Atlas›Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements›Guide 058
Guide XIV-058

Transmission Meditation (Share International)

Benjamin Creme1974
A 39 · L 45 · M 1613 interventions in the Trinity explorer
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: Transmission Meditation as Share International currently publishes it on its international and UK websites and in the FAQ archive, with Benjamin Creme's book Transmission: A Meditation for the New Age (5th revised edition, 2006) as the named primary text (its detailed contents [uncertain: not verified]). Scholarly context from Pokorny (2021).

What it is. Transmission Meditation is a group meditation introduced in 1974 by the Scottish painter and esotericist Benjamin Creme (born Glasgow 1922, died London 2016), founder of the movement now organised as Share International (the Share International Foundation and its magazine date from around 1979–1982). [source: Share International; Share International UK; Pokorny 2021] The first group formed in 1974 from a dozen people Creme invited; groups are reported in more than 40 countries, and the scholar Lukas Pokorny estimates committed long-term practitioners in the hundreds. [source: Pokorny 2021]

Core idea of how change happens (as the movement holds it). In the movement's teaching, which draws on Theosophy and Alice A. Bailey, the Masters of Wisdom (the "Hierarchy", perfected human beings said to guide humanity) send spiritual energies through the energy centres (chakras) of group members. Participants act like electrical transformers that "step down" these energies so they become usable, and the Masters then direct them where they are needed in the world. The practice is framed first as service to the world and secondarily as personal spiritual growth: alignment between the physical brain and the soul is said to deepen over time. [source: Share International; Share International FAQ; Pokorny 2021] Pokorny describes it as adapted from Bailey's Triangles work (begun 1937; see 057). [source: Pokorny 2021]

Maitreya (attributed belief). Creme taught that Maitreya, described in the movement as the World Teacher, had manifested in 1977 (first placed in the Himalayas, later in the Brick Lane Asian community in London) and would soon make himself known publicly on a "Day of Declaration". Share International continues to hold this belief after Creme's death; Pokorny reports that its spokespeople say the Day of Declaration is still near. [source: Pokorny 2021; Rideout 2025] Transmission Meditation is the movement's main practice; participation does not formally require belief in Maitreya [synthesis from the organisation's "non-denominational" framing; the book's position not verified].

Evidence status (one line). The transmission of energies by Masters, the effects on world affairs and the "spontaneous healing" mentioned by Share International are faith claims; no controlled studies of them are known [uncertain: not verified].

Why it reaches a therapist. Clients may be long-term group members, adults raised in member households, people drawn to it through spiritual seeking, or family members concerned about a relative's involvement or about disappointment after failed predictions. [synthesis]

2. Framework

Transmission Meditation is an ongoing, open-ended group practice, not a course with phases. The organisation describes no stages, levels, graduation or session count for participants. [source: Share International; Share International UK] The structure below is (a) the session and group format as published, then (b) a phased structure for the psychotherapist's own work [synthesis].

(a) The practice as published

  • Group size: a group can start with three people; a "triangle" of three is described as much more potent than one or two, though one person or a pair can still transmit, and larger groups are said to form more triangles. [source: Share International UK; Share International FAQ]
  • Regularity: the group chooses a fixed day and time and keeps it, so that, in the organisation's words, the Masters can rely on it. [source: Share International]
  • Length: new groups may set a fixed time such as one hour; established groups are advised to continue "until the energy flow ceases". Participants may leave quietly at any time. [source: Share International; Share International UK] The FAQ says the practice can be done up to three times a week for three or four hours, while noting not everyone can keep that pace. [source: Share International FAQ]
  • Cost: the organisation states there is never a fee to take part. Creme's book is sold (about US$20 listed) and also offered as a free PDF. [source: Share International; book listing]
  • Who should not take part (organisation's own cautions): children under 12 (their energy centres are said to be not yet developed enough); people with a history of heart problems or mental or emotional illness "may find these energies are too stimulating". [source: Share International; Share International UK]
  • Moving on: suitability is presented as self-selected: try a few sessions; those who find it satisfying continue, those who find it dull stop. [source: Share International FAQ]

