned into dirty burning flames," he said. "The flames were
not blue. They were white in colour. About two seconds later it
disappeared completely." About 10 minutes later, the object flew
overhead again from the west, travelling east towards Glen Rose
"about two or three miles south of 67, and two military jets,
possibly F16s, were in pursuit".
"It's unexplainable," said Mike Odom. "It was something not
natural; it was moving way too fast." His wife, Claudette,
formerly a flight attendant, said: "Lights were going up and down
the side. There was no sound, just the lights. It was moving so
fast. It wasn't a plane. I know how planes move. Honestly, I think
it was a UFO. It was so fast you couldn't have put your finger on
it and move it fast enough to follow it."
Meanwhile, WOAI Radio in San Antonio, Texas, re****ted further UFO
sightings that same night [8 January] over the city, seen by
dozens of witnesses; and MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) received
re****ts from as far afield as Corpus Christi.
On 9 January, one witness re****ted that he watched a UFO clearly
for about five minutes through 50-power binoculars: "I saw three
distinct sets of lights, one small light on top of a larger light,
two fairly close together, one some distance away."
A witness of another 9 January sighting said: "I have seen these
strobing lights three different times now. The first time was
about a month ago, outside of Cisco, on highway 183. All three
times it happened on the same route, only this time out of nowhere
these huge, bright round lights appeared in the same manner as
before. Each light started out dim then instantly got brighter,
almost like huge spotlights."
On 10 January a man driving with his daughter south-east from
Eastland towards Lake Leon re****ted seeing "two large bright
lights like stars. The two lights moved towards each other very,
very fast ... faster than anything I had ever seen. They looked
like they met and then five or six smaller lights dispersed out in
a circular pattern away from them and then everything was gone."
(Source: *Stephenville Empire-Tribune*; mufon.com, USA;
youtube.com)
Photographs taken by satellites used by Google Earth show a large
triangular-shaped craft from above. The craft was clearly visible
in several shots and bright lights can be seen on each corner.
This image was photographed over Western Australia.
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that the craft is from the
planet Mars and is approximately 300 feet in length on each side).
[to see a photo of this image please visit our website at
share-international.org/magazine/SI_current.htm#signs}
[also at our website is an extraordinary photo of patterns of
light photographed in Antwerp, Belgium, on 8 February 2008, by
T.G. Go to
share-international.org/magazine/old_issues/2008/mar_08_pictures.h
tm]
A TRIBUTE TO MAHARI**** MAHESH YOGI
A Great Soul has departed the world
News of the death on 5 February 2008 of Mahari**** Mahesh Yogi
quickly circled the world. Obituaries and mini-biographies
appeared, at least in the UK, in all the major newspapers and in
radio and television newscasts. He was the one spiritual teacher
of whom everyone had heard; his was a household name whether the
hearer meditated or not.
The Mahari****, as he became generally known, was a disciple of the
great Guru Dev, one of the Supreme Masters of the South Indian
Lodge of our Spiritual Hierarchy. Before His own departure from
this life, Guru Dev instructed Mahari**** to travel the world,
teaching and training those who would teach what became known as
Transcendental Meditation. This is a very simple form of
meditation with no religious or ideological trappings.
So committed, so tireless, was the Mahari**** in these lengthy
tours around the world, that hundreds of thousands of mostly young
people took up this simple way to 'bliss'. In 1967, the Beatles
joined for a time. This inevitably focussed the attention of the
media on this joyful yogi and led millions to take up the
meditation.
It is said that today some 5 million people do Transcendental
Meditation. Mahari****'s aim was to change the world for the
better; his task could not have been better accomplished. As far
as we know, he never said or saw it in this way but like the many
other Gurus who have come from India, the Mahari**** has helped to
prepare a huge group of people for the work of Maitreya.
Benjamin Creme
From our own correspondents -- extracts from interviews and
articles
AIMING TO CURE BLINDNESS
Interview with Geoffrey Tabin
by Jason Francis
The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) has been helping to eradicate
preventable blindness and restore sight to people throughout Asia
since 1995. Ophthalmologist Geoffrey Tabin co-founded and is
co-director of HCP. He is professor of Ophthalmology and Visual
Sciences and director of the Division of International
Ophthalmology at the John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah,
Salt Lake City, USA. Geoffrey Tabin was interviewed for *Share
International* by Jason Francis.
Share International: How prevalent is blindness throughout the
world and what are its primary causes?
Geoffrey Tabin: Blindness affects relatively few people in the
developed world -- about three per thousand who are considered
"legally blind." That's someone who can see the eye chart and read
only the top two lines. The causes of blindness in the developed
world are mostly things that we can't prevent, like age-related
macular degeneration, and other diseases of old age.
In the developing world, the blindness rate is three per hundred,
about 10 times greater. About 90 per cent of the blindness in the
developing world is easily preventable or treatable. The World
Health Organization defines blindness as "functionally blind",
where you are unable to perform the tasks of daily living. You
can't see to do the basic things that an average person needs to
do to survive. About 55 per cent of blindness is from cataracts,
which is completely treatable and people can have perfect vision
restored.
The second leading cause of blindness -- difficult to prevent but
preventable -- is glaucoma. After that is a blindness called
trachoma, caused by infection with Chlamydia Trachomatis -- a very
easily prevented and cured infection of poor hygiene and bad water
that leads to irreparable scarring of the eye.
The next leading cause of blindness is having minor trauma with no
treatment. For example, you get a little scratch on your cornea
and with no antibiotics it develops into a bad ulcer. River
blindness, or Onchocerciasis, is caused by an infection carried by
a parasitic worm, and is also easily preventable. Merck, a large
pharmaceutical company, is giving out unlimited amounts of a
medicine called Mectizan. The drug completely prevents the
occurrence of river blindness and it's purely a matter of getting
it to the people who need it.
The final cause of blindness, and the leading cause of blindness
in children, is vitamin A deficiency, or xerophtalmia, lack of
vitamin A in the diet. The cost of supplementing vitamin A to a
child is 75 cents per year. And with 75 cents per year it also
reduces infant mortality by about 30 per cent.
SI: How is someone's life expectancy affected when blindness sets
in?
