Master Morya

Master Morya (Maurya or El Morya) is Mahatma,[1] a Teacher of the Great White Brotherhood, who became famous to the world due to the establishment of the Theosophical Society in the nineteenth century. Helena Blavatsky announced its existence in the 1880s. Masters Morya, Kuthumi, and Djwal Kul helped to found the Theosophical Society.

Throughout the period around 1920-1950, Master Morya was cooperating with Helena and Nicholas Roerich. Thanks to that cooperation, The Teaching of Agni Yoga or Living Ethics came into the world, which was given to prepare the consciousness of humanity for a new step of development, the acceptance of fire energies coming to the World.

In the 1960s, Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet were writing a lot about Master Morya. Many Messages from Teacher Morya and other Masters came through the American Messengers.

 In the beginning of the 21^st century, the Masters continued their work through a Messenger in Russia, Tatyana Mickushina.

Now, Master Morya is still actively working on the Spiritual plane to help the humanity of the World.

 

This is what Helena Blavatsky told us about the Mauryas’ dynasty.

“Maurya (Sanskrit) – one of the Buddhist royal dynasties of Magadha, to which Chandragupta and his grandson Ashoka belonged. It is also a name of the Radjput tribe.”[2]

 

“Chandragupta was the first Buddhist Monarch of the Maurya dynasty. Ashoka was the most diligent adherent of Buddhism; he kept from 60 to 70 thousand monks and priests in his palace; he erected 84 thousand stupas around India, and sent missions around the world. Texts of various edicts that he declared contain the most noble ethical ideas, especially the edicts of Allahabad written on the so-called ‘Ashoka’s column.’ These texts are sublime and poetic; they express fondness for animals and for people, as well as an idealized view of the ruler’s mission regarding his people. This view could be successfully followed in our days.”[3]

“In the Buddhist Mahavansha, Chandagutt — Chandragupta a grandfather of Ashoka — was called the prince of the Maurya dynasty, whom he was undoubtedly, or to be more precise, whom they were, since there were several Chandragupta. This dynasty, as it is stated in the same book, started with some Kshatriyas (warriors) of the Shakya lineage, who were closely related to Gautama Buddha and who, having passed through the Himavat (the Himalayas), discovered a captivating land, well irrigated and located in the middle of the forest of the magnificent Bodhi and other trees. There they founded a city called Shakya Maurya—Nagar by its masters.”[4]

 

It is known that in his last earthly incarnation, Morya was born as a Radjput prince in the Indian cast of warriors and rulers who were respected for their courage and dignity. His date of birth is not known precisely. His name was Ranbir Singh. In 1858, after his father’s death, Ranbir became a maharajah of Kashmir. Historians appreciate Ranbir for uniting the Nagar and Hunsa states and establishing humane and fair civil and punitive laws. Ranbir was very popular among his countrymen. He passed away in 1885.

According to description, he was about two meters tall and had a military bearing. He spoke in a laconic way, as if he had been used to the thorough following of his directions. He usually wore white clothes and a turban. He gave an impression of a person in the prime of his life of about 35 years old; however, according to Helena Blavatsky, when she saw the Master in London’s Hyde Park in 1851, he looked exactly as he had in her childhood (Mahatma Morya had come to her in dreams since her childhood).

During that first meeting in London, the Master told H. Blavatsky that he “needs her for one of his future under-takings” and that “she will have to spend three years in Tibet in order to prepare for this important task.”[5] Twenty-seven years later, Blavatsky came to India and Tibet, where she met the Master again.

Master Morya’s life is notable due to his devotional work on uniting ancient verities of the East with traditions of the West. This task was fulfilled mainly through the foundation of the Theological Society in New York in 1875 and further teachings through that organization. Those teachings were received partly through private letters mailed to a handful of “Mahatma Gimavat’s” disciples. Later, in 1923, the letters were collected and published under the title The Mahatma Letters. Certain chapters were translated into the Russian language by H.I. Roerich and published under the title The Cup of the East in Riga in 1925. The Mahatma Letters were published in their entirety in Russia in 1993. The originals of the letters are kept in the British Museum in London.

