Articles
Ascended Masters
Ascended masters are enlightened spiritual beings who once lived on earth. Over the course of many lifetimes of devotion and striving, they fulfilled their mission and reason for being—their divine plan—and ascended back to their divine source, reuniting with Spirit. Though they once had physical bodies like we wear, they now dwell in the heaven world, or etheric octave, and have bodies of light.
They come from every era, culture and religion, and they are united in what is called the “Great White Brotherhood.” The term “white” has nothing to do with race but instead refers to the tremendous white light surrounding their forms.
When ascended beings are entirely free of negative karma, they can choose where in the universe they would like to serve. They may choose to continue evolving with earth or to move on to other worlds. Many ascended masters have chosen to stay connected with souls on earth to guide them on the path of soul development and self-transcendence, which they themselves have fully achieved. They are the true teachers of mankind, directing the spiritual evolution of all those who desire to reunite with divine consciousness, or God.
The ascended masters work with us to show us the way to peace, truth and enlightenment. Some of them have spiritual retreats in the etheric octave surrounding the earth where we can go to study. We can travel to these retreats in our spiritual, or etheric, bodies while our physical bodies are asleep. Eight of the ascended masters working most closely with mankind are called “chohans of the rays.”
REGENT
LORD OF THE WORLD Sanat Kumara figures in several roles in the religious traditions of the East. Each one reveals another facet of his Divine Self. In each role, he teaches us something different about God and about our path to God. Sanat Kumara is revered in Hinduism as one of the four or seven sons of Brahma. They are portrayed as youths who have remained pure. The Sanskrit name Sanat Kumara means "always a youth." In Hinduism, Sanat Kumara is sometimes called Skanda, or Karttikeya the son of Shiva and Parvati. Karttikeya is the god of war and commander-in-chief of the gods. He is the commander and chief of the divine army of the gods. He was born specifically to slay Táraka, the demon who symbolizes ignorance, or the lower mind. Karttikeya is often depicted holding a spear, this spear represents illumination. He uses the spear to slay ignorance. |
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LORD
OF THE WORLD Gautama
Buddha was born Siddharta Gautama in Northern
India around 563 BC, on the day of the full
moon in May. He was the son of the king and
queen of the Sakya kingdom. The turning point of Siddhartha's life occurred when he was twenty-nine as he set out on four journeys during which he encountered a decrepit old man leaning on a staff; a pitiful man wrecked with disease; a corpse; and finally a yellow robed monk with a shaved head and a begging bowl. Moved with compassion by the first three signs, he realized that life was subject to old age, disease and death. The fourth sign signified to him the possibility of overcoming these conditions and inspired him to leave the world he knew in order to find a solution to suffering. |
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PLANETARY
BUDDHA Maitreya, in Buddhism, the future Buddha, a Buddha who will be reborn in a period of decline to renew the doctrine of the founder of Buddhism, the Buddha. Maitreya is believed to be a bodhisattva, one who refuses entry into nirvana, a transcendent state free from suffering, out of a compassionate desire to help others. At present, he is believed to reside in Tushita Heaven, where he awaits his rebirth which is expected to occur in 30,000 years. At the moment of his rebirth, Buddhist law will have completely degenerated, requiring a new revelation. After his rebirth, by some accounts, Maitreya will lead all beings still trapped in the cycle of rebirths to Nirvana. Others maintain that he will preach for 60,000 years, after which he will enter nirvana and his doctrine will endure for another 10,000 years. His cult first appeared in India around the 3rd century then spread throughout China, Korea, and Japan. The traditions surrounding Maitreya describe him taking on a variety of forms, such as a slothful student, a companion of the Buddha, or a kind tutor. |
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WORLD
TEACHER The adept Kuthumi (known also as Koot Hoomi and K.H.) led an extremely secluded life, affording a public record of him that is at best somewhat fragmented. Born in the early nineteenth century, Mahatma Kuthumi was a Punjabi whose family had settled in Kashmir. He attended Oxford University in 1850 and is believed to have contributed "The Dream of Ravan" to The Dublin University Magazine around 1854, prior to returning to his homeland. The Kashmiri Brahman spent considerable time
in Dresden, Wurzberg, Nurnberg, and at the
university in Leipzig, where in 1875 he visited
with Dr. Gustav Theodor Fechner, the founder
of modern psychology. His remaining years
were spent at his lamasery in Shigatse, Tibet,
where his contact with the outside world included
didactic writings sent by mail to some of
his devoted students. Those letters are now
on file with the British Museum. |
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WORLD
TEACHER When the apostle John wrote of the "true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" he was describing the Son, whom he believed dwelt bodily in Jesus Christ. The Light, the Son, is also known as the Word and the Universal Christ. The Universal Christ is individualized for each one of us as our Higher Self. You can think of your Higher Self as your Inner Christ. Your Higher Self represents your potential to realize God and to become one with him. As the apostle Paul wrote of Jesus, "in
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily." But there is not one incarnation
of Christ. Incarnating the Christ is in reality
the goal of the mystics of every religion,
whether or not they express it in these terms;
for all mystics seek the direct experience
of and union with their Higher Self. Most
of us cannot yet say that we are "the
Son of God," with an uppercase S. But
we can say we are sons and daughters of God,
with a lowercase s and d, who are in the process
of fully developing our divine potential.
