Perfected Men – On the Path of the Masters

Perfected Men – On the Path of the Masters

Man is not to be compelled; he is to be free. He is not a slave, but a God in the making. — Annie Besant.^[1]

Man is a god in the making, and as in the mystic myths of Egypt, on the potter’s wheel he is being molded. — Manly P. Hall.^[2]

The above two quotes highlight the ultimate aim of the New Age Movement and the occult; it’s the realization that Man is a god in the making. Once per­fected, it is held, Man can complete the journey back to the Divine Source. Es­sentially, when an individual recognizes the “Christ Consciousness” within, that person has then embarked on the path of the Masters. The end result: a reunion between the inner “self” with the Universal Mind.

This is the core of the New Age Movement. In the Messiah and the Second Coming, John Davis and Naomi Rice explain that “The birth of the Christ Con­sciousness within one’s own being is the most powerful happening that can occur with the individual. This is the crowning achievement, the first movement toward the complete oneness….”^[3]

According to New Age teachings, those who have achieved this stage of Christ Consciousness and who have moved on to the next realm via death, reincarna­tion, and spiritual ascension, are known variously as Ascended Masters, Adepts, Members of the Planetary Hierarchy, Ascended Masters of the Wisdom, and Perfected Men.^[4]

C.W. Leadbeater, in his Theosophical classic The Masters and the Path, linked reincarnation, karma, and evolution into the developmental equation of these Adepts:

The existence of Perfected Men is one of the most important of the many new facts which Theosophy puts before us. It follows logically from the other great Theosophical teachings of karma and evolution by reincarnation. As we look round us we see men obviously at all stages of their evolution — many far below ourselves in development, and others who in one way or another are distinctly in advance of us. Since that is so, there may well be others who are very much further advanced; indeed, if men are steadily growing better and better through a long series of successive lives, tending towards a definite goal, there should certainly be some who have already reached that goal.^[5]

Expanding on this spiritual evolutionary processes, Leadbeater weaved psy­chic powers into this “enlightenment” matrix:

Some of us in the process of that development have already succeeded in unfolding some of those higher senses which are latent in every man, and will be the heritage of all in the future; and by means of those senses we are enabled to see the ladder of evolution extending far above us as well as far below us; and we can also see that there are men standing upon every rung of that ladder.^[6]

Depending on which stream of occult philosophy is studied, these Perfected Men may inhabit the bodies of people now living, or they may exist only within a spiritual-cosmic state. The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis teaches that “each soul personality is always a part of the Universal Soul” and that when “we speak of Cosmic Masters, therefore, or of invisible guides or guardians, we are identifying the forces or the elements of Universal Mind in a pictorial, easy-to­understand way.”^[7] Furthermore, AMORC teaches that these Cosmic Masters are not physical in shape after “transition” (death), but that they can re-manifest in the physical realm through incarnation, and that students who have undergone the proper ascension rituals may find themselves in communication with these illuminated Masters.^[8]

Regardless of the variant scenarios, all esoteric schools of thought adhere to the idea that these Adepts are active. AMORC teaches that the Masters bring guidance to the initiate, aiding in the quest for personal illumination. Theosophy, and the myriad New Age teachings that have sprung from Theosophy, talk of the Adept’s global plan — the forging of the world into a New Age planetary society. Hence, it’s no surprise that these Masters are also referred to as the “Custodians of the Plan.”

So who are these “god-Men”? The list is long and diverse, and the names mentioned here represent only a small number of those who have been labeled “Spiritual Masters.”

• Maitreya the Christ (his messages are publicized and promoted by the British artist Benjamin Crème)^[9]
• The Tibetan Adepts: Master El Morya, Master Djwal Kul, and Master Kuthumi.^[10]
• The Ascended Master Jesus the Christ (the occult world claims that the Jesus of the Bible was an occult adept and a spiritually advanced teacher, a holder of the “Christ” office — this runs completely opposite to what Jesus Christ taught about Himself, the nature of God, and the state of man).
• Lord Gautama Buddha.
• Babaji.
• The Ascended Master Saint Germain.
• Paul the Venetian.
• The Master Amatu.
• Mother Mary,^[11] and others.

