Share International Foundation is a non-profit organization in London founded by Benjamin Creme (1922–2016) with sister organizations in Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Berkeley, California.
With the founding of Share International, Benjamin Creme aimed to create a group that would help accelerate the evolutionary trajectory of Humanity. For Creme, the true focus of evolution was enhancing human consciousness. Creme also underscored that an individual's journey towards self-perfectment involves working on self-mastery and right human relations. While Creme's understanding emerged out of the writings of The Ageless Wisdom Teachings (a synthesis of philosophical thought, diverse religions, science, and esotericism), he focused on bringing together volunteers to perform a practical, yet spiritual, task. From their 'about us' page, Share International describes the group's members as: "A worldwide network of individuals... whose purpose is to make known the fact that Maitreya ― the World Teacher for the coming age ― and his group, the Masters of Wisdom, are now among us..."
According to Share International, Maitreya, a great Avatar (which means "coming down from far away" in Sanskrit), has been living among the Asian community in London since 19 July 1977, and presently is in the process of emerging publicly worldwide. Cyclically, throughout human history, enlightened teachers have been sent down to provide succor to a suffering world. During the Emergence, Maitreya is making his presence known throughout a world beset with crises ― in response to Humanity's pleas, and in accordance with divine law.
Beliefs, practices and background
Benjamin Creme was a student of the esoteric teachings of Alice Bailey, Helena Blavatsky and Helena Roerich. Share International's lectures and publications further these authors' ideas about Maitreya (meaning "friendly" in Sanskrit). According to the Ageless Wisdom Teachings, the Advent of Maitreya fulfills not only Buddhist prophecies about the appearance of a future great teacher named Maitreya, but also the prophecies of a number of other world religions ― including Christianity (the second coming of Christ), Hinduism (the Kalki avatar of Vishnu), Islam (the Imam Mahdi) and Judaism (the Jewish Messiah). Creme claimed that Maitreya was actually Jesus's teacher, and Maitreya manifested through (or overshadowed) Jesus 2,000 years ago.
In 1974, Benjamin Creme began teaching "Transmission Meditation", offering it as a means of pooling positive, spiritual energy for the benefit of Humanity. In Transmission Meditation, groups sit silently receiving spiritual energy 'stepped-down' and transmitted through them by the Masters of Wisdom (also called by some groups Ascended Masters). This group meditation is both a means of accelerating one's spiritual development and a form of service, in contrast to other types of meditation that focus solely on relaxation, physical restoration, mitigating stress or optimizing cognition. Transmission Meditation is a non-denominational meditation, and Share International reports that there are over 600 Transmission Meditation groups worldwide.
Creme was generally reluctant to share the exact details about Maitreya’s appearances on television and elsewhere ― as he stated that Maitreya discouraged people from chasing after him, and that no one could own him. Nonetheless, Creme confirmed that on 11 June 1988, Maitreya had appeared before 6000 Kenyans in an outdoor church where he spoke perfect Swahili for 18 minutes before disappearing, as had been reported in the Kenya Times. (Both CNN and the BBC reported on this event, including the fact that many miraculous healings occurred there). Since then, Share International has contended that Maitreya has made many more appearances, including before gatherings of orthodox religious groups worldwide. Maitreya also apparently created healing springs of water in the areas near some of these appearances (e.g., in Mexico, Germany, and India); these healing waters have drawn millions of visitors.
Before his death, Creme increasingly described the Emergence as a gradual and supremely intentional process (rather than a distinctive event), as Maitreya and the Masters of Wisdom strive not to infringe Humanity's free will (i.e., our freedom to learn from our mistakes — or to repeat them). Rather than found a new religion, Maitreya has come to teach humanity about right relations and the art of self-realization.
Maitreya and the Press
Creme maintained that Maitreya descended from his ancient retreat in the Himalayas in 1977 and relocated to the Indian-Pakistani community of London. While journalists were invited to find Maitreya in the Brick Lane area, they failed to do so.