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Subject: Share International magazine: Aug/Sept 1994 issue (long)
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**************************************************************************
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1994 issue                             Volume 13 Number 7
**************************************************************************

This is an abridged, electronic version of SHARE INTERNATIONAL magazine.

The magazine has a non-paid staff only, carries no advertisements and is
published by SHARE INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION, a non-profit,
non-governmental organization in association with the Department of Public
Information at the United Nations.

SHARE INTERNATIONAL is a monthly magazine, bringing together the two major
directions of New Age thinking -- the political, and the spiritual.  It
covers news, events and comments bearing on Maitreya's priorities:  an
adequate supply of the right food; adequate housing and shelter for all;
healthcare and education as a universal right; the maintenance of
ecological balance in the world.

Abridged hard-copy versions available in Dutch, French, German and
Japanese.

SHARE INTERNATIONAL has two general editors:  Peter Liefhebber, a Dutch
journalist concerned with the creation of a new world economic order; and
Benjamin Creme, British artist, esotericist and author.  His challenging
message has evoked a world-wide response:  Maitreya, the World Teacher, is
now among us in full physical presence.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE OF CONTENTS

To serve anew
by the Master --

Painters and their rays
by Benjamin Creme

Facts and Forecasts

Hans Kung:  in search of a global ethic
by Diana Holland

Questions & Answers

Background Information

Hard-copy subscription information

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Through these electronic files, the magazine Share International makes
available a compilation of its contents.  Permission is given to reproduce
these articles in magazine, newspaper or newsletter format, provided that
credit is given to Share International and clippings are sent to:  PO Box
41877, 1009 DB Amsterdam, Holland.  Copyright (c) 1994 Share
International.  All Rights Reserved.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------


TO SERVE ANEW
by the Master - -, through Benjamin Creme

Since the time is short indeed till mankind sees the Christ, it would be
wise to consider, somewhat, the likely repercussions of that momentous
event.  Firstly, men will awaken to a new situation, one altogether
unfamiliar and strange:  nothing similar will have been the experience of
anyone alive; no one, anywhere, will have heard before the thoughts
broadcast on that day of days.  Never, before, will men have heard the
call to their divinity, the challenge to their presence here on Earth.
Each, singly, and solemnly alone, will know for that time the purpose and
meaning of their lives, will experience anew the grace of childhood, the
purity of aspiration cleansed of self.  For these precious minutes, men
will know afresh the joy of full participation in the realities of Life,
will feel connected one to another, like the memory of a distant past.

        Suddenly, men will realize that their life till now was a shallow
thing, lacking, for the majority, all that makes life dear:  brotherhood
and justice, creativeness and love.  Many will know for the first time
that they count, that they matter in the scheme of things.  An unfamiliar
sense of self-esteem will replace their present hopelessness; drugs of all
kinds will cease their hold on men.  Quietly, men's tears will flow in
humble gratitude and longing for the good.


Sanctity

From that time forwards, a new spirit of sanctity will prevail upon the
Earth; men will walk on tip-toe for a time.  Soon, however, men will
realize that the changes needed in the world are vast, manifold, requiring
patience and dedication, imagination and trust.  Before long, men
everywhere will engage themselves in the work of reconstruction, the
rehabilitation of the world.  Succour for the poor and hungry will take
pride of place, and so will end for ever a blasphemy in men's midst:
millions will know for the first time the quiet happiness of satisfied
need -- no more will the dying forms of the starving disgrace the screens
of the affluent; no longer will men watch their brothers dying before
their eyes.  So will end a dark chapter in the history of the race.


Onslaught

Changes, unequalled in extent, will engage men's minds and hearts; naught
but the finest of the past will prevail against the onslaught of the new.
Daily, the transformations will be recorded for men to compare and admire;
a new world will be constructed in the blazing light of day.  All will, in
their way, participate, each will add his vision and contribute to the
whole.


Problem

For many, the very presence of the Christ will constitute a problem --
their long-held beliefs will be shaken to their core.  For them, a period
of heartsearching will be inevitable as they seek to understand the
meaning of the new dispensation; ancient beliefs die hard and hurt
bitterly in the process.  Nevertheless, millions will respond with a glad
heart, happy to accept the Teacher in their midst.  Few, in time, will
stand against the common acknowledgment that the Christ, in the person of
Maitreya, walks once more upon the Earth.


Educational

Those relatively few who have led the way in preparation for this time
will find themselves offered another field of service:  an educational
endeavour vast in scope.  From all sides will come the queries; a
long-felt hunger for knowledge will, like a dammed-up river, overflow and
burst its banks.  Many will seek to know the background and history of
this event; for others, the immediate future will be the chief concern.
Still others will feel the need to analyse and to question every
explanation, unsatisfied in the end with aught but their own beliefs.
Persuasion and tact, therefore, must be the order of the day, so to avoid
the charge of bigotry and pride.

        Societies, world wide, will play their part, assuring the broad
dissemination of the needed teachings.  Much remains to be given, but,
already, much remains unopened and unread in the hands of men.  Endeavour,
the counsel is, to inculcate the habit of reading much, thus to inform and
guide the seekers on the way.  Systematic study of the teachings, and
earnest attempts to live the precepts of Maitreya, will give the needed
balance and authority with which to teach.  Each one, thus equipped, can
avail themselves of this opportunity to serve anew.  Seize it, the counsel
is, with alacrity and humble pride.




PAINTERS AND THEIR RAYS
by Benjamin Creme


Description of the seven rays
-----------------------------

Rays of Aspect:
1st ray of Power, Will or Purpose
2nd ray of Love-Wisdom
3rd ray of Active, Creative Intelligence

Rays of Attribute:
4th ray of Harmony through Conflict, or Beauty, or Art
5th ray of Concrete Science or Knowledge
6th ray of Abstract Idealism or Devotion
7th ray of Ceremonial Order or Magic or Ritual or Organization.


