Dear Editor,

In December 2002 I had finished doing some errands in Barcelona and was on my way to my car. After crossing a small street, I felt someone tapping on my shoulder. I turned and saw a young black man in his late 20s carrying a big red sportsbag. He gesticulated to ask if I had some time for him.

I nodded and he quickly and happily came to my side. He was dressed in casual sports clothes and it seemed that he was probably an immigrant from Africa trying to make a living selling things.

He opened his bag and took out a bundle of socks to show me. Although I was determined to buy something from him, seeing the socks, a thought came to me wishing that the elastic on the top of them would not be too tight. Normally I cannot wear socks which are too tight on the top. Just after having that thought, I was amazed to hear him telling me that I should not worry because the socks were not tight at all on the top and were of very good quality. It was as if he was reading my thoughts. He made me try them for tightness as he talked.

I looked carefully at him. Although he was half the age, he immediately reminded me of a black homeless flute player who was filmed in a library in New York by a co-worker a few years ago (*SI* October 1998) and who later on was confirmed by Benjamin Creme’s Master to have been Maitreya in disguise. The atmosphere surrounding him, and his eyes, were the same.

I bought three pairs of socks and we said goodbye to each other. Was he an ordinary African man or someone special?

H.L., Barcelona, Spain.

(Benjamin Creme’s Master has confirmed that the young African man was Maitreya.)