Dr. Brendan
James French to obtain the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University
of Sydney, wrote a thesis titled entitled “The
Theosophical Masters: An Investigation into the Conceptual Domains of H.P.
Blavatsky and C.W. Leadbeater” (2000)
For those who want to
know more about the masters, I recommend read their doctoral thesis, since it
is a very abundant investigation (829 pages), though Mr. French do not distinguish true esotericists from liars and therefore he considered them all equally.
You can
download it at this link and below I put the introduction and
the index:
Abstract
H.P. Blavatsky (1831-1891) and C. W. Leadbeater (1854-1934) were
successive ideologues for the Theosophical Society. The revelation they
articulated was premised on the existence and benevolence of a Brotherhood of
Masters with whom they alleged contact. The Masters are presented as perfected
men, possessed of supranormal physical and spiritual endowments, whose task it
is to guide humanity along an inclined trajectory toward ultimate divinisation.
The objective of the present work is to examine the Masters
phenomenologically, and to ascertain their role within Theosophical discourse.
No attempt is made to discern the ontic reality of the Masters as such an
enquiry lies beyond the scholar’s methodological apparatus. Rather, the Master
is examined as a function of Theosophical esotericism, and as a pivotal
personification of Theosophy’s occultistic engagement with such prevailing
paradigms as progressivism, evolutionism, and perfectibilism.
The work is divided into five parts: the first is concerned with
methodologies and heuristic definitions; the second examines the
ideational structures of the Blavatskian conceptual domain; the third explores
Leadbeater’s redaction of the Blavatskian template; the fourth proposes
several typological categories under which the Masters may be viewed (the
Mercurian, the Monastic, the PredagogicaI, the Oriental, the Perfected, the
Angelic, the Rosicrucian); and the fifth is devoted to appendices
(portraits, geographical location, fictional literature, ‘Malign Masters’, and
contemporary recensions of the motif).
Table of Contents
PART ONE: METHODOLOGY AND OVERVIEW
Chapter 1. Methodological issues for the study of the Theosophical
Masters
-
Religionism and reductionism
- The
sociological method
- An
empirical approach
Chapter 2. Purview of the present study
- Delimitations
with regard to source materials
- Delimitations
with regard to time period
- Delimitations
with regard to geography and language
- Preliminary
observations with regard to terminology
Chapter 3. The Master – A heuristic definition
- Toward
a definition: a selection of materials
- Characteristics
and attributes of the Master
-
Functions of the Master
- A
working heuristic
-
Initial observations
PART TWO: HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY
Chapter 4. The early years
- Childhood
and youth
- The Blavatskian
odyssey
- Fraternities
and friendships
Chapter 5. The Theosophical Society
-
Ex Oriente Lux?
Chapter 6. Early Masters of the Theosophical Society
- Ramsgate,
1851
-
Spiritualism and John King
- In correspondence
with the Masters
Chapter 7. An extended family: extramural Masters
- William
Stainton Moses and Imperator
- Frederick
Hockley and the Crowned Angel
- Emma
Hardinge Britten and the Chevalier Louis
Chapter 8. Isis Unveiled
Chapter 9. India
- The
Theosophical Society of the Arya Samiij of India
- ‘Budhism’, Buddhism, and Chelaship
Chapter 10. The Mahatma Letters
- Intimations
of a Theosophical Universe
- Divinity
and materiality
Chapter 11. The Adyar years
- The
‘Kiddle Incident’
- The
Masters in propriis personis
- Occident
or Orient?
