The Many Faces of the
Great Guru, Sanat Kumara
Excerpts from a lecture
given by Elizabeth Clare Prophet
on July 2, 1993
FREEDOM 1993: "Healing the Earth"
Sanat Kumara figures in several
roles in the religious traditions of the
East. Each one reveals another
facet of his Divine Self. In each role, he
teaches us something different
about God and about our path to God.
Skanda or Karttikeya
Sanat Kumara is revered in
Hinduism as one of the
four or seven sons of Brahma.
They are portrayed as
youths who have remained
pure. The Sanskrit name
Sanat Kumara means "always
a youth." 1
In Hinduism, Sanat Kumara
is sometimes called
Skanda, or Karttikeya the
son of Shiva and Parvati.
Karttikeya is the god of
war and commander-in-chief
of the gods. He is the commander
and chief of the
divine army of the gods.
He was born specifically to
slay Táraka, the demon
who symbolizes ignorance, or
the lower mind. Karttikeya
is often depicted holding a
spear, this spear represents
illumination. He uses the
spear to slay ignorance.
In Hinduism, stories of war
are often used as allegories for the internal
struggles of the soul. 2
Indian author A. Parthasarathy says that
Karttikeya represents the
"Man of Perfection who has discovered the
Supreme Self. The wielding
of his spear of annihilation symbolizes the
destruction of all negative
tendencies which veil the Divine Self."3
Skanda-Karttikeya, as he is
sometimes called, is also acclaimed as the
god of wisdom and learning.
4 He is said to bestow spiritual powers upon
his devotees, especially
the power of knowledge. 5 An inscription on a
fifth-century stone pillar
in Northern India describes Skanda as the
guardian of the Divine Mothers.
6
The Divine Mother is in you.
Her abiding place, as you know, is the white
four-petaled chakra at the
base of the spine. This sacred fire is your life
force. It is the energy that rises to meet the light that
descends over the crystal cord. You can see the crystal
cord on the Chart of the Presence. The energy of the
Father-Mother God descends over the crystal cord and
the sacred fire of the Mother rises from the base chakra.
So, we are nourished by Father above and by Mother
below and yet Father above contains Mother, and Mother
below contains Father.
Subramanya
In southern India, Karttikeya
is known by the name of Subramanya,7
which means "dear to the
Brahmans," 8 the members of the priestly
caste. Every village, even
the smallest, has a temple or shrine to
Subramanya. 9
Guha
In the Hindu mystic tradition,
Karttikeya is known as Guha, which means
"cave" or Secret One, because
he lives in the cave of your heart. 10
How secure we must feel knowing
that the Lord Sanat Kumara, the Great
Guru who sponsors earth,
her evolutions and all Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas and Christed
Ones actually lives in the cave of our heart.
Hindu scriptures also depict
Sanat Kumara as the "foremost of sages"11
and a knower of Brahman.12
Ahura Mazda
The Ascended Masters teach
that the
supreme God of Zoroastrianism,
Ahura Mazda, is Sanat Kumara.13
Ahura Mazda means "Wise Lord"
or
"Lord who bestows intelligence."14
Again, Sanat Kumara, is the
dispeller
of ignorance. He represents
the
principle of Good and is
the guardian
of mankind and the opponent
of the
Evil principle.15
The symbol of Faravahar signifies the final
goal of a true Zarthosti to live in a manner
befitting the progress of the soul towards
Ahura Mazda, or the "Wise Lord".
Sometime between 1700 and
600 B.C. Zarathustra founded Zoroastrianism
in ancient Persia. One morning
when he went to fetch water in a river, he
beheld a luminous being who
led him to Ahura Mazda and five other
radiant figures.16
So great was their light that
'he did not see his own shadow upon the
earth.' From this group of
beings he received his first revelation of a new
religion.17
Shortly afterward, Zarathustra became a spokesman for Ahura Mazda.18
The Ancient of Days
The prophet Daniel recorded his vision of Sanat
Kumara, whom he called "the Ancient of
Days." Daniel writes,
"I beheld till the thrones were set
in place,19 and the Ancient of days
did sit, whose garment was white as
snow, and the hair of his head like
the pure wool. His throne was like
the fiery flame and is wheels as
burning fire. [His chakras.]
"A fiery stream issued and came
forth from before him. Thousand
thousands ministered unto him,
and ten thousand times ten
thousand stood before him.
"I saw in the night visions, and,
behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven,
and came to the Ancient of days,
and they brought him near before
him.
"And there was given him
dominion and glory and a kingdom,
that all people, nations and
languages should serve him. His
dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed."20
And so, not only does Daniel
foresee Sanat Kumara, the Ancient of Days,
but also he sees the son
of manifestation. Did he see the Christ Jesus, the
Buddha Maitreya, Manjushri,
and/or the Buddha Gautama?
Ascended Master Sanat Kumara
The Ascended Master Sanat
Kumara is the Hierarch of Venus. Long ago
during earth's darkest hour,
Sanat Kumara came here to keep the
threefold flame of Life on
behalf of earth's people.
Can you imagine a time in
the world when only one individual kept the
flame of life for all of
mankind? There was a time when not a single person
on this planet gave adoration
to the God Presence.
After Sanat Kumara made his
commitment to come to earth,
144,000 souls from Venus
volunteered to come with
him to
support his mission. Four
hundred
who formed the avant-garde
were
sent ahead to build the magnificent
retreat of Shamballa on an
island
in the Gobi Sea where the
Gobi
desert now is.
Sanat Kumara resided in this
physical retreat but he did not take on a
physical body such as the
bodies we wear today. You could say the retreat
was in the Matter universe
but highly etheric. Later it became expedient
to its protection that Shamballa,
this wondrous retreat that was in the
physical octave, be withdrawn
to the etheric octave.
