21. Maitreya (The Three Mothers) Has Incarnated Herself

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

Matraiya - The Three Mothers

“Buddha had also spoken of these three Powers: "I will send you Matraiya.”Matraiya means"three types of Mothers"— Matain, Ekritya, Matraiya. People did not understand what Matraiya was and so called it Maitreya. Matraiya can only be in Adi Shakti simultaneously.

Christ must have called this Shakti the Primordial Mother, but the one who edited the Bible called Her the Holy Ghost because he hated women and did not believe that a woman could do such a great work. So he described the Holy Ghost as a dove who will be the Messenger of Peace. Nowhere it is written that this dove or Holy Ghost is a woman.

In the Indian Shastras She is described as Sahasrare Mahamaya, meaning that She will be in the form of Mahamaya. People will not recognize Her, and you have to get your Self-Realization to recognize Her.”

Shri Maitryadi-vasana-labhya Devi
Easter Puja, Calcutta, India

(Maitryadi-vasana-labhya [570th]: Can be attained through good tendencies like 'Maitri;' 'Maitri-Mudita- Karuna upeksanam Sukha-Dukkha-Punyapunya — Visayanam bhavanatachitta Prasadanam' [Yoga-Sutras].”Friendship with those who are happy without being envious, compassion with those who are suffering, gladness to see the righteous, overlooking or not mindful of the sinful. These four tendencies or Vasanas contribute to clarity of mind.”It is only such a mind that can have God vision.)

"The foundation of Buddhism was not written but oral... Already during his lifetime, the sayings of Gotama were being memorized and repeated by his disciples ... They differ widely not only in their content but in their literary form ... Reducing all of this oral tradition to written form must have taken several centuries after the life of Gotama Buddha, and stabilizing the written versions of the many components of Buddhist scripture into a"canon"or actually into several canons, took even longer ... the translators, having consulted all the available materials, have been obliged to confess that"even the combined benefit of the study of these sources could not always give us the enlightenment that we would have desired on some intricacies of our text and its commentary. In some cases at least, this could conceivably be due to 'corruption' in the process of transmission of the text in Sri Lanka.”Even after all their research, moreover, they have found that"too many problems remain, and indeed some of the problems connected with the text are likely to remain unsolved, though it is hoped that future research may reduce their number.” "

Jaroslav Pelikan, Buddhism: The Dhammapada
(J. Pelikan, Buddhism:The Dhammapada, The Oxford University Press, 1992.)

In those days, brethren, there will arise in the world an Exalted One named Metteya.
He will be an Arahant, Fully Awakened, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy,
With knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to mortals willing to be led,
A teacher for gods and men, an Exalted One, a Buddha, even as I am now.
He, by himself, will thoroughly know and see, as it were face to face, this universe,
With its worlds of the spirits, its Brahmas and its Maras,
And its world of recluses and brahmins,
Of princes and peoples, even as I now, by myself, thoroughly know and see them.
The Law, lovely in its origin, lovely in its progress, lovely in its consummation,
Will he proclaim, both in the spirit and in the letter;
The higher life will he make known, in all its fullness and in all its purity, even as I do now.
He will be accompanied by a congregation of some thousands of brethren,
Even as I am now accompanied by a congregation of some hundreds of brethren.

Dig Nikkei iii. 76, Chakkavatti Sihanada Suttanta

Thus have I heard: At one time the Buddha was staying near Kapilavatthu
In the Banyan monastery on the bank of the river Ruhani.
Then the venerable Sariputta questioned the Lord about the future Conqueror,
The Hero that shall follow you, the Buddha — Of what sort will he be?
I want to hear of him in full. Let the Visioned One describe him.
When he heard the elder's speech the Lord spoke thus,
I will tell you, Sariputta; listen to my speech.
In this auspicious aeon three leaders there have been:
Kakusandha, Konagamana, and the leader Kassapa too.
I am now the perfect Buddha; And there will be Maitreya too,
Before this same auspicious aeon runs to the end of its years.

