From: Raymond_Shaw@mindlink.bc.ca (Raymond Shaw)
Subject: Share International magazine:  November 1992 issue
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 16:29:22 GMT

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NOVEMBER 1992 issue                                     Volume 11 Number 9
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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 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 and Japanese.

SHARE INTERNATIONAL has two general editors:  Peter Liefhebber, a Dutch
journalist concerned with the creation of a new world economic order; and
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

Waiting for the New
by the Master --

Editorial:  Europe does not exist

Small is possible
Interview with George McRobie
by Diana Holland

Cold fusion:  a glimpse into the future
by Connie Hargrave

Peace and quiet:  a programme for children
Interview with Senior Swami Nirliptananda
by Brian James

Questions & Answers

Background Information

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) 1992 Share International.
All Rights Reserved.

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WAITING FOR THE NEW
by the Master --,  through Benjamin Creme

        The world is waiting.  Not with bated breath but with a growing sense
that events are moving towards a crisis, the outcome of which is unclear.  No
one knows how things will turn.  The professionals, politicians and
economists alike, flounder helplessly in the cross-currents, unable to plan
in theconflicting directions they are forced to take.  Daily, new problems
arise to test the goodwill of the most enlightened, while, behind the scenes,
the ruthless greed of speculation brings nations to their knees.

        Whenever such a situation arises, men grow fearful, and when in fear
they strike out in anger.  Thus it is today in many parts of the world.  A
growing intolerance, of refugees, of foreigners, discolours the democratic
process, as living standards fall and security is threatened. Political
extremists, waiting in the wings, seize their opportunity, and emerge to lead
unthinking youth in imitation of the past.

Chaos

        Nothing can halt this slide towards chaos, as market forces crush the
life of men in their unholy grip.  Nothing can save this civilization, based
as it is on competition and greed.  The old order is dying; nay, it is
already dead.  Commercialization, another name for mammon, has usurped the
law and become the state religion around the world.

        Were men alone in this maelstrom, pitiful would be their plight, sad
indeed would be their fate.  Nowhere could they turn for succour, no one
could they ask for aid.  Forces quite beyond their control would drive them
remorselessly to war and FINIS would be written large over man's life on
Earth.

        However, man is not alone nor ever has been, but, buttressed by his
Elder Brothers, he makes his journey under supervision and guidance; not
alone, but in the safe company of those who have gone before and know well
the way.

Storm

        Into the centre of the storm this group of Elder Brothers is
returning. One by one, They take Their places in your midst, ready when
called upon to offer Their advice and help.  For centuries have They awaited
this opportunity to work directly in the world of men.  Now They come,
bearing gifts of wisdom and love.  Under Their leader, the Lord Maitreya,
They will turn men away from the brink of self-destruction and open a new
chapter in the history of the race.  From the ruins of the old, a new
civilization will be built by human hands under the inspiration of Maitreya
and His Group.  Fear not, for the end is already known.  Humanity will
overcome this time of crisis and enter into a new and better relationship
with itself, its planet and its Source.  Maitreya has come to make all things
new.  Knowingly or not, the world is waiting for the new.

(The Master -- is a senior member of the Hierarchy of the Masters of Wisdom;
His name, well-known in esoteric circles, is not yet being revealed for
various reasons.  Benjamin Creme is in constant telepathic contact with this
Master who dictates His articles to him.)



EDITORIAL:  EUROPE DOES NOT EXIST

        For quite some time, the role Britain chose to play in the concerted
efforts towards creating an integrated European Community is an old and
familiar one: the solo role of a stubborn, inward-looking island where all
weights, measures and opinions have always differed from the rest of Europe.
The other EC countries have always found British objections to the process of
integration rather annoying.  The EC was patently in fine fettle.  Its
economy was better than ever, wasn't it? And surely it was clear that
competition with America and Japan was providing increasingly interesting
prospects?  Who could withstand the advance of European agriculture?  The
call for closer union within the EC countries became louder -- at least in
Paris and Bonn, Rome and Madrid and other European capitals.  But most
particularly in Brussels, the EC administrative centre of power, which
continued to absorb more and more authority from the various countries
involved.

        Objections to the integration of Europe were seldom heard on the
continent.  That Maitreya's associate indicated on more than one occasion,
within the pages of this magazine, that the EC was heading for shipwreck
reached relatively few ears and appeared to have no substance in any
political reality.  In London itself the pro-European lobby seemed to have
won the day.  Elsewhere the topic was never really seriously in question.
Those who spoke out against unification were automatically dubbed
nationalistic and conservative -- just like obstructionist Britain -- and who
would want to court such name-calling?

        Denmark's rejection of the Maastricht Treaty earlier this year caused
enormous consternation.  In that Dutch city, all EC-governments, including
Britain, had met and agreed to new measures to make monetary union definite.
The subsequent hysterical reactions in political circles, when suddenly the
dream of a strong, centrally-governed European bulwark was threatened, were
very revealing.  The EC train was already on the move, they were adamant, and
nothing and no one could stop it, so the Danes would just have to tag along.
Didn't little Denmark realize this?

