By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Writer A New Age organization promoting a new Messiah named Maitreya, who is supposedly responsible for miraculous events such as weeping statues and Our Lady’s appearances in Medjugorge, has published a press release in major newspapers around the world claiming that a great miracle is about to appear in the sky which will be visible to everyone and will precipitate the emergence of the new Messiah. “Awaited by all faiths under different names, Maitreya is the Christ to Christians, the Imam Mahdi to Muslims, Krishna to Hindus, the Messiah to Jews, and Maitreya Buddha to Buddhists. He is the World Teacher for all, religious or not, an educator in the broadest sense,” reports the group Share International, which has been promoting Maitreya since the 1970’s. “Look now for the biggest miracle of all,” they say in a recent press release that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the PR Newswire and other major news outlets. “In the very near future a large, bright star will appear in the sky visible to all throughout the world -- night and day. . . .. Around a week later, Maitreya, the World Teacher for all humanity, will begin his open emergence and -- though not yet using the name Maitreya -- will be interviewed on a major US television program.” Maitreya’s spokesman on earth has been the London-based artist Benjamin Crème who claims he received his first telepathic message from Maitreya in the 1950s. Crème, who has been interested in esoteric philosophy since his youth, said he was told during this message that the Future Buddha, whose personal name is Maitreya, was at hand and that Maitreya and Christ were the same person. He was then given the opportunity to be actively involved in Maitreya’s eventual emergence. Crème accepted the job and has devoted his life to spreading the word about his “Master’s” impending appearance on the world stage. According to Crème, Maitreya has since descended from his ancient retreat in the Himalayas to live among the Asian community in London in July of 1977 with the intention of emerging onto the world scene at some point in the future. Crème’s perspectives about Maitreya and the “Masters of Wisdom” are derived primarily from the Theosophical teachings of Helena Blavatsky and her predecessor, Alice Bailey, who both claimed to have received information telepathically from one or more of the “Masters.”  Crème says that after his descent from the Himalayas, Maitreya began appearing to people in various countries, both in person and in dreams to political leaders. One of the most famous is the alleged appearance of Maitreya in 1988 to 6,000 people in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday, June 11. An eyewitness to the event, Mr. Job Mutungi, editor of the Swahili edition of the Kenya Times, said “Sparks came from his feet. I saw a bright star in daytime thrice. This person appeared mysterious to the crowd, and he had a light around his head and sparks cam from his feet. He promised to return with a bucketful of blessings. He blessed the crowd in Swahili, muttered a Hebrew curse, and left in a car driven by a Mr. Gurnam Singh.” Crème has also claimed that apparitions of the Virgin Mary are the result of action by “Masters” such as Maitreya. “The visions of the Madonna, which for example appear to the children at Medjugorje every evening and give them secrets, similar visions have occurred in many countries, wherever there are Christian groups around the world,” Crème said in a 1997 press conference. “Statues which weep real tears and blood. The statues which open their eyes and close them again. There is a 35-foot rainbow-colored Madonna which adorns a bank in Florida, people come every day to see this miracle -- which was vandalized and has restored itself to its original pristine color. The icon of Jesus in Sydney, Australia, [on?] a large crucifix which leaks liters of pure olive oil. “These are signs -- to the religious person, a sign that God is there, God is real, God is looking after them.  They think it is an act of God.  It is not an act of God.  These miracles are the very definite acts of a science unknown to us but known to all the Masters, the science of the relationship between matter and energy, and the interchange of energy into matter and matter back to energy.” In the most recent press release, the organization said Maitreya's message can be summarized as “share and save the world. He will seek to inspire humanity to see itself as one family, and to create world peace through sharing, economic justice and global cooperation. “   © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly/Women of Grace. http://www.womenofgrace.com