(b) The psychotherapist's work [synthesis]

  1. Engagement and meaning: learn, in the client's own words, what the practice and the movement mean to them, and what brings them to therapy (often unrelated to the practice).
  2. Cultural and differential assessment: Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) with the Spirituality, Religion and Moral Traditions module; screen for meditation-related adverse effects and for psychosis, mania, dissociation, OCD and grief, without treating the beliefs themselves as symptoms.
  3. Focused work: on the presenting problem, using the client's practice as a resource where it helps and addressing it where it harms (sleep, time, money, relationships, distress after unfulfilled expectations).
  4. Review and referral: psychiatric, medical or specialist referral when indicated; family work if wanted; ending with a plan for how the client will notice early warning signs.

Criteria for moving on: the client can describe the practice's place in their life without the therapist taking sides on its truth; risks are assessed and managed; the presenting problem has a working formulation. Typical session count is not set by any source; follow your usual treatment model.

3. Guiding principles

  • Describe, do not adjudicate. Masters, Maitreya and energy transmission are the client's tradition's teachings; you neither endorse nor debunk them. Practical meaning: use attributive phrasing ("in your group's teaching…"). [synthesis]
  • The client's language first. Use their terms (Transmission, the Masters, alignment, ajna, the Day of Declaration) with their meaning, and ask rather than assume. Practical meaning: the CFI module asks clinicians to adapt wording to the person's own terms. [source: CFI supplementary modules]
  • Belief is not a symptom. Shared, culturally supported beliefs held within a community differ from idiosyncratic, impairing, fixed beliefs. Practical meaning: assess form, function, distress and impairment, not content. [synthesis]
  • The movement's own norms are assessment data. The organisation states no one receives "messages" during a Transmission and that participants should not try to direct energies to people or places. Practical meaning: a client who reports personal messages from Maitreya or a sense of personally steering world events is departing from the group's own teaching, which is worth gentle exploration. [source: Share International UK; Share International] [synthesis for clinical use]
  • Take the group's cautions seriously. The organisation itself cautions people with mental or emotional illness or heart problems, and children under 12. Practical meaning: you can cite the group's own guidance when discussing pacing, which avoids pitting therapy against faith. [source: Share International] [synthesis for clinical use]
  • Meditation can have adverse effects. Challenging meditation experiences are documented across perceptual, emotional, bodily, self and social domains, sometimes lasting months or longer. Practical meaning: ask about them routinely and without blame. [source: Lindahl et al. 2017, via Brown University]
  • Service and belonging are real goods. For many members the group provides community, purpose and an altruistic frame. Practical meaning: protect these when discussing change. [synthesis]
  • Unfulfilled expectations are a loss, not a stupidity. Dated expectations about Maitreya were not fulfilled (see section 4). Practical meaning: treat the client's response as grief or ambivalence, not as a debate to win. [synthesis]
  • Stay in role. The therapist does not lead or join Transmission, read messages, or interpret the client's spiritual status. Practical meaning: refer spiritual questions back to the client's own community if they wish. [synthesis]
  • Separate roles if you share the tradition. If you are yourself in a Theosophical, Bailey or Share International group, keep that out of the therapy and consider whether a dual relationship exists (same group, same network). [synthesis]
  • Name no one. Do not identify group members, coordinators or family members outside the clinical record. [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

Part A describes the practice as Share International teaches it publicly, so you can understand what a client does; it is not something the therapist leads or prescribes. Part B gives the psychotherapist's interventions. The Great Invocation is a published prayer; it is named here, not reproduced.

