Most students of Theosophy, if asked who or what are the “Masters” or “Mahatmas” or “Masters of Wisdom” referred to in Theosophy, would be likely to say that They are advanced souls who started off as ordinary human beings just like the rest of us and then worked Their way up through many lives and initiations to becoming great Adepts, Masters, or Teachers. Most would add that the Masters should definitely not be thought of as Dhyanis, Dhyan Chohans, Angels, Gods, Planetary Spirits, or anything as transcendentally elevated and lofty as that, but simply as human beings who are advanced in esoteric knowledge and occult powers or abilities, and who are mortal like the rest of us.
This explanation does indeed very accurately represent the main or best known statements and explanations on this subject in the vast writings of H. P. Blavatsky and her closest colleague William Q. Judge. Some quotes in that regard can be found in our article Masters of Wisdom: Outwardly Mortal, Inwardly Immortal. Also, in “The Mahatma Letters” and elsewhere, the Masters Themselves often repeat that They are not Gods, nor Planetary Spirits (a term which most of the time is a synonym for a Dhyan Chohan or celestial being), but human beings who at most can be thought of as “advanced occultists.”
But that is not the whole story . . . and even HPB’s own words indicate that it is not.
Any serious student of the original Theosophical teachings will have read – perhaps multiple times – these passages from her greatest work “The Secret Doctrine”:
“The Arhats of the “fire-mist” of the 7th rung are but one remove from the Root-Base of their Hierarchy – the highest on Earth, and our Terrestrial chain. This “Root-Base” has a name which can only be translated by several compound words into English” – “the ever-living-human-Banyan.” This “Wondrous Being” descended from a “high region,” they say, in the early part of the Third Age, before the separation of the sexes of the Third [i.e. Lemurian] Race. . . .
“In the first or earlier portion of the existence of this third race, while it was yet in its state of purity, the “Sons of Wisdom,” who, as will be seen, incarnated in this Third Race, produced by Kriyasakti a progeny called the “Sons of Ad” or “of the Fire-Mist,” the “Sons of Will and Yoga,” etc. . . . It was at first a wondrous Being, called the “Initiator,” and after him a group of semi-divine and semi-human beings. “Set apart” in Archaic genesis for certain purposes, they are those in whom are said to have incarnated the highest Dhyanis, “Munis and Rishis from previous Manvantaras” – to form the nursery for future human adepts, on this earth and during the present cycle. . . .
“The “BEING” just referred to, which has to remain nameless, is the Tree from which, in subsequent ages, all the great historically known Sages and Hierophants, such as the Rishi Kapila, Hermes, Enoch, Orpheus, etc., etc., have branched off. As objective man, he is the mysterious (to the profane – the ever invisible) yet ever present Personage about whom legends are rife in the East, especially among the Occultists and the students of the Sacred Science. It is he who changes form, yet remains ever the same. And it is he again who holds spiritual sway over the initiated Adepts throughout the whole world. He is, as said, the “Nameless One” who has so many names, and yet whose names and whose very nature are unknown. He is the “Initiator,” called the “GREAT SACRIFICE.” . . . Why does the solitary Watcher remain at his self-chosen post? . . . Because the lonely, sore-footed pilgrims on their way back to their home are never sure to the last moment of not losing their way in this limitless desert of illusion and matter called Earth-Life. Because he would fain show the way to that region of freedom and light, from which he is a voluntary exile himself, to every prisoner who has succeeded in liberating himself from the bonds of flesh and illusion. Because, in short, he has sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind, though but a few Elect may profit by the GREAT SACRIFICE.
“It is under the direct, silent guidance of this MAHA–(great)–GURU that all the other less divine Teachers and instructors of mankind became, from the first awakening of human consciousness, the guides of early Humanity. It is through these “Sons of God” that infant humanity got its first notions of all the arts and sciences, as well as of spiritual knowledge; and it is they who have laid the first foundation-stone of those ancient civilizations that puzzle so sorely our modern generation of students and scholars.
