SPIRITUAL TRAVEL.ORG
Travel in the Spiritual Worlds
ASCENDED  MASTERS
Spiritual Travel and Guiding Souls Through the Death Process
The Spiritual Travel  Logo


Spiritual Travel and Ascended Masters -

The Environment and activities of the Brotherhood of Light

 

Spiritual travel as a concept can be easily related to esotericism and the appearance of “ascended masters”.  Ascended masters are spiritual travelers who were usually incarnate in physical bodies in the past and after their death accepted a mission to help and guide embodied and dying souls in various ways. The material below illustrates how some ascended masters are not only advanced spiritual travelers. They are also designers and creators who may create stable inner environments and this aspect of creativity in the inner worlds has not been mentioned in other pages at this site. The capacity to create inner temples and environments for teaching and guidance of both the living and the dead is an important addition to our discussion of spiritual travel. There is a rich history of religious esotericism in the Western world beginning with early alchemists, and continuing with Medieval Jewish Kabbalists and later the Golden Dawn. One feature of some of these these groups is the creation of magical lodges where members meet and do their work in the inner worlds.

More modern examples in the esoteric revival of the last three centuries are writers such as Emanuel Swedenborg, Helena Blavatsky (Theosophy), Joseph Smith (Mormonism), Rudolf Steiner, Elizabeth Claire Prophet, and various other New Age writers.     Two elements are common threads in many of these esoteric groups: ascended masters (or sometimes angelic teachers) who use different forms of inner communication or magical letters or tablets to convey their teachings to earthly disciples. Many of these disciples went on to found new religious movements or branches of older ones.

Ascended Masters are teachers and guides who are believed to have through countless incarnations achieved some degree of perfection or enlightenment and chosen to use this wisdom to guide humanity spiritually.

Ascended masters are believed to exist on a higher plane of existence, and they sometimes appear to individuals on earth to guide them. In addition to mediumistic communication, they may appear in a spiritual or subtle body which means they are doing a form of spiritual travel to contact the disciple. In some cases as with for instance Robert Monroe, Paul Twitchell, and Emanuel Swedenborg, the seeker will do spiritual travel to visit the master, teacher, or supernatural world.

Theosophy, one of the most prominent groups with ascended masters which first appeared in the late 1800’s as a new religion, represented an effort to integrate Eastern religious ideas from Vedanta, Yoga, Buddhism, and Tibetan traditions into western philosophy and religious thought. These traditions often rely on someone who takes the role of teacher, guru, and master or spiritual adept for inspiration and teachings.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Theosophical history and thought which is long and complicated but only seek to give a brief overview here.   

Theosophical leaders such as Helena Blavatsky were psychics who claimed to be guided by these advanced souls or masters, and created a new religion based partly on their teachings which they received in various ways – often through intuition, mediumship, or spiritual perception of a teacher’s supernatural body.

Theosophy as a new religious movement was a highly creative endeavor which was part of an “occult revival” that introduced or popularized such topics as root races, auras, ascended masters, mediumship, advanced “lost” civilizations such as Atlantis, a spiritually-based world government, etc. to Western occultism and esoteric thought. Central to the philosophy were the Eastern concepts of karma, reincarnation, the spiritual evolution of mankind, and masters that had supernatural capabilities.

Skepticism

There are many skeptics and critics who believe these ascended masters are imaginary. This is particularly true after Blavatsky’s servant made the claim that the letters from ascended masters that Blavatsky said magically appeared were in fact written by Blavatsky and dropped through a hole in the roof by the servant during her séances. There were many other claims of fraud, dishonestly, and general chaos especially in the life of Blavatsky by both skeptics and her followers. Some followers found many of her claims doubtful though they accepted a portion of her beliefs and other claims.

There is no required doctrine in Theosophy but only a commitment to the universal brotherhood of humanity without regard to race, creed, caste, sex, or color. However in practice, Theosophists usually ascribe to a variety of occult ideas and beliefs that may vary widely from individual to individual since different Theosophical leaders had differing doctrines.

Some well-known Theosophical ascended masters were Kuthumi and Master Morya but statements were made that Jesus, Confucius, and Maitreya were also ascended masters from the past. Also, it was believed by some that Maitreya (as with some forms of Buddhism) would return to bring a new spiritual world order in the future. There is a long complex history of these masters, their activities, and the Theosophical mediums and psychics who received or channeled their messages. Many other more recent mediums also claimed to contact these Theosophical ascended masters.

Comparisons can be made with Joseph Smith who founded Mormonism and who communicated with and received messages from the angel Maroni in the late 1800’s. Smith, who also received sacred writings on golden tablets that appeared mysteriously (and later disappeared), founded the new religion of Mormonism or the Church of the Latter Day Saints which thrives today.

Approaches to Ascended Masters and Lodges

This article can be looked at in several ways. For some, it can be spiritual fantasy and entertainment, a flight of the imagination, or a form of spiritual science fiction. Skeptics and critics are always welcome and their opinions are respected. 

It can also demonstrate a kind of a spiritual utopia – a plan for a possible future ideal society or helping organization, whether in the material or the non-material world. Spiritual travel is required to build, reach, or inhabit such a world.

Or it can provide insight into an existing esoteric group sometimes referred to the as the Great White Brotherhood which is believed by some to be an organization composed of ascended masters. In Theosophy, the Great White Brotherhood or Great White Lodge is a kind of supernatural government that watches over humanity and guides its evolution. However, today we will present a more humble view of the origin and purpose of the White Brotherhood

This article is written peace-meal with certain sections cut out of a larger more comprehensive whole.  So it may appear somewhat disjointed as we jump around to different topics.

