As we all know, the world is in a terrible state and likely to end very soon. That being the case, we should be well advised to keep an eye out not only for manifestations of Satan [1]but also for possible messiahs who might extricate us from this unholy mess. Alas, with so many claimants to the title, how are we to know who is the real deal? According to Benjamin Creme [2]we should all be watching our TVs very closely right now, because the ‘Maitreya’ [3](the coming future Buddha in Buddhist eschatology) has already appeared on our screens.
Creme– an artists/mystic from Scotland– has been keeping an eye out for the Maitreya for several decades. I first encountered his thinking in a free newspaper I found in a plastic box in downtown Austin, between another plastic box containing apartment listings and yet another plastic box containing a Spanish language newspaper. There was a strange photoshopped image on the front page of a vaguely Asian looking Jesus type figure in robes alarming a group of Indians. This, apparently was the Maitreya. According to Creme (who is in telepathic contact with those in the know) the messiah was already on earth and a new age of enlightenment was about to dawn, any day now. All very interesting.
Anyway, since then I hadn’t heard much but according to Britain’s Daily Telegraph, [4]just before Christmas:
…Mr Creme announced that a “bright star” would shortly be appearing in the sky, heralding Maitreya’s first appearance on American television. Such is the purchase of his optimism that shortly afterwards, the internet was flooded by reports of the star being seen all over the world – most notably, for some reason, in Norway.
On January 14, Mr Creme announced that Maitreya had made his long-awaited television appearance. Maitreya, Mr Creme went on, had not been introduced by that name, “but simply as a man, one of us. He spoke earnestly of the need for peace, achievable only through the creation of justice and the sharing of the world’s resources.”
Cue a frantic search by Mr. Creme’s followers for who this Maitreya might be. The general consensus was that it was Raj Patel a writer, activist and academic who was spotted on Youtube [5]talking about justice, equality, equitable distribution of resources, the rottenness of the free market etc while plugging his latest book, The Value of Nothing. [6](Praised by the tinfoil-hat wearing Naomi Klein but let’s not hold that against him).
Alas, although he might be out to save us, Dr. Patel makes no claims to being the messiah. Indeed, he quickly put up a witty post denying that he was the Maitreya [7]but simply ‘a very naughty boy.’ As you can see from scrolling through the comments this enraged some of the disappointed believers, who accused Dr. Patel of being a false prophet, fake messiah, [8]Antichrist and so on.
Benjamin Creme however denies that he ever pointed the finger at Patel. Again, from the Telegraph:
He (Creme) had never said, he told me, that Patel was Maitreya. Indeed, he had never heard of him until two weeks ago, when their names were linked on the web. “I’ve said all along, it’s not for me to say who is Maitreya. Raj Patel has said it’s not him, and that’s fine by me.”
In the meantime, he went on, the real Maitreya has made “several” appearances on American television, without declaring who he is: “It’s important that people follow him because they want what he is advocating for the world, rather than because they think he’s the Messiah.”
He had seen Dr Patel speaking on YouTube, he told me. “He’s very charming, very fluent… but to my mind he is not somebody who could be taken as the Messiah.”
Interesting. Thus there is no reason to lose hope– not yet at least. The Messiah is among us. Indeed he’s on TV. But which channel? Could it be him? [9] Or him? [10]Or why not a woman? [11]Then again, none of them have spoken much about world peace and the sharing of resources.
Guess we’ve just got to keep looking.
- Author Bio [12]
- Latest Posts [13]
Daniel Kalder [14]
Latest posts by Daniel Kalder (Posts [15])
- Book Review: Retroworld (plus, why I hate Star Trek) [16] - April 3, 2014
- A very expensive fungus [17] - October 16, 2013
- The secret rituals of history’s most creative minds [18] - October 9, 2013
- Apparently we are all getting very old [19] - October 3, 2013
- Vasily Grossman: from Stalingrad to toilet trouble [20] - August 28, 2013