Ascended Masters
Ascended masters are spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans, but who have undergone a series of spiritual transformations. The concept is similar to that of a Bodhisattva in Buddhism. Some people recognized as saints by Christianity are considered ascended masters.
Theosophists maintain that the concept of an ascended master is an exaggeration and corruption of the more modest theosophical concept of "Master of the Ancient Wisdom."
Term
The term ascended master was first used by Baird T. Spalding in 1924 in his series of books, Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East. Godfre Ray King (Guy Ballard) further popularized this concept of spiritual masters who had once lived on the earth in his book Unveiled Mysteries.
Both "mahatma" and "ascended master" are terms used in the Ascended Master Teachings. The concept of an ascended master is based on the theosophical concept of the Mahatma or Masters of the Ancient Wisdom. However, Mahatmas and ascended masters are believed by some to differ in certain respects.
History
The idea of a secret organization of enlightened mystics, guiding the spiritual development of the human race, was pioneered in the late eighteenth century by Karl von Eckartshausen (1752-1803) in his book The Cloud upon the Sanctuary; Eckartshausen called this body of mystics, who remained active after their physical deaths on earth, the Council of Light.
Eckartshausen's proposed communion of living and dead mystics, in turn, drew partially on Christian ideas such as the Communion of the Saints, and partially on previously circulating European ideas about secret societies of enlightened, mystical, or magic adepts typified by the Rosicrucians and the Illuminati.
Helena Blavatsky
Eckartshausen's idea was expanded in the teachings of Helena Blavatsky as developed by Charles W. Leadbeater, Alice Bailey and Helena Roerich. Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, attributed her teachings to just such a body of adepts; in her 1877 book Isis Unveiled, she called the revealers of her teachings the "Masters of the Hidden Brotherhood" or the "Mahatmas." Blavatsky claimed that she had made physical contact with these adepts' earthly representatives in Tibet; but also, that she continued to receive teachings from them through psychic channels, through her abilities of spirit mediumship.
The Mahatma Letters
The Mahatma Letters began publication in 1881 with information purportedly revealed by "Koot Hoomi" to Alfred Percy Sinnett, and were also influential on the early development of the tradition. Koot Hoomi, through Sinnett, revealed that high-ranking members of mystic organizations in India and Tibet were able to maintain regular telepathic contact with one another, and thus were able to communicate to each other, and also to Sinnett, without the need for either written or oral communications, and in a manner similar to the way that spirit mediums claimed to communicate with the spirits of the dead.
Ideas about a secret council of sages, under several names, were a widely shared feature of late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century esotericism. Arthur Edward Waite, in his 1898 The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts, hinted at the existence of a secret group of initiates who dispense truth and wisdom to the worthy.
Becoming an ascended master
Initiation is the process of meditation, study, and spiritual work by which people try to develop themselves in pursuit of possessing the power and knowledge to work for humanity to the best effect. Put more simply, Initiation is the process of undergoing an expansion of consciousness.
According to the Ascended Master Teachings, a "Master of Light," "Healer," or "Spiritual Master" is a divine human being who has taken the Fifth Initiation and is thereby capable of dwelling in a 5th dimension. The teachings hold that an "ascended master" is a human being who has taken the Sixth Initiation, also referred to as Ascension, and is thereby believed to be capable of dwelling in a 6th dimension.
Great White Brotherhood
The ascended masters are collectively called the "Great White Brotherhood" by various theosophists and esotericists. The use of the term white refers to their advanced spirituality (in other words, that they have a white colored aura) and has nothing to do with race. Blavatsky described many of the Masters as ethnically Tibetan or Indian (Hindu), not European.
Most occult groups assign a high level of importance to the Great White Brotherhood, but some make interaction with the Ascended Masters of the Brotherhood a major focus of their existence.
List of Ascended Masters
Examples of those believed to be ascended masters include:
- Jesus Christ
- Archangel Michael
- Metatron
- Aiwass
- Franz Mesmer
- Confucius
- Gautama Buddha
- Mary the mother of Jesus
- St. Paul of Tarsus
- Kwan Yin
- St. Germain
- Kuthumi
People who have channeled the ascended masters
Among the many people who have channeled the ascended masters, some were authors who claim to have written entire books through their channeled wisdom.
Criticism
René Guénon wrote a detailed critique of Theosophy titled Theosophy: history of a pseudo-religion (1921). In the book Guenon speculated that Blavatsky had acquired all her knowledge naturally from other books not from any supernatural masters. Guenon points out that Blavatsky spent a long time visiting a library at New York where she had easy access to the works of Jacob Boehme, Eliphas Levi, the Kabbalah, and other Hermetic treatises.