The Earthly History of an Ascended Master

Part of this article provides a history of one of the founding members of this White Brotherhood, a more modern ascended master unknown to earlier Theosophists. This master is known as Rebazar Tarzs and he was first popularized in a 1960’s New Age religion known as Eckankar.  Its founder Paul Twitchell said Eckankar could be traced to an ancient group of ascended masters and their teachings. Twitchell refused to acknowledge that Eckankar was mostly based on a near identical North Indian Religious tradition known as Sant Mat or the “Path of the Masters”. This sect was described in Dr. Julian Johnson’s books beginning in the 1930’s. Twitchell ascribed Eckankar’s origin of the teachings to ascended masters instead of to Dr. Johnson and other Sant Mat writers.

This Indian Sant Mat sect has different lineages of embodied gurus including one of the most famous ones, Kirpal Singh who traveled, wrote, and lectured extensively in the West up until his death in 1974.  So Rebazar (the Tarzs surname was added by Twitchell) is a more modern ascended master based on a new religious movement, Eckankar, founded in the early 1960’s. At one point, it had grown to have tens of thousands of members and it still exists today.

Before discussing this specific ascended master, let us begin by giving an overview of our alternate version of the Brotherhood of Light which is also sometimes referred to as the Great White Brotherhood. In this article, we will make the claim that the brotherhood was founded by the members of a small earthly ashram located in Northern India some of whose members became ascended masters following their deaths.

The Brotherhood of Light:
A Society for Spiritual Counseling
in the Afterlife During the
Process of Reincarnation

The Brotherhood of Light or White Brotherhood is a voluntary charitable organization. It is dedicated to helping those souls who have died, and are lost and confused, and also to promoting peace and harmony in the universe. The brotherhood is dedicated to serving others.

Unlike many Theosophical ascended masters, these masters are not gods, angels, or rulers.  They are also not specifically Christian. They follow many religious paths, with the shared goal of helping those in distress. The name of the group was changed about a century ago when the term "white" came to imply an opposition to other races. Sometimes the organization is still called the White Brotherhood but the name is archaic and out of use.

While the Brotherhood of Light is aware of spiritual organizations of a more political nature, their goals are compassionate and humanitarian. The members guide the lost whose spiritual paths have become confused or blocked. To some extent, they work with karma, but they primarily focus on counseling and education. The organization trains those interested in counseling troubled souls, and those working for peace in troubled regions. The organizational model is closer to a university than to a secret government.

It is important to emphasize this because there has been much misrepresentation of the organization, and its goals.

As a way of learning more about the Brotherhood and one of its founders, we will first give a history of the ascended master Rebazar. Note that this history differs considerably from the very limited information provided by Eckankar and its founder, Paul Twitchell. Twitchell gives some limited information on what he calls the Temples of Golden Wisdom in his books which appear to be the location or lodge where some of Eckankar’s ascended masters reside.

In this talk we are attempting to connect three things 1) the [Great] White Brotherhood as an organization, 2) the Temples of [Golden] Wisdom or Theosophy’s “Great White Lodge” (their residence), and 3) various individual ascended masters.

This is a challenge. In Theosophy, the ascended masters are said to be members of a “White Lodge” which implies that they sometimes reside in a single non-physical location much like Theosophy has a number of earthly lodge locations in places like London, Iceland, Scotland, etc. But whether the Temples of Golden Wisdom, the spiritual address of the White Brotherhood, and this Theosophical White Lodge all point to the same supernatural location is difficult to determine. Also claims were made that these master were in touch telepathically and therefore a single abode where they would live, meet, and work might be unnecessary. So it is questionable what form the White Lodge would take in Theosophy. Is it an actual place or only a symbol of the connection that exists between ascended masters?

Mark and Elizabeth Claire Prophet of the esoteric group Church Universal and Triumphant who were mediums and spiritual leaders in the 1960’s connected the Great White Brotherhood with Theosophical adepts such as Kut Humi and Master Morya. But the connection in Theosophy seems more tenuous and where its ascended masters reside or meet is also difficult to determine.

We begin with the history of the ascended master Rebazar.

Rebazar -

Principle Founder of the Brotherhood of Light

The Temples of Golden Wisdom are spoken of fairly often in Paul Twitchell's writings although the details about how these temples are structured and run are sparse.  These temples were constructed by the Brotherhood as we shall see later.

In this talk, we are going to describe Rebazar's life, and the process of the development of the Brotherhood of Light and the Temples of Wisdom.

The history of the Brotherhood of Light can be traced to its origins in Northern India during the Mughal period in the first part of the 17th century. One of its primary founders was a man whose title was Rebazar, a name that can be traced to his family's merchant background. It was a title of honor given to respected and successful merchant families and traders. Rai Bazaar or its anglicized equivalent Rebazar meant king of the merchants, the wisest and shrewdest person in the bazaar or shopping area.

The Ascended Master Rebazar’s Life History

As he describes his life, Rebazar came from an area of mountains and deserts, a largely colorless land with occasional oases and groves. His father led caravans which carried textiles - mostly cotton and wool. Silk was not available there. Rebazar rode with his father and soldiers on his own horse from the time that he was a child. All trade at that time required soldiers since there were many bandits or dacoits on the roads.

Rebazar passed by monasteries and wandering sadhus and dervishes, and always wanted to know more about them.

But his father said,

These are lazy people unwilling to work who live off the charity of others. They are like dogs. You should have nothing to do with them.

Rebazar went out trading for many years and made his father proud in his old age because of his success. But when his father died, he transferred his portion of the business to his mother and brothers. He chose to help struggling artists, merchants, and musicians with his portion of the inheritance, and eventually decided to leave the family. He had not married and had no children, and was therefore free of any family responsibilities.