GT: In the developing world, the life expectancy of the blind is
very short. There have been several studies based on age and
health-matched peers that have shown that the life expectancy once
you go blind is one-third that of a sighted person; blind children
fare much worse.
SI: Are some causes of blindness more prevalent in certain regions
of the world?
GT: There are more cataracts in regions where people are exposed
to intense UV [ultraviolet] sun exposure, and have low
antioxidants in their diet. People who tend to eat just rice and
barley and have very intense UV sunlight exposure develop blinding
cataracts at a much higher prevalence. In much of the developing
world -- southern India and rural China, for example -- people
have these problems. As for some of the infectious blindnesses,
which are endemic in only a relatively small region of the world,
in places like southern Sudan and Congo, these nevertheless affect
a very high percentage of the population. The same is true for
trachoma, a disease of very poor hygiene and dusty climates. So,
places like Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Sudan have very high
levels of trachoma.
SI: What countries does the HCP work in and how many people are
treated in any given year for blindness?
GT: I've been very fortunate because I've had a couple of amazing
partners. My partner Sanduk Ruit is one of the most brilliant,
gifted surgeons and he has chosen to remain in Nepal. [Ruit is
co-founder of HCP and medical director of HCP's Tilganga Eye
Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal.] One of the big problems in the world
is that the best qualified doctors leave their countries and many
who don't leave still want to live in the best situation in their
part of the world. So, you have a lot of places like Nigeria where
one qualified ophthalmologist treats the rich of the country.
When Sanduk Ruit and I began our work together 15 years ago, he
already had an idea of how to reach people in the most remote
places of Nepal. We started teaching one doctor at a time to do
high quality cataract surgery and developing a system where we
were training ophthalmic assistants and nurses to sup****t the
doctor. We developed a system of really high quality delivery
where no one does anything that somebody with a lower skill level
can do.
When we started, in all of Nepal there were only 15,000 cataract
operations done the whole prior year. At that time, we estimated
the backlog to be about 300,000 blind people, and there were about
80,000 new cases with people who were going totally blind from
cataracts per year. Last year, after 14 years, a total of 170,000
cataract operations were performed in Nepal. Not only is Nepal now
the only country in the region that is significantly reducing its
backlog, but we're actually treating a lot of people from the
Bihar region of India as well. In terms of HCP's direct care,
we've done an increasing number of operations, from 10,000 a year
when we were starting, up to 33,000 last year. That's our direct
care. But our main accomplishment is teaching and developing the
training systems. I think these are responsible for the level and
quality of cataract surgery in Nepal.
We started out teaching one doctor at a time to do good, high
quality cataract surgery. We expanded from there, taking some of
our best cataract surgeons and sending them for Fellow****p
training to become subspecialty ophthalmologists, training
pediatric ophthalmologists specializing in treating diseases of
children -- crossed eyes, pediatric cataract -- training corneal
transplant specialists and starting an eye bank. Once we had a
full cadre of specialists -- ocular plastics, glaucoma and retina
specialists -- we then began a full program to train full
ophthalmologists. In addition we realized we needed very high
quality sup****t staff, so we started a program that is now a full
three-year accredited program with Kathmandu University training
ophthalmic assistants. They come out after three years, basically
doing the work that an optometrist does in America and providing
really high quality, basic primary eye care and sup****ting the
doctors. So, the doctors can work at a much higher volume than
most places. Then we started working in other regions.
In 1994, we started the Himalayan Cataract Project in Nepal and in
1996 we began training doctors from Tibet. In 1999, we started
working in Bhutan, and the following year in surrounding regions
of India. Over the last eight or 10 years, Fellows come for
training from Cambodia, Myanmar [Burma], North Korea. For about a
year and a half I've been working in Africa with the UN Millennium
Development Program. We have 12 research villages and are working
with Jeffrey Sachs and the UN Millennium Development Project
learning how to reach people in Africa. We are also doing a survey
of blindness in Africa....
VENEZUELA'S SOCIAL REVOLUTION
by Patricia Pitchon
Venezuela is undergoing massive social change, to the delight of
many and the alarm of some. The changes have im****tant political
and economic as well as social implications, because the intention
of President Hugo Chavez is to move from a deeply unequal society
based on a neo-liberal economic model to a socialist model which
he hopes will transform the lives of the poor. The rejection of a
neo-liberal model is due partly to the disastrous impoverishment
of the Venezuelan people after the previous oil boom ended in the
late 1980s, when the percentage of poor Venezuelans rose from 28
per cent to 68 per cent in 2003. In the developed world it is
often hard to understand the huge social and economic shocks
developing countries are vulnerable to, particularly when they are
dependent on one or two main ex****t products, income inequalities
are acute and social institutions are weak....
Currently a process of workers' education in the creation and
management of co-operatives is under way. Similarly, in rural
areas agricultural co-operatives are being set up on land owned
previously by wealthy landowners. Initially there was tension
between government agencies and the traditional pre-Chavez
co-operative movement, concerned at the promotion of new
co-operatives which were offered grants despite the lack of
preparation and technical education of their members. The links
between them and government agencies is now improving.
President Chavez was impatient to bypass bureaucracy and more
than 40,000 co-operatives were created in 2004 and another 30,000
in 2005. From December 2004 to May 2005 over 250,000 students
graduated from short-term historical, technical and managerial
classes that also emphasized citizen****p and co-operative values.
Around 195,000 students subsequently formed about 7,500 new
co-operatives. Given the inexperience of many, some will fail
though doubtless others will succeed, but as a vast social
experiment it further empowers people through a model which may
suit many developing countries, not just Venezuela.
The creation of thousands of neighbourhood councils enables many
people to engage in a political process involving not only local
elections but also local problem-solving. This process is a method
which empowers people by investing in their capacity to take
responsibility, to learn to deal with local issues and to come up
with local solutions. Naturally there will be many variations on
the ground as these social and political processes take root, and
they are still very much at the experimental stage, but through
them the poor, the indigent, and sections of the lower middle
class can develop a sense of involvement in the destiny of their
country.