Anagata-vamsa

"Anagata-vamsa: The Maitreya (Pali: Metteya) is predicted to be the future Buddha in the scriptures of both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. In both traditions some consider him as the future Messiah who will usher in the new age of bliss and consummation.”

World Scripture, IRF, Paragon House Publishing, 1995, p. 786.

"From the Diamond Sutra we learn that Gautama the Buddha claimed that after each twenty-five centuries there comes a radical change of consciousness on Earth with an accompanying period of intense chaos. Buddha moves the wheel of Dhamma once every two thousand five hundred years and it takes that length of time for the momentum to fade. The wheel that Buddha moved has finally come to rest and his Age dies. The wheel must then be started again for the Dhamma must be renewed. It breathes for twenty-five centuries and then fades away to be reborn totally and radically transformed. Buddha in his time said that at the next turning of the wheel, which is in our present epoch, humankind would enter a totally different stage in the transformation of man. Subhuti, his discipline, actually asked about age and Buddha answered and said he could see us with his precognitive senses, his Buddha eye, and that our transformation would be even greater than it was at his time.”

Yatri, Unknown Man, Simon and Schuster, 1988, p.242.)

The origin of the 1000 names attributed to the Great Primordial Mother were composed aeons ago. Her 565th. is Mitra-rupini: "Of the form of friend or sun"And Her 570th. is Maitryadi- vasana-labhya: "Can be obtained through good tendencies like"Maitri.”

C. Suryanarayana Murthy informs in the Sri Lalita Sahasranama that Maitri-Mudita-Karuna Upeksanam Sukha-Dukha-Punyapunya means"Friendship with those who are happy without being envious, compassion with those who are suffering, gladness to see the righteous, overlooking or not mindful of the sinful. These four tendencies or Vasanas contribute to clarity of mind. It is only such a mind that can have God vision.”

The Shri Lalita Sahasranama, the timeless Book of Enlightenment was composed by Shri Vagdevata (Goddess of speech) at the express command of Shri Lalita. Both these names mitra and Maitryadi were conferred on the Great Primordial Mother ages before Shri Buddha was born. Surely there is wisdom in this ancient Truth.

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has said that one of Her forms is as Shri Matraiya. She is also known as Shri Trigunatmika — Shri Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati and Mahakali. She is also Shri Matain, Shri Ekritya and Shri Matraiya. She is also Shri Mitra-rupini. She is also Shri Maitryadi -vasana-labhya.

Mai treya is Sanskrit for Three Mothers. The original Mai Treya (Three Mothers) was pronounced into Maitreya (friend) — which itself was derived from mitra (Friend) — as Buddhism sought to assume its own identity. Is it possible that Mai Treya, over the centuries of oral tradition, was finally written down as Maitreya to erase all traces of its Hindu origin?

Buddhist theologians say that Maitreya was derived from mitra. But this was arrived by apparently adulterating the structure — spelling, pronouncement and consonants — of mitra. How does one substitute mitra for Maitreya?

In the first place, Shri Buddha could have just said the future mitra will come, forestalling centuries of deceit and delusion. So why did Shri Buddha specifically mention Mai Treya?

For some reason it did not matter to Buddhists scholars that the very word mitra or friend is just too mundane for the next incarnation of Shri Buddha. Perhaps mitra was the only sensible word in the Sanskrit dictionary to transform into Maitreya, and erase all traces of the 'Hindu' Mai Treya.

The fact that all early teachings of the Buddha were passed by word of mouth, and not written, only made this very subtle change in pronouncement from Mai Treya to Maitreya all that easy.

For ordinary humans there is a considerable difference between friend and Mother. One may have thousands of friends but only one mother. For seekers of Truth it will now be the difference between final liberation or endless samsara. It might not have mattered in the past as Mai Treya was yet to come, but now this precise translation and pronouncement of Maitreya should be of utmost importance.

All Buddhists, after being provided the facts to this error, will have to decide if Shri Buddha said"Maitreya"or"Mai Treya"2,500 years ago. The subtlest difference between the pronouncement of Maitreya and it contraction, Mai Treya, is today the difference between samsara and nirvana. It would be spiritual genocide if the mispronunciation of a single word prevent millions of Buddhists from attaining final liberation!