Rebazar went out on the pilgrim trails visiting temples and monasteries. His family followed the laws of Muhammad, but like the Sufis of the time, he wanted mystical experience and to experience God directly without relying solely on holy books and rituals. He kept enough money to have food for his journeys and walked or rode on old horses. He dressed in white like a Sufi and went to many of their meetings and festivals. They seemed to fit his ideals best and he wished to be like them.

Rebazar Continues with his Account of his Life:

I was also a singer and I sang as I traveled through the desert. I went through many desolate valleys which created strange echoes as I sang. In one place, my voice circled all around me, and the sounds created a pathway to the worlds of djinns and angels. This was my first experience of the sound current or the sacred current of inner sound (also referred to by the Sanskrit names Naam, bani, or shabda).

As I roamed, I met other groups of pilgrims, some of whom did meditation on sound. Some were musicians who earned their living through playing flutes, drums, and stringed instruments. These travelers started out playing for beauty and ended up playing for spiritual transcendence.

Our group did not have a spiritual teacher as leader, so we made our vows directly to God. Our path would be the teaching of spiritual music to others and the group would do this both in life and after death. We would help those that wandered mad, or took wrong paths in their religious search as best we could.

We created our own khanqah or religious community, and this later became the origin of the Brotherhood of Light. The community dwelling we created was out in the desert. This was the earthly lodge which preceded the supernatural one. The lodge was built of white marble, for some of its members came from wealthy families, who knew that they would gain merit from the donation. They gave time, land, and materials to make the monastery a beautiful one. It was located in a rocky desert, so workers had to travel a long way transporting stone, metal, and wood. There was water nearby for drinking and bathing, and food was brought once a week, first by relatives and later by devotees.

The group decided to try a settled life instead of wandering. Most of the day was spent in contemplation, except for the time for eating and work. There was cooking and cleaning, and some of the people knew how to make musical instruments. That became one way we supported ourselves. We did not beg or act like dogs, as my father had described sadhus and their begging for alms.

Our group did meditation on both instrumental and vocal music. The prayer room had white marble floors, and it had rugs that were given to us by householders. Some were for our own use, but others were prayer rugs to be used for a year only. People believed that a rug used by a saint for a year would sanctify the rug and then they could use it back in their own homes to gain blessings.

At this point, the community's meditations were still somewhat unstructured. But over time, traveling sages and saints came to visit the community. The group gave them hospitality and the visitors gave them teachings. At this point one of the other founders of the brotherhood came to visit and ended up staying. He had been an administrator in his worldly life and had become a wanderer when he left it. He had become part of the sound current or Shabda Yoga meditation tradition, a path which seemed both new and familiar to the group. He had learned from other teachers and wanted to take the organizational and administrative skills he had learned and use them to create an ideal monastic setting.

He divided us into different groups: counselors for visitors with problems, artists and creative people, maintainers of the physical setting, and later experts, specialists, and consultants. But we would pray before God as equals and we accepted all names of God.

So the earthly lodge preceded the heavenly one, and eventually the range of visitors expanded from human visitors to include disembodied spiritual visitors. We lived apart from the world and word spread bringing people to us. We offered prayers for the sick and the mad, and while our prayer room was marble, we lived simply. We fasted each week and ate lightly otherwise. We kept up the daily prayers and followed purity rules, but we avoided the endless wars of the local Muslim rulers.

Our group was based on South Asian or Indian Sufi Islam but we understood that the 99 names of God included Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and other forms of the deity. God was beyond all form but could show himself in many forms. And God was a singer who created songs of infinity, and the currents of sound that traveled through the oceans of time and space.

We learned from all who came to visit us. Some had special relationships with ghosts and spirits, and we learned about their worlds too. It was a good and meaningful life. When orphans of war came to us, we gave them shelter and some stayed with us. We were not able to allow women - it would have scandalized the pious people around us. But I believe that we should have found a way - there are many women who are both wise and devoted.

However, in contrast to our earthly lodge, our supernatural lodge is not limited to men and has women as counselors and in other positions of authority. For this reason, the term brotherhood may be considered less descriptive than in the past and needs to be interpreted more broadly as the brotherhood of all mankind (which includes all women).

As we grew older, we wondered if it was possible to have a group like ours continue after death. This was a difficult question. Many sages believed that people had no choice in their afterlife, for God determined everything. Others were open to the idea but had no idea how to go about it. Death was a veil that blinded us.

However we had some magicians come to us who had been trained in creating worlds by organizing sacred letters and numbers. They called their god El. This is possibly a shortened form of the Hebrew terms for “gods”: Elohim. El also appears at the end of most Christian and Jewish angel names such as the names Michael, Gabriel, and Ophaniel.

These magicians could create ladders and nets that went through non-physical worlds, and they could create smaller worlds as their god had created the universe. We gave them hospitality and talked long into the night. The next day they spoke among themselves and agreed to exchange mystical teachings with us.

So they stayed for weeks and then months and we came to see how our currents of sound were like their structures of letters and numbers of light. We realized that intersections of our knowledge could be created and used. So we got together and created a great plan. We would build an institution like our earthly lodge in the next world. It would be below the heavens so that we could help travelers who passed through the gates of death. Our visitors could act as visualizers and create great beauty, and we could be counselors for the needy.

Each night, they built the non-physical lodge brick by brick. Having wandered in our barren land, they wanted to build a place of mountains and rivers and forests. We all helped with visualizing the lodge, but they were the experts. We located a supernatural plane that was not claimed by any religion, and was far from any danger. This would be the location of our supernatural lodge.

So in the later years, we served visitors in our desert monastery and spent our afternoons and evenings working on the lodge. One of our members had been an architect early in his life and he gave us designs for buildings and grounds. We had to design the landscape first before we could start on the buildings. There would be special areas for visitors, for living quarters, for shrines and libraries and public spaces which later became courts and classrooms. We created lakes and gardens and rocky cliffs. It was enjoyable to imagine and create a perfect world.