        However, Pandora's box had already been opened and in both France and
Germany many began asking questions.  Expecting a resounding pro-European
vote, and so to drown out the voices of doubt and dissent, President
Mitterrand decreed a French referendum on the issue.  On 20 September the
French did say "oui" but with too small a margin to stem the growing tide of
criticism.  Doubts about the future of the EC reached a critical stage when,
and not, coincidentally, in the week just preceding the French referendum,
the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) plunged into an unprecedented currency
crisis.  Central banks lost billions in their futile efforts to halt the
collapse of the weak currencies within the system -- the Italian lira and the
British pound.  The goings-on in this hectic week shed interesting light, not
only on the measure of real unity within the EC but also on the true nature
of the international financial system.  We are expected to believe that in
itself it serves the interests of all, through rational, almost
scientifically-dictated, laws.  In reality however, the financial markets are
dominated by speculators who obey only one law -- their own interests.
Billions and billions of British pounds and hundreds of billions of lire
changed hands within the space of a few days.  Speculators cashed in their
gains, London and Rome (and thus British and Italian taxpayers) paid up.
Apparently stock markets and banks are not going to be dictated to by the
laws of the EC -- that monster so feared by Tokyo and New York.  At leas this
showed where the real power lies.

        The partial collapse of the ERM clarified another issue: a unified
Europe is a fiction, a bureaucrat's dream.  Not only are the financial
interests and aims of the EC member states widely divergent but the same
holds true politically.  Whenever complex and sensitive questions are at
stake, the EC appears to be an illusion.  Its weak, vacillatory and
inconsistent efforts vis-a-vis the civil war in former Yugoslavia speak
volumes.  Here, too, the EC would seem to be a 'clay-footed giant', the butt
only of furtive laughter in Belgrade.

        Naturally, the EC is doing all it can to maintain a semblance of
unity. It might be wiser for the politicians to admit they are attempting the
impossible.  Countless Europeans were alerted to this fact by Denmark. Its
resistance to the Maastricht Treaty stems not from "conservatism" or
"nationalism"; on the contrary, the Danes are among the most forward-looking
nations in the world.  They are emphatically in favour of co-operation within
the EC and comply very faithfully with more of the rules and regulations
formulated by Brussels than any other EC country, the British coming a close
second.  But when it comes to laws which decide their fate, these countries
want to be in control and to have the final say.  This is the true heart of
the matter -- not some putative economic advantages.

        Inevitably, this realization will dawn in other European countries.
It would therefore be a wise move for the EC to stand still now.  Even if
there is a tiny majority in favour of unification, its views should not be
imposed on the rest.  Such vital issues cannot and should not be decided by a
small majority of votes, although, judged by conventional norms, it might
appear democratic.

        Democratic is precisely what the Maastricht Treaty is not, as even
fervent pro-Europe lobbyists are now hesitantly acknowledging.  The autonomy
and authority of national governments would, in the terms of the Treaty, be
undermined in the field of economics and also of justice and security.  On
the other hand, the Treaty has little or nothing to offer socially or with
regard to laws governing environmental issues.  This might seem favourable
within the parameters of this argument but this is not the case: there is
little room for countries to develop their own policies, in whatever area, if
they are bound hand and foot to financial and fiscal regulations formulated
elsewhere.

        Politicians wanting unlimited power and uniformity will regret this
fact, but the Scots are not Italians, the Danes are not Greeks. Nations have
their own very individual historic and cultural identity which, as
esotericism postulates, is energetically determined.  The resulting
differences between nations cannot be erased by some artifice. Europe does
not exist, except as a patchwork-quilt of different nations. Harmonious,
voluntary, peaceful co-operation among the citizens of all countries is the
obvious goal.  Enforced equalization or alignment imposed from above will,
however, only defeat that purpose.



SMALL IS POSSIBLE
Interview with George McRobie
by Diana Holland

George McRobie, along with the late E. F. Schumacher, inaugurated the
appropriate technology movement in the 1960's.  McRobie also helped found
TOES (The Other Economic Summit) and the New Economics Foundation in London,
which seeks to bring human and environmental factors into economic
decision-making processes.  McRobie is  the president of the Soil Association
in Britain.  Diana Holland interviewed him for Share International.


Share International:  It has been over 25 years since you co-founded the
Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) in 1965 with E. F.
Schumacher, the author of *Small is Beautiful*.  The premises were that
developing countries need appropriate technology (AT) -- small, simple,
capital-saving and non-violent; that such technology could be developed and
introduced by your group; and that a shift in development and aid mechanisms
could be facilitated this technology.  In terms of a report card, how
successful have you been?

George McRobie:  When we started the ITDG, Schumacher's warning was that the
developing countries were relying at their peril on rich-country
technologies.  The large-scale, energy-intensive approach of the North could
but exacerbate Third World problems of minimal employment possibilities,
rapid internal migration and urban sprawl, and dependence on richer nations
for spare parts, skills and markets.  Rural cultures, structures and local
markets were bound to break down in the race to emulate Northern lifestyles.

        The ITDG started with two people and a small office in London. Today
it employs about 200 people in nine countries, working on programmes in
agriculture and fisheries, mineral industries and shelter, rural workshops
and manufacturing, and renewable energy research.  There are at least 20
similar AT organizations around the world and I can confidently state that
over a wide range of human activities, especially those related to the
provision of basic human needs, appropriate technology choices are available
to any country interested in acquiring and developing them.


