We are all souls in incarnation and as souls we reincarnate repeatedly through the law of rebirth and the workings of the law of karma or cause and effect. Those who began this spiritual process earlier — a journey that takes countless lifetimes — have evolved into their full divine potential and have become Masters of Wisdom, members of the Spiritual Hierarchy of our planet.

Perfected beings

From humanity’s point of view the Masters are perfected beings, who have mastered themselves through all the myriad experiences life has to offer over many thousands of lifetimes. And yet their fully expressed divinity is in itself a guarantee for all of us that we, too, are at varying stages on the path of evolution and that we will inevitably reach the same stage; we will also be able one day to totally identify with the soul — that which we truly are, and express that divine consciousness.

The Spiritual Hierarchy

The Spiritual Hierarchy, at the head of which is Maitreya, the Christ, oversees the entire development of all areas of life on our planet. They are tireless servants of humanity, guiding, helping, rescuing and overseeing the development of our expanding consciousness. The Masters are omniscient and can therefore help, save and heal wherever necessary and possible throughout the world. (See readers’ letters to Share International magazine for descriptions of their intervention and help. A selection of these letters is reproduced monthly on this website.)

Their disciples work in all fields

Their disciples, whom they inspire and guide, work in all fields — the political, scientific, medical, religious, educational and artistic. The Masters are the inspirers of great scientific work as well as humanity’s high achievements in the creative arts. The world’s invaluable inventions, scientific and medical discoveries, marvels of engineering and so on are all examples of their inspiration. As humanity has responded to the ideas and insights given by the Masters, and implemented them, civilization and culture has moved forward.

The emergence of the Masters

Now, at this time of great transition, some of the Masters are leaving their ancient retreats and entering the modern world. This process is referred to in the Ageless Wisdom Teachings and the books by Benjamin Creme as the “Emergence”, whereby these evolved teachers will gradually become more recognized and their true status and stature known to the world. The first five Masters entered the everyday world in 1975. They were gradually joined by others and by the end of 1992 there were 14 Masters in the world, plus Maitreya. Eventually, there will be around 40 Masters in the world.

Modern men

The Masters are modern men in physical bodies. They live and work among us largely incognito, having lived for thousands of years in the remote mountain and desert areas of the world. While they look like any one of us in appearance, their divine capacities endow them with a deep awareness of the nature of life — an omniscience and wisdom which they will share with us, showing us the way out of our current global crises.

Masters in male bodies

All the Masters take a male body in their last incarnation for specific energetic reasons. On the soul level there is no such thing as gender, only a polarity of energies — positive and negative. The Masters have brought these two aspects into total equilibrium and so in a sense are neither male nor female. The male body, however, provides certain energetic qualities. It is important to note that the Women’s Movement was inspired by the Hierarchy of Masters, as the true equality of men and women is a divine truth that the Masters are helping to establish in the world.

You will find that Maitreya and the Masters, although from our point of view perfected, spiritual beings, are straightforward, simple, and totally respectful in their approach to humanity. They do not, and will not ever, behave like remote Gods of popular imagination. They are men, like us, but men without fault. They have a ready sense of humour, simplicity of approach, and They know better than we do ourselves the inner spiritual nature of all people. Maitreya is the Lord of Love, the Spiritual Hierarchy is the Centre in the planet in which the Love of God is expressed and that exemplifies Their approach to us. It is unconditional. (Benjamin Creme, The Awakening of Humanity)