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Benjamin Creme writes about his work
Many people
have asked me to relate something of the steps
which have led me into the work I am now doing. It will not be a complete account: there are
unwritten laws of reticence on some aspects of the
Master-disciple relationship, and I am pledged to
silence on certain work for and with the Space
Brothers; but for whatever interest it may have, and
in the hope that it may make more real and believable
the fact of the Masters and the fact of the Christ's
return at their head, I set down the following:
As a child of four or
five, one of my favourite pastimes was to sit at the
window and watch the wind; not the effect of the wind
on the trees or leaves, but the wind itself. I would
watch the movements of the air and try to guess
whether it was a north, south, east or west wind
blowing. When I went to school, I learned that the air
was invisible, the wind likewise, and forgot, I do not
remember whether gradually or suddenly, my ability to
see what of course was some level of the etheric
planes of matter.
Etheric planes
Above the dense
physical-solid, liquid, and gaseous are four planes of
still finer matter which constitute the etheric
envelope of this planet, and of which the dense
physical planes are a precipitation. It was not until
some 20 years later, through the building and use of
Wilhelm Reich's orgone accumulator, that I again
became aware of this ocean of energy of which we
ourselves are a part, and proved to myself
conclusively the existence of the etheric planes.
At the age of 14, I
read what was for me an extraordinary book: With
Mystics and Magicians in Tibet, by Alexandra David
Neel (1868-1969) (see photo). This French woman of indefatigable courage,
determination and resource managed, disguised as a
Lama, to penetrate the forbidding barriers around that
mysterious country, gained permission to stay, and
placed herself under the tutorship of a true Lama. She
describes various esoteric practices, some of which
she learned, including the creation by thought of a
"familiar"; in her case of a jovial fat monk who soon
got out of her control and had to be de-materialised.
These practices obviously involved considerable
concentration and mind control, but I found a little
success with some of them, including Tumo, a system
for creating internal heat in cold weather.
In the late 1940s,
through a study of Wilhelm Reich's work (1897-1957) (see photo), and the use
of the orgone accumulator, I became consciously aware
of, and extremely sensitive to, energy currents; so
much so that eventually I could tell when an atomic
bomb had been exploded in the Pacific or wherever.
Across these thousands of miles, I registered the
shift in the etheric currents caused by the
explosions. Inevitably, a day or two later, would come
the report that America, Russia, or Britain had tested
a "device" of such and such a size.
The Power of the Mind
In the early 1950s, I
happened on a book by Rolf Alexander: The Power of the
Mind. The magazine article which drew my attention to
it had, of course, concentrated on the most
sensational aspect of the book ― "cloud-busting," the
breaking up of clouds by the power of thought alone.
Rolf Alexander, a Canadian, was called to Tibet and
trained by a Tibetan Master of Yoga, and his book
outlines a practice to bring the instinctive,
subconscious mind under the control of the directive
conscious mind. The latter is only too often
fragmented and partly submerged in the subconscious
computer activity of the former, and a great deal of
its available energy is lost. The method used is
self-hypnosis. The freeing of the conscious, directing
principle from its involvement in the activity of the
subconscious mind (which should proceed automatically)
releases large stores of mental energy and leads
directly to the focus and concentration which precede
meditation. And so I began to meditate.
Alice Bailey
I also began to read. I
read, among many others, the Theosophical works of
H.P. Blavatsky (see photo) and Leadbeater; Gurdjieff, Ouspensky
and Nicoll; Paul Brunton; Patanjali; the Alice Bailey
and Agni Yoga Teachings; Swamis Vivekananda,
Sivananda, Yogananda; Sri Ramana Maharshi (see photo), whose Path
of Self-knowledge I sought to follow. Through his
meditation on "Who am I?" (and, I know now, through
the Grace of my Master), I found myself precipitated
into a sense of identity with the whole phenomenal
world: the earth, the sky, the houses and people; the
trees and birds and clouds, I saw to be myself. I
disappeared as a separate being, yet retained full
consciousness, a consciousness expanded to include
everything.
