The 7 Masters of Wisdom and Harmony of Feelings

Johfra: The Vision of Hermes Trismegistus (1972)

Human beings who have ascended to a purely spiritual existence, having first overcome the cycle of reincarnations, now direct the spiritual plots of humanity from a spiritual circle under the direct dependencies of the Holy Spirit, the Great White Lodge. They are also known in other traditions as Ascended Masters.

1. Master Morya

2. Master Kuthumi

3. Master Venetian

4. Master Serapis

5. Master Hilarion

6. Master Jesus-Zarathustra

7. Master Christian Rosenkreutz / Saint-Germain

The Masters are angelic human beings, the first human beings to experience the angelic evolutionary stage in this planetary evolutionary chain.

In Theosophy and Anthroposophy

According to theosophy, the Masters of Wisdom are those who have reached the fifth and sixth initiations (according to the oriental sequence). The fifth initiation corresponds to the "Resurrection" and confers the first degree of Ascended Master, who manifests himself to help humanity. The Arhat possesses spiritual powers such as teleportation, bilocation and levitation, but only in a certain space. According to Leadbeater and Bailey there are 43 Masters at this level of initiation including Master Jupiter (assistant to El Morya).

The sixth initiation is called Ascension (or Mastery): it confers the second degree of Ascended Master, in this category are gathered the seven masters mentioned in theosophy. They are also called Chohan of the Seven Rays, they direct the powers of the rays on Earth to which is added the catalyst Djwal Khul that brings the Seven Rays to the seven Chohans (also known as The Tibetan in the writings of Alice Bailey). They possess spiritual powers such as teleportation, bilocation and levitation to any place on Earth.

The same level is attributed to them in anthroposophy, although it corresponds to the human evolutionary step of the Bodhisattvas: that is, human beings with an etheric body purified by the Ego in the Vital Spirit, have reached the completion of the degree of Inspiration. They are the actual human beings already at the evolutionary degree of Future Venus. They are human angels who perform specific missions to bring evolution back on the predetermined path, they can either descend to Earth or to other planets.

Each of the seven masters is associated with the manifestation in the terrestrial evolution of one of the Seven Rays of Theosophy. In anthroposophy they correspond to the seven planetary archetypes that are expressed in the Seven Metamorphoses of the Earth.

1. First Ray: Master Morya

2. Second Ray: Master Kuthumi

3. Third Ray: Master Veneziano

4. Fourth Ray: Master Serapis

5. Fifth Ray: Master Hilarion

6. Sixth Ray: Master Jesus-Zarathustra

7. Seventh Ray: Master Christian Rosenkreutz / Saint-Germain

They are divided into groups according to the influence they exert on the Earth:

1. Eastern Masters: Morya and Kuthumi, are active throughout Asia to the Far East;

2. Central Masters: the Venetian, Serapis, Hilarion, are active mainly in the center of the spiritual world, or in the Mediterranean basin;

3. Western Masters: Jesus and Christian Rosenkreutz, also known as Saint Germaine in his last incarnation.

The Eastern Masters are the impetus behind the foundation of the Theosophical Society, while the Western Masters were present at the foundation of the Anthroposophical Society. The Central Masters have instead founded and coordinated the various mystery cults of the Mediterranean (the mysteries of Isis, Mithra, Eleusis, Dionysus and therefore more indirectly Freemasonry).

The current of the Rose+Cross was born under the influence of four of these: Master Morya for power, Master Kuthumi for wisdom, Master Saint-Germaine for perseverance in the difficulties of daily life, Master Jesus-Zarathustra for the intimacy of the soul of man.

In theosophy, the Seven Masters of Wisdom are divided according to the influence of the Seven Rays. 1) The First Ray descending from the Father (First Aspect of Will): El Morya and Jupiter; 2) The Second Ray, descending from the Son (Second Aspect of Wisdom): Koot Humi and Djwal Khul; 3) From the Third to the Seventh Ray descending from the Holy Spirit (Third Aspect of Activity): 3) Paul the Venetian, 4) Master Serapis, 5) Master Hilarion, 6) Jesus, 7) Saint-Germain.

Liane Collot d'Herbois: Christian Rosenkreuz sends Buddha to Mars

Buddha's Mission on Mars

In order to have an example of the cosmic missions accomplished by these lofty individuals, we can give an example.