Dipamkara
So after this took place,
this withdrawal of Shamballa to the etheric
octave, Sanat Kumara embodied
as Dipamkara, the Lamp-Lighting
Buddha 21 He came to light
our lamps or we came with him as part of the
144,000 to help him light
the lamps of souls in the earth.
In Buddhist tradition, Dipamkara
walked the earth to save souls.22 The
Sanskrit word Dipamkara means
"kindler of lights" or "the luminous."23
Dipamkara is a legendary Buddha
who lived long, long ago.24 He was the
first of twenty-four Buddhas
who preceded Gautama Buddha.25
Sanat Kumara being Dipamkara, as we
understand it, had twenty-three Buddhas before
Buddha Gautama incarnated. So we can get the
sense of the long chain of those who came to
earth to attempt to regalvanize, requicken, bring
humanity, bring mankind back to even a desire
to have the light of God within them.
Think how it would be if the earth should be lost
and civilizations were destroyed and people
returned almost to the level of caveman--almost
to the level of being on all fours, unable to stand
upright because they have
no flame. Think of having to work with an
evolution from that point
and bring that evolution to where we are today.
Well that's where some of
you have been and that's what some of you
have been doing for a long
time. And therefore you have a tremendous
vested interest in seeing
to it that the teaching is sustained--that the
teaching will be there and
that the fire that you ignite will stay and will not
be snuffed out. We all, including
the Ascended Masters, have a
tremendous investment in
the future and the fate of planet earth.
Dipamkara prophesied that
the ascetic Sumedha would become Gautama
Buddha in a future life.26
Buddhists consider Dipamkara, Gautama
Buddha and Lord Maitreya
to be the "Buddhas of the three times"--past,
present and future.27 Dipamkara
is the past Lord of the World, Gautama
Buddha is the present Lord
of the World and Maitreya will be the future
Lord of the World.
Author Alice Getty writes,
"The Buddha Dipamkara is believed to have
lived 100,000 years on earth.
He was 3,000 years on earth before finding
anyone worthy of hearing
the Divine Truth. He then decided to convert the
world."
He "caused 'the appearance
of a great city to proceed from his lamp and
fix itself in space.' While
the people were gazing upon this miracle, fierce
flames were emitted from
the four walls. Fear filled their hearts, and they
looked for a Buddha to save
them. Then Dipamkara comes forth from the
burning city, seats himself
on the Lion Throne, and begins to teach the
Law."28
Brahma Sanam-kumara
In Buddhism, there is a great
god known as Brahma Sanam-kumara. His
name also means "forever
a youth."29 Brahma Sanam-kumara was a
being so elevated that he
had to create an apparition body in order to be
seen by the gods of the heaven
of the Thirty-Three.30 In one text, he
appeared in this apparition
body to extol the Dharma and praise Gautama
Buddha's understanding of
the Dharma.31
Sakka, the ruler of the gods,
describes his appearance, "He outshines
other devas in radiance and
glory, just as a figure made of gold outshines
the human figure. And as
for the matter of his speech, his voice had eight
qualities. It was distinct,
intelligible, pleasant, attractive, compact, concise,
deep and resonant. Whoever
has heard such a voice is said to have heard
the voice of Brahma."32
1.Dowson, Classical
Dictionary, p. 277
2.Nikhilananda,
Intro to the Bhagavad-Gita, p. vi.
3.A. Parthasarathy
in Symbolism in Hinduism, p. 151.
4.Asim Kumar
Chatterjee, The Cult of Skanda-Karttikeya in Ancient India, p. 101.
5.Frawley, From
The River of Heaven, p. 124; Danielou, p. 298; Ions, p. 87.
6.Banerjea,
Hindu Iconography, pp. 363-64.
7.Chatterjee,
The Cult of Skanda-Karttikeya in Ancient India, p. 72; Parthasarathy in
Symbolism in Hinduism, p. 148
8.Encyclopaedia
Brittanica, s.v. ¦Skanda,¦ and Danielou, The Gods of India,
p. 299
9.Danielou,
Gods of India, p. 299
10.Swami Swahananda,
Hindu Symbology, p. 30
11.Mahabharata, vol.
9, p. 295
12.Nikhilananda, the
Chandogya Upanishad, p. 325
13.Encyclopedia Brittanica,
s.v. "Ahura Mazda."
14.1985 Pearl of Wisdom,
Vol. 28, No. 17, note 1
15.Collier's Encyclopedia,
s.v. "Ahura Mazda."
16.1992 Pearl of Wisdom,
Volume 35, p. 455
17.ibid
18.1992 Pearl of Wisdom,
Vol. 35, p. 456
19.JB, Dan. 7:9
20.Dan. 7:9, 10, 13,
14
21.1984 Pearl of Wisdom,
Vol. 27, Book 2, p. 52; Saint Germain On Alchemy, glossary
22.1984 Pearl of Wisdom,
Vol. 27, Book 2, p. 52
23.Encyclopedia of
Eastern Philosophy and Religion, s.v. "Dipamkara." Also,
Humphreys Popular Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 68, s.v. "Dipankara Buddha."
24.Encyclopedia of
Eastern Philosophy and Religion, s.v. "Dipamkara."
25.ibid. Also, Alice
Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, p. 13
26.Encyclopedia of
Eastern Philosophy and Religion, s.v. "Dipamkara."
27.ibid
28.Alice Getty, The
Gods of Northern Buddhism, pp. 13-14
29.Robinson, The Buddhist
Delight, p. 61
30.Walshe, Thus Have
I Heard, p. 295; Robinson, The Buddhist Religion, p. 61
31.Robinson, The Buddhist
Religion, p. 61; Walshe, p. 295.
32.Maurcie Walsh,
Thus Have I heard, pp. 295-96