This represents the formation of a grassroots movement and a
transformation of power structures. To form such a council, an
assembly is set up through a small group of around 200 to 400
families coming together in a local community, and then all of the
community, house by house, is invited to take part, asking
everyone to choose 20 people to form the promotion team which then
carries out a census of the local population and re****ts on local
problems. At the subsequent communal council elections around 13
members take charge of technology, education, security, health and
so on. Executive, monitoring and financial management committees
are also elected. Many see these communal councils as the basic
units of the new society.
Venezuela has a population of some 26 million, many concentrated
in a few major towns, yet there are now more than 15,000 councils,
both rural and urban -- an effective way of reaching out to those
who live in more vulnerable and isolated communities which were
traditionally ignored by urban-based politicians.
One interesting story involves a village in the Andes, about a
three-hour drive from the town of Merida, itself located high up
in the Andes amidst spectacular scenery. One former employee of a
Venezuelan government department re****ted that this relatively
remote village had already received legal assistance in the
election procedures from an independent NGO by the time government
officials arrived there to help them set up their council.
Initially the officials wanted to choose the promotion team, but
the local population explained that they understood the new
procedures and would be electing the team and the council members
themselves. This is an interesting example both of old habits
taking time to change (officials are used to telling the
population what to do) and new structures taking root (the local
inhabitants were becoming more confident).
In Venezuela there are many contradictions between older,
inherited bureaucratic structures and newer, more dynamic
structures, and these co-exist at present in a state of tension.
Social revolutions are rarely tidy, and some concerns are
justified, but Venezuela's myriad political, economic and social
experiments represent an alternative to previous policies which
failed to address the basic needs of the majority of the people.
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
In this section *Share International* focuses on the rising tide
of people power which will continue until, under Maitreya's wise
guidance, the people will lead their leaders into the creation of
a just society in which the rights and needs of all are recognized
and met.
>>>'The World Against War'
The need for action to let voices of reason be heard, is
considered of such vital im****tance that *Share International* is
repeating its re****ting on massive peace demonstrations expected
to take place around the world on 15 March 2008, in an event
called 'The World Against War'. It marks the fifth anniversary of
the invasion of Iraq. Before the war, 12.5 million people in over
80 countries marching to oppose the invasion of Iraq.
The US-based anti-war group ANSWER urges all concerned citizens to
take part in the call for change: "The creation of a powerful
grassroots movement is key to ending the war in Iraq and changing
an overall political direction that threatens widening disaster."
Benjamin Creme's Master calls the growing people power movement
"the most im****tant political event of our time". In His article
'The voice of Maitreya', He says: "Add your voice to that
gathering clamour for peace and justice and become aware of your
place in history. A new world is in the making and requires the
involvement of all: all have a part to play in this great
undertaking; none should feel too young or too old to voice aloud
their aspirations. Soon, Maitreya, Himself, will focus this demand
for a new way of living, adding His insight and experience to the
cry from men for justice and peace."
Many Share International co-workers around the world will be
marching with banners calling for sharing as the only way to
justice and peace.
For more information: www.stopwar.org, www.theworldagainstwar.org
>>>Global Day of Action
On the Global Day of Action (26 January 2008), called by the World
Social Forum, people gathered in every continent, in as many as
900 simultaneous actions.
The World Social Forum is an open forum which brings together
environmental and social justice campaigners and activists from
around the world. This year, instead of being held in one country
with participants travelling to it, the WSF's message was "Act
Locally, Think Globally".
A small selection of actions around the world:
*India* -- 26 separate events took place, including rallies,
performances and public meetings. In Mumbai around 500 people took
part in a colourful procession to highlight conditions for
farmers, mill workers, small retailers and the poor. The
demonstrators wanted to alert the citizens of Mumbai to an
agrarian crisis in the area -- as many as six farmers are
committing suicide every day in the Vidarbha region of
Maharashtra, as agriculture has become increasingly unprofitable
in the face of global competition. Floats were adorned with
banners claiming "Another world is possible" and the parade
covered a distance of 11 kilometres.
In Chennai, around 2,000 women and Dalits held a protest against
discrimination and in Trivandrum, fishermen -- one of the many
groups who had never been to a WSF event before but decided to
take up the Global Day of Action as their own -- marched in
protest against new coastal environmental laws that threaten their
livelihood and promote indiscriminate tourism. "We fishworkers are
affected by everything that happens globally and so decided to be
part of a worldwide movement against the negative impact of
globalization," said T.Peter, President of the Kerala Fishworkers
Forum.
*Canada* -- A coalition of groups -- community, environmental,
student, women, union and minority organizations -- joined
together on a cold afternoon in Montreal, Quebec. The
demonstrators were joined by a group of fire dancers with the
warning cry "The Snow is on Fire", to highlight global warming.
*USA* -- Around 400 activists gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, for a
'Peoples' Movement Assembly'. 'Stop building prisons. Start
building communities,' 'No private cor****ate control,' and 'Stop
the Siege on Gaza' were some of the banners displayed on a parade
through the city.
Demonstrators in the San Francisco Bay region showed solidarity
with the inhabitants of New Orleans, protesting about a crisis in
the post-Hurricane Katrina recovery and demanding the application
of the UN Human Right of housing. There are still 12,000 homeless
in New Orleans and demolitions of tem****ary housing is planned in
the city.
In the Greater Boston area, the Global Day of Action preceded a
week of events which included a Winter Soldier event organized by
Iraq Veterans Against the War, an immigration rally, an event to
challenge the Free Trade Agreement in Colombia, two demonstrations
in sup****t of the Palestinians and a talk about human rights in
Haiti.
*Chile* -- A 'human chain' wound its way through the capital
Santiago in a march planned by the Chilean Social Forum. The
demonstrators stopped at street corners along the way to stage
speeches and performances highlighting particular issues. For
example, at one junction in the commercial district, a prisoner
was pulled in a cart, drawing attention to the plight of the
Chilean population, as regards electrical energy monopolies and
the highest energy bills in Latin America. At a block further on,
a wall of panels was erected, symbolizing the system of social
'apartheid' that divides the population.
*Lebanon* -- Local NGOs planned a youth cultural exchange and
regional workshops addressing critical local issues like cluster
munitions awareness. There was a youth-led 'International
Resistance Action' march in Beirut's university neighbourhood of
Hamra, and a demonstration to highlight the urgent situation of
Palestinians in Gaza.