Not surprisingly, these Ascended Masters — with a variation in Mary as the Queen of Heaven — proclaim similar messages of self-mastery, the unfolding of “divinity” within each individual, and mankind’s salvation through spiritual evolu­tion, reincarnation, and planetary service; all under the guidance and direction of the Planetary Hierarchy. The messages that stem from the global apparitions of Mary, however, often proclaim that man’s salvation comes through her work and intercession.^[12] From a biblical perspective, both positions fail the test.

So what does the Bible say about this type of activity?

Understand, the messages proclaimed by these so-called Masters contradict the very heart of the Gospel — the sinfulness of man and the exclusive, saving divinity of Jesus Christ. Instead, the messages continually perpetuate and rein­force the lie of Genesis 3 — “you will be as God.” No wonder the writer of Galatians gave this strong warning: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). Simply put, we are to guard ourselves against any teaching that contradicts God’s Holy Word — whether that teaching comes from angels (supernatural beings) or men.

We would be wise to consider and heed the words of Jesus Himself regarding spiritual deception:

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many…And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many…For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect (Matthew 24:4, 5, 11, 24).

Notes

1. ↑ Annie Besant, Esoteric Christianity (The Theosophical Publishing House, 1909/1966), p. 220.
2. ↑ Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1923/1951), p. 92.
3. ↑ John Davis and Naomi Rice, Messiah and the Second Coming (Coptic Press, 1982), p. 22.
4. ↑ Gary Kah’s book The New World Religion, on pages 33-34, gives a short list of some of the various names ascribed to these advanced spiritual teachers.
5. ↑ C.W. Leadbeater, The Masters and the Path (The American Theosophical Society, 1925), p. 1.
6. ↑ Ibid.
7. ↑ AMORC, Master Monograph, Neophyte Section, Atrium 2, Monograph 3.
8. ↑ See AMORC, Master Monograph, Illuminati Section, Degree 12, Monograph 8, for the example of the Master Moria. See also, Master Monograph, Illuminati Section, Degree 12, Monograph 7. Furthermore, the entire 10th degree spotlights the historical work of Cosmic Masters while guiding the student through attunement rituals in order to ascend the Celestial Ladder of esoteric illumination. For more on AMORC’s teaching on the Cosmic Masters, see Fragments from the Masters, a Confidential Discourse series for the ninth degree.NOTE: AMORC literature only lists nine degrees, and for the vast majority of students and individuals associated with AMORC, nine degrees is all that is typically discussed or displayed.However, AMORC does offer advanced degree work for exceptional students (for a short explanation, see the Rosicrucian Manual, AMORC, p. 55).
9. ↑ Crème has published the messages of Maitreya in a number of books, The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom (Tara Press, 1980) and Messages from Maitreya the Christ (Tara Press, 1980) are but two that Crème’s organization, Share International, promotes.
10. ↑ All three Tibetan Masters are found in Theosophical writings and in the published works of Alice Bailey and Lucis Trust.
11. ↑ Certain esoteric schools hold up Mary as a type of Ascended Master (the Ascended Masters Research Center has her in its list as well), especially as her elevated status as Queen of Heaven is rooted in historical paganism (see Will Durant’s The Age of Faith, pp.745-748, for some background material on the rise of the Roman Mary in relationship to the various pagan goddess of antiquity; see also Cesar Vidal’s The Myth of Mary). For two good exposés on Mary as the Mother and Queen of Heaven — positions that go far beyond the Biblical mandate — see Jim Tetlow, Messages from Heaven (Eternal Productions, 2002) and Cesar Vidal, The Myth of Mary (Chick Publications, 1995). Pope Pius XII, in his Munificentissimus Deus, elevated the Ascension of Mary to that of Roman Catholic dogma.
12. ↑ See, Jim Tetlow, Messages from Heaven (Eternal Productions, 2002).