Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

The Life of a Master in the West***********************************
Copyright © 2008 by Louise-Marie Frenette.
Copyright © 2009 by Prosveta US Dist.

Journey with Omraam
e-Pocket edition: © 2016 by Journey with Omraam
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Translated from the French by Violet Nevile.
Original Title: La vie d’un Maître en Occident.
Copyright © 2008 Editions AdA.
Book cover photo: © Editions Prosveta, France.
Louise-Marie Frenette’s Website: www.lmfrenette.com

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov Copyright © 2016

Contents
Who is Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov?
1Part I.
Youth
Cha
Chap
pter 1.
Everything is Foreshadowed in Childhood
5
Cha
Chap
pter 2.
‘Hear, my Son…’
26
Cha
Chap
pter 3.
The Aspirations of Adolescence
55
Cha
Chap
pter 4.
Illumination
88

Part II.
The Disciple
Cha
Chappter 5.
The Beginning of a New Life
115
Cha
Chap
pter 6.
Year After Year I Worked…
140

Cha
Chap
pter 7.
The Seven Lakes of Rila
184
Cha
Chap
pter 8.
The Wondrous Powers of Thought and Word
199
Cha
Chap
pter 9.
I Will Give You a Precious Stone
222

Part III.
Brother MichaelCha
Chappter 10.
God Gives Freely
244
Cha
Chap
pter 11.
An Attempt at a Fraternal Community
280
Cha
Chap
pter 12.
The Conspiracy
300
Cha
Chap
pter 13.
Prison335
Cha
Chap
pter 14.
The Beauty we Create Around us357

Part IV.
The Master
Cha
Chap
pter 15.
The Land of the Devas
374
Cha
Chap
pter 16
16..
A Spiritual Master
391
Cha
Chap
pter 17
17..
The Path of Light
421
Cha
Chap
pter 18
18..
A New Springtime of Love
448
Cha
Chap
pter 19.
I Am With You Even More Than Before
472
A Word from the Author
479
Chronology
482
Sources and Bibliography488

Who is Omraam Mikhaël
Aïvanhov?
‘He was my best friend, said the old man called Kyril.
He was also my spiritual Master.’ And reaching into
his pocket he brought out a photograph of the man
who had been his guide, his model, his friend. We
were sitting on a bench in a small garden in Sofia. In
front of us was the grave of Peter Deunov, the founderof the brotherhood which had been Mikhaël’s spiritual family. The roses, the vine-covered trellis ladenwith grapes, the warmth of the sun… all spoke to us of
the old brotherhood estate, now reduced to this tinypark in the midst of the Bulgarian capital.
The year was 1992, and I had undertaken to write abiography of Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, this great
Bulgarian-born spiritual Master, who had traced a newpath, a way of life which he called ‘the path of Light’.
In the course of seven long years of research I was tofind that he was even more extraordinary than anything I could have imagined; a creator of beauty, love,and brotherhood for the whole human family; anarchitect of a new age on earth.
‘You were born four hundred years too soon,’ he wastold. Yes. As we listened to him, in France, in Switzerland, or in Canada, we sometimes had the same
thought. What he wished for humanity still seemed soremote, so difficult to achieve. And yet he himself was
so much a part of the incarnate world, and his teaching
was so well adapted to our needs that we knew we wereright to hope. And we still hope. Indeed, our hopes
grow stronger and stronger.
As one era drew to a close and another – the era of
Aquarius – began, Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov spoke
constantly of brotherhood and love, of light andpurity, of all that can help the children of this world
to rediscover that they are the sons and daughters ofGod.
The power of his teaching lies in this: it is of primordial importance to transform ourselves, but it isequally important to transform the world into a garden of paradise. Today, men and women, even children, are becoming more aware than ever before of thenecessity of helping each other, of becoming one family united in love and peace.
A Golden Age for humanity – that was his vision:a universal brotherhood embracing the whole ofhumankind; the kingdom of God become an earthly2

reality. This is why, when he spoke of Rama, the greatlegendary being who brought about a Golden Age tothe world in the distant past, his voice resonated withsuch enthusiasm. He saw what it could be.

3

PART I

YOUTH

1

#

Everything is
Foreshadowedin Childhood

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov was born in the little village of Serbtzi in Macedonia at the dawn of the 20th
century. It was in the early morning hours of January
31, 1900, as the first cockcrow announced the light ofa new day. Grandmother Mountain, massive with its
domed summit, watched over the sleeping village. In
the gardens the trees crackled in the bitter cold, but inthe house of Mikhaël’s parents, a great fire blazed in
the hearth. To the surprise of those present, the new-born did not cry: ‘When a child returns to earth, itcries. But I didn’t, I was told. I smiled.’1
Mikhaël was born early, at eight months, and Dolia,
his mother, feared for his life. Before the day was out,
she had the village priest come and baptize him. In the
Macedonian villages at that time, life was so harsh thatthe chances of survival were slim for a premature baby.
Dolia had lived with her husband’s family since she
had married Ivan Dimitrov at the age of fourteen.2 She
had become part of a large family of farmers, all ofwhom, men and women alike, shared in the work, taking turns laboring in the fields or tending to domestic chores. In the rural areas – particularly in these
isolated villages – families helped each other, poolingtheir efforts with their neighbors, sowing and harvesting together in one plot of land after another.
Like all the children in her village, Dolia had learned
to work in the house and garden since the age of four.
When her turn came, she labored with the others in
the fields until nightfall, carried heavy buckets ofwater to the field-workers, or looked after the many
children. She was not an ordinary woman. Short andslight, she possessed a great inner strength. Spontaneous and outgoing by nature, gay and generous, she
was full of affection for her family and friends. She
rapidly became an indispensable element of harmonyin her new family who learned to rely on her kindheart and ready sense of humor.

6

At the time of Mikhaël’s birth Dolia was twenty-four,and matured by the traumas and hardships of life inan unforgiving environment. Her first-born, a boy, haddied as an infant, and her second child, a girl, wasabout six. In her ten years of married life she hadalready experienced the loneliness suffered by many
women at the time. Conditions in the mountain villages were so precarious that the men often went toseek their fortune in the towns or with the charcoalburners in the forests. With hope and physicalstrength as their only resource, they left their wives
and children, convinced they would soon find thework that would make them rich. The successful ones
visited their families briefly every two or three years,
returning home for good only when they could nolonger work.
Like many other married women, Dolia had endured
her husband’s absence for long periods at a time. A few
years after their marriage, Ivan had established his own
charcoal business in Bulgaria, in a forest on the outskirts of the Black Sea port of Varna. It was a long way
from Serbtzi and his visits home were rare.
Mikhaël’s childhood was thus marked by the absenceof his father, but also by the constant political andsocial upheavals, by insurrections and terror. At the
beginning of the 20th Century, Macedonia – like Bulgaria and most of the Balkans – was still subject toOttoman rule. The region, whose population included
some two million Bulgarians, was in a state of social

7and economic stagnation. Coveted by its neighbors, it
was the arena of ongoing skirmishes between Turks,
Serbs, Greeks, and Bulgarians, all of whom laid claim
to it. For decades, the people had known nothing but
armed incursions, abortive popular uprisings andcruel reprisals. Again and again, at the first warning of
the approach of soldiers, the women fled to the woods
with their children to hide.
More than once Dolia had to flee into hiding. As
Mikhaël was to recall later: ‘One day my mother had toleave the house in a hurry and run to hide in the forest.
She was carrying me in her arms and we hid in a tree,
but we could not stay there because it was full of ants.’
In addition to difficulties of this kind, Dolia experienced other personal sorrows: not long after Mikhaël’sbirth, her seven-year old daughter died suddenly. It
was not in Dolia’s nature, however, to pine or withdraw into herself. She went about her work, taking her
full share of responsibility in her husband’s family andin that most precious duty of all, the education of herson.
***
We have learned of the events of Mikhaël’s youth fromhis own accounts as well as those of his mother, hisfamily and their friends. In her old age, Dolia was likeall grandmothers: she liked to tell her grandchildren
about the important events of her life. And later,

8

Mikhaël, who lived in France from the age of thirtyseven, would stimulate his audience by interspersing
his talks on spiritual, philosophical, and cultural subjects with first-hand accounts of his youth, of his experiences, of the ordeals he had endured and the discoveries he had made.
One of the events which occurred in his early childhood seems to have had real importance for him, for
he talked about it many years later. Dolia also told
the tale. One evening the family was all gathered athome with some neighbors when Mikhaël, who was
only a few months old, suddenly stood upright andtook a few steps unaided. Everyone was astonished forhe was far too young to walk, and in the midst of theexclamations of surprise, one of the old women in theroom declared: ‘That child is really out of the ordinary! I foresee a brilliant future for him.’
But Dolia remained silent. She was worried: the factthat her baby had walked months before his body was
ready for such an effort was in itself mysterious, but
she also had the feeling that the incident had a special
significance for his life. Instinctively she was afraid of
possible repercussions and glanced anxiously at twoof the women present who were greatly feared by thevillagers. They were said to practice black magic, andno one who had seen the terrifying effects of this was
inclined to take the matter lightly. None of the villagers dared to refuse them admittance to their home.

9That night Mikhaël suddenly became very ill and his
condition worsened rapidly. Dolia sent at once for her
mother who was a skilled healer, but even she was
hard put to it to save her grandson’s life. Mikhaël was
eventually cured, but he was late in learning to walk.
He would say one day:
I interpreted this incident later and realized that I had
to be subjected to a very severe trial before being able
to walk. And this is what happened. I saw then thateverything is foreshadowed in childhood, but we pay no
attention. There is an extraordinary science here.3
Mikhaël’s grandmother, Astra, had been one of thecountless victims of those troubled times. In 1875 orthereabouts, she had been widowed and her life
thrown into disarray when her husband was killed andtheir house destroyed during an armed raid on thevillage. Pregnant at the time with Dolia – Mikhaël’s
mother – she found herself alone and forced to workas never before to provide for the needs of her family.
Astra was a remarkable woman. She was widely
known for her skill as a midwife and reputed to be
one of the region’s finest healers. As has always been
the case in countries in which medical services were
unavailable, those who lived in rural areas were accustomed to call on a local healer for help in sickness. For
the most part these were women with a keen intuition
and an exceptional knowledge of nature – gifts often

10

passed on from mother to daughter – which enabled
them to relieve suffering and sometimes to cure evenserious illnesses. In the region of Mount Pelister,
toward the end of the 19th century, people came fromfar and near to consult Astra. Thanks to her knowledge of the healing properties of plants, she successfully treated people suffering from a variety of illnesses. Many of her remedies included secrets handed
down from ancient times, particularly those involving
the beneficial properties of aromatic plants, the magnetic currents found in certain spots on earth, and theinfluence of sunlight and stars on the human body.
Astra’s work as a midwife meant that she was often
called out at night. Without hesitation and seemingly
tireless, she often trudged miles through deep snow
to a distant cottage or farmstead. Payment for the services of a midwife traditionally consisted of a towel
and a piece of soap. Rarely did she receive more. And
as the financial rewards for her work as a healer werehardly more lavish, she earned barely enough to support her small family. From her patients she received agreat deal of love and gratitude – veneration even – buttimes were hard for all, and money was scarce.
***
Mikhaël was probably four or five when he first took
part in one of his country’s most beautiful customs.
On New Year’s Day, small boys became the messengers of good fortune, invested with the power to call11

down blessings on their neighbors and friends.
Warmly wrapped up against the cold and carrying a
twig of dogwood decorated with colored ribbons, theywent from house to house, tapping each person present with the twig while reciting wishes for good
health and abundant harvests in the new year. The
adults thanked them by putting an apple, some sweets
or a sugar bun into the bag carried by each child.
Some of Dolia’s neighbors, eager to receive the firstblessing of the year from Mikhaël, begged his motherto send him to them very early, before the other children. Dolia awakened him before dawn, dressed him,and before they set out together, made sure that heremembered the greeting he was to recite. It must havebeen hard for the small child to brave the darkness andbattle against the snow and the cold wind, but he knew
the meaning of what they were doing, for Dolia had
explained it to him, and he did his best. The deeper
meaning of this custom remained forever in his memory, for while still a young child, he had begun to discern the symbolism of the little things which made up
his everyday life.
Four things to which Mikhaël was particularly
attracted were significant: he loved threads and every
kind of string, the water gushing from a spring, fire,
and tall trees. These four ‘childhood passions’, as hecalled them, played an important part in his development, pointing him very early in life toward the realitythat each one represented. Threads came to symbol-

12ize the complexity of relationships that bind humanbeings and the different elements of creation to eachother. The clear, transparent water that flowed fromthe ground spoke to him of purity. The fire that gives
light, warmth and life led him gradually to a ‘solar’ philosophy. Tall trees awoke in him the love of heights.
At the age of four, with infinite patience, he pickedup and treasured every scrap of string, every thread ofwool or cotton he could find. One room in the family
home had a particular fascination for him: in it was aloom and around the walls hung skeins of brightly colored thread. From the doorway, he watched his cousin
weaving, spellbound by the movement of her hands as
they danced over the warp, gradually transforming theseparate threads into a piece of cloth. It was then that
he began to have his first dim perception of the true
meaning of threads, which speak not only of binding
and unbinding, but which can be woven into something useful, beautiful and durable.
One day when the weaver was out, Mikhaël ventured
into the room and stood by the loom, gazing with fascination at all the bright threads stretched over theframe. Suddenly, moved by an irresistible impulse that
seemed to well up from the depths of his being, heseized a pair of scissors, and barely conscious of what
he was doing, cut them all off the loom. He was still
there, clutching his precious harvest of colored
threads, when his cousin found him. And what a todo followed: seeing her loom stripped of all its threads,

13the poor woman cried out in horror, and as other people arrived, a bewildered and angry tumult surrounded
him. But Mikhaël, although he realized that what hehad done was wrong, clutched the beloved threads tohis heart, hearing only the small voice within which
spoke to him of their importance. Telling of the incident years later, he said: ‘I just looked at them. I could
not understand why they were so upset!’
It goes without saying that he was punished by his
mother, who had to spend the best part of the night
repairing the damage. Only years later did he really
understand the hidden symbolism of this strange
childhood passion. In previous incarnations, heexplained, he must have been aware of the significanceof threads and learned to tie and untie them:Obviously, at that age, it was unconscious, but there
was certainly a hidden intelligence urging me on. It
was simply in order to show me that nothing happens
by chance, for the day I understood those childhood
passions which seemed so strange, I discovered a whole
wonderful world. Life itself is simply a question of
threads, nothing but threads…4
The correspondences linking the physical and thespiritual worlds never ceased to fascinate Mikhaël.
Throughout his life he worked to create links between
these two worlds.
His second great passion, his love of water, was born14

in him when he was not yet five. While exploring theland around the family home, he found water bubbling from a tiny spring and flowing away under thefoliage. Intrigued, he lay face-down in the grass fora long time, watching this marvel of nature. In thedays and months that followed, the spring drew him
like a magnet. Fascinated by the transparency of thewater, he spent hours gazing at it, astonished to seethat it never stopped flowing. If someone asked where
Mikhaël was, the answer was always: ‘Mikhaël? Hemust be by the spring.’ And that is where they foundhim.
The image of the spring took root deep within his
mind. As a child of Aquarius, he was always drawn
to water: rivers, waterfalls and the sea were a constantsource of wonder and delight to him.
Of his four childhood passions, however, it was his
love of fire that was foremost. The fires set by the peasants to burn off weeds or stubble, the oil lamp that
lit the evening meal, the tiny votive light that burned
before the holy icon, the flames blazing in the fireplace,
all these manifestations of fire enchanted him. At theage of five he began to light his own little fires of straw
or twigs, just for the pleasure of watching them burn.
For a time, no one caught him in the act, but eventually this dangerous pastime ended in near-disaster.
One day, while exploring his parents’ hay-loft, hefound some rotten straw, so black and ugly that he15

decided to put a match to it. ‘It’s too old. It must be
burned,’ he told himself.
Without hesitation, raking it into a heap, he set it
alight and watched the leaping flames, thinking he had
never seen anything so beautiful. Before long, however, his delight changed to concern as the fire became
more than he could handle and he realized his helplessness. Suddenly, alerted by the smoke, the adults
came running in with buckets of water to throw on theblazing straw, while the little boy, still half engrossedin his delight, began to realize that this new escapade
was serious and would certainly cost him his supper.
Taking to his heels, he ran to take refuge with his
grandmother Astra.
For Mikhaël, Astra was the good fairy who always protected him and cared for him when he was ill. In hiseyes she was a truly exceptional being. Her hands wereskilled in bringing little children into the world, andher immense knowledge enabled her to restore sickpeople to health. Many years later in Paris, Mikhaël
spoke of her several times, and in his talks there arereferences to her remarkable lore and the wisdom andskill she manifested. He would say that it was becausesuch great love overflowed from her that she hadreceived the gift of healing.
A special relationship of tender affection and understanding united the old woman and her grandson, and
if one of his pranks ended badly he would always run

16

to hide with her. He was convinced that no one would
know where he was and he was always surprised when
they found him there. But it was his grandmother’s‘clairvoyance’ that really astonished him:
She always seemed to know what was going on insideme and I could not understand how. But as soon as she
saw the anxiety in my eyes, she immediately said: ‘Aha,
I see you have been up to mischief again! 5
And sure enough, on the day of the fire in the hay loft,
seeing that anxious look in his eyes, she exclaimed:‘Ah, you’ve done something naughty again!’‘How do you know?’ asked Mikhaël uneasily.
‘I can see it in your face!’ she replied, and to give him
time to summon up the courage to face his mother,
who ruled him with great firmness, she added:‘Never mind! Come and hide with me.’***In spite of the remorse he experienced after that disaster, his love of fire did not diminish any more than his
love of water. In his words:
Ever since I was born I have had a special leaning
toward fire, and although, when I was young, I used to
set fire to barns, later I understood that I would do bet-17

ter to leave physical fire alone and set fire to my own
heart and the hearts of others.6
Instinctively, he sensed the role of water and fire innature, and his passion for them presaged their importance in his life and his teaching. The beauty, thepurity, and the symbolism of these two elements
would always be a source of nourishment and inspiration to him, as well as key instruments in his spiritualwork.
But fire and water were not the only natural phenomena for which he had a passion; there were also trees.
He had a special affection for the tall poplars in thevillage, whose leaves whispered in response to every
breath of wind and whose soaring trunks made him
dream of great heights. As soon as he was strong
enough to climb from branch to branch all the way
to the top, he would perch there for hours, looking
out over the surrounding countryside. Delighting in
the beauty of nature that revealed itself to him in all
its splendor, he felt like a bird, ready to spread his
wings and fly. Dolia knew that when Mikhaël was notnear the spring, he was sure to be found in the highest
branches of a tree.
This passion for heights revealed a marked tendency
in his character which became constantly more imperative, an innate impulse to look at everything from thehighest possible point of view. Later, he would recall
the experiences of his childhood and use the exam-

18

ple of a child perched at the top of a tree, who cansee things that his father, in spite of his great learning, is incapable of seeing from ground level. He would
speak of the importance of placing oneself above circumstances and events, so as to see farther and understand more clearly the meaning of life.
***
The natural environment in which Mikhaël spent his
early childhood was harsh. Serbtzi was in a rugged,
mountainous part of Macedonia, dominated by thegreat mass of Mount Pelister. At the beginning of the20th Century, physical conditions in these parts werestill very primitive. The houses were without comfort,
and people slept on beds of straw covered with mats.
In winter, the snow and icy winds made all outdoor
work painfully laborious, and the villages were cut off
from each other.
Most of the schools were one-room huts, built of awooden frame filled in with mud and straw. They were
heated by wood-burning stoves, and if anybody had
the misfortune to break a window it was replaced withpaper to keep out the cold, for there was no money tobuy a new pane of glass. In winter it was the duty ofeach of the thirty or forty pupils to find a log in the forest and carry it to school with them. If some of themforgot their contribution, the cold gradually crept backinto the classroom toward the end of the day, making

19

it impossible for the children to pay attention to theirlessons.
During his first year of school, Mikhaël was enthralled
when the teacher read the Bible account of creation.
It was a revelation of such beauty that he was eager
to share it with his family. As quickly as possible, helearned the story by heart, and when he was ready torecite it to them, he did so with such detail and contagious enthusiasm that the adults listened in astonishment, taken aback both by his knowledge and his
talent as a storyteller. For the rest of his life, Mikhaël
had a special fondness for the Book of Genesis. The
picture of God, whose word creates such wondrous
things, remained alive in his mind for many years.
On his sixth birthday Mikhaël received a booklet
about St Athanasius, whose feast fell on that day. Captivated and deeply moved by the beauty of a life ofgreat purity and loving dedication, he decided thenand there that he too would become ‘impeccable’.
This little book marked an important milestone in hislife and followed on a decision he had made two years
earlier: ‘At the age of four I had made up my mind
not to marry.’ This was a surprising choice in one so
young, and although he did not understand it himself,
he was deeply convinced it was the right thing for him.
As with all true mystics, his great sensitivity urged him
not only to seek beauty in the world around him but

20

also to withdraw into himself in search of the divine
source within. While still a small child he was capableof concentrating for hours at a time on some phenomenon of nature, and he often went off alone to reflect
on some words of his mother or grandmother that hehad taken to heart. But he was a high-spirited child,and as he sometimes said, ‘my behavior was not always
very orthodox’, and the emotions triggered by the lifeof St Athanasius were soon eroded by the reality of lifeat school and the difficulties occasioned by his impetuosity.
Indeed, the little boy’s turbulence was often a problem
for his neighbors and a cause of concern for his
mother. There is no doubt that the energy and exceptional inner strength with which he was endowed
would prove indispensable for his future work, but
his curiosity about everything often led him into trouble. Although his family were ready to recognize that
he meant well, they could not help but be angry andadminister punishment when his good intentions
ended in disaster. When the neighbors, exasperated
by his experiments with fire and the explosions of his
firecrackers, complained to his mother, she always
stood up for him and asked them to be patient.
‘You don’t know what he’s really like. He is troublesome now, but just wait: you’ll see how he turns out.’
She often thought back to the day of his birth. The
priest who had baptized Mikhaël, a holy old man much21

venerated by all the villagers, had surprised everyone
by drinking to his health. They knew that he nevertouched alcohol, but that day he raised his glass inthe traditional toast: ‘Na Zdrave!—Good health!’ Then,
turning to Dolia he added: ‘Truly, I have never known
such a thing. This child is different from others. He is
destined for great things, but he will have to choose
between good and evil.’
Dolia told her son one day that she had consecrated
him to God from the moment of his conception. She
could not know then that he would one day becomea great spiritual Master and guide for thousands, but
she dreamed of having a child who would be ‘a trueservant of God’, who would devote his life to spiritual
work. While she was carrying him, she had constantly
wished for him all that was most beautiful and perfect,
and while he was growing up she always appealed towhat was best and most noble in his character.
Mikhaël used to say that his mother had been his firstmodel. The education she gave him left an indelible
mark. With unerring intuition she always found simple words and images which appealed to his heart andmind and helped him understand that his turbulent
energies could be used constructively. She was always
calm and never beat him for his pranks, neither did
she try to force him to change. Instead, she appealed
to his intelligence by painting a vivid picture of what
he would become if he behaved badly or, on the other
hand, if he learned to control his impulses.

22‘Now you know what is in store for you. The choice
is up to you,’ she used to say, repeating the Bulgarianaxiom:
Krivdina do pladnina; pravdina do veknina: That
which is twisted will last until noon tomorrow; thatwhich is straight will last for all eternity.
Her methods had a powerful effect on the child. Eachtime she spoke to him in this way he longed to throw
himself into her arms and beg for forgiveness. ‘But
although I cried for hours, for she had touched me
deeply, I didn’t do so. My pride held me back…’ Dolia
had appealed to the best in him, to his most noble
ideal, and he could not forget her words. His love forhis mother went very deep, and the example of her
patience, her selflessness, and her love played a crucialrole in his life: ‘It was she who taught me to love andrespect all women.’His grandmother Astra was also an important influence in his life. He spent long moments at her knee
listening to fantastic stories, to mystical legends andfairy-tales, vivid accounts of the epic battles between
black and white magicians in which good triumphedover evil. Naturally, Mikhaël was always on the side of
the white magicians, and although he knew in advancethat every tale would end in the victory of good, likeall children he thrilled to a whole array of emotions as
he listened to the dangerous adventures of his heroes.

23

In the absence of Mikhaël’s father, the essential taskof forming and guiding the growing boy fell to hismother and grandmother. These two exceptional
women were always by his side to sustain him with
their love and wisdom, to help him to discover his
innate possibilities and teach him to channel all his
forces in the service of light. They had no way ofknowing what the future held for this child—theextreme poverty, and the derision, calumnies andbetrayals that he would have to endure before his mission would be fulfilled—but they prepared him to thebest of their ability for his future work.
Some of the family elders also had considerable influence on him. Most of them had no book-learning andhad never been to school, but their attitude manifested such kindness and dignity that Mikhaël considered them living examples. He had a special admiration for one old man who was also called Mikhaël.
When he talked, weighing every word and every gesture, he seemed to the child the personification of wisdom. Like Astra, he was a wonderful story-teller, andwhenever he came to spend the evening with the family, he regaled Mikhaël with tales of the triumph oflove over hatred, of light over darkness. These old folk
tales, full of esoteric symbolism, nourished the child’s
mind and stimulated his ideal to become a true champion of the light.

24

Notes
1.
2.

O.M.A., Talk on August 13, 1978.
In Bulgaria, as in Russia, children are called by the familyname to which is added the first name of their father. Thus
Mikhaël would be called Mikhaël Ivanov Dimitrov,meaning Mikhaël, son of Ivan Dimitrov. For most of his life
he would be known as Mikhaël Ivanov. Note that the final‘v’ in Bulgarian is pronounced as ‘f’. This is why, when
Mikhaël first went to France, he would spell his name as‘Ivanoff’ so that it would match the pronunciation. It was
only later that the surname Ivanov was changed toAïvanhov.

3.

February 3rd, 1963.

4.

‘We must Never Sever the Link’ in Cosmic Moral Law.

5.

March 27th, 1945.