This article* is about painting, but from an unusual standpoint.  I will
discuss certain painters, all of them famous old masters, from the point
of view of their ray structures.  Readers might then get an insight into
the role played by the rays in the style and quality of particular
painters.  There is another reason for choosing these particular painters:
they are, without exception, now Masters -- not necessarily working in
this world on the physical plane, but on higher levels.

        At the time they were working, the painters we will discuss were
inspired by Masters.  When we talk about initiates of their level, we
literally mean inspired by their Master.  Not in a vague way, but
inspiration as meaning a particular relationship between disciple and
Master.  It is the term for the end-stage of that relationship.
Initially, the disciple is held at a distance and never really allowed to
come close -- "the chelah on the thread" as it is called.  The disciple is
gradually brought closer until he is within the Master's aura.  He is
brought closer still until the "blending of the lights" occurs:  the
Master's and the disciple's mind are as one.  Whatever the Master needs
the disciple to know, he instantaneously knows.  There is a blending of
the light of the two minds.  That is where inspiration takes place.  It is
the result of overshadowing to the point of inspiration where the Master
is really working through the disciple.  The stages leading up to this
relationship involve simply mental impression.

        The Master DK has written (through Alice A.Bailey) that artists
are to be found on all the rays but that the combination of 7th and 4th
ray makes for the highest type of artist.  Those who have studied the list
of over 600 initiates in _Maitreya's Mission Volume One_ will find, almost
without exception, that the rays 4 and 7 are outstanding in the ray
structures of all the painters.

        It is interesting also, when looking at these painters, to note
the influence on their work of the rays of the nations in which they were
born.  The rays of the nation always influence the work of an artist or
musician, whatever their individual rays might be.  Remember also that it
is not the rays themselves which make someone great or small, it is the
point in evolution which is relevant, and the consequent use of the rays.



Cimabue (1240-1302)
-------------------

For his time, Cimabue was very advanced:  2.35 degrees initiate.  Today,
that would be the equivalent of an advanced working disciple -- someone
like a top statesman with a large group of people working under him.

Cimabue's ray structure was interesting:

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        6           6                   4         6         7
        Subrays     6                   4         2         7

He had a 6th-ray soul which was common in the 13th century among
initiates.  A great many Italian painters have 6th and 4th rays
prominently in their make-up.  What one has to remember in the case of
initiates is that they represent the soul aspect of their country, in this
case the 6th ray of idealism and devotion.  The masses as a whole express
the personality ray, which with Italy is the 4th.

        Although he was working away from it, Cimabue was influenced by
the Byzantine tradition:  highly stylized, unrealistic, almost no
perspective; one can just see the beginning of perspective in some of his
work.  There are four 6th rays in Cimabue's structure and if that doesn't
make one a devotee, nothing on earth will! Together with a large number of
6th rays (which give Cimabue's painting its particular devotional quality)
he also has two 4th rays and two 7th rays, which make him one of the
highest types of artist.

        The quality of devotion is obvious in his paintings, for example,
of the Madonna and Child -- they are really icons, visions of a divine,
and very abstract, idea of the Virgin with the child usually surrounded by
angels.  They are more objects of worship than paintings simply to be
looked at, and, of course, they were originally painted for churches.
Even today, in Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, the icon is carried
round for the people to kiss.  It is believed to be charged with divine
energy because it is the image of a divine being.  Exactly the same thing
would be expected of a Cimabue painting -- an icon radiating divine energy
into the church and focusing the aspiration of the people.  Only a
6th-ray, devotional, painter could express the particular abstract
idealism which his paintings demonstrate.  Cimabue is now a highly evolved
(6th-degree) Master, an ascended Master.  He works on one of the seven
higher globes of this earth.

        No reproduction can give adequate expression of the extraordinary
power of Cimabue's paintings.  The power comes partly from their size, but
also from the intense concentration of 6th-ray energy so that the whole
picture radiates the devotional worship characteristic of this great
initiate.



Giotto (1267-1337)
------------------

Giotto was the major pupil of Cimabue, whose work overlapped from the 13th
to the 14th century.  One being the teacher of the other, there is a
stylistic resemblance, reflecting the same artistic conventions typical of
the time in which they both lived.

        Giotto had almost identical rays to his teacher (but in different
positions) and this, of course, is what drew them together.  Looking at
their paintings, we might see that this different positioning of the rays
accounts for the differences in the quality, feeling and flavour of their
work.

Giotto's ray structure is as follows:

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        6           4                   6         2         7
        Subrays     4                   6         4         7

Cimabue's paintings are large, abstract, remote and powerfully devotional.
Giotto's are devotional, not so abstract, and they have the beginnings in
art of a humanistic radiance which is more immediate, much less remote.
Giotto was 2.4 degrees initiate, again almost the same as Cimabue, and he
is now also a 6th-degree initiate.

        Instead of Cimabue's double 6 personality, here we have the
required (double) 4s of the painter.  With Giotto, although he was still
closely tied to the Italian 'primitive' style from Byzantium, we have a
much more humanistic and narrational style -- he is telling a story.
Giotto's double 4th-ray personality makes him need to communicate, to
express his awareness, in this case, of the Christian story and ideas.  As
his work evolved it became more and more humanistic and less abstract.  He
is the great forerunner of the humanistic art to come.



Rembrandt (1606-1669)
---------------------

Rembrandt van Rijn is one of the best-known Dutchmen of all time.  He was
a 3rd-degree initiate working from 1606 to 1669.  He came in as a
2nd-degree initiate and ended up with both feet on the third rung of
Hierarchy.  His ray structure was as follows:

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        2           4                   3         4         7
        Subrays     6                   1         4         3

Rembrandt had one 7th ray and three 4th rays.  A preponderence of 4th rays
goes with a love of colour as well as a desire to communicate with and
move out towards the audience.  The 4th ray confers radiance, the beauty
of colour and light in a painter, or melody in a musician.  The 7th ray,
on the other hand, gives the artist an ability to draw, to design, to
organize the architecture of the work.