SI:  Can you briefly describe for our readers some of the success stories?

GM:  After numerous attempts in many locations, a deepwell hand pump was
developed in India, where 120-150 million villagers now have access to a
community water supply at a per capita cost of less than one dollar a year.
In Kenya, a low-cost process for manufacturing fibre-reinforced roofing tiles
has been developed which is easily applicable in most Third World countries.
The introduction of a small oil press and associated equipment to small
farmers in Cameroon is likely to raise their incomes by at least 50 per cent.
A revolving local fund both finances the production of the equipment and
enables groups of local farmers first to lease it and then purchase it out of
their increased incomes.

        In South India, at least 2,000 fishermen are earning a good living
using plywood fishing boats built and repaired locally.  A mango tree can now
be 'unrolled' into plywood to make many boats, rather than be made into one
dugout canoe and a heap of wood chips.  Efficient bamboo tube wells have been
developed in Uttar Pradesh at one-third to one-half the cost of a steel tube
well.

        Oral rehydration therapy, which as you know is an inexpensive and
effective way of treating diarrhoea in young children, has spread to
virtually every Third World country in the last 15 years, with about 100
million packets now produced and distributed annually.  Facilitating home
preparation of the basic ORT unit is now being envisaged.  In terms of
appropriate technology initiatives, there have been many 'success stories.'
But other aspects have gone forward as well -- in terms of consciousness, for
example.


SI:  How so?

GM:  In Third World countries, in the development arena itself, powerful
volunteer groups have sprung up which are proceeding to do what the people
want to do, often despite their governments.  There are women's
organizations, such as the Women's Federation of India with tens of thousands
of members, approaching development with an entirely different perspective, a
'people first' orientation based on self-education and personal
responsibility, which is proving highly successful.  Then there are
initiatives such as the Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka which now covers
about 5000 villages and maybe 4 million people, which is dedicated to the
idea of appropriate, simple technology and village self-reliance (see SI May
1983, p. 6; September 1984, p. 10).  I'm sure you have heard of the Grameen
Bank in Bangladesh (see SI, December 1985, October 1988) which will lend
money only to people who have nothing... a very attractive idea!

        In sum, a growing number of developing countries are beginning to
apply alternatives to conventional aid programmes, which saddle them with
technology that does not work under their circumstances, which they cannot
afford to purchase or maintain, and which loads them with debt they have no
hope of repaying.  In essence, the conventional aid and development process
has already reached a dead end, but like all dinosaurs, it takes a long time
to die.


SI:  What changes have occurred in the developed world, getting back to the
report card?

GM:  As I see it, we have come a long way in consciousness-raising, but have
yet to modify our behaviour to any significant extent.  Twenty or 30 years
ago, people were gripped by the idea of continuous growth fueled by cheap,
inexhaustible and secure oil reserves.  The rich countries would grow even
richer thanks to endless technological advances on the horizon, most people
thought, and the developing countries needed only to emulate the North to
become rich as well.  As it turned out, oil has proven to be an ecological
disaster, and conventional growth is destroying the face of the Earth.  We
have run smack into the wall of the three collisions Schumacher and I were
predicting: conventional growth versus the people, who are alienated by a
lack of meaningful employment and no longer enchanted with or capable of
unbridled consumerism; growth versus the environment, which is polluted from
its ground waters and soils up to its very atmosphere; and growth versus the
resource base, which has proven not only finite but fragile.


SI:  So where are we now? What is the bottom line?

GM:  We have essentially come full-circle, and the interesting part is that
we now have to adopt appropriate technology in the developed world just as we
have been attempting to do in the South.  More and more people understand
that we cannot continue along the path of conventional growth, at this rate
at least, for much longer.  Even politicians, publicly heralding a 'recovery'
right around the corner, privately realize that we have reached an impasse:
the old structures are breaking down before our eyes and none of the
conventional solutions are working.  In fact, a miracle recovery, if it did
begin tomorrow, would spell disaster, as we would then be consuming our
imperiled resources at an even faster clip.


SI:  So what do you suggest?

GM:  For one thing, we need to pose our economic questions differently.
Instead of determining simply whether a monetary profit can be made from a
proposed venture, we need to determine whether it is good for the people, the
environment and the resource base.  If it does damage to all three, clearly
it is unacceptable.  If it does minimal damage, or even some good, then by
all means the project should be initiated.

        As I see it, the only place where change can be successfully
implemented is at the local community level.  In the ideal scenario, the
community goes through a process of self-evaluation, for which many models
are available.  Then, for example, it designs the local economic activities
in such a way that the output of one activity becomes the input for the next,
with a view to maximizing income generation and circulation. The community
might then tackle its next priority, such as the implementation of policies
and mechanisms for energy conservation. Self-reliance is the key, where the
local people themselves do the thinking, the prioritizing and the
implementing of their plans for action.

        However, a big education job needs to be done in this respect,
because people have been conditioned over the past 50 or 100 years to see
themselves as consumers rather than producers.  People need to find out that
there are alternatives to the top-down "mega" model, and that those
alternatives work.  Publications such as yours play a vital role in the
process by spreading knowledge about the alternatives.  It boils down to
giving people a choice.