Origins

Seated Maitreya, Korean, 4-5th century CE. Guimet Museum.The name Maitreya or Metteyya is derived from the word maitri (Sanskrit) or metta (Pali) meaning"loving-kindness", which is in turn derived from the noun mitra (Pali: mitta) in the sense of"friend.”

The earliest mention of Metteyya is in the Cakavatti (Sihanada) Sutta in the Digha Nikaya 26 of the Pali Canon. He occurs in no other sutta, and this casts doubt as to the sutta's authenticity. Most of the Buddha's sermons are presented as preached in answer to a question, or in some other appropriate context, but this one has a beginning and an ending in which the Buddha is talking to monks about something totally different. This leads Gombrich to conclude that either whole sutta is apocryphal, or it has at least been tampered with.[2]

Maitreya is sometimes represented seated on a throne Western-style, and venerated both in Mahayana and non-Mahayana Buddhism. Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya may have come from the ancient Indo-Iranian deity Mithra. The primary comparison between the two characters appears to be the similarity of their names. According to a book entitled The Religion of the Iranian Peoples," No one who has studied the Zoroastrian doctrine of the Saoshyants or the coming saviour-prophets can fail to see their resemblance to the future Maitreya.[3]

Paul Williams claims that some Zoroastrian ideas like Saoshyant influenced the cult of Maitreya, such as"expectations of a heavenly helper, the need to opt for positive righteousness, the future millennium, and universal salvation.” Possible objections are that these characteristics are not unique to Zoroastrianism, nor are they necessarily characteristic of the belief in Maitreya.

It is also possible that Maitreya Buddha originated with the Hindu Kalki, and that its similarities with the Iranian Mithra have to do with their common Indo-Iranian origin.

In the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, in the first centuries CE in northern India, Maitreya was the most popular figure to be represented, together with the Buddha Sakyamuni. In China, in the 4th—6th Centuries"[Buddhist artisans] used the names Shakyamuni and Maitreya interchangeably... indicating both that the distinction between the two had not yet been drawn and that their respective iconographies had not yet been firmly set"[4] An example is the stone sculpture found in the Qingzhou cache dedicated to Maitreya in 529 CE as recorded in the inscription (currently in the Qingzhou Museum, Shandong). The cult of Maitreya seems to have developed around the same time of that of Amitabha, as early as the 3rd century CE.

Maitreya claimants

Since his death, the Chinese monk Budai (Hotei) has been popularly regarded as an incarnation of the bodhisattva Maitreya. His depiction as the Laughing Buddha continues to be very popular in East Asian culture.[dubious—discuss]

While a number of persons have proclaimed themselves to be Maitreya over the years following the Buddha's parinirvana, none have been officially recognized by the sangha and Buddhists. A particular difficulty faced by any would-be claimant to Maitreya's title is the fact that the Buddha is considered to have made a number of fairly specific predictions regarding the circumstances that would occur prior to Maitreya's coming; such as that the teachings of the Buddha would be completely forgotten, and all of the remaining relics of Sakyamuni Buddha would be gathered in Bodh Gaya and cremated.[dubious—discuss]

Non-Buddhist views

Since the growth of the theosophist movement in the 19th century, non-Buddhist religious and spiritual movements have adopted the name and selected characteristics of Maitreya for teachers in their traditions.

Share International, which equates Maitreya with the prophesied figures of multiple religious traditions, claims that he is already present in the world, but is preparing to make an open declaration of his presence in the near future. They claim that he is here to inspire mankind to create a new era based on sharing and justice.[5]

Since the beginning of the 1930s, the Ascended Master Teachings have placed Maitreya in the"Office"of"World Teacher"until 1956, when he was described as moving on to the"Office"of"Planetary Buddha"And"Cosmic Christ"In their concept of a Spiritual Hierarchy.