Steiner tells about a spiritual event, the crucifixion of Siddartha on the astral plane, a cosmic mission that was entrusted to him by Christian Rosicrucians after his last terrestrial incarnation as Gautama Buddha.

Steiner describes how in the fifteenth century spiritual decadence was reached on Mars, so that the planet was no longer able to send spiritual impulses to will to man. This resulted on Earth in a deeper fall into maya, even in the world of language and the loss of the spiritual sense of the names associated with things. The man of the fifteenth century, at the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, was no longer able to say whether the language was inspired by the spirit of things or whether it was just a convention: so in the fifteenth century there was the culmination of the debate between nominalism and realism. For this decadence of the spirits of Mars, it became necessary to have an event that could act as a turning point in history, as the Mystery of Golgotha had been on Earth. The restarting of Martian evolution would also mean the sending of a new volitional impulse to Earth.

In 1604, Christian Rosenkreuz, disincarnated at the time, as a member of the Masters of Wisdom and Harmony of Feelings, decided that Siddhartha Buddha would carry out this mission of sacrifice for the planet Mars. In fact, Buddha, when he received his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in the sixth century B.C., incorporated the Eloah of Mercury, just as the Eloah of the Sun, Christ, was embodied in the baptism of the Jordan in Jesus of Nazareth. After enlightenment Buddha would have no subsequent physical incarnations on Earth, but would move as a spirit to the planet Mars in the 17th century. This took place at the level of the Astral World and the lowest vehicle Buddha wore was the astral body, thus placing him within the body of an Archangel or Spirit of the People.

The red planet was at that time a gigantic battlefield of the spirits that inhabited it and the Buddha had to descend to the battlefield, remaining involved in the struggle as a peace leader leading the Martian people. Being at the level of the Astral World we have to imagine a war made of conflicting passions. For the sublime spirit of Buddha, who had peace in his spiritual essence, participating in a war was a real crucifixion. The war ceased. From that sacrifice of the Buddha-Eloah of Mercury, Martian evolution could reverse its descent and ascend again, at the same time causing new volitional forces to spring forth. These forces poured out on Earth through the souls that, after the Buddha's sacrifice onwards, passed through the sky of Mars during the descent into the new incarnation. They translated for the first time as forces that allowed human beings to cultivate meditation and at the same time their normal daily activities.

The Esoteric Lessons are the result of a sacrifice. Therefore, if Steiner was able to give the Esoteric Lessons within the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society first and the Anthroposophical Society later, it is by virtue of this supreme sacrifice of the Buddha, in agreement with Christian Rosenkreutz in unison in the light of the Christ.

From the Seven Masters to the Twelve Bodhisattvas

To these seven masters are added five hidden ones, making a total of twelve. The difference lies in the fact that only seven are manifest in the earthly human sphere. These seven can act directly in the physical world, appearing within human bodies that disciples of esotericism may encounter along their spiritual path.

In their sevenfold constitution they represent seven constituent limbs active in the present earthly metamorphosis of a being of higher hierarchy, the Great White Lodge, consisting precisely of 12 members. These great initiates and masters of humanity are also called the "Circle of 12 Bodhisattvas," human beings who in the course of past incarnations have passed through the human stage of evolution, anticipating through initiation the future stages of humanity's evolution. They have attained liberation from personal karma and have therefore sacrificed themselves to return to Earth and act in aid of the rest of humanity.

The relationship that exists between the Seven Manifest Masters of Wisdom in evolution and the five occult masters is the same as that which exists in astrology with regard to the planetary regencies of the zodiac signs. So the five occult masters represent the future impetus of the five moving planets during the next planetary metamorphosis.

Just as it is possible to trace a correspondence between the Seven Rays and the Seven Masters of Wisdom manifest in evolution, it is possible to trace it with the Zodiac when the five occult masters are added. In order to have the right correspondence one must start from Cancer, since the Astrological Era in which man first appeared on Earth was the one of Cancer, that is why it is called the Door of Humanity. After seven Astrological Ages, in the sign of Capricorn, the physical man disappears and acquires the first spiritual limb, that is why it is called the Door of the Spirit.