- The
Coulombs and the ‘Hodgson Report’
Chapter 12. The Secret Doctrine
I
-The Book of Dzyan
-Cosmogony and temporality
Chapter 13. The Secret Doctrine
II
- Cosmology,
Anthropogeny, and Ethnography
- Evolution
and involution
- Karma
and reincamationism
- The power
behind the processus
Chapter 14. The Blavatskian synthesis
- Developmentalist
historiography and Joachimism
- Jacob
Boehme
- Eliphas Livi
- Giordano Bruno
- A
Renovated Prisca Theologia
- Blavatskian
Gnosis
Chapter 15. The final years
- The
Esoteric Section
- The
Inner Group
- Heavenly
ascent
- The passing
of Blavatsky
PART THREE: CHARLES WEBSTER LEADBEATER
Chapter 16. The conceptual interregnum
- Charismatic
authority in Post-Blavatskian Theosophy
- William
Quan Judge and the unfalsifiability of Masters’ mandates
- A new
mouthpiece for the Masters
Chapter 17. The Leadbeater ascendancy
-
Childhood and youth
- Introduction
to Theosophy and Occult apprenticeship
-
Clairvoyant investigations
-
Occult chemistry
-
Theosophical homiletics
Chapter 18. ‘Crucifixion and resurrection’
- Allegations
of misconduct
- The
‘Adyar manifestations’
Chapter 19. The Order of Universal Co-Masonry
- Origins
of a feminine Freemasonry
- Theosophical
Freemasonry
- The
seven rays
- The emergence
of the sixth sub-race
- The coming
of the World-Teacher
Chapter 20. The Liberal Catholic Church
- Theosophical
Christianity and Christian Theosophy
- Episcopi
Vagantes (‘Wandering Bishops’)
- Leadbeaterian
Liberal Catholicism
- The
(Magic and) Science of the Sacraments
Chapter 21. Krishnamurti and the Order of the Star in the East
-The discovery and training of the vehicle
-Accelerated evolution
-The vehicle charts a pathless land
Chapter 22. An occult laboratory
- The
World Mother and the Seven Virgins of Java
- The
Egyptian Rite of the Ancient Mysteries
- Leadbeaterian
Theosophy and Causative Theurgy
- The
making of a Master
- The
passing of Leadbeater
PART FOUR: A MASTERS TYPOLOGY
Introduction
Chapter 23. The Mercurian Master
- Leadbeater
and the animation of statues
Chapter 24. The Monastic Master
-
A short theological
excursus
Chapter 25. The Pedagogical Master
Chapter 26. The Oriental Master
Chapter 27. The Perfected Master
-
Progress
-
Evolution
Chapter 28. The Angelic Master
-
Enoch
-
Melchizedek
- Theosophical
Historiography, Messianism, and Kabbalah
Chapter 29. The Rosicrucian Master
- The
Rosicrucian novel
- Zanoni
- A short
note concerning ‘Jack the Ripper’
Conclusion
PART FIVE: APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Appendix A. Portraits of the Masters
- List
of figures
- Figures
- Portraits
of the Masters
- Some
stylistic remarks
Appendix B. The homes of the Masters
- Geography
and the Masters
- Shamballah
- Europe
and the Middle East
- The
United States of America
- South
America
Appendix C. The Masters and fictional
literature
Appendix D. Malign Masters
- Savitri
Devi and the Hitlerian Avatar
- The
Order of the Nine Angles
Appendix E. Theosophy after Leadbeater
1) Theosophical Groups
The Adyar Society
- Geoffrey
Hodson
The Point Loma Society
- Katherine
Tingley
- Gottfried
de Purucker
- Arthur
Latham Conger
- James
Long
Groups Deriving from the Point Loma Society
- Ernest
Hargrove and the Esoteric School
- Word
Foundation
-
Temple of the People
- The
Theosophical Society of New York
- Franz
Hartmann and the International Theosophische Verbruderung
- The
United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT) and the Dzyan Esoteric School
- The
International Group of Theosophists
2) Para-Theosophical Groups
Rudolf Steiner and the Anthroposophical
Society
Alice La Trobe Bateman Bailey and the Arcane
School
Benjamin Creme
Cyril Meir Scott and The Initiate
3) Extra-Theosophical Groups
Golden Dawn Masters: Theosophy and Theurgia
-
Robert William Felkin
- Dion
Fortune (Violet Mary Firth)
The Rosicrucian Order of the Crotona Fellowship
Baird Thomas Spalding
Manley Palmer Hall and the Philosophical Research Society
Guy Warren Ballard and the ‘I AM’ Movement
The Church Universal and Triumphant
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa and Cyril Henry Hoskin
The Channeled Masters
The Space Masters
Bibliography
Note: the work contains a substantial collection of illustrations of supposed
portrayals of the Masters.
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