Paul Hughes-Barlow is the only westerner to have been taught and initiated by the Masters of the Unknown. This secret group of occult practitioners based in India recruited Paul over twenty years ago in Brighton, UK. Very little information is known about the Masters of the Universe. There may be as few as ten to twenty Masters, scattered from the Himalayas into Burma, India, Pakistan, down into Singapore and Indonesia. The Masters of the Unknown live in the community and take on the beliefs of the cultures they live in. Some are Hindu, some Buddhist, and some Moslem. Some are vegetarian, some are teetotal. Some have normal jobs, while others are known as saints in their community, or do community work and healing. Paul's teacher, Punditt read palms and spiritual healing.
The breadth of spiritual, magical, mystical and occult techniques is breathtaking, encompassing ancient (and still hidden) techniques from Europe, Egypt, South America, North America, Africa, Indian subcontinent, Tibet, and other areas, which suggests a common origin to the occult and spiritual practices of the world. Labels of Atlantis or Lemuria do not do justice to the extraordinary range of occult knowledge available.
The philosophies of Tantra, Mantra, Vedanta, Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, and Kabbalah are all aspects of the knowledge expected to be known the Master of the Unknown.
Paul only knows his teacher, Punditt Maharaj, who is still alive, but is currently on an oath of silence. Other Masters visited England, but for some reason he never met them. Paul visited Pakistan some years ago, to visit some of them, but the meeting never took place. Years later, it was confirmed to Paul that he was secretly initiated during those weeks in Pakistan. Even the initiation is secret!
The techniques used by Punditt Maharaj and his Masters to teach Paul are secret, despite having undergone the teaching for over twenty years. There are no rituals, or core teachings to be studied. Paul was encouraged to read widely, particularly the western occult system.
Central to the system is working with Spirits in a way that gives the student direct experience of the Spiritual realms. Punditt was never forthcoming on the subject of Spirit, except that whatever happened, be it mundane or extraordinary, and was due to Spirit. Questions on what kind of spirit was always met with the stock answer "Spirit". Discussions on philosophy were rarely entertained.
All spiritual and magical experiences come from the Unknown
Punditt has the extraordinary powers of inducing spiritual states, which can be beautiful or terrifying, while appearing to do other things at the same time. As a student, whatever was going on in his awareness, Paul had to continue acting as though nothing special was taking place. Experiences could happen at any time of the day or night, waking, dreaming or sleeping, and they would result in a search in the literature to find out just what they meant, or what spiritual philosophy or magical system they came from. Paul never knew what or when the next experience would be or come from. Spiritual experiences were rarely duplicated; they developed or transformed in various ways. Punditt never told him how he did this.
The title 'Punditt' is a Hindu term denoting a spiritual master, expert in an area of spiritual work, but Punditt is a Sufi, from mystical Islam. He seems to be connected to the Naqshbandi Sufis, but I doubt they have heard of him. In Pakistan, Sufism is connected to the shrines of Sufi Saints, and Sufi music known as Qawwali, which induces mystical states. The mantras given to Paul to recite are from the Holy Quran.