        Rembrandt very quickly became fashionable when he went to
Amsterdam from Leiden where he was born. During a later period of his
life, Rembrandt became bankrupt, mainly through his own extravagance
(probably as a result of the three 4th rays in his make-up).  Add to this
his acquisitive, 3rd-ray mental and he could not help but collect things.
At this time, his marvellous collection of paintings, jewels, swords,
armour and precious costumes were publicly sold for a pittance.  He had to
leave his big, beautiful house in the fashionable part of Amsterdam and go
to a very poor quarter.  His original, fine house is now open to view.

        He dressed his subjects in oriental costumes, weapons and armour
to give a rich, romantic and mysterious radiance to his paintings.  At the
same time he was a very down-to-earth Dutchman with a passion for reality.
His art is the synthesis of a tremendous attraction to reality, with a
need to draw things as they really were, and a desire for the exotic, the
dramatic, the radiant, the unusual and the mysterious.  As a third-degree
initiate these were qualities he saw in the world of meaning.  His 2nd-ray
soul was really dominating other aspects of his nature.  The essence of
the 2nd ray in its highest expression is the quality of magnetic love
which draws everything to itself, creating a unifying synthesis.  This
enabled Rembrandt to synthesize all the disparate qualities in his own
make-up:  realism, romanticism, religious devotion, drama.  I see this as
one of the major reasons why Rembrandt has become a symbol to all people
everywhere of the great artist.  People always recognize the quality of
love which draws them magnetically.

        Rembrandt painted many self-portraits.  This was not out of
vanity; he saw them as a way of gaining insight into what made him 'tick',
and as a measure of the passage of life in time.  In his mature work, the
empathetic quality of love and ability to identify with the other is
exemplified in all his paintings.  The third-degree initiate is already a
God-expressing individual.  The soul is infusing the personality and this
can be seen in the self-portrait which is in the Frick collection in New
York.  It is a very mature painting done about 1658.  Here is a man who
has just been made bankrupt, who has lost everything:  his reputation, his
possessions, his house, and who died later in poverty, buried in a
pauper's grave.  What does the portrait show?  We see a man of
extraordinary power, resilience and nobility.  He expresses a quiet calm
and self-esteem which is the hallmark of someone who knows who he is, what
he is doing, where he comes from, without any outer show.  It is a very
simple pose, with Rembrandt sitting in a chair holding a stick and looking
straight out quietly, impassively, at the spectator, allowing who and what
he is to demonstrate.

        He seemed to have the ability to see into the hearts of his
sitters.  Rembrandt could paint a beggar and make him look like a saint.
Not by idealizing, but, maintaining full realism, by conferring on his
subjects without exception his own beautiful, loving, 2nd-ray soul-nature.
_The Jewish Bride_, in Amsterdam, is arguably one of the greatest
demonstrations of tender love in all painting.  There is no way one can
learn to paint anatomy as such an articulate vehicle of emotion as in the
extraordinary tenderness conveyed here.  Only a few painters have this
capacity to paint reality as if it were actually happening -- it is in the
imagination and not in the eye.  Perhaps he did not deliberately set out
to create a painting full of love and tenderness.  He probably got totally
involved in the technical problems of realizing the inner vision of his
2nd-ray soul.

        His colour in his mature style is extremely restricted, selected
from a narrow range of browns and yellows with touches of red and gold.
Yet despite using very simple colours he could achieve a radiance in all
his work.  In fact, with three 4th rays in his make-up, he could not help
being a marvellous colourist.

        In _The Night Watch_, again in Amsterdam, we have the feeling of
communication:  that something dramatic is happening before our very eyes.
This scene of a company of guards painted as a group portrait was very
popular in Rembrandt's day.  The only other Dutch painter who could do
anything at all with the subject was Frans Hals, who did it several times
and rather well.  But the conventions prevailing at the time were for such
a group portrait to consist of an inert line of figures which was boring
in the extreme.  Rembrandt, tackling this subject, sees it as a dramatic
event but also as an entirely realistic everyday occurrence.

        The painting shows the end of a night watch as the company of
guards emerges into the morning sun.  The light is used to highlight the
faces in a natural but highly dramatic, effective and lively way.  The
naturalness of the scene is accentuated by extraneous figures moving
through the group, such as a girl on her way to market, a little dog
exploring, etc.  It was probably the most ambitious painting in size and
scope that Rembrandt had painted up to that time, but it began his
downfall among his contemporaries and from then his popularity waned.  As
his painting got better and better, he got poorer and poorer -- so much
for the Dutch public of his day and their taste in art!

        Rembrandt had a 7th-ray brain and this is demonstrated in the
complex composition.  It looks entirely naturally done with each figure
standing happily and logically in its space; yet the composition is
highly contrived and carefully designed.

        Probably the outstanding quality of Rembrandt is his ability to
confer a sense of unity.  There is a picture in London's National Gallery
of a woman bathing.  It illustrates again, despite the use of a very
narrow colour range, his wonderful 4th-ray radiant colour sense -- golds,
reds, whites and cool flesh colour.  Inherent in the pose of the figure is
the 2nd-ray modesty of approach, calm harmony with a sweetness of gesture.

        There is a beautiful portrait of the Christ by Rembrandt in
Munich.  It was probably sat for by the man next door who was no nearer to
being the Christ than you or I.  Yet Rembrandt, with his 2nd-ray soul
empathy, was able to confer on him an extraordinary nobility of character
and tragic beauty -- the kind of thing one would associate with an
initiate like the Christ.  With the insight of a high initiate himself,
Rembrandt is always looking at the world of meaning through his 2nd-ray
soul's love, tenderness and patience.



Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
-----------------------------

Leonardo da Vinci was, by any measurement, an extraordinary man.  He was a
painter, sculptor, architect, natural scientist, military inventor -- the
epitome of the Renaissance man.  He had an enormous influence on his time.
He invented the mortar which is used so extensively in warfare today, and
a very nasty catapult.  He was engaged by the authorities of Florence to
design the fortifications and ensure the freedom of the city state.
Needless to say, he had travelled a little way along the initiatory path
and was the most advanced of all the painters we know -- 4.4 degrees
initiate.  Five degrees makes you a Master, and so he was all but a
Master.

        What we are seeing in Leonardo is the detachment of the 4th-degree
initiate, who is really totally detached from the world, who is dissecting
cadavers to see the formation of the inside of the body for science.  He
spent hundreds of hours in his cellar cutting up bodies and drawing the
results -- early anatomical studies are the result of Leonardo's drawings;
a horrible pastime, but he liked it.

        Actually, he did not come out of our evolution at all.  He came
from the planet Mercury.  He was really a human avatar and is now no
longer in our solar system, but in the system of Sirius.  He is now in our
terms an 8th-degree initiate, like the Buddha.  His ray structure is
extraordinary, especially if one remembers that the combination of 4th and
7th rays makes for the highest type of artist:


        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        4           7                   7         4         7
        Subrays     4                   3         4         7

He could be nothing other than the highest type of artist in whose work
both colour and form are perfectly realized at the highest level.

        Leonardo does not use bright or obvious colours.  What one senses
in his work is that the pictures are whole, complete.  It is not possible
to say more than he is saying in each painting.  It is as if each one
communicates an almost cosmic meaning which is only able to be represented
through the radiance of that painting.  They take hold of our imagination
and impose their extraordinary sensuous but abstract beauty on our minds.

        There has to be a reason why _The Mona Lisa_ has such a hold on
the imagination of countless millions of people in the world, most of whom
have seen only reproductions.  Why is this so?  I suggest that it is our
response to the fact that Leonardo is a 4.4th degree initiate, almost a
Master.  One senses that he is no longer working in the three worlds,
physical, astral and mental, in which average humanity lives.  His
painting represents the beauty of Reality in a spiritual or even a cosmic
sense which finds expression through the activity of the 4th and 7th rays
-- that is, through the relationship between colour and form.

        In _The Virgin of the Rocks_, in London and Paris, there is an
extraordinary complexity of composition expressing Leonardo's abundance of
7th ray.  Only someone with strong 7th-ray influence in his make-up would
feel impelled, or have the ability, to carry to such an extent the
structure and rhythms creating the forms in space in his painting.  It is
the 7th-ray ability to design and organize the material which creates such
a unity throughout the whole, intricate composition.  But Leonardo has too
much 4th ray to compose in a hard or dry manner.  It is done by
chiaroscuro -- the relationship of light to dark -- and by the
manipulation of the edges of each form to overlap, allowing the eye to
flow easily from one to another.  It creates the sense of totality, of
completeness, which is so characteristic of his expression.



Raphael (1483-1520)
-------------------

Everyone loved Raphael because he had the sweetest nature you can imagine.
They called him "The Divine".  When we know his ray structure, we can
understand why:

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        2           4                   7         6         7
        Subrays     6                   7         4         2

He was a 3rd-degree initiate, therefore spiritually polarized.  He had an
oversensitive physical body and did not live very long; he did his whole
life work and died by the time he was 37.  He was very influenced by
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

        What makes Raphael's work so attractive is the harmony represented
in each painting.  All movements within the composition have been resolved
to create an absolute harmony, a stillness without deadness, a harmony
which is somehow buoyant.  His portraits are second to none.  For example,
take his portrait (in London's National Gallery) of Pope Julius II, a
tyrant, an absolute rascal and a very clever 3rd-ray type.  From Raphael's
portrait you might think he was a benign Father Christmas whose grim mouth
is only the result of losing his teeth.  Raphael may have been
sweet-natured but he was not stupid -- he simply knew better than to paint
everything he saw.  However, it is also an expression of his 2nd-ray
inclusiveness and goodwill.

        The tremendous geometry of the large figure compositions is
organized and constructed using his 7th-ray mental and 7th-ray brain.
This demonstrates in a wonderful sense of proportion.  Everything is done
with restraint, without a trace of the exaggeration that came in a later
period of Italian art based on his work.  It is the balance in his work
between colour and form, radiance and structure, atmosphere and
architecture that makes him one of the really great painters.



Michelangelo (1475-1564)
------------------------

Michelangelo was mainly a sculptor, but he was also a painter, though he
thought that painting was a very inferior art.  (That is a glamour shared
by many sculptors!) It did not prevent him from being a very remarkable
painter indeed.

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        1           4                   4         6         1
        Subrays     6                   3         6         7

He was 3.3 degrees initiate.  He painted figures as pieces of sculpture,
as if working from a block of stone.One senses a tremendous rhythmic
energy spiralling up and down through the figures.  The edges are 'hard',
a technique rather liked by the 1st-ray painter, because the hard edge
expresses more energy than the soft, blurred nuance.  Although the figures
are not as realistic as, say, a Rembrandt, they have enormous physical
presence, being overlaid with Michelangelo's own powerful personality,
infused by his 1st-ray soul.  His paintings are abstract ideals in the
big, 1st-ray, sense of a symbol -- of the Christ or of divinity.  It is
the broad world view of the 1st ray seen through the eyes of a 3rd-degree
initiate.  Despite having two 4th rays, Michelangelo's colour is not very
characteristic of 4th-ray radiance.  It can be a little dry, or pale and
sweet, but in some cases can be quite powerful.  He is more interested in
the form than the colour.  However, it is interesting to note that the
colour is splendid and decorative in his paintings in the Sistine Chapel,
as was revealed by the recent cleaning process.  Michelangelo is now on
Sirius and is the equivalent (in our solar system) of a 7th-degree
initiate.



