Masters of Wisdom

The Masters of Wisdom, or simply "The Masters" are initiates in the occult science and esoteric philosophy, who take disciples or chelas. H. P. Blavatsky, in the glossary of her book The Key to Theosophy defined the Theosophical concept of "Master" as follows:

Master. A translation from the Sanskrit Guru, "Spiritual teacher," and adopted by the Theosophists to designate the Adepts, from whom they hold their teachings.

The Masters of Wisdom are sometimes referred indistinctly as "Brothers", "Adepts", or "Mahatmas."

Adepts and Masters

The word "Adept" was used by Mme. Blavatsky as a general term to denote people with a varying degree of occult knowledge and initiation. This term does not necessarily imply a person with a high spiritual evolution, and it was sometimes used even to denominate black magicians. Thus, there are good and evil Adepts, of a high or low order.

The word Master, however, seems to be reserved to high adepts who work in line with the evolutionary movement. This idea is expressed to certain extent by Charles Johnston in his published interview to H. P. Blavatsky:

Then she told me something about other Masters and adepts she had known -- for she made a difference, as though the adepts were the captains of the occult world, and the Masters were the generals. She had known adepts of many races, from Northern and Southern India, Tibet, Persia, China, Egypt; of various European nations, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, English; of certain races in South America, where she said there was a Lodge of adepts.

Although the Masters known through the Theosophical literature use a male body, there are testimonies by a number of chelas that there are women adepts, even of the highest degree.

According to T. Subba Row there are different types of Adepts, corresponding to the Seven Rays of the Logos:

In the adept hierarchy, there are always seven classes of adepts, corresponding to the seven rays of the Logos. Two of these classes of adepts are so mysterious, and their representatives on earth are so rare, that they are seldom spoken of. Perhaps one or two adepts of these two mysterious orders appear every two or three thousand years.

Renouncing Nirvana

An important feature of the Masters of Wisdom is that, although they have attained the right to enter in Nirvāṇa they renounce to it in order to stay in touch with humanity. This is the same concept of the Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism, which was not very well know at the time to the Western world:

. . .the hitherto very esoteric doctrine of the Nirmanakayas was lately brought forward as a proof and explained in the treatise called The Voice of the Silence. These Nirmanakayas are the Bodhisattvas or late Adepts, who having reached Nirvana and liberation from rebirth, renounce it voluntarily in order to remain invisibly amidst the world to help poor ignorant Humanity within the lines permitted by Karma.

This is evidently a sacrifice on their part, renouncing to live in a state of bliss on higher planes to incessantly work on the lower ones. As Mahatma K.H. wrote to A. P. Sinnett:

I will be busy night and day, morning, noon, and evening. At times I feel a passing regret that the Chohans should not evolute the happy idea of allowing us also a "sumptuary allowance" in the shape of a little spare time. Oh, for the final Rest! for that Nirvana where — "to be one with Life, yet — to live not." Alas, alas! having personally realized that: ". . . the Soul of Things is sweet, The Heart of Being is celestial Rest," one does long for — eternal REST!

The work of the Masters

When asked by Charles Johnston about their work she answered: "You would hardly understand, unless you were an adept. But they keep alive the spiritual life of mankind." He then asked her how the adepts guide the souls of men, to which H. P. Blavatsky answered:

In many ways, but chiefly by teaching their souls direct, in the spiritual world. But that is difficult for you to understand. This is quite intelligible, though. At certain regular periods, they try to give the world at large a right understanding of spiritual things. One of their number comes forth to teach the masses, and is handed down to tradition as the Founder of a religion. Krishna was such a Master; so was Zoroaster; so were Buddha and Shankara Acharya, the great sage of Southern India. So also was the Nazarene. He went forth against the counsel of the rest, to give to the masses before the time, moved by a great pity, and enthusiasm for humanity; he was warned that the time was unfavorable, but nevertheless he elected to go, and so was put to death at the instigation of the priests. . . .
But that is not the only work of the adepts. At much shorter periods, they send forth a messenger to try to teach the world. Such a period comes in the last quarter of each century, and the Theosophical Society represents their work for this epoch.

There are some references to some kind of involvement of the Masters in political or social matters. For example in The Mahatma Letters, the Master K.H. wrote to A. P. Sinnett around November 1880:

A crisis, in a certain sense, is upon us now, and must be met. I might say two crises — one, the Society's, the other for Tibet. For, I may tell you in confidence, that Russia is gradually massing her forces for a future invasion of that country under the pretext of a Chinese War. If she does not succeed it will be due to us; and herein, at least we will deserve your gratitude. You see then, that we have weightier matters than small societies to think about; yet, the T.S. must not be neglected.

