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TC Opinions on Benjamin Creme?

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thain
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« on: July 05, 2008, 09:45:38 am »

My wife has been plugging into some of the semi-local pagan community at an herb shop about 30 miles away (unfortunately, my work schedule keeps me unplugged), and she has recently joined a transmission meditation group (http://www.transmissionmeditation.org/ for those who don't know) who turned her on to Benjamin Creme's teachings about Maitreya (http://tinyurl.com/5nrdux).  In hearing and reading about transmission meditation, Benjamine Creme, and his teachings on Maitreya, I've felt rather leery.

I guess part of my leeriness comes from Creme's "source" (namely, the ethereal "Masters of Wisdom"), and another part of my leeriness comes from the fact that he's basically stolen Maitreya from Buddhism and justified it by saying what amounts to, "The Masters of Wisdom told me to."

And, I'll be perfectly honest, a third part of my leeriness comes from a few trappings of Christianity that are still on me that make me very nervous about things like "The Age of Aquarius" and the "New Age." 

So, once again, I ask for the informed opinions of The Cauldron's members.  Is there anything you know of that justifies my initial leeriness toward Benjamin Creme, his brand of Maitreya, and/or Transmission Meditation, or am I just being a silly young fuddy-duddy who needs to get over himself?
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« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2008, 11:00:51 am »

My wife has been plugging into some of the semi-local pagan community at an herb shop about 30 miles away (unfortunately, my work schedule keeps me unplugged), and she has recently joined a transmission meditation group (http://www.transmissionmeditation.org/ for those who don't know) who turned her on to Benjamin Creme's teachings about Maitreya (http://tinyurl.com/5nrdux).  In hearing and reading about transmission meditation, Benjamine Creme, and his teachings on Maitreya, I've felt rather leery.

I guess part of my leeriness comes from Creme's "source" (namely, the ethereal "Masters of Wisdom"), and another part of my leeriness comes from the fact that he's basically stolen Maitreya from Buddhism and justified it by saying what amounts to, "The Masters of Wisdom told me to."

And, I'll be perfectly honest, a third part of my leeriness comes from a few trappings of Christianity that are still on me that make me very nervous about things like "The Age of Aquarius" and the "New Age." 

So, once again, I ask for the informed opinions of The Cauldron's members.  Is there anything you know of that justifies my initial leeriness toward Benjamin Creme, his brand of Maitreya, and/or Transmission Meditation, or am I just being a silly young fuddy-duddy who needs to get over himself?

hm, I am myself a New Age/ Age of Aquarius woohoo, and this looks like repackaged transcendental meditation, with some mutant message from down under and celestine prophecy stuff added in. Anything that hypes up one particular master or guru is to be avoided, ime, b/c it generally leads to requests for monetary donations eventually. Also, there are some other "no I am not a Bhuddist, I made this up myself" Bhuddist facsimiles out there. Byron Katie comes to mind.
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« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2008, 11:59:48 am »

I guess part of my leeriness comes from Creme's "source" (namely, the ethereal "Masters of Wisdom"), and another part of my leeriness comes from the fact that he's basically stolen Maitreya from Buddhism and justified it by saying what amounts to, "The Masters of Wisdom told me to."

That right there is enough to make me very leery of of Creme. Did he admit this to start with or only when others pointed it out? If he said it up front, I'd be somewhat less leery (but probably not that much less).
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« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2008, 01:01:56 pm »

That right there is enough to make me very leery of of Creme. Did he admit this to start with or only when others pointed it out? If he said it up front, I'd be somewhat less leery (but probably not that much less).

What I took that from is the fact that Buddhism has a prophecy of a future Bodhisattva (Maitreya) who will do pretty much everything Creme is saying Maitreya is doing/will be doing (including establishing a "new age" of enlightenment), but Buddhism also establishes some extremely strict precursors to the Bodhisattva's appearance (the world must have forgotten the teaching of Gautama Buddha all of the remaining relics of Sakyamuni Buddha must have been gathered in Bodh Gaya and cremated).  Obviously, these precursors have not been met.

