H. P. Blavatsky once made a seemingly obscure statement – a warning, in fact – which has puzzled and confused some Theosophists for over a century:

“Those who fall off from our living human Mahatmas to fall into the Saptarishi – the Star Rishis, are no Theosophists.”

The statement is found in one of her private letters and was published posthumously in the article “She Being Dead Yet Speaketh” which can be found in the first volume of the “H. P. Blavatsky Theosophical Articles” book series, published by Theosophy Company.

Some have speculated independently as to what this might mean. It’s obvious that the “living human Mahatmas” referred to are the Eastern Adepts or Masters connected with the Theosophical Movement and with HPB herself.

As she always emphasised and as those Masters of Wisdom themselves always emphasised in their own letters written to Theosophists, they are right here on the physical plane, in physical incarnation, because this is where they are needed.

Hence they are “living human Mahatmas” and not any type of “Ascended Masters,” which was a concept dreamed up and first popularised in the 1930s by the American con artist Guy Ballard, whose followers revere him today as the “Ascended Master Godfre Ray King.”

Those “Star Rishis” referred to by HPB are obviously something opposed to the genuine Masters and representing the antithesis of what those real Masters are all about. Hence those who allow themselves to fall away from the teaching and impulse of the real Masters and come under the influence of these other entities “are no Theosophists.”

William Quan Judge – the closest and most trusted colleague of H. P. Blavatsky and who had his own direct connection with the real Masters or Mahatmas – actually offered a further explanation of the matter in “The Vahan” for August 1892 when he wrote that –

“The Saptarishis as meant by H.P.B. are in a very advanced class of elementals, able sometimes to communicate with man, and by their apparent knowledge to make him suppose them to be high spiritual beings.”

He further elaborated that “by communicating with them one is deflected from the normal line of human development. In some cases they have influenced certain mediums, who, being deluded, or rather dazzled, by the extraordinary experiences passed through, do not lean to the human side of spiritual evolution. On the other hand, the “living human Mahatmas” form the direct link with the human spirits of all degrees, who have charge of human spiritual evolution.” (“William Q. Judge Theosophical Articles” Vol. 2, p. 488-489)

So the Star Rishis are a very advanced group of elemental beings who pretend to be high spiritual beings and experience shows that it is the case with this type of entity that they usually adopt very grand names, often relating to the stars or constellations or similar such things, in order to deceive, delude, and keep people’s attention away from Truth.

During the early days of the modern Theosophical Movement very few people could understand what HPB was talking about when that remark of hers about the Star Rishis was published. Today, however, we can see exactly what she was talking about.

The current craze or obsession in the New Age Movement with supposed spiritual beings or channelled messages coming from Sirius or Orion or the Arcturians and the so-called “Galactic Federation of Light” depicts the nature and work of the Star Rishis very clearly.

Thousands upon thousands of people around the world sincerely believe themselves to be Arcturians or that they have come to Earth – as “starseeds” – from another Universe or that they are the chosen channel for “King Ra-Ra-Om of Andromeda” or an “Intergalactic Queen of the Crystal Kundalini Dimension” or other such nonsense, which more often than not involves a blasphemous desecration and misuse of sacred Eastern terms, the “Ashtar Command Crew” being another lurid example.

There are definite beings of an unsavoury nature behind all this fantasy and delusion and they seem intent on destroying the potential usefulness and real benefit that a good spiritual person could be to humanity by getting them ensnared in the deceptive realm of psychism which, once entered, is very difficult to break free from.

The New Age Movement is in many respects little more than a psychic cesspit and stands in the way of the dawning of a New Age for mankind perhaps more than almost anything else does, as we have said previously in such articles as The Psychic is not the Spiritual, The Danger and Deception of Channelling, and The Whitewashing of Black Magic.

Those who have fallen under the sway of the “Star Rishis” tend to have no interest at all in knowing the actual facts about things, have no time for Esoteric Philosophy or Spiritual Science, dislike thinking and using their mind, and prefer to cast aside the Ancient and Ageless Wisdom in preference for science fiction type fantasies of archangels flying round the Universe in spaceships and Masters (often calling themselves by the names of the real Masters) going for picnics in the Milky Way.