Paulo Veronese (1528-1588)
--------------------------

Paulo Veronese was both a brilliant colourist and a superb organizer of
forms, as we can see from his ray structure.  He was a 3rd-degree
initiate:

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        7           4                   7         6         7
        Subrays     7                   4         2         3

The two fours provided him with the beautiful, highly characteristic and
original, colour quality.  He handles colour marvellously, especially
colours like rose, gold, blue and flesh.  His is the energy of the 7th ray
and those who are interested in painting may find inspiration from the
colour and organization of all his painting.  Clarity, a sense of ease, is
always evident in his art.  There is breadth and simplicity; also
glamourous splendour in the Venetian sense:  luxury, ease and grandeur.
This comes from his 7th-ray soul and 4/7 personality, and enables him to
build those tremendous compositions, like _The Marriage at Cana_, in the
Louvre, Paris, with dozens of figures.

        Paulo Veronese was a 3rd-degree initiate.  He is now a 7th-ray
Master and will be very active in the world in the New Age.  He will be in
charge of, and the inspiration behind, the first 70 or 80 years of the New
Age architecture and so will powerfully affect the architecture of the
next 150 years or so.  He is already drawing up His plans.



El Greco (1541-1614)
--------------------

'El Greco' means 'the Greek' -- his real name being Domenicos
Theotocopulos, and he signed his pictures thus.  He was another 3rd-degree
initiate, but with a 1st-ray soul and the following ray structure:

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        1           4                   7         6         1
        Subrays     6                   7         6         7

Born in Crete, he went as a young man to Venice to study under Tintoretto,
and at first glance some of his early works remind one very much of
Tintoretto; certainly he was very much influenced by him during this
period.  His own innate colour sense came from his 4th- and 6th-ray
personality and double 6th-ray astral.  This ability was heightened and
sharpened and given structure by his experience in Venice under
Tintoretto, himself a great colourist.  El Greco actually composes with
colour, making colour provide the building blocks with which the picture
is created.  In his later painting, the flamelike forms become the
ourstanding characteristic, together with an elongation and distortion of
the figures to a degree which gives his pictures a Gothic expressiveness
and intensity.

        The power, vitality, the extraordinary impact of everything he
painted is the expression of his 1st-ray soul -- the ray of power and
purpose.  The fiery, flamelike quality is like his signature, his
hallmark.  It really reflects his knowledge or intuition about the
nature of the energy which he embodied.  He certainly knew on the soul
level that he was a 1st-ray soul and the quality of fire which all his
greater pictures explore is the 1st-ray aspect -- electrical fire from the
Central Spiritual Sun.  This can be compared with the work of Raphael and
Rembrandt, who demonstrate 2nd-ray fire quality, Solar fire.

        El Greco was a great religious painter, expressing genuine
religious fervour.  This gives his work its ecstatic quality, unlike many
painters of the High Renaissance in Italy who were really going through
the motions -- for example, traditional devotional painters thought it
sufficient to show people rolling their eyes to heaven.

        It is interesting to consider the influence of a nation's rays on
the type of painting being produced.  As we have seen, Italy has a 6th-ray
soul and 4th-ray personality, and many Italian painters have the same
rays.  So in Italian painting there is often a measure of play-acting.  It
can be overblown, the figures and forms are flying too much in the air, or
the gestures are too broad.  With El Greco, the energy of the 1st and 7th
rays are at work, giving his work a rhythmic, linear integration
throughout the composition and an absolute seriousness and purpose.  He is
now a Master, a 6th-degree initiate, working on the inner planes from the
Atmic level.



Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)
--------------------------

Albrecht Durer was a German painter of the 16th century.  He had a 1st-ray
soul, and as 2.4 degrees initiate was half way between the 2nd and 3rd
initiations, on the verge of spiritual polarization.  His ray structure
was as follows :

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        1           7                   7         4         1
        Subrays     4                   4         6         7

His paintings typically have a hard, linear, wiry quality -- the 1st-ray
vitality expressed in line.  He is not eloquent as a colourist, but he was
a great draughtsman and engraver.  The technique involves cutting directly
into steel, one line engraved at a time, and the result is a hard, tight,
physical vitality which you cannot get in any other way.  There was no
nuance in his drawings but there is an extraordinary realism, coming from
his Northern origins.  There is always a hint of expressionism, as we have
come to call it today, which is seen, for example, in hands being
portrayed as slightly tortured in expression.  His drawing contains a
tension in the lines which gives an unrest, an inner tension.  This is the
reflection of Durer's 1st-ray soul powerfully expressing itself through
this, as yet not quite soul-infused, individual.  Durer was a brilliant
draughtsman and a powerful figure in German art, certainly one of the
great influences.  He is not everyone's 'cup of tea', I would say, because
people are somewhat afraid of the 1st-ray expression in all its
manifestations.  But in art, in El Greco, in Michelangelo and Durer, it is
remarkable.  Durer is a Master now, on the only sacred 1st-ray planet,
Vulcan.



Velasquez (1599-1660)
---------------------

Velasquez was a 17th century Spanish painter, 2.4-degrees initiate.  He is
known in the trade as "a painter's painter".  He is the kind of painter
every painter loves.  He is so technically marvellous that the paint looks
as if it had never been handled or touched, as if he breathed it on the
canvas.  His colour is always exquisite as the numerous 4th rays in his
make-up ensure:  greys, blacks and rose and subtle flesh tints.

        Soul        Personality         Mental    Astral    Physical
        4           7                   1         4         7
        Subrays     6                   7         4         3

The 1st-ray mind gives him his power, his breadth of view, his style, his
grandeur, and the 7th subray gives restraint, organizing power, a refined
statement.  He never overdoes anything, the way an Italian painter might.
Double 4 on the astral gives his work its warmth and eloquence, but it is
restrained by the 7th-ray personality with its 6th subray.  Spain's rays
are 6th ray, soul, and 7th ray, personality, and of course the rays of a
nation always influence the work of an artist whatever their individual
rays might be.  Velasquez worked in the Court of Spain for most of his
life.  He had the style and grandeur and restrained beauty of the perfect
court painter.  He is now a Master on one of the higher spheres of this
planet, the 5th sphere, working with the devas -- 4th-ray Masters seem
often to do that.  His aim is to get to Mercury!