A1. The group Transmission session (as published)

  • Purpose (as the movement states it): service to the world by stepping down the Masters' energies, with secondary benefits for the participant's own spiritual development. [source: Share International]
  • Steps (paraphrased):
    1. The group meets at its fixed day and time; some groups first read or play messages attributed to Maitreya. [source: Share International]
    2. The group says the Great Invocation aloud together, which the movement describes as a non-denominational prayer that links the group with the Masters. [source: Share International; Share International UK]
    3. Each person holds their attention at the ajna centre, the point between the eyebrows, which is said to align the physical brain with the soul. [source: Share International]
    4. When attention wanders, the person silently and mentally sounds OM once to bring attention back to the ajna centre. The organisation is explicit that one should not meditate on the OM itself. [source: Share International; Share International UK]
    5. Breathing is natural and quiet; no special breathing technique is required. [source: Share International FAQ]
    6. Participants do not direct energy towards any person, group or country; the Masters are said to do the directing. No one is expected to receive messages. [source: Share International; Share International UK]
    7. The session runs for the set time or, in established groups, until the energy flow is felt to stop; anyone may leave quietly at any time. [source: Share International]
  • Example language: none for the therapist to use in leading it. To understand the client: "Could you walk me through what happens in your group, from arriving to leaving?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: the organisation says transmission works whether or not anything is felt and discourages seeking "experiences". [source: Share International FAQ] Clinically, ask about sleepiness, headaches, restlessness, sensations of pressure or energy, emotional flooding, or a sense of unreality after long sessions [synthesis; these specific effects are not described in the movement's public pages cited].

A2. Triangles (as published)

  • Purpose (as the movement states it): a way to serve where no group is available; three people link mentally for a few minutes daily, visualising white light and saying the Great Invocation inwardly. Share International credits the practice to the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul through Alice A. Bailey and describes it as less potent than group Transmission. [source: Share International]
  • Steps: as summarised above; no further procedure is needed for clinical purposes.
  • Example language: "Is the triangle something you look forward to, or something you feel you can't miss?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: daily commitments experienced as obligation or guilt; checking or ritualised repetition (see B3, OCD screening). [synthesis]

A3. Forming or joining a group (as published)

  • Purpose: to make the practice regular and reliable. [source: Share International UK]
  • Steps (paraphrased): enquirers submit contact details via a Transmission Meditation network form and are put in touch with a local group, or with earlier enquirers nearby if no group exists; to start a group, invite a few like-minded friends and fix a day and time. [source: Share International UK; Share International]
  • Example language: "How did you come to this group, and who are the people in it for you?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: the group becoming the client's only social network; pressure, explicit or felt, to attend more often or for longer (the FAQ mentions up to three sessions a week of three or four hours). [source: Share International FAQ] [synthesis for clinical use]

B1. Client-led exploration of meaning

  • Purpose and when: early in therapy, whenever the client mentions the practice, Maitreya or the Masters; to understand function (service, belonging, hope, structure, identity) before any risk discussion. [synthesis]
  • Steps:
    1. Ask permission to talk about it, and make clear the client may decline.
    2. Ask how they came to it, what drew them, what it gives them, and what, if anything, it costs them.
    3. Reflect back in their terms; check your understanding.
    4. Ask how the practice relates to the problem that brought them.
  • Example language: "You've mentioned Transmission a few times. Would it be all right to hear what it means to you?" / "What does serving in this way give you that matters?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: the client checking whether you think they are "crazy"; reassure about your stance rather than about the beliefs. It is working when the client talks about the practice openly and without defensiveness. [synthesis]

B2. Cultural Formulation Interview with the spirituality module

  • Purpose and when: at assessment, or when spiritual themes seem tied to the problem. The DSM-5 CFI Supplementary Module 5 (Spirituality, Religion and Moral Traditions) has 16 questions in four areas: spiritual, religious and moral identity; the role of these traditions in daily, family and community life; how they relate to the problem, including help from community leaders, texts and practices; and stresses, conflicts or discrimination linked to them. It can be used alongside the core CFI or alone, skipping duplicates and adapting wording to the person's terms; an informant version exists for the core CFI. [source: CFI supplementary modules]
  • Steps: use the module in your own words or from the official form (do not improvise a new instrument); cover identity (Share International, Theosophy, Bailey, another religion alongside), practice frequency, community (group members, coordinators), coping (Transmission as a resource), and conflicts (family disagreement, disappointment, financial strain). [source: CFI supplementary modules] [synthesis for application]
  • Example language: "How does your group's teaching help you make sense of what you're going through?" / "Has it ever made things harder?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: problems the client attributes to spiritual causes (for instance, feeling "overstimulated" by energies); record the client's explanatory model alongside your own. Where a religious or spiritual problem is itself the focus, ICD-10-CM Z65.8 ("Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances") lists "religious or spiritual problem" as an inclusion term. [source: Unbound Medicine ICD-10-CM] The DSM-5-TR wording of the corresponding category is [uncertain: not verified].

