Author: Russ Wise From http://www.christianinformation.org/article.asp?artID=45

Shoko Asahara, the forty-year-old guru of Aum Supreme Truth, a Buddhist sect, offers his followers spiritual enlightenment through mystical practices, painful religious rituals, and purchasing "sacred goods". You may recall the Japanese religious group who gassed the Tokyo subway system. This act of terrorism is yet to be understood by officials.

Asahara, as a guru or teacher, is believed to be able to take the initiate from spiritual darkness to spiritual enlightenment. Asahara teaches the oneness of all things and that salvation only comes through achieving his brand of enlightenment.

Asahara has taken the name Maitreya as his own in an attempt to establish himself as the World Teacher. The Buddhists desire the arrival of another Buddha - Maitreya Buddha, to lead them to personal enlightenment. Maitreya is not only believed to be the World Teacher but also the head of the Spiritual Hierarchy, a group of "enlightened masters" who rule the world.

The World Teacher, whose personal name is Maitreya, will return at the beginning of the age of Aquarius, as the teacher and guide for those of every religion and those of no religion. Asahara seems to have usurped this title for his own ends. Apparently he believes it will give him credibility in the minds of his followers. Ironically, the World Teacher espouses a philosophy of peace and sharing whereas Asahara, according to Japanese officials, is a terrorist.

According to the enlightened, Maitreya has been expected for hundreds of years by all the major religions. Christians know Him as The Christ; the Jews await Him as the Messiah; the Hindus look for the coming of Krishna; Buddhists expect Him as Maitreya Buddha; and the Muslims anticipate the Iman Mahdi.

According to Benjamin Creme, a Scottish esotericist and spokesman for the ascended Master, Maitreya has already returned. He is believed to be the most highly evolved being (physically or spiritually) and is the head of what is believed to be the Hierarchy or the Masters of Wisdom. The Masters, too, are highly evolved beings who no longer need to incarnate on this planet, but because of their desire to aid humanity in its spiritual evolution they remain as guides to inspire man toward his final state.

Periodically throughout history, civilization reaches a great divide; one era is ending but the shape of the next is not yet known. It is believed by the esotericists that during these times of transition and upheaval great crises threaten humanity's very existence. These crises manifest themselves both socially and spiritually.

It is precisely at these times, according to their followers, that the world's great spiritual teachers have appeared to point the way forward and to guide humanity into the next stage of development.

The enlightened say the world is in the midst of such a transition today, and again a great Teacher, the Lord Maitreya, has appeared, just when we most need Him. According to Creme, Maitreya worked last in Palestine, overshadowing His disciple Jesus, who became the Christ from the time of His Baptism to the Crucifixion. This time Maitreya comes Himself, to complete the mission He began some 2,000 years ago.

It is important to note that in esoteric tradition, the word "Christ" is not the name of an individual, but of an office or function within the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters. The present holder of that office is Maitreya, who is the Master of all Masters. He has been the Christ for the past 2,600 years and He will continue to hold that position for the entire Age of Aquarius (The New Age) - approximately 2,000 more years.

Creme goes on to say that Maitreya, The Christ, is the eldest brother in the human family, who has perfected and fully manifested within Himself the divinity which is latent in each of us.

According to the Tara Center, Creme's organization, Matreya is here to provide us with the inspiration and guidance to build a new world. He is also here to help lead us to a new level of Self-realization. He says, "I have not come to found a new religion. Each of you should continue to develop within your own religious tradition."

Maitreya says not to seek Him in the Master Jesus or in others, but instead, from within: "The Master is within you. If you follow the disciplines of life the Teacher teaches you, the Master reveals Himself within you." He goes on to say, "If you practice honesty of mind, sincerity of spirit and detachment, you will know your Self, you will know Me, you will know the Lord."

To aid in Self-realization, Maitreya has given humanity a new affirmation which leads people to experience the Self within. This affirmation, or prayer, is known as:

I am the creator of the universe.

I am the Father and Mother of the universe.


Everything came from me.


Everything shall return to me.


Mind, Spirit and body are my temples for


the Self to realize in them


My Supreme Being and Becoming.





This prayer for the New Age is a personal adaptation of "The Great Invocation" given by Maitreya in 1945. The Invocation is a non-denominational prayer, used by The Christ and released to humanity to enable man to invoke the energies which would change our world and make possible the return of The Christ and the Hierarchy.