The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom
The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, by Benjamin Creme: Review by Maureen Girard  When people hear the claim that someone called Maitreya, a new World Teacher as powerful as the Buddha or the Christ, is in our midst, most are curious about the source, the rationale and the evidence. For 40 years, Benjamin Creme, the main source for this revelation, has  -  patiently and consistently  -  provided the rationale and pointed out mounting evidence that such a remarkable being is, indeed, among us. In The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, first published in the UK in 1979, and in the USA in 1980, Creme narrates the events that led to his pivotal role in Maitreya's Emergence; in addition, he articulates the principles that underlie the Emergence and surveys transformations that have taken place, some that are under way, and others yet to be realized.  Benjamin Creme begins by explaining how a perfectly sensible, practical family man and dedicated artist could set aside his life's work in favor of a very different task  -  one that would consume most of his waking hours and subject him to a wide variety of reactions from others. He relates a series of extraordinary childhood experiences, including the capacity to actually see air and wind  -  not just their effects  -  until he was told by grown-ups that such a thing was impossible. So he stopped noticing. But he did not forget. As a young man he pursued experiments designed to recapture and understand those early experiences in a systematic and scientific manner. In his middle years, he experimented with methods to focus his mind and improve his concentration during meditation. And throughout, he read widely, especially the great Eastern philosophers of the 20th century (a partial list can be found at the end of the book). Although he didn't realize it at the time, Creme was systematically preparing himself for his future role as a spokesperson for Maitreya, the emerging World Teacher.  In the late 1950s, he was telepathically contacted for the first time by his Master*, who he later learned was a senior member of the Spiritual Hierarchy of our planet. The Master gave him a series of transmitted messages containing "advice, guidance or spiritual instruction", which he recorded. Creme's Master also served as a liaison with the Space Brothers, the occupants of the UFOS, with whom he worked for some years. Then in 1959, Creme writes, he was given a "discourse on His Reappearance by Maitreya, the Christ, Head of our planetary Hierarchy," and the startling news that he "would have a part in the Plan." (*If you are unfamiliar with some of the terminology  -  Masters, Space Brothers, Hierarchies, Initiations and the like  -  the book offers a comprehensive index, providing definitions and examples in the text.)  It was only then that Benjamin Creme realized these heady messages came with strings; they caused, he writes, "a complete upset to my thinking". But there was more unsettling news from the Master: "The time is coming when you will be expected to act" and "Affirm His coming."  Curiously, Creme was, at that point, granted a 17-year reprieve during which, one guesses, he hoped the Teachers would forget about him. Instead, in the early 1970s a rigorous course of instruction and training began.   When Creme was ready  -  if not entirely eager  -  to fulfill the responsibility for which he had trained most of his life, he still had serious misgivings about taking his message to the public: "I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all. I liked what I was doing. I liked working quietly, esoterically, knowing I was doing something useful, but neither too strenuous nor making too great psychological demands on me." He adds, "It is an enormous, and embarrassing claim to have to make  -  that the Christ is giving messages through oneself." Yet by the time I met Benjamin Creme in 1980, there was no sign of embarrassment or discomfort. Then, as now, he was quite matter-of-fact when discussing his work, whether speaking to hundreds in a large auditorium or relaxed at a family dinner table. Over the years, he has always been the same  -  extremely intelligent, immensely kind, modest, witty  -  and completely dedicated to his work.  The book's introduction, which outlines what he calls "The New Age of Synthesis", is based on a paper Creme gave at a 1977 educational conference, and it remains entirely relevant in 2013. It is a crystal-clear analysis of the Emergence and its purpose, and it is remarkable for its consistency with events as they have unfolded over the ensuing 36 years. A fitting prelude to the idea of a World Teacher in our midst, the introduction argues for "new approaches to reality - and the values which should govern our lives," culminating in a more just and rational society worldwide.  Additionally, the introduction is a useful summary for people who know the history of the Emergence but have forgotten some of the details. To the most recent edition, Mr Creme adds an update which includes the most significant developments connected with Maitreya's emergence between 1977 and 2007.  Creme acknowledges at the beginning of the book that he makes "various prophetic statements which are, by their nature, impossible of immediate proof". The statements may have been impossible to prove in 1977, but a quick review of ongoing world events since then renders them remarkable in their accuracy. At this writing, the news is proving the point: previously inviolable "powerful international banking and financial institutions" are increasingly revealed as corrupt as they lose "their traditional status and power".   Ultimately, Creme observes, "the need for change will become so overwhelmingly obvious" that the most privileged among us "will find themselves increasingly powerless to stop the momentum". Readers in 2013 may not be surprised to learn of Creme's further prediction:  "international banking and financial institutions will prove to be among the last to accept the fact that a complete change in the world's financial and economic order is imperative." (In 1980, when Benjamin Creme spoke of these future developments during a casual conversation, I responded, "That can't possibly happen!" He calmly said, "Wait and see.")  From the beginning of his work Creme was asked to introduce to the world a new science of meditation  -  Transmission Meditation: a meditation for the New Age. Throughout his worldwide travels making known information about the Emergence, this meditation has been of central importance and today Transmission Meditation groups exist in large numbers throughout the world. The brief chapter titled 'The Great Invocation', which is used in this group meditation, discusses the Invocation's purpose, the ways in which it can be used, and its impact on the world. The chapter also provides visualizations which animate each of the Invocation's phrases and offers guidance to those who wish to form "a telepathic conduit between yourselves and Hierarchy". Mr Creme explains, "Through that conduit the energies thus invoked can flow. There is nothing better you can do for the world or yourselves, than channel these great spiritual potencies." The longest section of the book is composed of audience questions and Creme's responses, largely drawn from meetings at Friends' House in London in the late 1970s. They provide a snapshot of the period leading up to 1979-80, when the world experienced tectonic power shifts politically, economically and technologically. Little noted at the time, these shifts began to build themselves into a series of quiet  -  but significant  -  revolutions. In ways barely registered, small sectors in our society reconfigured themselves, nibbling away at the carefully guarded and elaborately maintained power structures that had been in place for centuries. These infant transformations were soon followed by a rise in political activism and social entrepreneurship  -  little noticed at the time but now woven into the fabric of our daily lives, throughout the world.    In the 1970s the world was, as it had been for centuries, organized into many small hierarchies, mostly operating under the aegis of government, business and family. In communications, people worldwide depended upon utilities such as telegraph and land-line telephones, as well as government postal services for communication; in many remote places, news still travelled by foot.  Now the whole world knows almost instantly when a disaster or an attack strikes, no matter how remote the location. We learn news directly from those most affected, as millions of us are instantly in touch, fostering a far more participatory culture and fertile information environment than mankind has experienced before. These changes should tell us, if nothing else, that something remarkable is afoot.    At the conclusion of The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom are 12 messages given by Maitreya between 1977 and 1979. On 18 April 1978, Maitreya offers a very simple recipe for hope:  "... the problems of Mankind can be solved: through the process of sharing and just redistribution the needs of all can be met." Sounds impossible? Wait and see.  [Biographical Note: Maureen Girard is a Share International co-worker based in California, USA.]--This text refers to an alternatePaperbackedition.