A spiritual order of Western saints and Eastern adepts who have reunited with the Spirit of the living God and who comprise the heavenly hosts. They have transcended the cycles of karma and rebirth and ascended (accelerated) into that higher reality which is the eternal abode of the soul. The Ascended Masters of the Great White Brotherhood, united for the highest purposes of the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God, have risen in every age from every culture and religion to inspire creative achievement in education, the arts and sciences, God-government and the abundant Life through the economies of the nations. The word "white" refers not to reace but to the aura (halo) of white light surrounding their forms. Jesus Christ revealed this heavenly order of the saints "robed in white" to his servant John in Revelation.