Seeing as I used to be a Christian, I have no problem with a great teacher/messiah...I just tend to view all such claims with a skeptic's eyes until they can be proven...especially when they come from something as (pardon my bluntness) hokey-sounding as "Masters of Wisdom."

Creme's group, Share International, has the following disclaimer on their home page:
Quote
NOTICE: While the name Maitreya is used by others, their understanding of the World Teacher may not correspond to that presented on this site. Anyone presently promoting him- or herself as Maitreya or the World Teacher is definitely not the same individual we refer to.

One thing I should add is that Creme's organization is a non-profit organization, and he has been lecturing on Maitreya since 1974.


The tinyurl link in my first post also features this quote:
Quote
Throughout his early years Creme also studied various aspects of esoteric philosophy, in particular the teachings released in the late 1800s through Helena Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, and more recently through Alice A. Bailey. Although these teachings led him to believe in the existence of the Masters of Wisdom ― a group of perfected individuals who are the custodians of the Divine Plan for this planet ― it nevertheless came as a complete surprise to him when, in 1959, he was contacted by one of the Masters. He was told, among other things, that Maitreya, the World Teacher ― the Master of all the Masters ― would return in about 20 years and that he (Creme) would have a role to play in the event if he chose to accept it.

More than a decade later, in 1972, Creme began a period of arduous training under his Master's direction to prepare him for his coming task: announcing to a skeptical world the emergence of the World Teacher, awaited by people of every religion under his various names ― the Christ, Messiah, Imam Mahdi, Krishna, Maitreya Buddha. Creme's constant contact with a Master of Wisdom gives him access to up-to-date information on Maitreya's emergence, plus the total conviction needed to present this story.

And that reminds me of one more point that makes me leery, and that I know from experience makes many Cauldronites leery: saying that all gods are really one.  This, by the way, is where he gets away with justifying it with a "The Masters of Wisdom told me to" cop-out.  He fully admits that his Maitreya is the Buddhist Maitreya, but he claims that his version is the correct version of things because a "Master of Wisdom" told him so.
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« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2008, 01:26:01 pm »


I just can add a general opinion of mine:

I always take three, better four, steps back at the second I hear something along the lines of:

Oh I channeled this.
I'm the channel of the high-super-mega-alien-somewhat of some-planet.
They told me so.
I'm the voice of the only really true masters of whatever.

(Weirdest thing I'ver ever read, was a woman who was in 'contact' with the 'commander of the jupiter space fleet' - total nutcase in my not at least humble opinion.)
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« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2008, 01:46:27 pm »

I always take three, better four, steps back at the second I hear something along the lines of:

*snip*

Cheesy

Me, too.  That's another reason I was asking the wonderful people here if they'd heard of Benjamin Creme and his stuff before. 
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« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2008, 01:50:11 pm »

I just can add a general opinion of mine:

I always take three, better four, steps back at the second I hear something along the lines of:

Oh I channeled this.
I'm the channel of the high-super-mega-alien-somewhat of some-planet.
They told me so.
I'm the voice of the only really true masters of whatever.


See, I have no problem with people saying they channeled stuff, or their info comes from some They or another; I've channeled stuff too. I very frequently get info from Them, as I understand Them, as do many people around here, I believe. Of course in order to verify for yourself, you need to test it out and check facts and so on, but even if it's only in the other person's head, it's entirely their own, and I have no opinion on it's validity, b/c it's really not my business how other people understand Spirit. I only have a problem with people who want to organize, promote and sell their particular brand of Whatever as either a cult-y or profit-making venture, and seek to ignore or disregard any other brand of the same stuff, esp. if it's *exactly the same stuff, and has been around a whole lot longer.
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« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2008, 02:52:09 pm »

See, I have no problem with people saying they channeled stuff, or their info comes from some They or another; I've channeled stuff too. I very frequently get info from Them, as I understand Them, as do many people around here, I believe. Of course in order to verify for yourself, you need to test it out and check facts and so on, but even if it's only in the other person's head, it's entirely their own, and I have no opinion on it's validity, b/c it's really not my business how other people understand Spirit. I only have a problem with people who want to organize, promote and sell their particular brand of Whatever as either a cult-y or profit-making venture, and seek to ignore or disregard any other brand of the same stuff, esp. if it's *exactly the same stuff, and has been around a whole lot longer.