(*Edited version of lectures given in San Francisco, USA, and Ubbergen,
Holland, in July and September 1986)



(For information on the Seven Rays, see the works of Alice A.Bailey,
particularly _Esoteric Psychology Volume One_.  See chapters on the rays
in Benjamin Creme's _Maitreya's Mission Volume One_ and _Maitreya's
Mission Volume Two_; also listed are the rays of initiates and nations.)




FACTS AND FORECASTS

_Share International_ regularly prints articles outlining Maitreya's
expectations concerning political, social, environmental and spiritual
changes in the world.

        In this section, "Facts and forecasts", our staff monitors news,
events and comments bearing on Maitreya's insights.  For a complete
picture we refer you to previous issues.  This month's overview covers the
period from early June to early August.


Walls of hate come tumbling down
--------------------------------

"They will live as brothers and sisters and the Palestinians will have
their own homeland." (March 1991)

The walls of suspicion and hatred came tumbling down as King Hussein of
Jordan and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel met in public for the
first time at a White House ceremony and signed "The Washington
Declaration" virtually ending the state of war that has existed between
the two countries for 46 years.

        This meeting was the culmination of behind-the-scenes negotiations
in the Negev Desert between the two countries, and the symbolic gesture of
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres setting foot on the Jordanian side
of the Dead Sea.

        Among the major provisions of the Declaration were vigorous
negotiations towards a fully-fledged peace treaty, the taking of
immediate steps to normalize relations and resolve disputes, co-operation
by police to combat crime, the discouragement of economic boycotts, and
direct telephone links and electronic grids.  It is hoped that Syria, the
last major adversary on Israel's borders, will also be inspired to seek a
peace agreement.


US General calls for elimination of nuclear weapons
---------------------------------------------------

"No one will be able to maintain defence as a top priority now.  This is
neither ideology nor opinion.  The coming technology of light renders
present defence requirements obsolete." (June 1989)

A top US Air Force General says that the country should eliminate all its
nuclear weapons and secure "the high moral ground" in the world's eyes.
General Charles Horner claims that the US would lose little militarily by
eliminating its arsenal of nuclear weapons because they are "obsolete."
Horner, head of the US Space Command, emphasized that this is contingent
upon the other nuclear powers -- including Russia -- doing the same.

        "I want to go to zero, and I'll tell you why:  If we and the
Russians can go to zero nuclear weapons, then think what that does for us
to counter the new war," he said.  The new war refers to the new military
threat which comes not from superpowers, but from smaller, less stable
countries.

        Horner is not saying disarm completely, only that nuclear weapons
no longer make military sense.  "What am I going to use it on?" he
asked.  "What are nuclear weapons good for?  Busting cities.  What
President of the United States is going to take out Pyongyang?"

        Meanwhile, the Clinton Administration -- which does not endorse
complete nuclear disarmament -- is still looking for ways to cut costs.
The annual cost of maintaining the US nuclear arsenal is $20,000 million.
(Source:  _Associated Press_)


CIA endorses chemical weapons ban
---------------------------------

Despite reservations regarding verification, the US Central Intelligence
Agency urged ratification of the new global treaty banning chemical
weapons.  This endorsement by the intelligence agency and the American
military bolsters the chances of approval by the US Congress, a step which
would encourage other nations to follow suit.  Ratification by 65 nations
would enable the ban on chemical weapons and the destruction of existing
stores to take effect in January 1995.


Changing face of US military:  attention focused on inner cities
----------------------------------------------------------------

With crime, drugs, poverty, and other suffering in the US inner cities
growing at an alarming rate, the Clinton Administration and the Pentagon
have decided to call in the National Guard.

        Freed from training assignments in preparation for war, the
National Guard has a new mission, which includes teaching school to inner
city kids, tearing down drug dealers' houses, building roads, cleaning
children's teeth, and giving cancer screenings, shots and check-ups.
Other tasks have included running "boot camps" for high school dropouts,
cleaning up a Massachusetts park, building a bridge in Puerto Rico,
building artificial reefs in Alabama, drilling wells in Ohio, and
restoring homes in Kansas.

        The US Administration and the Pentagon have given the project a
name:  "Civil-Military Cooperation -- Rebuilding America".  Although the
National Guard insists on maintaining "readiness" to defend the country,
it is increasingly focusing its resources on inner cities -- helping
people there maintain their "readiness" for a better life.  (Source:  _San
Francisco Examiner_, USA)


Law of the Sea Treaty to take effect
------------------------------------

"The environment will become the 'number one' issue throughout the world."
(June 1989)

Twelve years after it was first drafted, the UN Law of the Sea Treaty is
set to take effect this November.  The convention establishes ground rules
for activities such as fishing, dumping garbage in the oceans, and the
protection of the marine environment.  It will also grant coastal nations
a territorial water limit of 12 miles, an exclusive economic zone
extending 200 miles, and mineral rights over the continental shelf.  It
has been called "the largest and most complex multilateral treaty that has
ever been negotiated."

        The convention has been ratified by 63 nations but, until
recently, had been opposed by the US and other industrialized nations
because of provisions that restrict private companies now exploring ways
to mine the ocean floor.  A renegotiated version of the treaty's
seabed-mining provisions has now won US acceptance.  Developing countries
have insisted that the mineral riches ofthe seabed are the "common
heritage of mankind".  Most environmental groups have expressed support
for the treaty.  (Source:  _Christian Science Monitor_, USA)


Environmental management
------------------------

The European Union plans to introduce a common system for management of
the environment.  The main goal of the EU-Eco Act, which will come into
effect in April 1995, is to ensure on-going improvement in management of
the environment in industry.  The act will need to ensure that
environmental issues are considered during every phase of the production
cycle (development, construction, manufacture, despatch and processing of
waste).  It will form the basis for the conservation of energy, water and
raw materials and also reduction of waste products.  (Source:  _Der
Gewerkschaftler_, Germany)


Urgent need to fulfil desertification treaty
--------------------------------------------

Two years after it was first proposed at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, the final draft of a treaty has been completed to combat the loss
of world farmland due to over-grazing, destructive agricultural practices,
and deforestation.  Meeting in Paris recently, the International
Convention to Combat Desertification calls for the creation of national
programmes that would involve nongovernmental organizations, local groups,
and the private sector in planning as well as implementing projects.