*Ireland* -- Campaigners staged a protest in front of the Central
Bank in the centre of the capital Dublin to highlight the effect
of damaging global economic policies on people in the developing
world. "The global economy has been structured to benefit rich
countries and companies at the expense of the poor. We need to see
a radical ****ft in the policies being pursued by these powerful
governments and cor****ations," said Nina Sachau, of organizing
group Comhlamh.
*Indonesia* -- Around 800 women and men from a coalition of
industrial workers, trade unionists, fishermen, farmers,
environmentalists and students marched in the capital Jakarta.
They covered about 2 kilometres from Thamrin to the Presidential
Palace to raise issues about labour law, global warming, debt and
a new economic policy which is putting land, sea and water under
the control of multinational cor****ations.
(Source: ipsterraviva.net; indymedia.org; democracynow.org;
ciranda.net)
>>>Protests for Gaza
There were demonstrations in cities throughout the world in
January and February 2008 as people gathered to demand an end to
Israel's blockade of Gaza. With Israel's closure of borders to the
region, around 1.5 million Palestinians are effectively being
imprisoned without access to food, electricity, water and medical
care. The 500,000 desperate Palestinians who managed to get
through the border to Egypt for supplies have been described as
taking part in the "biggest prison break in history".
A number of cities in the US held demonstrations, including
Chicago, where hundreds of concerned citizens braved blizzard
conditions to protest outside a benefit for Friends of the Israel
Defense Force held in the Lakefront Theater on Chicago's Broadway
Avenue. The protest included many Arab-American and Jewish
Chicagoans.
In Boston the Coalition for Palestinian Rights gathered in Harvard
Square where they stretched a full city block, standing in the
cold with banners.
Protesters joined organizers Palestinians for Peace and the Irish
Unity Committee in Houston, who held a rally in the city centre on
26 January. 'Free Gaza' and 'Stop Israel's war crimes on Gaza'
were some of the handmade banners on display.
Demonstrations were also held in Seattle, San Francisco, Los
Angeles, St Petersburg, ****tland and a number of other cities.
People demonstrated across the Middle East, and government leaders
in the region condemned Israel's actions. Jordan's Queen Rania,
whose country has diplomatic ties with Israel, took the unusual
step of urging the international community to stop the "collective
punishment" of Gaza's residents. Several demonstrations took place
in the Jordanian capital where people staged sit-ins, and several
thousand protesters marched through the streets of Lebanese
cities.
In Montreal, Canada, hundreds including students, trade union
members, politicians and human rights activists joined together in
a demonstration organized by Solidarity for Palestinian Human
Rights (SPHR), a non-profit, student-based organization. The
demonstrators handed out information leaflets and called on the
Canadian government to pressure Israel to end its siege of Gaza.
On 25 January households in several European cities turned off the
lights in their homes for 20 minutes, in solidarity with the
residents of Gaza whose electricity has been periodically cut off
by the Israeli government. Earlier that day a protest was held in
the Belgium capital Brussels in which hundreds gathered in front
of the EU headquarters calling for the EU to put pressure on
Israel to stop its siege.
Around 2,000 protesters gathered outside Downing Street in London,
UK, carrying placards, chanting 'Free, free Palestine' and holding
candles as darkness fell. Actor and author Alexis Sayle, attending
the demonstration, said he was there to tell the British
government to put pressure on Israel. "A lot of people are seeing
that [Israel's action] is particularly savage. You use words like
collective punishment and it robs them of their meaning, but
essentially what it means is puni****ng the innocent ... it's
exceptionally cruel." Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn said:
"We're here today because we want peace. We won't achieve peace
without justice for the Palestinian people."
The Independent Jewish Voices published a statement in *The
Times*, UK, protesting against the siege of Gaza and the rocket
attacks on Israeli targets: "The siege of Gaza is causing
devastating social and economic consequences and threatens a
humanitarian catastrophe."
There have been many protests in Gaza itself, television images of
which have spurred on the demonstrations around the world. "Oh
Arabs, Oh Muslims, Oh humanity," cried a young Palestinian girl,
"is it a disgrace to tell the truth openly?"
There were also protests within Israel, and on 26 January a group
of Israeli peace activists attempted to deliver food and medical
supplies through the blockade into Gaza.
The Israeli blockade is in clear violation of international law,
which strictly forbids collective punishment and labels it a war
crime. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) states in
part: "No protected person may be punished for an offence he or
she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and
likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are
prohibited." (Source: BBC, *The Guardian*, *The Times*, UK;
indymedia.org, www.ijv.org.uk, www.imemc.org, youtube.com)
OUTLINES OF THE FUTURE -- A COMPILATION
We present a selection of quotations which outline some aspects of
the future -- from Maitreya *(Messages from Maitreya the Christ*,
and *Maitreya's Teachings -- The Laws of Life*), Benjamin Creme's
Master (*A Master Speaks*), and Benjamin Creme's writings.
Breath held, humanity awaits the appearance of the Avatar.
Knowingly or not, millions now stand ready to receive the Teacher,
the Revealer of new Truths and the guarantee of men's future and
divinity. (The Master -, from 'The Avatar')
To show men that the way into the future lies through Love and
Justice, have I come.
To take men into that future and to show them the Ways of God, am
I here.
Be then, My dear ones, ready to receive Me, to work with Me, to
dispel the fog of fear and ignorance which enshrouds mankind.
Take, then, My hand, and let Me lead you into that golden future
in which those who are ready shall see the face of God.
My Blessing goes with you all. (Maitreya, from Message No. 22)
Let us understand the nature of the task which [Maitreya] has set
Himself. To establish in our midst the fact of God, has He come.
To recreate the Divine Mysteries, is He here. To teach men how to
love, and love again, is He among us. To establish man's
brotherhood does He walk the Earth once more. To keep faith with
the Father and with man does He accept this burden. To usher in
the New Age has He returned. To consolidate the treasure of the
past, to inspire the marvels of the future, to glorify God and man
has He descended from His high mountain.
Let us look at His priorities: the establishment of peace; the
inauguration of the system of sharing; the removal of guilt and
fear -- the cleansing of the hearts and minds of men; the
education of mankind in the laws of life and love; an introduction
to the Mysteries; the beautification of our cities; the removal of
barriers to travel and interchange of peoples; the creation of a
pool of knowledge accessible to all.
