Vol. 10, No. 8, 1993

Articles on the New Age

In 1989 Watchman Fellowship first reported on the appearances of the New Age Lord Maitreya, who many believe is actually Jesus in disguise.

According to Benjamin Creme, spokesman for the Maitreya and director of the Tara Center, the Maitreya appeared in Nairobi, Kenya to a group of about 6,000 worshipers. "On June 11, he appeared suddenly in the crowd and spoke to them in their own language, Swahili, for a time. Benjamin Creme confirmed that this appearance was truly Maitreya the Christ in one of his many guises" (Network News, June/July 1988, p. 2).

Two years later, Creme released a Press Release announcing that the "Maitreya is the one expected by followers of all religions. He is, at once, Christ, the Messiah, the Imam Mahdi, Krishna and the Fifth Buddha."

Later that same year, the Maitreya materialized at a conference.

"A major conference was initiated by Maitreya in London over the weekend of 21 and 22 April. Approximately 200 dignitaries from around the world attended. The conference also allowed the observing media representatives to see that Maitreya does, in fact, exist and is not a figment of Benjamin Creme's imagination. Several times during the two sessions, Maitreya appeared and disappeared, showing His control of matter, time and space, and gave dissertations on His mission, teachings and plans" (Network News, April/May 1990, p. 1).

If it is to be assumed that the ability to appear and disappear at will are the only qualifications for being the true Messiah, then perhaps several well known stage illusionists should also be considered.

Most recently, the Maitreya has apparently appeared to groups of Christians. In The Emergence, the new name for the Network News, Creme answers the question "Has Maitreya appeared again recently to religious groups?"

The answer: "Yes. As reported in the April issue of Share International (another Tara Center publication), Maitreya appeared - on 28 February - to a large group of Christian fundamentalists in Virginia, USA. The town was Richmond. On 21 March Maitreya appeared before a group of 500-600 Southern Baptists in Texas, USA. In both cases, water in the area had been changed beforehand" (May 1993, p. 1, parenthesis added).

Again, if the only qualification for being the true Messiah is the changing of water into something else, perhaps the Egyptian magicians of Pharaoh should have been considered (Exodus 7:22).

(Editor's Note: If any Christians in Virginia or Texas know anything about this supposed appearance, please contact Watchman Fellowship with details.)