Spiritual and Esoteric Directory

Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880 – December 15, 1949), known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB, was born as Alice LaTrobe Bateman, in Manchester, England--at 7:32 AM GMT, according to Dane Rudhyar. She moved to the United States in 1907, where she spent most of her life as a writer and teacher. She wrote on spiritual, occult, astrological, Theosophical, Christian and other religious themes. Her works, written between 1919 and 1949, describe a wide-ranging system of esoteric thought covering such topics as how spirituality relates to the solar system, meditation, healing, spiritual psychology, the destiny of nations, and prescriptions for society in general. She described the majority of her work as having been telepathically dictated to her by a "Master of the Wisdom," initially referred to only as "the Tibetan," or by the initials "D.K.," later identified as "Djwhal Khul." Her writings were influenced by the works of Madame Blavatsky. Though Bailey's writings differ from Theosophy, they also have much in common with it. She wrote about religious themes, including Christianity, though her writings are fundamentally different from many aspects of Christianity and of other orthodox religions. Her vision of a unified society includes a global "spirit of religion" different from traditional religious forms and including the concept of the Age of Aquarius

A prolific writer on mysticism and the founder of an international esoteric movement, Alice Bailey was born on 16th June 1880, in Manchester, the daughter of an engineer. After a cloistered upbringing she entered on a period of evangelical work with the British army, which took her to India. In 1907 she married Walter Evans, whom she had met while he was serving in the army in India, and they emigrated to America, where he became an Episcopalian minister. The marriage was not a success, and after the birth of three daughters she obtained a separation and later a divorce. In America she discovered the works of Madame Blavatsky and became active in the Theosophical Society. The narrow, dogmatic Christianity which she had previously followed gave way to wider spiritual horizons, though the figure of Christ remained central to her beliefs. She later grew disillusioned with the petty intrigues of the Theosophical Society and ceased to play an active part in it, but she always recognized the valuable part that Theosophy had played in her life.

Annie Wood Besant was a prominent Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator. Besant was a prolific writer and a powerful orator. In 1889, she was asked to write a review for the Pall Mall Gazette on The Secret Doctrine, a book by H.P. Blavatsky. After reading it, she sought an interview with its author, meeting Blavatsky in Paris. In this way she was converted to Theosophy. Annie's intellectual journey had always involved a spiritual dimension, a quest for transformation of the whole person.

Benjamin Creme (b. 1922 Scotland) is a British painter, esotericist, lecturer, author (+ 10 books) , and chief editor of Share International magazine. He asserts that the second coming prophesied by many religions will come in the form of Maitreya. Maitreya is the name Buddhists use for the future Buddha, but Creme claims that Maitreya is the teacher that all religions point towards and hope for 2. Other names for him, according to Creme, are the Christ, the Imam Mahdi, Krishna, and the Messiah. Creme says Maitreya is the "Avatar for the Aquarian Age." He first began to speak publicly of his mission on May 30th, 1975, at the Friends Meeting House on Euston Road in London, England. From 1975 to 1979, Creme lectured, by invitation, throughout Europe. During his first US tour in 1980, he spoke to large audiences in many major cities. For that trip, he was sponsored by Leland Stewart's organization, the Unity and Diversity Council. Since the early 1980s, his tours have included Western and Eastern Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, and two trips a year through the US. He has been interviewed on more than 300 radio and television programs in the US.

The Russian philosopher and writer Helena I. Roerich was born in St. Petersburg in 1879. The daughter of architect Ivan Shaposhnikov, she was also the niece of the Russian composer Modest Musorgsky. In her early age Helena showed outstanding abilities. By seven she could read and write in three languages. Since her childhood she was seriously interested in literature and philosophy. Helena Roerich was an unusually gifted woman, a talented pianist, and author of many books, including The Foundations of Buddhism and a Russian translation of Helena Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine. 1920, in New York, Nicholas and Helena Roerich founded the Agni Yoga Society, which espoused a living ethic encompassing and synthesizing the philosophies and religious teachings of all ages. Living Ethics Series was created in cooperation and under guidance of the Spiritual Teachers of the East, Mahatmas or Masters of Wisdom, in particular the Master Morya. Acting as an amensuensis for them sixteen books were published in the Living Ethics series

The truly great is always seen from a distance. In case of creative heritage of Russian philosopher and writer Helena Roerich, it happened exactly this way. Much of what was created by this outstanding woman in the first half of the XX century entered the cultural and spiritual life of Russia comparatively recently, and aroused deep and sincere interest of many of our compatriots, trying to find answers to urgent questions of being.

