Gainesville Theosophy Blog

Wikipedia states, “According to the Theosophical teachings, the Mahatmas are not disembodied beings, but highly evolved people involved in overseeing the spiritual growth of individuals and the development of civilizations. Blavatsky was the first person in modern times to claim contact with these Adepts, especially the ‘Masters’ Koot Hoomi and Morya.” However, later, from the time of Leadbeater, the Masters seem more otherworldly. Outside of the Theosophical Society the Masters are known as the “Ascended Masters.”

There are a variety of views within contemporary Theosophy. Carlos Cardoso Aveline, in “Why, and How, Masters of the Wisdom Observe Human Efforts,” (http://www.esoteric-philosophy.com/2011/05/theosophical-movement-is-not-alone.html) presents the masters as tantamount to the higher self:

“For every practical purpose, a “Master” is one’s own higher self, awakened…If you are always careful to remember that in whatever place either your soul or body accomplishes any deed, Divinity is present as an inspector of your conduct; in all your words and        actions you will venerate the presence of an inspector from whom nothing can be concealed, and will, at the same time, possess Divinity as an intimate associate.”

The problem with this view is that the Masters (also known as adepts or Mahatmas) were supposed to be on the earth forming a brotherhood that has existed for centuries, if not millennia. If the Mahatmas are now to be regarded as the higher self, then that implies that they are not incarnating on the earth any more. But if not, why not? Doesn’t the world still need them? Why should they have existed as flesh and blood people for centuries and then abandon the physical plane only recently?

Another difficulty with this view is that it subverts the very conception of one’s own higher self by externalizing it. My higher self is me qua atman, that is, my self insofar as it is freed from illusion and united with the Supreme. The higher self, therefore, cannot be what the Masters are.

Another view is what I term the deflationary view. One representative of this view is Joe Fulton. (http://theosnet.ning.com/profiles/blogs/two-questions-about-the?xg_source=activity) According to this idea, the masters of the present day are hiding in plain sight. Maybe, for example, the Dalai Lama could be considered a living terrestrial master. Likewise, maybe all of the most enlightened people living at any given time can be collectively characterized as “the masters,” even if they don’t work together in any definite way. If we go this way, then the masters help guide the world by writing books, giving lectures, etc. On this view, the Theosophical Society implicitly receives guidance from the masters whenever it imbibes the teachings and example of these individuals.

This kind of view has the merit of being highly rational. But it seems to be a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The powers of the human mind are extraordinary and extend to the paranormal. The case for this claim is cogently discussed by Stephen Braude in The Limits of Influence. (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1851783.The_Limits_of_Influence) So, the mahatmas are not merely wise persons, but persons who have developed their powers to the boundaries of human potential. They are veritably transcendental individuals.

A further consideration is one I discussed in an earlier posting. It concerns other planes of existence. If these other dimensions are real, then it is conceivable that suitably advanced beings reside within them. This leads me to what I consider the best way of conceiving of the Theosophical Mahatmas.

The view I am putting forward is a hybrid of the traditional conception of the Masters as flesh and blood earthlings and the so-called New Age conception of them as ascended. As stated before, the Masters were on earth throughout human history. Accordingly, it is reasonable to consider them as a class as still residing in this world. But they are not merely wise men, but paranormally developed self-realized persons, from various spiritual and philosophical backgrounds. Moreover, as they leave their bodies, some of them remain in communion with the world from other planes of existence. Hence, some adepts are ascended, others not.

I do not want to give the impression, however, that the ascended masters are always more advanced than those who have not ascended. The shining example of an adept who has attained full perfection and yet retains a physical connection with this plane of existence is Mahavatar Babaji. As explained on the website of the Self-Realization Fellowship:

“There are no historical records relating to the birth and life of Mahavatar Babaji. Paramahansa Yogananda has written in  Autobiography of a Yogi that the deathless avatar has resided for untold years in the remote Himalayan regions of India, revealing                himself only rarely to a blessed few. It is Mahavatar Babaji who revived in this age the lost scientific meditation technique of Kriya Yoga.”

And Wikipedia states, “Babaji is reputed to be ageless, according to some accounts, and about 500 years old around the late 1800′s, according to Swami Pranabananda.” This is because Mahavatar Babaji, one the greatest adepts, chooses to remain on this plane of existence for the benefit of humanity. As Paramahansa Yogananda says in Autobiography of a Yogi:

“An avatar lives in the omnipresent Spirit; for him there is no distance inverse to the square. Only one reason, therefore, motivates Babaji in maintaining his physical form from century to century: the desire to furnish humanity with a concrete example of its own possibilities. Were man never vouchsafed a glimpse of Divinity in the flesh, he would remain oppressed by the heavy mayic delusion that he cannot transcend his mortality.”

It should not matter that Babaji does not figure in Theosophical Society literature. Theosophy in its essence pertains to Truth itself, not to historical or organizational contingencies.

In conclusion, the Mahatmas reside both in this world and beyond it. And while they are distinct from the higher self, they are forever providing assistance for those who wish to realize it.