Is HCS Just Like Eckankar™
When It Comes to Masters?
by Ford Johnson
Recently appearing on the HCS/HCM Website Comments section was a statement from a past or current member of the Religion of Eckankar that contained this intriguing statement:
“When did this HCS begin to sound like Eckankar with it’s so called “masters” I thought our higher selves were all we needed to guide us.”
In the journey to higher consciousness, one quickly learns that there are “masters” and there are “Masters”. Indeed, in Confessions of a God Seeker: A Journey to Higher Consciousness, this point was made:
“Just as our level of awareness aids in the expansion of consciousness of other beings struggling for spiritual growth, there are souls far more advanced than us working to assist in our spiritual development. How could it be otherwise, for the Great Work of every sentient being within all universes is to assist others in the expansion of awareness?
“Just as there are souls behind us in the unfolding of consciousness, there are also souls ahead of us, often far ahead — not better, not greater, simply more advanced. This is the universal love system in which we have our existence. Despite events that may appear to the contrary, all events lead to growth in awareness, which, in turn, leads to God-Realization and a greater self-defined role in the running of the universes.” [1]
Having been confronted with a host of creatively invented masters in my earlier spiritual pursuits, particularly in the path of Eckankar in which I moved to their version of a seventh (7th) initiate , these conjured-up “masters” worked for a while but were unsustainable when more closely scrutinized and did not pass the credibility smell test.
Fortunately, I later learned that true Masters, Cosmic Beings and Angels do indeed exist and play an integral role in our growth to higher consciousness working from inner regions to answer human calls for help and spiritual insight.
I learned through the spiritual journal of Graham —presented in my book Confessions of a God Seeker— that he was dismayed at the revelations presented by inner masters with whom he was communicating, particularly towards the end of his interaction with them. They were perfectly prepared to present themselves to him in the form of any master or inner personality with which the seeker was comfortable. This, they informed him, was the only way the seeker could eventually be led out of their delusion and into the truth.
So the point of Confessions was not that all masters are fake and deceptive but the masters conjured by Paul Twitchell and Eckankar were false representations of the many great masters that have worked with this planet and its inhabitants for millennia. This is the group of Masters that I discovered and whose teachings I embraced after extensive study of their histories, writings and current extensive involvement with thousands of seekers today. After exposing the teaching of Eckankar through a review of the documented works published by this religion, I was even more diligent and thorough in my inspection and review of this historic path of Ascension.
The involvement of these masters with humanity has not been limited to inner experiences. Through Herculean[2] efforts over decades, they have generated thousands of pages of discourses and other materials and caused to be formed many leading organizations that represent the highest teachings available on this planet.[3] These efforts were for the purpose of sharing their wisdom and their love with the denizens of this and other planets. The objective of these inner and outer spiritual teachers was and is to expose humanity to the victory of ascension that is available to and the spiritual goal of every individual in the physical dimension, whether they have come to realize it or not.
We were led to believe that the highest spiritual goals were Self-realization and God-Realization. However, this is but a faint reflection— if ever these terms were truly understood— of the ordained spiritual objective of all lives. One would be closer to the truth if these terms were understood as Self-actualization (recognizing and living from the soul reality –the higher-self) and God-actualization (souls fusion with the “I AM Presence”[4]). This is the path taken by and achieved by such Ascended Masters of Wisdom as Babaji, Afra, Christ Jesus, Saint Germain, Khrisna, Lady Master Nada, Mother Mary, El Morya, Lanto, Paul the Venetian, Serapis Bey, Hilarion, Djwhal Khul, Kuthumi, Melchizedek, Sanat Kumara, Mark Prophet (Lanello), Quan Yin, Sri Ramakrishna, Maitreya, Maher Baba, Paramahansa Yogananda, Godfre Ray King (Guy Ballard), and Lord Gautama – the Buddha, to name a few.
The ascension was their path and their attainment. It has always been and continues to be the quintessence of spiritual attainment for those still living in the physical dimension and their discourses amply show this. It was the mission of Christ[5] Jesus through his demonstration of the resurrection and the ascension to reveal this as the apex of human spiritual attainment and a victory available to all sentient human beings. Guiding humans to the attainment of this goal is the principle objective of these Masters of Wisdom. They have walked the same path that we now walk and have never ceased their dedication to humanity by devoting their eternal existence to the goal of spiritual emancipation of humanity through the achievement of the ascension.
Several Discourses by these great teachers can be found on the HCS Website[6] under the Menu heading- Articles. You can see for yourself the kind and quality of their teachings and the spiritual guidance they provide.
One of the early lessons I learned during the period of my separation from Eckankar, was not to “throw the baby away with the bathwater.” I learned a great deal in that teaching and it was a fine start on my journey to higher consciousness. While I disavowed Paul Twitchell’s cadre of invented masters, I none the less sensed that there were sincere inner beings, whether called masters or know by other names, that did operate from a higher level and who spoke behind the façade of the names and histories of the masters Paul had invented. While none left a single foot print in the sands of time, as have all of the masters listed above, I still sensed true inner “Masters” could guide me forward on my journey.
To have found these true masters and studied their works inwardly and in their writings for many years, I know this is not just another path but at the heart of every spiritual teaching that has ever existed, even if distorted by history, personal i.e. selfish intent, which Confessions amply proves. Such a statement may sound like the historical misrepresentations that are extant in the teaching of Eckankar, it is indeed true of the great work of these masters that have carried on their teaching mission for thousands of years and whose outer contributions are amply demonstrated in the formation of the major and most enlightened organizations formed over the past 100+ years, the period in which their teachings were permitted to be brought forward in the open light of day. Proudly, HCS now follows in that tradition.
You would be greatly uplifted to seek further information about these writings if you have not already encountered them. However, your question about masters suggests the aftermath of the Eckankar revelations may have left you and many others in the position of “throwing the baby out with the water” rather than seeking and finding truth wherever it may be found and being discriminating enough to tell the difference.
I appreciate the question shared on the comments page of the HCS/HCM Website. They provide an opportunity to relate some of the insights my continuing journey to higher consciousness has provided.
[1] Confessions of a God Seeker: A Journey to Higher Consciousness, by Ford Johnson (p 314 –
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[2] Interestingly, Hercules is one of these Masters of Wisdom and is one of the Seven Elohim – creators of this solar system. One of his discourses can be found on the Higher Consciousness Society web site under the menu heading, Articles.
[3] These organizations include the Theosophical society, the works of Alice Bailey, the I AM Movement, Summit Light House, The Bridge to Freedom and many, many more.
[4] I AM Presence – That spark of Universal God Presences that is planted within each human and carries the Divine Plan of perfection and purity that guides each individual to the highest spiritual attainment and completion of their unique mission in this world. The achievement of these goals leads to the transformation of the Ascension and continued spiritual growth and expansion in other dimensions of the super universe. These attainments have been reflected in the lives and current service of thousands of humans who finally reached these spiritual heights during their last incarnation in the physical dimension.)
[5] Christ is not the last name of Jesus. Instead it is a title representing the highest spiritual attainment; an attunement with the highest aspects of perfection and purification embodied in that spark of God, bestowed upon and contained within every human, as it merges (fuses) with soul (the divine emergence from personality, a unique bestowal of the creator, through the learning it acquires in interaction with the “I AM” Presence and its multiple life experiences, preceeding the ascension.