[1] Jiddu Krishnamurti, an adolescent Brahmin from South India, and the presumed author of At the Feet of the Master, was considered the likely "vehicle" for the World Teacher.

[5] The author was listed as Alcyone, a pseudonym assigned to Krishnamurti by one of his mentors, the prominent and controversial Theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater.

[6] The original edition's front cover features an illustration (in gold on blue background), of a path leading to an Egyptian-style gateway; in the frontispiece there is a contemporary photograph of Alcyone.

The body of the work is then laid out in four parts, corresponding to its proclaimed requirements for disciples on the spiritual path: [8] The book closes with an unsigned, two-verse devotional poem.

This entity became the official publisher of Krishnamurti's work after he effectively ended the World Teacher Project by rejecting his messianic role and leaving the Theosophical Society in 1929–30;[14] however, the SPT still held the rights to At the Feet of the Master as of 1946.

The book was enthusiastically received by Theosophists and members of the Order of the Star in the East, a worldwide organization established by the Theosophical leadership to promote the World Teacher Project.

[20] According to a Krishnamurti biographer, "[n]othing, since Blavatsky, carried the sort of authority soon ascribed to Alcyone's document";[21] contemporary press reports described it as "a holy book to his [Alcyone-Krishnamurti] disciples".

Favorable early press coverage[24] was complemented by more neutral or strict assessments, which included the tentative characterization of Krishnamurti's writing style as "artless".

[12] It has also been pointed out that the main body's themes, and four-part layout, bear close resemblance to Advaita Vedanta treatises by, or attributed to, the 8th century Indian philosopher and theologian Adi Shankara.

Narayaniah believed the book was "fathered" on Krishnamurti in order to promote his messianic credentials, citing as one proof the boy's poor prior knowledge of English.