Jiddu Krishnamurti or J. Krishnamurti, (May 12, 1895–February 17, 1986) was a popular writer and speaker on philosophical and spiritual subjects. His subject matter included (but was not limited to): the purpose of meditation, human relationships, and how to enact positive change in global society. He was subsequently raised under the tutelage of Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, leaders of the Society at the time, who believed him to be a "vehicle" for an expected "World Teacher". As a young man, he disavowed this idea and dissolved a world-wide organization (the Order of the Star) established to support it. He spent the rest of his life traveling the world as an individual speaker, speaking to large and small groups, as well as with interested individuals. He authored a number of books, among them The First and Last Freedom, The Only Revolution, and Krishnamurti's Notebook. In addition, a large collection of his talks and discussions have been published

The range of [C.W. Leadbeater's] . . . writings, and the wealth of material that flowed from his prolific pen, was vast. Some forty volumes, even more pamphlets, and for much of his life probably five or six journal articles a week . . . constituted his literary output . . . . The modern occult revival owes more to him than to anyone else; his concepts and ideas, his popularizing of occult and Theosophical terms and principles, run through all modern works on these subjects.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) and her work attracted both attention and controversy because she credited the source of her information to Mahatmas, or Masters. She reported studying with Mahatma Morya, whom she called "the Hindu", as well as Mahatma Koot Hoomi, in Tibet, and later described experiencing a psycho-physiological change of "ensouling", whereby she began to understand and remember the life, the science, and the language of the Hindu, even when he was no longer present. In addition, her own psychic powers attracted attention. She understood how to manifest phenomena through the power of her will, and this led her to discredit much of the spiritualism which had gained popularity during the 1870s, especially in America. Others in turn discounted HPB's writings by calling her a plagiarist and a fraud, so that she has often been portrayed as a charlatan. Sylvia Cranston sets the record straight with her scholarly work, which took fourteen years to research and write. Some of her source materials were translated from Russian for the first time for the book, which pieces together the events of HPB's life's work and shows how it has influenced poets, philosophers and scientists for over a century.

A thread of coincidence seems to run through the 32-year career of U.S. diplomat Wayne Peterson, who recently retired as a director of the Fulbright Scholarship Program. "Perhaps it was a coincidence that I was in Washington in 1982 when I heard a man speaking on the 'Merv Griffin Show' with Gore Vidal," says Peterson. "It was author Benjamin Creme, describing brilliant scientific and technological advancements soon to be released, such as the discovery of cold fusion. He talked of profound economic and political changes as well, stating that a group of very advanced men, perfected men, were guiding these changes and helping humanity at this critical time from behind the scenes." "It was not long afterwards that I was contacted by a representative of this group, in a most unusual manner, and offered the chance to meet their leader Maitreya, the World Teacher. That one-hour meeting changed my life forever," says Peterson, "and it was so profound that I was reluctant for many years to talk of this and subsequent meetings with members of this remarkable group. Gradually, however, as I began to open up at private meetings and dinner parties in Washington and abroad, I found that my experience was not so unusual. I was able to discuss Maitreya and his ideas with personal friends of the Pope, businessmen close to the U.S. president, foreign government leaders, and a number of influential people both in the U.S. and overseas. Many of them have had special experiences similar to mine." "My understanding is that Maitreya has been preparing not only influential people but a large corps of journalists, and that he will soon begin to appear on a series of major TV interviews and shed his remarkable insights on the means to solve the current world impasse. As one who has had the privilege to be aware of some of the preparations for these broadcasts, I feel that the time is ripe to relate my experience outside of government circles and share the knowledge I have gained. If what I have to say can help dispel the cloud of angst so prevalent now, then coming forward will have been worth it. I can assure you: the future is bright."

Helena Blavatsky was born in Russia on august 12, 1831. She died May 8, 1891 in England and her ashes were distributed in England, America and India. This woman’s life reads like a piece of fiction, indeed, science fiction as her knowledge and abilities outstripped current scientific thought and religious belief of the Victorian Age. To tell her life story fully is not possible in this article. Renowned author, Sylvia Cranston wrote the full account in HPB, An Extraordinary Life, published in 1991 in commemorative memory of Blavatsky’s death in 1891.

Paramahansa Yogananda was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda taught his students the need for direct experience of truth, as opposed to blind belief. He said that “The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul’s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God.”[