Some Muslim scholars who studied Buddhist texts believe that Maitreya is"Rahmatu lil-'lameen" (Mercy for The Worlds), which is the name for the prophet Muhammad as it is said in the Qur'n.[6] According to the research on the book Antim Buddha - Maitreya scholars have surmised that Maitreya Buddha is Muhammad.[7] After examining the Buddhist texts researchers concluded that Muhammad had been the last and final awakened Buddha to come into existence long after the current teachings.[8]

The 19th Century, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is believed in by the members of the Ahmadiyya Community (the faith he brought) as fulfilling expectations regarding the Maitreya Buddha.[9]

Bahá's believe that Bahá'u'lláh is the fulfillment of the prophecy of appearance of Maitreya.[10][11] Bahá's believe that the prophecy that Maitreya will usher in a new society of tolerance and love has been fulfilled by Bahá'u'lláh's teachings on world peace.[10]

More self-proclaimed Maitreyas

The following people listed are just a small portion of the several people who claimed themselves to be Maitreya. Many have either used the Maitreya incarnation claim to form a new Buddhist sect or have used the name of Maitreya to form a new religious movement or cult.

Gung Ye, a Korean warlord and king of short-lived state of Taebong during the 10th century, claimed himself as living incarnation of Maitreya and ordered his subjects to worship him. His claim was widely rejected by most Buddhist monks and later he was dethroned and killed by his own servants.

In 613 the monk Xiang Haiming claimed himself Maitreya and adopted imperial title.[12]

In 690 Empress Wu inaugurated the Second Zhou dynasty, proclaimed herself an incarnation of the future Buddha Maitreya, and made Luoyang the"holy capital.”In 693 she replaced the compulsory Dao De Jing in the curriculum temporarily with her own Rules for Officials.[13]

Lu Zhong Yi, the 17th patriarch of I-Kuan Tao, claimed to be an incarnation of Maitreya.

L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Dianetics and Scientology, suggested he was"Metteya" (Maitreya) in the 1955 poem Hymn of Asia. His editors indicated, in the book's preface, specific physical characteristics said to be outlined—in unnamed Sanskrit sources—as properties of the coming Maitreya; properties which Hubbard's appearance supposedly aligned with.

Adi Da was suggested by his devotees to be Maitreya: "An All-Surpassing God-Man yet to come—a final Avatar, the ultimate Messiah, a consumate Prophet or Enlightened Sage, a Spiritual Deliverer who will appear in the 'late-time', the 'dark' epoch when humanity is lost, apparently cut off from Wisdom, Truth and God. Buddhists call that Expected One 'Maitreya'.”[14]

Raël's Maitreya claims [2] center on the content of the Agama Sutra (Japanese: Agon Sutra)[15], supposedly a very ancient text written by Buddha himself, but which has been deemphasized or forgotten by the majority of Buddhist cultures.[16] Raël has claimed directly to people attending Asia Raëlian Church seminars, that someone born in France, a country which is often symbolized by the cock (or rooster), west of the Orient, meets the criteria of the Maitreya. Rael himself claims to be this individual.[17]

Joseph Emmanuel of the Mission of Maitreya claims to be the Maitreya Buddha, as well as a major prophet of God who purportedly fulfills prophecies from the Old Testament, New Testament, Koran, Baha'i scriptures and eastern scriptures.[18] Perhaps the most prominent example of Emmanuel's claims to being the Maitreya is the fact that his main teaching seeks to unify the world's religions by means of showing how each religion corresponds to one of seven"seals.”[19] His use of the term"seal"Is a reference to a central tenet of Christian eschatological belief described in the Bible, in which it is predicted that Christ would return and open a book sealed with"seven seals" (Rev 5:5). The Mission of Maitreya also makes claims that link Emmanuel's teaching of seven seals to Buddhist tradition. According to Buddhist Scriptures, the Maitreya Buddha will"take seven steps forward, and where he puts down his feet a jewel or lotus will spring up.”[20][21] Emmanuel was originally a student of the yoga teacher P.R. Sarkar in India, who founded Ananda Marga, and while in this organization, Emmanuel was given the spiritual name"Maitreya.”This has been cited as further evidence by the Mission of Maitreya that Joseph Emmanuel is the true Maitreya.