        About 3,000 million acres of land world-wide are affected by
desertification.  The area equals the size of China and India combined,
and is inhabited by 900 million people.  Up to 10 million refugees, mostly
in Africa and Asia, have been forced to emigrate because of the crisis.
According to the UN Development Programme, desertification and its related
effects kill at least 13 million people a year, the vast majority of them
children.

        Donor nations allocate from $500 million to $850 million yearly
towards combating desertification, but there are few signs that the
estimated $22,400 million necessary to fight this problem adequately will
be funded.  Without such funding, many nongovernmental organizations
question how the Convention can solve such an urgent problem.

        African nations, which are hardest hit by desertification, opened
the recent negotiations with demands for legally binding commitments and
obligations from the developed countries to provide new and additional
financial resources.  Together with other advocacy groups attending the
Paris talks, female representatives from various African nations formed a
unique initiative, the International NGO Network Against Desertification,
for the purpose of encouraging participation by women in the
implementation of the Treaty's programmes and to work to hold governments
responsible for the commitments made during the Convention.  (Sources:
_San Francisco Chronicle_, USA; _Inter Press Service_)


Gray whales removed from endangered species list
------------------------------------------------

One hundred years ago, the gray whale population had been hunted nearly to
extinction.  Today, the world's population of these mammals is about
21,000.  This has allowed the US Fish and Wildlife Service officially to
remove the gray whales from the endangered species list, making whales the
first endangered species to be taken off that list.

        But the whales are not yet home free.  All the years of reduced
population forced inbreeding which has weakened their genetic diversity
and diminished their ability to fight off infections.  A potent virus
could reduce their numbers significantly; even if they are able to survive
severe environmental disturbances such as oil drilling and mining.
(Source:  _San Francisco Chronicle_, USA)




HANS KUNG:  IN SEARCH OF A GLOBAL ETHIC
by Diana Holland

Professor Hans Kung of the University of Tubingen in Germany is a
world-famous Catholic theologian and a prolific author who has long
campaigned for a more liberal church.  His book _Infallibility and
Inquiry_ created a great deal of controversy in the late 70s by
challenging the doctrine of papal infallibility.  His book _On being a
Christian_ remained for months on the best-seller list when it was
published in 1974 in Germany.

        A recent work, _Global Responsibility_, is the precursor to the
drafting of the Declaration of a Global Ethic and its companion document,
'The Principles of a Global Ethic', which were presented at the Parliament
of the World's Religions, convened last September in Chicago with 6,000
delegates in attendance.  Dr Kung has the ability to capture the
imagination of the average person and help him or her thoroughly to engage
and ponder the critical questions facing Christianity and ethics today.


"The world is in agony," begins the 'Declaration of a Global Ethic',
penned by Catholic theologian Hans Kung in the latest of a lifetime of
works on the fundamental questions of ethics and religion in today's
world.  Against a backdrop of social disarray, marginalization of much of
the world's population, tensions between the sexes and generations,
religious strife and political collapse, begins the document, the world is
experiencing a fundamental crisis.  In short, states Kung, global economy,
ecology and politics are all stymied by the lack of a grand vision and by
mediocre political leadership, with too many old and ineffective answers
to the new challenges.

        "Never," states Kung, "has there been such a need for a mechanism
to counter global distress.  Fortunately, a common ethic already exists
within all the religious teachings of the world.  This can supply the
moral foundation for a vision to lead men and women away from despair, and
society away from chaos."

        Kung defines the Declaration of a Global Ethic as a "minimal
consensus concerning binding values, irrevocable standards and fundamental
moral attitudes."  Its principles can be affirmed by all persons with
ethical convictions, whether religiously grounded or not, who oppose all
forms of inhumanity.  Though we possess today ufficient economic, cultural
and spiritual resources to introduce a better global ethic, Dr Kung
reasons, this will occur only when the peoples of the world live
peacefully together and share responsibility in caring for the Earth.
There can be "no new global order without a new global ethic."

        So the Declaration of a Global Ethic seeks to go beyond laws and
prescriptions and touch the instinct for justice in men and women, and to
bring about a change in the inner orientation, the mentality and the
hearts of people, so that they find once again their lives' direction,
values and meaning.

        Without glossing over the serious differences among the individual
religions, the document affirms that the ancient wisdom common to all
religions can point the way to the future, and it seeks to proclaim
publicly those things which we hold in common and jointly affirm, each on
the basis of our religious or ethical grounds.

        Thus, the old commandment "Thou shalt not kill" becomes, in
positive terms, "Have respect for life," and calls for the safety of all
minorities, social and political justice, a culture of non-violence,
respect for the environment and universal disarmament.  The directive
"Thou shalt not steal" becomes "Deal honestly and fairly," and decries
poverty and the violence and counter-violence which occur in a
wealth-polarized society, where theft becomes necessary for sheer survival
and hatred and resentment inevitably well up.  Just economic institutions
need to be created and sanctioned at the highest levels, suggests Dr Kung,
and limitless consumption curbed in the developed countries while the
market economy is made socially and ecologically conscious.  "Thou shalt
not lie" becomes "Speak and act truthfully," with particular focus on the
media and politicians to become truly representative and accountable.

