{"id":11744,"date":"2019-02-01T05:29:49","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T04:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/?p=11744"},"modified":"2026-04-30T10:49:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:49:03","slug":"roberto-assagioli-psychosynthesis-and-the-esoteric-roots-of-transpersonal-psychology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/en\/roberto-assagioli-psychosynthesis-and-the-esoteric-roots-of-transpersonal-psychology\/","title":{"rendered":"Roberto Assagioli, Psychosynthesis, and the Esoteric Roots of Transpersonal Psychology"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Al Mankoff<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Editor’s note<\/strong>: For the contemporary clinical reception of Assagioli\u2019s transpersonal framework, see Transpersonal Psychology in the Consulting Room<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Roberto

Roberto Assagioli and Michael Eastcott at Sundial House<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The controversial Madame Blavatsky lamented for many years before her death in 1891 that her greatest failure was the disclosure of the existence of “The Masters of the Wisdom,” a shadowy coterie of men possessing supernormal powers and said to have evolved beyond the human condition.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The very idea that such beings existed at all, much less the fact that they were in contact with a select group of advanced members of the human race, guiding and directing them to bring about conditions of well being for all mankind, raised a furor in the late 19th century.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Attempts to prove the existence of the Masters gave birth to countless lectures, articles and books, few of them taken seriously by the predominant intellectuals and newspapers of the time. Two books, <\/span><\/span>The Mahatma Letters<\/span><\/span><\/em> , by AP Sinnett and <\/span><\/span>The Masters and the Path<\/span><\/span><\/em> , by CW Leadbeater, both close colleagues of HPB, were at the heart of the turmoil.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, through it all, Blavatsky and her cohorts stoutly maintained the reality of the group of “Adepts,” most directly concerned with human evolution. Identified by such exotic names as Morya, Kuthumi, Serapis, Hilarion, Rakoczy, Djwahl Kuhl and Jesus \u2013 the one and the same Jesus of the Christian faith \u2013 this inner group worked in the outer world through tightly structured Ashrams of disciples, who in turn trained and supervised the activities of men and women of good will everywhere, of every race and ethnic background, known today as \u201cThe New Group of World Servers.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Only the inner group was aware of the source of this guidance, and they were sworn to secrecy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ludicrous as this appeared to the intellectuals and academics of the time, the idea nevertheless took firm root among many true believers who idealized The Masters and even undertook long and expensive journeys to the mountains of Tibet or Peru, searching vainly for the members of “The Great White Brotherhood.” Until her death, Blavatsky was wracked by the controversy and the glamor surrounding the legends to which she gave birth.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n