References
5.^ Official Share International Website
6.^ (Russian) http://www.islam.ru/vera/polojenie/proroki/nemonoteist/
7.^ Dr. Ved Prakash Upaddhay - Sanskrit Prayag University, Muhammad in the Hindu Scriptures pg 36 - 44
8.^ Prof. Ashit Kumar Bandhopaddhay, Sanskrit Academy Howrah
9.^ Review of Religions March 2002, Vol. 97, No. 3, pg. 24
10.^ a b Momen, Moojan (1995). Buddhism And The Baha'i Faith: An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith for Theravada Buddhists. Oxford: George Ronald. pp. 50—52. ISBN 0853983844.
11.^ Buck, Christopher (2004).”The eschatology of Globalization: The multiple-messiahship of Baha'uAllah revisited.” In Sharon, Moshe. Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Babi-Baha'i Faiths. Boston: Brill. pp. 143—178. ISBN 90-04-13904-4. http://www.christopherbuck.com/Buck_PDFs/Buck_Eschatology_2004.pdf.
12.^ a b c Notable Maitreyan Rebellions, FYSM068—Collective Violence and Traumatic Memory in Asia. 16 October 2005. Retrieved 29 November 2006.
13.^ Tang Dynasty Empire 618-906, SAN-BECK. Retrieved 29 November 2006.
14.^ Carolyn Lee.”Adi Da: The Promised God-Man Is Here (9781570971433): The Ruchira Sannyasin Order of Adidam Ruchiradam: Books.” Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Adi-Da-Promised-God-Man-Here/dp/1570971439. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
15.^ Reader, Ian, Religion in Contemporary Japan, University of Hawaii Press - Page 211. 1991. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
16.^ Dharma Talks by Seiyu Kiriyama, Agon Shu, the Ultimate Embodiment of Buddhism. April 1994. Retrieved 15 August 2006.
17.^ Maitreya from the West, Korean Raelian Movement. Retrieved 29 November 2006.
18.^ [1]
19.^ Seven Seals
20.^ Buddhist Prophecies, Mission of Maitreya Website. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
21.^ Conze, Edward. Buddhist Scriptures. London: Penguin Classics, 1959. p. 239.

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

“So She has created all these things just for you to be created, and ultimately to get your Self Realisation, to have meaning to your life, to get connected to this all pervading power and to enter into the Kingdom of God.

All is Her work. So we can say that nine times She came, and the tenth time, She is supposed to give Realisation to all of you. But at the tenth Time, all these three powers [of Mahalaxshmi, Mahasaraswati and Mahakali] are joined together. That's why it's called 'Trigunatmika', which means 'three Mothers put together'.

That's why Buddha said that Maitreya means 'three Mothers put together'.”

The Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi
Cabella, Italy - 27 September, 1992

“Today we have gathered here to worship the Adi Kundalini and your own Kundalini, both of them, because your Kundalini is the reflection of the Adi Kundalini. We have understood a lot about Kundalini and also we know through Her awakening only, through Her ascent only, we have ascended into a very higher Realm of Consciousness. It's not only that we have risen to a very higher Realm of Consciousness, but that it granted us so many Powers that never before in the history of spirituality people had this Power for awakening of Kundalini. As soon as they got their awakening perhaps they went more on to the left or right, and tried to achieve Powers which were not so much for the benevolence of others.

Buddha has written clearly that when the Incarnation of this Buddha, that is, Matraiya — Three Mothers put Together — comes in that Time it will be used for the benevolence of people, one for the science of the people. Not only of Sahaja Yogis but of the people. So how can it be that unless and until those who are Buddhas, that means those who are Realized souls know the source of Kundalini. Those people who have very little Knowledge of Kundalini must have read in some scriptures, or somewhere it is being described, started misusing it. So they became tantrikas. But tantra, as you know very well, is the mechanism of Kundalini and yantra is the Kundalini itself, is the machine.