That such a task is not an easy one, not even for the Son of Man,
is clear. Ancient habits of division and separation have strong
roots, while fear and superstition cast their spell over millions
of mankind. But never before, in the history of the world, has a
Teacher come better equipped for His task. Maitreya has come to do
battle with ignorance and fear, division and want. His weapons are
spiritual understanding, knowledge and love; His ****ning armour is
Truth Itself. (The Master -, from 'The Son of Man')
My Masters will show you that there is little which you cannot
effect if you but try.
All is possible to man.
All that man needs is provided by his Source.
The Great Provider remembers His children.
Look not then askance at the future time but welcome it with open
arms and joy, knowing that Brotherhood and Trust will be the norm.
(Maitreya, from Message No. 86)
Can you imagine when the Masters are actually working openly,
known for what They are and advising the leaders of the world, the
major statesmen, professors, educators, the great financiers and
administrators? You can imagine what effect the Masters' advice
will have on these men and women, trained in their own particular
professions, with all the expertise at their fingertips, though
sometimes an expertise that has led the world to the very edge of
a precipice. That expertise will be turned to good, to the needs
of all humanity, and will show an insight, a technological clarity
and ability which will quickly, if we wish it, transform the
world. (Benjamin Creme, *The Great Approach*)
The first priority for Maitreya is the establishment of true peace
in the world: the abandonment by humanity of war and the
competition that leads to war. This can only be achieved by
fulfilling the needs of all the people....
Unless all peoples everywhere see an end to their sufferings and
hopelessness, their inferior position in the world -- in a word,
until the developing world can eat and grow and live decent,
civilized lives like everyone else, there will never be peace in
the world. The first requirement for establi****ng peace is the
sharing of the world's resources. (Benjamin Creme, *Maitreya's
Mission Volume Three*)
>>>A simpler life
The era of competition is fast coming to an end. With its demise,
violence and war, starvation amid plenty, greed and separation,
will likewise fade from the memory. To replace these sorrows will
emerge blessed co-operation, to guarantee to men their essential
divinity. Thus will it be and thus will men come to understand
another facet in the nature of God. (Benjamin Creme's Master, from
*The Art of Co-operation*)
Sharing the world's resources will restore sanity to the world. It
will make life happier for *most* people. Some people in the
beginning may feel loss through a simplification of life and loss
of 'choice' but -- under the influence of the Masters, and the
spiritual and mental transformation, the loss of tension and
stress, which will accrue from sharing -- we will create a world
in which people will appreciate life even more and find it
beautiful. Every day the media will put out information on the
progress of sharing and what effect it is having. The entire world
will be kept involved. We will see Maitreya on television and He
will answer questions. (Benjamin Creme, *The Art of Co-operation*)
Many await My Coming with reverence and also with some fear.
This is inevitable.
My Coming will mean the end of the old order of things.
All that is useless, no longer serving the purposes of man, can
now be discarded.
This will cause many to grieve but so it must be.
My friends, My children, I am here to show you that there exists
for man a most marvellous future.
Decked in all the colours of the rainbow, glowing with the Light
of God, man, one day, will stand upright in his divinity.
This I promise you.
I am a simple Man, and simply I make My Appeal you:
Trust Me, follow Me, let Me take you into the future time,
on the basis of Love, on the basis of Sharing, on the basis of
Brotherhood.
(Maitreya, from Message No. 4)
>>>New forms of government
What is necessary is a total change in our social structure
throughout the world. This involves, in the first place, working
through the existing governmental structures in order to change
them. The involvement of all sections of society in the
construction of the new order will ensure the speedy adoption of
the necessary measures, so that in this process the very nature of
government, as we visualise it today, will change....
Government is organisation of relation****ps. There must be some
structure or organisation where decisions are taken for certain
results to pertain. That is government; whether it is on a
community level, a personal level, or an international level, it
would still have some formal structure. What I am suggesting is
that the governmental system will change by the participation of
*all* sections of society in this process of change. (Benjamin
Creme, *The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom*)
Everything is moving so fast now that events are beyond the
control of the politicians. All political systems that divide the
world, that create rich and poor, will come to an end. A new
political era has begun in which awareness informs everyone of
their basic human rights, their liberties and their
responsibilities to themselves and each other. (Maitreya,
*Maitreya's Teachings -- the Laws of Life*)
>>>New economic structure based on sharing
Every nation will be asked to make over in trust for the world
what they have in excess of their needs; from that common pool the
needs of all will be met. The process of redistribution, and the
rationalization of our economic structures, will itself
rationalize the overproduction process. (Benjamin Creme, *The Art
of Co-operation*)
Third World debt -- The debt will be written off. There is no
possibility of doing anything else. There is no way in which this
debt can be recovered. It is not through an increased burden on
taxpayers in creditor nations that the solution will be found to
this dilemma. Instead, money which has hitherto been spent on
defence will be found to meet this situation. Defence will no
longer be the first priority as tensions begin to decrease around
the world. (Maitreya, *Maitreya's Teachings -- the Laws of Life*)
Money multiplied by money contributes to the stress of modern
life. Money is not the priority; sufficiency is the priority. When
sufficiency becomes the priority, it orders society in a different
way, creating stability. In this regard, sharing is both a moral
value and a method of implementation. This will create a more
peaceful atmosphere, in which people will not struggle to make
millions. They will fulfil their duties, care for their families,
and children will be able to evolve. (Maitreya, *Maitreya's
Teachings -- the Laws of Life*)
>>>Technology of Light
The Technology of Light is going to have a powerful effect on the
economy of the world ... It is obviously going to simplify the
political and economic structures of our world profoundly, quite
apart from its application to medicine. Anything that gives
unlimited, unpolluting power will change every aspect of life.