In turn, these twelve Bodhisattvas adumbrated the masters who initiated Christian Rosenkreuz himself in his incarnation as a Cathar child. Steiner relates that one of these interventions of the Masters consisted in raising a very special child. He had been raised in the Cathar community until of Montsegur, due to Catholic persecution, it was no longer possible. So the child was brought to safety in a Templar stronghold in Austria, Burg Lockenhaus. Here was the treasure that the Cathar survivors took away in great secrecy during the final attack on Montsegur in the crusade of 1244: it was this special child! At Lockenhaus the child was initiated by twelve masters who infused him with all the spiritual wisdom of the world, according to the twelve views of the zodiac. The child died shortly after his initiation, only to be reincarnated in 1378 under the name of Christian Rosenkreuz, founder of the Rosicrucian spiritual current.

Seven of these Masters incorporated the etheric body of the Seven Holy Rishi, in which the wisdom of the Seven Oracles of Atlantis had been imprinted in the previous Atlantean era. The other four, on the other hand, incorporated all that the four epochs of culture had accumulated in their incarnation in the terrestrial world. The last among them instead embodied natural science.

The etheric bodies of the Masters of Christian Rosenkreuz represented, respectively:

1. Wisdom of Saturn

2. Wisdom of Jupiter

3. Wisdom of Mars

4. Wisdom of the Sun

5. Wisdom of Venus

6. Wisdom of Mercury

7. Wisdom of the Moon

8. Wisdom of the Indian Era (Age of Cancer)

9. Wisdom of the Persian Era (Age of Gemini)

10. Wisdom of the Egyptian Era (Taurus Era)

11. Wisdom of the Greco-Roman Era (Age of Aries)

12. Prefiguration of the Natural Science of the Fifth Epoch (Age of Pisces)

They are therefore human angels who have freed themselves from the physical body, therefore whose lower body is the etheric body. For this reason they can appear and disappear at will in the physical world, manifesting only when necessary. They can understand and interpret human beings totally, as they have been human in the flesh in their previous incarnations on Earth. They are therefore not to be confused with the current Angels (the Lunar Pythras or Sons of Life, the first choir of the Third Hierarchy) who are part of the wave of existence immediately preceding the human one and who have passed through the human stage only during the metamorphosis of the Ancient Moon.

In the "ladder of being," the wave of existence that runs through the entire planetary chain of which the Earth is a part, passes through seven evolutionary stages, of which human beings are the second (Adam). The Bodhisattva is a human being freed from his karma, having purified his astral body in the previous stage (Adam Kadmon).

Only the seven masters whose names are known can manifest themselves through a human being with a physical body (a spiritual phenomenon called "incorporation"). Each of these seven represents a member in the occult constitution of the Circle of 12 Bodhisattvas:

1. Physical body: represents the perfection of the human organism in the harmony of its organs;

2. Etheric body: represents the harmony of human temperaments;

3. Astral body: represents the harmony of knowledge;

4. Sentient soul: represents the harmony of feelings;

5. Rational soul: represents the harmony of reason;

6. Conscious soul: represents the harmony of consciousness;

7. Ego: which sacrifices itself in the service of the other six, harmonizing them.

The other five Masters not directly active in the physical world, will become active in the next metamorphosis of the Earth, the Future Jupiter. They constitute the "Hand of God", which governs through the Ego, the other six. In fact, they represent the upper limbs of the Circle of 12 Bodhisattvas:

1. The eighth therefore represents the Spiritual Self;

2. The ninth represents the Vital Spirit;

3. The tenth the Spirit-Man;

4. The eleventh is the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit;

5. The twelfth the second Person, the Son.

The thirteenth among them is Christ himself. The Great White Lodge as a whole, which as one being moves toward the Father through the Son. In this way it consists of a prefiguration of the spiritually ascending Adam Kadmon, a stage that will be reached by humanity in the future, in the fifth planetary incarnation of Future Jupiter.

The manifestation of the spiritual evolution of the Masters was the appearance of anthroposophy (preceded by theosophy through Blavatsky's individuality). Rudolf Steiner, who consciously joined the already existing spiritual currents, both Eastern and Western, brought them to a new and higher level of revelation. He therefore acted under the direct aegis of the Holy Spirit according to the Pentecost event. As an apostle of esoteric Christianity, Steiner did his utmost to bring the science of the spirit throughout Europe, from the beginning of his activity as a lecturer until his transition to the spiritual plane.

Rudolf Steiner: Scheme of the Grand White Lodge