6. Three Kinds of Fire’ in The Splendours of Tiphareth.

25

2

#

‘Hear, my Son…’
In 1907, a few months after Mikhaël’s seventh birthday,
a tragic event changed the course of his life. One day,as he was walking by himself outside the village, he
saw a troop of armed men on the road. They werestill some distance away but approaching rapidly. In
alarm, Mikhaël ran as fast as he could toward the village, shouting a warning to a group of peasants at workin the fields and gesturing to them to flee. With great
presence of mind he led them to the river where theywould be concealed by the tall reeds that lined theriver bank. With his mother and other members of thefamily and all the villagers who had been warned intime, Mikhaël spent the rest of the day and well into
the night plunged to the neck in the icy water, whilethe soldiers looted and set fire to the houses, shooting
all those who had been unable to flee.
That night Dolia made up her mind to leave with
Mikhaël and join her husband in Varna, in the northeast of Bulgaria. Sadly, this meant leaving Astra, who
decided to remain in the village with those whoplanned to rebuild their houses. For Mikhaël, who hadsuch a close relationship with his grandmother, thedeparture from Serbtzi must have been deeply distressing. In haste, with a small group of villagers who
had also decided to leave, Dolia and Mikhaël set out
for the north, traveling mainly on foot or in muledrawn carts, avoiding towns and villages for fear of
meeting other bands of marauders. After a while they
were able to board a train that took them to the BlackSea coast.
In 1907, Varna, the ancient Black Sea port of Odessos
founded by the Greeks in the 6th Century, was a cityof some 40,000 inhabitants. On their arrival, Dolia and
Mikhaël found temporary shelter with a Macedonian
friend, while Ivan looked for something more permanent in the vicinity of his office in the Turkish quarter.
The accommodation he found for them was a single
room in the home of another Macedonian friend. It
was a spacious house in Pleven Street—now renamed
Kapitan Petko Voïvoda Street—which had once
belonged to the bey, the Turkish governor of the district, and the present owner had taken in several fam-27

ilies of Macedonian refugees, each of which occupied
one room.
For the little boy, the difference between this new
home and his former environment was extreme. At
the time, the Turkish quarter was virtually a slum, alabyrinth of narrow, dusty alleys and miserable shacksin the south-east of the town, close to the sea. Manyof the houses had a secret door concealed within thewalls leading into the next house—a useful precaution
in these troubled times, when the Ottoman police
were still very active.
Relations between the families of the neighborhood—Turkish, Macedonian, and Bulgarian—seem tohave been amicable enough, and the children spoke
both Bulgarian and Turkish. But all that Mikhaël saw
and heard was unfamiliar, not least the Turkish
priest—the Mullah—who occasionally visited theowner of the house and his numerous tenants. There
were no more fields of wheat, no fresh vegetables or
milk. All their food had to be bought from the market
stalls or shops.
Although Mikhaël’s parents were quite well off at thistime, they always lived simply like those around them.
It was because of his work that Ivan had chosen to livein the poorest quarter of the town, but his businesshad been established for about ten years and was now
a prosperous concern with twenty or more employees

28

working in a large tract of forest outside Varna. He wasin a position to make plans for his son’s education.
After the first few months, Mikhaël began to feel more
at home in the town, but his first spring in Varna musthave seemed very different from that he had known
in his native village. Here, the peach and almond trees
were coming into flower, and the occasional walnut
tree was breaking into leaf in the backyards and spareplots of land. Even the Turkish quarter took on a festive air when its few meager trees began to blossom,
but it could not compare with Serbtzi, where with thecoming of the first warm days, the whole of nature
seemed to burst out in an explosion of joy.
Every year on March 1, it was the custom for young
and old alike to celebrate the approach of spring by
wearing a red and white pompon or bow, while thegirls plaited ribbons in their hair. The significance of
this age-old tradition had long been forgotten, but it
was still honored both in town and country. Naturally,
Mikhaël knew nothing of the symbolism at the time,
but many years later he explained that red and white
represent the masculine and feminine principles atwork in nature.
The decorations were worn until the appearance ofthe first storks, omens of good fortune, when it was thecustom for everyone to make a wish. Dolia, like all theother mothers, made two little balls of red and whitewool for Mikhaël to wear, and soon the coming of the29

storks gave him the opportunity to make one of thosewishes that are born only in the hearts of children. For
weeks after those first days of spring, every bush, railing, or lamppost was decorated with discarded red andwhite pompons and ribbons.
For Mikhaël, the highlight of this period was the feastof Easter. His family, like most Bulgarians, belonged to
the Orthodox Church. Each evening Ivan lit the small
votive lamp in front of the icon in their home while
the family prayed together for God’s protection during the night.
The people of Bulgaria had been Christian since AD
865, during the reign of King Boris I, and throughout
the five centuries of Ottoman rule the majority had
held staunchly to their Christian faith. But the dioceses in Bulgaria were subject to the Greek Orthodox
patriarchate of Constantinople, and little by little,
Greek had replaced Bulgarian as the language in the
churches and even the schools. At the beginning of
the 20th century, however, the vernacular was beginning to come into its own again. Not many years
before, Konstantin Deunovski, the priest in charge ofthe local parish, had restored the liturgy in Bulgarian.
Ten years later, it was Peter Deunov, the son of thispriest, who was to become Mikhaël’s spiritual guide.
During the week before Easter a great bustle of preparations went on in all the families. On Holy Thursday,
quantities of sweet rolls had to be baked, and hard-30

boiled eggs painted. The first egg was always painted
red, the color that symbolizes life, and placed before
the family icon. Other eggs were then painted all thecolors of the rainbow. Toward eight or nine o’clock on
Saturday evening, the faithful gathered in the church
for the liturgy that would last until the early hoursof Sunday morning. For Mikhaël, this was the highpoint, a ceremony that was a magical manifestation oflight. The shimmering vestments of the celebrants, thegolden crown studded with precious stones, the voicesof men and women rising in great waves of sacredmusic that filled the church, the shadows that gradually receded and disappeared as the congregation lit
their candles—all this impressed itself indelibly on his
memory. Looking at the multitude of flames that lit
the people’s faces, that dissolved the darkness and illuminated the gold of the icons, he had the impression1
that cohorts of fire were on the march.
But the ceremony lasted for several hours, and he wasrelieved when at last he could go out into the fresh air
and join other children in the game of striking theireggs together, each attempting to break others while
keeping their own intact. The broken eggs were eatenon the spot, while the one that survived unbroken wasplaced before an icon in the church until the following
year, as a symbol of life.
***
At the age of eight Mikhaël was already very attentive

31

to all that went on around him. Each experience inthese years of childhood was necessary to his future
understanding of the inner workings of the material
world: he was eager to see how things were made. He
adored fireworks and everything that had any connection, however remote, with fire. The long moments hespent reflecting on each new discovery were vital tohis intelligence, which sought instinctively to draw theright conclusions from the phenomena stored in his
memory. Paradoxically, he often seemed to be absent,
as though his soul floated on a higher plane, as though
his spirit had not fully taken possession of his body.
As he explained later, the first years of life are a special
period during which a child often lives outside itself,
as if in a cloud, while subconsciously preparing toreceive the spirit. The length of this period may varyconsiderably; in his case it lasted until he was nearlynine. Instead of mixing with other children and taking
part in their games, he often stood aside and reflected
about things.
For no apparent reason I was subject to occasional feelings of sadness that swept over me. In the eighth monthof her pregnancy my mother had had a deeply distressing experience, and that distress had taken root in me. I
have always had to struggle against this tendency. … Asa child I would watch other children playing without
joining in their games. I would not play or run about orsing with them. I just stood and thought.232

It was during his eighth year that he began to associate
more with other children, but in such a neighborhood
Mikhaël’s choice of playmates was very limited. Mostof the children he met in the streets were wild andunruly. The urban population of those times was
deeply marked by interminable years of civil war anda brutal political regime, and the children, left to theirown devices, often formed gangs and fell into bad
ways. On several occasions they tried to lead him
astray and persuade him to steal or join in their vandalism. They soon learned that although his dynamic
temperament and his openness and eagerness to
explore and learn about everything made him as
adventurous as any of them, he could never be persuaded to wrong another human being.
My mind was busy with other things. What would I
have become if I had joined them? Why did I refuse?
I have thought a lot about that since. In any case mydoings were not always very orthodox! I often got up tomischief, I set fire to things and set off explosions, but I
refused to join those ruffians. I was a ruffian myself, but
all alone. I was not about to join the others. Independent and free… And the invisible world was watchingover me.3
At the same time, he was so guileless and so ignorantof their sly ways of avoiding punishment that he often
became their scapegoat. When they took to their heels
after some misdeed, he remained glued to the spotwith nothing to say in his own defense. And as he33

never named the true culprits, he was often beaten in
their place. Even his mother punished him sometimes,
when he had been with a group of children that had
done some serious damage. But Mikhaël was not completely naïve: after igniting a fire-cracker he was quick
to run away, even though he knew he would have to
face the music when he returned home, for the neighbors would have already complained to his mother.
One day, however, having been falsely accused yet
again, he was so upset by his parents’ lack of understanding that he decided to leave home. Not knowing
where to go, he wandered down Dounavska Street to
the railway station, where he spent some time watching the passengers coming and going, and thinking
about his situation.
Suddenly, the busy scene lost all interest for him.
Anxiety gripped him when he realized that, for the
first time in his life, at eight years old, he was facedwith a serious problem that he was quite unable toresolve by himself. Night was coming on; it was growing rapidly colder, and in spite of his unhappiness, he
was beginning to be hungry. Above all, he had no idea
where he could sleep that night. Unable to bring himself to return home, he decided that his most urgent
problem was to find somewhere to spend the night.
Leaving the station, he set out briskly in the directionof the sea. To his relief the solution soon presented
itself in the shape of a large bale of straw. ‘That will do
perfectly,’ thought Mikhaël to himself, and it was with34

a sense of real freedom that he slipped under a layerof straw and, forgetful of his empty stomach, was soon
fast asleep.
Meanwhile, Dolia was scouring the streets in searchof him. As the evening wore on she became more andmore worried, unable to prevent herself from imagining all the terrible things that might have happened tohim.
Early next morning Mikhaël was awoken by a railway
worker, who asked him what he was doing there.
‘I’ve left my family…’‘What, left your family? Go home right away or I’ll
hand you over to the police!’
Mikhaël plucked up courage and made his way home,where his parents greeted him with exclamations ofjoy. His mother, who understood him so well, hugged
him close, without a word of reproach.
Reassured and comforted by such a welcome, Mikhaël
realized that nowhere in the world could he be betteroff than with his own family. He had to admit in allhonesty that in leaving home he had wanted to makehis parents feel that they misunderstood him. Speaking of this in later years, he said that afterwards his‘inner counselors’ had talked to him at length about
his behavior, and he had taken what they said to heart.
But most human beings, he added, behave in this way

35

toward their heavenly parents: they want to be free
and independent, so they ‘leave home’ and look forhappiness elsewhere. ‘We want to punish God for reprimanding us and trying to get us to mend our ways.’***
The happiness that Mikhaël enjoyed in his familylasted barely a year and a half. In the autumn of thatyear his father fell seriously ill and within a few days
was at death’s door. Realizing the gravity of his illness,
Ivan worried about leaving his wife alone to fend forherself, Mikhaël, and Alexander, the new baby of
three months, and advised Dolia to marry a goodfriend of his. On October 3, 1908, he died.
Dolia knew nothing about her husband’s business andwas at a loss to know what to do to save it. A numberof people took advantage of her ignorance to cheat her
out of her due, and by the time they had had their way,
she found herself at the age of thirty-three with twochildren, in mourning for her husband, and almost
destitute. Her anguish was so great that her health wasseriously affected for a long time.
In this time of distress Mikhaël did his best to take careof his mother. He prepared the meals, looked after his
baby brother and tried to keep their room clean andtidy. He had been doing his share of domestic chores
for some time by then, so it was not this aspect of thesituation that he found hardest: it was his mother’s

36extreme desolation that alarmed him. Not quite nine
years old, he felt terribly young and helpless. One day,at last, help was forthcoming: the Macedonian friend
who had sheltered them on their arrival in Varna
appeared at the door laden with a big bag of food. She
had come to take care of his mother and the baby.
As soon as Dolia was up and about again she took
steps to save her little family from utter ruin. After discussion with the shareholders of her husband’s business she finally succeeded in obtaining some compensation for all she had lost: she was given the use of ahouse in Dounavska Street, not far from where she
had lived for such a short time with Ivan.
Their new home was a small, rustic house built ofwood and cob in the Turkish style, divided into tiny
rooms. A separate kitchen in which they could havetheir meals was built at right angles to the main building. Part of the ground floor was set off from the houseto serve as a stable, and to Mikhaël’s great delight, abuckthorn had taken root in the floor of the stable andgrown out through the window, shading the front of
the house with its luxuriant foliage.
The security afforded by this little house was relative,
for Dolia had no income, and in those times it wasalmost impossible for a woman alone to provide forherself and two children. Once the period of mourning was past, seeing no alternative, she agreed to marrythe friend Ivan had spoken about, a widower with one

37

small boy. In the course of their marriage they would
have two daughters and a son.
Now, at least, Dolia was not alone, but as her husband
was not always able to earn enough for their needs,
with time their extreme poverty only seemed to getworse. In spite of her efforts to save every penny, Dolia
often found herself unable to provide the children
with the food they needed. Like all housewives of her
country, she spent long hours spinning, weaving, or
sewing their clothes, but she had no money to buy
shoes for them, and for years they went barefoot.
Later, Mikhaël would say that it was the difficulties ofthis life of poverty that had allowed him to cultivate
the most essential moral qualities and acquire strengthof character and will-power. The obligation to rise
above material privations had helped him to develop
his innate mysticism. Like so many other young children in those troubled times, he was deprived of afather, but Dolia, his unassuming but tireless guideand mentor, was a little lamp that illuminated his path.
In the spring following his father’s death, an apparently insignificant incident threw a tiny ray of lighton one of the aspects of his future. Several comrades
arrived one day in great excitement to tell him that thegypsies had pitched their tents in the town. Nomadic
gypsies or romanies were a familiar part of the Bulgarian landscape. They claimed to have come originally from India—their language contained a number38

of words of Indian origin—and every spring they
moved from village to village, camping with their tents
and caravans wherever there was work to be had in
the fields. On the outskirts of the towns they set up as
showmen, fortune-tellers or tinkers.
One of the gypsies that had just arrived in Varna wasa well-known clairvoyant, and Mikhaël decided to gowith his friends to see her. He had long been familiar
with the existence of clairvoyants and healers, and his
mother had often told him amazing tales about the
famous clairvoyant Cortez. What would this gypsy
woman have to say about his future? As soon as heapproached, without looking at his hand as was customary, she said: ‘You have many enemies.’‘How can I have many enemies?’ asked Mikhaël inastonishment.
At nine years old… Many enemies? Flustered and obviously ill at ease, the old crone added:‘Don’t worry. You have many friends as well.’
But Mikhaël protested:‘Why do you keep saying something different?’
Her only reply was a surly mutter:‘I can’t tell you more than that. Everything is mixed up
in my head.’39

Without looking at him, she held out her hand as
though to ask for money, but almost immediately
withdrew it and hurried off to her wagon. Mikhaël
went home disappointed that the old gypsy woman
had not lived up to her reputation. It was only many
years later, faced with the destructive forces thatwould try to crush him and destroy his work, that hewas to remember the old woman’s words and theveiled prediction they contained.
***
During the school holidays, Mikhaël had his first experience of work when he was taken on as an apprenticeby the local blacksmith. For months he had been
watching from a distance as the smith worked. Eachtime he saw a piece of metal change from dense,
opaque black to a glowing, incandescent red, his fascination grew, and he was drawn back again and again
to the spectacle. What impressed him the most was tosee that, when put into the hot coals, the metal itself
became like fire, and became burning hot, malleable
and luminous.
One day he made up his mind: abandoning his observation post by the door, he walked boldly into thesmithy and asked to be taken on as an apprentice. He
was hired on the spot, and the first thing he learned
was to pump the bellows that kept the fire hot. Notlong after this, his dream came true: the smith, seeing

40his perseverance, agreed to teach him to hammer apiece of incandescent iron and give it a new shape.
Mikhaël watched closely, and each time the big burly
man in his leather apron brought his hammer down on
the anvil, he did the same, trying to keep to the same
rhythm. To his delight, every blow produced sheavesof sparks which fell all around them. Many of the
sparks burned his bare feet, but he continued undeterred. In the evening he returned home exhausted,
his feet covered with blisters, and proudly handed his
mother the twenty stotinki (cents) he had earned thatday.
Mikhaël’s apprenticeship at the forge lasted several
weeks. It was an opportunity for him to observe andreflect on the phenomenon of fire, on the behaviorof the smith, and on the effect the work had on himself. This, his first job, seems to have been an event ofimportance in his youth. In later years, he was fond oftalking about how a flame communicates its heat andlight to metal. He compared a human being to a pieceof iron, saying that each of us, in contact with divine
fire, is capable of becoming radiant, luminous, and fullof warmth.
His love of fire led to other discoveries as well. One day
he noticed that this element that had such a vital rolein nature could be extremely beneficial for his health.
Intuitively, he understood that a wood fire contained
subtle, curative elements.

41

It is only now that I understand what I did. My subconscious must have retained memories of a past in which
fire had played a role in my life. I held my hands out tothe flames and through the tips of my fingers I received
the solar energy, the life and health that filtered intome. … The vital energy of trees can be transformed into
health, happiness, and joy if you know how to do it …
and I went to sleep with a feeling of great love and gratitude for the warmth. When I woke up I was cured…4
It was about this time that Mikhaël first discovered
music, and it came about through his encounter witha strange character known to the inhabitants of Varnaas ‘the madman.’ Once a well-known conductor, he
had lost his mind owing to a great personal tragedy.
Since then, asking permission from no one, he hadtaken up residence in the clock tower near the cathedral and spent his days wandering the streets, a beatificsmile on his face. When children laughed at or tormented him, he simply smiled and patted them on
the head. Sometimes, to the delight of passers-by, hebroke into loud and soulful song.
It was this eccentric being who first introduced
Mikhaël to music. He became fond of the little boy
who listened with such respect to his singing and who
never tried to bait him. When Mikhaël climbed to the
top of the clock tower in search of him, the old man
welcomed him warmly and sang for him. Little by little, the child became familiar with the music he heard
in this way, and soon he was proud to be able to say:42

‘Sing me something from Trovatore. Sing an aria from
Aida.’At this, the old man would close his eyes, letting inspiration come to him. Then, his expression radiant, hewould jump on the pendulum of the great clock andswing from it, singing all the songs his young friend
asked for. There was something about those arias thatappealed to Mikhaël’s sense of the romantic. Poetic
scenes filled his imagination and mystical sensations
seemed to flow through his whole being. He listened
to his strange teacher for hours, often joining his voice
to his, and was soon able to sing a great many classicalarias. These new horizons transformed his life andfrom then on he developed a passionate love of music.
Once a child discovers music, other doors are open tohim, for there is a subtle link between the arts, each
one stimulating and nurturing the others. Thus
Mikhaël also learned to love the theater and the cinema, but as he had no pocket-money he could never
buy a ticket for the performances. One day he decided
to try to slip into the cinema by mingling with thecrowd of spectators, and to his delight, no one noticed
or stopped him. Emboldened by his success, hereturned again and again, often seeing the same film
or play several times in succession. Before long, thisbecame much easier when some of the actors
befriended him and gave him free tickets.
Stimulated by the theater, his powers of observation

43

developed rapidly. In the years that followed, Mikhaël
studied with passionate attention the subtleties of theactors’ technique. Some seemed to him colorless andwithout personal magnetism. Listening to them he
was astonished to realize that their tears, laughter, andanger were all equally unconvincing. There was a hollowness behind their words, while others could so easily make their audience laugh or cry, or transport them
to a world of dreams. An Armenian called Chaxtoun
was particularly remarkable: as soon as he came onstage a thrill of anticipation ran through the audience.
Even when his back was turned, his whole being
vibrated with such an emotional charge that the audience held their breath.
In spite of his youth, Mikhaël sensed the invisible reality underlying the things he observed and was deeply
struck by the realization that the spiritual essence emanating from a human being is capable of moving great
numbers of people, even the most apathetic. Also,
when he saw two actors having a drink together one
day, after quarrelling violently moments before on
stage, he realized that the theater reflected life. Those
actors were like enemies, who, meeting in the next
world after death, understood how stupid they had
been to fight over things of no importance. Once theyrealized that the purpose of all the obstacles, criticism,and opposition they had encountered was to teachthem something and stimulate their development,
they were able to embrace and forgive each other.

44

***
That year, Mikhaël’s life entered a new phase. He wasnow nine, and his childhood was slipping away. The
death of his father, his mother’s illness, his new
responsibility toward his young brother, the selfdiscipline that his work in the smithy had required ofhim—all these things had matured him and preparedhim for the powerful spiritual shock that came to him
at this time.
Once again, it was a book that occasioned the event.
Without fully realizing what it was, he borrowed theBook of Proverbs from the school library, andalthough still a little young for reading matter of thiskind, was bowled over by certain passages about wisdom. He had the feeling that one in particular was
directly addressed to him:
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and do not
reject your mother’s teaching; for they are a fair garland
for your head, and pendants for your neck. My child, if
sinners entice you, do not consent.
The effect these words had on him was extraordinary.
Of course, he did not understand all that Proverbs said
about wisdom, but he took the book home to reread
the passages he liked best, those that filled him withardor and nourished his ideal of becoming a great sage.
Touched to the depths of his heart, his gaze turned
inward:45

There was a great upheaval within me: tears and sighs,
and the longing to become a saint, a prophet. What atransformation! I cried for three days and nights, asking God to forgive my ‘crimes.’ Not that I had committed any crimes, but in my conscience I felt that I had!5
This new impetus to his heart and mind was the beginning of a spiritual ascent that continued without flagging amid all the difficulties normal to a growing boy.
From this time on, he was committed to a personalquest for wisdom, and the orientation of his life began
to take shape. Having been ‘absent’ until the age ofnine, he had suddenly taken possession of the ‘threerooms of his house’—mind, heart, and will. Everything was changed, and he did his best to live according to the precepts of the Book of Proverbs. With
lightness of heart he determined to avoid any experiments that might endanger his own peace of mind andthat of his neighbors.
But at that age, in spite of his spiritual ardor, the shockof his encounter with Solomon’s wisdom could nottransform him completely. As he himself admitted,
the flame that had been lit within him graduallyburned lower as the year went on, and his dynamic
temperament led him to revert to his favorite pastimes.
And even when I was a little older, ten or eleven, I still
set off firecrackers and explosions with black powder. I
just loved that! But, of course all the neighbors camepouring out of their houses and I took to my heels…

46

That was cowardly, I know, but if I hadn’t run away
there would have been nothing left of me. My instincts
told me that, you see. I had developed my own radar,
my antennae… But, of course, running away couldn’t
save me, because by the time I got home my mother had
heard about it from the neighbors.6
The strategic battles waged by the children of theneighborhood also provided a good outlet for his surplus energies. Before he completely discarded the waysof childhood, two more reminders would be necessary,
one when he was ten, the other two years later.
One day, out for a stroll with a comrade, he came to apeddler’s stall and began browsing through a booklet
about a saint who had mastered his passions andbecome a great sage. Reluctantly, he put the bookdown, thinking, ‘Ah, if only I could buy it!’
‘It’s only one lev,’ said the peddler.
For Mikhaël that was a lot of money, and regretfully heturned away and walked on.
‘If heaven lets me find the money,’ he said to his friend,‘I’ll buy the book and give what’s left over to a beggar.’
Suddenly he stopped; there at his feet was a lev. The
book was his! Back in his room, he lost himself in thestory, and once again an overwhelming enthusiasm forbeauty, purity, and wisdom swept over him. At thesame time, he reproached himself bitterly for his fail-47

ure to live up to his ideal of perfection. Concentratingwith all his might, he repeated over and over again: ‘Iwill be a saint, a prophet.’
It was in the summer following his twelfth birthdaythat another book sounded a final alert. Mikhaël was
spending the summer holidays in the forest outside
the town with his stepfather and his fellow charcoal
burners. While making himself useful in small ways,
he spent much of his time watching the men at workas they cut two-foot lengths of wood, stacked them ina tall pyramids, and then covered them with soil, taking care to arrange small vents to ensure the minimum
ventilation required. Two weeks were spent on these
preparations, and another two weeks passed before
the wood was completely charred and ready for use.
The sacks of charcoal were then loaded on a donkey
cart and taken to the town for sale.
The charcoal burners, who were fond of the young boy
and treated him as their own son, built a tiny cabin for
him in a tree, which he could reach by a ladder. One
day, to give the boy something to do to while away histime, one of them took a small book from his pocket
and handed it to him. When Mikhaël saw that it wasa book of the Gospels, he climbed up into his tree toread it in peace.
The Gospels were not unknown to him, of course, forhe heard passages read aloud every Sunday in church,
but his encounter with them that day in the quiet of48

the forest was an experience of a totally different kind.
As he read, his fascination grew, and the compassion
and loving kindness of Jesus moved him deeply. It waswhen he reached the description of Jesus deliveringa man of the demons that possessed him that something happened in his soul: he had a vivid sensationof being actually in Palestine with Jesus. He saw thepoor wretch whom no one could control; he saw Jesus
drive the demons from him and send them into a herdof swine; he saw the swine hurtling down the cliff anddrowning. Unable to detach his gaze from the man
who had once been possessed and who now sat at
Jesus’ feet, whole and perfectly calm, he found himself
admiring his intelligent, sensitive face, his eyes illuminated by a new light of hope. And he sensed the crowd
standing all about, dumbfounded by the metamorphosis they had witnessed.
Mikhaël found himself immersed anew in the atmosphere of Solomon’s wisdom. He could think of nothing but that poor, crazed man who had been restored
to his senses:
Again I wept. Again I determined to become a saintand a prophet. Again I saw myself as a worthless creature who spent his time pestering others. My motherhad always taught me to behave wisely and rationally,
but my good resolutions had never lasted very long.
But this time was different. This time everything within
me was in tumult because of that passage that had
so impressed me and particularly because of those few,

49

simple words describing the man sitting there, his mind
restored to a state of peace and quiet.7
That long holiday in the midst of nature, far from thenoise of city life and the distracting presence of his
boisterous comrades, gave Mikhaël the setting heneeded to assimilate this new spiritual experience inwhich Jesus had become his model. He felt happierand more at home in the forest than anywhere else. In
the presence of all those trees he had a deep sense ofcontentment that seemed to rise from some mysterious memory hidden in the very cells of his body.
It must have been shortly after this encounter with theGospels that he resolved to purify himself by fasting.
As his mother recounted, at the age of twelve, he andtwo comrades decided to fast for as long as possible.
They went and hid in a cabin on the shore of a nearby
lake. His friends soon abandoned their fast, but as they
kept Mikhaël’s hiding place secret, I spent several days
searching everywhere for him, until one of the boys
made up his mind to tell me where he was. When I
finally found him I gave him the most severe scolding
he had ever had from me, after which I burst into tears.
Then I took him home and gave him a cup of light
broth.
Although in this case the two other boys had been
unable to stay the course, there were many occasions
on which Mikhaël’s friends followed his example. His

50

influence with them was already considerable, andwithout realizing it himself, he was often their leader.
***
The social context in which these children were growing up was extremely violent. Periodical outbreaks of
war and insurrection ravaged the country, and thepolitical situation was as unstable as that of Macedonia. The Ottoman yoke had been thrown off in 1908,
but the country was still not at peace. Four years later,in October of 1912, church bells rang out in Varna andthroughout Bulgaria, announcing the mobilization of
all the men fit to fight. The First Balkan War had
begun. It did not last long: on December 3, anarmistice was signed, and when the people of Varna
learned that Turkey had lost almost all its territories in
Europe, they poured into the streets to celebrate.
Like all the children of his time, Mikhaël had often
heard of the atrocities perpetrated under Ottoman
rule, and on the day of the armistice he joined in thegeneral enthusiasm. Accompanied by a few friends,
he ran to the Turkish legation with the intention ofpulling down the Ottoman flag, the symbol of tyranny
and injustice. Of course, it was he who climbed onto
the roof, but just as he managed to remove the flagfrom its staff, the police appeared, and his comrades
vanished into thin air. With no time to escape,Mikhaël was left, still clutching the flag, to face themusic alone.

51

Flanked by mounted police, he was marched throughthe town to the police station and told to wait. At first,
standing in a corner of the room watching the men,he thought they looked very severe and felt sure hewould be punished. Perhaps he would even be put inprison. But it was not long before he realized that thepolicemen could barely conceal their smiles as they
whispered among themselves. In the end, with a halfhearted reprimand that deceived no one, they sent him
home. Amused by the audacity of this young boy who
had done something they were not at liberty to do,they could not find it in their hearts to punish him.
They knew that for him and his comrades that flag represented oppression and tyranny. All children dreamof heroic deeds, and Mikhaël was no exception.
For the next few years, he spent his summer holidays
doing temporary work in various factories and workshops. The experience satisfied his eagerness to learn
about life, to understand his fellow workers and thecomplexities of human relations. Also, he wasdelighted to be able to contribute what little he earned
to the family’s finances.
The different settings in which he worked provided
ample matter for observation and reflection. His firstexperience was in a tailor’s shop and lasted no morethan a day, for he soon found the work too foreign to
his nature. To have to sit down all day long was torture
to him, and after only a few hours he was so overcome
with boredom that he fell fast asleep.

52

A little later he applied to a local candy factory which
was hiring workers. The foreman explained the task
to him, but Mikhaël did not begin immediately. Only
after watching the other employees to see how they
carried out the different tasks did he start to work withconcentration and precision. On that first day in thefactory he was surprised to learn that the workers were
free to eat as many candies as they wanted. Enthusiastically availing himself of this permission, he waspuzzled to see that each time he helped himself, his fellow workers exchanged amused glances, but it was notlong before he understood, as his appetite for sweetthings vanished. He was never to forget the lesson: toomuch of a good thing spoils all the pleasure.
At another time he worked in a factory that produced
pastels. By then he was beginning to be at ease in theworking world, and once he had mastered the techniques he had been shown he ventured to invent a
new method by which he achieved the same result as
his fellow workers in less time and with less effort. His
initiative won him a bonus from his employer, who
had been watching this enterprising young worker.
Thanks to these summer jobs, Mikhaël learned therudiments of several different trades, including that ofmason and carpenter. All that he saw and experienced
during these years became matter for reflection: theway people worked, the way their work affected them,
the relations between employers and employees, their53

discussions and disputes. He gained valuable insight
into the problems, joys, and pains of their daily lives.