SI:  What do you suggest as the priorities for local development?

GM:  Some of the factors are pretty obvious, such as:

-- a determined programme of energy conservation, including the elimination
of nuclear power and the development of renewable energy sources;

-- a transport policy that rapidly reduces the damage done by the internal
combustion engine, and promotes the substitution of public for private
transport, and the use of low energy transport, preferably coupled with
high-density, distinct neighbourhoods rather than miles of suburbs;

-- the substitution of human skills for capital and energy in goods
production, and the gradual introduction of product standards and
specifications leading to the development of long-life products that can
readily be repaired, renewed or recycled;

-- a rapid transition towards organic (non-chemical) agriculture, and the
preservation of our clean water tables, genetic diversity and soil
conditions;

-- the decentralization and localization of economic activity coupled with
the promotion of democratic forms of ownership and control by workers and
communities.


SI:  What should be the role of market forces?

GM:  Market forces are a good servant but a poor master.  They provide an
effective mechanism for the distribution of goods, but the full cost of those
goods, including their social and environmental costs and impacts need to be
factored in.  Amory Lovins, (ed:  an American appropriate technology guru),
estimates that the average lettuce travels 1000 miles by truck between being
produced in California and consumed in Philadelphia, for example.  When the
hidden costs of production are factored in, such as heavy subsidization of
water in California, the ecological damage to the water table and bird and
insect life through the use of fertilizer and pesticides and the unassessed
damage to human health of eating chemical foods, the real cost of that
lettuce is so high that we should put it in a glass case and admire it!


For more information:  Information Officer, Intermediate Technology
Development Group, Myson House, Railway Terrace, Rugby, CV21 3HT, UK; tel.
0788 560631.



COLD FUSION:  A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE
by Connie Hargrave

"The fusion process is the method for the immediate future.  It will use a
form of nuclear energy derived from a single isotope of water.  It is safe
and superabundant in the waters of the oceans and rivers of the world. This
nuclear fusion uses not heat, but a cold process, and will be used relatively
very soon. . ."  (Benjamin Creme in *The Reappearance of the Christ and the
Masters of Wisdom*, 1979)


Russ George has followed his scientific curiosity down many strange paths. He
has done environmental impact studies in Canada's North, and made television
documentaries on the environment.  But Russ George has outdone himself with
his latest research venture which, surprisingly, has led him to head up a new
company in Washington, DC.  Clustron Sciences Corporation will be utilizing a
discovery which Russ George says is "launching the birth of a new physics",
and, according to some scientists, just slightly less important than the
discovery of fire.

        After the first announcement by Drs Fleischmann and Pons in 1989 of
successful attempts at cold fusion, Russ George began collecting everything
possible on the subject, including detailed information on all experiments
done around the world.  Gathering this information was akin to detective
work, because virtually nothing has been published on the topic. Scientists
have generally ignored or discredited the discovery because they could not
explain all the facts involved in the cold fusion reaction, nor could they
consistently replicate the experiments.  The cold fusion phenomenon does not
obey the rules of a chemical or nuclear reaction, and could not even be
adequately explained by Drs Fleischmann and Pons who first announced it.  It
has therefore remained a mystery.

        Many pieces of the cold fusion puzzle have come together as a result
of information-sharing.  Japanese scientists had established an experimental
process which could be replicated, and George's colleague was able to
convince them to share the results of their experiments.  In seeking out cold
fusion experts in the US with whom to share this information, Russ George was
led to Ronald Brightsen, formerly a senior executive with the US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.  For the last 30 years Brightsen has worked on
developing a new model of the atom that, he believes, explains nuclear
fission more completely than does the traditional model.  Upon examining
George's information, Brightsen recognized that his new model of the atomic
nucleus might also explain cold fusion.

        Cold fusion is a phenomenon that occurs when ordinary hydrogen and an
isotope of hydrogen called deuterium -- both of which are abundant in
ordinary water -- are brought together with metals such as palladium,
titanium and lithium.  Cold fusion releases enormous quantities of energy --
hundreds to thousands of times more than ordinary chemical reactions could
possibly yield, and significantly more than nuclear fission.  Cold fusion, in
contrast to hot fusion, occurs in a relatively simple apparatus roughly the
size of a postage stamp.  It also gives off very little, if any, of the
radiation common to fusion and fission.

        One of the reasons that cold fusion experiments have been so
difficult is that the particles emitted are 1,000 times more energetic than
expected, and unlike those emitted from conventional fusion.  As one
scientist put it, "Conducting experiments to detect particles (emitted from
the cold fusion reaction) with the current equipment is like trying to hear a
flashlight on your radio." Cold fusion is a staggering scientific discovery,
George claims, in that the energy it produces is clearly the hallmark of a
process of previously unknown character.  The social and economic
implications are astounding. For instance, there is more potential nuclear
energy in a cubic mile of sea water than in all of the oil, gas, and coal
reserves on Earth. Understanding how to release this energy will be a
revolutionary advance that makes possible dramatic decreases in power
consumption by a broad array of common devices.

