Benjamin Creme Quotes

To come to grips with glamour, humanity must recognize its mechanism, by which means the central heresy — that we are separate — is created and maintained. All that tends to reinforce the sense of separateness is the result of the action of glamour, and all that seeks to undermine that heresy works for its destruction. Glamour resides in the notion that man’s desires are real, that they have their own intrinsic validity and purpose, whereas, in truth, they are the cause of all unhappiness; no more real, no less transient, than the mirage of the desert.

Essentially, glamour originates in man’s sensuous, feeling apparatus — the emotional or astral body — and in man’s identification with its action. Through wrong identification with his feelings and emotions — his desire nature — he has surrounded himself with, and lost himself in, thick fogs of illusion and unreality. This constitutes the glamour in which most people live out their lives. Glamour is illusion on the plane of the emotions and provides the greatest obstacle to progress, for the individual and for the race.

Our maturity is evidenced by our beginning to take responsibility for our planet on a global scale, albeit in a very tentative, barely discernible way. We are beginning to realize what we are doing to our environment... We are beginning to see that we cannot go on despoiling the planet, polluting the air, rivers and oceans.

We have to learn to deal with karma equably and say: “That’s life; it is, simply, life. C’est la vie.”...What holds us back in evolution is the karma which is always sitting on our shoulders and is not burnt away in the fire of service. Burn up the karma in the fire of service and you will go...

What makes karma a major problem for people is their inability to deal with it, to recognize their own responsibility for it, and to do something about it. Most people blame their problems on other people or on circumstances: it was their upbringing, the fact that their parents did not love them, or got divorced, or left them wanting, or that their husband left them, or did not leave them. All these experiences are shed onto someone else, but of course it is all to do with karma, our own responsibility.

We have arrived at a point today where, in practical, material terms, the world is probably richer than it has ever been. There are more products per capita in the world than at any time in human history. Never has there been felt the need for so many things. Never have there been so many storehouses bulging full with products. We have reached a point of massive overproduction, which takes co-operation to produce but has led to a sustained attack on each other in the competition to sell each other these goods

If we look back at our history, we can think of competition as it relates to the animal kingdom. It is natural for animals to compete for food in the struggle for survival... But we are not just animals. Although we owe our bodies and certain of our instincts to the animal kingdom, we are souls in incarnation. As souls, something other than competition comes into play in the relationships between men and men, between groups, between nations... With the advent of agrarian civilizations, the necessity for competition diminished. Competition in terms of warfare still took place very often, but the very fact of turning to settled agrarian culture led man away from the necessity of chasing each other, or animals, for the pot. A different aspect evolved: co-operation. Tribes grew in size, little market towns grew up, trading took place... You cannot build a town or a trading station without co-operation. You cannot enlarge the range of human activities and become creative without cooperation. If some are digging the soil, it allows others to build the houses. If some are building the houses, it allows others to play the flute or the harp. These differentiations and specializations enrich human society, civilization and culture. Without the spirit of co-operation none of that richness can be fostered. It needs the sense of oneself as part of a group, a community, brothers and sisters sharing the resources of a particular place, and enjoying, therefore, the fruits of this cooperative interaction.

The world is divided into two groups: those who are holding on to the old greedy and selfish nationalistic systems and who thus represent the reactionary forces of the world, and those who are opening to the new incoming energies of Aquarius, and who are looking for a way of brotherhood and co-operation, a realization of the interdependence that results from the fact that we are one humanity.

The era of competition is fast coming to an end. With its demise, violence and war, starvation amid plenty, greed and separation, will likewise fade from the memory.

Men must release themselves from the poison of competition, must realize it for the glamour which it is, and, seeing the Oneness of all men, embrace co-operation for the General Good. Only co-operation and justice will save men from a disaster of their own making; co-operation and justice alone will guarantee their future.

More and more, men are beginning to understand the severity of the problems which face them today. On all fronts — political, economic and social — these problems multiply and cause much heartache and sad shaking of heads. Add to these the environmental problems which man’s cavalier attitude to nature and its resources has engendered, and the future for mankind looks bleaker still. The realization is dawning that mankind’s life is in crisis and that something radical must be done before it is too late.

Part Three, ‘Unity’, presents the idea of unity from an entirely new standpoint: as the fundamental state which all of us, knowingly or not, are seeking, since it reflects the identity and inter-relation of all atoms in cosmos. Co-operation is seen as an aspect of unity, and essential for its creation. Co-operation and unity are shown as soul qualities, more and more in evidence as humanity grasps the reality of life; and as prerequisites for solving the many problems facing us today. With the teaching and example of Maitreya and His group of Masters to inspire us, we are left in no doubt that we shall overcome these problems and continue joyfully on our journey of evolution.

Part Two, ‘The Problem of Glamour’, tackles the ever present problem of illusion — glamour is illusion on the astral/emotional plane. It is shown as the fog that hides the truth of reality from most of humanity and causes the pain and suffering of the world. Under the impact of new and powerful energies these glamours are now focused as never before, leading eventually to a great leap forward in human evolution as we free ourselves from their age-old grip.

Part One... discusses at length the opposing ways of approaching and dealing with life: co-operating or competing. It traces the competitive spirit back to the animal kingdom and shows its gradual replacement by co-operation as humanity advances. Many of the problems of the modern world are seen in this context and co-operation is shown as the way, in line with our soul’s intent, to solve them.

You and I are One — Whoever, whatever, wherever you are, tread the divine water of cleanliness which is detachment. I have not come to teach you anything new. Be honest to yourself, sincere to yourself, and be detached. This method is so simple, so sweet, it is free from religions, ideologies, politics. It makes one experience who one is. Fulfill your role, yet be free.