B3. Differential assessment without pathologising belief

  • Purpose and when: when there are new or unusual experiences, declining function, sleep loss or distress linked to the practice or to Maitreya beliefs. [synthesis]
  • Steps:
    1. Separate shared belief (held by the group, consistent with its teaching) from personal elaborations (e.g. the client is Maitreya's chosen messenger, receives personal instructions, has special power over world events). Remember the group itself says no one receives messages during Transmission. [source: Share International UK] [synthesis for application]
    2. Psychosis: look for fixity, idiosyncrasy, hallucinations beyond the group's norms, thought disorder, functional decline, and whether fellow members also find the ideas unusual (with consent, collateral from family or the group).
    3. Mania: reduced need for sleep, pressured speech, grandiosity framed as mission, spending or donating heavily, sharply increased session hours.
    4. Dissociation, depersonalisation, derealisation: unreality, detachment, time loss during or after sessions; ask about trauma history.
    5. OCD and scrupulosity: fear that missing a session or a triangle will harm the world or the Masters' plan, mental checking that attention stayed on the ajna centre, repeated OM to neutralise bad thoughts; if present, consider exposure and response prevention by a trained clinician, framed with the client's consent around the compulsion, not the belief.
    6. Grief: disappointment after a long-awaited event did not occur, or bereavement interpreted through the teaching.
    7. Medical review where there are cardiac symptoms, headaches or neurological signs (the group itself cautions people with heart problems). [source: Share International]
  • Example language: "Is this something others in your group would also recognise, or is it more personal to you?" / "Since you started the longer sessions, how has your sleep been?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: your own bias in either direction. It is working when you can state a formulation the client recognises, without having argued about the beliefs. [synthesis throughout, except where sourced]

B4. Screening and responding to meditation-related adverse effects

  • Purpose and when: with any regular meditator, and especially with long sessions, a psychiatric or trauma history, or new symptoms. Lindahl and colleagues (PLOS ONE, 2017) documented 59 kinds of challenging experience in seven domains (cognitive, perceptual, affective, somatic, conative, sense of self, social), such as light or sound hypersensitivity, fear and panic, insomnia, involuntary movements and unsettling changes in the sense of self; durations ran from days to more than a decade, and influencing factors differed between people. The study covered Buddhist meditators, not Transmission Meditation. [source: Lindahl et al. 2017, via Brown University]
  • Steps:
    1. Ask neutrally whether anything difficult has happened during or after sessions, and since when.
    2. Map the timing against session length and frequency, sleep, substances and stress.
    3. Agree on pacing: the client chooses with you whether to shorten, pause or space sessions, or attend with a trusted member; the group's own guidance that people can leave at any time and that people with mental or emotional illness may find the energies too stimulating supports this. [source: Share International] [synthesis for application]
    4. Use grounding and stabilisation for dissociative or panic symptoms; consider trauma-sensitive adaptations; refer to specialist meditation-difficulty services or psychiatry where symptoms persist. Further resources (Britton's Cheetah House; Treleaven 2018; Farias et al. 2020, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica) [uncertain: not verified].
  • Example language: "Some people find that long meditation stirs up unusual or unpleasant experiences. Has anything like that happened for you?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: shame ("I'm not developed enough"), and interpretations that the symptoms prove spiritual progress so must be endured. It is working when symptoms settle and the client feels in control of the practice. [synthesis]