“Although these matters were barely hinted at in “Isis Unveiled,” it will be well to remind the reader of what was said in Vol. I., pp. 587 to 593, concerning a certain Sacred Island in Central Asia, and to refer him for further details to the chapter in Book II. on “The Sons of God and the Sacred Island.” [Note: The “Sacred Island in Central Asia” was explained by HPB to be a reference to Shambhala.] A few more explanations, however, though thrown out in a fragmentary form, may help the student to obtain a glimpse into the present mystery. . . .
“It was the living tree of divine wisdom; and may therefore be likened to the Mundane Tree of the Norse Legend, which cannot wither and die until the last battle of life shall be fought, while its roots are gnawed all the time by the dragon Nidhogg; for even so, the first and holy Son of Kriyasakti had his body gnawed by the tooth of time, but the roots of his inner being remained for ever undecaying and strong, because they grew and expanded in heaven not on earth. He was the first of the FIRST, and he was the seed of all the others. There were other “Sons of Kriyasakti” produced by a second Spiritual effort, but the first one has remained to this day the Seed of divine Knowledge, the One and the Supreme among the terrestrial “Sons of Wisdom.”” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 207-209, 211)
“The mysteries of Heaven and Earth, revealed to the Third Race by their celestial teachers in the days of their purity, became a great focus of light, the rays from which became necessarily weakened as they were diffused and shed upon an uncongenial, because too material soil. . . . Alone a handful of primitive men – in whom the spark of divine Wisdom burnt bright, and only strengthened in its intensity as it got dimmer and dimmer with every age in those who turned it to bad purposes – remained the elect custodians of the Mysteries revealed to mankind by the divine Teachers. There were those among them, who remained in their Kumâric condition from the beginning; and tradition whispers, what the secret teachings affirm, namely, that these Elect were the germ [i.e. seed] of a Hierarchy which never died since that period: –
“The inner man of the first * * * only changes his body from time to time; he is ever the same, knowing neither rest nor Nirvana, spurning Devachan and remaining constantly on Earth for the salvation of mankind. . . . .” “Out of the seven virgin-men (Kumâra) [Footnote: “. . . the “Sons of Will and Yoga” . . .”] four sacrificed themselves for the sins of the world and the instruction of the ignorant, to remain till the end of the present Manvantara. Though unseen, they are ever present. When people say of one of them, “He is dead”; behold, he is alive and under another form. These are the Head, the Heart, the Soul, and the Seed of undying knowledge (Gnyana). Thou shalt never speak, O Lanoo, of these great ones (Maha . . . ) before a multitude, mentioning them by their names. The wise alone will understand.” . . .(Catechism of the inner Schools.)
“. . . Higher than the “Four” is only ONE on Earth as in Heavens – that still more mysterious and solitary being described in Book I.” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 281-282)
Those passages are clearly worded in quite cautious, partly symbolic, and deliberately vague and obscure language, due to the esoteric and highly sacred nature of the subject matter. But they do make a few things quite clear, such as that –
(1) There is here on Earth the highest of all spiritual Beings, who is the supreme Head of the whole worldwide Brotherhood of Initiates, Adepts, and Masters.
(2) That Wondrous Being, Great Sacrifice, or Maha-Guru, is also the highest Being “in the Heavens” and not only on Earth.
(3) This Being voluntarily and sacrificially took up incarnation on our planet in Lemurian times – which, according to Theosophy, was several million years ago, and prior to the great Atlantean Root Race or Epoch – along with a group almost as high as Himself, who are referred to as the Seven Kumaras, Seven Sons of the Fire-Mist, Sons of Will and Yoga, etc., all of Them being “the highest Dhyanis.”