        The new model of the atomic nucleus, called the Nucleon Cluster Model
(NCM), will revolutionize a wide range of energy and materials technologies,
its proponents believe.  It may also explain a number of unsolved mysteries
of physics and unlock a wealth of unexpected explanations for many physical
phenomena in addition to cold fusion and fission.  For instance, the energy
from the stars, (such as our sun) was previously believed to be a product of
nuclear fusion.  But there were basic flaws in this explanation, among them
the fact that no one could detect neutrinos emanating from the sun, although
neutrinos are present in all nuclear fusion reactions.  The cold fusion
reaction more closely approximates the energy emitted by the sun and stars.
The amount of radiation produced by the reaction is very small but of
extremely high energy.  One of the implications of the cold nuclear fusion
reaction is that the nucleus of the atom can be affected with much smaller
amounts of energy than previously thought, and that the nuclear forces are
weaker than posited in the original model of the atom.

        "The implications are astounding," says Russ George.  Given that
matter and energy are convertible, this new model will enhance our
understanding of energy, and of how energy and matter are related.  In fact,
positing the Nucleon Cluster Model could eventually be as important as
Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev's 1869 development of the Periodic Table
of the Elements.  "No one has tried to come near this kind of energy before,"
George says, "and founding this new company is like going on a shopping spree
at a sale before all the other shoppers get there."

        On a sobering note, he assured me that "the proof will be in the
pudding"-- the development of  practical applications for this new energy
source.  The situation is like having discovered electricity but still
needing to invent the light bulb.  George's newly-formed company intends to
introduce innovative commercial applications, for example technologies aimed
at converting radioactive waste to a non-radioactive state, and to design a
wide range of heaters based on the development of  new superconductor and
semiconductor formulas.  "This new reaction still needs a popular name," Russ
George mentioned, and I volunteered to think about it and to pass the
challenge on to Share International readers.

        Russ George is certain that this energy source will not be
monopolized by the few as is world's oil today.  "Probably the most difficult
hurdle is that cold fusion seems too fantastic scientifically and too good to
be true economically and socially," he muses, "but cold fusion will likely
revolutionize the world in ways we can barely begin to imagine."

        When one thinks of the people who still do not have access to
electricity and who so painstakingly gather scarce firewood for their heat,
one hopes that this is indeed is the new source of energy that humanity will
share equitably.  One also hopes that the scientist Michael Faraday -- to
whom we owe our electrically-powered civilization -- was right when he said,
"Nothing is too wonderful to be true."



PEACE AND QUIET:  A PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN

Interview with Senior Swami Nirliptananda by Brian James

        "The home and school are the bases of our society.  Huge sums are
spent on hospitals, prisons and weapons.  But the home base and schools are
economically starved.

        "To have a healthy, peaceful and caring society the bonds of
relationship between parents and children and between teachers and pupils
will have to be strengthened.  Society becomes sick and morally degenerated
when these bonds are torn apart.  As a result the world suffers.  If the home
and the school are taken care of the others will take care of themselves."

(Extract from a paper delivered by Swami Nirliptananda to a London conference
organized by the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace, in May this
year.)

        The Senior Swami and his fellow members at their London Temple have
since proposed a simple programme for children based on ancient Hindu
teachings which could be introduced into all our primary schools.  The
programme, which they have called Self-Culture, is aimed at making young
children more aware of themselves and their relationship with the environment
about them.

        Swami Nirliptananda explained why he felt it was necessary to
convince the education authorities that there was an urgent need to introduce
such a programme:  "I feel that education is too isolated from experience in
life.  I believe the programme will help the children to grow up with a more
caring, responsible attitude to the world and the people around them."

        But what did the ancient Hindu philosophers have to offer to
five-to-11-year-old children sitting in a Western classroom?  "The Hindus
have a very old religion and it is not so dogmatic as other religions.  It
was always searching for the truth in an attempt to elevate the soul and the
spirit.  Education and life coincided.

        "Education is not what we get from books, but from experience through
Self-culture," he explained.  "If there is no discipline in the home or in
school what can society expect? There is a moral degeneration, violence and
lack of discipline that is directly due to the wrong type of education, both
academic and religious.

        "Man is basically working only for his needs.  He has lost touch with
himself and is drifting away from the real source of peace and happiness.
Dogma, contradiction and confusion rule him now.  He is not sure which
direction he is growing in.  Only exploitation counts.  It is the spirit of
domination.  Always it is:  'Give me!'"  In spite of being surrounded by high
technology and all the advantages of a developed society, Western man is
still dissatisfied.  All he can do is pursue his greed because he doesn't
have any proper sense of direction and he doesn't know where to turn to
satisfy the emptiness within him.  The Hindu thinker of thousands of years
ago realized that he had to understand more than his immediate needs and what
he saw before him.

        "Man's search needs to be more rational and philosophical, as it was
with the Hindus in ancient times.  This path will give him inner satisfaction
and fulfilment.  It is a quest in meditation -- a Self culture.  At the
moment his body, senses, mind and intellect are not being trained.  He is
unable to tap his inner resources. The mind is extroverted and always
searching for physical and mental satisfaction.  But the body and the senses
are changing all the time and are not providing him with the right
information.  We need to use more of the ancient ways, to look carefully and
analyse our experience to try to get the best and the good from it.  The
analysis must not be superficial but go deeply into things to perceive
reality with greater clarity.