I saw that this was the true Reality, that
one's normal waking consciousness simply covers this,
keeps it hidden, through wrong identification with
oneself as this body. I also saw this phenomenal world
as a kind of ritual, a ritualised shadow-play, acting
out a dream or desire of That which alone existed,
alone was Real, which was also myself.
How did I come into
this work? In late 1958, I was told by a fellow
disciple who had the "connection," that I was
receiving "messages." This surprised me and I had no
sense that it was true. I was told that the messages
"bounced off" me, but if I did such and such, in time
I would receive correctly.
The start of the work
I must have done the
right thing, because one night, early in January 1959,
so clearly there was no mistaking, I heard inwardly
the instruction: Go to so and so (a place in London)
on such and such a date and time, some three weeks
ahead. On the night, there were people waiting there
to meet me.
That was the start of a
flow of messages which came in gathering momentum.
Some, apparently, I missed (I was told later when I
missed one) and I became so afraid of missing them
that I gave them to myself. I sent myself on several
rendezvous, where nothing happened and no one came,
but gradually I settled down; I did not miss them and
I stopped making them up.
I was told to get a
tape-recorder and received many long dictations of
various kinds. Some contained advice, guidance, or
spiritual instruction. I was not told the identity of
the Master (or Masters) who spoke thus,
telepathically, to me, and I think I was too shy to
ask, although I was told I could ask questions. It was
not until years later that I learned his name and also
that I would have been told had I asked long ago.
"Affirm his coming"
One night, early in
1959, during such a transmission, I was told to turn
off the tape-recorder. There followed a discourse on
his Reappearance by Maitreya, the Christ, Head of our
planetary Hierarchy. He said also that I would have a
part in the Plan. At that time I believed that the
World Teacher would come from one of the higher
planets, probably from Venus, and this information
from Maitreya caused a complete upset to my thinking.
In a transmission soon after this event, my Master,
referring to this new-found knowledge, added: "The
time is coming when you will be expected to act upon
it." And in another: "Affirm his coming!"
I cannot claim that I
took these exhortations to heart and that that is why
I am engaged in this work of preparation for the
Christ. On instruction, I put these tapes away for 17
years and I am afraid I needed a rather strong push
from the Master to launch me into this work.
De-glamorisation
Towards the end of
1972, when I was rather in the doldrums and least
expecting it, that wise and wily one whom I have the
privilege to call Master, pounced. He took me in hand,
and subjected me to the most intensive period of
de-glamorisation, disillusioning, training and
preparation. For months we worked together, 20 hours a
day, deepening and strengthening the telepathic link
until it was two-way with equal ease requiring the
minimum of his attention and energy. He forged in this
period an instrument through whom he could work, and
which would be responsive to his slightest impression
(of course, with my complete cooperation and without
the slightest infringement of my free will).
Everything I see and hear, he sees and hears. When he
wishes, a look from me can be a look from him; my
touch, his. So, with the minimum expenditure of energy
he has a window on the world, an outpost of his
consciousness; he can heal and teach. He himself
remains, in a fully physical body, thousands of miles
away. I am not suggesting that I am his only "window
on the world." I do not know how rare this is, but I
am sure that it is not unique. It constitutes a
definite stage in the Master-disciple relationship. He
has asked me not to reveal his identity for the time
being ― not even to the members of the group with
which I work, and through which he works. I know of
two reasons (there may be others) for his request, and
respect them, but I may say that he is one of the
senior Members of the Hierarchy, a Master of the
Wisdom, whose name is well-known to esotericists in
the West. His inspiration has heightened tremendously
the conceptual power and intensity of my paintings.
Two small episodes,
among many which illustrate the loving concern of the
Great Ones, and their lively sense of humour, as well
as the ability to use their powers at long distance:
The first occurred
early in 1973, during the period of most intense
preparation and training. For some time I had been
smoking small cigars, and the Master frequently urged
me to stop smoking these "filthy weeds" as he called
them. His technique of discouraging me was to assign
some meditation or exercise every time I made to light
one.
