What are the Ascended Masters?
In modern esoteric belief, the Ascended Masters are described as once-human beings who have reached a high level of spiritual development, passed beyond the cycle of reincarnation and now act as guides to humanity. Different groups define the term differently, and the list of masters varies from one tradition to another. These are religious beliefs, and there is no independent evidence for the existence of such beings.
Theosophy’s Mahatmas
The idea is rooted in Theosophy. Helena Blavatsky claimed that her teachings came from enlightened teachers, usually called Masters or Mahatmas, with names such as Koot Hoomi and Morya, who were said to live in the Himalayas. Letters supposedly written by them were published by A. P. Sinnett. The authenticity of these letters was disputed, notably in the 1885 report for the Society for Psychical Research. Later Theosophists, including Charles Leadbeater and Annie Besant, wrote extensively about a spiritual “hierarchy” of such teachers. A similar idea appears in the “Secret Chiefs” of the Golden Dawn.
The I AM Activity
The term “Ascended Master” was popularized in the 1930s by Guy Ballard, who published Unveiled Mysteries in 1934 under the pen name Godfré Ray King. He claimed to have met Saint Germain on Mount Shasta in California, and the resulting I AM Activity taught that followers could invoke the “I AM Presence” and the masters’ help. The movement drew many followers in the 1930s and faced legal trouble over mail fraud charges that were eventually overturned on religious freedom grounds in a case that reached the United States Supreme Court.
Later groups
Several organizations adopted and expanded the teaching, including Bridge to Freedom and the Summit Lighthouse, founded by Mark Prophet in 1958 and later led by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, which became the Church Universal and Triumphant. Alice Bailey, a former Theosophist, wrote about a “Spiritual Hierarchy” of masters, using the name Djwhal Khul for one of them, and her work shaped many later New Age ideas. The phrase “Great White Brotherhood” is also used in some of these circles for the collective body of masters, though not everyone accepts it, and some object to its terminology.
Commonly named masters
Different traditions name different figures. The names that appear most often include:
- Saint Germain, linked to an 18th-century European nobleman of the same name.
- El Morya and Kuthumi (Koot Hoomi), from Theosophy.
- Serapis Bey, Hilarion and Paul the Venetian, in various later lists.
- Lady Nada, Kuan Yin and Mother Mary, feminine figures in many lists.
- Jesus and Gautama Buddha, counted as masters in many traditions, which reflects a New Age tendency to fold major religious figures into one scheme. See What Are New Age Spiritual Beliefs?
How followers relate to them
Followers describe contacting the masters through prayer, meditation, visualization, decrees and, in some groups, through messages received by channeling. Many see the masters as helpers who respect free will rather than as gods.
Criticism
Historians note that the masters’ communications are impossible to verify and that much of the lore changed from group to group. Christian critics reject the inclusion of Jesus among a set of masters. Some groups have also been criticized for authoritarian leadership. For the wider setting of these ideas, see New Age Spirituality and the Occult Revival.