Notes
1.

Our references to Mikhaël’s thoughts or feelings or hisstate of mind are strictly based on his own reflections
described in his talks. The same is true for the reported
dialogues.

2.

May 5, 1943.

3.

July 29, 1980.

4.

August 24, 1958, and ‘The Power of Fire’ in The Fruits of theTree of Life.

5.

1960 (Exact date unknown).

6.

Ibid.

7.

July 17, 1966.

54

3

#

The Aspirationsof AdolescenceAt the time of Mikhaël’s youth, a child who wanted tolearn had no problem finding books, for most towns
and villages in Bulgaria boasted a reading room. In
fact, the public reading room was considered, together
with church and school, to be one of the pillars ofsociety. Mikhaël was already a regular visitor to theschool library, and several of his teachers, aware of histhirst for learning and the extreme poverty of his family, were always ready to lend him books.
At home, however, he did not have the peace and quiet
he needed for study and reflection. His brother
Alexander and his stepbrother were both muchyounger than he, and he now had two baby sisters.
Dolia, seeing how much he suffered from his lack ofprivacy, managed to arrange a small room for him,with a window looking out onto the roof of the
kitchen. This room soon became a cherished haven inwhich Mikhaël passed long hours reading and learning
to meditate.
His reading had already introduced him to the major
themes of initiatic science of ancient Egypt, Greece,
India, and Tibet, and at the age of thirteen he encountered the Buddha, who was to become for him a model
second only to Jesus. Influenced also by his study of
Hindu philosophers, he began to practice yoga inorder, as he said later, to develop his will-power andhis ‘secret faculties.’ A book by the American yogi
Ramacharaka, author of several books about Hathayoga, made a powerful impression on him. On learning that the aim of Hatha-yoga—based principally on atechnique of rhythmic breathing—was to lead adepts
to the mastery of their thought processes throughbreath-control, Mikhaël began to practice these exercises every day with unrelenting resolve. Between theages of twelve and fifteen his psychic and spiritualdevelopment seems to have been extremely rapid.
But books on spirituality were not the only kind thatinterested him; he also devoured adventure stories,
and the novels of Jules Verne in particular opened fascinating new horizons. He sensed that authors like
Verne, who were capable of describing as yet unknown

56

physical phenomena, must possess a highly developed
intuition which gave them direct access to the invisible resources of nature. It was also in this sense thatthe study of chemistry held his attention for quite
some time. With his mother’s permission, he transformed the horse’s stable into a laboratory, and bysome prodigy of economy known only to herself,
Dolia bought him a glass retort. His predilection forfire and eruptions being well known, no one was surprised when the first thing he did was to make some
explosive.
Mikhaël was passionately interested in everythingaround him. His temperament continually drove him
to get to the bottom of things, to investigate andextract the last drop of life-giving sap from every new
discovery. The more he learned, the more convinced
he became that every physical phenomenon wasmatched by a corresponding spiritual phenomenon.
Thus the drop of mercury, like a bright, mobile jewel
rolling in the hollow of his hand, showed that impurity
tarnishes and divides, whereas purity ensures integrity
and unity. Once broken into smaller drops and sprinkled with dust, the mercury could never become one
again.
Gradually, however, Mikhaël was no longer content
to confine his experiments to the physical plane. The
object of his quest was on another level, and he turned
his attention to the study of psychic phenomena. His
first introduction to the books of Louis Jacolliot

57

opened marvelous new perspectives on the powers ofthought and the existence of mysterious, invisible
forces that could be used by human beings in the visible world. Jacolliot claimed that while in India he had
witnessed public demonstrations of the fantastic powers of fakirs: he had seen them plant a seed and withina few hours, by the power of thought alone, cause it togrow and produce flowers and fruit.
Mikhaël’s reaction to this was to reflect that thetremendous power behind such exploits should be
used for a nobler purpose than to impress the idle
onlooker. He was determined to work on a higher
plane than such fakirs. But first he needed to find out
whether he was actually capable of getting results
through mental concentration alone.
One of his first experiments took place in the Morskata
Gradina (the Garden of the Sea), the park that runs
along the shore of the Black Sea from north to southof Varna. Seeing that all the seats in the park were
fully occupied, he focused on a man sitting on a distant bench, repeating in his mind: ‘Get up. Go on,
get up!’ Within a few seconds the man stood up andwalked away, and Mikhaël sat down in his place. He
was still young enough to have a great sense of satisfaction as he took that seat… he had earned it!
He repeated the experiment several times to be surethat the result was not a question of chance. In thesame way, he practiced sending mental suggestions to58his friends, directing them from a distance to makesome harmless gesture: he persuaded one of them totake off his beret, another to pick up something fromthe ground. On one occasion, seeing a comrade coming toward him, he concentrated on his right foot tomake him stop walking. But when he saw the boy
pause and lean against a tree with a worried expression
on his face, he was overcome with remorse and hurried over to reassure him as best he could. Fortunately,
everything was soon back to normal.
By the time he was fourteen, Mikhaël had begun to
be aware of the mysterious powers of his own subconscious, and with this came a glimpse of the breathtaking possibilities before him. Judging by the experiments that absorbed his attention at that time, he wasalready familiar with concepts recognized by many different philosophies. He was aware, for example, of theexistence of man’s subtle bodies—astral, mental,
causal, buddhic, and atmic—and of the system of the
chakras, those subtle force-centers lying along the
spinal column.
Exactly when Mikhaël discovered that human beings
have the power, consciously or unconsciously, to leave
their physical bodies and move about on the invisible
planes is not known. He may not yet have been familiar with the spontaneous disassociation that is often
triggered by the trauma of an accident or a surgicalintervention, but we do know that several years later
he was able to enlighten an ex-serviceman who told

59

him that, when in a coma, he had found himself outside his physical body and had watched the surgeonsat work on him as he lay unconscious on the operatingtable. But certainly, by the time he was fourteen,
Mikhaël knew that the great mystics experienced phenomena of this sort, and it is evident that he hadalready discovered them for himself, for he began to
introduce his friends to the idea that they too had thispower.
From his extensive reading, he knew that if you can
induce a ‘higher state’ in people, they will be capable ofsupernatural perceptions. He wanted so much to givehis friends a chance to perceive these new horizons,in particular the splendors of the invisible world thatwere beginning to be revealed to him. When he proposed experiments of this kind to his friends, severalof them agreed to let him hypnotize them. To be on
the safe side, he invited their parents to be present. On
his very first attempt, he succeeded in putting his subject into a disassociation trance, and the parents saw
for themselves that their son could feel nothing in his
physical body, for his etheric body was detached fromit. One day, however, Mikhaël had great difficulty inbringing a subject out of his trance, and recognizing
the dangers of this science which could so easily be
used to dominate others, he abandoned it once and forall.
The experiments of those early years were no morethan a preparation for things of far greater importance60

which lay in the future. It is impossible to say how
many techniques he attempted to master before abandoning them when he realized that they could be used
to exploit others. Later, he always advised everyone
not to use such practices without a very serious reason.
***
If the power of thought was one of Mikhaël’s mostimportant discoveries during his adolescence, the yoga
of nutrition was another. At the age of fourteen he had
an apparently banal experience which caused him toreflect on the hidden properties of food. One morning his mother found that she had nothing to give him
for breakfast before he left home for the day. She did,
however, have some flour, and with this she made asmall bread roll for him. For Dolia, bread was the one
great staple that could always be relied on when one
had no money to buy anything else. While kneading
the dough and thinking of her eldest son, who so often
had to make do with an inadequate diet, she infused itwith all her energy, every ounce of her strength. When
Mikhaël came home that evening, he asked: ‘Mother,what did you put into that bread?’
He was both intrigued and impressed, for having eaten
it he had not felt hungry for the rest of the day. Dolia
told him: ‘While I was making it, I prayed that it would
sustain you and give you strength.’61

Mikhaël found that his mother was far wiser thanmost of his teachers. He could not count the numberof times she had given him good advice. But as usual,
he needed to understand for himself the question of
the energy contained in food. One day, when he had
nothing to eat but a small piece of bread and a morselof cheese, it occurred to him that he should chew eachmouthful for a long time so as to draw from it all its
hidden qualities. The result of the experiment wasastonishing: a powerful sensation of well-being, joy,and peace flooded him, and he became aware of a hostof subtle energies flowing from the food into his wholebeing.
His intuition thus confirmed, he reflected that the
food we eat possesses a secret life of its own, far
beyond its physical properties, and that it is importantto eat slowly. Gradually, he understood that the mouth
is especially designed to absorb the subtler energies
contained in food, while the stomach assimilates principally the physical elements. On the other hand, healso began to see that his digestion was greatly influenced by physical conditions, as well as by his feelings,
at the time of eating. He noticed, for instance, that his
muscles were sometimes tense during meals, and realizing that this tension drained energy from his body,he began to do a few simple exercises of relaxation
before eating.
For him, nutrition represented a form of yoga, a beneficial exercise, a life discipline. He ate only when he62was hungry, partly because he felt much better when
he did so, but above all because he wanted to ‘subordinate the ordinary way of life to the spiritual life’. From
this time on, in taking what he needed to sustain thelife of mind and body, he always tried to choose elements that were pure: water from unpolluted springs,
natural food, books that inspired and elevated themind.
In spite of these options which should have contributed to his fitness, his health at this period was
not good; the poverty of his family and constant privations left him an easy prey to infection. During thegreater part of the year he went barefoot, wearing his
one pair of sandals only when it snowed in winter tomake them last longer. In the mornings when there
was no food in the house, he went to school without
breakfast and sat through his classes, drowsy fromhunger. Fortunately, when he fell ill, his motheralways managed to pull him through, and he developed a lasting gratitude for the devotion and patience
with which she nursed him.
Dolia, learning from her mother’s example, had developed her own gift for healing. Sustained and guided by
the principles that had guided Astra, she had also followed her intuition and made discoveries of her own.
In particular, she had found that by passing her handlightly over a patient’s solar plexus she could sense thenature of the ailment and the treatment that was called
for. Mikhaël often saw her helping people in this way

63and wanted to know how she did it: ‘Mother, how doyou heal? What do you do to a patient?’
Dolia reflected for a moment before answering.
‘On my own I am weak, but when I am with someone
who is ill, I forget everything else and put my wholesoul into healing him. I start by calling on God, on
his power and love, and think of nothing else. My love
for the sick person is so great that my soul becomes aconductor of universal love, and when I pour that love
into him he is healed.’
For Mikhaël, always so keenly aware of the importanceof links, Dolia’s words were truly a source of inspiration. ‘She says she is weak, but her love is powerful,’
he thought to himself. Thanks to her great faith, she
was a humble intermediary, holding in her hands, as
it were, the wire through which a powerful current
flowed from the divine world and restored the sick tohealth.
This was the current that Mikhaël was constantly
seeking in his own life, this link with the spiritual
worlds which can be forged into an indestructible
bond through prayer and meditation. At this stage of
his life he was striving for it with so much ardor that
he had difficulty in paying attention to life at school,
which seemed to him unutterably boring.
***64

At the Kniass Boris Lycée—the King Boris
School—which he attended until the age of fifteen,
Mikhaël was considered a mediocre pupil. ‘I was theclass dunce,’ he often said, adding: ‘I know you don’t
believe me, but it’s perfectly true!’ At an age when his
fellow pupils were thinking of renown, a future profession, marriage, and children, Mikhaël was thinkingof something quite different. The truth is that he waspassionately interested in anything that could contribute to his spiritual growth and attached little
importance to everything else. The teachers, notknowing quite how to judge a boy who failed to conform to the established norms of behavior and whose
mind was so free of conventional stereotypes, gave
him only average marks.
Because of this great longing to become perfect and fullof love, I devoured books, meditated, and did all kindsof experiments. My studies suffered as a result. I was
simply not interested in anything at school—neither theteachers nor the books.1
For his intellectual formation he relied more on the
public libraries and reading rooms than on school, andit was only thanks to his exceptional memory that hemanaged to assimilate what was taught in the classroom, for, as his parents could not afford to buy eventhe basic school texts, he had to borrow them fromhis classmates and skim through them during recreation periods. In class he always sat at the back, where
he went unnoticed and was rarely questioned by the65teachers so that he was free to pursue his own reflections and concentrate on essentials. Accustomed to
examining all that he heard and read, and filtering out
anything that seemed superfluous or trivial, his mind
was developing freely, unconstrained by academic
norms. In spite of his dynamism and the influence hehad on his schoolmates, Mikhaël preferred to remainin the background and rarely intervened in group discussions. If it had not been for his integrity and his
exceptional openness to others, no one would havenoticed him.
The most important aspect of his school experiences
was the understanding he gained of his fellow humanbeings. Observing the teachers, he recognized thatsome were dreary and governed by routine while others had the presence and personal magnetism he hadseen in certain actors. With the same clearsightedness, he observed his fellow-students anddetermined not to become like so many who recitedthe lessons by heart without understanding what they
were saying. Mikhaël never tried to be top of the class:such an ambition simply made no sense to him. The
undeniable influence he had over his comrades was
not that of a brilliant student, it was far subtler. Years
later, one of his teachers described the young Mikhaël
to her son:
As a boy he was extremely intelligent and had exceptional inner strength. He was always surrounded by alittle group of comrades who were very attached to him.

66

On the rare occasions that the teacher called on
Mikhaël to answer a question, a murmur of pleasurable anticipation ran through the classroom. Then,knowing that he needed a moment in which to collecthis thoughts and find something interesting to say,pupils and teacher alike waited in silence. Even when
he had not been able to study the lesson, he was usually able to draw on his extensive reading and recountan adventure or an excerpt from a play that had struck
him as important. His vivid imagination and sense of
fun led him to integrate into his tales amusing details
that lightened the austere atmosphere of the class. In
spite of themselves, even the most severe teachers had
to smile, and most of them, slightly perplexed by theextent of his knowledge, gave him a passing mark.
World War I brought many changes at the school.
When Bulgaria allied herself to Germany in 1915 in thehope of regaining her Macedonian territories, many of
the teachers were called up, and those who replaced
them did not always have the necessary competence.
Three of these substitute teachers left a lasting impression on Mikhaël, each for a different reason.
The first, a math teacher, was incapable of maintaining
discipline in his class. The boys laughed at his mannerisms and amused themselves by goading him into
losing his temper. But Mikhaël felt sorry for him andrefused to join in. He recognized that it was the man’ssensitivity and lack of control over his own emotions
that somehow caused his pupils to be so unruly. One

67

day, when the teacher had stormed from the class,slamming the door behind him, Mikhaël leaped to his
feet and spoke up in his defense: ‘I was so indignantthat I was almost insulting!’ And because of theiraffection for this quiet boy from the back bench, hisclassmates promised to mend their ways. But their
good resolutions lasted no more than a few days, andit was not long before the teacher gave up the unequal
struggle and resigned.
He was replaced by a little man who, though outwardly insignificant, had a perfect grasp of his subject
and was always completely calm. The discipline in hisclass was exemplary. The contrast between thisteacher and his predecessor gave Mikhaël much foodfor thought. He began to realize that quite apart fromthe knowledge and competence of a teacher, it was
something that emanated from him that made others
react as they did. This teacher was no less sensitive
than the first, but he won the respect of his pupils
because of his inner strength and emotional control.
Also, he had a quality of presence which the other had
lacked.
The third teacher, a violinist, was a stiff and silent
man, whose dry, authoritarian manner intimidated his
pupils. One day, probably following a discussion
about the rhythm of respiration, Mikhaël abandoned
his usual reserve and talked to him about the Hindu
breathing techniques that he had been practicing forsome time. To everyone’s surprise, instead of snubbing

68him for his impertinence, the teacher questioned
Mikhaël about his practices, relaxed visibly, andaccepted his offer to lend him a book on the subject.
Human behavior was a topic that never failed to fascinate Mikhaël. At that time he was already beginningto formulate his ideas about will-power and about the
self-mastery that enables one to keep control of one’s
emotions. In his view, sensitivity was very important:it was far better to be sensitive and to suffer than to
be like a stone. Commenting on this later, he would
say that the more one develops spiritually the moresensitive one becomes, but he always insisted on theimportance of developing self-control and sensitivity
in tandem.
At this period of Mikhaël’s life, his ideal towered
before him in the distance, like the glittering peak of amountain. To reach that peak he would need tremendous will-power, of that he was convinced, and he set
about reinforcing his will in every way he could thinkof. In his family, his neighborhood, or at school, theneed for self-control arose many times a day, and hetook every opportunity to practice it. In fact, his resolute character sometimes led him to commit gratuitous acts of bravado in order to prove his courage
to himself—or to his comrades. At school, he drilled
himself to endure the offensive behavior of an arrogant youth who, believing himself to be a writer ofgenius, constantly heaped ridicule and sarcasm on
those whom he considered less gifted. ‘I never69

answered him,’ Mikhaël said later, ‘because I practiced
a special kind of yoga.’ On one occasion, however,after humiliating some of his schoolmates in public,
the bully turned his attentions on Mikhaël once again.
Mikhaël’s mysterious influence in the school was
probably a source of envy to this boy, who hoped to
provoke a reaction by insulting him, and for once
Mikhaël caught fire. Jumping to his feet, he looked
his adversary in the eye and proceeded to describe his
character as he read it in his face, until, completely
deflated and speechless, the boy sat down. From thatday on, his attitude toward Mikhaël changed radicallyand he began to seek his company. He who had beenused to attacking others without risk of retaliation had
finally come up against a strength that commanded his
respect. He had discovered that silence and patience
are not necessarily signs of weakness.
Mikhaël’s friends could not help but realize that hisbasic orientation was toward the spiritual life but that
there was not a trace of bigotry in him. He was as capable as they of youthful enthusiasm, and his fiery temperament made him eager for new experiences, always
ready for ventures that kindled his interest. The only
activities in which he systematically refused to takepart were those that might wrong others. He always
took an interest in what was going on in his neighborhood and saw that several of his young comrades were
fast becoming delinquents. At a certain period during
his adolescence, he witnessed several tragic incidents,70and although he rarely talked about them in later life,
they remained vivid in his memory. One day he spokeof having seen some of his comrades gunned down by
the police as they tried to run away. Others had beencaught and sent to prison.
Without going into detail, he declared that he had
always retained a certain independence and freedom,and that he had been ‘protected by the spiritual world’
from the difficult milieu in which he was growing up.
He was already conscious in those days of a strong
bond with the invisible beings that dwell in light.
***
Adolescence, the age of noble sentiments, utopian
dreams, and heroic decisions was for Mikhaël a period
in which to explore a variety of emotional and intellectual experiences. Like other youngsters, he dreamed
beautiful dreams which faded one after the other. At
the age of fifteen, it was time to make specific practicaldecisions about how he should work toward his ideal.
What would he do in life? What field would hechoose?
At one point his ambition was to be a scholar, a university professor. Later, he began to write mysticalpoems and tales, weaving spiritual truths into a tapestry of visions and prophecies. He put a stop to thisphase when he realized with a lucidity beyond his
years that much of the poetry he liked aroused hazy,71

melancholic sensations within him and made him
hypersensitive and vulnerable. It debilitated him by
imprisoning him in the world of feelings. He wasalready aware of the moon’s influence on humanbeings and knew that the world of emotion was linked
to the lunar cycle. Sensing intuitively that true poetry,the poetry that touches the most sensitive chords inthe human heart, belongs to the higher, more spiritualplanes, he resolved to linger no more in the world of
the emotions, but to ‘look for true poetry in the sun’.
Although he continued to rank poetry above bothmusic and painting, he no longer composed any. He
turned his attention instead to philosophy and science.
At this period his most cherished dream, that ofbecoming a true sage, was growing ever stronger andmore insistent, pushing other ambitions into the background. He was spending more time in the practice of
yoga and in meditation, and when not at school, heread for hours. His thirst for knowledge was fuelledby the works of the great authors of all time, available
in translation in every good public library. Mikhaël
perused all the major philosophical and spiritual
works he could find and soon became familiar with thesacred scriptures of humanity’s great religions. The
spiritual teaching of Gautama Buddha had a special
place in his heart, and he continued to read everything
he could find on the subject. Among his favorite Western authors were Emerson, Berkeley, Steiner,
Blavatsky, Spinoza, and Paracelsus.

72One day, exploring the shelves of a library, he discovered a book on palmistry by the French author
Adolphe Desbarolles and became passionately interested in the art of divination by reading the lines of thehand. What first caught his attention, however, were
the writer’s comments on the nature of magic: ‘Magic
is a comparison between two worlds’. Until that moment
Mikhaël had thought of magic as ‘the ability to command the spirits and work miracles’, but pondering
Desbarolles’ statement in relation to his long-standing
awareness of the importance of links, he realized thatit expressed an important truth:
You cannot compare two things unless there is a link
between them. That is what a comparison is, therefore,
first and foremost, a connection. True magic is the comparison between the divine and the physical worlds
which is made possible by the link between them. Without this link there can be no magic… The whole of myphilosophy is based on this little thread, the fragile link
between the two worlds.2
From his earliest youth Mikhaël had been interested
in how different realities can be linked. Later, in his
teaching, he would give different examples of formulasthat could be used to activate that link and harness theforces of the invisible world for one’s own benefit andthe benefit of others. One might say, for instance: ‘As
the sun rises in the heavens, so may the sun of love risein my heart…’ He compared this link to a power line
carrying an electric current which can be transformed73

into the diverse forms of light, heat, or movement. In
the course of his life, as he penetrated the heart of thisidea, the elements of nature became an integral part ofhis spiritual work.
At this time, wanting to understand what people
hoped to find in the practice of magic, and having
heard that spiritualistic séances were being held in ahouse in Varna, he decided to go and find out for himself. A few sessions were enough to convince him thatthe participants were mainly seeking to satisfy theirappetite for money, power, and sensual pleasures. It
was not what he was looking for, and he returned tohis books.
His interest in the art of palmistry having been triggered by Desbarolles’ book, Mikhaël now began to
study it seriously. Whenever his friends allowed it, hetook an impression of their hands in plaster of Parisso that he could study them at leisure, making careful
notes of his observations. If no plaster was available,
he would sprinkle a little powdered charcoal on a person’s palm and take a print on paper. His natural aptitude for clairvoyance was developing steadily, andafter examining the prints he sometimes told his
friends what he saw in their future. Years later, someof them were impressed to find his predictions coming
true. One in particular, a musician at the height of
his career, was to say that he had been a shy, selfeffacing adolescent when Mikhaël had foretold a brilliant future for him in music.

74

The recent discovery of radio waves opened yet
another field of spiritual reflection for him. It is notclear whether his research in this field began when he
was fifteen or some years later, for when he spoke of
crystal sets in his talks it was always in reference tothe spiritual discoveries of his youth. When he said, ‘I
was very young at the time…’ he could just as well havebeen twenty-five as fifteen. We do know, however, thatcrystal sets were already available in 1913, and at somepoint, Mikhaël, who could not afford to buy one, built
one of his own.
In order to tune in to a station, he only needed toposition a needle on the surface of the crystal, and he
was quick to see in this crude but effective instrument
a symbolism which could be applied to his everyday
life: contact was achieved only if the needle touched a live
spot. Also, he noticed that he was not always capable offinding that spot. The analogy between this phenomenon and the spiritual life was plain:
I understood that if we are incapable of picking up thecountless messages and currents that crisscross the universe, it is because we have not tuned our crystal sets
to the right wavelength. So, this is what we must try to
do every day: tune in to the transmitter, that is to say,adopt the proper attitude, turn toward that Polar Star
whom we call God. Only if we do this shall we obtainhis blessings: light, love, joy, and health.3
All these dreams, all this research led Mikhaël to a suc-75

cession of choices, each of which brought him imperceptibly closer to the role he was to play in life. Whenhe decided not to dedicate his life to science, it was
because he understood that he was destined to tread a
different path. In his own mind he had to admit that‘to become a brilliant scientist at the University wasnothing’ compared to spiritual research. When heturned his back on the dangerous ambiguities of spiritualism, it was to pursue the study of palmistry, an
art which presented no such dangers. And when hegave up writing poetry, it was to turn to philosophy
and also to music, for which he was developing an evergreater need.
This need was so intense, in fact, that he constantly
regretted being unable to play an instrument himself.
Seeing his more prosperous schoolmates arriving formusic lessons with their guitars or violins only accentuated the feeling, for he knew that his family could
never afford the violin he longed for. One day, however, he received an invitation which compensated inlarge part for this lack: the sister of one of his neighbors, an excellent pianist, invited him to come and listen while she played. After this, he spent hours, sitting
cross-legged in a corner of her studio, learning to analyze the effect the music had on him and, above all, touse it to ‘fill the sails of his meditation’, as the wind fills
the sails of a boat. Often, he paid little attention to themusic itself. It was simply a great force, an impetuous
wind that lifted him and sped him toward the sublime
regions to which his soul aspired.

