Ascended master
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One definition of an ascended master is an individual who has undergone the process of ascension. Throughout history, there have been stories of these individuals who have reached a higher state of spiritual awareness and placed themselves in service to humanity.
One concept of an ascended master derives from the teachings of Theosophy.
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Beliefs about ascended masters
In Theosophy, and various descendants and offshoots of theosophy, ascended masters are a group of spiritually enlightened beings, once mere mortals, who have undergone a process of spiritual transformation. According to these teachings, they remain attentive to the spiritual needs of humanity, and act as superintendents of its spiritual growth. In this, they can be compared to the Great White Brotherhood or Secret Chiefs who are posited by various magical organizations; and more remotely, to the bodhisattvas of Buddhism, or the saints of Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.
Origins
One idea may actually have originated with Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who in his satirical book The Coming Race posited the existence of "nine unknown men" who secretly run things in the world. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, was a huge Bulwer-Lytton fan and may have decided he was presenting true facts, disguised as fiction. Or she may have gotten the concept of the Masters from her correspondence with the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor (http://www.kheper.net/topics/Theon/H_B_of_L.html), a mystic lodge which offered a correspondence course in esoteric doctrine.
Blavatsky brought attention to the existence of ascended spiritual leaders through her activities which included channelling messages from beings she called "Mahatmas", especially her spirit guide "Koot Hoomi" or "Kuthumi." From these beginnings, her successors in the Theosophical Society leadership, Annie Besant and especially Charles W. Leadbeater, developed the mythology of Ascended Masters, and fleshed out many of their alleged biographies and past lives. Leadbeater's 1925 book, The Masters and the Path, marked the crystallisation of the lore that had accumulated around the concept of Ascended Masters into a published, public form.
Organisations Holding the Belief
Belief in ascended masters is found among the Theosophists, and among followers of the I AM movement, the Temple of the Presence (http://www.templeofthepresence.org), and Elizabeth Clare Prophet's Church Universal and Triumphant. The occult organization, Servants of the Light, claim to have contact with an ascended master. Many New Age channelers routinely talk about the Masters, taking it as given that they exist.
"The Great White Brotherhood"
In some versions of the doctrine, the ascended masters, as a collegiate body, are the "Great White Brotherhood," white referring to advanced spirituality rather than race—very much like "Gandalf the White" after his victory over the Balrog in The Lord of the Rings. In fact, most early reports of the masters described them as racially Tibetan or Hindi, not Anglo. Belief in the Brotherhood and the masters is an essential part of the syncretistic teachings of these several groups. Various important spiritual leaders such as Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad, the Virgin Mary, and Kuan Yin the compassionate bodhisattva, take their seats alongside magical or alchemical personalities like the Count of St. Germain, and other mystic celebrities like Kuthumi, one of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's claimed spiritual guides—all of these leaders have put aside any differences they might have had in their earthly careers, and unite instead to improve the spiritual well-being of the human race.
Reincarnation
Reincarnation is a notable feature of some groups' teachings about the ascended masters. For example, according to the Summit Lighthouse the ascended master Kuthumi was also reincarnate as a number of historically important people, including Pharaoh Thutmose III, the philosopher Pythagoras, Saint Francis of Assisi, Balthasar the Magus, and Shah Jahan. Several of the other ascended masters are said to have had equally distiguished careers in reincarnation.
"Ascension Bloodlines"
One of the most interesting beliefs about ascension is the notion of "ascension bloodlines". According to the Gnostic tradition, ascension is said to happen only after several dedicated lifetimes that directly support the ascension process. If an individual ascends leaving daughters, the daughters supposedly become able to reproduce at will rather than going through the process of sex. The ascension process is said to transmit forward along the genetic line for seven generations, giving the females the ability to give birth through immaculate conception to offspring who will ascend. The priest class in various cultures were said to guard these bloodlines in order to ensure that all descendants would ascend. This belief is based on the many accounts in mythology and spiritual history of individuals born of virgin mothers (Jesus, Mithra, etc.) who then accomplish extraordinary social changes, preceding their ascension.
What is ascension?
Believers propose that humans are composed of a physical body and a soul, both of which are composed of energy. As physics has revealed to us, everything is composed of energy. Even if we cannot physically "see" something (radio waves, X rays, etc.), that energy exists at various frequencies and with the proper medium we can experience at least the effect of these energies. In the theory of ascension, it is assumed that humans are composed of seven energetic bodies—physical, etheric, astral, causal, mental, celestial, and Christ bodies. The physical body is at the lowest frequency, and each of the successive bodies exists at higher frequencies. Each of these energetic bodies is essential to maintaining the harmony between the physical body and the soul. The bodies are related to the seven main chakras, which correspond with specific endocrine glands.
Ascension is described as consciously increasing the vibratory rate of the physical and other bodies to the Christ level. Stories describe the physical body losing its definition, diffusing, then finally resembling a star imploding or exploding.