I'm aware that most of us kind of get messages.
(Hell, I just had a discussion with the fae on the way home from the supermarket!)

It is the way those claims are made.
I thought I made it clear with the 'quotes' obviously not, sorry Smiley

But most of those channels that go public that I heard of, are not really trustworthy in my opinion. (Which is basically what you said in your last sentence.)

And with some stuff e.g. Jupiter Space Command, I take the freedom to think it nuts. I accept that those people have the right to be crazy in any way they like - most people would think me crazy. But that doesn't mean I have to believe in everything someone claims.
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« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2008, 03:19:57 pm »

See, I have no problem with people saying they channeled stuff, or their info comes from some They or another;

Agreeing with you and Tana here...it's not the fact that he's supposedly receiving his insight from another source, it's just the fact that whenever I hear words like "Ascended Master" or (as he uses) "Masters of Wisdom" I immediately begin thinking that the person is trying to make what they're saying sound more important than it actually is.  Hell, I'd be much more receptive to hearing that the fae/Buddha/Odin/Zeus told him this, because then it's admitting that these are his own personal beliefs, rather than saying that some unnamed "Master" told him this (kind of like the biogenesis discussion I started on the main forum).

Basically, I had enough of pretentious windbags as a Christian, and I don't care if someone is the humblest person in the world (which, if his own website is to be believed, he is Tongue), when they start throwing out words that feel like they're designed to impress, I'm not impressed.
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« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2008, 06:59:00 pm »

I don't care if someone is the humblest person in the world (which, if his own website is to be believed, he is Tongue), when they start throwing out words that feel like they're designed to impress, I'm not impressed.

yes. It's always good to trust your bullshit detector, of course. The tricky part for me is to discern what is bullshit b/c it's clearly a big ego trip (or paranoid delusion, as in Tana's ex.) on the part of the person promoting their Big Whatever, and what is based on my own fear or ego trip. I pretty much trust my intuition on this, but there are several people out there that I greatly respect, even though I firmly believe that some of what they are talking is total bs; there's lots of this kind of thing in the Reclaiming community, I find, with all the vague reconstructing of the very ancient past, reclaiming stuff that we asaik don't have any records of at all. It's fine with me to make up new stuff that feels right and works well, I do it constantly, but when there is literally not one shred of historical fact to back up your belief I don't see the point in calling it "reclaimed". But the thing is, the magic works great, and the techniques used are quite sound. So in some cases I have to get over myself in order to see what is useful and true for me.
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« Reply #10 on: July 05, 2008, 07:16:58 pm »

So in some cases I have to get over myself in order to see what is useful and true for me.

I think that, more than anything, is what I'm wondering.  Whether I'm allowing my own BS detector to see problems where none exist or whether I'm second-guessing myself too harshly in wondering whether to give any credence to this guy at all.  Ultimately, I'll study more of his teachings/writings and make my decision at that point.  I'm comforted, at least, to know that he doesn't have the same kind of notoriety as, say, SRW. Grin
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« Reply #11 on: July 06, 2008, 09:51:04 am »

I think that, more than anything, is what I'm wondering.  Whether I'm allowing my own BS detector to see problems where none exist or whether I'm second-guessing myself too harshly in wondering whether to give any credence to this guy at all.  Ultimately, I'll study more of his teachings/writings and make my decision at that point.  I'm comforted, at least, to know that he doesn't have the same kind of notoriety as, say, SRW. Grin

Well, it's all a matter of what works for you, isn't it? I have never even read SRW, so I have no opinion on her work personally, I am too old for all those teen witchy kind of books. But I am sure there are plenty of folks out there who got some use out of her stuff, otherwise she probably wouldn't be selling so well. It does appear, judging from the vehement hate she seems to draw from people around tC, that there is a huge amount of bs in there as well. But even if you get some use out of someone's work, it's quite possible that you will learn what you need, grow and change, and move on to the next thing or assimilate it into what you are already doing, or drop it entirely (that's sort of the heart of eclecticism, to me).
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