76

***
Music was not the only heaven-sent gift Mikhaël
received at this period. A friend gave him a prism, andwith a sense of wonder he discovered the splendor
of the seven colors contained in sunlight. From thismoment on, the thought of the seven rays was always
with him, and that small piece of crystal became thestarting point of a life-long reflection on light. He juggled with fascinating ideas: white light is one, butwhen passed through a three-sided prism, it isrefracted into seven different colors. Similarly, every
human being is a prism with three facets—heart,
mind, and will—which, when correctly positioned inrelation to light, receives all the wealth of the sevencolors, symbols of the seven virtues.
In order to understand the physics of the refraction ofwhite light, he began to study scientific texts and conduct experiments which opened new horizons for him
but which also gained him a growing reputation as avery strange boy. Undeterred by what others might say
about him, he daubed the window of his room with
red paint and meditated in the colored light that filtered through the glass. After studying the effect of
this color for a few days, he washed off the red andrepeated the experience with orange, and so on
through the spectrum. When it came to violet light, hefound to his astonishment that flowers wilted and his
friends fell asleep after being exposed for a time to thespecial atmosphere it created. As for himself, he soon77

found that violet light helped him disassociate fromhis physical body and ‘fly away to other worlds’.
Intrigued by these discoveries, he went on to otherexperiments. He mounted different colored sheets ofcellophane on a cardboard frame and spun it in thelight of a powerful lamp, so that enchanting nuancesof color were projected on the walls. Seated in thelotus position, he contemplated all this beauty aroundand within him, as his soul soared and expanded inspace. Through closed eyelids, he felt that he could
actually see the brilliant light and color in which hewas sheathed. His heart overflowed with love, and hissole desire was to pour out his life for the good of all
humanity.
One day while meditating, he was inspired to create adesign that would be a visual representation of perfectharmony. After several attempts, he finally drew a circle, on the circumference of which he placed six circles
of equal diameter, thus creating the stylized form of arose. He then painted the figure with the colors of thespectrum. Intuitively he had rediscovered the ancientsymbol of the Rosicrucians. Having written beneaththe rosace the opening words of St John’s Gospel, ‘In
the beginning was the Word’, he hung it on his wall. The
contemplation of this perfect geometrical figure gave
him an extraordinary sense of well-being. But he wasstill not satisfied, and to enhance its effect, he found a
way of spinning it slowly on its axis.4

78

His passion for beautiful colors led him to discoverrealities that astonished him, so far were they above
those of the visible world. He had a clear perception,for instance, of the correspondence between the sevencolors of the spectrum, the seven notes of the musicalscale, the seven days of creation, the seven bodies ofman, the seven heavens, and the seven archangels
before the throne of God. As his intuitive perceptionof the link between colors and virtues became
stronger, he drew the logical conclusion: by being as
pure as prisms, human beings allow divine light toenter them, thus becoming capable of developing thevirtues that correspond to the seven colors. Every time
Mikhaël gazed at his mystical rose, he was transported
to a dazzling world of peace and happiness. With thepassing months the symbol seemed to grow and blossom within his soul.
***
While all these spiritual experiences were a source ofgreat joy to Mikhaël, they also led him to demand
more and more of himself. He scrutinized his life, his
behavior, his activities, and concluded that what hesaw was a disaster. Disgusted by his ‘mediocrity’, heresolved to replace it with something very great thatwould demand such striving that he would never havetime to tire of his efforts. He implored heaven to transform him:
For years, when I was young, I would implore Heaven79to transform me. I would say, ‘What can I do for you?
I’m feeble, stupid, mediocre, worthless. Do you reallywant me to be like this for the rest of my life? I warn
you, I shall not be much use to you like that; in fact
you’ll have a great deal to complain about! So, hurry
up and take it all. Make me die, if you like, but comeand take possession of me. I can’t go on living as I amnow. Send some Angels to help me, send me all kindsof pure, noble, intelligent creatures. It will be to youradvantage because, if you don’t answer my prayer, I’ll
never do anything right and it will be all your fault!’
And my threats seem to have done the trick. They realized that this troublesome fellow had got them with
their backs to the wall! After much discussion andscratching of heads, they decided that they had bettergive me what I was asking for because, if they left me
as I was, I could do a lot of damage.5
His occasional reflections about this period of his life
show that he judged himself very severely, and in thelight of his desire for perfection could see only his
weaknesses and failings. His sights were set so highthat he could not be satisfied with what he had alreadyachieved, and the religious education he had received
meant that he was constantly in conflict with what hesaw as evil. Fortunately, he did not allow his spiritual
exercises to isolate him from others, and his practical common sense, his generosity, and his openness
to others certainly saved him from going to extremes.
Thanks to his practice of meditation and contempla-

80

tion, he was gradually learning how to control andtransform his nature without destroying himself.
We are not very well equipped to fight against evil,
whereas evil is extremely well armed, it has a huge arsenal to back it up, and in the face of that we are powerless. Only heaven, the divine dimension within eachone of us, is all-powerful. Heaven has all the means it
needs, but we… who are we to stand up to the forcesof evil? When I was young, I too was taught to fightagainst evil, to try to uproot and annihilate it, and thatis what I did. But I was torn apart, literally dislocatedby my efforts, because it is totally exhausting to fightcontinually against yourself, against something you do
not understand, and this was what I was doing. Later,when I began to reflect, to look for other ways, and tolink myself more and more to the divine world, I understood that this was not the right method.6
In later years he often spoke of a very intense phaseof spiritual work that began when he was fifteen, as
though all that had gone before was totally negligible.
And yet, judging from his own accounts, two years
previously he had already realized the importance ofregular meditation and conscious breath control inachieving inner equilibrium. He would one day tell agroup of his followers that the practice of rhythmicbreathing could be of incalculable benefit to one’s
intellectual, emotional, and psychic life: ‘It can evenhelp to balance our sexual energies and make it easier81

for us to contact the most exalted entities of the invisible worlds.’
It was at this time that Mikhaël left school in orderto devote every minute to his spiritual exercises andresearch. His mind and heart were already steeped in
the age-old truths of initiatic science, and he began
now to study other texts treating of Hindu philosophy
and ancient theosophy. But in spite of the inner peacethat this work brought him, he was very much alone.
He had barely known his father, and there was no one
in his immediate surroundings to whom he could turnfor guidance in his spiritual development.
His mother was a constant presence of love and solidcommon sense, but neither she nor anyone else wasin a position to warn him of the danger of prolonged
breathing exercises without the supervision of anexperienced guide. His family, who witnessed his
strange behavior, sometimes wondered if he was notslightly deranged. Why did he not behave like otherboys of his age? His experiments with color, his
unusual eating habits and frequent fasts seemedridiculous.
At the age of fifteen, by strength of character alone,
Mikhaël had already surmounted many of the difficulties inherent in the harsh conditions of the times. Progressively he had succeeded in harnessing his prodigious energy in the service of a spiritual ideal. Readyto sacrifice everything for that ideal, he was gradually82becoming utterly fearless. And yet he was convincedthat he needed a spiritual Master. Following his intuition, he began searching in earnest for the being who
would help him to develop and channel both his spiritual impulses and his exceptional psychic powers.
This deep-felt need to put himself in the hands of asage was the expression of a demanding conscience.
In the East, a spiritual Master has always been considered the greatest treasure any human being can possess, and those who choose the path of spirituality arecapable of giving up all their worldly goods in order tofind a true Master. Born at the frontier between Eastand West, imbued as he was with Hindu and Buddhist
philosophy as well as the teaching of the Gospels,
Mikhaël adopted this attitude wholeheartedly. All his
life he would say that a spiritual Master inspires andstimulates, that ‘he is a link with heaven, a path that
leads to the summits’. It is the mental image that a
disciple forms of his Master which becomes his true
inner Master, and it is this inner Master who opens thedoors of the spiritual world to his disciple.
There can be no doubt that the models that Mikhaël
chose at different ages corresponded to and answered
the needs of each phase of his life. In his early years
it was naturally to his mother that he turned. Later,
Jesus and Buddha became his chosen models. At theage of seventeen, without in any way relinquishinghis close bond with them on a higher plane, he strove
to resemble Peter Deunov, the spiritual guide he was83

to find on the physical plane. Many years later, after
the death of Peter Deunov, when he himself was recognized to be a spiritual Master, he often spoke ofa ‘timeless being’, the Master of all spiritual Masters,with whom he had had a special relationship since theage of twenty. Also, at the center of his life there wasalways the sun, that unique model, dispenser of light,
heat, and life. Often he would say: ‘I want to be likethe sun.’ But above all it was the desire to resemble
his heavenly Father that most consistently inspired his
efforts.
At the age of fifteen, however, he was still searching
fervently and sometimes with painful intensity for his
first spiritual guide, and the words of the Austrianphilosopher Rudolf Steiner were often in his mind:‘When you love an exceptional human being, that love creates a bond between you, and the qualities of that being
enter into you.’ These words sparked a conviction thatwas to accompany him all his life: to model oneself on
an exalted being is always to one’s advantage, for that
ideal spurs one on to greater heights.
In the hope of finding such an ‘exalted being’, Mikhaël
began to attend the sermons of Orthodox priests andProtestant ministers, but he always returned home disappointed by what he had read on their faces while
they commented on the Gospels. Refusing to be
deterred by each successive disappointment, he listened to dozens of speakers. Finally he gave up andreturned to his books, consoling himself with the84biographies of exceptional beings, the great benefactors of humanity. What he read stimulated him andnourished his thirst for perfection and beauty, but thepainful fact still remained: he found himself as alone
as if he had been in a desert. Family and friends
ridiculed his quest and criticized his unusual behavior,reproaching him for his all-absorbing interest in thethings of the spirit. The few with whom he sometimes
spoke of what was closest to his heart showed only
lukewarm enthusiasm for his ideas.
The general lack of approval, however, failed to turnhim from his chosen path, and he continued to callon the higher beings in whose existence he firmly
believed. In fact this perseverance and determination
were characteristic of him throughout his life. Even as
an adolescent he was not easily daunted by mockery
and criticism. This did not mean that he was indifferent to the opinion of others, but he was graduallylearning to master his feelings and be free to pursue
his goal. His convictions were based on his spiritualexperiences and were too deeply anchored within
him; they did not allow him to be intimidated or discouraged.
And yet, the living, visible guide he longed for was
still no more than a dream, and at one point his solitude became so acute that he felt the need for something concrete to cling to, some physical symbol ofthat unknown spiritual Master. He found an old armchair, which he carefully cleaned and set in a place of85

honor in his room. The empty chair represented forhim both a promise and a sign that his Master would
soon reveal himself.
One day, thanks to his many hours of reflection andmeditation, he had a flash of intuition, a certitude thatsomewhere in Tibet or India there existed a brotherhood of high initiates dedicated to helping humanity, to spreading the light. He had a strange but clear
conviction that he had known and worked with thesebeings in the remote past, and that they would play animportant role in his life. From this point on he considered them his spiritual companions and thoughtof them constantly, receiving from their presence anextraordinary mystical impetus. At the same time, thesun, source of light in the world, remained a constantinspiration to him.
Mikhaël was truly a solar being. Even as a young boy
he seems to have understood that the mightiest andmost perfect fire, the fire that is never extinguished,
was the sun itself. And as his understanding of thevital importance of light grew, so did his love for it. For
him, the sun would always be the most perfect imageof God, the one great source of life, light, and warmthon earth. Already at this time, whenever he had theopportunity, he attended the sunrise and spent longhours meditating in the park, where he had a view overthe sea to the east.

86

Notes1.

January 19, 1946.

2.

‘We Must Never Sever the Link’, in Cosmic Moral Law.

3.

‘A Question of Attitude’ in Love and Sexuality II.

4.

For an explanation and illustration of the Mystic Rose, see‘Au Commencement était le Verbe’ in Au Commencementétait le Verbe.

5.

‘Justice’ in Cosmic Moral Law.

6.

‘Working on the Personality’ in The Key to the Problems of
Existence.

87

4

#

Illumination
Mikhaël had reached a key period of his life. He had
worked long and with single-mindedness to open his
mind to wisdom, to purify his heart, and to strengthen
his will. He had tirelessly implored God to come anddwell within him, and now he was ready to receive theSpirit. When he spoke in later life of the illumination
he received at the age of fifteen and a half, he linked
it to the mystical experience triggered by the Book ofProverbs at the age of nine. This later experience, hesaid, was the occasion on which he took possession ofhimself for the second time.
It was during this period that an essay entitled The
Over-Soul, by the American philosopher Emerson, had
an very powerful effect on him. At about the sametime he came across a text which described the humanaura and the splendors of the invisible world. The
combined influence of these two books was to be decisive, but it was apparently the description of Buddha’s
aura that led him across the threshold of ecstasy.
One summer morning, as usual, he went to theseashore to watch the sunrise, and climbing a slightrise, sat down in an orchard. He had been meditating
for a little while when he sensed the presence of heavenly beings around him. Suddenly bathed in a nimbusof brilliant light, he was plunged into a state of ecstasy.
The sparse references he made to this illumination inlater life evoked an image of dazzling beauty, but heclearly found it impossible to express the essential coreof the experience. It could never be described or
shared with others. We know only that he saw ‘a mysterious being’, one of those heavenly entities that manifest as pure light, the sight of which leaves such a
profound impression that a mystic feels as though hehad seen God. Later, he commented:
I had never abandoned my desire to become like Buddha, like Jesus. This was still primordial in my mind…
and it was so beautiful that I was beside myself. To
see such a being, with all those colors, all that light!
He was almost invisible in the extraordinary luminositythat surrounded him. I found myself flooded with light.
I was in a state of bliss, of ecstasy so immense, so powerful, that I no longer knew where I was. It was a delirious joy; it was heaven; it was the universe! Ever since89then I have felt that if God were not all beauty I could
not believe in him. It is beauty that remains in my mind
as the one essential: neither power, nor knowledge, nor
wealth, nor glory. Only beauty!1
The vision he had been granted was perhaps that ofhis higher self, that cosmic element that is an integral
part of every human being and of the same nature as
the divine spirit, a particle of God, a luminous quintessence. In a state of ecstasy, a mystic looks into themirror of God and sees this part of himself which is
divine. And it is when the identification of the two‘selves’—the higher and the lower—is achieved that heis united with the universal soul and attains true selfknowledge.
Immersed in an ocean of ineffable beauty, Mikhaël was
beyond the common bounds of time and space. His
whole being seemed to expand without limits. The
illumination was so intense and the rapture so allabsorbing that he felt as though he were on fire. He
felt his brain burning. His whole being seemed to havebecome a living flame. And just as this divine illumination became more than he could bear and he sensed
that he was about to be reabsorbed into cosmic light,
he lost consciousness.
The loss of consciousness is a frequent corollary of
ecstasy, a protective mechanism that the visionary
must accept in order to avoid destruction. The intensity of the light and the expansion of being brought90

about by divine love is so great that the physicalhuman envelope needs this protection when it reaches
the limits of its capacity.
Did Mikhaël’s illumination last a few minutes or a few
hours? He never said. But when he recovered consciousness and found that the state of ecstasy had vanished, a sense of desolation swept over him. He felt
like a dry, empty husk and strove in vain to recapturethat exquisite joy, for he could not resign himself toliving without it. After a mystical experience of suchintensity, he felt that all that had gone before was mere
heedlessness and mediocrity.
For days, he was barely aware of being on earth. His
mind still absorbed in the contemplation of the splendors he had discovered, he could neither sleep nor
eat. His only nourishment came from the divine forcesthat had filled his being, and his yearning for the
beauty of the invisible world awoke in him the overwhelming desire to create the harmony of that world
here on earth. Many years later, speaking about certain
spiritual experiences, he explained that in ecstasy all
the wastes in one’s organism are burned away, thatthe mystic’s being is totally renewed and purified. His
physical body is changed and transfigured; even the
texture of the skin is transformed and the face illuminated. He added:
In this contact with divine grace which enfolds you
and warms you through and through, you feel yourself

91inundated by an infinite sweetness, peace and happiness. This is the greatest privilege. You can only weepwith pure, wonderful emotion. At that moment you areready for any sacrifice; you glimpse eternal life; you see
the greatness of God.2
Spontaneously, Mikhaël began to live in ever more
conscious union with the brotherhood of glorious
souls that he believed in. As though by a miracle, hefound a book which confirmed his presentiment of
the existence of a community of exalted beings whofor centuries had gathered in the Himalayas to help
and enlighten humanity. Deeply moved by this corroboration of his intuition, Mikhaël called them his‘Himalayan Brothers’. He thought about them constantly, calling upon them and uniting himself withthem in his mind, participating in their work of loveand light. He contemplated ‘the splendor of thisbrotherhood of glorious souls’ who, free of all hatredand rancor, dwelt in perfect harmony and devoted
themselves to the good of humanity. The revelations
he received from them filled him with joy.
Mikhaël was overflowing with such happiness that hehad only one thought: to devote his life to helping
others. In his eagerness to share his divine experience
with his family and friends, to enable them ‘to vibrate
as he had vibrated’, he described to them the beauty ofa life lived in the light of the spirit. He lent them thebook that had so inspired him, convinced that if they92

read it, they too would be electrified, impelled to transform their mentality and their way of life.
We know from one of his teachers and from membersof his family that although Mikhaël’s friends had
always been impressed by his intelligence and his
knowledge, they remained skeptical about his spiritual
practices. But now they became aware of a new, subtle
quality that emanated from him. He was no longer thesame. He seemed to be lit from within, to be incandescent. Hoping to achieve a similar fulfillment, someof them began to meditate, to study initiatic science,or to adopt a vegetarian diet, but although Mikhaël
did his best to help and encourage them, he saw thatthey soon tired of their efforts. ‘Why do you persist in
nourishing your old mentality?’ he exclaimed. ‘Get ridof it! It is the cause of all your problems. Put something
better in its place.’
But not one of them really understood him, and eventually he left them in peace. He was alone with his sublime ideal, and the realization that there were none toshare it often distressed him deeply. How could thesetruths have such an effect on him and none at all onothers, he wondered. When he saw their indifference
to the beauty of the spiritual life, he blamed himself
for being unable to convince them. ‘I felt so small andinadequate,’ he confessed one day; ‘I was sure I was
not intelligent enough to convince them.’
In the long run, many of his comrades jeered at him

93and held him up to ridicule, for they could not feelat ease with his ideas. They found them too exalted
and the demands he made on himself too stringent.
They were unwilling to follow him on the steep slopes
leading to the summit. But their derision did not deter
him. His passion for the light continued to radiatefrom him. His whole life was now firmly founded ona certainty that would become the corner-stone of his
mission.
Mikhaël did not owe his personal initiation to an
earthly spiritual Master. His ardent efforts had been
rewarded with the greatest gift a human being canreceive from the spiritual world: he had already foundthe inner guide who would be always with him. It isclear that, like other great beings before him, thedivine seal was upon him. This period of his life wasone of profound inner initiation. Between the ages offifteen and seventeen he was to know the joy of frequent mystical experiences, and by the time he met
the spiritual guide who was to accompany him on thephysical plane, he would have mustered all his forces,
tested his capacities, and purified his whole being.
The irresistible impetus that drove him to seek thepurest form of Christ-consciousness—that inner consciousness that links a highly advanced human being
to the divine principle at work in creation—obliged
him to distance himself to a certain extent from his
family and close acquaintances. Henceforth nothing
would stop him. Ceaselessly and single-mindedly he94pursued his work, reaching such a state of physicalexhaustion that, before the year was out, he would beovercome by a life-threatening illness.
To say that Mikhaël was absorbed by his spiritual
work to the exclusion of all else would be inaccurate.
An unerring instinct always brought him back to thephysical world and its countless possibilities. He
enjoyed using his manual dexterity to draw, to do odd
jobs, or to make something useful. Mindful above allof the demands of family life and his responsibilities
as the eldest son, he continued to take temporary work
whenever he could find it. For two months in the summer of 1916, while World War I was still raging inEurope, he was hired as a secretary in a food rationing
center.
As always, he enjoyed watching those around him.
The supervisor of his section was a tall, stout man
with a loud voice, and Mikhaël noticed that it was easy
for him to impose his opinion on the other employees, who never raised their voices. And yet he was very
popular with them, for he was always cheerful andfriendly. This made Mikhaël reflect on his own behavior. As he once said: ‘I always spoke softly, with theresult that everybody made me wait.’
We find here, not for the first time, one of the paradoxes of his temperament: in spite of his strength ofcharacter and all that he had already experienced,
there were still times when he was paralyzed by ‘unbe-

95

lievable shyness’. His friends may not have noticed it,
but for Mikhaël it was a hidden sore. It irked him tohave to walk up and down in front of a shop before hecould summon the courage to go in, or to stutter andstammer when he had to speak to a stranger.
One day he decided to cure himself of this affliction
by autosuggestion. In the evening, before going to bed,
he focused on a bright spot placed in the center ofa circle and repeated to himself, over and over, that
his shyness was cured. He pictured himself doing all
the things that he was too shy to do in real life. He
repeated the exercise more than once, and thanks to
his powers of concentration, the results were remarkable. Several times he was able to induce in himself astate of hypnosis and fall into a deep sleep, and before
long he found that he had rid himself completely of
the problem that had caused him so much embarrassment. Talking in later years about this and otheryouthful experiments, however, he always emphasized
that, at the time, he had not known of the danger tothe nervous system of methods of this kind. He wasalways careful to warn people against attempting such
exercises without suitable preparation.
At some point during this period he began to frequent
one of the principal bookshops in Sofia. The capital
was some 280 miles from Varna, and although at thetime of Mikhaël’s youth the journey by train costnothing, the trip must have taken him most of the day
and brought him home late at night. On his first visit96

to this shop, he was leafing through some books on the
shelves when the owner, who had been watching him,
picked up two or three booklets and handed them tohim, saying: ‘Look, this is what you should be reading.’
Mikhaël looked at them and wondered what could be
so interesting about them. He had already read somany articles and brochures which had left him unsatisfied. Nevertheless, he smiled at the man gratefully,
saying: ‘I believe you sir. Thank you for showing me
the best you have.’
Returning to his perusal of the shelves, he picked out
several books by Rudolf Steiner, whose work he continued to study. How it happened he never knew, but
on his way home he was cruelly disappointed to findthat he had lost his books. This was a great blow, for
his contribution to the family expenses left him little
money for his own intellectual nourishment. The
pamphlets, however, were still in his satchel, and hebegan to read them.
They were like nothing he had ever read before. The
plain, simple language spoke directly to his heart. At
the same time, many of the questions in his mind
found answers that were intellectually satisfying. The
author of these booklets, Peter Deunov by name, lived
in Sofia, and Mikhaël thought to himself: ‘He is headand shoulders above all the others. How can I meet
him?’

97

As it turned out, he was not to meet him for several
months, but his quest for a spiritual Master was finallydrawing to a close. He had begun to glimpse a light at
the end of the tunnel. It was still dim, still no morethan a promise, but it was there. Later, he often
returned to that shop in Sofia, whose owner lent him
books and invited him to sit in his office, where hecould read in peace. Mikhaël and the older man weresoon fast friends.
***
His burning thirst for knowledge, for all the knowledge of the universe, drove Mikhaël to read withoutpause from morning to evening and often late into thenight. There were days when he devoured six or seven
hundred pages, often reading while eating so as not towaste time. The flame that burned within him since
his ecstasy was so intense that he went to extremes
with his meditations and breathing exercises, notnoticing that he was seriously undermining his health.
Having become accustomed since the death of his
father to frugal and insufficient meals, he often madedo for the whole day with some raw cabbage or bits
and pieces from his mother’s store of pickled gherkins,
peppers, and celery. He did not mind the sensation ofweightlessness induced in him by this inadequate diet.
On the contrary, he took advantage of it, for it made iteasier to disassociate, but he grew thinner and thinner,and his face became deathly pale. And as he never had

98enough sleep, he often dozed off at the most inopportune moments. Not knowing how to improve the situation, he thought it was enough to force himself by
will-power alone.
Mikhaël’s mother watched all this with deep concern.
Convinced that the evil came from his books which
influenced his thinking and led him to extremes, shethreatened to burn them. Mikhaël’s only response wasto lock himself in his room to avoid such a catastrophe. When she knocked on his door and pleaded with
him to go to the park for some fresh air, he refused togive in. Repeating gently that she must not worry, that
he would go later, he continued to do the only thingthat seemed to him worth doing.
Dolia wept. She was at her wit’s end. Her neighbors
and the other members of the family kept repeating:‘You must not let him go on like that. He’s going todie!’
One day, defeated by her own fears and the insistenceof others, she threw Mikhaël’s books into the fire. But
even this did not deter him: he continued his spiritual
exercises, his deep breathing, fasting, and meditations
as before. Speaking many years later of his behavior at
this time, he said: ‘It was so exaggerated it was a kindof madness.’ He felt that he was devoured: ‘Ah, but it
was such a flame, such light…’
Once again Mikhaël’s family and friends were con-99

vinced that he had taken leave of his senses. They
could not understand that he was simply ‘mad withjoy’. They could not know that the ecstasy that had
triggered this seeming folly was the culmination of along maturing, the climax of the spiritual work he had
accomplished since the age of twelve. Such excessiveness is almost inevitable in these forceful and determined beings who are destined to accomplish greatthings, but for their family and friends, the need forsuch extremes is hard to understand. They often cannot accept the seemingly outrageous discipline, thesuperhuman drive toward perfection of one who has
grown up in their midst and whom they believe theyknow well.
In the period between his illumination and the firstmeeting with his long-sought Master, Mikhaël had
other mystical experiences, but we do not know
exactly when or in what order they occurred. About
the most remarkable of these we know little. When hespoke of it, he said only that one day, while doing his
deep breathing exercises, he felt a drop of fire enter his
lungs and inflame his whole being. The sensation filled
him with such inexpressible delight, such an exquisite
sense of sweetness: ‘I could only weep in a transport ofjoy. I was in ecstasy.’
Later he understood that this fire had been a drop of
ether, of prana, a particle of the cosmic spirit, of thefire that is capable of melting and transmuting obsolete forms and creating a new being. As usual, he100

spoke modestly and with detachment of this exceptional phenomenon, and yet it seems that what heexperienced that day was a second birth, the birth in
the Spirit by which a human being is consecrated fora sacred mission. This pervasion of his being by the
Christ-Spirit took place without witnesses; those helived with saw no more than a pale reflection, a newradiance in him, whose source remained a mystery.
Also in this period, he was snatched one day from his
physical body and borne far away to the heart of thecosmos, where all is music. Suddenly he found himself as one with the universe, at once rock, tree, flower,
mountain, and star. Vibrating in unison with the powerful currents that passed through him, he became
acutely aware of the essence of all being:
The whole world sang… the stars sang; plants, stones,
and trees sang. Everything sang. And the harmony was
so glorious, so sublime that I felt myself expanding until
I feared that I would die. … I wish you might all hear
what I heard, if only for a few seconds. It would give yousome point of comparison, some idea of the true natureof music.3
Mikhaël had achieved, that day, one of the rarest andmost beautiful experiences it is possible for a humanbeing to have. He had attained a truly exceptional levelof vibration. But the human body is not built to withstand such stress for long, and the ecstasy lasted only
a few seconds. If it had lasted any longer, it might well101

have put an end to his existence in this world,4 andsensing that he was in danger of being pulverized, he
cut it short:
It was fear that brought me back. Not the fear of death,but the fear of being unable to continue my work on
earth. If you have been given a task to accomplish onearth, you have to go through with it. I could not simply
abandon it.5
In the months and years that followed, his yearning forthe joy of that precious experience was so great that hecould not avoid a sense of regret at having put an end
to it, a regret all the more poignant because he could
never hear music to equal it on the physical plane. But
the memory of those indescribable moments steepedin the music of the spheres would continue to givehim courage in difficult times and serve as an absolute
yardstick: his appreciation of a piece of music wasnever governed by the norms commonly accepted insociety but by that measure alone. He was to say laterthat each planet has not only its own particular color,but also its own note, and that the symphony of thosenotes varies with each hour of the day.
This intensely mystical period of Mikhaël’s sixteenth
year was, nevertheless, fraught with certain dangers.
His ardent temperament led him sometimes to theedge of the abyss, and his prolonged exercises ofpranayama nearly ended in disaster. Yogic breathing
techniques are based on an ancient tradition of Hindu

102

mysticism which attaches great importance to the roleof the spinal column and its seven chakras or ethericforce-centers. At the base of the spine lies the formidable force known as Kundalini, which has a close affinity with sexual energy. When aroused by the use ofcertain techniques, it can release tremendous psychic
forces.
Mikhaël did not know enough to be on his guard
against the danger of practicing certain techniques
without guidance. He probably did not know that theancient Sanskrit treatises of pranayama were madeintentionally obscure in order to prevent neophytes
from experimenting with them without the supervision of a skilled teacher. One day, while engaged inrhythmic breathing, he was suddenly seized by an agonizing pain and felt as though his brain were about toexplode. His whole being was on fire. Appalling currents flowed through him, and he suffered atrociously.
Sensing that he was in mortal danger, he was grippedby terrible fear and made a tremendous effort to subdue the Kundalini-force and oblige it to retreat. Summoning all the strength of which he was capable, heconcentrated his thoughts and called on the powers of
the invisible world to save him, and at last succeededin putting this extraordinary force to sleep again.
Had Mikhaël not escaped this destructive power, hemight well have lost his mind or died in terrible torment. And yet this trial by fire was something he had
to go through; without doubt, it belonged to the body103

of knowledge and wisdom he needed in order to teachthe great truths of initiatic science. Later, when talkingof these things, he never encouraged anyone toawaken the Kundalini-force. On the contrary, he
always emphasized that the best way of furthering
one’s evolution was to purify oneself, to work
patiently and with perseverance to perfect oneself.
The virtues and psychic gifts and powers would comequite naturally, he maintained, when one was readyfor them and capable of controlling and using them inthe service of light.
***
Early in 1917, worn out by his frequent fasts and excessive spiritual exercises, Mikhaël fell seriously ill. He
had recently become interested in the methods ofhydrotherapy with which the German therapist
Sebastien Kneipp obtained many cures. In the hope of
purifying his system and regaining his physical energy,
Mikhaël decided to try the Kneipp method. For several
weeks he took his baths in the old stable that stillserved him as a laboratory, but the unheated building
with its floor of packed earth was so cold that he ended
by catching a chill. He became so ill and sank so
rapidly into a state of deep torpor that his mother,fearing the worst, called in a doctor who diagnosed
typhoid fever and put the household in quarantine.
Dolia nursed her son night and day, watching over
him while his condition gradually worsened. Burningwith fever and racked by fierce headaches, Mikhaël