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LORD
OF THE SEVEN RAYS The Maha Chohan is the head, or hierarch, of the seven chohans of the rays. His name means “the Great Lord,” which is an office in the hierarchy of the Great White Brotherhood. He embodies the white light of the seven rays and teaches the balance and integration of these rays through the eighth ray. He also teaches that true love carries every other virtue and every other point of God-mastery. The Maha Chohan is a representative of the Holy Spirit to earth and her evolutions. He initiates souls in the secret chamber of the heart and helps them prepare to receive all nine gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues. Because of his pledge to all mankind to keep the flame until they are able, he is sometimes called the “Keeper of the Flame.” The
retreat of the Maha Chohan is located over
Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, an island in the
Indian Ocean.
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CHOHAN
OF THE FIRST RAY El Morya is Chohan of the First Ray, the blue ray, of power, goodwill and faith. He also exemplifies the blue-ray qualities of leadership, proper use of power and speech, and ultimate surrender to the divine will. He can assist all students who desire to embody these virtues, master the throat chakra and receive the Holy Spirit’s gifts of the word of wisdom and faith in the divine will. El
Morya is well known as the Master M who worked
with the Master Koot Hoomi in the late nineteenth
century to establish the Theosophical Society
and to spread the knowledge of higher truths
to a wider circle among mankind. After his
ascension in the late 1800s, he continued
working for this same purpose, most notably
through Nicholas and Helena Roerich in the
early 1900s and recently through The Summit
Lighthouse and Mark and Elizabeth Prophet
beginning in the late 1950s. Some of El Morya’s
most important teachings concern the will
of God, the divine will that lies within each
of us. He explains that by aligning with and
embracing this will one gradually becomes
reunited with his own Higher Self. Following
the divine will also leads to outpicturing
the inner blueprint of the soul and to fulfilling
one’s unique mission in life. El Morya
and the blue-ray masters always teach that
if the student’s will is one with the
will of God, he will succeed. El Morya’s
etheric retreat is located over Darjeeling,
India.
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CHOHAN
OF THE SECOND RAY Lanto is Chohan of the Second Ray, the yellow ray, of wisdom, understanding and judgment. He exemplifies these and other second-ray virtues, including illumination and discernment. Lord Lanto teaches the path of attainment through enlightenment and mastery in the crown chakra, and can assist souls in receiving the Holy Spirit’s gifts of the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. Many of Lanto’s incarnations were in China, where he focused the flame of illumination that infused that country’s culture with great wisdom. The Duke of Chou, one of his Chinese embodiments, is reputed to have been the guru of Confucius. During his final lifetime, Lanto adored God’s presence within his own heart so fervently that the divine spark residing there—the threefold flame—could be seen emanating as a soft golden glow through his chest. He desired that through this living testimony other people would also recognize and believe the truth of their own innate spark of divinity, the doorway to their personal enlightenment and victory. He sustained this visible light until he ascended around 500 B.C. Lanto’s
etheric retreat is located over the Grand
Teton in the Teton Mountain Range in Wyoming. |
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CHOHAN
OF THE THIRD RAY Paul the Venetian is Chohan of the Third ray, the pink ray, of divine love, compassion and charity. Creativity and beauty are other important qualities of this ray that he embodies. Paul teaches the way of divine love through love in action, which means moving from contemplated love to putting forth the effort to be loving in deeds and in works. He helps clarify many things concerning divine love; for example, true compassion lifts up another’s soul, whereas human sympathy allows the soul to wallow in its human problems without progressing on the spiritual path. He is the perfect master to help us prepare for receiving the Holy Spirit’s gift of discerning of spirits. Paul applauds our innate beauty as a magnificent creation of God, and champions the pursuit of our Higher Self. To assist in this endeavor, he teaches how to define our Christhood by perfecting our soul and developing the intuitive and creative faculties of our heart and heart chakra. During his lifetime as the renowned sixteenth-century Italian Renaissance painter Paulo Veronese, he created vibrant new colors and perfected a new and still unsurpassed technique of pigment preparation for preserving paint. He painted biblical figures and saints in such a way that common people could identify with them and come to a deeper understanding of divinity residing within humanity—a vital understanding for attaining union with one’s Higher Self. While the Ascended Master Paul the Venetian works with all souls in mastering the qualities of the pink ray, he also works closely with students of art, music, architecture and engineering in the creation of beauty, symmetry and design. Paul
the Venetian’s etheric retreat, called
the Château de Liberté (Castle
of Freedom), is located over the Rhone River
in southern France. |
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CHOHAN
OF THE FOURTH RAY Serapis Bey is Chohan of the Fourth Ray, the white ray. Some fourth-ray qualities are purity, discipline, joy, hope and excellence. Serapis works with students to help them develop these qualities, gain mastery in the base-of-the-spine chakra and gradually and safely raise the kundalini fire that is stored in that chakra. He is a great devotee of the Divine Mother and of her light and fire within all souls. Sometimes called “the disciplinarian” because of his fierce determination to save souls from self-indulgence and to move them along the most efficient path to their ascension, Serapis can help people prepare to receive the Holy Spirit’s gift of the working of miracles. Serapis spent many lifetimes along the Nile, and as the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III he constructed the physical temple at Luxor. His most familiar incarnation was Leonidas, the great warrior who led the Spartans in the famous battle at Thermopylae, Greece. Serapis
ascended around 400 B.C. His etheric retreat
is located over Luxor, Egypt.