We know of few HPB students who, after studying those quoted passages, would disagree with that summary. But most tend to think that the Maha-Guru and the seven Kumaras or Sons of Will and Yoga spoken of in “The Secret Doctrine” as the spiritually highest and most important Beings on our planet must be someone other than those whose names and identities are partly known to us as the Theosophical Mahatmas. This is probably largely because (a) HPB does not directly state or overtly spell out whether they are the same or not, and (b) The Theosophical Mahatmas are typically spoken of by HPB – and by Themselves – in a less elevated way than this, with Their human-ness and relative ordinariness often being emphasised.
And there are some Theosophists who imagine that they are to some extent an “expert” or even an “authority” on the workings and nature of the Masters and Their Brotherhood, simply because they have carefully read and studied “The Mahatma Letters” many times. Although it can certainly be useful and beneficial for a serious and devoted student of Theosophy to do so, we have to admit that it does not make one a genuine expert in the slightest. All it makes one an expert in is the extremely small and deliberately very obscured glimpse that two of the Masters granted to the very worldly and uninitiated A. P. Sinnett (and A. O. Hume) during a mere five years of the Victorian era.
But how do you know that at least some of the Masters spoken of during H. P. Blavatsky’s time are not – inwardly – some of the highest Kumaras or Dhyanis – or, in Christian terms, Archangels – of our solar system? While to many Blavatsky students, this may at first sound far-fetched, there is a little known statement by HPB in which she says in a letter to the German Theosophist Franz Hartmann:
“You have come to the conviction that the “Masters” are “planetary spirits” – that’s good; remain in that conviction.” (“Letters of H.P.B. to Dr. Hartmann,” “The Path” February 1896)
What are planetary spirits? In “Transactions of The Blavatsky Lodge” HPB defines that term in solely a low and quite material sense but before and after that she typically uses the term in a very high, lofty, elevated, and spiritual sense.
“The Theosophical Glossary” was written and prepared after “Transactions of The Blavatsky Lodge” and its entry for “Planetary Spirits” (p. 255) describes this term as meaning “Primarily the rulers or governors of the planets. . . . In Occultism, however, the term “Planetary Spirit” is generally applied only to the seven highest hierarchies corresponding to the Christian archangels. These have all passed through a stage of evolution corresponding to the humanity of earth on other worlds, in long past cycles. . . . The highest planetary spirit ruling over any globe is in reality the “Personal God” of that planet and far more truly its “over-ruling providence” than the self-contradictory Infinite Personal Deity of modern Churchianity.”
It is also said that Shambhala is “. . . the land of the “Gods” under their chiefs the “Spirits of this Planet.”” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 6)
Most of the time, HPB and the Masters use “planetary spirit” as a synonym for “Dhyan Chohan,” which in turn is a generic term for any celestial being or cosmic entity. On some occasions, however, she uses “Planetary Spirit” and “Dhyani Buddha” (the very highest of the Dhyan Chohans) as direct synonyms, such as in “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 574.
The fact that Franz Hartmann had to “come [i.e. of his own accord and volition, probably aided by his intuition] to the conviction that the “Masters” are “planetary spirits”” was because such a thing had not been directly stated by HPB, nor by those Masters from whom Hartmann had received letters. He thus had to arrive at that idea himself and was encouragingly and positively told in response by HPB “that’s good; remain in that conviction.”
“As seven distinct rays radiate from the ‘Central Spiritual Sun,’ all adepts and Dhyan Chohans are divisible into seven classes, each of which is guided, controlled, and overshadowed by one of the seven forms or manifestations of the divine Wisdom.” (T. Subba Row, quoted by HPB in “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 574)
The following is an excerpt from our article Jesus, Christos or The Christ Principle, and Christianity:
“Theosophists often say that Jesus, like Buddha and others, started off as an ordinary human being just like the rest of us and then worked his way up through many lives to becoming a great Adept, Master, or Teacher. This is a more complex question than may at first appear. Based on the Theosophical teachings, it is certainly the case that no being is “created” perfect but has to earn its position through long evolution and arduous effort. However, it is indicated that there are some who are so vastly far ahead of our humanity that they must have gained the highest levels of perfection on other planets, long before our Earth came into being.