Ascension benefits
Believers in ascension make a distinction between an enlightened individual and an ascended master. When an individual becomes enlightened—that is, consciously lives on the Christ/Buddha level of awareness—they need experience no further lifetimes to realize their oneness with the universe. The enlightened person can then use their innate awareness to learn more about the universe, or choose to become a master and help others achieve this state. Not every enlightened person becomes a master. Once enlightened, a person can opt for further reincarnations.
People who have raised their bodies through ascension are fully in command of the physical realm, capable of decelerating their vibratory rate to appear any way they desire, including moving about freely on earth. Thus, ascension is seen as an alternative to death.
Belief/disbelief throughout history
The topic of ascension and ascended masters is one that probably will continue to spark controversy and disbelief, and can be a difficult subject to comprehend even for those who have spent years studying esoteric doctrines. Having been playfully described as something like getting "beamed up", as in the television series Star Trek, the idea of ascension has not reached widespread acceptance. Some relegate the subject matter to the realm of New Age myth and fantasy, while others maintain the process of ascension is as natural as human evolution. Historically, for the past two thousand years, the concept of ascension seemed so outrageous and confrontational, especially within traditional, western, orthodox religious belief systems, that many people dismissed the idea immediately or have a very strong adverse reaction to it. The idea that all humans could conceivably do what Christ supposedly did is seen by many religious persons as presumptuous, if not blasphemous. This is ironic in view of Christ's teaching in John 14:12: "The things that I do shall ye do also, and greater things than these shall ye do."
In the 21st century, the notion of ascension seems to attract individuals more interested in eastern religions, spirituality, metaphysics, or those simply looking for a deeper meaning to their existing beliefs and experiences.
One difficulty in discussing the idea of an ascended master is that there is no universally-accepted, definitive, scientific text which describes what the conditions are to become such a person, or how to verify the conditions. Even in the 21st century, most public sources, even books directly dealing with the topic, tend to describe various ascended masters, their activities, meetings with such people, etc., without giving us the requisite understanding of how we ourselves could undergo the process of ascension firsthand. With only anecdotal reports and no actual "how-to" manual, we are then left struggling with how to either retrofit this concept into our existing beliefs, how to shift our beliefs entirely, or simply reject the system altogether. Texts that actually give a deeper understanding of ascension, including practical exercises, meditations, diet, etc., are usually dismissed by mainstream audiences.
In the 20th century, more books finally surfaced about the topic, but prior to that, the practical knowledge seems to have been held in strict secrecy within mystery schools due to the pressures and intolerance of orthodox religious authorities. Even for spiritual adepts or initiates, the concept of ascension has not been widely accepted or understood because of the radical nature of transformation that has been ascribed to it.
Examples of ascended masters
The history of ascension predates Christianity, indeed extending back for thousands of years, yet the story of Jesus is one of the most widely known stories of ascension. In the Bible when Mary Magdalene wants to reach out and touch Christ at the tomb, he says, "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father." This has led to the idea that the ascension process is apparently so delicate that even the touch of an ordinary human, who still holds the concepts of limitation and separation, is enough to hold the ascension process back. (This does not explain how Jesus was then able to sit down and have a fish dinner with his disciples.) It is generally thought that one does not have to die in order to ascend, but the fact that Jesus was said to have died, then resurrected, then ascended, has led some people to believe that this must be the case for everyone.
Other individuals with stories of ascension include
- Virgin Mary (Mother of Jesus); When Mary chose to ascend, one story says that she gathered up disciples around her to witness the event, and then she "consumed" herself, contrary to the Roman Catholic belief that Mary was simply "taken up into heaven". Another story has Mary dying in a normal fashion, and her body placed at her own request in a sealed tomb, which was opened and found empty three days later.
- Muhammad, the famous prophet of Islam is said to have ascended at the site of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
- El Morya, said to have been a Rajput prince, also incarnated as King Arthur and as Thomas More. Theosophists believe he was one of the masters who worked closely with Helena Blavatsky to found the original Theosophical Society.
- Mahatma Kuthumi, said to have been a Punjabi who attended Oxford University in 1850, may have authored the poem "Dream of Ravan" published in the Dublin University Magazine about 1854.
- Djwal Kul, said to have been a Tibetan who started out with the unlikely name Gai Ben-Jamin. Believers tell the legend of his incarnation on Lemuria where he assisted in rescuing valuable knowledge before the sinking of that continent. He is said later to have transmitted this information to channeller Alice Bailey.
Ascension in the media
One television show that has regularly portrayed this set of ideas is the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. The species that built the Stargate artefacts, the Ancients, were afflicted by an unstoppable plague and were forced to abandon their physical bodies in order to survive.
Probably the most notable ascension-like act in the popular culture involves Obi Wan Kenobi.
External links
- The Summit Lighthouse (http://www.tsl.org/) contains a great deal of information about one version of the ascended masters, owned by Elizabeth Clare Prophet's Church Universal and Triumphant.
- Theosophical Society (http://www.ts-adyar.org/), the original source of information for the ascended masters
- Arduinna's SG Handbook: Ascendants (http://www.trickster.org/arduinna/stargate/ascendants.html)
References
- Godwin, Joscelyn. The Theosophical Enlighenment (SUNY Press, 1994). ISBN 079142152X