Another reference by the same Master, written around July, 1882, states:

The Egyptian operations of your blessed countrymen involve such local consequences to the body of Occultists still remaining there and to what they are guarding, that two of our adepts are already there, having joined some Druze brethren and three more on their way. I was offered the agreeable privilege of becoming an eye-witness to the human butchery, but — declined with thanks. For such great emergency is our Force stored up, and hence — we dare not waste it on fashionable tamasha.

T. Subba Row described the function of the Masters in nature as follows:

The adept hierarchy is as strictly a product of nature as a tree is: it has a definite and indispensable purpose and function in the development of the human race: this function is to keep open the upward path, through which descend the light and leading without which our race would require to make each step by the wearisome, never ending method of trial and failure in every direction, until chance showed the right way.

In fact the function of the adept hierarchy is to provide religious teachers for the stumbling masses of mankind.

According to C. W. Leadbeater

The number of adepts who retain physical bodies in order to help the evolution of the world is but small-- perhaps some fifty or sixty in all. But it must be remembered that the great majority of these do not take pupils, as They are engaged in quite other work. Madame Blavatsky employed the term adept very loosely, for in one place she actually speaks of adepts who have been initiated, and adepts who have not been initiated. In all later writings we have reserved the word “initiate” for those who have passed at least the first of the four great stages upon the Path of Holiness, and the word adept we have restricted to those who have attained the Asekha level, and so have finished the evolution required of them in this chain of worlds. The consciousness of the Asekha rests normally upon the nirvanic or atmic plane while his physical body is awake. But out of the number who have already attained adeptship only the very small proportion above-mentioned retain physical bodies, and remain in touch with the earth in order to help it; and out of this a still smaller proportion are willing under certain conditions to accept men as pupils or apprentices; and it is to these last (the smallest number) only that we give the name of Masters. Yet few though They be Their office is of incalculable importance, since without Their aid it would be impossible for man to enter the portals of initiation.

The work the Masters do on the inner planes was explained by C. W. Leadbeater as follows:

The Adepts are dealing with the entire world in enormous comprehensive sweeps of power; They are influencing millions in their causal bodies or on the buddhic plane, and all the time steadily, though by almost imperceptible degrees, raising the higher bodies of the people on a wholesale scale. And yet the same Master who spends His life in doing that work will sometimes turn aside and pay personal attention to little details connected with one pupil.

Online resources

Articles and pamphlets

• Working as Colleagues of the Masters by Ed Abdill
• Is Belief in the Masters Superstitious or Harmful? by Annie Besant
• Superhuman Men - in History and in Religion by Annie Besant
• Can The Mahatmas Be Selfish? by H. P. Blavatsky
• Madame Blavatsky on "The Himalayan Brothers" by H. P. Blavatsky
• Mahatmas and Chelas by H. P. Blavatsky
• The Theosophical Mahatmas by H. P. Blavatsky
• The "Theosophical Mahatmas" in The Key to Theosophy Section 14, by H. P. Blavatsky
• Masters and Gurus by Radha Burnier
• A Casebook of Encounters with the Theosophical Mahatmas Compiled and edited by Daniel H. Caldwell
• Colonel Henry S. Olcott's Testimony about His Meetings with the Master Morya Compiled and edited by Daniel H. Caldwell
• The Perfected Ones by Clara Codd
• The Mahatmas and Their Instruments - Part 1 and Part 2 by Laura Holloway
• The Mahatmas as Ideals and Facts by W. Q. Judge
• Masters, Adepts, Teachers, and Disciples by W. Q. Judge
• Who Is The Teacher? by Joy Mills
• How the Masters Know Truth by Shirley J. Nicholson
• Mahatmas versus Ascended Masters by Pablo Sender
• Who Are the Masters? An Interview with Joy Mills by Richard Smoley

Books

• H. P. Blavatsky and the Masters of the Wisdom by Annie Besant
• The Masters by Annie Besant
• Teachers And Disciples A compilation of articles H. P. Blavatsky
• The Mahatmas and Their Letters by Alvin B. Kuhn
• Mahatmas and Chelas by Leoline L. Wright

Audio

• Masters of the Wisdom by Dora Kunz
• Krishnamurti on the Masters by Aryel Sanat

Video

• The Masters and Their Wisdom - Part 1 by Pablo Sender
• The Masters and Their Wisdom Part 2 Part 3 and Part 4 by Tim Boyd