“The following excerpts from “The Secret Doctrine” make plain, among other things, that Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Zoroaster, and “many others,” were already Gods or Angels or Logoic from the moment they arrived on our Earth. And they arrived here as not “merely” Masters but as direct incarnations of one or another of the Seven Rays of the Logos. This makes them synonymous with the Seven Kumaras or Sons of Will and Yoga often referred to in “The Secret Doctrine.” The Maha-Guru or Great Sacrifice or Solitary Watcher or Wondrous Being (the Lord of Shambhala) is said to have taken up incarnation on our globe during the third or Lemurian Root Race, along with “those in whom are said to have incarnated the highest Dhyanis, “Munis and Rishis from previous Manvantaras” – to form the nursery for future human adepts, on this earth and during the present cycle.” (HPB, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 207) In other words, the highest Beings in the Cosmos are also, at the same time, incarnated here on Earth; a truly wondrous and sacred thing to ponder! But since over the course of Their repeated incarnations here They become “mixed with matter” and “become truly only “the parts of a part” on earth” of what They fully and really are, it is not unthinkable that They do have to work Their way back up to consciously regaining and embodying as much as possible Their true divine nature.
““. . . there never yet was a great World-reformer, whose name has passed into our generation, who (a) was not a direct emanation of the LOGOS (under whatever name known to us), i.e., an essential incarnation of one of the “seven,” of the “divine Spirit who is sevenfold”; and (b) who had not appeared before, during the past Cycles. . . . Zoroaster, . . . the Rishis and Manus . . . Krishna and Buddha . . . Osiris . . . Thoth-Hermes, . . . Jesus (in Hebrew, Joshua) of Nazareth . . . The esoteric doctrine explains . . . that each of these (as many others) had first appeared on earth as one of the seven powers of the LOGOS, individualized as a God or “Angel” (messenger); then, mixed with matter, they had re-appeared in turn as great sages and instructors who “taught the Fifth Race,” [i.e. the “Aryan” or Indo-Caucasian] after having instructed the two preceding races [i.e. the Atlantean and, before that, Lemurian], had ruled during the Divine Dynasties, and had finally sacrificed themselves, to be reborn under various circumstances for the good of mankind, and for its salvation at certain critical periods; until in their last incarnations they had become truly only “the parts of a part” on earth, though de facto the One Supreme in Nature. This is the metaphysics of Theogony. And . . . every “Power” among the SEVEN has (once individualized) in his charge one of the elements of creation, and rules over it, . . .” (HPB, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 358-359)”
In HPB’s article “Star-Angel-Worship in The Roman Catholic Church” we read: “The world of Being begins with the Spiritual Fire (or Sun) [i.e. in this context, it is not the physical, visible sun we see in the sky which is meant but rather the “Spiritual Sun” or “Central Spiritual Sun” of which our sun is a material reflection] and its seven “Flames” or Rays. These “Sons of Light,” [are] called the “multiple” because, allegorically speaking they belong to, and lead a simultaneous existence in heaven and on earth, . . .”
But it is not only “allegorically speaking” that the highest Beings in the Cosmos are also present on Earth:
“From Manu, Thot-Hermes, Oannes-Dagon, and Edris-Enoch, down to Plato and Panadores, all tell us of seven divine Dynasties, of seven Lemurian, and seven Atlantean divisions of the Earth; of the seven primitive and dual gods who descend from their celestial abode and reign on Earth, teaching mankind Astronomy, Architecture, and all the other sciences that have come down to us. These Beings appear first as “gods” and Creators; then they merge in nascent man, to finally emerge as “divine-Kings and Rulers.”” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 366)
“The Creators are the Rishis; most of whom are credited with the authorship of the mantras or Hymns of the Rig Veda. They are sometimes seven, sometimes ten, . . . answering to the seven Æons, when at the end of the first stage of Evolution they are transformed into the seven stellar [i.e. star or cosmic] Rishis, the Saptarishis; while their human doubles appear as heroes, Kings and Sages on this earth.” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 442)
(So the earthly Rishis or Sages are the “doubles” – direct manifestations and human appearances – of Cosmic Creators!)