 It is difficult to train the imagination. It tends to go off into flights of fantasy, and be influenced by moods and emotions. But to visualize correctly, these tendencies must be controlled, and all powers of the mind totally focused. With one lapse of concentration, an entire edifice can fall. It is like acrobats who perform by building a human pyramid - when one person leaves or even sneezes, the whole pyramid of people can collapse.

So we contributed to the work. Because our expert group of visualizers did not follow Islam, we decided that we would not emphasize a single religion. We would be followers of God however he showed himself.

One of our founding members changed his name to begin with El instead of Al to show his respect for the tradition of our visualizers. He went from al-Moraya to El Moriah, and he has kept his new name ever since.

Different members chose to emphasize different areas. Some focused on the healing center and developed niches as doorways to other worlds for destructive spirits. This method of removing destructive influences and presences became an important means of healing trauma in distressed souls, and a major form of psychotherapy for the healers in the Brotherhood.

Others emphasized areas for teaching and contemplation. I wanted an area for meditation and negotiation, important skills that are forgotten in times of war and antagonism.

We practiced going to the inner temple in our dreams using dream travel, a specific form of spiritual travel. Some people have undisciplined dreams and imagine what they desire and what they fear. Our dreams were controlled to teach our members how to enter the lodge at death. We also created pathways for good souls to follow to the lodge. This was not easy, and the mental training necessary takes years. Even controlled entrance into dream states takes years for those without natural ability.

So slowly over the years we built the inner hills and valleys and rocks and trees. When they were stable enough, we worked on the buildings. It was exciting to think we could build a paradise.

We did not have many enemies. We were outwardly poor, so bandits were uninterested in us. Our only real valuable thing was the monastery itself, and it is hard for bandits to carry away walls and floors.

Besides we prayed for everyone, and tried to heal whoever came to us. We cared for neglected and abused children, and sometimes parents became red and embarrassed to ask for their children back. We left the decision up to the children. We did not want to force them back into situations of abuse and cruelty. Not all parents are good people.

We also fed the poor on Friday with food we cooked the day before. Travelers and pilgrims would come on that day and we would pray for them. Our noon prayers and meditations were public, but others were private.

In order to research decoration of the lodge, I decided to travel for a year. The other monks were fine with this. There were many wandering Sufis, dervishes, and fakirs. So I would not stand out. I saw many wise men and saints but they were more useful for determining our beliefs than for decorating our rooms. I went to temples, masjids, and churches and saw underground cells for monks and rooms in palaces for visitors and entertainers which were spacious and open to sun and wind. They had beautiful gardens which I would duplicate at the lodge in the future. I saw many types of cloth which we could use and many ways to store knowledge as scrolls, as letters incised in gems, as books, as letters in bark and wood and flesh. Our lodge would have a place to gather knowledge.

And I saw artwork from different lands. While Islam limits the arts, other traditions revel in them. On this I would wish to be as open as possible. The lodge would be full of beauty.

I traveled through many lands and sometimes took the role of a ragged fakir - exactly what my father would have despised. But it is the safest role in lands of war, bandits, and poverty. In safer regions, I appeared as a merchant. I had money and jewels sewn into the sides of my shoes. If necessary, I could act as a fortune-teller, an astrologer and a reader of gems.

I got many ideas for how the lodge should be made. I did go to the cold Himalayan Mountains where the only warmth is in monasteries and hostels. I met Buddhist monks in my travels and we taught each other meditation techniques. I also met yogis whose paths were made of spiritual sound.

I traveled with Shabda Yogis in both the physical world and the spiritual worlds. They gave suggestions for sound worlds to visit, and I told them of our project of building the lodge. The yogis who resided permanently in these worlds which are composed of inner currents of sound thought it was a good idea - a place they could send the confused and unworthy souls who had somehow made it to their realms and needed help. It was a good option for them.

But sound or Shabda yoga was only one of our meditation techniques. We had visualization and ways to build bridges between planes and ways to shed bodies as we traveled and then take them on again when returning. Thus souls could leave bodies and return to them, putting them on like robes taken off for bathing.

When I returned to our group from travel, I had many ideas for landscapes and gardens and buildings. Meanwhile, El Moriah had been organizing members by skills, and inviting new people he found worthy. I found them a fine team to work with.

We spent many years designing and visualizing. Our lodge would be worthy of our dreams. In building the place, the visualizers made roads of sound to get there. The mantras YA and HU would generate waves and tunnels that could take souls there.

From the Persians, we took trees made of sound, whose leaves and flowers chimed. From the North Indian Sufis, we took the idea of sacred dance to honor God. From painters, we took the colors of the lodge's landscape - bright blue and gold for the sky, turquoise for the lakes, violet and mauve for the mountains. We took design ideas from many places.

Our shrine room in the dome was made to be circular, with murals of the spiritual growth of the soul and the symbols of many spiritual paths. By this time there were many people building the lodge, especially at night in their dreams. Here spiritual travel has an additional function beyond just visiting. This additional function permits construction of new worlds and landscapes in supernatural spaces.  Based on this construction process, the land grew with rocks and trees, and the lakes had fish. It did not take years. It took centuries. But here time has no limits.

In answer to the question of whether the people in the group went to live at the visualized lodge after they died, and what skills were required to enter the lodge after death, Rebazar answered in the following way:

At death, both body and soul disintegrate, separating into pieces. The sins from the past turn into a mass of obstacles that prevents the soul from traveling on. The soul must have yogic concentration to overcome those obstacles. They may appear as beautiful or frightening, alluring women or hideous monsters, anything which brings forth the passions. They may also be responsibilities, successes almost reached, or sorrows shared with others. All of these block the soul's movement.