        "Krishna said:  'Subtler than the body are the senses, subtler than
the senses is the mind, subtler than the mind is the intellect, and subtler
than the intellect is the Self -- Atma.'"

        There were two important points to make about man's present
condition, said the Swami.  Firstly, he was not living a moral or ethical
life.  "At the moment he simply milks the earth and throws away what he
doesn't want into the sea and pollutes it.  He must take care of the Earth
and he must learn to love his fellow man and nourish the Earth and its
creatures.

        "Secondly he must look to his own self.  He must ask why he commits
abnormal behaviour and he must become aware of what he is doing. That is the
first step to being Self Conscious.  At the moment he is behaving like a
puppet on a string dancing to someone else's tune.

        "The ignorant man goes after the pleasant, the wise man, after
looking at all sides, chooses the good.  The pleasant is like nectar to begin
with and becomes poison in the end because it destroys our will. The good may
seem like poison to begin with, but it is like nectar in the end."

        Our society grew out of the home and the school, he insisted, and
that was where we had to make a start in giving back that sense of direction
and purpose that led to a balanced life.

        So how would he advise the headmaster of a primary school who came to
him and asked him how he could introduce the Self-Culture programme to his
children?

        "I would tell him that he did not need a special class for this but,
say after taking registration, to tell the children to simply sit down and be
quiet for five minutes.  At the end of that period I would ask the children
to take two or three deep breaths.  There will be no talking to them, just
silence.  It is a common thing to do, it is easy and calming. Silence acts
across all barriers, race and cultures.  It will achieve more than all the
other things that excite them because they are going to feel the experience
of being quiet."  That simple act created its own unique experience for the
child who was used to the confusion and the noise that always surrounded
him."And being quiet will also naturally create control of the body posture.
For silence is not just about making no noise but about sitting still as
well," said the Swami.  This habit of quiet would develop within them,
putting them in touch with their inner Selves. Ultimately it will help them
towards self discipline.  It would be natural proof that their nature was
becoming more harmonized.

        The staff would also be asked to talk to the children about the
environment and the sacredness of life.  "They will learn that the
environment is part of themselves, that they are not living in isolation."
The Senior Swami and his colleagues also planned to devise programmes of
Self-Culture for older children as well as adapting them specifically for
young people with drug and alcohol addiction.

        "We lack that sense of feeling for life generally.  The creatures of
the world live and feel the same way as we do.  But mentally people have
shrunk the world around them so that all they want to do is to exploit it and
use it aggressively.  This is dangerous, for it creates a world of negativity
and they stop caring.  This lack of awareness of other creatures is the
biggest problem of man.  People do not understand themselves and so they
don't realize the impression that sensations have on them that are recorded
in their subconscious.  These negative impressions are stored deep within and
must explode sometime."

        There were plenty of teachings in religion but not of higher
teachings about understanding the Self."  It should not be a question of 'if
what I do pleases God' but 'how what I do directly affects myself and
everyone'." Doing good or harm not only affects others but yourself. Everyone
thinks of 'I' and the 'Other'.  Education divides all the time. But we must
develop the awareness of the unity of life and the harmony and
interdependence of life."



QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Any questions dealing with the activities of Maitreya and the Hierarchy of
the Masters of the Wisdom, and about the Ageless Wisdom Teachings, which have
not been answered in the book *The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters
of Wisdom* or in *Maitreya's Mission* are answered in this section by
Benjamin Creme.

        Send your written questions to:  Share International/Questions, 59
Dartmouth Park Road, London, NW5 1SL, UK.


Q.  Can you please bring us up to date with Maitreya's appearances since
Czechoslovakia on 16 August? Have there been more?

A.  Yes.  On 16 August Maitreya appeared before 600-700 people in Prague and
on 13 September before 400-500 people, also Eastern Orthodox Christians, in
the Slovakian capital Bratislava (where I spoke earlier this year).  He spoke
for 15 minutes in the local language.  There was, apparently, a newspaper
representative present at the meeting.  Water in the vicinity was charged (as
at Tlacote) by Maitreya.  On Sunday 27 September, Maitreya appeared before
800-900 people at a Russian Orthodox Convention in Russia.  Photographs were
taken but no media were present.


Q.  Does Maitreya always charge a well or underground water at these
appearances?

A.  Wherever possible, yes, but this is not always practicable.  I understand
that steps are now beginning to be taken to bring to light some of these
'miracle' water sources.


Q.  On what rays are the avatars who overshadow Maitreya?

A.  One great Being who overshadows Maitreya is called the Spirit of Peace or
Equilibrium, and He is on the 2nd ray.  He works through Maitreya in a
similar manner to the way Maitreya worked through Jesus in Palestine.  He
works with the law of Action and Reaction, which as we know are opposite and
equal.  The effect of this energy in the world is to transform the prevalent
hatred, violence and discord into its opposite, so that we shall enter an era
of tranquillity, peace and poise, in exact proportion to the manifested
discord, violence and tension that we see today.  The more the tension -- the
more the poise, the more the harmony.

        The Avatar of Synthesis is another avatar who works behind Maitreya,
and He has a great rainbow of energies:  1st, 2nd, 3rd, and another aspect
for which we do not even have a name.  It has been suggested by the Master
Djwhal Khul that it could be called the Principle of Directed Purpose.  It is
associated with the 1st ray.


