- skip - Brewer’s

Mahâtmas

.

Initiates who have proved their courage and purity by passing through sundry tests and trials. It is a Hindu word applied to certain Buddhists. They are also called “Masters.” According to Theosophists, man has a physical, an intellectual, and a spiritual nature, and a Mahâtma is a person who has reached perfection in each of these three natures. As his knowledge is perfect, he can produce effects which, to the less learned, appear miraculous. Thus, before the telegraph and telephone were invented it would have appeared miraculous to possess such powers; no supernatural power, however, is required, but only a more extensive knowledge.

“Mahâtma is a well-known Sanskrit word applied to men who have retired from the world, who, by means of a long ascetic discipline, have subdued the passions of the flesh, and gained a reputation for sanctity and knowledge. That these men are able to perform most startling feats, and to suffer the most terrible tortures, is perfectly true.”—Max Muller: Nineteenth Century, May, 1893, p. 775.

 

previous entry · index · next entry

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

previous entry · index · next entry

Mago the Carthaginian
Magophonia
Magot (French)
Magpie
Magricio
Maguelone or Magalona (the fair)
Magus
Mah-abadean Dynasty (The)
Mahabharata
Mahadi or Hakem
Mahâtmas
Mahdi (The)
Mahmoud of Ghizni
Mahmut
Mahomet or Mohammed
Mahoun
Mahound
Mahu
Maid Marian
Maid of Athens
Maid of Norway