Mahatma

Albeit less frequently, this epithet has also been used with regard to such people as Basava[1] (1131–1167), Swami Shraddhanand (1856–1926), Lalon Shah (1772–1890), Ayyankali (1863–1941), and Jyotirao Phule (1827–1890).

According to the Theosophical teachings, the Mahatmas are not disembodied beings, but highly evolved people involved in overseeing the spiritual growth of individuals and the development of civilizations.

Alvin Boyd Kuhn wrote about mahātmās:[2] The Masters whom Theosophy presents to us are simply high-ranking students in life's school of experience.

K. Paul Johnson in his books[6] speculates that the "Masters" that Blavatsky wrote about and produced letters from were actually idealizations of people who were her mentors.

Sanat wrote that Johnson "deliberately ignores the main sources of evidence for their real physical existence".

However, a document honoring him with the title "Mahatma" on 21 January 1915, in Jetpur, Gujarat, by Nautamlal Bhagvanji Mehta is preserved at the National Gandhi Museum in New Delhi, India.

[13] The Divine Light Mission (DLM) was a Sant Mat-based movement begun in India in the 1930s by Hans Maharaj and formally incorporated in 1960.

In one incident, a prominent Indian Mahatma nearly beat a man to death in Detroit for throwing a pie at the guru.