B5. Working with unfulfilled expectations about Maitreya

  • Background (as sources document it): Pokorny records an expectation that Maitreya would appear in 1950, said to have been prevented by the Cold War. In spring 1982 Creme's movement placed newspaper advertisements announcing that "the Christ is now here" (a New York Times advertisement of 25 April 1982 is cited [uncertain: secondary, unverified]), and on 14 May 1982 Creme held a press conference in Los Angeles; Rideout reports he said Maitreya would reveal himself through television and radio before 21 June 1982, and that the advertising was funded by followers in the US, Britain and the Netherlands. The Day of Declaration did not occur; Pokorny reports it was described as postponed and attributed to the "Forces of Evil". [source: Pokorny 2021; Rideout 2025] In 1988 Creme said Maitreya's emergence would follow a global stock-market crash and identified a white-robed figure at a prayer meeting in Nairobi as Maitreya; Rideout reports Kenyan coverage identifying the man as someone else [uncertain: secondary]. From 2008 the movement described a bright star-like object as Maitreya's sign (a group of spacecraft, in its teaching). In 2010, after Creme said Maitreya had given an interview on American television, some people concluded that a well-known economist and author was Maitreya; both Creme and the economist rejected this publicly. [source: Pokorny 2021; Rideout 2025] Pokorny notes that Creme expected to witness the Day of Declaration in his lifetime; since his death in 2016 the movement's spokespeople say it is still near. [source: Pokorny 2021]
  • Purpose and when: with clients who invested years, money or relationships in the expectation; adults raised in it; members whose families argue with them about it. [synthesis]
  • Steps:
    1. Do not lead with the record of predictions; let the client raise disappointment, doubt or ridicule from others.
    2. Explore what the expectation held for them (hope for a just world, meaning, being part of something important).
    3. Normalise ambivalence: people may keep the practice and doubt the predictions, or the reverse.
    4. Separate the values (service, sharing, justice) from the dated claims, so the client can choose what to keep.
    5. Treat losses (time, money, relationships, career choices) with grief-focused work; address shame directly.
  • Example language: "It sounds like you've waited a long time for something that mattered a great deal. What has the waiting been like?" / "Which parts of this still feel true to you, and which feel different now?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: pressure from you, or from family, to renounce; abrupt loss of meaning with depression or suicidal thoughts (assess risk in the usual way); renewed urgency each time a new sign is announced. It is working when the client can hold their own view with less distress. [synthesis]

B6. Reviewing time, money and dependency

  • Purpose and when: when practice crowds out sleep, work, family or other relationships, or when spending on the movement causes strain. Taking part in Transmission is free; the movement sells books and a magazine (published ten times a year), and Rideout reports followers paid for the 1982 advertising campaign. [source: Share International; book listing; Pokorny 2021; Rideout 2025] Independent reports of financial exploitation of members: none found in the sources consulted.
  • Steps:
    1. Map a typical week: sessions, triangles, travel, volunteering, reading, online activity.
    2. Map spending: books, subscriptions, travel to events, donations.
    3. Ask what would happen if they did less, and who would mind.
    4. Agree on any changes the client chooses; involve no one without consent.
  • Example language: "If we drew a pie chart of your week, how big would the Transmission slice be, and is that the size you want?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: guilt framed as letting down the Masters or the world; isolation from non-members; debt. It is working when the client's choices feel freely made. [synthesis]

B7. Children and adults raised in member households

  • Purpose and when: with parents who practise, and with adults who grew up in the movement. Share International advises that children under 12 should not take part in Transmission. [source: Share International] Rideout cites an anonymous account by an adult raised by inner-circle members describing pressure to conform, a fixed view of truth, and being taught that meditation sensations confirmed the leader's claims; Rideout reports no physical violence and calls for more testimony. [source: Rideout 2025]
  • Steps:
    1. With adult children: explore conformity pressure, how doubt was handled at home, identity and belonging, and relationships with parents who still believe; use religious-trauma-informed work if relevant.
    2. With parents: ask about children's involvement, health care and schooling as with any family; follow ordinary safeguarding procedures if a child's medical care, education or wellbeing is being neglected for any reason. Never name minors in notes shared outside the record.
  • Example language: "What happened in your family when someone had doubts?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: loyalty conflicts; the client fearing that therapy will make them "lose" their family. [synthesis]