Helena Blavatsky stated that, thanks to Mahatmas Morya, Kut Humi, and other Masters, her major books, Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine, which claim a common origin of all world philosophic systems and religions, were written.

In her book Letters from the Caves and Jungles of Hindustan, Helena Blavatsky described her journeys around India with her Master, whom she calls Gulab Lall Singh: “… an extraordinarily tall Rajput, an independent Thakur[6] from Rajasthan province; known by the name of Gulab Lall Singh, but everyone just called him Gulab Singh. ...about this person there were various rumors. Some of them were that he belonged to the sect of Raja-yogis, initiated in the secrets of magic, alchemy, and other clandestine sciences of India. He was a rich and independent man; no one even dared to suspect him of lying, especially because, even if he had been engaged in those sciences, he carefully kept his knowledge to himself and never shared it with anybody except his closest friends.

The Thakurs start their lineage from Surya (the Sun), which is why they are called Suryavansas, the offspring of the Sun, who never yield to anybody out of pride. There was a saying – ‘earthly dirt cannot stick to the sun’s rays, aka to the Rajputs.’”[7]

Let’s bring up more examples from the book Letters from the Caves and Jungles of Hindustan, which tell more about the unique abilities of the Master.

“Taking up a lotus position on one of the benches, graven in a cliff at the very edge of a verandah, he was sitting motionless, embracing his knees with his hands and focusing his eyes on the silver distance. The Rajput was sitting so closely to the edge that any slight movement, it seemed, would have thrown him into the gaping abyss at his feet. But he moved no more than the standing across from him granite Goddess Bhavani… Only at times sparking flames of waning bonfires lit up his dark bronze face with a warm sheen, which allowed sometimes to see the motionless features on his Sphinx-like face as well as the burning coals that were his still eyes.          

What is it? Is he sleeping or just remaining motionless? He is motionless, like motionless initiated Raja-yogi, whom he talked about in the morning… neither hissing, nor loud clock striking, nor my rapid movements … did not disturb Gulab Singha, who was still hovering over the abyss as before… A gust of pre-dawn fresh and rather strong wind rustled leaves all at once and soon all the tree tops sticking out from the abyss around us started sawing from side to side. All my attention was focused on the group of the three Rajputs sitting in front of me – on the two armor-bearers and their master. At that moment, I did not know why my attention was especially focused on the flowing long hair of the servants who were sitting on the veranda’s side and were more protected from the wind than their master. A glance in his direction seemed to make the blood run cold in my veins – the wind was wagging a muslin veil strongly attached to a column back and forth; however, the master’s long hair was running to his shoulders motionlessly, as if glued to them; not even a hair swayed; there was not even a slight movement in the folds of the muslin he was wrapped in; a statue could not look more motionless… ”

That minute, a silhouette of a cat appeared on the platform. The tiger roared frightfully, perturbing all the travelers. Great turmoil arose. While men were obtaining rifles, the tiger disappeared from the platform, its body rolled into the abyss. As we found out later, Gulab Singh defeated the enormous wild cat with just a word.

In another chapter Blavatsky recalls how, together with two other fellow travelers, she went to examine caves, which were a chain of chambers going upwards many miles into the depth of the mountain. In one of the caves, she fainted from the shortage of air and was at risk of dying. Suddenly, from one of the upper caves, which the travelers had not reached yet, the Master appeared, although he was supposed to be in another province at that time. “ Gulab Singh came out of the upper cave with a torch in his hands and, jumping into the lower chamber, shouted to them to “hand” him “guab” (the sister)… Passing the half-dead burden from hands to hands, they hurriedly followed the Thakur; but Gulab Singh, according to their words, always managed to do without their assistance, despite all the difficulties caused by the ‘baggage’ (Helena Blavatsky was a rather corpulent woman – noted by the author). As they were crawling through the upper chamber, he was already at the next lower one, descending into the next cell, they could only see his white flying chador disappearing in the next exit. Thorough to pedantry, precise in his research, the colonel could not understand how the Thakur could carry the almost breathless body from passage to passage! … “How I was carried through five narrow passages will remain secret for me forever…” Let us note as well, that all Blavatsky’s companions came out of the caves with faces and clothes covered with dirt and blood from multiple scratches; however, Thakur’s clothes were still snow-white.