(Benjamin Creme, *The Great Approach*)
The technology of light is the technology that will meet all our
energy needs in the 21st century. It will need no huge budgets to
maintain because it will be devised and controlled by
intellectuals who do not look for billions of pounds of profits to
satisfy them. Once built, the technology will last for 2,500
years, until the next cycle of evolution. (Maitreya, *Maitreya's
Teachings -- the Laws of Life*)
>>>The beautification of our cities
Imagine cities of light lit by Light Itself; nowhere to be found
the squalor and deprivation of today; imagine trans****t, fast and
silent, powered by light alone, the far-off worlds and even the
stars brought within our reach. Such a future awaits the men and
women who have the courage to share. Such a future awaits those
brave ones who love Freedom. Such a glorious future awaits those
who long to understand the meaning and purpose of life. (The
Master -, from 'The Blueprint of the future')
Gardens -- The time is coming when every house will have a garden.
The flowers growing there, of different colours, are the symbols
of the children of the Earth. Where you live, sleep and eat, your
symbol of God is a garden. Spend at least 10 to 15 minutes a day
looking after it, growing things in it, and come very close to Me.
A mystery will evolve from that garden, cleansing mind and spirit.
(Maitreya, *Maitreya's Teachings -- The Laws of Life*)
[End of extract]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR -- a selection
When writing to the *Share International* letters page, please
indicate if you wish your name to be withheld. In the absence of
any indication the editors will assume that your name may be
printed. Due to an ever-increasing number of letters received, it
may take many months before your letter is published. Please
refrain from sending your letter more than once -- as this can
cause delays and confusion.
>>>Unmissable
Dear Editor,
My grandson Joseph, aged 19, who is mixed race English/Arab, and
was having a lot of emotional problems, woke up one morning with a
sign of a perfect cross outlined in red over his left breast. We
took it to be a sign of a blessing. It took a week to fade and
things started to get better for him after this.
What do you think it might have been?
P.C., Southend-on-Sea, Es***, UK.
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that 'the cross' was a blessing
from the Master Jesus.)
[To see the photo of this blessing go to
share-international.org/magazine/SI_current.htm#letters]
>>>Seal of approval
Dear Editor,
In Vienna, on 4 December 2007, there was an Alternative Energy
talk given by Dr Matthes Haug from Germany. He has a team that has
developed an effective alternative way to power a car, heat a
house, etc, called a Hurricane Energy Transformer (HET). He has
also stated that his team has solved the problem of harnessing and
using radiant energy from the etheric field, which Einstein and
Tesla noted and experimented with.
During his talk, I sat in the back row. Just as it began, a man
with dark hair, a thick moustache and a dark suit sat down in
front of me and to the right. As the talk progressed, Dr Haug was
asked many times, very pointedly, if he was going to develop this
great new technology with the best interests of humanity in mind?
He answered these questions in a way that would please God and
Maitreya. Often, when he answered, the man in front of me would
clap in an exaggeratedly loud way, even when no-one else was
clapping, or he would almost jump out of his seat with enthusiasm.
After the talk, and before the question-and-answer period, I
noticed him, and even though feeling a bit shy, wanted to find out
more about him. I approached him twice, but both times he smiled
at me and excused himself, saying we would talk later. I noticed a
distinct blue dot in the middle of his forehead. Also, the first
time I looked at him, his eyes and the 'eye-area' of his face were
difficult to see and focus on: it was like he was wearing a mask.
The second time I spoke with him it was impossible to even look
into his eyes. The eyes and the 'eye-area' seemed to dissolve when
you looked straight at him -- it was like looking into outer space
on a dark night. After the question-and-answer session I looked
for him but he was nowhere to be found.
Was this man Maitreya or another Master?
R.L., Vienna, Austria.
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that the man was Maitreya.)
>>>Generous guide
Dear Editor,
On 31 July 2007, in the afternoon, as we were walking to find a
crop circle at West Kennet in Wilt****re, England, we were not sure
if we were on the right road and asked the way of a lady who was
making a turn with her campervan on the road. She was a slim
English lady in jeans, with blond hair and strong blue eyes, aged
between 50 and 55 years. She told us she would take us for about a
mile and drop us near the Long Barrow. She opened the back door of
the camper and we climbed inside a very dark room. We sat on what
looked to be a small bed. The lady opened the door again to show
us how we could open it from inside if anything should happen.
We looked around us: the place was totally closed. It was as if we
had changed worlds. The place was full of odd and weird items: on
the left there was an old gas cooker held tight with ropes, on the
right there was an old furnace for wood and coal with a chimney
which looked as though it had not been used for a long time, a
large picture of a crop circle half pinned on the wall, and
hanging from the ceiling there was a lantern for candles but no
candle inside. We do not remember exactly all the other things
that were inside but we remember the feeling of being in a
different world, we could not find any answer to all the questions
this situation raised inside of us.
After a ride of about 10-15 minutes, the camper stopped, the lady
came to open the door to let us out and told us that we were near
the place where we wanted to go. We thanked her a lot and she went
away. We had the feeling our meeting was not ordinary.
Who was this lady who allowed us to have such an unusual
experience?
C.S. and N.W., Lausanne, Switzerland.
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that the 'lady with the
campervan' was the Master Jesus.)
>>>Act of faith (1)
Dear Editor,
I had met and married a woman with five children in Venice Beach,
California late 1967. Early 1968 we bought an old Ford Falcon
station wagon and decided to drive across America with the kids,
and our two dogs to New York, then visit England, and on to India
to study at Sri Aurobindo's ashram. We had no money but lots of
faith that the universe would take care of us.
The eve of our departure we had a visitor, a man named Claire
accompanied by a young woman. He said that they had come to sit
vigil over us before our journey. We were well known in the
community so we figured he had heard about our plans. We all ate
together and our talk was of an esoteric nature as we were deeply
interested in anything spiritual.
My wife and I retired for the night and awoke the next morning to
find Claire and his companion still there. They bid us God speed
and we set off on our journey. I have often wondered about that
couple. Could they have been Masters?
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that the man was Maitreya and
the 'woman' was the Master Jesus.)
>>>Act of faith (2)
Dear Editor,
By 1970 my wife had given birth to my first son, her 6th child, in
Nice, south of France. We were living in a small village inland
from Nice in the Alpes Maritimes by the good grace of Princess
Grace of Monaco (that's another story!)