One day, preparing to
keep an appointment somewhere, I laid this small box
of cigars on the corner of my bed while I changed
clothes. When I was ready to leave, it had, literally,
disappeared. I asked the Master, of course, if he had
done something to it. He claimed complete ignorance
of, or interest in, the "filthy weeds." I was certain
of where I had left them, but nevertheless made a
thorough search, without result. "Are you sure you
didn't hide them?" I repeated. He swore his innocence:
he had better things to do with his time and energy.
At last I said: "All right, I'll just get some more on
the way out." Immediately, they lay on the bed-corner
where I had left them.
The second episode
concerns a bird and occurred about two and a half
years ago. Each year, we are visited by large numbers
of swifts who dive and wheel outside our windows all
day long and nest under the eaves.
Early one hot summer
morning, one of these marvellous birds flew through an
open bedroom window, straight through the closed
venetian blind. It dropped with a thud on to a large
tin of floor varnish which stood under the window,
bending the handle and top of the tin with the impact.
It lay there panting, its eyes staring and its
enormous wings lying awry, one on, and one over the
side of, the tin. The Master asked me to look closely
and carefully over the bird and I felt his energy
pouring through my eyes. At once, it relaxed and
closed its eyes.
The Master assured me
that there were no bones broken, but that it was
severely bruised and shocked. He told me to open the
window at the bottom and to go down and have
breakfast. Half an hour later, I returned to find the
bird gone, healed and restored to the morning air.
These two little
episodes may surprise those students who remember the
Master Djwhal Khul's statement that the Masters are
not interested in, and do not concern themselves with,
the personality lives of disciples. While I am sure
that, in general, this is true, I am equally certain
that there are exceptions to this rule. It depends
entirely on the type of relationship the Master is
seeking to build, the degree of trust he seeks to
elicit, and the karmic relationship existing between
himself and the disciple.
Transmission Meditation
In March 1974, he gave
me a list of 14 names of people to invite to a talk at
my home on "meditation and allied subjects." They all
came.
I talked about the
Hierarchy of Masters, about meditation, and its role
in bringing about soul contact. Under instruction, I
presented them with the following offer: I invited
them to take part in a group work in which their
occult meditation would proceed under the guidance of
a Master of the Wisdom, in exchange for which they
would act as transmitters of the Hierarchical
energies, thus forming a bridging group between
Hierarchy and the disciples in the field.
The Master arranged a
short transmission to show them what was involved.
Twelve of the fourteen agreed, two feeling that they
were not ready for this kind of work.
The group was formed in
March 1974 to channel the spiritual potencies. We met
twice weekly, at first, for about one and a half to
two hours. The question of a name for the group came
up, but the Master's instruction was, and still is,
that no name should be used; no organisation built; no
officers appointed; no fence erected around ourselves
and our ideas; the maximum openness maintained.
The Tetrahedron
At the same time, the
Master gave me the blueprint for building the
transmitter-transformer instrument which we use in
this work, and which I also use in healing. It is a
tetrahedron in form and is based on the principle that
certain shapes have inherent energetic properties.
Tetrahedron
A great study is going
on today into the nature and energetic properties of
the pyramid. The Great Pyramid at Giza is really an
Atlantean instrument, based on the power of shape. The
aim of Atlantean man was to perfect the
astral-emotional vehicle, or body. Just by being the
shape it is, the pyramid, when aligned with the north
and south poles, draws energy from the etheric and
astral planes. This was transmitted for the benefit of
the population of the great city which lies buried
beneath the sands around the Pyramid and the Sphinx.
The aim of our present,
fifth, root race, the Aryan, (nothing to do with
Hitler's notion of Aryan man) is to perfect the mental
vehicle. When aligned north and south, the Tetrahedron
automatically draws to itself and transmits energy
from the mental planes. This principle is behind our
use of the instrument. The instrumentation ― quartz
crystal, magnets, gold and silver discs and wires,
focuses and potentises all the energies channelled
through us by Hierarchy; the shape itself transforming
them downwards on to the lower mental planes where
they can be more readily absorbed by many people.
Without this transforming work, which the instrument
carries further, the Hierarchical energies, streaming
as they do in the main from the Buddhic level (the
level of the Spiritual Intuition), would "bounce off"
the masses of people, and their effect would be
limited. This is behind the need of Hierarchy for
Transmission groups, using some form of meditation or
prayer.