When the travelers were on a visit at Gulab Singh’s house, a colonel discovered a picture there, which was engraved with a meeting of Rajput ambassadors. The picture was signed: “Drawn by Ahmed-Din in 1177 year” (or the year 1765 by Jewish chronology – author’s note). On a parchment “…There was an image of takur Gulab Singh, standing by the throne of padishah, between 70 or 80 figures of royal Muslims and Brahmins!...a giant height of a figure superexalted it by head and shoulders above other figures, that was the only figure in the picture, absolutely free from menial pose of all other court nobilities…a figure of that person, at whom we all at once recognized Gulab Singh, risen high above the crowd, stroke eye by its prideful posture. Even the pose was his, peculiar to him only pose: he was standing with arms crossed on his chest, calmly looking over a distance over the head of court nobilities. Just his outfit was different…Long, wavy hair, a beard, a face didn’t leave any doubt that it was him, our secret unexplainable favourer… ” It appeared that 114 years ago Gulab Singh looked the same as at the time when he had accompanied Blavatsky and her companions in India.

Conceding to persistent requests of the colonel, by the end of the trip, Gulab Singh confessed:

“– I am indeed initiated into, what you call gupta-vidja – secret science…I am brahmacharya…^[8]

What is ‘secret science’?” – Thakur went on. “— To me this science, like to everyone who dedicated their lives to it, contains the key to all the secrets of nature, as well as visible and invisible worlds. But this key costs more than you think. Gupta-vidja is a double-edged weapon, which one cannot touch without sacrificing his own life or mind (which is even worse), as it defeats and kills everyone who does not manage to defeat it.”

 

Ranbir Singh is the last earthly incarnation of Master Morya.

Different sources give different names of the last incarnation of Master Morya. Helena Roerich called the Master in this incarnation “raja Chernoya.” Helena Ivanovna, Zinaida Fosdick, a closest collaborator of Roerichs in the U.S., writes in her diary: “…Akbar was incarnated as raja Chernoya; his astral body was injured, as he was always in public, in court events. He had always received pokes and injuries from all sides. It was necessary to come to the Brotherhood in a healthy physical body, which is why this incarnation is needed.”[9]

Master Morya’s earthly incarnations are numerous. They are mentioned in various sources: in Helena Blavatsky’s work, in books and letters of Helena Roerich, in books by Mark and Elizabeth Prophet, etc.

Here we introduce the most famous incarnations of Master Morya.

 

 

Abraham (about 2000 BC)

He was a Jewish patriarch and a founder of Twelve Israelite Tribes. Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider him the first to worship the true one God.

Abraham and his family were first mentioned in the Bible as citizens of Ur, a prosperous cultural, political, and economic center of Sumerian civilization.

Author Zecharia Sitchin states that Abraham was born in 2123 BC. He was a Sumerian aristocrat coming from a Greek family connected to the royal house by blood. The family had been rich, possessing numerous serfs and its own army.

 

 

 

The book Genesis depicts Abraham as a powerful ruler who associated with other rulers, entered military unions, and managed land properties. He loved peace, but was good at military science and generous as a victor. He was an embodiment of justice, purity, and hospitality. He is also depicted as a prophet and an intercessor before God. However, the most important is that Abraham is a prototype of a man who adheres to his faith in a reoccurring prophecy of God that he must become a “father of many peoples,” even though external conditions suggest the opposite.