Q.  Why does Share International not publish photographs and short articles
about what Maitreya has said at all those meetings at which he appeared
lately in Mexico, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Middle East,
North Africa, India, Pakistan, etc?  If Share International magazine doesn't
do it who will?

A.  I am afraid you have "the wrong end of the stick", as we say in English.
Share International is only reporting on these appearances of Maitreya and
has no more 'inside' information than anyone else.  We do not have access to
photographs taken by any of the groups involved; we would certainly print
them if we had.  As for what Maitreya says at these meetings, you can be sure
He outlines the problems of separation and injustice facing humanity and
shows sharing and co-operation as the way forward.


Q.  Does Maitreya believe in government or political systems that man should
continue with, or should we have a more spiritual system?

A.  He believes in government, but what we have to realize is that what we
call 'spiritual' has a much wider connotation than so far we have given it.
Until now everything 'spiritual' has to do with religion.  The Master DK has
written that the greatest triumph for the forces of evil on this planet is
that the churches, the religious groups around the world, have been allowed
to monopolize the concept of spirituality:  whatever is religious is
spiritual and everything else is non-spiritual and can be as corrupt as we
like.  Therefore, we have corrupt political and economic structures, corrupt
social structures (and also corrupt religious structures.  The churches are
corrupt, perhaps less so than others, but still corrupt).  We have to enlarge
our concept of spirituality and see that we must have spiritually-based
political and economic structures. That means sharing and justice -- these
are spiritual aspects.  Maitreya says: "Sharing is divine....  When you share
you recognize God in your brother."  This is not just a nice idea, it is a
divine idea.  It is the nature of divinity.  Justice is divine, freedom is
divine, and Maitreya comes to show us how to make justice and freedom through
sharing.  Then we will make spiritually correct political, economic and
religious structures.  We need government to organize the means of living
together in peace and harmony, but He says we should participate -- we get
the politicians we deserve.


Q.  Is it possible to 'fail' an incarnation -- to keep the consciousness but
lose the development of a former existence?

A.  If I understand the question correctly, then yes.  We cannot lose what we
have, but we can stand still or we can backslide by taking on karma. What
holds us back in development is the acquiring of karma.

        All actions create karma.  People think of karma always as 'bad'
karma, but we are creating both good and bad karma all the time: it is only
'bad' if it is painful and 'good' if it is not!  Every action, every thought,
creates a reaction, sets in motion a cause.  The effects stemming from these
causes make our lives for good or for ill.  What holds us back are powerful
actions of harm which create major obstacles to progress.

        When it comes into incarnation the soul sets its vehicle -- the
personality in which it is incarnating -- four projects, four aims or goals
in its life, one of which is always the establishing of right human
relations.

        Whatever the situation, the soul is always creating a repetition of
family relationships: children can be mother or father, mother or father
could be sister or brother, and so on, over and over again, recreating the
same family situations so that the karma can be resolved. In this way the
soul makes possible the creation of right human relationships.  Just by
'knocking the corners off' so often we learn, by sheer pain and suffering,
not to do such and such any more.  It may take for ever, but, eventually, we
learn.

        Each of us comes into life on certain streams of energy, called rays.
The soul ray is always the same for a world cycle, but the personality ray
and the mental, astral and physical-body rays may change over and over again
during that time.  In this way the soul 'rounds off' the personality,
enriching it with all the different ray qualities.

        All rays in their perfect expression have virtues, but the opposite
of these are the 'vices' or 'glamours' of the rays, and some rays are more
prone to vices or glamours than others.  Until we are more evolved, it is
always easier to express the glamours or vices than the virtues.  At certain
times we might enter a cycle of incarnations in which everything goes
smoothly and then suddenly we meet an obstacle that we cannot surmount --
perhaps we do not make the right effort because we are not used to making
effort, having always taken the line of least resistance.  Suddenly, it does
not work any more, and we might find that although we have reached a certain
point we are not making any further progress.  The soul might then bring in a
series of very restricted lives, very hard, simply to overcome karma and
speed up the next incarnation.  It is difficult to explain this, but the
answer to your question, basically, is:  "Yes".


Q.  I would like to ask a question about detachment, because I find it very
difficult to comprehend the state of consciousness where apparently the
emotions don't play on the personality.

A.  Maitreya says there are three things which you have to practise to come
to know the Self: honesty of mind, sincerity of what He calls spirit, and
detachment.  Detachment is detaching yourself from identifying with yourself
as body, mind or spirit.  It is not saying to yourself:  "I mustn't feel
emotions".  Many people suppress their emotions.  To suppress your emotions
is just as bad as indulging your emotions.  What you have to learn to do is
to look at your emotions and not indulge them and not suppress them either.
Not repress them but simply look at them, not identify with them; and if you
do not identify with them you detach from them.  It is like creating a space
between you and them.

        Most people immediately identify with their emotion, whatever it is.
They have done so all their lives and so they take it for granted. They feel
every negative emotion and they think it is their right to experience them.
In fact some people think it is their duty; and I suspect many psychologists
tell their patients that it is their duty to 'emote'.  The point is you have
to be detached, not by detaching from life but to be very aware, to look very
seriously at what is happening but not to identify with it.  This is
difficult because it needs a degree of detachment to do it -- you have to be
there before you can get there!  But it takes just a little space to create a
bigger space.