104

alternated between a state of delirium and longer periods of total prostration.
For a whole month he hovered between life and death.
In his periods of delirium he clamored for books. He
wanted nothing else, only books. He did not think
about getting better or even about the possibility thathe might die. He was interested only in learning, inknowing everything there was to know, in reading all
the books in the world. Restless and tormented by aburning thirst, he continued to ask for philosophical,
spiritual, and scientific works. In particular, he begged
for those of Spinoza, one of his favorite philosophers.
In their anxiety, his parents did their best to satisfy
him. Somehow finding those precious books, theybrought them to him and laid them on his bed.
Mikhaël, barely conscious, would mumble his thanks
and clasp the books lovingly for a few moments before
putting them by his pillow, with the feeling that he wasgetting better. But when the fever brought back thedelirium, he begged for still more books.
At one point the tiny flame of life burned so low thatit seemed certain to fail altogether. Dolia was in tears,
convinced that he was going to die.
But Mikhaël was not yet destined to leave this world.
Throughout his illness something had continually
been at watch within him. In his lucid moments hehad often been aware that it was within his power towork mentally to cure himself. He was far too weak to105

concentrate for long, but whenever possible he willedwith all his might to accept the suffering in every fiberof his being and allow it to purify his organism. Years
later he made a strange but certainly true comment
about his recovery: ‘I cured myself through suffering.’
When at last he was out of danger and his strength
was slowly returning, his craving for books had disappeared. He continued to read, but never in the sameway.
Mikhaël’s ‘terrible illness of purification’, as he called
it, seems to have been an integral part of the intensely
mystical phase he was going through. It was also theprelude to a vision that made a deep impression on
him. One evening, when in the state of somnolence
that lends itself particularly well to such phenomena,
he had a vision of a tall, arrogant being splendidly cladin black. Looking at the dark eyes in which a terrible intent smoldered, Mikhaël sensed that this being,
whose whole demeanor spoke of power and authority,
wished to possess him and communicate that power tohim.
Almost immediately there appeared a second figure instark contrast to the first. Dressed all in white, he wasradiant with light and inexpressibly beautiful. His eyes
spoke only of love and benevolence.
In a flash of intuition Mikhaël understood that he wasbeing given a choice. Fascinated though he was by theimmense powers this dark being seemed to be offering106him, deep in his heart he was fearful of something
terrible that emanated from that somber visage. Suddenly he understood: the forces of darkness anddestruction were trying to win him over to their sideand use him for their own ends. Turning back to thesecond apparition, he felt irresistibly drawn to him
because he had ‘the very face of Christ, the image ofsweetness, goodness and self-sacrifice’. There was no
possible hesitation, and the instant his choice was
made, the being of darkness vanished, while the beingof light gazed at him for a moment with an expressionof infinite sweetness before disappearing in his turn. It
was the splendor of this being that he was to describe
in later years. ‘I can never forget it,’ he said. ‘I was dazzled by his beauty. It was the beauty that captivated me.’This vision constituted a milestone in Mikhaël’s life.
He sensed that he had been absolutely free: free tochoose between putting his considerable psychic powers in the service of his own self-interest or in the service of light. That night he made up his mind that hewould use those powers only in the pursuit of a selflessspiritual goal.
Other choices he made at this period were equallyunequivocal. He was deeply impressed, for instance,by a text of Paracelsus in which he states that the lossof a man’s semen is a loss of life. Mikhaël would saylater that his encounter with this statement played adecisive role in his life, that it led him to reflect at
length on the question of sexuality and to make an107

important decision. A decision that was possible only
because he already shared the conviction of Paracelsus. Resolving not to give physical expression to his
sexual energies but to sublimate them in the serviceof a mystical goal, he would use them throughout hislife as one uses hydraulic pressure to raise water tothe top floor of a building, the ‘top floor’ being a symbol of the mind, the brain, the seat of the ‘thousandpetalled crown chakra’. Without repudiating or stiflingthese energies, he would gradually develop a balanced
philosophy of sexuality deeply respectful of humanbeings and their evolution.
***
During his long convalescence in the winter of 1917,
Mikhaël began to hear talk of Peter Deunov, theauthor of the booklets his friend at the bookshop had
given him. He was said to be a spiritual Master, a clairvoyant and musician, who had a great many disciples.
On the insistence of Church authorities, who disapproved of a teaching which drew not only on theGospels but also on the ancient tenets of initiatic science, Peter Deunov had been expelled from Sofia andwas now living in Varna. He had taken a room in the
Hotel Londres, not far from where Mikhaël’s family
lived.
One day while Mikhaël was taking some gentle exercise out of doors, he saw a man of medium height andvigorous appearance coming rapidly toward him. In

108

an instant he had passed, but not before Mikhaël had
glimpsed his face. Moved to the depths of his being, hemurmured to himself: ‘That must be Peter Deunov!’
The face he had seen expressed such nobility that it
could belong only to him. Incapable of thinking ofanything else, he made inquiries which confirmed his
intuition. It was truly Peter Deunov. Without hesitation, Mikhaël set out for the hotel to make theacquaintance of the author whose writings had so
inspired him. When he was shown into his room, he
saw a grey-haired man whom he recognized instantly
as the one who had passed him in the street. He wassitting at a table playing the violin, while the personwith him sang softly in accompaniment.
‘When you knocked,’ said Peter Deunov, ‘we were
singing a song that I am composing. You can sing withus.’
A little taken aback by this unexpected greeting,
Mikhaël obediently sat down and tried to sing withthem, but his vocal cords refused to make a sound.
Without seeming to notice Mikhaël’s embarrassment,Peter Deunov continued to play his violin, humming
the melody with the young woman, who was a member of the brotherhood he had founded. Gradually
Mikhaël recovered his composure and began to singwith them.
When the song was complete and written down, Peter
Deunov laid his violin on the table, turned to his

109guest, and engaged him in a lengthy conversation.
From time to time he picked up the Bible, read a passage, and commented on it. Mikhaël’s hunger for clear
and honest explanations was at last satisfied, and hewould say years later that from the first time he met
Peter Deunov there had been an ‘inexplicable bond’
between them. It was as though they had recognizedeach other.
Mikhaël was eager to learn Peter Deunov’s opinion on
many subjects, particularly on the question of clairvoyance. By then he already knew a good deal about
spiritual, extra-sensory, and occult phenomena andwas familiar with the philosophy of several initiatic
schools of both East and West. But here at last wasa man reputed to be a great clairvoyant, who could
speak from personal experience.
Mikhaël’s first question, ‘How can I become clairvoyant?’ received an answer that surprised him. Instead of
explaining a method, Peter Deunov simply said:‘Through love. You must develop your love. Your
clairvoyance will be far greater if you work in this way.’
Mikhaël was touched to the quick. On reflection herealized that until then he had been looking for ‘deep
mysteries, for things that transcend concrete realities’.
That very day he decided he would never make a deliberate effort to develop the gift of clairvoyance, butwould work only by means of love. The ability to see

11
1100

invisible realities on a higher plane would grow within
him naturally, without any special exercises or conscious effort. He knew that although certain methods
are effective, they can also be dangerous, for they candestroy a person’s inner equilibrium. From that dayon, he ‘worked to understand the truth and to sense
the beauty hidden in all things, in trees, in flowers, infruit’. In his eyes this was the highest form of clairvoyance.
I understood that the ordinary kind of clairvoyancedoes not rise above the level of the vicissitudes of ourlives, and that there is a higher form of clairvoyance
which is open to the immensity of God’s glory.6
After this first meeting, Mikhaël often saw Peter
Deunov at dawn, as he walked through the park on
his way to the sunrise. At this early hour the Morskata
Gradina was deserted, and Peter Deunov would
gravely lift his hat to this youth of seventeen who wentout so early each morning to contemplate the risingsun.
***
Mikhaël’s boyhood was coming to an end. He would
soon be an adult.
A study of his life as a child and a teenager reveals acertain number of paradoxes. When he talked about
those years, he would say, on the one hand, that he had
been very limited, a mediocre student, and someone111

who was always making experiments which annoyed
other people. On the other hand, he spoke of spiritualexperiences which were decidedly out of the ordinary,
saying: ‘You see, even if you are small and weak, if you
put your hand in the hand of your heavenly parents,
you can end by transforming yourself.’
Each successive spiritual experience, beginning at theage of six, corresponded to a phase of his awarenessof God’s presence in his life. By awakening his desire
to be useful to humanity, each new phase brought him
also to a new awareness of his friends and family. His
enthusiasm, his yearning for perfection and his
instinctively fraternal spirit made him long to sharewith them all the treasures of beauty and light he had
glimpsed at the height of those experiences. This concern for others is so strongly present in his life that it
must be seen as one of the principal traits of his character.

Notes
1.

December 9, 1968.

2.

January 28, 1951.

3.

April 19, 1945.

4.

‘Everything in the universe moves and vibrates. Nothingis totally immobile. ‘When an object reaches a certain levelof vibration, its molecules disintegrate and decompose,112

returning to the original elements and atoms from which
they came. These atoms, obeying the Law of Vibration, fallapart in their turn and become once more the countless
corpuscles of which they were composed. Finally, when the
corpuscles themselves disappear, we can say that the object
is composed of Etheric Substance.’ Le Kybalion,
Bibliothèque eudiaque, Paris, 1917, p. 97 (Our translation).
5.

August 21, 1954.

6.

August 1, 1963.

113

PART IITHE DISCIPLE5#The Beginning ofa New LifeIn the course of history, Bulgaria, the homeland of
Orpheus, was variously known as Thrace and Moesia
before receiving its present name. A land of ancient
myths lying at the frontier between East and West,it was particularly well placed to serve as one of theprincipal cradles of the esoteric tradition in Medieval
Europe.
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov sometimes said that the
Mysteries, taught for thousands of years in the templesof Egypt and India, had also been faithfully preservedin an initiatic center deep in the heart of Bulgaria’s
Rila massif, known only to true adepts. One of theseancient adepts, the mysterious Magus Boyan who had
developed great psychic powers in the course of his
initiation in India, was at the origin of a charismatic
religious movement in Bulgaria known as the
Bogomils. The spiritual renewal inspired by this movement, however, was short-lived, for the Bogomils
boldly condemned those in high places for their dissolute way of life, with the result that many were
exiled or burned at the stake. Some, fleeing the torment in Bulgaria, settled in other European countries
where their ideas influenced such initiatic movements
as the Knights Templar and the Cathars.
It is in the spiritual tradition of initiates such as theMagus Boyan that Peter Deunov takes his place. His
teaching rested on the key elements that were those of
the Bogomils—the light, self-mastery, and purity—but
had none of their austerity. Neither did he teach thatthe physical world was created by the powers of evil,
as did the Bogomils and Cathars. In his turn, Omraam
Mikhaël Aïvanhov would say that the Cathars’ yearning for liberation was based on their perception of lifeon earth as a terrible misfortune, and this, he insisted,
was an error: our task is to work here in the physicalworld, to bring about the kingdom of God on earth.
Peter Deunov, born in the region of Varna in 1864,
was the son of an Orthodox priest. After studying theology and medicine in the United States, he had
returned to Bulgaria in 1895. There he undertook an
intensive and wide-ranging study of phrenology, trav-

116eling to towns and villages throughout Bulgaria tostudy the relationship between human character andtemperament and the shape of the skull. It seems that
he also devoted much time to meditation, laying the
groundwork for a spiritual brotherhood. It was in 1900,
at about the time of Mikhaël’s birth, that he began togive public lectures, and nine years later, with a goodnumber of disciples at his side, he organized the first ina series of summer conventions for his followers near
the small town of Ternovo, half-way between Sofia
and Varna.
Peter Deunov’s explanations of the esoteric meaningof biblical texts breathed new life into traditional
Christian doctrines, but it was not long before hiswork met with strong opposition. The rapid rise ofthis spiritual movement which drew inspiration not
only from the Judeo-Christian tradition but also fromancient initiatic teachings was a source of concern toreligious authorities. A teaching based on light andthe notion of cosmic justice implicit in the doctrine ofreincarnation seemed to be a condemnation of theirown teaching and way of life. In 1917, the government
yielded to pressure exerted by the Bishops andexpelled Peter Deunov from Sofia.
Hardly had the exile settled in Varna—a town he knew
well, having spent part of his youth there—than hebegan to give public lectures. He was then fifty-three
and recognized by many as an authentic spiritual Master. His talks soon attracted a large following, for his117words manifested a vision of reality which was bothoriginal and profound and spoke to a deep need in his
contemporaries. His style, however, was unusual: hesometimes interrupted his discourse to hum a melody
that had suddenly come to him. Gradually, he developed and refined it and asked his audience to sing withhim. He was also an accomplished violinist and over
the years composed a great many mystical songs for his
fraternity.
Mikhaël soon became one of Peter Deunov’s mostdevoted followers, but Dolia wept when she learned
that he was following a teaching that was not sponsored by the Church. As a fervent member of the
Orthodox community she had difficulty in understanding her son’s enthusiasm for the brotherhood. In
an attempt to allay her concern, Mikhaël tried to interest her in the spiritual philosophy that was becoming
so important to him and invited her to attend some ofPeter Deunov’s talks with him. To please him, Dolia
finally agreed, but her first contact with the brotherhood was not a success. Peter Deunov continued tobe harassed by the religious authorities, and some ofhis enemies had followed him to Varna, where theyattempted to hinder his spiritual work by hiring hooligans to create disturbances during his talks. It was averitable persecution, and Dolia wanted no part of it.
‘Don’t worry, Mother,’ Mikhaël tried to reassure her;‘the Master says that the police will be there next timeto protect us.’118

The protection materialized as promised: several
policemen were stationed in the back of the hall before
the lecture began, and Peter Deunov spoke without
interruption. However, this was not enough to convince Dolia to attend more meetings. Her path was notthat of her son, but she respected his options. ‘If thisis what is right for you,’ she told him, ‘then I am withyou.’
Deeply grateful for the freedom she gave him, Mikhaël
lived in a permanent state of joy and enthusiasm. At
last he had found what he had sought for so long: aspiritual Master who was closely linked to the divineworld, a sage whose life was devoted to the enlightenment of humanity. And this sage dispensed a teachingwhose source lay in the highest spheres of the invisible world, a teaching which had been preserved for
centuries in the ancient temples of the world. As Peter
Deunov once said to the members of his brotherhood:
Do not say that the doctrine I teach was invented bysomeone called Deunov. Say that it is the teaching of
the Fellowship of Light. Tomorrow someone else willappear, with another name. The greatness of all those
who have come into the world lies in their transmissionof the truth just as it was given to them by God.1
For Mikhaël, it was the beginning of a new life; hisquest for perfection was now channeled in a more definite direction. He felt extraordinarily rich to havefound one of the most precious treasures that any

119human being can have: a spiritual Master. He realizedthat this new teaching confirmed and brought into
perspective all that he had discovered and practiced
in the last few years, and this gave him great joy, foralthough he was aware of the dangers inherent in his
excessive exercises, he could not always restrain himself. He knew that he needed a guide in order to makeprogress in the spiritual world and looked to Peter
Deunov to give him the advice and teach him themethods he needed. One day he told Peter Deunov ofa terrifying experience he had had. Many years later,
he referred again to that experience:
My longing to study these things was so overpoweringthat one day I disassociated from my physical body andlaunched out into space in search of the archives of
the cosmos. I reached such a great distance from theearth that I began to be afraid when I found myself
in this unknown space. Being out of my body, I had
consciously reached the universal archives, and I was
suddenly faced with that great universal abyss which is
spoken of in the Bible. I do not know why I was suddenly afraid to enter. I felt myself to be so far out inspace that I was filled with dread, and to my shame
I turned back. […] That was my first experience withthe archives of the Universe and I talked to the Master
about it […] I told him that I had been afraid of disintegrating, of seeing all my cells disappear in space.
Fear is a truly terrible state of mind. […] When you
find yourself very, very far from the earth, with nothing
underfoot—for we always feel the need to cling to terra

120firma—it is a terrifying experience. […] The Masterconfirmed that I had, in effect, reached the universal
abyss, but that as I was not yet ready to enter, it was
as well that I had turned back. I thought a lot aboutthat experience and I learned a lot by it. I meditated at
length and began to be more prudent.2
The failure of his first attempt to penetrate the mostsacred regions of the universe incited him to ponder
and weigh things more carefully. Peter Deunov, whorecognized the efforts he was making, often encouraged Mikhaël to come and talk to him in his hotel
room. The young man always arrived for those interviews with a series of questions, and as the answers
he received were often abstract and symbolic, he wasobliged to reflect at length in order to understand theirhidden meaning.
To help him remember what he had heard, he developed a method all his own. Instead of taking notes
during the interview, he tried simply to become areceptacle, to absorb his Master’s words not with his
intellect but with his heart, in order to grasp thebeauty and the spiritual dimension of Peter Deunov’s
words. Back in his own room, he concentrated onwhat had passed between them, reviewing the wholeconversation in his mind over and over again, until heremembered every word, every detail. Only then did
horizons open before him that he could not have imagined during the meeting. Convinced that whatever hereceived through the intermediary of Peter Deunov121was precious beyond words, he practiced this methodfaithfully for many years.
In one corner of Peter Deunov’s room stood a large
incense-burner, and in cold weather he would revive
the fire by stirring the coals with a small poker. As
Mikhaël watched, captivated by the grace of his movements, he reflected that the subtle harmony of his gestures could not fail to have a profound influence on
those around him. But if the young Mikhaël was askilled observer, he soon saw that Peter Deunov was
as well. When he walked to the door at the end of aninterview and turned to say good-bye, he saw that his
way of walking and of opening the door were being
closely observed. Struck by this, he began to scrutinize
his own gestures and correct anything that did notseem aesthetically pleasing.
Mikhaël’s desire for perfection frequently led him to
the Master in search of advice. One day, knowing of
his skill as a phrenologist, he asked Peter Deunov toanalyze his features and tell him how to correct thefaults they revealed. The Master complied, and hiscomments seem to have impressed the young Mikhaël
deeply: ‘Your forehead,’ he told him, ‘is designed inaccordance with the musical laws of divine harmony.’
He added that his chin expressed stability, and thengave him some advice about how to correct the aspects
that were not perfectly balanced. When Mikhaël said
that he too would like to study phrenology, Peter122

Deunov smiled and replied: ‘You already have that science within you.’This response may have seemed surprising, but as
Mikhaël was to say later, he had begun to realize thatwhile the Master was answering a question he often
knew the answer already, and that Peter Deunov was
simply bringing to the surface truths that lay hidden
within him.
After his long and lonely quest in the world of books,
Mikhaël found great comfort in the burgeoning community that had become his spiritual family. The
teaching he was studying so ardently fulfilled his aspirations, for it embraced not only initiatic science andphilosophy, but also meditation, prayer, music, methods of breath control, and even rhythmic physicalexercises designed to harmonize the whole being. In
this teaching he found light, wisdom, and brotherly
love.
‘This is the new life,’ he said to himself, ‘a life that is
all giving, not taking.’ But what could he give? Certainly not money. His only wealth lay in his love andhis thoughts, and these he dedicated whole-heartedly
to the Master Deunov and his spiritual mission. Every
morning, he devoted himself to this work, picturingPeter Deunov as inexpressibly beautiful, surrounding
him with a wealth of magnificent colors, projecting on
to him every imaginable quality and virtue. His passion for subtle links urged him to unite mentally with123

this spiritual Master at every possible moment, for in
his eyes he was a vital link in the ascending chain ofhighly evolved beings that binds us to the Creator.
By uniting with him, thereby forging a bond with themost sublime hierarchies, he received an abundanceof spiritual benefits which both fuelled and intensified
his hunger for perfection, his quest for God.
***
Mikhaël was not to enjoy this ideal situation for long.
Toward the end of 1917 the time came for him to do
his military service. He was devastated. The very ideaof being a soldier horrified him, for he wanted no partin any form of human violence. He, whose ideal was
one of love, sharing, and mutual support, had alreadyspent his whole life in a world ravaged by wars andinsurrections, a world of terror and brutality. And
now, with the First World War in full spate, theBalkans were tragically affected by the conflict.
As soon as he received his conscription papers, hewent to tell Peter Deunov. ‘I was crying,’ he said later.
‘I did so want to stay with him and continue going to
the sunrise.’This reaction is revealing. Of all the sacrifices military
service would demand of him, the most difficult toaccept was the separation from his spiritual Masterand the impossibility of practicing the ‘yoga of thesun’. To his surprise, Peter Deunov’s response was to124

laugh, and Mikhaël, hurt by this apparent indifference,fell silent. But then he thought to himself: ‘I cannot
expect a great Master to share in the sorrows of a little
disciple like me.’ As he was to learn later, Peter
Deunov often assumed an air of gaiety in the face ofanother’s sadness in order to dissipate the negative
vibrations and induce a more positive reaction. After a
few moments, however, his expression changed completely, and looking at Mikhaël with the love of afather, he said: ‘You will soon be freed in an extraordinary way. You have no idea what heaven has in store
for you.’
In truth, Mikhaël’s military service was brief. Shortly
after his arrival in camp he fell ill with jaundice andwas transferred to the infirmary, where he was treatedby a sergeant whose medical competence was limited
to the use of tincture of iodine. Peter Deunov’s prediction soon came true: Mikhaël was declared unfit for
military service and sent home to recuperate. Whenhe was better, although still pale and thin, he went to
see Peter Deunov, who told him: ‘Your liver has beendamaged.’‘What should I do to get better?’‘Every morning before eating, you must drink a cup
of water. Drink it slowly, chewing each mouthful andconcentrating on what you are doing. You must also
talk to the water. Tell it, “Dear water, we are going towork together to repair what is wrong in my body.”’125

Perplexed, Mikhaël thought to himself: ‘Water? Thatis his remedy?’ Without really believing in it he nevertheless obeyed, for he was convinced that it could only
be to his benefit to follow his Master’s advice, even if
it were mistaken. While he knew that genuine Masters who work with the forces of light never demanded
submission from their disciples, he also knew thatobedience was very beneficial, for it could help one toacquire humility.
Mikhaël began his treatment and with the first mouthful experienced an extraordinary sensation: it was asthough he were tasting water for the first time. It was
an elixir on his tongue. As an agreeable lightheadedness took hold of him, his consciousness
seemed to expand and become keener and more receptive. While his thoughts focused on the pure water,
his whole being responded to the mysterious properties of this element he loved so well. Before long, hefelt his strength returning, and the extreme exhaustion resulting from his recent illness was soon a thingof the past.
Peter Deunov had reminded him of a reality withwhich he had long been familiar without fully understanding all its implications: the subtle, secret properties of water. But Mikhaël was still not satisfied andbegan to look for ways of improving his health further.
Meditating on the unity indispensable to a human
body, he thought to himself, ‘The organs function wellonly if they obey a higher authority which regulates

126their activity. How can I make contact and communicate with that authority? How can I enable it to takepossession of its inner kingdom?’ He thought of thecells and organs of the body as ‘a realm that was governed very imperfectly by its human owner’, and hepondered how to communicate with the true king ofthat realm.
By means of fervent meditation he succeeded in raising his mind to the level of his higher self, that omniscient element that dwells in every human being, andit was then that the existence of an extremely potent
point at the back of his head was revealed to him. He
began to concentrate on this spot and permeate it withall the light he could imagine. Years later he would tellhis followers that by focusing the mind on this spot it
is possible to communicate with one’s higher self, sothat it infuses new energies into one’s cells.
I can give you an exercise which consists in concentrating on the occiput, the region at the back of yourskull. Try it for a few minutes and you will notice thatsomething begins to happen: your whole body begins
to vibrate and you feel as though sparks were coursing
through you. But this is not an exercise that should becontinued for long: as soon as you feel a tension, a tingling, as though you had touched a nerve center thatmade your whole body vibrate, it is time to stop. The
first few times you must be very careful and be sure notto go on for too long.3

127

Gradually, thanks to his regular efforts, the physicaldebility he had suffered for years disappeared.
From this point on, although he now had a spiritual
Master with whom he intended to work for many years
to come, Mikhaël knew that he would continue tomake important discoveries on his own, almost independently of Peter Deunov’s influence. His later comments on this period of his youth are revealing: all
his experiences and discoveries sprang from an innerdynamic, not from any external stimulus. Since his
illumination, his invisible guide had been continuallypresent within him, and it was he who inspired his
spiritual work, while Peter Deunov was the touchstone of his progress, the sage in whose presence hegained perspective on many things and learned to confirm his intuitions and discoveries. Peter Deunov’s roleseems to have been to provide occasional concise
explanations that served as a leaven for the ideas
already taking shape in Mikhaël’s mind, and to guide
him with care toward that which he needed to learn,
but in fact—as Mikhaël himself was to say—he was
guiding Mikhaël toward an unknown Master who
belonged to another dimension.
In the spring of 1918, Peter Deunov offered Mikhaël
the occasion for a very special spiritual experience: byteaching him to use the technique of disassociation
more effectively, he led him for the first time to thecausal plane, one of the higher planes of being, eachof which has its specific vibratory field and which128

together constitute the different levels of energy in thecosmos. At the time, Peter Deunov was a guest in thehome of a disciple who lived among the vineyards tothe north of Varna. One day when Mikhaël went tosee him there, he invited him to return early the nextmorning, saying that he wanted to take him up into
the hills for the sunrise.
In his teaching, Peter Deunov attributed great importance to the sun and encouraged everyone to attend
the sunrise during the spring and summer. He taught
them to assimilate the sunlight in order to transform
it into virtue and communicate it to others. It is clearthat he did not teach them to consider the sun as asort of God or object of worship, but simply to nourish
themselves with its light at the moment when its energies were most beneficial.
At the prospect of this excursion Mikhaël was too
excited to sleep that night, and in his anxiety to beat their meeting place in good time—the house where
Peter Deunov was staying was some distance from his
home—he was up long before dawn. He was so happy
to be walking along beside the Master—’I was asproud as Punch to be with him!’—that he could notstop talking, but he ended by noticing that Peter
Deunov only smiled and barely answered. The message was obvious and Mikhaël fell silent.
The sky grew gradually lighter, and the only soundwas that of their footsteps on the path as Mikhaël pre-129

pared himself to meditate. They reached the highest
slopes just as the sun burst into view, rising over thesea. Speaking of this experience many years later withsome of those who followed his teaching, Mikhaël
would say: ‘The color of that great solar disk was somarvelous that I longed to drink its light.’ And he suggested that they too learn consciously to breathe in, todrink in the light of the rising sun; to see it as a veritable elixir of physical and spiritual health.
After a short meditation and some breathing exercises, Peter Deunov said: ‘Now we are going to lie
down.’He stretched out on the grass with his back exposedto the sun’s rays and Mikhaël, overcoming his first surprise, did the same. He soon felt the heat of the sun
warming his skin through his clothes. His backbecame a great battery charged with solar energy, andpervaded by a deep sense of well-being, he sank intoa state that closely resembled sleep. When he cameto himself, he had the impression that Peter Deunov
had returned at the same moment. Although he had
no clear memory of what he had seen, he sensed that
he had experienced something exceptional; his wholebeing reverberated with a mysterious bliss. Peter
Deunov, smiling at him, asked: ‘Do you know where
we were?’‘No, Master,’ replied Mikhaël; ‘I would be glad if you
would tell me.’130

‘We went to visit the causal plane, but the entities
that received us told me that you must not be allowed
to remember what you had seen. That is why I was
obliged to draw a veil before your eyes. But you canfeel, can you not, that something happened?’‘Oh yes, Master. Yes!’
Mikhaël knew that what he had experienced wasimportant for his soul. It seemed to him that the very
air was filled with vibrations from the higher planes,
that the whole of nature was enchanted. After a
moment of silence, the spell was broken when Peter
Deunov took some food from his knapsack and they
ate together before going down to the town. For the
rest of that day, Mikhaël lived in the memory of themorning’s experience, and from then on he often
accompanied Peter Deunov to the sunrise. After along meditation they disassociated, and the Masterguided his young disciple with extraordinary love andattention, giving him the opportunity to learn ‘therealities of the invisible world.’***
While it was given to Mikhaël to become familiar withthe realities of worlds unknown to most humanbeings, he was not allowed to remain in ignorance ofthe realities of the physical world in which he lived. At
the age of eighteen he was called on to make one of theimportant decisions that his future mission required131

of him. The occasion was provided by a man who had
been a consul in the United States and who had
recently returned to Bulgaria after traveling about theworld. Author of several books about spiritualism andpassionately interested in magic, he had brought backfrom his travels all kinds of fetishes, magic mirrors,
and ritual robes which he intended to use in his experiments. Once he became president of a group of spiritualists, however, he had been obliged to admit thathis psychic abilities were meager, and he was looking
for a young man gifted in this way to help him implement his plans.
One day Mikhaël received an invitation to the exconsul’s home in a fashionable neighborhood of
Varna, and a dazzling proposal was put to him: inexchange for his services, he was offered a good salary,
free room and board, and the use of a library well supplied with books on the occult sciences, magic, andextra-sensory phenomena… ‘And whatever else youwant,’ added the consul.
Word of the abilities, the purity, and the spirituality ofthis exceptional young man had reached his ears, andwith his assistance he could foresee extremely interesting prospects in terms of communications with thespirit world. He was prepared to pay a good deal for his
collaboration. For Mikhaël, this was the classic temptation of wealth and power: unrestricted access to an
excellent library, the freedom to experiment withextra-sensory phenomena, and the money that would132

enable him to help his mother and live at ease himself.
His first reaction, however, was to consult Peter
Deunov and to do as he advised. When Peter Deunov
counseled him in no uncertain terms to have nothing
to do with the ex-consul or with magic of any kind, he
was not surprised; he had already arrived at the conclusion that the truly magical element in the ascenttoward perfection was the presence of a spiritual Master, and that psychic accomplishments were of secondary importance:
I did not know much about human nature, about thecupidity and perversion of men or the fascination ofdanger. Fortunately, as I did not want to be led astray,
I never did anything without consulting my Master,Peter Deunov. There are a great many different ways ofselling one’s soul to the devil! You do not need to makethe kind of pact with the devil that is described in books
on witchcraft; you only need to obey the dictates of yourown selfishness and greed. Each time you do so yoursoul loses some of its light.4
At the age of sixteen Mikhaël had already chosen
between the two beings who had appeared to him ina vision. But that did not dispense him from the successive choices that all human beings have to make toreinforce an initial decision, however firm. Free willremains, and our options must constantly be renewed.
Fortified by Peter Deunov’s wisdom, he persevered
with his spiritual exercises, working continually topurify his motivations.