If the soul is strong and dedicated, it will overcome these obstacles. But if these obstacles are powerful and hidden, they are more difficult to deal with. The more hidden they have been, the more hypnotic they will be. If all are confronted and their claims resolved, the soul can pass through these obstacles. For a modern metaphor, they are like a belt of meteors and planetary fragments that a rocket ship must pass through to get deeper into space. Some strong souls can pass through; others are dragged down by the power of these obstacles. They must then reincarnate to resolve the passions brought to the surface.

With respect to the original lodge group, most of them made it from this world to the next. They had years of meditative practice, dissolving the passions and helping others to overcome sin from destructive acts. For those who did not make it the first time, we left spaces for future attempts. People with serious sins did not stay in our community but returned to the world of flesh and war.

One of the bridges to our community is a slide that takes the soul to the silver gates at its entrance. The path is opened by the mantra YA which is energized (and followed) by the mantra HU. It takes the soul up mountains and down waterfalls in dizzying leaps with dramatic rising and falling. There are bridges over chasms which are invisible until the projected spiritual light illuminates them.

Eventually, almost all the original group came here. Over time, so did many more.

Paul Twitchell’s Approach to Rebazar

Twitchell created a Theosophical "Tibetan ascended master" persona for Rebazar though Rebazar had little connection with Tibet. He presented him as one of a long line of 972 such teachers that stretched back into the distant past. As in Theosophy, these Eckankar masters were believed to understand the "ancient wisdom" that was the source of all the world's religions.

Twitchell had studied how successful Theosophical writers were in England in the late 1800's, and apparently used a similar marketing approach focusing on ascended masters to help popularize Eckankar. The approach taken by Twitchell who was a novelist, science fiction, and adventure writer required a "good story", and he chose to tell the story of Eckankar by repeating some themes from Theosophy.

Though Rebazar was said to have a physical body, he appears almost exclusively to Twitchell in his subtle body as would an ascended master.

The general idea seems to be that these teachers can appear anywhere at any time (in physical form or otherwise) which is consistent with Rebazar's role as a highly evolved ascended master. Twitchell was once interested in the Kriya Yoga of Paramhansa Yogananda.  Yogananda describes a master named Babaji who seems perhaps more similar to Rebazar having many of the same magical qualities such as a life span of hundreds of years, and the ability to transport himself anywhere physically or spiritually.

However Twitchell’s information on Rebazar’s history and on the Temples of Golden Wisdom in general is spotty and devoid of much detail. While Rebazar can accurately be described as an ascended master given his capabilities, he lacks the god-like and “ruler of the universe” roles attributed to some other ascended masters by both Twitchell and the earlier Theosophists.

Let us now move on to the topic of continually adding to and maintaining the Temples of Wisdom.

The Visualization Studio and its “Artists of the Spirit”

The lodge of the Brotherhood of Light has been created by a process of visualization.  The process both creates and stabilizes images and objects which are created out of consciousness as a raw material.

The basis of the process is repetition. If you repeat an idea or image often enough, it can gain an independent existence.  We can see this in therapy with trauma victims where the initial painful events echo in a victim’s mind. The more often the traumas of life are repeated, the stronger they get in the mind and the more difficult they are to heal.

We also see the results of repetition in human society, where social and political ideas that are repeated over and over again gain a sort of independent life even if they are disproved by much objective evidence.  Each repetition hammers the idea in more tightly, thus the efficacy of the “big lie” in propaganda.

In worlds composed of consciousness rather than matter, repetition serves a different function.  It stabilizes images or objects and makes them continue over time.  In the beginning it takes effort to create an image, but over time it comes to exist and appear automatically [on its own].  This is one way that the worlds of spirit come into being.

Our visualization studio consists of volunteers who possess strong powers of concentration.  Layer by layer, they visualize the foundations for our world, like the material layers deposited by a 3D printer.  It takes great patience to be a visualizer, and we all appreciate their work.  They keep the Temples of Wisdom in existence over time.

In worlds of matter, one creates in material form. In worlds of consciousness, ideas and images become the equivalent of matter and they are the substance that artists use to create new forms.

Many people understand consciousness to be a sort of shadowy reflection of the physical world, a byproduct of molecular interactions [in the brain].  That is not how consciousness works here, where there are no molecules.  Consciousness is a substance malleable like clay that is able to harden into continuous forms.

We of the brotherhood are neither gods nor ghosts. We are artists of the spirit.

We now move on to talk about how the Brotherhood sometimes helps dying souls.

An Example of the Activities of the Brotherhood –

Assisting Dying Souls

The brotherhood sometimes counsels souls who have recently died and are lost or confused. Here is one example of its methods for providing such assistance.

Understanding the complexities of death and the process of reincarnation, and providing guidance is a unique challenge to gurus, psychics, shamans, and psychopomps - the guides for the dead in older cultures such as ancient Greece and Egypt.

In certain instances, the Brotherhood will help guide souls in this process.

In one example case, the Brotherhood was willing to help guide a specific soul.

The Brotherhood's counselors can set sail in their ships on the dark, stormy seas of death with their deep royal blue waters. They go on rescue missions to assist souls who have died. Many of the group of souls they describe as the "lost and lonely dead" had limited spiritual knowledge or interest in life but are open to learning. Stubborn souls who have fixed erroneous ideas about death or insist on denying they are dead are harder to help.

In a typical area of the worlds that are encountered by more materially-focused or conflicted souls who have recently died, many floating, desperate and confused souls are pushed by winds and waves, frightened by lightning, speaking incoherently, and screaming for help.

There are endless souls in endless waves, with lightning and thunder and storms to stir the waters. It is difficult to separate them one from another. The counselors sometimes search by calling names, and see who comes to the surface. Sometimes the dark and deep waters throw souls into the worlds of suffering and punishment, or move them on to a new incarnation.