        The best way I can think of is to study Krishnamurti.  If you put
into practice what you read as you are reading, you create that space. Look
at what you are feeling, allow yourself to feel it but do not indulge it and
do not suppress it or try to get rid of it.  If you fight it it is like the
trials of Hercules:  every time he cut off the hydra's head two grew in its
place.  That is what comes from repression.  What you have to do is to lift
it up, as he did, finally, into the light of day (the light of the soul), and
the hydra died of its own accord.

        Simply look at the feeling and say:  "That is not me.  It wasn't
there yesterday, it won't be there tomorrow, it is not me", and it will go
away. Every time you do this you weaken it.  You withdraw nourishment. Every
time you identify with anything, your energy nourishes it.  Whatever you
focus on, your energy will flow to it and you will strengthen the emotion.
You have to reverse the process and the emotion will die a natural death
through lack of nourishment.

        Detachment is the way to bring about the honesty of mind and the
sincerity of spirit which Maitreya teaches.


Q.  Some Gnostic writers and old Kabalistic works have stated that the real
name of Jesus of Nazareth of the Bible was actually Jushu (Jeshu) or Joshua
Ben Pandira or Panthera.  According to your information, is this correct?

A.  Yes.


Q.  Did Jesus or Jeshu actually live about 100 years before the Biblical time
of Jesus?

A.  No.  Jesus (Jeshu, Jushu) was born in 24 BC.


Q.  Was Jushu (Jesus) stoned to death first as an alleged wizard in the city
of Lud or Lydia, and then hung on a tree or Roman cross?

A.  No.  Jesus was crucified as detailed in the Gospel story.


Q.  I was a soldier in World War 2 and had a feeling at the time that I
fought on the side of light, against darkness, but I felt terrible guilt
afterwards about fighting in that war, and many men with me also felt that.
Should one have felt guilt when one was supposed to be on the side of light
against darkness?

A.  Guilt is a totally unproductive emotion at all times.  You should try to
be as detached from guilt as you would from anger, fear or any other negative
emotion.

        There is no guilt attached to killing in war: the harm is in the
karma of war itself.  We, humanity, create karma for ourselves every time we
create war.  World War 2 was precipitated by the Forces of Evil and had to be
fought, but behind the Allies stood Hierarchy, and every effort was made by
Hierarchy to prevent the war in the first place.  Once it began, however,
They strove to lead it to a successful conclusion for the Allies. In fact, in
1942, Hierarchy appealed to the Lord of the World for permission to release
to the Allied scientists the technology that would lead to the discovery of
the atomic bomb ahead of the Nazis, who were running neck and neck with the
Allies for the successful creation of such a weapon.  If they had made it
ahead of the Allies they would have blackmailed the rest of humanity for
1,000 years.  Humanity would still be in thrall to the forces of evil,
working through a succession of deeply evil men, for centuries.  No, there is
no guilt attached to fighting that.


Q.  Can you please give the ray structure and point in evolution of Phillip
Larkin (1922-1985), the British poet?

A.  Soul 2; Personality 4, sub-ray 6; mental body 6, sub-ray 6; astral body
4, sub-ray 6; physical body 7, sub-ray 3.  He was 1.4 degrees initiate.



BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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.

The preparations for His public emergence have now been completed. Maitreya
is planning 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.  He
now intends to show Himself again to large numbers in different countries.
In this way, more and more people will have proof of His presence and 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, one of the chief editors 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.
1985, 31 July:  Twenty-two journalists representing the media of East and
West gather in the East End of London, hoping for contact with Maitreya or
His representative.  This belated interest from the media makes it possible,
at last, for Maitreya to take the steps that will finally culminate in His
Declaration.
1987, August:  Benjamin Creme announces:  "In the coming three or four
months, Maitreya will be working intensively to bring about a breakthrough in
international relationships in the world."  Less than a month later, in
September, the breakthrough comes, in the 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.  World detente and the
release of tension which ensues allows more open signs of His presence.
Manifestations of crosses of light are reported in the US media and are seen
by many thousands.
1990:  In London, Maitreya initiates a large conference of dignitaries from
around the world.  They include diplomats, royalty, church leaders and
journalists.  Maitreya appeared (and disappeared) several times, and spoke of
His mission, teachings and plans.
1991, 29 September:  Maitreya appears 'out of the blue' before 500 to 600
people in Mexico city.
1992, January-August:  Maitreya appears miraculously before large groups of
people in Mexico, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Middle East,
North Africa, India and Pakistan.

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 and
happenings which He expects to take place in the world, both in the short and
the long term.  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 stood at the very peak of
herpowers, Maitreya said that "her wheel of fortune" had turned against her
and 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, weeks
or months ahead of time, 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; the worldwide trend
towards disarmament and reduction of tension; the increasing impact of
ecological issues.

Some major developments which, Maitreya says, we may expect to see in the
near future: the Palestinians will have their homeland; the Israelis will
greet Palestinians as brothers; the Syrians will leave Lebanon.  Also, there
will be an international stock market crash, beginning in Japan, announced by
Maitreya as early as 1988.



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