Today I think as we know so much about Kundalini — how it passes through different centres, how it rises, all those things as we should know — we should find out how we can nourish our Kundalini: That's very important to know. First of all there is a big difference between you people and other people who got their Realization. First big difference is that this Power you have achieved Sahaj, easily. Others had to go to Himalayas, stand in the cold there for days together. So many died, live in caves, eating fruits, sometimes nothing. Even Buddha's time they had to use only one piece of cloth to cover their body, and they had to ask for alms in the villages and somehow cook some food and eat it. Whether it was cold or hot, no comforts.

On the contrary He taught them that they should give up all our comforts because you can live without comforts. But none of them got Realization and none of them could do the work of awakening the Kundalini. So the difference is too much.”

Shri Kaulamarga-tatparasevita Shri Nirmala Devi
Pure Love; The Loss Of Morality, Cabella, Italy — June 21, 1992

(Kaulamarga-tatparasevita [441st]: Worshipped by devotees of Kaula-Marga. This shows that Sri-Lalita is worshipped by Kaula or vamachara practices. These are universally condemned by all great spiritual leaders because they are likely to lead the beginner to the corruption of the flesh and spirit and are unnecessary to the advanced. So in any case they are disreputable and condemned by all. But since She is The Mother of all including Kaula this name stands.)

“Maitreya in Buddhist tradition, the future Buddha, presently a bodhisattva residing in the Tusita heaven, who will descend to earth to preach anew the dharma ("law") when the teachings of Gautama Buddha have completely decayed. Maitreya is the earliest bodhisattva around whom a cult developed and is mentioned in scriptures from the 3rd century AD. He was accepted by all schools of Buddhism and is still the only bodhisattva generally honoured by the Theravada tradition.

The name Maitreya is derived from the Sanskrit maitri ("friendliness"). In Pali the name becomes Metteyya, in Chinese Mi-lo-fo, in Japanese Miroku, and in Mongolian Maidari; in Tibetan the bodhisattva is known as Byams-pa ("kind," or"loving").”

www.britannica.com/

"Who is Maitreya?

He has been expected for generations by all of the major religions. Christians know him as the Christ, and expect his imminent return. Jews await him as the Messiah; Hindus look for the coming of Krishna; Buddhists expect him as Maitreya Buddha; and Muslims anticipate the Imam Mahdi or Messiah.”

www.shareintl.org/

"The Buddha Supreme, now am I but after me Metteya [Maitreya] comes, before this auspicious aeon runs to the end of its years.”

The Buddha, Anagatavamsa

"This brings us full circle again to the prophecy of Buddha, who predicted that one day Metteya would liberate man from what is holding him back. In Japan, the Metteya prophecy is different from those of the Pali. Here the prophecy is not so much that a person will necessarily return, but rather that man could have a way of returning to the spiritual state as prophesied. Many religions in Japan have been waiting for such events to evolve, both Buddhist and Shinto.”

www.bonafidescientology.com/

"Siddhartha Gautama's work even set the precedent for an applied religious philosophy which finally re-blossomed in the West some 2,000 years later.... But Siddhartha Gautama did not regard himself as an end point. He looked upon his work as incomplete and prophesized that at a later time a successor would arise to complete his work... . In Buddhist literature his name is known as Metteya (or Metteyya with two y's) in Pali, or Maitreya in Sanskrit.”

www.sdmin.org, The Hymn of Asia

"During his long teaching career, Maitreya will turn the wheel of great teachings three times and each time countless multitudes of disciples will come to listen. These teachings will be enormous events attracting not merely human, earth-born disciples, but many celestial beings, dakas, dakinis and beings from other realms as well. Many of those gathered to receive these teachings will immediately become arhats, bodhisattvas and even fully enlightened Buddhas. By the power of his holy body, speech and mind, Maitreya will lead and satisfy all those gathered according to their individual needs and capacities. To some he will give hinayana instructions, to others he will give mahayana. In this way, he will lead countless disciples through the three vehicles to liberation and enlightenment.” Lama Thubten Yeshe, Kriyatantra of Maitreyar

"Since it is a question of the work of the fusion of revelation and knowledge, of spirituality and intellectuality, it is a matter throughout of the fusion of the Avatar principle with the Buddha principle.... On the historical plane the Maitreya Buddha and the Kalki Avatar will be one... . He will not merely teach the way of salvation, but he will advance the course of this way; he will not be solely a witness of the divine and spiritual world, but he will make human beings into authentic witnesses of this world; he will not simply explain the profound meaning of revelation, but he will bring human beings themselves to attain to the illuminating experience of revelation, ... bringing human beings to first-hand experience of the source itself of all revelation ever received from above by mankind, as also of all essential truth ever conceived by mankind....