Under the Master's
instruction, I built also a Spiritual Energy Battery
which can be attached to the transmitter. So far we
have used it only once, to demonstrate, I suppose, the
principle.
The group's personnel
has changed many times, only four of the original
group remaining. Its numbers have grown and fallen,
but always seem to stabilise at around 12 fully active
members, with many less active or regular
participants, and a great many offshoots, both here
and abroad. Nowadays, we meet regularly three times
weekly to transmit the energies from Hierarchy for
anything from four to seven or eight hours on end.
Only the most dedicated and committed people, of
course, can maintain that intensity of rhythm, so
numbers are, necessarily, kept low. In addition, we
hold a regular weekly public meeting at the Friends'
Meeting House, Euston Road, London, in which the
audience is invited to share in the transmission of
the energies which are sent then.
Messages by Maitreya
In June 1974 began a
series of overshadowing and transmitted messages by
Maitreya, inspiring us, and keeping us informed of the
progress of his externalisation. We were privileged
also to become aware of the gradual creation and
perfectionment of his body of manifestation ― the
Mayavirupa. In the period from March 1976 to September
1977, these communications from Maitreya became very
frequent indeed.
During the first year
of the group's life, we held an open meeting at each
full moon where interested friends of the members
could join in the transmission. At these full-moon
meetings, I would give a short talk, usually about the
reappearance of the Christ and the Hierarchy of
Masters, or, on occasion, on the significance, from an
esoteric astrological point of view, of the particular
full-moon energies.
Lecturing
Towards the end of
1974, the Master said, several times: "You know, you
must take all this to the public. It is of little use
giving this information to the 20 or so people, only,
who are here." The pantomime began: I would
remonstrate, plead not to have to "go public,"
he would assure me that he was only joking: "I have
other plans for you," he would say, and I would relax
again. But in January 1975, he finally said: "I
mean it. Give this information (he had dictated a mass
of information on how the Plan would work out) to the
groups, of all backgrounds and teachings. Tell them
what you know. The hope is that from the more focused
minds of the groups will go out a telepathic interplay
with the general public, so that when you go to them,
they will be somewhat prepared.
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. I did
nothing about the groups until several firm pushes
from the Master at last got me moving. In March or
April I wrote hopefully to 40 or so groups working
along spiritual lines, offering my services as a
speaker on: "The Reappearance of the Christ and the
Masters of the Wisdom." The response, not
surprisingly, for I was quite unknown, was not
altogether overwhelming. I had, I think, about six or
seven replies. Three of these groups were interested
to know more ― all newish groups run by young people
― Centre House, Gentle Ghost and the Franklin School,
and I gave a talk at each, the first at Centre House,
on May 30th 1975.
I was very nervous.
Although I knew my material, I did not have it in any
sort of order. The Master, in his kindness, dictated
for me a list of headings which I could glance at,
and, in fact, so overshadowed me throughout the talk,
that he practically gave it. Just before the end, I
was suddenly overshadowed by Maitreya himself, my
heart melted, and I had the greatest difficulty in
keeping my voice steady. The following words were put
into my mind:
"When the Christ
returns, he will not at first reveal his Presence, nor
will the Masters who precede him; but gradually, steps
will be taken which will reveal to men that there
lives among them now a man of outstanding,
extraordinary potency, capacity for love and service,
and with a breadth of view, far beyond the ordinary.
Men and women, all over the world, will find
themselves drawn into the awareness of the point in
the modern world wherein this man will live; and from
that centre of force will flow the True Spirit of the
Christ, which will gradually reveal to men that he is
with us. Those who can respond to his presence and his
teaching will find themselves somewhat reflecting this
love, this potency, this breadth of vision, and will
go into the world and spread abroad the fact that the
Christ is in the world, and that men should look to
that country from which a certain teaching is
emanating. This will take place in a very, relatively,
short period of time, and will lead to conclusive
evidence that the Christ is in our midst.