Genesis narrates that Abraham, together with his father and family, left Ur and settled down six miles outside of it, in Harran — a big trading center in the north-east of Mesopotamia, on the territory of present-day Syria. Despite the fact that the Bible does not mention anything about the early period of Abraham’s life, legends tell us that he participated in military campaigns, striving for the propagation of monotheism. People say that he shattered idols of his father Farrah, who, as it is stated in The Book of Joshua (24:2), worshipped “other gods.”

In the Bible, it is said that when Abraham turned seventy-five years old and his father died, God called upon him to give up everything — his family, the home of his father, culture and cults of Mesopotamia — and set off on a journey to the land where He chose. God promised Abraham: “I will produce a great nation from you.” Abraham left Harran, having taken with him his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot and “all the property which they had accumulated and all of their people in Harran.” Upon arriving in the land of Canaan, God appeared to Abraham and said: “…unto thy seed I will give this land.”

(Genesis 12:5, 7).

During the famine, which befell on Canaan,[10] Abraham had to go south, to Egypt. After the hard times passed, Abraham returned back. He generously permitted his nephew Lot to settle in a fertile valley of Jordan. Abraham himself settled down on Canaan lands, which seemed the worst in Harran. God again told Abraham that He would give him and his offspring all the land seen “to the North, to the South, to the East, and to the West.” Although the patriarch was still childless, God confirmed that Abraham’s children will be countless, “counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth” (Genesis 13:14, 16).

At that time a war of four kings against five kings started. Victors took all the property of Sodom and Gomorra and captured Lot, who lived in Sodom, and took all his belongings. Having learned about it, the patriarch armed 318 people who had been born in his house, and defeated enemies and freed Lot with all his property, as well as people and property of the king of Sodom. Having returned victorious, Abraham received blessing from Melchizedek – the king of Salim and a priest of the Supreme God. Melchizedek “brought out bread and wine,” and Abraham gave him “a tenth of everything” (Genesis 14:18, 20).

In the Bible, Abraham also performs a role of a defender. God informed Abraham that he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorra, which were wallowed in vice. Abraham took a promise from God that Sodom would remain undamaged if at least ten righteous men were found there. Nevertheless, the city was destroyed, but two angels had warned Lot about the coming disaster and he managed to escape death.

Despite the reoccurring promise of God to multiply Abraham’s seed, after ten years spent in Canaan, Sara was still infertile. Following a custom of that time, she suggested to her husband that he would marry their servant Agar, so Agar would bear his child. Soon Agar gave birth to a son, Ismail. When thirty years passed and Abraham was ninety nine and Sara was ninety, God appeared in front of the patriarch as El Shaddai – God Almighty: “to be your God and the God of your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7, 19). He announced that this time next year, Sara would have a son Isaac and that Isaac — not Ismail — would become his father’s heir. Exactly as God uttered, “Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age” (Genesis 21:2).

However, the patriarch’s most difficult challenge was still ahead. God ordered him to sacrifice his only son – the long-awaited heir — on one of the mountains on the land of Moriah. After a three-day pass, Abraham made an altar, put Isaac on firewood and raised his knife to inflict a strike to the boy. That very moment an angel of God called upon him: “Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12). A ram was sacrificed to God and God ratified his promise with Abraham.

 

 

After Sara’s death, Abraham married Keturah, who gave him six sons. Having provided for his sons, Abraham gave “all that he had to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5). Abraham died when he was 175 years old and was buried next to Sara in the cave of Machpelah, which is revered by Jewish people, by Christians, and by Muslims, – by everyone who counts their origin from Abraham.

Due to his strong ties with God and exemplary faith, Abraham, as it is noted both in Christian and Muslim scriptures, earned the right to be called a friend of God (“al-Khalīl” in the Koran, Second Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8). As apostle Paul said in the Epistle to the Romans, he is a father not only of Jewish people, but also “of all those who believe” (Epistle to the Romans 4:11). Muslims (those who claim that they originate from Abraham through Ismail) revere the patriarch more than other biblical figures. In the Old city in Jerusalem at Jaffa Gate there is a sign — an abstract from Koran: “There is no god but Allah and Abraham — His beloved one.”[11]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melchior (1^st Century BC)

According to the Gospel of Matthew, the three Magi: Balthazar (an incarnation of Kuthumi), Melchior (an incarnation of Morya), and Caspar (an incarnation of Djwal Kul), came to the Jews of Bethlehem and presented their gifts to the newborn baby Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh — gifts that were usually presented to Kings, Priests, and Prophets.