        "Thou shalt not commit sexual immorality" becomes "Respect and
love one another," calling for an authentic partnership between the
genders, and a change in the institutions of marriage and family so that
they secure the rights of all members to mutual respect, appreciation and
concern.  After consultation in several arenas, the Declaration was
presented at a meeting of 250 representatives of the world's great
religions held concurrently with the Parliament of the World's Religions
in Chicago.  Over 90 per cent of them personally endorsed the document as
a suitable point of departure for further discussion and refinement.
Ultimately, official ratification will be desired, by whatever process and
authoritative body is intrinsically recognized by each of the great
religions.  The World Parliament served as a meeting ground for dialogue
and launching rather than as a court of final ratification.  Eventually,
Dr Kung believes, a new document will be released, based on full
consensus.

        "There has been a thrust since Chicago, none the less, to get the
current document into the consciousness of people," recently stated Father
Thomas Baima, one of the trustees of the board of the Council for a
Parliament of the World's Religions, who added:  "The Declaration has
found a hearing and is taking on a life of its own."  Indeed, he explains,
the document has been republished extensively, not only by the small
denominational press, but by major publications such as _USA Today_, which
made it available as a full-page article last December to its 40 million
readers.

        Several ethics-based and major church organizations have convened
special conferences to discuss the document, such as the Association of
Professors of Ethics in the USA and the Association of Chicago Theological
Schools, which represents the largest body of ecumenical Christians
outside Rome.  At its annual World Mission Institute in Chicago at the end
of April, over 200 scholars representing the five major faiths --
Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism -- discussed the
Global Ethic in round-table sessions and in participatory forums.

        In a brief interview with _Share International_ during the
Parliament, Dr Kung mused about change.  On the one hand, he said, much of
it happens over a long period, and depends on an infinite number of groups
and individuals which are changing fairly slowly themselves.  On the other
hand, he stated, other changes, though hoped for, occur extremely rapidly,
with no one truly expecting them, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and
the reunification of the two Germanys.  Such changes, he added, do not
occur without difficulty.  The Federal Republic of Germany experienced
immense financial, social and economic problems with reunification, and
had to face a double-edged problem with youth.  On one side, he explained,
were the youth of East Germany, who did not believe in the Communist
ideology on which they were raised, and had no real sense of ethics.  On
the other hand were the youth of West Germany, quite often unemployed,
with no sense of meaning in their lives, and prone to consider as enemies
those who received subsidies for housing, relocation, etc.

        At the beginning, concludes Dr Kung, the politicians did not
realize that this dichotomy created a real danger.  In the longer run,
he believes, solutions need time to evolve, and also charismatic figures
to come to the fore.  He reiterated that mediocre leadership is one of the
major problems the world is now grappling with, but recalled that great
figures have emerged onto the world scene at times of crisis, like
Churchill, de Gaulle, Adenauer and John Kennedy.

        Citing recent scientific data that damage to the ozone layer is
slightly decreasing, and expressing the hope that revolutionary
applications will soon be found for the process of nuclear fusion, he
stated that he is trying to bring hope to humanity, rather than
concentrating on the negative aspects.

        He believes that a magazine like _Share International_ can help
people not to despair, and concluded by paraphrasing two quotations from
the Bible.  One was "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew
6:34), and the other added up to "Give us light for the next step."  To
Hans Kung, when you know what you have to do next, that is already quite a
lot.




QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

        Questions dealing with the activities of Maitreya and the
Hierarchy of the Masters of Wisdom, and about the Ageless Wisdom
Teachings, which have not been answered in his books, are answered by
Benjamin Creme in this section.  Benjamin Creme does not seek to set
himself up as an arbiter of the authenticity of other group's activities
and communications.  Please refrain from posing such questions.

        Send your written questions to:  Share International/Questions, 59
Dartmouth Park Road, London NW5 1SL, UK.


Q.  Has Maitreya made any further appearances to groups since the last
issue of Share International?  A.  Maitreya's appearance in France on 5
June was in Paris.  On 19 June Maitreya appeared before 600-700 Eastern
Orthodox Christians in Istanbul, Turkey, where He spoke for 18 minutes.
Water was charged a week earlier.

        On 24 July Maitreya appeared to 400-500 Christians in Kingston,
Jamaica.  He spoke for 14 minutes.  Water was charged in the area.

        On 31 July Maitreya appeared to 300-400 Christians in London, UK.


Q.  Mr Creme, with due respect, I heard you say the same thing as you are
saying now, 12 years ago on television -- that the World Teacher was going
to appear on television ...

A.  Precisely so.  Any time since the end of May 1982 Maitreya has been
ready to appear before the whole world in the way in which I have
announced -- on invitation from humanity.  The only thing that has
withheld that appearance has been a lack of interest from the media, which
reflects the lack of interest from humanity as a whole.  If those who saw
me on television had made a noise, and got their media to act on this,
Maitreya could have been known any time since 1982.  Every one who has
heard this story, who more or less believes it, and who has done nothing
about it, is at fault in this regard.  It is not Maitreya's fault, it is
not my fault.  Maitreya works according to the law -- the law governing
our free will.  The World Teacher Himself cannot come on the media
networks of the world and speak to the whole world as He needs to do,
without an invitation..  If Maitreya can speak directly to the minds
of all humanity on the Day of Declaration, as He will do, He can do that
at any time, but He will not do it without an invitation -- anything less
would be an infringement of our free will.  That is the only reason you
have not seen The Lord Maitreya to date.


Q.  What can I do?  -- I have been waiting for Him for 13 years ...

A.  Make it known! If you believe that what I say is true, make it known
by every means at your disposal.  If you have 100 per cent conviction, as
I have, make it known at that level; if it is only 50 per cent, then at
that level; if you have a minuscule, five per cent conviction that it
might possibly be true, then make it known at that level.  Whatever you do
is of value.  In that way you will help to create the 'climate of hope',
of expectancy, which allows Him, under law, to come forward openly.


Q.  How is the damage already perpetrated against the earth going to be
healed?

A.  When the Lord Maitreya works openly, this will set in motion a
dynamism which is presently lacking in the approach to these problems.
The nations have known for half a century about world hunger -- the