"From that time
onwards, the changes which will take place in the
world will proceed with a speed unprecedented in the
whole history of the planet. The next 25 years will
show such changes, changes so radical, so fundamental,
that the world will be entirely changed for the
better."
No one was more
surprised than I was to hear this statement. Not until
I heard it back on tape was I sure, even, that it made
sense.
Maitreya's manifestion was complete
On July 7th 1977,
Maitreya himself informed us that his body of
manifestation ― the Mayavirupa ― was totally
complete, that he had "donned" it, and that his Body
of Light (his Ascended Body) was now at rest in his
mountain Centre in the Himalayas. On July 8th, we were
told, the Descent had begun. On Tuesday, July 19th, my
Master told me that Maitreya had now arrived in his
"point of focus," a well-known modern country. I had a
lecture meeting that night at Friends' House, but was
told to keep the information to myself, as yet. During
our Friday Transmission session, the Master told me
that Maitreya had been resting, acclimatising himself,
for three days, and that on that day, July 22nd, his
Mission had begun. This information I could share with
the group.
About midnight, the
transmission ended and we congregated as usual for tea
before dispersing. My wife turned on the television,
where the late-night film featured some family drama
with Bette Davis in the leading role. Some of the
group watched, but understandably, my thoughts were
elsewhere. I made some sarcastic remarks about the
film and its actors (usually I admire Bette Davis as
an actress very much). When I could bear it no longer,
I said I had some rather more important news to tell
them ― that the Christ was now in the everyday world
in full, physical presence, and beginning his mission.
Many, many times since,
to scores of audiences, I have made this announcement,
but never again with the sense of having, even in a
small way, shared in a great planetary event. The
tears of joy on the faces of the group around the
table showed that they, too, felt the same.
Maitreya's public messages
At the beginning of
September 1977, I was asked if I would take the
messages from Maitreya publicly. On September 6th
1977, the first public message was given, at Friends'
House, Euston Road, "experimentally," to find out, I
suppose, how I stood up to the demonstration of this
kind of overshadowing and telepathy in public ― a
very different thing from the privacy of one's own
group. These have continued until now. At the moment
of going to press (1980) we have received 85 messages.
These are conveyed by me to the audience; no trance or
mediumship is involved, and the voice is mine, very
obviously strengthened in power and altered in pitch
by the overshadowing energy of Maitreya. They are
transmitted simultaneously on all the astral and
mental planes, while I supply the basic
etheric-physical vibration for this to take place.
From these subtle levels, the messages impress the
minds and hearts of countless people, who are
gradually made aware of the thoughts and the presence
of the Christ. He releases in this way fragments of
his teaching, to prepare the climate of hope and
expectancy which will ensure his being accepted and
followed, quickly and gladly.
It is an enormous, and
embarrassing, claim to have to make ― that the Christ
is giving messages through oneself. But if people can
rid their minds of the idea of the Christ as some sort
of spirit, sitting in "heaven" at God's right hand; if
they can begin to see him as indeed he is, as a real
and living man (albeit a divine man) who has never
left the world; who descended, not from "heaven," but
from his ancient retreat in the Himalayas, to complete
the task he began in Palestine; as a great Master; an
Adept and Yogi; as the chief actor in a Gospel Story
which is essentially true, but much simpler than
hitherto presented; if people can accept that
possibility, then the claim to receive telepathic
communications from such a closer and more knowable
Being is also, perhaps, more acceptable. In any case,
I leave it to a study of the quality of the messages
themselves to convince or otherwise. For many people,
the energies, which flow during the overshadowing,
convince. Many who come to these meetings are
clairvoyant in various degrees, and their visions of
the overshadowing as it takes place is for them the
most convincing evidence of all.
Perhaps the above will
help to explain why I speak of the Masters and the
Christ and their reappearance with conviction. For me,
their existence is a fact, known through my direct
experience and contact. It is in the hope of awakening
others to the reality of that fact, and to the
further, momentous, fact of their return now to the
everyday world to lead us into the Aquarian Age, that
this book is written.
Benjamin Creme
London 1980
(From the book: The
Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of
Wisdom, by Benjamin Creme) |