 

 

Arthur, King of England (5 AD)

King Arthur was a legendary leader of the Brits in the fifth century AD. He destroyed the Saxon conquerors and was the main character in a British epos and numerous chivalry novels.[12]

In the mythology of Old England, there is no period finer than the times of King Arthur's rule and his noble knights, when amidst gloomy Middle Ages there came a rise of nobleness and selfless devotion to the crown and the country. One can say that the era of King Arthur was the starting point of British history.

 

 

 

 

Exact dates of King Arthur’s life are unknown; however, stories about his life are written down in history, as well as in legends of all Western Europe. The first mentioning of King Arthur is dated back to the sixth century, when King Uther Pendragon died without leaving an heir to the throne.

According to other sources, King Arthur was the only son of the Great King of Britain, Uther Pendragon. Queen Igraine gave birth to her son Arthur, who was destined to become the great ruler of England. Perhaps, avoiding court intrigues, the birth of the royal heir was kept from the royal court. The boy was secretly given to Merlin the wise, an alchemist and magician, (an incarnation of Saint Germain) for fosterage. Merlin knew about the court intrigues and knew individuals who were daydreaming about seizing power and dethroning the legitimate heir. After Uther’s death, Merlin revealed the 12-year-old (or the 16-year-old according to other sources) heir to the throne the secret of his birth and taught him the details of the art of war, which were to help Arthur conquer the country.

To solve the issue of who would become a new king, Merlin made a big square stone with a steel anvil appear in the yard of London Cathedral. A sword was struck into the anvil. There was a sign on the stone: “the one, who pulls the sword out of the anvil, is rightfully The king of all England.”

“The test with the sword reveals the might of the soul free from the slave-like attachment to material objects. The stone and the anvil are the symbols of this soul. This is the evidence of the divine right of the kings – only the one who possesses the most prominent achievements in the consciousness of Christ deserves to rule…”[13]

Knights and warriors, kings and nobility, arrived from across the Western world, but only Arthur, a 12-year-old boy, could get the sword out. The archbishop of Canterbury crowned him the king of England.

In one of the combats with Sir Pellinore, Arthur broke the sword, which he got from the stone, and Merlin promised the king a new sword Excalibur, which was forged especially for him by the Elves of Avalon.[14] The Sword Excalibur had a power to slay without missing, but on one condition – to bare the blade only for a good cause and when the time comes, Arthur must return the sword to Avalon.

Having become the king of Britain, Arthur married Guinevere (Gwenevere in other sources) – a daughter of King Leodegrance, whom Arthur had once saved. The newlyweds lived happily in Camelot.

During Arthur’s noble rule, Britain enjoyed 12 years of peaceful life. In his court, Arthur gathered the bravest and the most devoted knights of the kingdom – Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, Percival, etc. Different sources claim that the overall number of knights reached 100-150 people. For the knightly council, the Round Table was made, so nobody would feel either first or last and everyone would be equal among each other and before the king.

In the book Ascended Masters and Their Retreats, Mark and Elizabeth Prophet inform us that Knights of the Round Table and court mistresses were initiated disciples of the secret school of the Great White Brotherhood, continuing the traditions of the Pythagorean School in Crotone and Commune of Essenes in Qumran. They often revered and guarded the inmost verity of the Brotherhood, which Merlin, the court magus and king’s advisor, had revealed to them. Knights’ tournaments were a means to indicate the level of spiritual achievements of their souls.

Arthur led his knights in the search for the Sacred Grail – the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper.

