The first mention of Maitreya in a Theosophical context occurs in the 1883 work
Esoteric Buddhism by
Alfred Percy Sinnett (18401921), an early Theosophical writer. The concepts described by Sinnett were amended, elaborated, and greatly expanded in
The Secret Doctrine (published 1888), a major work by
Helena Blavatsky , a founder of the
Theosophical Society and contemporary
Theosophy. In it, the
messianic Maitreya is linked to both Buddhist and
Hindu religious traditions. Blavatsky also stated that there have been, and will be, multiple messianic instances in human
Maitreya and the spiritual hierarchy Following Blavatsky's writings, other Theosophists progressively elaborated on the reputed spiritual hierarchy. Its members are presented as guardians and guides of Earth's total evolutionary process, known in Theosophical
cosmology as the doctrine of Planetary Rounds. In Theosophy, evolution includes an
occult or spiritual component considered more important than the related physical evolution. The hierarchy is said to consist of spiritual entities at various evolutionary stages; lower ranks are populated by individuals who can function more or less normally on the physical plane, while beings of the purest spiritual essence and consciousness occupy the highest known According to the later Theosophical texts, Maitreya's position in the current stage of planetary evolution is that of the
Boddhisatva, originally a Buddhist concept. Since this position is considered an exalted one, Maitreya may have no direct or sustained contact with the physical realm. At this evolutionary level, he is reputedly below only two others in the current hierarchy: at its apex, the Sanat Kumara (referred to as "The Lord of the World"), followed by the Buddha. Maitreya is additionally described as having, among other duties, overall responsibility for humanity's development, including its education, civilization, and Blavatsky had stated that certain members of the hierarchy, often called "the Masters" or "
the Mahātmās" in Theosophical literature, were the ultimate guides of the Theosophical Society. The Society itself was said to result from one of the hierarchy's regular "impulses" to help Humankind's evolution. Blavatsky further commented in her 1889 work
The Key to Theosophy about the next impulse, the "effort of the th century" which would involve another "torch bearer of Truth". The Theosophical Society was poised to play a major role in this effort. More information regarding the future impulse was the purview of the Theosophical Society's Esoteric Section, founded by Blavatsky and originally led by her. Its members had access to occult instruction and more detailed knowledge of the society's inner order and mission and its reputed
Maitreya's manifestations In Theosophical texts, Maitreya is said to have had numerous manifestations or incarnations: in the theorized ancient continent of
Atlantis; as a
Hierophant in
Ancient Egypt; as the Hindu deity
Krishna; as a high priest in Ancient India; and as
Christ during the three years of the
Ministry of Jesus.
Maitreya's reappearance Annie Besant , another well-known and influential Theosophist (and future President of the Society), had also developed an interest in this area of Theosophy. In the decades of the 1890s and 1900s, along with
Charles Webster Leadbeater (eventually a close associate) and others, she became progressively convinced that the next impulse from the hierarchy would happen sooner than Blavatsky's timetable; these Theosophists came to believe it would involve the imminent reappearance of Maitreya as World Teacher, a monumental event in the Theosophical scheme of things. Besant had started commenting on the possible imminent arrival of the next emissary in 1896, several years before her assumption of the Society's presidency in 1907. By 1909, the "coming Teacher" was a main topic of her lectures After Besant became President of the Society, the belief in Maitreya's imminent manifestation took on considerable weight. The subject was widely discussed and became a commonly held expectation among Theosophists. However, not all Theosophical Society members accepted Leadbeater's and Besant's ideas on the matter; the dissidents charged them with straying from Theosophical
orthodoxy and, along with other concepts developed by the two, the writings on Maitreya were derisively labeled
Neo-Theosophy by their opponents. The
Adyar (Chennai)-based international leadership of the Society eventually overcame the protests, and by the late 1920s, the organization had stabilized, but in the meantime, additional World Teacher-related trouble was brewing.
World Teacher Project In 1909 Leadbeater encountered fourteen-year-old
Jiddu Krishnamurti near the Theosophical Society headquarters at Adyar and came to believe the boy was a suitable candidate for the "vehicle" of the expected World Teacher. Soon after, he placed Krishnamurti under his and the Society's care. In Besant, by then President of the Society and head of its Esoteric Section, admitted Krishnamurti into both; in she became his
legal guardian. Krishnamurti was subsequently groomed extensively for his expected role as the probable World Teacher, and a new organization, the
Order of the Star in the East (OSE), was formed in 1911 to support him in this mission. The project received widespread publicity and enjoyed a worldwide following (mainly among Theosophists). It also faced opposition within and without the Theosophical Society, leading to years of upheaval, serious splits, and doctrinal schisms in Theosophy. The German Section, led by
Rudolf Steiner, seceded from the Society and was eventually reorganized as the
Anthroposophical Society. Additional negative repercussions occurred in 1929 when Krishnamurti repudiated the role the Theosophists expected him to fulfill, dissolved the Order of the Star, and completely disassociated himself from the World Teacher Project; soon after, he severed ties with the Society and Theosophy in general. These events reputedly prompted Leadbeater to declare, "the Coming has gone wrong", and damaged Theosophical organizations and the overall standing of ==Later concepts of Maitreya==