It was time to leave and the battery of our Austin van that we
lived and travelled in was dead. No one in the small village had a
battery charger so we decided to charge it ourselves. We placed it
in the middle of our living room surrounded by flowers, pictures
of beloved saints and gurus, our children and friends, and we
chanted mantras, and Om'ed. We put it back in the van, which also
had a cracked block because we had failed to put anti-freeze in
during the wintry months of our stay. A group of officials from
the Palace of Monaco had come to see us off and to the utter
surprise of the villagers we started up the van and went on our
way.
Did we really energise the battery or did we get some help?
M.F., Santa Monica, California, USA.
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that the help came from
Maitreya.)
>>>Amsterdam UFOs
Dear Editor,
In early November 2007, I had just arrived at the Share
International Nederland Information Centre in Amsterdam for
Transmission Meditation when a group of us watched as several
'orange balls' floated across the sky one after the other. The
person who first spotted them moving in various formations had
seen them as she cycled to the Centre.
The lights moved slowly and in a steady, almost straight line;
they seemed spherical and made no noise. We counted about 10 craft
of some kind. Could they have been space****ps? If so, which planet
did they come from?
A.A., Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
(Benjamin Creme's Master confirms that the 'orange balls' were
indeed spacecraft from the planet Mars. There were, in fact, 20
such craft.)
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS -- a selection
Questions dealing with the activities of Maitreya and the
Hierarchy of the Masters of Wisdom, and about the Ageless Wisdom
Teachings, which have not been answered in his books, are
answered by Benjamin Creme in this section. Benjamin Creme does
not seek to set himself up as an arbiter of the authenticity of
other groups' activities and communications. Please refrain
from posing such questions.
Send your written questions to: Share International/Questions,
PO Box 3677, London NW5 1RU, UK.
Q. The world's economic crisis looks set to continue gradually
sliding towards a point of no-return. It makes me wonder whether
Maitreya has 'pulled the plug' or 'cut off' all energy to the
international financial system. Is it possible for Him to cut off
energy to such systems?
A. Maitreya could do this but He would not do so. It would be a
complete infringement of our free will which the Masters never do.
Q. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has been in Europe lecturing
at, appealing to, and threatening members of NATO, saying that
NATO countries cannot opt out of fighting the war on terrorism and
that their troop commitment is needed to achieve "victory in
Afghanistan" and to defeat Al-Qaeda. (1) Is it time for NATO
countries to refuse to sup****t the US so-called 'war on terror'?
(2) Should NATO re-think its remit? (3) If the populations of
Europe are against further military commitment and make their
stance known, forcing the US to go it (more or less) alone, would
that hasten US withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq?
A. (1) Yes, if they have the will and the nerve. (2) Yes. (3) Yes.
Q. Chad is a very poor country, but it has oil. Is this the real
cause of the turmoil and fighting there at present?
A. Yes.
Q. A number of African countries are experiencing what is called
the 'curse of natural resources' or the 'curse of oil'. Rows over
who gets the benefit from oil and mineral ex****ts are said to be
key factors behind conflicts in Nigeria's Delta region, Angola,
the Democratic Republic of Congo and numerous other African
nations. (1) Is this really the case? (2) The World Bank and the
IMF are frequently involved; is their involvement also a factor in
the conflicts?
A. (1) Yes. (2) Yes.
Q. Would the use of a truth and reconciliation approach, as now
advocated by Kofi Annan, help solve the current civil conflict in
Kenya?
A. Yes, if achievable.
Q. Was Maitreya present at your Amsterdam lecture on 26 September
2007?
A. He was present until the break. When I say Maitreya was
present, He was not necessarily present as He is, as He looks.
Maitreya and many of the Masters use what is called a 'familiar'.
They create a figure, a man or a woman, sometimes a child, into
which part of Their consciousness is deposited. That 'person'
looks totally acceptable as a real person. They can do this very
quickly.
Maitreya can make Himself invisible and then come back into a room
as a different person because it is all done by thought. He just
thinks of Himself as this rather beautiful young woman or an aged
old woman with one tooth. Very often there is something odd about
it....
Q. Were the Buddhist monks who were protesting in September 2007
against the government in Burma inspired by Maitreya?
A. No they are not inspired by Maitreya, not directly, but they
are inspired by the energy which Maitreya pours into the world.
This creates the desire in people everywhere for freedom, for
justice, for, in other words, right relation****p. If there is no
freedom or justice there cannot be peace or right relation****p.
You can see this all over the world. People everywhere are
demanding their rights: freedom, justice and the sharing of the
world's resources. All of this comes from their response to the
energy and, to some extent, to the thoughts and ideas of Maitreya
from a subtle level.
You will see, when Maitreya speaks on television and radio, how
many thousands or millions of people will say: "That is what we
want. We want to do this; we want right relation****p. We want the
end of war and terrorism and hunger," and so on."
Humanity, then, is stimulated and activated to demand these
things. In this way the educated, focused will of humanity creates
a world public opinion against war, against terrorism, and calls
for justice and sharing. Thus Maitreya does not impose, but
humanity, stimulated by Maitreya, does the work.
Millions are marching already throughout the world, not everyday
nor week, but this action will grow more and more until the
governments of the world will be faced with thousands and
sometimes millions of people demanding their rights, demanding
work or peace or sharing and justice, until the governments have
to concede.
Maitreya is stimulating this all the time. He goes to every big
march; at every big demonstration Maitreya is there for part of
the time.
Q. What kind of activities are destructive to group work?
A. The most im****tant thing in this work is to create the right
kind of impression so that others see you as a model of right
relation****p.
For example, people may come to a meeting and hear the group
members speaking about the ideas. They may feel interested. They
recognize the suffering of the millions of people which is being
discussed by the group, but they also see the way the group
members are behaving. They may not like them. The group members
may seem to be arrogant. They may seem fanatical. They may be
thrusting their ideas at the audience and are impatient with the
audience's response or lack of response. In other words, people
judge the information as true or false depending on how group
members handle themselves. If you are arrogant, competitive,
one-sided, you are not presenting the work in the right way. That
would be harmful to the image of the group. If you don't respect
people who come to listen, it harms the image created by the group
and the message given.
One of the most destructive elements is competition. Some members
may feel superior to the others. They may have been longer in the
group, for example. They think they know all the answers and that
they are more effective than the newer members. That is very
destructive and very harmful to right group relation****ps. Equally
harmful are new members who think they have come among old fogies.