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CHOHAN
OF THE FIFTH RAY Hilarion is Chohan of the Fifth Ray, the green ray, of truth, science, vision and prosperity. He works with souls to help them gain mastery in the third-eye chakra and green-ray qualities, including healing and the science of holding the immaculate concept. (The immaculate concept is any pure thought held by one person on behalf of another.) The apostle Paul was one of Hilarion’s incarnations. By stages Paul put on the mantle of his Lord and accomplished many works as his instrument in healings, miracles, prophecies and fiery conversions. This was the true path Jesus Christ meant his apostles to walk. Today Hilarion guides students on the path of putting on the mantle of their Higher Self to accomplish these works and more. His last incarnation was Saint Hilarion, the fourth century hermit and healer who performed countless miracles. As an ascended master, Hilarion sponsors teachers of truth, religious leaders and missionaries, as well as those practicing the healing arts, scientists and engineers in all fields, musicians, and those specializing in computer and space technology. He is also the eternal empiricist who brings the seeker to the initiatic path spoken of by the apostle Paul: “And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free!” He is concerned with helping atheists, agnostics, skeptics and others empirically centered who, often through no fault of their own, have become disillusioned with life and religion and have no outer knowledge of the path of individual Christhood. Hilarion
helps prepare souls to receive the Holy Spirit’s
gift of healing. Hilarion especially enjoys
working on research in the medical profession.
Healing is one of His main activities. His
etheric retreat is called the Temple of Truth
and is located over the island of Crete in
Greece.
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CHOHAN
OF THE SIXTH RAY Ascended Lady Master Nada is Chohan of the Sixth Ray, the purple and gold ray, of peace, service and brotherhood. She tutors souls in mastering these qualities in the solar-plexus chakra, and helps them prepare to receive the Holy Spirit’s gifts of speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues. In addition, she is known as the unifier of families and twin flames. Nada also serves on the Karmic Board—a group of eight ascended masters and cosmic beings who dispense justice to this system of worlds, adjudicating karma, mercy and judgment on behalf of every soul. Through both these offices in the Great White Brotherhood (chohan and member of the Karmic Board), she teaches the path of personal Christhood by expressing love through ministration and service to life. She assists ministers, missionaries, healers, teachers, psychologists, counselors at law, professional people, public servants in government as well as those devoted to serving the needs of people in every branch of human and health services. You will also find her at the side of businessmen and -women, blue-collar, skilled and unskilled workers, farmers, ranchers, defenders of freedom and revolutionaries of love in every field. On Atlantis Nada served as a priestess in the Temple of Love. In other embodiments, she was a lawyer and expert in the defense of oppressed souls. In her final incarnation 2,700 years ago, Nada was the youngest of a large family of exceptionally gifted children. Archangel Charity appeared to her at an early age and taught her how to draw God's love from the flame in her heart and to radiate it into the nature kingdom for the blessing of all life. He also taught her to radiate it into the chakras of her brothers and sisters, so that by a heightened inner awareness they might bless others and uplift earth’s culture through the arts. Lady
Master Nada’s etheric retreat is located
over Saudi Arabia.
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CHOHAN
OF THE SEVENTH RAY Saint Germain is Chohan of the Seventh Ray, the violet ray, of freedom, alchemy, justice, mercy and transmutation. He is the sponsor of the United States of America and the hierarch of the age of Aquarius, who comes bearing the gift of the violet flame for world change. He tutors and initiates souls in mastery of the seat-of-the-soul chakra, preparing them to receive the Holy Spirit’s gifts of prophecy and the working of miracles. Two of his well-known embodiments were Christopher Columbus and Merlin the magician, a spiritual adept who has unfortunately been mythologized. In a series of recent embodiments from the prophet Samuel to Francis Bacon, Saint Germain was the all-pervasive mind, laying the empirical foundation for an age of enlightenment, pushing back the barriers of limitation in the physical and spiritual sciences. As Roger Bacon he directed and inspired devotees of the sacred science, then in his embodiment as Saint Germain, the Wonderman of Europe, he outpictured the quintessence of the alchemists’ dream for all to see. The Ascended Master Saint Germain teaches that the highest alchemy is the transformation of one’s human consciousness into the divinity of the Higher Self. He stands ready to assist all souls in this endeavor. He has also said he would release the technology of the Aquarian age when the nations shall have put behind them the destructive uses of science and religion to accept the challenge which lies at the heart of both, which is for man to enter his heart and the nucleus of the atom and to harness from both the unlimited spiritual and physical resources to establish the golden age. His etheric retreats are located over Transylvania in Romania and Table Mountain in Wyoming. |
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