 

 

 

In the hot battle of Camlann, Arthur was mortally wounded. Then, according to the legend, three mysterious queens laid Arthur on a boat and took him to the island valley of Avalon.

According to some legends, the beautiful story of the noblest king of Medieval England is hardly over. At present, Arthur is just drowsing, ready to resurrect and save Britain in case of real danger. The epitaph on his grave in Glastonbury Cathedral reads: «Hic jacet Arthurus rex quandam rexque futurus» (Here lies Arthur, the king who was and the king who will be).[15]

 

Venerable Sergius of Radonezh (1314 – 1392)

Sergius of Radonezh is a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, a founder of the monastery of Trinity (today Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius), and a reformer of the monkhood in Northern Rus’.

He was born in the city of Rostov (the Great) in 1314, during dark times for the Russian land, when it was suffering from the devastation by the Mongol Yoke. Baptized as Vorfolomej, this future defender of Rus’ revealed miracles of holiness from birth. On Wednesdays and Fridays, the newly-born fasted and refused his mother’s milk. In his boyhood, he spent all his free time in prayers.

This is what Helena Roerich tells us about St. Sergius.[16]

 

 

From Venerable Sergius’s biography we know that by his adolescence, he revealed characteristics of a hermit and a monk. Also we know about his meeting with an old man who clarified many signs to his parents, which accompanied their son’s birth. The old man said that it is for their son “to become a home of the Holy Trinity in order to bring many to understanding of the Divine Testaments.”

When Bartholomew (a baptismal name of St. Sergius – by the translator) was past adolescence and his matured body could tolerate the hardships of secluded living, he was able to fulfill his cherished dream.

Together with his brother Stephan in a dense forest, Bartholomew chose a hill which was called Makovets and was located not far from the river of Konchura. Later, the glorious monastery of Trinity appeared there. There the brothers settled down and built two log cabins, one for a church and another for living. This is how the powerful prophecy of the mysterious Schemamonk started to become true.

However, Stephan could not bear the hardships of the secluded life and left for another monastery. Bartholomew was left alone. At first, the old monk Mitrofan stopped by for worship services from time to time. Then days, months, and years of complete solitude passed. An emersion into a dismal silence of desertedness began. Undoubtedly, this was the hardest time, which required tremendous spiritual and bodily strength.

Rumors about his ascetic life were soon spread around and people began visiting him, seeking edification and advice in all life matters. The young ascetic let no one go without comforting words of approval and exhortation.

Finally, those who wanted to follow him in his heroism came to him and asked to be accepted as disciples. Sergius permeably examined their motives and souls. He never rejected those who sought heroism sincerely and only warned them about the hardships of secluded life and the fears that overwhelmed the newcomers.

When twelve disciples gathered at Sergius’s and twelve cells were built, a tall fence was erected around the area. The fence had a gate and protected them from wild animals. The life of the hermits streamed peacefully in their newly-equipped Abode.

Venerable Sergius was an example of all possible labor and heroism – he carried water for the brotherhood, ground grains with a stone mill, baked the Hosts, made kvass, rolled church candles, tailored, and sewed clothes and footwear. He worked for the brotherhood, as Epiphanius the Wise said, “like a bought slave.” In summer and winter, Sergius wore the same clothes; he was afraid of neither cold nor heat. Despite his malnourishment, he was very strong and “had strength against two people”; he was also tall. In services, he was the first. In between the services, he introduced into practice prayers in cells, labor in gardens, sewing, book rewriting, and even icon painting.

 

 

Numerous evidences of miracles that the saint performed were collected by witnesses. He resurrected the dead and healed the sick. The blind got their eyesight back just from a touch of his hand. When the monastery grew and had a shortage of water supply, after Sergius’s prayer a powerful spring appeared not far from the monastery. The spring is still there and heals many people. Holy Virgin Theotokos and Mother Mary, together with two apostles, appeared in front of Sergius and counseled the ascetic saint.