In one situation, the members of the brotherhood saw a soul that looked like a blue jewel, and watched as what looked like black seaweed pulled the soul under. In this instance, they decided to rescue her because her heart looked like a jewel despite her evil surroundings

The brotherhood has singers on board their ships and their songs lull the soul to sleep. They then catch it in their nets of golden cloth and take the soul on board. They bring these souls back to the Temples of Wisdom, and then to the healing center for purification once they awaken.

The brotherhood describes these distressed souls as being caught in "muck" as they float in this unfamiliar, alien space. The muck consists of normally unconscious desires which are no longer hidden, fear, confusion, anger at death, memories of physical pain, and the stubborn refusal to accept their death.

Strong souls with spiritual goals can fight against these confusing forces and memories. They can create a stable identity or new visualized body which can rise above this muck. They are like young birds breaking out of their shells and becoming aware of their surroundings. They slowly develop skills at orienting themselves.

Weaker souls who are not fortunate enough to find help and guidance are usually overwhelmed and can get trapped by this muck. For these souls, the Brotherhood's counselors can act like midwives welcoming and assisting them as they are born into the new world of the afterlife.

A Specific Example of Rescuing a Soul

One soul the Brotherhood chose to rescue died of cancer at a hospital in a small California coastal city. The person experienced fear and a series of distorted memories following her death. She was located and brought to the Temples of Wisdom.

After this individual calmed down so she could concentrate on her environment, she was able to see a garden-like environment around her which is the Brotherhood of Light's waiting room. The waiting room contains a series of stone arches in a garden of bright flowers, slate walkways and marble fountains. When seeing the environment, she wondered if she had really died.

At that point, one of the Brotherhood's counselors came and greeted her. He told her that she was indeed dead and one of the fortunate ones who came to a place of kind helpers and guides. She asked how she got there, and was told that someone who knew of the Brotherhood asked that they help her following her death.

The counselor then suggested that she imagine how she looked when she was most beautiful and brought her to a still lake where she could see her reflection. He told her to look into the water and imagine herself dressed in her favorite clothing. She was almost 100 years old at her death but imagined herself as young and blond dressed in a short skirt that showed her legs - sassy, sweet, and modern. The image was strong enough to remain with her during her entire time at the Brotherhood's way station.

The counselor then asked about her future and gave her various options. In general terms of what would happen next, he told her she could live for a while with other souls in a community, she could return to earth immediately, or stay at the garden for a longer period and consider her options for the future. She asked for time to think and was granted it.

She later asked, "Can I be rich on earth?" He told her that her past karma would allow her to be born in a wealthy family but that she would have health problems in middle age in her new life. She said, "Money cures everything, I'll take that life". He asked her, "What about past relatives and friends?" (i.e., would she like to meet them again?). She said, "What's past is past. I want the future. I want an old and well-known family, with summer houses". The counselor responded, "It will be done".

This soul was basically blind to spiritual issues and it is inappropriate to impose spirituality on a person who is not ready. The Brotherhood takes people as they are without judging them, and tries to help them in whatever way possible.

During her previous life in the United States, the women's family was fairly well off, but the family had experienced generations of poverty and some persecution previously in Europe. She had also resented the burden of raising children which she had to support after her husband's death left her with fewer financial resources.

When people die with resentment and unfulfilled desires, these often rise to the surface after death. In this case, desires for wealth and status became her primary concerns. The counselor found a situation which would incorporate both her desires and her past karma. However it would not exist for several years. She was placed in the Brotherhood's dream area where she could contemplate her desires until the time of her new incarnation.

Her new life would be in an old family in Europe with houses falling into disrepair that still had money. She will be pretty and blond but she will have health problems, liver and kidney weakness probably in her 30's. She will have a wild youth with expensive fashions and cameramen following her around on her lavish vacations. But she will spend decades in bed where she will go crazy with boredom, and eventually begin to read books. Though her body will disintegrate, her mind will be improving and she will finally develop spiritual interests.

Reincarnation and Its Complexities

Here the important question that arises is: "How does the Brotherhood assist getting souls who have died into new bodies?"

Using the above woman as an example, her spiritual karma was small but her desires were great. This means she belongs in an earthly body rather than in some spiritual world. Ideally, she would incarnate in a situation where her earthly desires might be satisfied which would also allow her to grow spiritually. But such an incarnation might not be immediately available.

The Brotherhood has the equivalent of a computer data bank except it is composed of consciousness and karmic memories instead of stored binary data, circuits, and physical memory chips. The counselor can enter certain requirements and also information describing past karma. Psychics sometimes refer to something similar as the Akashic Records which are as good a label as any but the Brotherhood refers to it as the "Karma Bank".

Coordinates in time and space are identified and recorded for the pathways and echoing of karmic waves (a vague statement that may be difficult to interpret but such details are challenging to explain in words). The person's past history influences the analysis in one direction, and desires for the future pull it in another direction. Eventually, a specific time, place, family, and gender fulfill the two sets of requirements. This is the chosen new life.

If the specific life is in the future, the soul is brought to the dream garden. Here it rests with no new karma created. The soul sleeps and its fantasies dance and shift within individual dream bubbles. Past memories of events drift by and the soul may analyze these to gain increased understanding of its development. The events may also be changed to create their ideal outcome with the dreamer cast as a hero who is brave or attractive and desired by others.

When the time comes for reincarnation, the soul is awakened and brought to the Brotherhood's incarnation chamber. Here the Brotherhood has the tunnel which brings the soul to the new body. The Karma Bank verifies the new incarnation. The soul's karma is brought to the surface and the illusory, visualized body drifts away like smoke. The soul is called into its new home in the developing body of the fetus.