There seems to be some strange element in human nature which is appealed to by such things. We have personally known some of these New Age channelling enthusiasts who have readily admitted that they prefer fantasy to reality and that the reason they prefer to give their attention to such things as the “Galactic Federation of Light” (“Astral Federation of Darkness” might be a more fitting name) is because they find it “more exciting” than the things that the actual Masters have written and taught.

Of course, who would want to study and apply the actual words of the Lord Buddha – which require concentration, self-discipline, and constant effort – when they can instead just go onto YouTube and listen to hundreds of the latest channelled messages attributed to Buddha, in some of which he may be speaking from his holiday home on Neptune or from a “special meeting of the Sacred Council of the Twelve Cosmic Overlords in the Seventh Ray spiral galaxy of Excelsior”?

This type of thing can be traced back in its origins to the books written by Alice Bailey, in which particular emphasis is placed on purported spiritual information regarding Sirius, the Pleiades, and the Great Bear, and has since reached the astoundingly ludicrous nature of today’s New Age jargon and buzzwords.

This does not mean that Sirius and the Pleiades, for example, do not have genuine esoteric importance. They do, as can be seen and explored in articles such as Theosophy on The Pleiades and Theosophy on Sirius. But there is a vast difference between the teachings about and approach to them found in the authentic Theosophy and in New Age circles.

One of those key differences is that the authentic Theosophical approach absolutely never encourages any attempts to try to make contact or communication with whatever beings may reside in or preside over such cosmic systems. No-one who is not a great Adept is ever likely to succeed in such an attempt – and if they do succeed it will never be through channelling, as the Adepts have made clear how opposed they are to that – but many people will indeed think they have succeeded, as many will certainly succeed in making contact with the Star Rishis or Saptarishi, that “very advanced class of elementals, able sometimes to communicate with man, and by their apparent knowledge to make him suppose them to be high spiritual beings” and whose activities can lead to mediums – or channels or channellers, as we would more typically say nowadays – “being deluded, or rather dazzled, by the extraordinary experiences passed through.”

Yes, the “Star Rishis” are very busy today in their ongoing efforts to ensnare the minds of the multitudes and hinder the true work and progress of human evolution. We should have compassion for the people who get sucked into such things – many of whom are already mentally ill or become so as a result – but at the same time we must speak firmly, since humanity’s future will suffer because of all this dangerous nonsense.

It is important to clarify, however, that we cannot claim as yet to fully understand the complete meaning of HPB’s words “Those who fall off from our living human Mahatmas to fall into the Saptarishi – the Star Rishis, are no Theosophists.” One reason is that in this statement she seems to be using the term “Saptarishi” in quite a different way from its more usual meaning. “Saptarishi” literally means “Seven Rishis” and “Rishi” is the Sanskrit word for a great Seer, an Adept, Sage, or Master. These Seven Rishis are often encountered in Hindu texts and teachings and include some of the most highly revered Hindu sages, including Vyasa, the author of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text which is certainly highly revered in Theosophy. In “The Secret Doctrine,” H. P. Blavatsky herself wrote:

“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, . . . thus answering to the seven Æons, when at the end of the first stage of Evolution they are transformed into the seven stellar Rishis, the Saptarishis; while their human doubles appear as heroes, Kings and Sages on this earth.” (Vol. 1, p. 442)

So it is always important and necessary to take context into account. The context in which a particular term is used in Theosophy often provides a great aid to comprehending what is actually meant in that particular case. The Saptarishis mentioned in the above “Secret Doctrine” quote are clearly not elementals, nor are they something or someone opposed or antithetical to the Mahatmas. It is thus clear that this term is capable of quite a dual meaning, depending on the context.

In the context of HPB’s warning and the theme of this present article, we may conclude with the advice given by Robert Crosbie in “The Friendly Philosopher” p. 184 – “The safe road is the one pointed out by the Messengers [i.e. H.P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge]: you remember H.P.B. said, “Beware of the path of the Star Rishis.””

~ BlavatskyTheosophy.com ~

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