133

Speaking later of his psychic powers—and in particular of his clairvoyance—he said that at that period
he had sensed a great inner effervescence, and that heoften had revelations about people’s past lives. Whenever possible, he asked Peter Deunov to verify thetruth of those revelations. But before long he realizedthat to reveal such things could be dangerous, that hehad no right to lift the veil that divine wisdom draws
over the memory of human beings: ‘If they knew what
terrible things they had done to each other in the past,
how would they react today?’
Mikhaël’s dearest wish was to help his friends toadvance, but how could he be sure of what he could
tell them without doing them more harm than good?
Because he was in doubt about this he adopted thehabit of denying his gift of clairvoyance. It is evident,
however, that he perceived emanations and the aura
surrounding each human being, an aura which cannot
lie, for its colors express the physical and spiritual stateof health of the individual. Occasionally he could evensee the luminescence of Peter Deunov’s aura and capture the fragrance of the spiritual perfume emanatingfrom him.
Peter Deunov, aware of Mikhaël’s decision in respect
to his clairvoyance and knowing his interest in the artof divination by chiromancy, warned him that it wasan extremely subtle science which was very difficult tomaster.

134

‘If you want to understand what a hand reveals,’ heexplained, ‘palmistry alone is not enough. You also
have to use phrenology, which studies the shape of theskull, and physiognomy, which enables you to know aperson’s character as indicated by his facial features.’
Mikhaël thus began to study the three disciplines
together, and not long after this, Peter Deunov held
out his hand for him to read. Deeply moved, Mikhaël
examined it in silence and was immediately struck by
the length of the line of Saturn. Then he noticed a line
which started at the Mount of Venus and, crossing thelife line, the head line, and the line of Saturn, ended on
the other side of the palm. The Master, who had been
watching Mikhaël’s expression, asked:‘Do you see that line? What does it mean?’‘It is the line of great ordeals,’ replied Mikhaël without
hesitation. Then, instinctively looking at his own
hand, he saw the same line. For a moment he was
speechless. So that was it! Peter Deunov knew that hehad the same line. He had only shown Mikhaël his
hand to help him to understand something important:
he too would have to endure great ordeals.
‘For the time being you will have the best possible conditions and receive the help you need to advance,’ saidPeter Deunov. ‘Heaven will give you many blessings.
But a time will come when the forces of darkness will135

put obstacles in your way and try to prevent you fromgoing forward.’‘It should be possible to get by,’ said Mikhaël with asmile, unable to grasp all that those words of warning
implied.
The Master then decided to reveal further aspects of
the ordeals that he would have to face later, and after
listening attentively, Mikhaël asked when these trials
would take place.
‘In the twenty-sixth year,’ replied Peter Deunov.
‘In my twenty-sixth year,’ thought Mikhaël to himself.
But he was mistaken. He was then eighteen, and Peter
Deunov’s ambiguous answer meant that his worst
ordeals would begin twenty-six years later. And in fact
it was in 1944 that his ‘descent into hell’ began andcontinued until he touched the depths in 1948. Not
wanting to impose too heavy a burden on Mikhaël,Peter Deunov had been deliberately vague.
In the meantime, the fraternity was growing rapidly
and counted several hundred members who considered each other as brothers and sisters. In this they
were heirs to an age-old tradition of mankind, forhuman beings have always had the nostalgic dream of
one great family in which they could live in a spirit oflove and mutual support. Throughout the ages, manysuch fraternities have seen the light of day in different
countries, different social classes, and different reli-136

gions. The members of Peter Deunov’s brotherhood
strove to express this ideal through the harmony of
their life together, and as a reminder in times of difficulty that they all belonged to the same family, they
addressed each other as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’.
By 1919, the summer conventions at Ternovo had beena regular feature for ten years. The site of the gathering
lay among the vineyards on the outskirts of the town,
and as there was only one small house, the participants
camped in tents and held their activities in the open
air. This year Peter Deunov had arranged for Mikhaël
and one of his friends to join them, and when they
arrived from Varna they found several hundred participants already gathered from the four corners of Bulgaria. Mikhaël and his friend, at nineteen years old,
were the youngest.
During this convention Peter Deunov talked at length
about light. He asserted that the science of light andcolor would be the dominant science of the future, andthat light, seemingly so inoffensive, was in reality thegreatest force in creation.
That summer was a time of great happiness for
Mikhaël: he was happy to be with his spiritual family
again, and above all he was happy because of his relationship with Peter Deunov. One day, in conversation
with a woman who often acted as Peter Deunov’s secretary when he traveled, Mikhaël spoke of the Master’skindness, affection, and consideration. In return he137received a warning which opened his eyes to otheraspects of the life of a disciple and prepared him forwhat was to come. The woman exclaimed:‘Brother Mikhaël, you will see later on! He is like thatwith the brothers and sisters in the beginning, but
after a while he becomes much more severe. That it
how it was with me, and I thank Heaven that he shakes
me up from time to time. You do not yet know what a
Master is.’In effect, it was this same summer that Peter Deunov
began to treat his young disciple differently:
At Ternovo we had to build a path. We had collected
all the cement, flagstones and other things we needed.
We both worked but it was the Master who began.
Then I saw that my work did not look much like his.
I was so eager and so happy to be doing this job with
the Master that I was going too fast. But the Masterhad engaged me in this work to teach me something. He
found that the flagstones I had laid were uneven; they
were not lined up correctly. I corrected my mistakes, but
the Master found other errors and so on until the end.
He did not say anything while I was working, but once I
had finished he found fault with it. […] The Master was
re-educating us. He obliged us to see that our attitude
and that of society was too mediocre—it was incapableof building character. He stimulated us to seek perfection in every area of life.5

138Notes1.

L’Enseignement du Maître Deunov, by a group of Bulgarian
disciples. Publication E.T. Courrier du Livre, 1990 p. 62.
(Our translation)

2.

June 14, 1944. He spoke of this experience in the context of
explanations about the Akasha Chronica, the mysterious
subtle matter which exists in the cosmos and which records
all that happens in the universe; all thoughts, words, andactions.

3.

‘The Higher Self II’ in Know Thyself: Jnana Yoga I.

4.

‘Youth, a World in Gestation’, in Youth: Creators of the
Future.

5.

April 2, 1944.

139

6

#

Year After YYearear I
Worked…

Ternovo, one of the ancient capitals of Bulgaria, isbuilt on a cluster of steep rugged hills. Mikhaël liked
the picturesque little town with the river Iantra winding through it, but he loved even more the beautiful
countryside all around. That year, after the summer
convention, he decided to remain there with one of his
friends and devote all his time to spiritual work in thispeaceful natural setting.
The two youths were lent an empty villa belonging to amember of Mikhaël’s family. Surrounded by trees, thehouse stood in the middle of vineyards not far fromthe town. On entering the house one of the first things
they did was to open the windows, but in one of therooms they found the space between shutter and window filled with honeycombs, and a swarm of bees atwork. Fascinated by the spectacle, they watched for along time and agreed not to disturb them. From thenon, Mikhaël lived in that room as though in a hive,
observing the different phases of the bees’ communal
life. The delicious, heady perfume that filled the room
helped him to meditate. Ever after, he had a special
affection for these tiny creatures who ‘give us a magnificent example of an advanced form of society’.
This two-year retreat in Ternovo was an important
phase in Mikhaël’s life. He read and meditated to hisheart’s content, often into the small hours. Without
fear of interruption, and with the heady perfume produced by the bees to help him to disassociate, he wasfree to multiply his out-of-body experiences andexplore space—as he called the regions to which hetraveled in his astral body. His one desire was tounderstand the structure of the universe and see how
all its different elements hang together. Utterly fearless, taking little care for his life, he succeeded inreaching the loftiest spheres of the invisible world. As
he would say later, he ‘explored the higher worlds ofideas and archetypes, the laws and principles that govern creation’.
Year after year I worked with only one idea in mind: tocontemplate and comprehend the structure of the uni-141

verse. For years, it was the only thing that interested
me. I spent days and nights out of my body, striving fora clear vision of that structure, of the bonds that tie
all the disparate elements together. I knew that everything else was unimportant. The only thing that mattered was to see the overall structure.1
At one point he began to concentrate on the distantpast of humanity. To go millions of years into the past
was a terrifying experience, for he found himself infront of ‘nothing’. After many other experiments heattempted to project himself billions of years into the
future, and once again was seized with dread. Whenhe spoke about this second experiment later he did not
explain the reason for his fear. He simply concluded bysaying that eternity is not a temporal reality, it is a stateof mind, and that we all have the potential to change agreat deal in our present state by concentrating on the
future; that through concentration, ‘you can touch anerve center of eternity which is capable of sweeping
away all that exists’.
Although his experiments were sometimes terrifying,
he did not let this deter him. His thirst for knowledgeof the invisible world continually urged him on. All
these perceptions, ecstasies, and discoveries were partof the inner initiation that had been working within
him ever since his illumination. The perfection of thesymbols he saw and described so vividly is a clear indication of the spiritual maturity he had alreadyattained. He would explain one day that if one med-142

itates for a long time on an idea, a geometrical form
which corresponds exactly to the idea on which one ismeditating will gradually take shape in one’s subconscious—or superconscious.
He continued his exercises of mental concentration,
working with the power of thought so as to become
more and more capable of tuning into the wavelengthsof the higher worlds. And he continued, always withthe same enthusiasm, to share his discoveries with his
friends. But he had not lost his love of mischief andwas quite capable of doing something spectacular justfor the fun of it. Many years later he told of one such
incident:
When I was still very young there were certain exercisesthat I loved to do. One day I was with some friends at
the top of the Musala, and the lakes of Rila and theother peaks were hidden by fog. It was so thick that we
could barely see each other. Just for fun, I asked myfriends, `Do you want to see the view? Tell me what
you want to see and I’ll show it to you.’ Well, one ofthem asked to see the third lake—or perhaps it was
the fifth—I do not remember exactly. I had climbed
the Musala so often that I knew exactly where eachlake or peak of the Pirin-Rhodope mountains was, so I
stretched out my hand in the direction of the third lake,
the fog cleared, and the lake appeared. Of course, they
all exclaimed in surprise. Then I lowered my hand, andgradually the lake was once more hidden by fog. Thensomeone else wanted to see the Macedonian moun-143

tains. I stretched out my hand in that direction andonce again the fog lifted and the mountains appeared.
After that the sun came out. My friends wereabsolutely dumbfounded. For the first time they understood how powerful thought can be. This story is
absolutely true. I know that the invisible world is listening to me. I cannot lie to you.2
After relating this incident he added that if it is possible to act on external clouds it is even easier to workon those that obscure our inner world. By mentally
focusing rays of light on them, one can dispel themand regain inner peace and joy.
In spite of the intensity of his research, Mikhaël wasnever satisfied. Conscious of the importance of continual purification to allow the currents of divine life
to flow freely within him, he decided to fast for ten
days. After two or three days he experienced a thirstwhich continued to increase as the days went by. He
was obsessed by water. All his dreams were of springs
and rivers at which he drank without ever quenching
his thirst. On the seventh day he picked up a pieceof fruit and sensed that when he breathed in its perfume he received a subtle nourishment that satisfied
him completely. It was then that he understood more
profoundly than ever a truth that he would refer toall his life: fruit—indeed, all plants—contain subtle,
etheric elements that can nourish us if we are not too
satiated to assimilate them. For the last three days of
his fast, before gradually resuming a normal diet and144his usual rhythm of life, he continued to nourish himself solely on the emanations of fruit.
At this period of his life Mikhaël often continued his
spiritual exercises far into the night, with the resultthat he was sometimes too tired to awake in time forthe sunrise. Although he regretted this, it seems thathe could not resign himself to working less. One fineday, however, something happened that enchanted
him: at dawn a small bird alighted on his windowsill and began tapping on the glass with its beak. The
following morning and every day after that, the bird
returned and took up its tapping, and Mikhaël
responded as to a friend: ‘All right. I’m getting up atonce!’
Then he put some bread-crumbs on the window ledge
and the bird, singing merrily, flew off in search of others to join in the feast, while Mikhaël thanked heaven
with all his heart for this gift of joy from the kingdomof the air. Mikhaël had always had this special relationship with birds. Throughout his life, they often
served as messengers to bring him answers he was
waiting for from the invisible world. At one time oranother, most of his friends witnessed such incidents
which pointed to a rare harmony between a humanbeing and the natural world.
Years later, one of those friends, a young man called
Alexander, described to his daughter his first meetingwith Mikhaël.

145

We met on a train. I was seventeen at the time andwas traveling alone. Standing in the corridor outside
my compartment was a young man, a little older thanmyself. He must have sensed that I was looking at him,
because he suddenly turned round and smiled at mewith an extraordinary expression of radiance andwarmth. I was tremendously struck by the spiritual
beauty that shone from him. I stood up and went out
to the corridor and leaned on the window beside him.
We talked about all kinds of things and discovered that
we both lived in Dounavska Street: he at one end in the
Turkish quarter, and I at the other end. Then he talked
about his Master and told me that he was on his way
to a convention at Ternovo. At first I wanted to go withhim, but finally we decided that we would meet again
in September in Varna, and he would give me somebooks and take me to the Master’s talks.
This was the beginning of a lasting friendship.
Alexander became a member of Peter Deunov’s brotherhood and attended his talks regularly. In the Spring
he accompanied Mikhaël when he went to meditatein the park at sunrise. One morning as they were sitting on a bench in front of the rising sun, a bird cameand perched on Mikhaël’s shoulder. Mikhaël was deep
in meditation and did not stir, but Alexander was distracted and watched his friend for a long time. After awhile, as the bird remained perfectly still, he could notresist murmuring:‘Mikhaël, you know there’s a bird on your shoulder?’146‘Yes, I know,’ replied Mikhaël.
Then, opening his eyes, he talked to the bird with all
the affection a human being can feel for a small animal.
It was obvious that there was a genuine communication between those two beings, so different from eachother.
The bird listened, added Alexander, and seemed torespond with little movements of its head. There wassuch tenderness in Mikhaël’s gestures and such an
extraordinary light in his face that I have always
remembered that moment.
***
Mikhaël seems to have had many friends, but hewould say later that in Bulgaria he had always
remained in the background, and those who knew him
confirm this. Yet there is ample evidence that he had
remarkable influence on his contemporaries. According to his family and friends he was much sought afterand people were always coming to ask his advice. He
attracted them like a magnet. With the fire that burned
within him and his radiant energy drawn from thehigher planes, he was a being who led others irresistibly toward new horizons. One might think thatpeople would have been uneasy in the presence ofsuch intensity, but his high spirits and unfailing senseof humor always gave it balance. Also, his affection for
his friends was so genuine and warm that they eas-147

ily forgot the supernatural and almost intimidating
aspects of his behavior, his research and his work.
At one point, several young friends went to live with
Mikhaël in Ternovo to pursue their spiritual work in afavorable atmosphere, and gradually the house becamea focal point of spiritual life in which other young
friends found encouragement and support. They
spent their days reading, meditating and working in
the house and garden.
One day they were surprised to see a youth, dressedin rags and with every appearance of being a fugitive,
emerge timidly from among the vines. Without hesitation, they welcomed him and offered him something
to eat. The boy was trembling with fear, but gradually,
reassured by their attitude, he told them his name was
Dimitri and he was being hunted by the police. He
had belonged to a group of anarchists of which only
he had escaped death; all his comrades had been executed. Mikhaël and his friends invited Dimitri to staywith them as long as he wished. It was a courageous
gesture, since at the time—two years after the end ofWorld War I—violence was rife in the country and thepolitical situation was increasingly unstable. Groupsof agrarians, communists, fascists, anarchists, andMacedonian revolutionaries all contributed to thegeneral unrest, which was even further intensified by
the presence of thousands of refugees from the devastated war zones.

148

Dimitri had long conversations with these young men
whose ways astonished him: they were vegetarians,
they meditated, they loved to watch the sun rise, andthey lived in an atmosphere of harmony. It was theintegrity of his own character that had first led him torebel against the injustices of society and join the anarchists in the hope of building a better world throughviolence. But bitter experience had opened his eyes,
and he was spontaneously drawn to the philosophy oflove and peace that inspired his new friends. Yet it wasdifficult for him to believe in this sudden reversal of
his fortunes. To hide or flee at the first sign of danger
had become second nature to him, and the adaptation
to a life of peace did not come easily. Mikhaël, observing him with affection, thought to himself: ‘It is as
though he missed the torments of the past.’ Gradually,
however, Dimitri’s native qualities reasserted themselves and blossomed in the friendly atmosphere of
the group. He became particularly attached to Mikhaël
and remained ever after a faithful friend.
In the meantime, Peter Deunov had received permission to return to Sofia and was now giving lecturesin his own home. In many ways, however, his work
was becoming increasingly difficult. In the past he had
often had to take a stand against those who wanted
him to make life easier for them or who sought his
protection and hoped for miracles. In their anger anddisappointment some of them turned against him andbegan to spread criticism and false rumors about him,
and he was now faced with a difficulty that confronts

149

almost all spiritual guides: the bitter recriminations of
one-time disciples.
Several young brothers, worried by these negative
rumors, went to consult Mikhaël, who was vehement
in defense of Peter Deunov. He had far too much
respect and affection for the Master to believe such
criticisms or to question his decisions. But this time ofdifficulty for Peter Deunov was also a period of trial for
Mikhaël. He was nineteen, and the young men withwhom he lived often turned to him, confident thathe could enlighten them and give them good advice.
It was not a role that he chose for himself. On thecontrary, he had stayed in Ternovo in order to devotehimself to a life of contemplation. But in spite of his
desire to remain in the background, he could not hide
the fire that burned within and shone from him. And
it was here that another test awaited him. Just as hehad known the lure of power at the age of sixteen, it
was inevitable that he should now be tempted by theexercise of authority. Later, he spoke with the utmost
simplicity of how, during his second year with Peter
Deunov, he had once spoken ‘as a Master’ to somemembers of the brotherhood.
As soon as he had spoken, he realized that he wasin danger of seeking glory for himself, just as three
years earlier he had been in danger of using his powers
for his own ends. He reproached himself bitterly forhaving abandoned his habitual discretion and selfeffacement. It was at this point that Peter Deunov’s

150

attitude, for reasons known only to himself, changed
radically. From then on, he ignored Mikhaël completely. Commenting later on the Master’s reaction,
Mikhaël said: ‘If you only knew how I suffered! How
I regretted what I had done!’ Adding that, in reality,
it had been no more than a childish mistake, but thatPeter Deunov must have seen it as the sign of a danger
from which he wanted to protect him.
Mikhaël’s inner strength coupled with his deliberate
self-effacement aroused admiration in some and envy
in others. When the latter spread the rumor that the
Master was displeased with his decision to live in Ternovo with his friends, Mikhaël became the object of
criticism and denigration. He also suffered greatly
from the change in his relationship with Peter
Deunov, and for years puzzled over his apparent coldness. He could not know that the Master had decided
to keep him in the background until it was time toentrust him with his unique mission: to carry histeaching to France. Occasionally, however, Mikhaël
was deeply moved by a rare and unexpected gestureof approval and support on the part of Peter Deunov.
One of his best friends, a young guitarist called Ivan
came to see him one day and told him:
‘Mikhaël, I was just talking about you with the Master.
He said you had one of the keenest minds he had evermet; that your intelligence was as fine as a thread ofsilk, capable of penetrating everything.’

151

Mikhaël understood the message, which seems to have
had special significance for him at this stage of hislife. Peter Deunov must have known that what he said
to Ivan would be passed on. The attitude of indifference he had adopted towards his young disciple wasprobably intended to fortify him in preparation for
his future work. He knew how much Mikhaël loved
him. He also knew both his extreme sensitivity andhis exceptional inner strength, and apparently had
decided to deprive him of the consolations of a personal relationship. His attitude toward Mikhaël wasoften enigmatic. The explanations or advice he gave
were not easy to understand, often no more than aglimpse of light through a half-opened door, for heknew that nothing would deter Mikhaël from exploring new horizons, that he was capable of finding for
himself all that his soul needed. Peter Deunov was
leaving him free to advance alone so that he mightreach his full potential more rapidly.
Mikhaël thus went forward alone but never in isolation. As often as possible he participated in the threeor four-day excursions Peter Deunov organized to
Mount Vitosha, a 7, 500 foot peak to the south of Sofia.
The Master would set out in the middle of the nightaccompanied by the most courageous of his disciples,giving them an occasion to fortify their will and powers of endurance. The ascent lasted several hours, taking them first through a thick forest crisscrossed bya confusion of streams and torrents, and then, once
above the tree line, to a desolate landscape of gigantic152

boulders which streamed down the slopes like great
petrified rivers. From the summit, an immense, level
plateau strewn with enormous rocks, they contemplated the grandiose spectacle of the rising sun.
In addition to these excursions, which he loved,
Mikhaël joined the other members of the brotherhood
as often as possible for meetings in Peter Deunov’s
house. He would slip in quietly and take a chair at theback, or if the room was full, remain standing by thedoor. When the Master entered, those present greetedhim by raising their right hand, palm forward, to thelevel of the forehead. As the Master responded in kindto this beautiful, ancient form of greeting, his face
seemed to glow and become radiant. Mikhaël, who
had sometimes wondered why his expression changed
at this moment, realized that the ambience born of therespect and love of his disciples was an inspiration for
him, a stimulus which manifested as light on his face.
While listening attentively to what the Master wassaying, Mikhaël often watched the expressions on thefaces of those present. The spontaneous exchange
between speaker and audience always fascinated him.
In his eyes, every teacher was a medium, and it was theambience created by the audience that enabled him tocommunicate the message dictated by the spirit.
Paradoxically, it was Mikhaël’s desire to come as close
as possible to Peter Deunov’s thought that led him toremain in the back of the hall. The physical distance153

stimulated the powers of perception not only of hiseyes, but also of his soul and his mind. After a talk, helistened silently to the discussions between the Master and his audience, observing that some of the disciples presumed to give Peter Deunov advice publicly.
The Master listened to them, sometimes putting themin their place, but more often than not smiling at theirvanity and letting them have their say. As for Mikhaël,in the course of these discussions he did not try to
attract attention or display his knowledge. If he hadonce been tempted to assume an attitude of authority,
he had since renounced it completely.
***In the school of Pythagoras, one of the ordeals least
expected by new students was the flood of scorn andunfair criticism to which they were subjected, sometimes for a long time. Very few were able to endure thecorrosive effect of such treatment, but those who didso were admitted to initiation.
Instinctively, from the first moment of his relationshipwith the Master he had sought for so long, Mikhaël
longed to undergo ordeals that would purify his heartand strengthen his character. In the course of thesefirst two years, he often begged Peter Deunov to chastise him, to put him through the ‘seven retorts’, thetraditional vessels of the alchemists in which mercury
is separated from amalgam or other impurities byvolatilization. He repeated that he was willing to be154

ground to powder and put through fire in order to be
purified and become an exceptional being. Each time
he spoke in this way, the Master listened closely andsmiled without speaking. For months, Mikhaël wondered: ‘Does he agree? Will he do what I ask?’
When he was twenty the time came for him to be
put through the first retort. Peter Deunov’s attitude of
indifference was already painful to Mikhaël, but something more painful still had to be faced. One day,probably in 1920 during a convention of the brotherhood at Ternovo, he was put to the test in a waythat affected that most sensitive part of his being: his
attachment to his spiritual Master. After speaking to
the brothers and sisters gathered around him in the
open air, Peter Deunov suddenly turned on Mikhaël
and one of his friends in bitter condemnation. Feelinghimself the target of all eyes, Mikhaël was paralyzed
with shock. While the Master rebuked him, it was all
he could do to maintain a calm expression thatrevealed nothing of the deep hurt caused by the harshwords and pitiless tone of voice.
Later, as the participants silently dispersed, most ofthem shunned this disciple who had been so publicly
denounced. His own reaction was to withdraw toreflect and fast. In the days that followed Mikhaël told
himself repeatedly that Peter Deunov must certainly
have had a reason for lashing out at him in this way.
‘With all my might,’ he said later, ‘I worked to purify
myself with light.’ Then, pale and thin, but with his155soul ‘reaching toward the heavens’ he returned to see
the Master. As he entered his room, his whole being
expressed the respect and trust which had never faltered, and he spoke as a child to his father:‘Master, purify me. In your great wisdom, root out allthat is useless and bad in me. I want only to be likeyou.’
The light within Mikhaël was so bright and the fire so
intense after those days of purification and fasting that
he had ‘a sensation of burning, as though flames wereleaping from my mouth’.
This phenomenon in which flames blaze from the faceof a mystic in a state of spiritual concentration is wellknown to those who have studied the lives of great
saints and visionaries. An intense work of purification
floods the face with light, and the mystic experiences
a burst of light streaming from the center of the forehead, between the eyebrows. Mikhaël was aware bothof what was happening to him and of Peter Deunov’s
amazement.
Suddenly, the Master’s face was transfigured. Smilinglovingly at his young disciple, he shook hands withhim, and the smile and the grip of his hand expressedsomething quite out of the ordinary. But he did not say
a word, and Mikhaël, who never expected any favors,
accepted his silence.
This exchange, sober though it was, sufficed; the mes-156

sage he read in it was all the recompense he needed. He
already knew that initiation, which once took place ina temple, was now given in everyday life when it was
least expected. It was this realization that spurred him
on to fortify his will so that he would be capable ofaccepting whatever vexations and humiliations camehis way. Instinctively, he learned to use the fire that
had burned within him since the age of fifteen to propel himself ever forward on his chosen path. Peter
Deunov saw this clearly, and during this same period
at Ternovo, he said: ‘Mikhaël, part of your fire has
become light.’***
His public ordeal, however, had serious consequences. In the fraternity, many of the brothers andsisters avoided him, convinced that one thus stigmatized by the Master must be wholly contemptible.
Some even became his sworn enemies and in the
future would do him great wrong. They may well have
had reasons of their own for their antagonism: thecandor with which Mikhaël expressed his opinions
and his absolute frankness were often disconcertingand inconvenient; his habit of analyzing everything in
the light in order to discern and discard all impurities
left no room for complacency. Whatever their reasons,
Mikhaël sensed that, from now on, if he was to preserve his integrity and be faithful to the unerring intuition that he called ‘the God within’, he would have toaccept that most of the brotherhood considered him