The soul does not enter at the moment of conception. As the fetus develops, it grows a place within the mind in which the soul will reside. It must be fairly developed for this place to be formed, and to be capable of calling down and containing the soul. It usually takes an estimated 6 months but some fetuses develop faster.

The soul slides down the tunnel and rests in the place within the mind of the fetus, not a God-shaped hole in the heart but a soul-shaped hole in the brain. It rests there infusing the body with individual consciousness, like a slow wind penetrating and flowing through the cells of the new body. There is a resonance between the soul's karmic history and the body's structure and programming. The soul remains unconscious during this time.

This concludes our description of how the Brotherhood can guide souls after death and in the process of reincarnation.

We now go on to describe the Temples of Wisdom in greater detail.

The Temples of Wisdom –

Environment and Grounds

The Temples of Wisdom consist of a complex series of structures.

The central structure in the Temples of Wisdom is the center of nine halls. It is like the capitol rotunda in Washington with a great dome overhead. The dome is gold and white, with carved and jeweled ribs and it lights the building. If you look up, you can see the dome of white light become rainbows, and then see the eternal story of creation. The dome itself is a kind of hologram for visions, and beautiful three dimensional images are often displayed there.

The other temples can be reached from this central dome via different hallways.

These temples also have external entrances. For instance, to enter the Temple of Healing, one first walks through a green field with golden wheat swaying in the distance, and blue-purple mountains far away. The sky is bright blue. The road is made of white sand and it leads to the temple of healing and purification.

It is modeled after the temple of Aesculapius, the Greek god of physicians. It is of white marble with large pillars and there is a statue of the god outside. Inside it is lit by tall, elaborately carved floor lamps, which shed bright golden light throughout the interior. There are carved censers which spread different kinds of incense. The floors are also marble.

In the front and center of the main room is an altar to the lords of all worlds. There are many hallways connecting to rooms off to the sides. These are used for healing, purification, and therapy.

There are eight other temples besides this one.

From the central dome, one corridor leads to the Temple of the Past. This temple, also called the Temple of the Knowledge of Many Worlds, is a museum that contains the recorded experience of many realms of being. When there are visitors from new worlds, they are asked to visit the museum and donate some of their memories. They then think of their past and the world they inhabited, and the information is reflected or recorded in the records of the museum. These memories are then available to those who wish to learn about these worlds. When these visitors are professionals, memories of their expertise are also recorded. They are often asked what they consider most important, most beautiful, or most unusual in their worlds and this information is recorded. This temple is often visited by souls before they do spiritual travel to familiarize them with other cultures that they wish to visit.

The "research on worlds" area which is part of the Temple of the Past acts to give information to the Meeting Center. At the Center, there are representatives from many worlds who speak and share ideas. There is much debate about what to do with worlds that are spiritually advanced, but have no current representatives, like earth. For a while there were several representatives, and much rivalry between them. Currently there are none.

The Temple of Spiritual Arts is rose-colored, with walls showing the sunrises and sunsets of many different worlds. There are buildings for the visual arts, music, dance, and changes from one sensory modality to another. There is no need of museum guards to protect the artwork, and visitors are encouraged to interact with the art. There is a room for transcendence where the art functions to bring souls to other worlds and a room of immanence where the art opens the individual's heart to emotion, contemplation, and thoughtfulness.

The works of art come from the Brotherhood's artists, and from the memory of visitors who remember the arts from their worlds. Music may be localized in one place, or it may fill the buildings, which resonate to the sounds. The spiritual arts in this temple focus on dramas. The music and light most effective for spiritual travel are found in another temple, the Temple of Transformation.

Sometimes when there is an influx of souls from a particular area or culture, there are special exhibitions on the arts of that region. The displays are not political - their intention is to share the spiritual and aesthetic sensibilities among individuals from different worlds.

The Temple of Archaic Spiritual Paths collects ancient religious beliefs and practices, which have lost popularity on their worlds of origin. Spiritual pathways are ladders through the heavens, and the steps are still there, even if nobody ascends them anymore. In this temple, this information is collected for people who are dissatisfied with the religious paths that they have learned, and want other options. There are experts in the Brotherhood that have tried them, and can discuss their advantages and disadvantages.

The Temple of Transformation (or "soul travel central") is where the more disciplined and difficult spiritual travel occurs. This is where there are specific instructions for spiritual travel, and moving from ego to ego, and body to body.

If a group trip is organized, the people sit in meditation, leaving their bodies meditating in rows or circles, and travel together to their new destination. In this temple, there are charts, and maps of the many worlds which are relatively close and accessible. For higher and more distant spiritual worlds, there are instructions on going from one intermediate world to another, each subtler than the next, until the traveler reaches a level of discomfort. At that point, travel should cease until the person is better prepared.

There are also descriptions of the farther worlds, and warnings of dangers if any are known. For those worlds with guardians or sentries, the guardians are described, along with proper greetings, passwords, offerings, and legitimate reasons for visiting.

One hallway that proceeds from the central great dome of light has golden floor tiles and crimson walls. It is the pathway to the Halls or Temples of Justice.

There are three meeting rooms that compose the Halls of Justice. The first has high ceilings, royal blue walls, and Persian carpets. It is furnished with large oval tables, and the room is used for mediation. When there are fights and struggles and disagreements, the parties sit around the tables to negotiate. Mediators from the Brotherhood spend time here trying to get representatives of warring factions to talk to each other. The representatives come from many different races, with different personalities and desires but they have one thing in common - they are fighting with each other. The members of Brotherhood try to be peacemakers.