They have everything to learn, but they think they are the ones to
teach. Over-enthusiastic newcomers are very tiresome to the old
members and can be very destructive over a period of time.
Another activity which is harmful, which may appear to be nothing
at all, but is very destructive to group relations is gossiping.
Gossiping destroys group relation****ps because it destroys trust.
It should be excluded from every group that wishes to progress. It
is a huge barrier to the spiritual tension a group is trying to
uphold.
There are many things that can harm the group. It is like a tender
little plant needing very careful nurturing and looking after.
I suppose, as the Master Djwhal Khul has written in the Alice
Bailey teachings, that the underlying quality that all groups
require is unspoken, non-sentimental love as the basis of their
work. They need a deep, profound sense of love and unity in the
work they are doing, and a total respect for each individual in
the group. That of course is the ideal.
THE EMERGENCE OF THE WORLD TEACHER -- IN BRIEF
All the great religions posit the idea of a further revelation
to be given by a future Teacher. Christians hope for the return
of the Christ, the Buddhists look for the coming of another
Buddha (the Lord Maitreya), while Muslims await the Imam Mahdi,
the Hindus a reincarnation of Krishna, and the Jews the Messiah.
Students of the esoteric tradition know all these as different
names for the same individual -- the Lord Maitreya, the World
Teacher, the head of the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters, and they
look for His imminent return now.
In July 1977, Maitreya emerged from His centre in the Himalayas,
when least expected, "like a thief in the night". Since then, He
has lived in London as an ordinary man concerned with modern
problems -- political, economic and social. Since March 1978, He
has been emerging as a spokesman in the Pakistani-Indian
community. He is not a religious leader, but an educator in the
broadest sense -- pointing the way out of the present world
crisis. According to esoteric teaching, Maitreya manifested
Himself 2,000 years ago in Palestine by overshadowing His disciple
Jesus -- now the Master Jesus. This time Maitreya has come
Himself.
Maitreya's spiritual teaching: Maitreya does not intend to build
a new religion around Himself, nor to create followers, but to
teach humanity "the art of Self-realization". The first steps are
"honesty of mind, sincerity of spirit and detachment."
Maitreya's social concern is reflected in His list of priorities:
an adequate supply of the right food, adequate housing and shelter
for all, healthcare and education as a universal right. His
social message can be summarized in a few words: "Share and save
the world." Maitreya knows we will accept His advice and that we
are on the threshold of an era of peace and goodwill.
Since late 1991, Maitreya has been carrying out a series of
appearances like the one in Nairobi, Kenya. There, on 11 June
1988, He appeared miraculously, "out of the blue", at an
open-air prayer/healing meeting. He was photographed addressing
(in their own language) thousands of people who instantly
recognized Him as the Christ. Similar events have now been
witnessed by large numbers in different countries. In this way,
more and more people will receive proof of His presence and,
hopefully, in due course will demand media response. Maitreya
expects this approach to lead to the Day of Declaration, when He
will leave no doubt that He is the World Teacher. Maitreya will
mentally 'overshadow' all of humanity simultaneously. Each of
us will hear His words inwardly, telepathically, in our own
language, and all will know that the World Teacher is now among
us.
The information about Maitreya's emergence has been presented to
the public since 1974 by Benjamin Creme, chief editor of the
magazine *Share International*. His training for this work,
under a Master of Wisdom, began in 1959.
To summarize the historical perspective:
1982, 14 May: Creme reveals during a press conference in Los
Angeles that Maitreya lives in the Asian community in London,
and challenges the media to invite Maitreya to come forward.
Unfortunately, the media do not react.
1987, August: Benjamin Creme announces: "In the coming three
or four months, Maitreya will be working intensively to bring
about a breakthrough in international relation****ps in the
world." Less than a month later, the breakthrough comes, in the
political meetings between the Americans and the Soviets,
followed by the armaments agreement in December that no one had
thought possible.
1988: Maitreya appears, both in person and in dreams, to
well-known leaders in various countries, and to many ordinary
citizens. Manifestations of crosses of light are re****ted in
the US media and are seen by many thousands.
1989/2001: Crosses of Light are seen and filmed, from Canada to
Japan and from the Philippines to Slovenia.
1995, Sept/Oct: Peope world-wide witness the miraculous
disappearance of milk offered to statues of Hindu gods.
1991/2002: Maitreya appears miraculously before large groups of
people all over the world. In Tlacote (Mexico), Nordenau
(Germany) and Nadana (India) healing wells charged by Maitreya
attract growing numbers of visitors. By means of these
'miracles', Maitreya seeks to create a climate of hope and
expectancy in which He can emerge as the Teacher for all
humanity.
Since April 1988, through one of Maitreya's closest associates
in the Asian community of London, *Share International* has
received a series of articles. These outline Maitreya's
teachings and draw attention to developments which He expects to
take place in the world.
Outer events have demonstrated Maitreya's insight. As early as
1988, He foresaw the release of Nelson Mandela and the process of
*detente* in South Africa. Again in 1988, when Mrs Thatcher was
at the very peak of her powers, Maitreya said that she would
resign. In the same year He stated that governments everywhere
would have to give way to the "voice of the people", a statement
which found its most impressive proof in Eastern Europe.
Furthermore, Maitreya forecast the cease-fire between Iran and
Iraq; the withdrawal of foreign troops from Angola; the global
*rapprochement* between guerrilla forces and national governments;
the Armenian earthquake in 1988, and those in California and China
in 1989; the internal problems of the Soviet Union; the
establishment of peace in the Lebanon. In 1988 He promised:
"Many people will be healed from AIDS through the practice of
prayer". Dutch television announced in October 1995 that more
that 400 people have been cured of AIDS through prayer in Uganda.
Maitreya also forecast the election of a Democrat as President of
the United States and the positive developments in the relation
between Israel and the Palestinians. (Statement made in 1988:
"The Israeli army, against all expectations, will withdraw from
the West Bank and Gaza and return to its homeland.")
*A major event* which, Maitreya says, we may expect to see in the
near future and which he announced as early as 1988: *an
international stock market crash, beginning in Japan*.
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