B8. Supporting worried family members

  • Purpose and when: when a relative seeks help about a family member's involvement. [synthesis]
  • Steps:
    1. Gather concrete concerns (sleep, money, withdrawal, health), separating them from disagreement about beliefs.
    2. Encourage curiosity and continued contact rather than confrontation or ultimatums.
    3. Help the relative recognise warning signs that justify medical or psychiatric help (see B3) and how to access it.
  • Example language: "What specifically worries you, apart from not sharing the beliefs?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: requests to plan coercive interventions; decline these and focus on relationship and safety. [synthesis]

B9. Referral and coordination

  • Purpose and when: when symptoms exceed outpatient therapy, or the client wants spiritual guidance. [synthesis]
  • Steps: urgent psychiatric assessment for suspected psychosis, mania or high suicide risk; GP or physician for cardiac, neurological or persistent somatic symptoms; specialist services for meditation-related difficulties; with consent, contact with a group coordinator or other community figure the client trusts, for example to agree reduced participation. [synthesis]
  • Example language: "Would it help to talk with someone in your group about taking a break, so it doesn't feel like letting people down?" (illustrative)
  • Watch for: the client experiencing referral as dismissal; explain the reason in their terms. [synthesis]

B10. Holding the therapist's role

  • Purpose and when: throughout. [synthesis]
  • Steps: do not join, lead or demonstrate Transmission; do not read Maitreya's messages in session or comment on the client's spiritual development; keep any personal involvement in related groups separate and consider supervision or referral if you share a network with the client; limit self-disclosure about your own beliefs to what serves the client.
  • Example language: "I'm not the right person to judge the spiritual side, but I can help you look at how it's affecting your sleep and your relationships." (illustrative)
  • Watch for: the client asking you to confirm or refute Maitreya; return to what the question means for them. [synthesis]

5. Handling problems

Sources from the movement do not address psychotherapy; all guidance below is [synthesis] unless tagged otherwise.

  • Client fears you will mock or pathologise them: name your stance early and keep to it; use their terms; ask permission before discussing the beliefs.
  • Client wants you to agree that Maitreya is here (or isn't): say you can't settle that question and turn to what an answer would change for them.
  • Long or frequent sessions with sleep loss or exhaustion: link symptoms to timing, use the group's own guidance that one may leave at any time and that the energies can be too stimulating for some (source: Share International), and agree a trial of shorter or fewer sessions.
  • Unusual experiences during sessions (unreality, panic, involuntary movement, intense sensations): grounding, pacing, medical and psychiatric review as needed (B3, B4); do not frame them as either spiritual progress or illness until assessed.
  • Personal messages from Maitreya or a sense of special mission: explore gently, contrast with the group's own teaching that no one receives messages during Transmission (source: Share International UK), and assess for psychosis or mania; if the group's members are also worried, that is useful collateral with consent.
  • Scrupulosity (fear of harming the world by missing a session or losing focus): formulate as OCD if criteria are met and refer for exposure and response prevention; do not make the treatment depend on giving up the practice.
  • Distress after a new sign or announcement: expect renewed hope followed by disappointment; plan in advance how the client will look after sleep, money and relationships during such periods.
  • Family conflict over beliefs: separate safety concerns from disagreement; consider joint sessions with agreed ground rules.
  • Non-attendance or dropping out of therapy: check whether therapy was felt as pressure to leave the group; reaffirm that the goal is the client's, not yours.
  • Rupture after you questioned a prediction: acknowledge it, apologise for stepping outside your role, and return to the client's own agenda.
  • Leaving the group: support loss of community and identity, help build other networks, and address anger or shame; do not encourage contact with hostile online communities unless the client wants it.
  • Therapist uncertainty about the movement: read the movement's own pages and a scholarly account (Pokorny 2021) rather than relying on the client or on hostile sources; seek consultation.
  • Suicide risk: assess in the usual way when loss of meaning, isolation or depression is present; follow standard risk assessment and safety planning.

Sources

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