The second meeting room has crimson colored walls, and is for evaluation. Here the Brotherhood has panels of judges, which review cases of karmic uncertainty, of unwillingness to accept reincarnation and responsibility for previous actions, and of special requests for delay of karma in order to accomplish some specific task. There are criminals claiming innocence, desirous souls claiming compulsion, and sneaky souls trying to get out of their obligations.

The third meeting room is for formal meetings, for treaties, for state functions, and for public tribunals. The room is dark green with ebony wood and gold fixtures. There are rows of seats for spectators, and a stage upon which commitments are made. It is also a place used to welcome new members.

The Brotherhood has been misrepresented as controlling the universe. It does not do this. However, the Halls of Judgment are the closest the Brotherhood comes to this function. They have met with beings who could accurately be described as gods and angels. The Brotherhood understands them as beings seeking help with their problems, and they do not ignore those who are weak and low-caste just as they do not grovel before those who are powerful. They welcome the company of a wide range of beings and work with them.

The universe is composed of many layers. Souls from other worlds visit through the Brotherhood's spiritual area, and the reason for their visit is often the Halls of Justice. They may wish a respected place for negotiation, or a neutral ground for investiture. The rooms are large, but can expand to become much larger. The Brotherhood has fit thousands of visitors in these rooms with the help of some visualizers who can expand their capacity.

In the Temple of Records, there is a center for the study of karma. Karma is really an enormous topic, and there are records of the deeds and actions of universes. Of course all that information is not stored locally. No matter how compressed the information, it would still take universes to store all of it. What is present at the temple is basically the card catalog or search engine, which gives the means to look up the desired information.

People who had skill in this area left detailed instructions for meditation, mantras, and visualizations which allow the researcher to locate the records of a person's life, and specific memories or emotions within the life. All people have karmic records. For those who possess the ability to perceive them, the records look like a comet's tail behind the person as he or she passes by.

The center of the study of karma is confidential - people should not spy on each other. It is only open to counselors and judges, who use the information to help others.

The Temple of Wisdom is the academic area, with large auditoriums for classes in meditation, karmic analysis, and comparative religion and spirituality. When great souls visit, they are asked to teach and share their wisdom. There are also more practical classes in maintaining the grounds, extended visualization, defense of the gates, and processing of visitors. There are also guest speakers with specializations in counseling, negotiation, and other valuable skills.

The ninth and final temple in the Temples of Wisdom complex is the Temple of Compassion. It is an extension of the healing area which is focused on the development of compassion towards all forms of life. Here, there is contemplation of suffering, discussion of morality, and praise of helpfulness and sacrifice of personal pleasure for the sake of others. While the healing center is run by experts, this temple is for ordinary souls, to encourage them to develop the qualities of love and forgiveness.

There is additional information available where the outdoor environments created by the Brotherhood are described and explored. However, this information might be too lengthy and detailed for a short article.

As stated before, this is a piecemeal view of the Brotherhood based on smaller selections from a larger text.  However it covers many of the basic elements of the Brotherhood and its member’s origins and activities.

Conclusion

This article shows how spiritual travelers not only visit new non-material worlds but are also able to build new worlds and environments. This opens up a whole new set of possibilites for spiritual travel and permits advanced spiritual travelers (or ascended masters) to function and work in stable, created, non-material environments. Spiritual travelers can create this inner real estate prior to their deaths and go on to live in these created environments following their deaths. In addition, this article shows how the Brotherhood of Light and some of its ascended masters and members can occupy these created environments in order to instruct and counsel souls and assist them in the process of reincarnation as part of a compassionate effort to aid souls during their spiritual evolution.

However as mentioned previously, the Brotherhood also focuses on other activities such of counseling, psychotherapy, creativity, research, spiritual travel, diplomacy, and education.

This history is at odds with the Theosophical view of ascended masters which is somewhat more hierarchical in its claim that ascended masters actually run the universe in some mysterious fashion, and act as something similar to a secret government. These Theosophical masters also appear to have a plan as to how both the universe and mankind will evolve and change under their influence and guidance.

The Brotherhood of Light is involved in a variety of other activities that cannot be described in a short article. However the information provided here gives insight into some of their major activities and goals.

Since materialism is a world view where people believe in only material objects and causes, the brotherhood would be considered impossible and illusory with this approach. Skepticism about the existence of ascended masters is understandable given the long history of confusion and deceit associated with those who claimed to be in touch with these masters. However, those who have had experiences or past memories that transcend the physical world in spiritual clarity and power whether from mystical experience, spiritual travel, mediumship, or NDEs are perhaps more likely to be interested in or accept that such an organization could exist.

But I think many would agree that the existence of such an organization would make the universe a far more interesting place to live in, and that its values would provide a more idealistic and wisdom-focused view of the world than is offered by materialists as well as many popular religions. In this way, the views of the Brotherhood are very much in agreement with Theosophy and it goals and values.



Introduction | The Geography of Spiritual Travel | The "Travel" Analogy | Leaving the Body in Spiritual Travel | Spiritual Travel Versus Dreams | Sacred Light | Sacred Sound | Psychic States | Spiritual Travel in Western Religious Scripture | The Self in Spiritual Travel | Returning to the Physical Body | Near-Death Experience | Navigation During Spiritual Travel | Spiritual Matter | Method and Techniques To Induce Spiritual Travel | Shamanism and Spiritual Travel | After-Death Experience | Spiritual Travel as a Rehearsal for Physical Death | Beyond Spiritual Travel | The Landscape of Heaven | Lucid Dreaming and Spiritual Bodies | Charged Symbols | Scientific Reductionist Arguments about Spiritual Travel Experience | Ascended Masters and Their Role in Guiding Souls Through the Death Process | Awakening to the Hierarchy of Dreams | Buddhist Dakinis as Expert Guides in Spiritual Travel | Conclusion


Home

This Web Site © Copyright 2023, J. Denosky, All Rights Reserved