After Venerable Sergius’s death, the secluded life became widespread in Muscovite Rus’. The disciples and “interlocutors” of Venerable Sergius founded around forty monasteries of the new type, while the disciples of the disciples established sixty more monasteries. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, all the forests in Northern Rus’ were inhabited by hermits, spiritual children, and imitators of the Venerable Sergius. They developed agriculture, building construction, established trade, and made spiritual culture a foundation of state organization.

It can be said that the ascetic life of Sergius, who with his own example implemented a high moral teaching in life, demarcated the New Era in the life of the Russian land. Owing to the widespread establishment of new abodes and schools of strict ascetic life, the morality of the nation increased significantly. Whole settlements and suburbs, which appeared around such monasteries, were exposed to a constant example of elevated renunciation and selfless service to the neighbor.

When the Mongol army was about to attack Rus’ again in 1380, Sergius blessed Prince Dmitry for the battle against a Tatar khan, Mamai, on the field of Kulikovo. Being able to foresee the future, Sergius predicted the victory of the Russian army.

In Facets of Agni Yoga, we read about Sergius: “He seized the turning point in the history of Russian Land and directed its flow in a proper direction, having taken the great responsibility for the outcome of the battle on Kulikovo field. He gave his blessing to Prince Dmitry and his army. He had to feel and understand the turning point and sacrifice his spiritual authority on the scale of history. And he did it… He actively participated in affairs of the Moscow state, helping the prince with his advice. His monastery was, so to speak, a spiritual center for the people seeking their liberation from the Tatar yoke. Not in vain, Sergius was called a “Leader of the Russian Land.”[17]

Venerable Sergius passed away when he was seventy-eight years old. When his coffin was opened thirty years after his burial, witnesses saw his imperishable relic, which exuded fragrance. Even the clothing of the deceased was unharmed, this despite the fact that the coffin had been in water for quite a while.

Venerable Sergius of Radonezh was a spiritual leader of the Russian people; indeed, according to Helena Roerich, he was “a creator of Russian spiritual culture.”

Helena Roerich wrote: “the essence of Sergius’s life was not in exterior ecclesiasticism, but in his highly moral educational influence on his contemporaries. Setting strict regulations, he brought discipline into the wild temperaments of that time. He created a character of the nation, by which he established the might of the state. From history we know the chaotic condition in which the spirit of the nation was during the Mongol yoke and the rowdy temper of fighting against each other’s princes. There was a need for a strict school and bridle, the means for which one had to get from the closest and most accessible concepts. There was a need for symbols. There was a need for formalism for the consciousness to grow out of its infant state. … the memory of Sergius will never die, because great is the Magnet of the Spirit instilled by him in the soul of the Russian people. The history of the development of spirituality in the Russian soul and the beginning of unification and construction of the Russian land were tightly connected with this great ascetic.”[18]

 

 

Akbar the Great (1542 – 1605)

Akbar, Jalal ud-din Muhammad (Akbar the Great) is the third shah in the dynasty of the Great Mughals, Timurid, a grandson of Babur, a direct descendant of Tamerlan.[19]

In the sixteenth century, the Mughal Empire in India was practically conquered by foreign invaders. In 1556, when Akbar Jalal ud-din Muhammad inherited the throne, only the capital city Delhi was left from the once vast empire. The outstanding young emperor, Akbar, who had not yet turned fourteen by his coronation, on the moment of his coronation, set off to win back his empire. He became known in the entire world as Akbar the Great – the mightiest of all Mughal emperors.

Emperor Akbar had outstanding physical endurance, which contributed in his extraordinary military success. He could cover 240 miles (386 kilometers – noted by the author) riding a horse in 24 hours in order to catch the enemy off guard. The majority of his long rule was focused on conquering insurgent princes of northern India and facilitating peace by means of setting up strong local principalities.

Akbar extended the borders of his state, having conquered northern Hindustan, including Kashmir, Gujarat, and the lands of the Hindus river. He proved to be not only a good military leader and a brave warrior, but also a wise politician who tried to avoid bloodshed whenever possible and achieve results through peaceful negotiations, alliances, and marriages between dynasties.

