The Masters of the Ancient Wisdom are claimed to be
enlightened beings originally identified by the
Theosophists
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...
Helena Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 187 ...
,
Henry S. Olcott,
Alfred Percy Sinnett
Alfred Percy Sinnett (18 January 1840 – 26 June 1921) was an English author and theosophist.
Biography
Sinnett was born in London. His father died while he was young, as in 1851 Sinnett was listed as a "Scholar – London University", liv ...
, and others. These Theosophists claimed to have met some of The Masters during their lifetimes in different parts of the world.
[Leadbeater, C.W. ''The Masters and the Path'' Adyar, Madras, India: 1925--Theosophical Publishing House--Diagram 5, Facing page 248, provides details about the "Great Ones" functioning on initiation levels five through nine. C.W. Leadbeater’s Spiritual Hierarchy Chart (The Bodhisattva=Maitreya)] Sometimes they are referred to by Theosophists as ''Elder Brothers of the Human Race'', ''Adepts'',
''Mahatmas'', or simply as ''The Masters''.
Helena Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 187 ...
was the first person to introduce the concept of the Masters to the West. At first she talked about them privately, but she stated that after a few years two of these adepts,
Kuthumi (K.H.) and
Morya (M.), agreed to maintain a correspondence with two British Theosophists–
Alfred P. Sinnett and
A. O. Hume. This communication took place from 1880 to 1885, and during those years the reputed existence and objectives of the Mahatmas became public. The original letters are currently kept in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and have been published as the ''
Mahatma Letters
''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett'' is a book published in 1923 by A. Trevor Barker. () According to Theosophical teachings, the letters were written between 1880 and 1884 by Koot Hoomi and Morya to A. P. Sinnett. The letters were previous ...
''.
Skeptical view
K. Paul Johnson suggests in his book ''The Masters Revealed: Madam Blavatsky and Myth of the Great White Brotherhood'' that the Masters that Madam Blavatsky claimed she had personally met are idealizations of certain people she had met during her lifetime.
[Johnson, K. Paul ''The Masters Revealed: Madam Blavatsky and Myth of the Great White Brotherhood'' Albany, New York: 1994 State University of New York Press]
See also
*
Ascended Masters
*
Ascended Master Teachings
*
Alice Bailey
Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880 – December 15, 1949) was a writer of more than twenty-four books on theosophical subjects, and was one of the first writers to use the term New Age. Bailey was born as Alice La Trobe-Bateman, in Mancheste ...
*
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 ...
*
Benjamin Creme
Benjamin Creme (5 December 1922 − 24 October 2016) was a Scottish artist, author, esotericist, and editor of ''Share International'' magazine.
He asserted that the second coming, prophesied by many religions, would come in the form of ''Ma ...
*
Hodgson Report
''Report of the committee appointed to investigate phenomena connected with the Theosophical Society'', commonly called the Hodgson Report was an 1885 report by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) on Helena Blavatsky and purportedly apport ...
*
Initiation (Theosophy)
Initiation is a concept in Theosophy that there are nine levels of spiritual development that beings who live on Earth can progress upward through. Within these levels, there are four basic levels of spiritual development that human beings on Ear ...
* ''
K.H. Letters to C.W. Leadbeater''
*
Mahātmā
Mahatma (English pronunciation: , sa, महात्मा, translit=mahātmā) is an honorific used in India.
The term is commonly used for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who is often referred to simply as "Mahatma Gandhi". Albeit less frequent ...
*
Helena Roerich
Helena Ivanovna Roerich (born Shaposhnikova; russian: Елéна Ивáновна Рéрих; 12 February 1879 – 5 October 1955) was a Russian theosophist, writer, and public figure. In the early 20th century, she created, in cooperation with t ...
*
Theosophy
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...
References
Further reading
* Campbell, Bruce F. ''A History of the Theosophical Movement'' Berkeley:1980 University of California Press
* Godwin, Joscelyn ''The Theosophical Enlightenment'' Albany, New York: 1994 State University of New York Press
* Johnson, K. Paul ''The Masters Revealed: Madam Blavatsky and Myth of the Great White Brotherhood'' Albany, New York: 1994 State University of New York Press
*
Melton, J. Gordon ''Encyclopedia of American Religions'' 5th Edition New York:1996 Gale Research ISSN 1066-1212 Chapter 18--"The Ancient Wisdom Family of Religions" Pages 151-158; see chart on page 154 listing ''Masters of the Ancient Wisdom''; Also see Section 18, Pages 717-757 Descriptions of various Ancient Wisdom religious organizations
* Sender, Pablo ''Mahatmas versus Ascended Masters'' Wheaton, Il:Quest Summer 2011, The Theosophical Society in America
Online access
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters Of The Ancient Wisdom
Esoteric cosmology
Theosophy
Theosophical philosophical concepts