“They are the logoi, the seven emanations or rays of the logos. . . . the five, or rather seven, Dhyani Buddhas, [are] also called “Elements” of Mankind . . . as primordial, intelligent “Elements,” [they] become the creators or the emanators of the monads destined to become human in that cycle [i.e. the monads of ourselves are emanated from or produced by one or another of these seven highest Beings]; after which they evolve themselves, or, so to say, expand into their own selves as Bodhisattvas or Brahmanas, in heaven and earth, to become at last simple men – “the creators of the world are born here, on earth again and again” – truly. . . . There are seven chief groups of such Dhyan Chohans, which groups will be found and recognised in every religion, for they are the primeval SEVEN Rays.” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 572-573)
“The seven primeval gods had all a dual state, one essential, the other accidental. In their essential state they were all the “Builders” or Fashioners, the Preservers and the rulers of this world, and in the accidental state, clothing themselves in visible corporeality, they descended on the earth and reigned on it as Kings and Instructors of the lower Hosts, who had incarnated once more upon it as men [i.e. another reference to ourselves].” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 514)
Some people quite understandably ask “But if the highest Dhyanis are incarnated here on Earth, who is doing their greater cosmic work? Wouldn’t the cosmos collapse if they were to leave it to come here?” HPB herself responds to this:
“Many are those among the Spiritual Entities, who have incarnated bodily in man, since the beginning of his appearance, and who, for all that, still exist as independently as they did before, in the infinitudes of Space. . . . To put it more clearly: the invisible Entity may be bodily present on earth without abandoning, however, its status and functions in the supersensuous regions.” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 233)
In his article “Masters, Adepts, Teachers, and Disciples” William Judge relates that the respected Indian Theosophist T. Subba Row – who was a chela or disciple of the Master M. or Mahatma Morya – informed him in 1884 that “The Mahatmas are in fact some of the great Rishees [i.e. Rishis] and Sages of the past, and people have been too much in the habit of lowering them to the petty standard of this age.”
Although we are not in a position to say so for sure, it may nonetheless be the case that those highest Beings mentioned in “The Secret Doctrine” are none other than the Theosophical Mahatmas or Masters, and that some of the highest of those Masters whose mystical names are known to Theosophists are – at the most transcendental level of their inner being – none other than the Cosmic Lords or ruling Dhyanis of the various planets of our solar system.
As we saw a moment ago in repeated statements from “The Secret Doctrine,” the seven highest cosmic Beings have a dual state or double existence: a cosmic one (as Regents or Hierarchs of the planets, etc.) and an earthly one. Their earthly bodies may well be “born as we are born, and doomed to die like every other mortal” (HPB, “The Key to Theosophy” p. 288) but that applies to the outermost shell alone.
Students of Original Theosophy tend to emphasise that the Masters – or at least many of Them – live in mortal physical bodies, which, even if their lifespan can be extended by occult means for perhaps several centuries, are still physical.
It is indeed necessary to try to counteract the distorted New Age ideas about “Ascended Masters” but whilst some Masters do indeed dwell in mortal physical bodies which eventually must die, H. P. Blavatsky revealed that some live in what could be called a “physicalised astral body” or “densified astral body,” although she did not use those specific terms herself.