In 1574, having finished the overall territorial formation of his state, Akbar began domestic reforms. The creation of a powerful centralized state on the basis of justice and equality among its inhabitants was a goal of these reforms. First of all, he reinforced control over the army, carried out a new administrative division of the state, and established a unified tax system. The tax reform was based on strict accounting rules, which prevented officials from appropriating and embezzling tax money. Alongside the tax reform, a law was passed not to tax people in times of bad harvest and famine and to give both money and grain loans. Akbar abolished this tax on the grounds that it was against Islam and that it humiliated the Hindu people. Throughout the empire, a unified length and weight measurement system, as well as a single solar calendar (based on the data of Ulugbek’s tables) were adapted. The shah attached particular significance to trade, even as much as the Europeans. Trying to expand the supremacy of the Mughal Empire in India and to win the Hindu people over, Akbar assigned important positions in the state and the army to Hindu rajas.

Akbar also encouraged science and art and gathered the best scientists, poets, musicians, and artists around. His closest associate, vizier Abu al-Fazal ibn Mubarak, had a well-rounded education and spoke many languages. He compiled notes about Akbar’s rule. During Akbar’s reign a school of art was created and a vast library was collected, including more than twenty four thousand volumes. In 1569 on the outskirts of Agra the construction of a new capital, Fatehpur Sikri (the city of Victory), began. Soon it became a prosperous cultural center of India, larger than contemporary London.

 

 

Akbar’s main task was to reconcile the various peoples who inhabited his growing empire. Treating all citizens equally, he permitted practice of all religions. In the new capital, a beautiful building with a majestic dome was built. It hosted disputes of religious topics, in which Akbar himself took active part. Together with Abu al-Fazal, he developed foundations of the so-called “divine faith,” which combined elements of Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and, partly, Christianity. Akbar used to say: “Only believe that which is true, which is approved by reason.” He wanted to show that there is only one true God, and that the various religions are simply different paths to approaching Him. At court, a special department was organized. The department did translations of various religious texts in order to show people the commonness of all religions, so people could give up hostility and fanaticism. He used to say: “Many fools, fanatics of traditions, accept customs of their ancestors as a manual of reason and, thus, doom themselves to shame.” Akbar pointed out many barbarous customs, such as early marriages, self-immolation of widows, etc. Trying to establish the “divine faith” as a new religion, common for all of India, Akbar never forced anyone to follow any religion. He always relied on reason and people’s free will. Tolerance was his distinctive feature. He never supported either cults or customs, believing that “one must serve God through pure deeds and thoughts.”

However, as it has often happened in the history of humanity, it is the best undertakings that cause misunderstandings and implacable hostility. In 1580-82, a rebellion of prominent feudalists against Akbar’s reforms broke out. The main moto of the rebels was “dethronement of the ruler – backslider.” The stagnant consciousness of the zealots could not accept the politics of tolerance and brotherly attitude to representatives of other religions. The rebellion was defeated.

Akbar passed away in 1605, having been head of the state for fifty years. Under Akbar, the vast empire reached a glory which it never saw, before or after him. Akbar’s constant care determined the wealth and prosperity of the country. When Akbar’s son Jahangir inherited the throne, he rejected his father’s reforms, especially regarding religious tolerance, and the empire quickly disintegrated. Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan (Master Kuthumi’s incarnation) inherited only a small out-of-control kingdom. However, he nourished great love to the cultural heritage of his grandfather. The greatest of the Mughal builders, Shah Jahan gave India the Taj Mahal, and with it a love story that is most dear to the hearts of Indians.

Akbar’s following words sound like a conclusion to his life: “I am happy because I could apply the sacred Teaching to life, could give prosperity to people and overshadow enemies.” He is remembered in history under the name of Akbar the Great – a wise ruler who united nations and whose idea of unity of all religions has survived centuries.[20]

 

Elena Ilina

Irina Koroteyeva

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