157to be disgraced. Keeping a firm grip on his sensibilities,
he bore in silence every manifestation of enmity andderision, every petty vexation. But he received withgratitude the occasional encouragement of those whocame to tell him, alluding to the classical ordeals of initiation: ‘Be glad, brother Mikhaël, for the Master loves
you very deeply.’
It was only much later that he himself felt sure of thatlove. In the meantime he was determined to bear whatever came, to accept every ordeal and every demandPeter Deunov made of him. To his mind, true love consisted in striving, come what may, to be as radiant as
the sun.
The year 1920 was an important one in Mikhaël’s life.
Apart from the ordeal at Ternovo, he would speaklater of ‘an extraordinary event’ that had occurred inthis period. Without giving details, he later alluded
more than once to ‘a great Being’ who had accompanied and guided him since that time. It is possible that
this event took place in the mountains in the regionof Rila or on Mount Musala, where he had had several
mystical experiences about which he said very little.
More is known, however, about one experience he hadat the age of twenty, for he described it later. It
occurred during his first camp at Rila with the brotherhood. One of the most beautiful parts of the massif
known as the Seven Lakes was a region greatly loved
by Peter Deunov. From 1920 on, he often camped up158there for a few days with groups of disciples. Toward
the middle of summer the snow had melted from thehighest peaks and the mountains revealed themselvesin their stark majesty. This splendid region with its
steep slopes and tumbled masses of boulders was wellchosen, for while it demanded considerable physicalexertion on the part of the campers, it also provided an
ideal setting for meditation and contemplation.
Those who took part in the first camp were both
exalted and much tried by the experience. In the firstplace they were poorly equipped, having neither tents
nor sleeping bags. In addition, the weather was bad
throughout their stay. On these summits, even in summer, the climate is harsh. The noontime sun is uncomfortably hot, while the nights are icy. The campers
could not sleep for the bitter cold and the gusts of rain
sweeping over them as they lay shivering in their blankets.
One morning, an elderly sister asked Mikhaël toaccompany her to a higher altitude. After climbing fora long time they eventually reached a place in which
nature seemed to have retained its pristine beauty of
eternal purity and youth. The silence seemed as fragile
as a crystal that the slightest sound would shatter intoa thousand fragments.
Settling down on a large rock, Mikhaël began to meditate. The slopes all around were covered in a deep carpet of moss, scattered here and there with great boul-159

ders. Suddenly Mikhaël thought he was hallucinating
as the landscape became wondrously animated before
his eyes. The life that pulsated gently in the naturearound him gave to each element its own subtle light.
Every stone, every blade of grass glowed with a mysterious radiance, and Mikhaël understood in a flash
that every created thing, from the grains of sand on
the beach to the stars in the heavens, is made of light.
Spellbound, transported by wonder, he was unable totake his eyes from the indescribable beauty before
him, a beauty hidden from human beings until they
are given the privilege of seeing it.
It is easy to understand why, after experiencing such
ecstasy in the light, Mikhaël continually sought tocontemplate the splendor of the rising sun which
spoke to him of the splendor of God. Mount Musala,the highest peak of the Rila massif, which was a longway from the campsite, drew him like a magnet; attimes he spent the night at the summit from which
he could watch the dawn coming up and catch thefirst rays of the sun as it rose over the surrounding
peaks. Ever since his first childhood meditations highin the poplars of his home village, he had dreamed of
the summits. In his eyes, the true temple of God isnature, at the center of which the sun, the giver of life,
is the celebrant. He understood that a country’s highest peak represents its causal body, that subtle bodythat dwells on the higher planes of the invisible world.
He also knew that the forces and powers necessary to
the materialization of ideas on the physical plane are160to be found on the causal plane, where the obstacles
encountered on the physical plane do not exist.
Ever since his first excursion to Musala two or three
years earlier, in response to a profound intuition about
his future, he was in the habit of linking himself ina special way with France. Creating an association in
his mind between the highest peak of his own country
and Mont Blanc, he called down light and heavenly
blessings on the people of France. Strangely, hedreamed of taking to the French the teaching thatfilled him with such joy, never suspecting that Peter
Deunov would one day entrust him with this very mission.
***
At the end of that summer, Peter Deunov called
Mikhaël to him and told him: ‘Mikhaël, you must go
back to school and finish your studies.’Thunderstruck, Mikhaël could only stare at him insilence. He had left school five years before. He wasnow nearly twenty-one, and Peter Deunov was asking
him to go back to the classroom with boys of fifteen. It
would take three years to get his baccalaureate. Above
all, in this period of intense spiritual and intellectual
development, his most urgent need was to continue
the work that had become the mainstay of his life.
For a young man of Mikhaël’s caliber, experienced in
the mystical life and able to communicate with the161subtle realms of the spirit, to return to the routine ofschool would be a great trial. But it was a trial thatPeter Deunov deemed necessary in order to help him
to moderate his spiritual experiments and follow thedevelopment of every normal human being of his day.
In fact, it would have been possible for Mikhaël tostudy at home and apply only for the examinations,but Peter Deunov was adamant: he must attend
classes. As always, Mikhaël bowed to the decision of
the one whom he had chosen as his spiritual Master
and, leaving Ternovo, returned to his family in Varna.
For his mother the return of her eldest son was a great
joy: it was a comfort to her to be able to count on
his presence again. For the two boys and two little
girls, here was their big brother, home again as an adultafter a two-year absence, during which he had endured
many ordeals and known spiritual experiences more
intense than ever. For his friends he was still someoneout of the ordinary, still capable of stimulating them,
infecting them with his enthusiasm or exasperatingthem beyond endurance.
Mikhaël’s first weeks at school were uncomfortable.
For one thing he was obliged to wear a uniform, andDolia, knowing how ridiculous it made him feel, found
an old greatcoat of his father’s to wear over it on his
way to school. At the Lycée the boys laughed at thisyoung man who was old enough to shave and yetshared the school bench with them. They were forever162

pulling his hair and playing all kinds of tricks on him.
Fortunately, Mikhaël’s sense of humor had not forsaken him. Later, when he recounted some of theamusing incidents of this period, it was obvious that
he had not taken the chaffing too seriously. His generous smile and friendly ways soon won over his youngclassmates, and many of them accompanied him after
school, questioning him about all kinds of things. He
readily adapted himself to their level and, calling on
his imagination and his gifts as a story-teller, used theopportunity to open their minds to realities they had
never before envisaged. His friend Alexander who
witnessed all this sometimes pitied him, but Mikhaël
only replied thoughtfully: ‘It’s a trial I have to endure.’
All in all, these years at school in Varna seem to havebeen profitable for Mikhaël, who took the opportunity
to ponder and arrive at a more profound understanding of all that Peter Deunov’s teaching had awakened
within him. Also, his close relationship with Jesus led
him to delve deeper into the Gospels in an attempt tograsp their hidden meaning, for he had never founda commentary that really satisfied him. Seated in thelotus position in his little room overlooking the nearby
roofs, he meditated for hours, until one day a revelation came to him: the only way to understand the true
meaning of Jesus’ words was to enter his mind. He set
to work immediately, concentrating his mental powers on banishing all consciousness of himself and theworld he lived in. In his mind he was in Palestine in thetime of Jesus, walking on the shores of the Jordan and163

Lake Gennesaret, entering the cities of Capernaum
and Jerusalem. Repeating aloud the very words that
Jesus had said to his disciples, he concentrated on penetrating his consciousness, on seeing and thinking as
though he were one with him.
Gradually, this work became more and more important to him. Whenever he had a moment he returned
to it, and little by little the true meaning of Jesus’
words was revealed to him. Naturally, his efforts were
not always successful. There were days when he wasdisappointed with the meager results, but he persevered, refusing to be discouraged. At other times hislabors were richly rewarded: a dazzling light flooded
his being and everything became crystal clear. Transcending all earthly contingencies, a true communication between two spirits was gradually taking shape,
thanks to which Mikhaël was able later to give such
authentic and inspired commentaries on the Gospels.
Those he would give in Paris in 1938 cast a dazzling newlight on the Parables which was deeply moving.
In later years he often spoke of having been profoundly influenced not only by Jesus, but also by the
Buddha, the two great luminaries of his youth. He
must have striven to enter the mind of the Buddha as
he had with Jesus, since he would say later that he had
succeeded in communicating with him at the age oftwenty-two or -three.
In the solitude of his little room, eager to draw upon164

every source that spoke of God and the perfection of
the created universe, he studied a wide range of spiritual philosophies. He was already familiar with the
Cabbalah, whose definition of the structure of thesubtle worlds satisfied him deeply. He found great
inspiration in The Tree of Life, with its depiction of
the different levels of creation, and in the six-pointed
Seal of Solomon with its symbolic representation ofGood and Evil. This impressive symbol, composed of
two interlaced triangles, contains a representation of
the glorious countenance of God in the higher part of
the upright triangle. In the inverted triangle below isa representation of the devil, a distorted reflection of
the divine countenance. At the intersection of the two
triangles, a horizontal line separates the air above fromthe waters below, and across this line, God’s hands
have a firm grasp on the hands of the Devil. In
Mikhaël’s eyes, this representation of good and evil
was an excellent and unequivocal expression of all creation as a reflection of God, who makes use of both
positive and negative forces.
For one in whom the spirit of mysticism is highly
developed, every philosophical discovery seems tolead directly to a spiritual experience; it is an ‘event’
that triggers an inner change, however minute. One
day, reading the Zohar, the principal book of the Cabbalah, Mikhaël was extraordinarily moved by the text,‘Seven lights are there in the highest, and thereindwells the Ancient of Ancients, the Most Hidden of
the Hidden, the Mystery of Mysteries, Ain Soph.’165

When I recited these words everything within me
started to vibrate and quiver. Those seven lights are theseven colors, and each one corresponds to a particularvirtue or quality: purple corresponds to sacrifice, blue totruth, green to hope, yellow to wisdom, orange to sanctity and red to love.3
Conscious of the influence of colors on a humanbeing, Mikhaël continued to work with them—and his
strange experiments continued to astonish thosearound him. His friend Alexander who had always
admired his spirituality and his intellectual gifts often
visited him in his room. One day he was amazed tosee that Mikhaël had covered the walls with red paper.
‘Have you gone mad?’ he exclaimed.
Mikhaël laughed and explained that it was Tuesday,the day of the planet Mars and therefore of red, thecolor of love, vitality, and energy. For some time hehad been working in this way, surrounding himself
with the color that, according to the books he had
been reading, corresponded to the day of the week. At
the age of fifteen, when he first started experimenting
with colors, he had noticed that one extreme triggers
its opposite. Thus, if he switched his gaze to a whitesurface after staring at something red, he saw the same
form in green. The phenomenon, which is well known
to painters, had opened interesting avenues of spiritual exploration for him.
The symbolism of the planets began to be of practical166

importance: thus the red planet Mars, symbol ofstrength and war, calls forth green Venus, the symbolof love, and vice versa. Mikhaël worked with the characteristic of each color and made use of their complementary nature: the dynamic vitality of fire symbolized
by red; the peaceful life of nature symbolized by green;
the spirituality of violet, and the wisdom and scienceof yellow.
Every spare moment was used to consolidate the discoveries of his adolescence and to reflect, among otherthings, on the meaning of nutrition. In order to be
consciously in union with the hidden forces of food,he ate frugally and preferably alone. Very often, after
his meditation, he took a mouthful of food and let it
dissolve in his mouth until it had completely disappeared. This sufficed for the whole day.
***Thanks to Mikhaël’s dynamic, creative temperament,
many everyday objects or circumstances served tostimulate his spiritual centers or chakras. This was thecase with roses. It is well known that Bulgarian roses
are unique. They are cultivated for their precious aromatic oil in the Valley of Roses, a vast expanse bordered by mountains to the south of Ternovo. In summer, when the flowers are in full bloom, the fields
stretch for miles like an immense, glowing carpet ofcolor.

167

One day, Mikhaël picked up a rose and breathed in its
scent, and his reflections, stimulated by the perfume
and emanations of the flower, became as light as air.
Imperceptibly, his meditation became contemplation,a profound spiritual experience with its own special
complexion, different from any he had known before,
and one that he often repeated in the years that followed. He had long since learned to use earthly objects
as channels of communication with spiritual realities,
and he sensed that a rose enabled him to draw upon
the most spiritual form of love. ‘This exercise can evenlead to ecstasy,’ he was to say later.
To the casual observer, one flower is much the sameas any other, and yet, like human beings, each has its
own countenance and is inhabited by its own specificenergies. Mikhaël knew this, and when he went to theflower market to buy a rose, he chose one for its color,
perfume, form, and freshness. Back in his room, hebegan simply by looking at it with great love, treating
it as a living being, as ‘an exquisite young maiden fromheaven, who has sacrificed herself to show us the paththat leads to the virtues that are hers’. Each time herepeated this exercise, he experienced an indescribable state of consciousness and his mind floated far
above earthly realities. ‘It is even possible,’ he said one
day, ‘to reach a state of ecstasy with this exercise.’In the meantime however, every morning meant a
return to school, to the tiresome uniform and boring
lessons, and yet, all things considered, the effort and168discipline was as good as any yoga or other exercise
to develop his willpower. Besides, difficulties were notthe only ‘blessings’ he received during these months in
Varna. One day, toward the end of his studies, someone who knew his dream of playing the violin gave
him an instrument. His delight knew no bounds, andhe enrolled at the Musical Academy, where he gave
himself with passion to the study of music, determined to become a true virtuoso capable of awakening
the most noble sentiments in his audience:
When I thought of God or of something beautiful, I
could only envisage a perfect, harmonious music, andthis thought awakened certain spiritual centers within
me. Sometimes it left me in tears.4
In the years that followed he was never without his
violin. He took it everywhere, even to the mountains,
where he delighted in playing in the open air with his
friends. Music was as necessary to him as the air hebreathed, and song in particular had a magical power;
it was a potent weapon which he used to dissipate negative feelings, attain certain spiritual states, or express
gratitude. In the fraternity he was always happy to singwith his brothers and sisters, and when Peter Deunovcomposed the sacred song Fir fur fen, he was transported by the power of its vibrations. In his mind’s eye
he saw ‘processions of angels advancing, driving thedarkness before them’.
In the years to come he would say:

169

The human voice is superior to the violin or any other
instrument. The most beautiful voices are created bylove. Let yourself be filled with love and splendid ideas,
and very soon the vibrations of your voice will be gentler, warmer, more tender.5
On warm summer evenings in Varna, his need formusic often drew him to the Morskata Gradina, wherea good orchestra gave concerts or played waltzes for
public dancing. Without lingering in the Garden, hewent down the long flight of steps to the beach and saton the sand. Over his head, the myriad diamonds ofthe Milky Way formed a great river in the night sky.
He often stayed for hours, listening to the music andcontemplating the stars.
During this period of his life, however, Mikhaël experienced some difficult moments. He confessed laterthat as a disciple he had known ‘moments of real pessimism’. Whether this pessimism was triggered byPeter Deunov’s apparent rejection or by the ostracism
he suffered in the brotherhood is difficult to say. Fromadolescence he had had to learn to pursue his own
course without worrying about what others thoughtof him. At twenty, after the public rebuff at the handsof Peter Deunov, he had had to armor himself further
against the malicious lies that continued to distresshim. Seeking to protect himself without closing hisheart to others, he strove to master his sensitivity andtransform his difficulties into ‘precious stones’ for thesoul, using pain as a springboard. In order to vault

170

upwards toward the joy of the spirit, he first sank to
the depths of despondency, sometimes deliberately
feigning extreme sadness in order to spark the opposite reaction. He realized, however, that to remain ina state of sadness for a long time could be dangerous
unless one’s consciousness was fully awake and incontrol.
He applied the same principle to his spiritual life. Having experienced ‘periods of exaggerated ecstasy’ followed by periods of drought, he came to the conclusion that moderation was indispensable in facing thestorms of life. This practice of moderation, which
helped him to rise above difficulties and trials, would
serve him all his life.
At one point he began to make a rigorous annual
review of his life. For three days he called to mind andanalyzed everything he did, examining the interwoven
threads of his existence, judging and evaluating each
one in order to discern ‘those that were from God andthose that were not’.
As for his relationship with Peter Deunov, he dideverything in his power to restore it to its former cordiality, but this was not easy. ‘My will was strained tothe utmost, my heart was on fire, and he saw nothing!’
he would say later, adding that Peter Deunov’s attitude
was certainly intended to test his ability to persevere
and rise above his difficulties. He knew that the only
thing that really mattered was to ‘remain in contact

171

with his soul’, and he continued to work mentally for
his Master and to speak of him with the innate reverence he had for all great beings.
On the other hand, as he said himself, his secret wasto continue his work in silence. If he felt unhappy, as
sometimes happened, he noticed that there was someone within him who looked on and laughed, who evenenjoyed the situation. He recognized this being as theone known in India as ‘the Silent One’.
One day, however, in the most unexpected way, Peter
Deunov took Mikhaël’s side in full view of many ofhis disciples. It happened at Rila. A young man who
had formerly been a good friend, but who now helda grudge against Mikhaël following a misunderstanding, had taken to insulting him and trying to belittle
him at every opportunity. Unable to change the situation, Mikhaël remained patient and unruffled. But
one evening, faced with his ceaseless insults, he said
to himself: ‘Humility, restraint, and non-violence will
not cure him; he will go on being abusive’, and hemade up his mind to respond.
Before he knew it, he was fending off his adversary’s
blows and very quickly, although not as tall or as
strong as the other, he managed to get the better ofhim. Thinking that that would be the end of it,
Mikhaël relaxed his hold, whereupon the other flung
himself at him a second time. Once again, without
knowing how, Mikhaël got the advantage and he was172still holding his assailant down when Peter Deunov
appeared. At once, the two brothers sprang to theirfeet. To Mikhaël’s amazement, the Master told him:
‘Stand aside. Leave him to me!’Then he began to chastise the young man severely
until, after a moment, the latter managed to slip away.
He did not dare to show his face again that evening.
Mikhaël could not get over his astonishment. ‘How
could the Master know who was in the wrong?’ hewondered. ‘It was the other who was on the groundand needed help, and yet he sided with me!’ The next
day the attitude of his persecutor was completelytransformed, and Mikhaël thought to himself: ‘Why
didn’t I tackle him ages ago?’
Throughout these years Peter Deunov remained
extremely reserved toward Mikhaël when others were
present, but during the summer camp at Rila in 1922,
he did much to dissipate the negative repercussions of
the ordeal he had imposed on him two years earlier.
One evening, several hundred people were gathered
near the second lake under the pure transparent blueof the evening sky. A huge bonfire, fed by deadbranches brought up from the forests below, threw
a fantastic light all around. The only sound was thecrackling of the flames. After a long silence, Peter
Deunov looked at Mikhaël and said in solemn tones:‘You do not yet know who Mikhaël is.’173

All eyes were on the startled Mikhaël who thought tohimself: ‘Does this mean another ordeal?’ But while
he braced himself for what was to come, Peter Deunov
continued:‘No, you do not yet know Brother Mikhaël. At the
moment he is disguised, but one day you will know
him. You will see who he truly is.’Suddenly, all the escapades of his youth surged into
Mikhaël’s mind as he waited in alarm for what would
follow. But as the silence lengthened, his first emotion
faded, and he realized that this time Peter Deunov’s
voice conveyed no harshness. Their eyes met. Flooded
with an overwhelming sense of gratitude, Mikhaël saw
that the Master’s face was suffused with love. His
remark had implied nothing negative, rather the contrary.
In fact, Peter Deunov had publicly shown his esteem
and appreciation of Mikhaël. Most of his disciples
understood the message and hastened to apologize for
their past attitude, but it did not occur to Mikhaël
to take advantage of this public endorsement. He
remained in the background and continued his workin silence. Unfortunately, however, the melee between
him and the other brother was to become a cause ofscandal. Some members of the brotherhood used it
to discredit him, for they could not understand Peter
Deunov’s attitude toward this disciple. Sometimes heput him through terrible ordeals; at other times he

17
1744

defended him or made mysterious pronouncements
about him; most of the time he seemed to ignore him,
and yet he continued to receive him for long hours at
a time.
***Mikhaël’s relief was great when he finally received his
baccalaureate. He thought he would once again be free
to devote all his time to his spiritual work, but when hewent to see Peter Deunov in Sofia, the first thing theMaster said was:‘You must go on with your studies at the university.’
Mikhaël knew that this meant renewed sacrifices, but
his faith in Peter Deunov’s wisdom never faltered.
After taking leave of his mother in Varna, he returned
to Sofia, where he registered at the faculty of Physics
and Mathematics. Upon his arrival in the capital, somefriends offered him the use of a room in their home.
He still had to find work to pay for tuition and food,however, and whenever his money ran out he took atemporary job on a building site as bricklayer, carpenter, painter, or odd job man. The wages were meager,
and for years he lived in extreme poverty. His room
was scantily furnished with a bed and some blankets
received from his family, a bookcase from Peter
Deunov, and a small table on which he kept his violin.
He wrote on his knees, sitting cross-legged on thefloor. His clothes were threadbare; a scarf concealed

175the absence of a tie, and for a long time his only
footwear was a single pair of sandals that served insummer and winter alike. As he remarked with a smilein later years, although he had many friends in Sofia,
they did not invite him to their elegant receptions, butrather to informal meals in the intimacy of the family.
I have always been indifferent to external forms. It’s not
so bad now, but for the first forty years of my life I wasdressed like a poor man: my shoes were ‘ventilated’. I
had no tie, and safety-pins served as buttons. I spent all
my time in the mountains. I despised ‘forms’, and that
was a mistake, for form is something divine. Beautiful
content should be contained in a beautiful form, andthat means that I was not living in perfection! Formis really important… For me the inner reality was allthat mattered, and people did not invite me because I
was not ‘presentable’. Actually, I did get invitations…
but always alone. Everyone liked me… but not in frontof others. Their affection was hidden. It was this thattaught me how strange people are: however stupid you
may be, if you respect the forms you will always be welcome. No one will mind about your brain. They will
say, ‘What does his brain matter as long as he’s welldressed?6
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Universityof Sofia consisted of six or seven faculties housed inseveral old buildings. Another institution, the Bulgarian Academy, offered additional faculties, and it washere that Mikhaël registered for courses in mathemat-

176

ics, a discipline which gave him great satisfaction as
it corresponded so well to his sense of order and perfection. He also studied astronomy, drawn by its close
relationship with mathematics, and spent hours striving to decipher the correspondences between the two
disciplines. But his memory for figures was not good,and he too easily forgot the formulae he needed. Less
than a year later, realizing that he had little hope of
passing his exams, he abandoned mathematics andtransferred to a different faculty.
This time he chose the faculty of Historical and Comparative Linguistics, where he took courses in philosophy, education, and psychology. His thirst for knowledge was as lively as ever. He read a great deal andstudied sufficiently to pass his exams, but in fact hespent little time at the university. In his eyes, the true
university was ‘that of Peter Deunov, for it was therethat one learned the essential truths valid for all eternity’. All his spare time was devoted to meditation andcontemplation. ‘For me’, he would say later, ‘it was aquestion of life or death.’ But he kept all this innerwork to himself. He never even talked to Peter Deunov
about it.
Throughout his years of higher studies, it was thegreat philosophical tenets of initiatic science thatguided him. The sun was his guarantor of life, light
was his shield and only weapon, for in his eyes light
was a living spirit.

177

At the same time, the mountains continued to attract
him irresistibly. He could never ignore the siren-songof the summits, and when the call became too insistent, he threw books, food, and a few warm clothes
into a satchel and left the town. Free as air, he would
spend a few days on Mount Vitosha or even a few
weeks at Rila. His love of trees had never diminished,
and the long climb through the forests gave him profound joy.
Mikhaël’s unusual behavior irritated his professors
who censured him severely. One of them, hostile toPeter Deunov’s disciples on principle, excluded himfrom his lectures and barred him from the examinations. Fortunately, he soon repented this decision—which would have prevented Mikhaël fromcompleting his studies—and authorized him to appear
before the examiners.
Mikhaël, well aware of the importance of a degree,
passed his exams and chose for the subject of his thesis
the aspirations of the young. His research led him tointerview a great many students who readily confided
in him their hopes and plans for the future. Listening
with interest to what they told him, he noticed thatvery few ‘wanted to serve God or work for the good of
humanity’.
After receiving diplomas in philosophy, psychology,
and education Mikhaël continued to frequent the university. Stimulated by curiosity, he moved freely from178

one faculty to another, exploring the different disciplines, following courses in medicine, chemistry, andphysics. He spent so many years at the university that
his friends nicknamed him ‘the eternal student’.
***
During those student years, as always, the events thatassumed the greatest importance in Mikhaël’s eyes
concerned his life as a disciple. One such event stoodout among others. Soon after his return to Sofia, Peter
Deunov gave him a special test that he reserved for theboldest of his disciples: the ascent of Mount Musala
alone on a moonless night, without a lantern.
‘The experience will help you to understand manythings,’ said the Master.
Mikhaël waited for a night without a moon before setting out. The dense darkness and the quality of silencecreated an atmosphere of dread as he groped his way
through the forest, hoping not to lose his way. Awareof the danger from wild boars, bears, and wolves, he
was also constantly mindful of the steep ravine thatbordered the trail. One false step and he would fall.
Suddenly he sensed that he had strayed from the path.
Poignantly conscious of his vulnerability and his isolation, he paused and began to pray.
Believe me, in such moments our prayers become very
fervent. I felt that I had never prayed like that before.
A few seconds later, I saw a light which lit up the path179

for about two yards in front of me. From that moment
I walked on in the light, singing and full of joy. I felt
something moving within me as though a new current
was flowing through me.7
After climbing for several hours, he came to a sudden
halt as he heard the deep baying of dogs. How could hedefend himself with only a stick against enraged dogs?
To retreat would only incite them to attack. Standing
perfectly still, he listened to them coming nearer andfixed his mind on thoughts of light and the powers of
the invisible world. Never one to remain long in a stateof indecision or fear, he told himself, ‘What must happen will happen!’ and advanced resolutely toward theincreasingly ferocious barking. What happened next
was over in seconds. Suddenly he saw two mastiffs thesize of small donkeys bounding toward him. Summoning every ounce of strength and will-power, he thrust
his right hand forward with extraordinary energy, thetwo first fingers pointing straight at them. At the same
moment he felt an electrical current surge from hiswhole being, and sensed the presence of invisible entities all around. The dogs gave one agonized howl as
they were picked up and thrown to the ground by aterrifying force and left cowering where they fell, theireyes fixed on the ground.
Once he had regained his breath, Mikhaël spokesoothingly to the dogs, and when he felt sure that theywould no longer try to attack him, he relaxed withrenewed gratitude and joy. But suddenly, he felt terri-180bly tired, as though all his strength had drained away
through his hand. Laboriously, he started to walkagain, only to stop moments later, unable to continue.
He sat down on a rock to pray and thank out loud theinvisible entities whose presence he sensed and who
had accompanied and protected him. After a short rest
he slowly set off again, emerged at last from the forest,
climbed the stony slopes and reached the summit justas the sun was rising. There, on the highest spot in
the country, with the innumerable peaks all around,
he thanked God with his whole soul.
That experience taught me that a great many of thetrials and tribulations of life are sent by the invisible
world with the purpose of teaching us to rely on our
inner spiritual strength.8
This ordeal was not the only one Peter Deunov
imposed on Mikhaël in those years. He gave him all
kinds of harsh tasks. On several occasions he sent him
to work in remote hamlets that could only be reachedon foot. More than once, as Mikhaël approached a village, he was attacked by fierce dogs. The peasants,
often so uncouth and ignorant that they did not evenknow how to make bread, would let him sleep in ahut or in a corner of a barn. His mission was to livewith them for a time, to talk to them and teach themthings that would help them to evolve. Little by little
he became their friend, their brother. Sometimes therelationships became so close that people who had

181

seemed incapable of emotion were moved to tears as
they confided in him.
In spite of the great distances, Mikhaël continued toattend Peter Deunov’s talks in Sofia. Even in winter,braving rain or snow, with only sandals on his feet,he trudged miles through forests infested with wolves
and wild boars.
One day, Peter Deunov manifested his satisfaction
with him, saying: ‘You have changed your skin.’
Although he ignored Mikhaël in public, Peter Deunov
continued to give him an occasional precious indication, an expression of approval or support. Each time
he made one of his laconic remarks, Mikhaël had toponder it at length to discern the hidden meaning. On
this occasion the allusion was to an inner transformation, a purification that expressed itself in a visible
radiance. Despite the undemonstrative nature of theirrelationship, the mysterious and precious bond that
had existed from their first encounter was still there.
Mikhaël was extremely sensitive to Peter Deunov’s
reactions, and it seems that this was fully reciprocated.
Imperceptible though it was, the Master was never
indifferent to Mikhaël; nothing he said or did went
unnoticed.

