Roy Masters: An interesting bloke
To begin, let me say that I’ve never met Roy Masters and never had anything to do with his Foundation of Human Understanding. I do know that some people considered it to be a cult, and I have no opinion about that because I don’t have any personal knowledge of it. My only knowledge about Masters is that his show would air late at night when I was a Catholic boy-turned-Taoist college student and I used to listen to it moderately often. Recently I was thinking back to hearing those broadcasts and thought that I would look up what he was about. Here is what I found out…
Roy Masters, an English-born American author and radio personality, developed a unique blend of spiritual teachings that have been described as a mix of fundamentalist Christianity and New Age principles, although he has explicitly rejected the New Age label. His theology primarily revolved around the concept of self-discovery and self-mastery through meditation, which he calls "Be Still and Know" (a partial quote from Psalm 46). Masters emphasized the need for individuals to find an inner peace and truth through this method, which he claimed was derived from the Bible but interpreted in a very personal, introspective way. He taught that meditation is not about altering consciousness through hypnosis or other external methods, which he once practiced, but rather about detaching oneself from the influences of the world to connect with a divine truth within.
Masters' theology includes a strong belief in personal responsibility for one's spiritual state, asserting that individuals must save themselves by overcoming their own weaknesses and the hypnotic influences of society, including what he considered to be misguided religious teachings. He often used biblical language but interpreted it in ways that diverge from mainstream Christian theology. For instance, he has been criticized for denying the traditional Christian doctrine of the Trinity, arguing that Jesus Christ is not God but rather a messenger or guide. This stance has led to accusations of heresy from some Christian groups, who see his teachings as conflicting with core tenets of Christianity like the divinity of Christ and the nature of salvation through Jesus.
In his teachings, Masters promoted the idea that true salvation or enlightenment comes from within by aligning one's spirit with what he calls "the truth," which he describes as an intuitive understanding of God's will rather than adherence to dogma or scripture. In this, he seems to have sided with many Protestant denominations that seek for each individual to be led by the Holy Spirit. His method involved a meditative practice aimed at achieving this alignment (not far from Taizé), which he claimed can heal not only spiritual but also physical ailments by removing the stress and anger that he believes cause disease (similar to Christian Science).
His approach to scripture is more metaphorical and less literal than many traditional Christian interpretations, focusing on personal transformation through introspection rather than adherence to religious rituals or doctrines. In this way he was in line with theologians Tillich and Küng.
Masters maintained a significant following through his radio broadcasts and books, where he advocated for a life free from what he perceived as the corrupting influences of modern culture and organized religion, focusing instead on individual spiritual awakening through his unique meditative practices. My recollection is that he liked to quote Mathew 6:6 (“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”)
Now, a little analysis… Certainly, Masters wasn’t the first or last person to perceive Jesus as a spiritual guide instead of a divine being. Much of what he taught is similar to Meister Ekhart and other Western mystics. (Whether one should call them Christian mystics is a matter for debate, since they seem to deny the concept of the Trinity.)
Masters' theology and Jehovah's Witnesses' beliefs also share some similarities in their focus on personal spirituality and the rejection of certain mainstream Christian doctrines, such as the Trinity. Both emphasize the importance of personal responsibility and living in accordance with divine will, albeit interpreted differently. Of course, their other differences are profound.
So, in the end, Roy Masters seems to have cobbled together ideas from many sources into something that seemed to him to be a coherent whole. In that, I can certainly feel a kinship with him. My point here is not to hold up Roy Masters as a paragon of mystical theology, but is a bit more of a “remembrance of things past” as I revisit some of the myriad influences that have formed my opinions on matters religious — for better or for worse I suppose.