For those who see it, this type of body may appear indistinct from an ordinary physical body and yet it is distinct and not likely to be subject to death, decay, ageing, sickness, or disintegration. From the largest perspective of time, such a body cannot be said to be immortal, but it is the closest thing that exists to an immortal physical body. Its existence is not well known even amongst Theosophists, as HPB only wrote of it once as far as we are aware, namely in an article titled “Some Reasons for Secrecy” which was only published several years after her death:
“When an Adept reaches during his lifetime that state of holiness and purity that makes him “equal to the Angels,” then at death his apparitional or astral body becomes as solid and tangible as was the late body, and is transformed into the real man. . . . See the explanations given on the subject in “The Elixir of Life,” by G. M. (From a Chela’s Diary), Five Years of Theosophy. . . . The old physical body, falling off like the cast-off serpent’s skin, the body of the “new” man remains either visible or, at the option of the Adept, disappears from view, surrounded as it is by the Akashic shell that screens it. . . . The Adept has the option of renouncing conscious Nirvana and rest, to work on earth for the good of mankind. This he can do in a two-fold way: either, as above said, by consolidating his astral body into physical appearance, he can reassume the self-same personality; or he can avail himself of an entirely new physical body, whether that of a newly-born infant or – as Shankaracharya is reported to have done with the body of a dead Rajah – by “entering a deserted sheath,” and living in it as long as he chooses. This is what is called “continuous existence.” . . . Such is the doctrine taught, everyone having the choice of either fathoming it still deeper, or of leaving it unnoticed.”
The article “The Elixir of Life” that was mentioned there by HPB, but written by Godolphin Mitford, reportedly under the inspiration of the Masters, contains these words: “So, then, we have arrived at the point where we have determined – literally, not metaphorically – to crack the outer shell known as the mortal coil or body, and hatch out of it, clothed in our next. This “next” is not spiritual, but only a more ethereal form. Having by a long training and preparation adapted it for a life in this atmosphere, during which time we have gradually made the outward shell to die off through a certain process (hints of which will be found further on) we have to prepare for this physiological transformation.”
In several places in the literature published by the United Lodge of Theosophists, B. P. Wadia refers to the Masters as “Lords of Light” and “the Lords of Light and Love.” Perhaps he had in mind the way in which HPB used that phrase:
“Dhyan Chohans (Sk.). Lit., “The Lords of Light”. The highest gods, answering to the Roman Catholic Archangels. The divine Intelligences charged with the supervision of Kosmos.” (“The Theosophical Glossary” p. 101)
In this article, we have seen over and over that the highest Beings in the Cosmos are also the highest Beings on Earth and are actively engaged with the supervision and guardianship of both.
Whether or not one believes that the Mahatmas or Masters referred to by name in the original Theosophical literature are – at least some of Them – those highest Beings (the Maha-Guru or Great Sacrifice and the Kumaras, Dhyanis, or Sons of the Fire-Mist) is ultimately a matter of personal choice and judgement. Seeing as HPB did not directly spell it out in any of her books or articles, one cannot make it into any type of “dogma,” and nor should anyone wish to do so. And being such a highly sacred subject, it ought also to not be treated or debated in a casual or flippant way.
But we personally believe it warrants serious thought, reflection, and meditative contemplation. It may also help to shed a little more light on who the Manus and the Four Maharajahs or “Lords of Karma” spoken of in “The Secret Doctrine” actually are. Sometimes many different terms, names, and groupings of names are used which in actuality refer to one and the same group of Beings on this Earth but relate to some of Their multiple roles, duties, or responsibilities. “The creators of the world are born here, on earth again and again – truly.”
Back in the 19th century, even the little that was disclosed about the Masters was considered ridiculous, laughable, and nonsensical by almost everyone, or at least almost everyone in the West. Only gradually, over centuries, is the veil progressively lifted more and more. In so doing, we are also able to perceive more and more something of the divine majesty and cosmic grandeur of our own true nature and identity.
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This article may have raised more questions about various things. Please make use of the site search function (the magnifying glass symbol at the top of the page) and visit the Articles page to see the complete list of over 400 articles covering all aspects of Theosophy and the Theosophical Movement. Three which relate closely to this one and shed further light on this subject are:
THE LOGOS, THE LOGOI, AND THE SEVEN HIGHEST BEINGS
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