It will not be popularity and general acclaim which will characterize the work of the Avatar, but rather the fusion of spirituality and intellectuality, no matter whether this pleases or not.”

www.theosophy.org/

"Like the Mega-Religionists, the New Agers harken to the teachings of a founding father. In 1931, Japan's Meishu Sama claimed to have received a special revelation. Unlike Baha 'UAllah's revelation, however, Sama's came complete with detailed instructions, plans for the New Age of mankind.

A New Age of light was coming soon, said Sama. It would be introduced by catastrophes on land and sea —"negative vibrations," — he called them — that would purify our present age, the Old Age, claimed Sama, and the establishment of the New Age would be supervised by a"Maitreya," or Messiah. Endowned with superhuman wisdom and fantastic psychic abilities, the Maitreya would bring to heel all powers of the universe and would establish the global village.

Lest Humanists or Mega-Religionists be alarmed that a non-materialist, transcendent heresy is afoot in New Age, let them be of good heart. According to Sama, the great Maitreya to come will be as much a part of the material human universe as, say, Moses or Buddha or Shiva or Baha 'UAllah or any of those great religious leaders of past ages. In fact all these people — Moses and Shiva all of that crowd — were Maitreyas too. And so was Christ, according to New Age doctrine. All were Maitreyas who came to teach us.

The whole point, in fact, is that the final and all-powerful Maitreya to come will correct the distortions mankind has wrecked upon the original pure message of all those former Maitreyas...
No cheating, and no pretending. Everything — presumably including Sama's revelation — is exclusively human. Even the coming Maitreya and his attendant spirits, of which he has many, belong to this human universe. The words of poet Edwin Markham enshrine this basic New Age principle succinctly:

We men of Earth have here the stuff of Paradise — we have enough!
We need no other stones to build the Temple of the Unfulfilled —
No other Ivory for the Doors, no other marble for the floors —
No other cedar for the Beam and dome of man's Immortal dream.

The second principle is harder to put into poetry; but it is even more important than the first for the New Age outlook. Man, according to that principle, is an animal evolving on an upward curve of increasing, all inclusive perfecting that will result, very soon now, in millennial conditions for all mankind.”

Gilbert Grisé, The Time of Antichrist

"My dictionary has a simple definition of a seeker as"one who seeks: a seeker of truth.”In practical terms, a seeker is a spiritual traveller or wayfarer, a pilgrim who has embarked on a quest to find and experience the sacred. Seekers are ubiquitous: They can be found in every nation; they can be part of any religious group or denomination. The search for truth and love — something beyond and bigger than ourselves — is the common element.

Seekers want to understand and explore themselves as well as the universe with all its mysteries, both known and unknowable. In their hearts, seekers believe that the universe makes sense and their lives have meaning. They believe not only that truth exists, but that it can indeed be found, and experienced.”

Lama Surya Das, Awakening to the Sacred

"It is predicted that the manifestations of Maitreya shall come after the wars. But the final war shall be for the cause of the True Teaching. But each one rising up against Shamballa shall be stricken in all his works. And the waves shall wash away his dwellings. And even a dog shall not answer to his call. No clouds but lightning shall he see on the final night. And the fiery messenger shall rise up on pillars of Light. The Teaching indicates that each warrior of Shamballa shall be named the Invincible. The Lord Himself hastens. And his banner is already above the mountains. Thy Pasture shall reach the Promised Land. When thou tendest thy flocks, dost thou not hear the voices of the stones? These are the toilers of Maitreya, who make ready for thee the treasures.”

Nicholas Roerich, Heart of Asia

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