Ascended master: Encyclopedia II - Ascended master - Examples of ascended masters

Ascended master - Examples of ascended masters

The history of ascension predates Christianity, indeed extending back for thousands of years, yet the story of Jesus is one of the most widely known stories of ascension. In the Bible when Mary Magdalene wants to reach out and touch Christ at the tomb, he says, "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father." This has led to the idea that the ascension process is apparently so delicate that even the touch of an ordinary human, who still holds the concepts of limitation and separation, is enough to hold the ascension process back. (This does not explain how Jesus was then able to sit down and have a fish dinner with his disciples.) It is generally thought that one does not have to die in order to ascend, but the fact that Jesus was said to have died, then resurrected, then ascended, has led some people to believe that this must be the case for everyone.

Other individuals with stories of ascension include

• Hercules, following the completion of his twelve labors, the Greek hero was raised to heaven and made a god by Zeus.

• Virgin Mary (Mother of Jesus); When Mary chose to ascend, one story says that she gathered up disciples around her to witness the event, and then she "consumed" herself, contrary to the Roman Catholic belief that Mary was simply "taken up into heaven". Another story has Mary dying in a normal fashion, and her body placed at her own request in a sealed tomb, which was opened and found empty three days later.

• Muhammad, the famous prophet of Islam is said to have ascended at the site of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

• El Morya, said to have been a Rajput prince, also incarnated as King Arthur and as Thomas More. Theosophists believe he was one of the masters who worked closely with Helena Blavatsky to found the original Theosophical Society.

• Mahatma Kuthumi, said to have been a Punjabi who attended Oxford University in 1850, may have authored the poem "Dream of Ravan" published in the Dublin University Magazine about 1854.

• Vishwanath, ascended master rumored to incarnate as individuals with psychic abilities (uncomfirmed).

• Djwhal Khul, said to have been a Tibetan who started out with the unlikely name Gai Ben-Jamin. Believers tell the legend of his incarnation on Lemuria where he assisted in rescuing valuable knowledge before the sinking of that continent. He is said later to have transmitted this information to channeller Alice Bailey.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Examples of ascended masters", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki