The Masters of Wisdom are those members of the human family who have made the evolutionary journey ahead of us; who, having perfected themselves, by the same steps by which we advance, have accepted the responsibility of guiding the rest of us to that same achievement. They (or their predecessors) have been behind the whole evolutionary process, guiding and helping man to reveal his innate Divinity through a gradual expansion of consciousness, and to become, like them, Divine, perfected or illumined Beings.

The first information in modern times about the existence of the Masters was published by H.P. Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. A more detailed communication about the Masters and their work was given by Alice A. Bailey between 1919 and 1949. In her book The Externalisation of the Hierarchy she revealed the existence of a planned return to physical-plane work and activity by this group of enlightened men, a process that has already begun.

Initiation

The esoteric process known as Initiation is the path to this perfectionment, whereby man becomes united and at one with his Source. This path of perfectionment is marked by five major steps or points of crisis and tension. Each initiation results in a tremendous expansion of consciousness which brings an ever-deepening and more inclusive vision and knowledge of the true nature of reality. No Master of the fifth initiation needs any further incarnational experience on Earth. His decision to remain on Earth is conditioned by his desire to serve the Plan and not by personal karma.

There is reason to believe that many of the great figures in human history were conscious initiates of some degree, for example: Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato; Shakespeare, Dante and Bacon; Leonardo da Vinci, Paracelsus, and Mozart; Asoka, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. All demonstrate in their lives or writings a knowledge of other and higher levels of consciousness, an awareness of the world of meaning and sense of inner synthesis.

The mysterious figure of the Comte de St Germain, openly acknowledged as a Master and an Adept by all the courts of 18th-century Europe, is one of the few Masters of Wisdom to live outwardly in the everyday world, but letters from some of the Masters, those behind the formation of the Theosophical Society, reside now in the British Museum.

The vast majority of these illumined men live in the remote mountain and desert areas of the world, contacting the world but seldom, and carrying out their work through their disciples by telepathic communication.

The re-emergence of the Masters

At this moment in the world’s history, at the dawn of the Aquarian Age, the Masters of Wisdom are now ready to return, for the first time in countless thousands of years, to the everyday world, to inaugurate the New Age of Synthesis and Brotherhood. With their leader, the Master of all the Masters, the World Teacher, the One known in the West as the Christ, they will walk openly among us and lead us into the Aquarian experience. They stand now, waiting for us to take, of our own free will, the needed first steps in the direction of unity and co-operation. Then they will emerge with Maitreya the World Teacher at their head, and their presence in the world will be an established fact.

The re-emergence of the Hierarchy of Masters is a process spanning many years. It is not a sudden event, nor does it take place without due preparation. The preparations for this event started in the year 1425, from which time all other activities of the Hierarchy have been seen as being in relation to this unprecedented and momentous happening. The Masters, who have worked on the higher mental planes for thousands of years, have reached a point in their own evolutionary development which necessitates that they re-enact physical-plane life experience, this time in group formation. This is the fundamental reason behind the planned and imminent re-emergence.