Brotherhood of the White Temple
The Brotherhood of the White Temple is a theosophical occult
organization founded in 1903 in Denver, Colorado, by
Maurice Doreal (d. 1963), the religious name of Claude Doggins.
A lifelong student of the occult, Doreal claimed to have
spent eight years in Tibet during the 1920s. He also claimed
to have made contact with the Great White Lodge, the advanced
beings who completed their work on earth and who
now, as masters, guide the destiny of humankind. Doreal was
seen as the agent for the coming Golden Age. Associated with
the brotherhood is the White Temple Church.
The brotherhood was headquartered in Denver for many
years, but immediately after World War II, in the atmosphere
of anxiety over a possible atomic war, the brotherhood built a
new headquarters complex in Sedalia, Colorado, in a valley
surrounded by high mountains. The headquarters were formally
moved in 1951. Two years later Doreal predicted the
coming biblical Battle of Armageddon for later in the year. It
did not occur, but members continued to stockpile food and
other resources they might need should war break out.
The brotherhood teaches a system of Gnosticism that draws
heavily on theosophical and kabalistic writings. The human
soul is pictured as a spark of the divine that has devolved into
matter. This experience has overwhelmed the soul, which has
lost the harmony it had after being created. Teachings emphasize
methods of reestablishing harmony and, with the aid of the
masters, returning to the divine realms.
New members complete a series of lessons and progress
through neophyte and temple grades, which can take four to
five years, after which members are invited into the real inner
work of the group. Some of the older members reside at the
center in Colorado, but the great majority live around the
country and stay in contact through correspondence. The organizations
publishes a periodical, Light on the Path, and a set of
booklets written by Doreal called the Little Temple Library.
The more than one hundred titles in the library cover a broad
range of occult topics.
Sources
Doreal, Maurice. Maitreya Lord of the World. Sedalia, Colo.
Brotherhood of the White Temple, n.d.
. Man and the Mystic Universe. Denver Brotherhood of
the White Temple, n.d.
. Personal Experiences among the Masters and Great
Adepts in Tibet. Sedalia, Colo. Brotherhood of the White Temple,
n.d.
. Secret Teachings of the Himalayan Gurus. Denver
Brotherhood of the White Temple, n.d.