182

Notes1.

‘The Law of Affinity: Peace’, in Cosmic Moral Law.

2.

‘Rise Above the Clouds’, in The Splendour of Tiphareth.

3.

‘Working with Light’, in Light is a Living Spirit.

4.

November 1, 1966.

5.

April 25, 1943.

6.

May 15, 1947.

7.

See his own account of this incident: ‘The Master Peter
Deunov’, in The Second Birth: Love, Wisdom, Truth.

8.

Ibid.

183

7

#

The Seven Lakes
of Rila
Although the summer camps in the Rila mountains
were called ‘holiday camps’, the activities had little incommon with the ordinary idea of a holiday. It is truethat the participants were there for a refreshing breakfrom the work and worries of everyday life, but theirprimary motive was to continue their apprenticeshipwith their spiritual Master in the ideal conditions
offered by the mountains. As the years passed, theduration of these camps was extended from a few days
to a number of weeks. After a month or two in themountains, the campers returned home renewed andpurified.

In later years, Mikhaël evoked with enthusiasm thespecial ambience that reigned in these camps. Gathering in the village of Samokov at the foot of the mountains, the campers strapped on their knapsacks andbegan the long ascent to the Seven Lakes, while a trainof mules transported tents and kitchen equipment.
Seven or eight hours of hiking and climbing throughforests of evergreens and up steep slopes strewn withboulders, brought them to the first lake at an altitudeof 7,500 feet. A little higher, near the second lake, they
pitched their tents among the clumps of dwarf pines
called kleks, the only shrubs to survive at this height.
For the contemplation of the sunrise, Peter Deunov
had chosen a craggy spur of rock above the campwhich he named the Summit of Prayer. Under atranslucent dawn sky it seemed to thrust out its mass
like the prow of some great ship silhouetted in space.
Every morning at daybreak, awoken by the music ofa violin, the campers arose in silence, washed anddressed in the icy air of their tents or by the lake. As
the sky grew lighter, they climbed up among the enormous boulders to the Summit where they settled
down to meditate and wait for the sunrise. At firstglimpse of the rising sun, they sang very softly one ofPeter Deunov’s songs in praise of light. The Masterthen talked quietly to them as the sun climbed slowly
into the sky. Years later Mikhaël declared:
If you were to ask me when the best moment of my life
had been, the moment when I had experienced the most185

wonderful sensations, I would say that it was at sunrise
in the mountains at Rila.1
These days in the mountains were very full. The
campers did a great deal of arduous walking, climbing
endlessly up and down the steep slopes among theboulders and the twisted branches of the dwarf
conifers. They thought nothing of hiking for an hour
every day to reach the level ground near one of thehigher lakes, where they practiced the movements of asymbolic dance called the ‘Paneurythmy’.
The Paneurythmy, created by Peter Deunov, is around. As the dancers turn slowly to the sound ofmusic, it evokes the great round of the universe inwhich is manifested the ebb and flow of life. The simple, graceful movements are designed to unite thedancers alternately with heavenly and terrestrial energies. Peter Deunov defined the dance as ‘a conscious
exchange between man and the forces of nature’.
Every morning, accompanied by a small group ofmusicians, he positioned himself in the center of animmense circle formed by the hundreds of dancers.
Here and there voices could be heard singing with theorchestra in spontaneous harmonizations that roseand fell in rhythm with the dance.
After the Paneurythmy, everyone went back to thecamp for a communal meal, serving themselves fromthe enormous cauldrons steaming in the shelter of the
makeshift kitchen. During the rest of the day, every

186spare moment was taken up with physical work, muchof it very strenuous: meals had to be prepared for thewhole camp, food supplies fetched from the village
below, newcomers met halfway and guided to thecamp. Among other things, the men built a stone shelter roofed with slate and piled up slabs of stone toserve as tables or as benches overlooking the lake thatPeter Deunov had named the Lake of Contemplation.
Evening found the campers exhausted, but the mountains had a mysterious hold on them and filled theirhearts with such profound joy that fatigue and discomfort were forgotten. They had eyes only for the
beauty of the light that transfigured the summits.
Peter Deunov often led the campers on excursion to
one of the surrounding peaks, and at least once eachsummer to the summit of Mount Musala. Before leaving, he explained how to walk all day without tiring,then, at the head of the group, he set out at such a pacethat those behind were hard put to it to keep up.
In this notoriously unstable mountain climate, menacing clouds often began to gather just as the hikers wereready to leave, and although those who were fearfulof being soaked to the skin sometimes protested, Peter
Deunov rarely heeded their complaints. In rain, snow,
or squalls, after only a few hours’ sleep, they set off
for the summits. There were days when the lightning
fell all around, the rain streamed over their bodies andthe electricity in the air became almost unbearable, but
their guide strode on without faltering. His disciples,187

accepting it as a trial of endurance, followed him stoically. And as most of these excursions lasted fromten to fourteen hours, they were constantly called on
to surpass their own limits. Once back in camp,
exhausted but happy, they gratefully quenched theirthirst with hot water that had been prepared in thegreat cauldrons and samovars. In the mountains, hotwater was of great importance, a panacea for colds,
fevers, and every kind of malaise.
The task of making tea was entrusted to a brothercalled Tseko. Every now and then, the campers werestartled by the sudden whistling of a samovar, andturning saw this brother climbing the hillside, thelighted samovar on his back. Tseko had the face ofa brute and a heart of gold. Although he was almost
illiterate, he dreamed of being a poet, and sometimes
recited his compositions before the entire camp. Hisverses were often so ridiculous that they were greetedwith laughter, but one could not help loving this man
so full of gentle goodness. Surprisingly, after several
years of persevering efforts to compose poems about
the sun, the birds, the spring, he became a true poet.
Mikhaël, who loved and understood him, told how,at the end of an evening around the fire, Tseko once
stood up, and much to the amusement of the campers,sang one of his compositions.
Everybody laughed, but it was so beautiful that thenext day the mountains resounded to the sound of thatsong […] The example of Tseko should make you reflect.

188You all have talents and qualities but fear prevents you
from manifesting them…. Put them to the test. … Everything is worth doing: life demands that your talents bebrought to fruition.2
Judging from what Mikhaël would say later about
these mountain camps, it is obvious that they were thescene of some unforgettable moments in his life. For
him, mountains represented a link between heavenand earth. Everything he did in this setting—walking,climbing, immersing himself in a lake—had repercussions in his inner life and created a bond between himself and the beings of subtler planes.
We have not forgotten his childhood passion for
springs. To contemplate the water of a spring bubblingfrom the ground still gave him great happiness, andhe was overjoyed to find that Peter Deunov shared his
enthusiasm. The Master often asked some of the men
to clear away the dead leaves and grass blocking themountain springs so that the music of the crystal-clear
water could be heard flowing freely. He also asked
them to build stone bridges over the many small
streams. Few understood why they were asked to do
this kind of work, and were often surprised at thesense of satisfaction it gave them. ‘In reality,’ Mikhaël
explained later, ‘the Master was clearing debris fromhis disciples as well as from the springs, and building
bridges between the brothers.’
One of these springs was the main source of water for189the camp. A constant stream of campers drank from it
or filled their buckets and saucepans. In one of thosesignificant gestures he occasionally made toward
Mikhaël, Peter Deunov asked him to design a symbol
to be carved and put in place as a channel for thewater. The resulting sculpture is a symbol of Aquarius:
a white stone channel representing two hands, fromwhich, to this day, flows the pure spring water.
Fire, like water, had a vital role to play in life in themountains. Each evening, the campers gatheredaround a paved area where the camp fire blazed.
Warmed by the fire, their faces lit by the leaping
flames, they sang, told of their personal experiences,
recited poems, or gave little concerts.
Later, we would fall asleep beneath the starlit sky until
it was time to get up, very early in the morning, to communicate with another fire, the fire of the sun. We went
to sleep by the fire, we woke to fire, the whole day was a
feast of fire, and our lives were illuminated.3
In the evenings around the fire—as during meals or
while out on an excursion—Peter Deunov often
closed his eyes and meditated for a long time, sometimes for an hour or more, to accustom his disciples todo the same. Before withdrawing into his own meditation, Mikhaël often looked at the Master and asked
himself: ‘Where is he? What is he thinking about?’
Realizing that Peter Deunov never put the whole of his
knowledge into words, Mikhaël tried to capture the190thoughts that illuminated his glance, to see people andthings from his point of view. Using the exercises hehad developed earlier to penetrate the minds of Jesus,
Buddha, and Hermes Trismegistus, he now attemptedto penetrate the mind of Peter Deunov. When in his
presence he listened attentively to what he was saying,
and afterwards, when he was alone, continued toimagine that he was ‘in Peter Deunov’s head’. Little bylittle he sensed that ‘things were becoming clearer’ andhe was beginning to discover his thought processes.
When he wanted to be alone to meditate, he would
climb above the camp where he had found a particularly beautiful spot. For someone so sensitive to cold,
it must have required great will-power and endurance
to continue his spiritual exercises in all weathers, at analtitude of more than 8,000 feet. He often spent thenight up there under the stars, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend. As darkness fell, he settled down
between the dwarf trees on a makeshift bed of pineneedles, and warmly wrapped in his blankets stretchedout to contemplate the stars until a deep peace filled
his whole being. The memory of his grandmotheroften came back to him: she had helped so many sickpeople to regain their health, not only by treating themwith herbal infusions, but also by exposing them tothe light of the stars.
What was the effect of starlight on the human body?
At this altitude, the countless points of light shining
in the dark velvet sky were indescribably pure. Con-191

templating them, Mikhaël sought answers from them.
Intoxicated by their beauty, he linked himself to thecosmic forces and entities whose presence he felt sostrongly.
I experienced such immense, such ecstatic sensations
that I was far, far from the earth. I was carried off toregions in which I felt and understood that there is one
thing in life which surpasses all others, and that is to beunited to the cosmic Spirit which is everywhere.4
Recalling these moments in later years, he often spokein the name of his companions as well as his own, perhaps because of the intense communion that united
them. ‘There were nights,’ he once said, ‘when wewere out of our minds with ecstasy and wonder!’ At
the same time, he added, their great joy had made themalmost sad because they could not share it with thewhole world.
Mikhaël’s whole being was inhabited by one essential
idea, that of helping his human brothers and sisters
to achieve peace in their own hearts so that it might
be realized in human society. Often, seeing the extraordinary peace that reigned at night, he was seized
by a feeling of astonishment at the thought of all the
antipathy and resentment between individuals, all thewars and acts of revenge. Seen from the mountainheights, the conflicts between individuals and nations
seemed extraordinarily puerile. The memory of thecosmic music he had heard at the age of seventeen

192was always alive within him, and he reflected that if
human beings so often treat each other as enemies, it
is because they do not know each other. They do notknow that they are all members of one family, of one
symphony orchestra.
One night he kept thinking of his friend Pasal, a young
actor who often appeared in Shakespeare’s plays in atheater in Sofia. A few months previously, while hewas playing the part of a hero, one of the actors thrusta dagger into his heart, and Mikhaël who had been
watching closely, had felt an intense pain as though his
friend were really and truly dying. That night Mikhaël
could not sleep. He kept thinking about his friend,convinced that he was going to die very soon. He wassure that the pain he had felt had been a presentiment.
Shortly after that Pasal told him about a dream:‘I was in the next world, among a great throng of people all dressed in white. Some of them started to question me: they wanted to know about the place I had
come from, about the world and the beautiful things
that happened there, and whether I had many friends.
“Yes, I have friends,” I told them, “but there are also
many people I don’t like—people I hate, in fact.” Thenthey looked at me in astonishment and said: “Youmean to say that hatred still exists there? But have youlearned nothing yet?”’Pasal had an anxious expression as he asked:

193‘Mikhaël, do you think that dream means that I’mgoing to die?’But Mikhaël, who had never felt able to tell Pasal about
the presentiment he had had that night at the theater,
simply said: ‘It was only a dream.’ A few months later
Pasal had fallen ill and was soon dead. With all his gifts
he was now no more than a sad memory.
That evening, as Mikhaël thought of the peace helonged for in the world, he kept remembering what thepeople in Pasal’s dream had said: ‘But have you learned
nothing yet?’ Human beings have to learn peace. We
all have to transform violence, hatred, and ill-will andmake room in ourselves for harmony. Stretched out on
his back with the stars glittering above him, Mikhaël
worked mentally for peace in the world.
One night, enraptured by all that splendor, an idea
occurred to him: he imagined that the stars had
declared war on each other, a magnificent, glorious
war in which they were spraying each other with bullets of light. This notion suggested a new spiritual
exercise, and he spent hours mentally pouring lightinto the world, until he fell into the untroubled sleepof a child. At times he was caught up in ecstasy andexperienced divine sensations that bore him far fromthe earth. Often, after a night on the mountain side, heawakened at dawn to find himself covered with snow.
Chilled but happy, he jumped up, collected his blan-194

kets and hurried down to the camp in time for the sunrise.
One day he decided to attempt an extremely difficult
climb on a seemingly inaccessible summit: he wanted
to see whether, in the course of an arduous exerciseof this kind, he would find within himself somethingthat would warn him not to continue, the somethingthat we call intuition. For this experiment he chose aparticularly beautiful peak formed of a multitude ofsmooth, vertical ridges. No footholds were visible, andyet, inching his way from one knife-edge to the next,
he always managed to find some slight crack or irregularity to hold on to. As he clung to the rock face,
he prayed, linked himself to God, and listened to his
intuition. Slowly and laboriously he climbed, searching the surface for every tiny asperity, and moving footor hand forward only when he heard the inner voice
telling him to advance. Thus, at last, he reached the
top.
The temerity that was such a notable part of Mikhaël’s
temperament was always suggesting new experiments,
always urging him to devise new and more difficult
tests designed to lead to self-knowledge and selfmastery.
There is a way out of every situation, and we have tolook for it. It is a magnificent thing to venture out, tothrow oneself into action. Spiritual people are often hesitant and indecisive. They keep asking themselves: ‘Is

195

this right? Is this the way?’ They spend years hesitating,
not daring to enjoy the splendors of the new life. Did
you know that in ancient times initiation was given not
to those whose hearts were full of goodness, but to the
audacious? Those who were not daring were told thatthey were not ready for initiation.5
Mikhaël’s constant excursions to the mountain summits were symbolic of his aspirations to attain theheights of the spiritual life. In the twenty years of his
discipleship he climbed Mount Musala nineteentimes, often in difficult circumstances and always withthe specific idea of doing a spiritual work on the highest peak of the Balkans. It was here as nowhere elsethat his contemplative soul could open out andexpand, that he was conscious of the presence of powerful invisible entities which stimulated and sustained
him. It was here on the mountain heights that hefound a deep sense of peace. Here he understood thatthe only truly important thing in life was to be one
with the cosmic Spirit.
His years of spiritual work were often rewarded with
gifts straight from heaven: stones became animatedand luminous; a fruit was transformed into a receptacle for divine forces. This was the case one summer
morning on Mount Musala. It was a glorious day inAugust, and Mikhaël and his friend Dimitri—the onetime anarchist who had become a peace-loving
brother—had decided to climb Mount Musala before
joining the camp at Rila. Striding along energetically,

196they felt young, vigorous, and full of joy. After walking for several hours in heat that was becoming
increasingly intense, they paused to rest and refreshthemselves. Taking a pear each from their knapsacks,
they sat down and began to eat slowly, savoring it aslong as possible. Ordinary though it was, the action
triggered in Mikhaël’s soul an ecstatic communionwith nature. Later, speaking for both his companionand himself, he said, ‘It was an ocean of sweetnessthat swept over us, as though God himself had beenin that fruit.’ And he added that thanks to that fruit
they had been ‘transported to paradise and the experience opened immense horizons.’ His consciousness,he said, was awakened, and he was ‘filled with all thelight of the cosmos’.
Often, throughout his life, Mikhaël spoke of an awakening of his consciousness as though it had been
sleeping until then. The fact is that when he examined
his state of consciousness he was never satisfied. For
him, true love, peace, and initiation were all states ofconsciousness, and he was insatiable, always thirstingfor God to pervade and possess his whole being. He
worked tirelessly to replace in himself all that was old
and worn, and to become one with the divine beings
whom he called on ceaselessly.

197

Notes1.

March 29, 1951.

2.

July 2, 1950.

3.

‘Evening Vigils Round the Fire II’, in The Fruits of the Treeof Life.

4.

October 26, 1946.

5.

May 9, 1944.

198

8

#

The W
Wondrous
ondrousPowers ofThought andWord
It must have been in the winter of 1926 that Mikhaël
found work as a mason to pay for his tuition and help
his family. His crew was assigned to the site of a newbuilding which was still open and exposed to bitter
winter winds. Wearing only a thin wind-breaker andtrousers with a large tear at the knee, Mikhaël felt his
leg gradually becoming numb under the bite of the icy
wind. By the end of the day, one knee was so swollen

that he could no longer walk and had to be helped
home.
Finding himself obliged to stay in bed, he decided totake advantage of his forced immobility to turn to his
favorite occupations. The days slipped by unnoticed,
gradually becoming weeks, as he immersed himself inthe study of astrology. Once he felt that he had sufficient knowledge, he drew up his own chart, and it
was here that a painful surprise awaited him: his horoscope depicted a crude, mediocre human being whosecharacter had nothing in common with his own.
Whereas the quest for God had characterized himfrom childhood, his chart showed no hint of spiritual
aspirations, no trace of the ecstasies or spiritual revelations he had already known. The fact is that he had
forgotten something he had known as a child: when heand his mother had arrived in Varna in 1907, he had
been registered as one year older than his true age, sothat he would be accepted at the school. This made it
impossible to calculate his true horoscope.
Not before he was fifty years old did his motherremind him that he was a year younger than he hadthought. Even then, the details were indefinite, for his
mother was not sure of the exact time of his birth.
She remembered only that it had been some time after
midnight on January 31, 1900. The circumstances of
Mikhaël’s birth, in fact, have always been somewhat
obscure, due to the conditions in the country, thementality of its inhabitants and the burning of his vil-200

lage, during which all official documents weredestroyed. Also, at the beginning of the 20th century
in the mountain villages of Macedonia, years and days
were reckoned according to the weather or the seasons. Marriages, births, and deaths were dated by natural events rather than by the calendar. It is as thoughOmraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov was not destined to be
circumscribed by time or defined by astrological analysis.
At the age of twenty-six, however, the negative implications of this false horoscope constituted a new challenge for him. Much as he was drawn to this science,
to its view of the universe and the web of relations
linking individual creatures and creation as a whole,
he could not help but doubt its reliability when heattempted to draw up his own birth-chart. For a serious astrologer—especially one who studies spiritual or
holistic astrology—a birth-chart is a basic tool, a composite frame of reference through which to view one’s
life and gain spiritual understanding. Mikhaël eventually found some consolation in the idea that he had
perhaps managed to neutralize the negative aspects of
his birth-chart by his intense spiritual work. In any
event, he continued to study astrology and to meditateon the great laws on which it is based until, ten years
later, he was considered the foremost specialist in the
country and was consulted by several prominent persons.
In the meantime, his knee was not getting better. One

201

day, some friends who often came to visit him decided
to chivvy him into playing a more active role in his
recovery.
‘Why don’t you try to heal yourself?’ they asked.
‘How can I?’ Mikhaël responded.
‘By the power of thought! You are perfectly capable.’‘I would have to concentrate for a very long time,’
replied Mikhaël, ‘and I am too busy.’
The fact was that his knee was painful only when hetried to walk, and, deeply absorbed in his study ofastrology, he was quite happy to stay in his room andwork. Also, in what he thought to be his birth-chart
he found an indication of a health problem that would
prevent him from walking, and this motivated him to
devote hours to prayer and meditation in a desire topurify himself. But after a month of being confined tohis room, he decided he had had enough. His knee wasstill purple and badly swollen, and he resolved to try toheal it ‘by the power of thought, by love, by the spirit’.
Summoning all his mental resources, he created abeam of brilliant light and focused it on the swollen
knee. After concentrating for a long time, he graduallybegan to feel a gentle warmth followed by the burning
sensation of light penetrating his knee. He continued
in this way until at last he sensed a movement, a
tremendous influx of force in his very bones. Within

202

a few minutes he fell asleep and awoke next morning
to find his leg completely healed. Surprisingly, he himself was astonished by his success, even though thiswas not the first time he had experienced somethingof the kind; he had often achieved spectacular results
through the powers of thought. But, as some of his
friends remarked, for Mikhaël everything was always
new. He never became blasé, or considered himself anexpert.
All the evidence indicates that this period of his life
was one of immense, dynamic energy. His whole being
was expanding and he was continually discovering
new possibilities within himself. At one point he discovered that he had the same gift of healing as his
mother and grandmother. And when he read a biography of François Schlater, an Alsatian who had healed
people by touching their hands, he was so moved that
he almost aspired to imitate him. But in fact, themeans he already used with great conviction was
thought. For him, thought was the most powerful of
all instruments.
When a friend told him about a young man who had
hurt his leg and whose wound was so badly ulcerated
that nothing seemed to do any good, Mikhaël madeup his mind to try and help him. Filling a bottle withwater from a spring, he concentrated on imbuing itwith the healing elements he knew to be present innature. He then gave the young man a small glass of it
and told him to drink some every day until the bottle203was empty. The following day the ulcerated leg wascompletely healed, without so much as a scar.
Each time Mikhaël discovered new gifts or powers in
himself he was faced with the same choice: whether
to use those powers for his own purposes or to dedicate them unconditionally to the service of God. Peter
Deunov, who was well aware of this, probably
intended to give him one more occasion to make thatchoice when he showed him a place where treasure
was hidden. It was during a brotherhood camp on
Mount Vitosha, and after leading Mikhaël quite a distance from the camp Peter Deunov told him that agreat treasure was buried just beneath their feet. Then,
without another word, he turned and went back to histent, leaving Mikhaël to make what he would of it.
Peter Deunov was known to be exceptionally clairvoyant and Mikhaël must have been very impressed,
not only by this unexpected revelation but also by thisproof of his Master’s faith in him. Did he have any
doubts about the existence of the treasure? Probably
not, for it was perfectly plausible: it was common
knowledge that highway robbers had buried gold in
various regions of Bulgaria. In fact, treasure hunterswere numerous in the vicinity of the ancient routes
linking the north and south of the country. Mikhaël
stood for a few minutes and watched the figure ofPeter Deunov as he returned rapidly to the camp; then,without a backward look, he followed him. Speakingof the incident years later, he said: ‘The other brothers

204could not understand my behavior. They never forgave me for not showing them where that treasure washidden.’On another occasion Peter Deunov showed Mikhaël
how to make a dowsing instrument equipped with asmall copper rod with which to find gold in the
ground. Mikhaël used it once, when he was dining in
the home of some wealthy friends. His host hid somegold coins in different places throughout the house,
and to the amazement of the family and their guests,
he found them all.
The discovery of such a possibility was enough to turnmany heads, but Mikhaël never used it again. Whatpurpose could it serve except to exploit and dominate
his fellow human beings? Had he not alreadyrenounced such use of his psychic powers at the age ofeighteen, when he had refused the offer of the retired
consul? His exceptional gifts could easily have assured
him a brilliant career as healer, clairvoyant, or
astrologer, but he knew that his role in life lay in a different direction. As soon as he sensed that a particulardiscipline would not enable him to help others to freethemselves and overcome their difficulties, he abandoned it. He could easily imagine the depth of slavery
to which he would be reduced if he sought to exploit
those glittering powers.
Although for many years already, Mikhaël had abandoned any desire to use his exceptional powers for his205own ends, he had not tried to stifle them, and he did
not fear them. If he saw that his powers of concentration and what he called the power of thought could be
used constructively, he had no hesitation in doing so.
One day, on an excursion with Dimitri, they reacheda village late at night. It was completely dark and not
a light could be seen anywhere. The two young men
made their way as best they could through the village
and the vineyard beyond, hoping to find somewhere
to sleep. Groping their way forward, they realized thatdeep ravines and clumps of thorn bushes made it adangerous place. Mikhaël gripped his friend’s arm,saying: ‘I know it’s very dark and we have no-one toshow us the way, but we’re going to find the best spot,
the cleanest and most sheltered…’
In the darkness he could barely see Dimitri’s eyes.
‘And how are we going to do that?’ asked his friend.
Mikhaël’s only reply was to turn slowly around, sending out mental waves of harmony.
Many years later he spoke of the importance of understanding how waves function:
When we emit thought waves they reach out and thenreturn to us. They are like bats: if you let bats fly loose
in a room with wires stretched across it in all directions,they will never hit the wires. Bats have highly developed
antennae which, thanks to the airwaves produced by206

their flight, warn them of the presence of obstacles. […]If you understand these laws—which also govern the
waves you emit—you too can sense the obstacles inyour way. Before going forward, you must send out
waves in all directions so as to explore the ground. If
you perceive disorder, chaos in one direction, do not gothat way; but if you sense waves of harmony you cango forward safely: it means that the way is clear. So
on that day I turned my hand in all directions until I
found the best way. Of course, you cannot do this unless
you have trained yourself. You will not succeed at yourfirst attempt. But I was already trained… So I told myfriend, ‘Let’s stay here.’ The next morning we foundthat we were, indeed, in the best place. That brotherhas had immense faith ever since!1
Mikhaël’s choices were deeply sincere and his desire
to use his gifts for spiritual ends was so intense that
he was always trying to infect his friends with his own
convictions. It was with sadness that he observed oneof his fellow-workers, an exceptional young man who
had discovered a natural gift for healing through iridology and used it to become rich and seduce girls
and young women who came to him for treatment. For
Mikhaël, it was not one’s gifts and talents that mattered—however spectacular and lucrative—but theway one lived. The only way to help and enlighten
others was to be kind, loving, and generous. When hesaw that a friend needed help, he often suggested simple but effective methods.

207

It was in this spirit that he suggested that several ofthem might do well to take a new name, in order totrigger an inner transformation. He had long beeninterested in the meaning of proper names and in theinfluence of their vibrations, which, it seemed to him,
could be as powerful as the vibrations of colors. A
few years later he was struck by the results. One of
his friends in particular, a violent person whose original name had a very negative meaning, was graduallytransformed after adopting a new one.
Eventually, however, Mikhaël began to realize that bytaking the responsibility of giving someone a newname he was perhaps linking himself too closely totheir destiny and making some of their problems hisown, and he abandoned the practice. It was only many
years later, when he had his own followers, that heoccasionally gave one of them a new name, and it wasalways for a specific reason. Similarly, he decided to
do no more Tarot readings for anybody but himself,
for, as he was to say later, such methods were too easy.
They might be helpful for a time but it was not possible to transform people by those means. ‘On the contrary,’ he explained, ‘it is only their own efforts that
can help them to advance and perfect themselves.’***
In Varna, Mikhaël’s mother had always been the confidant and source of consolation for her neighbors, theperson they instinctively turned to for help in their208

troubles. Many of those who were destitute or bedridden were cheered by a visit from Dolia, who arrived
with a gift of bread or a cake hidden under her apron.
One day she did something that was the talk of theneighborhood for a long time after. One of her neighbors, a married man with a growing family, needed to
add on a room to his house but was unable to pay
for the building permit. The room was almost finishedwhen the police got wind of the affair, and news wentaround that they were on their way to demolish it.
Filled with compassion for the unfortunate family,
Dolia quickly decided to champion their cause. Collecting all the children she could find, she gathered
them around her in the room, hung a photograph ofKing Boris on the wall, and waited. When the police
burst in, they found themselves confronted by this little woman surrounded by a crowd of laughing children. ‘Madam,’ they said; ‘we have a warrant.’‘We’re not moving from here,’ replied Dolia calmly.
‘Do you have the courage to pull the room downaround us?’
Disconcerted, the men looked at each other and after a
moment the officer motioned for them to leave. Onceoutside they did their best to conceal their discomfiture from the crowd that had gathered in the street.
After this defeat the matter was dropped, for thepolice, knowing Dolia’s devotion to her neighbors and209the affection and respect they had for her, had nodesire to stir up unrest in the Turkish quarter.
Mikhaël’s occasional visits were a great comfort to hismother, for she missed him very much. She did not
really understand why he continued to be Peter
Deunov’s disciple, but to her family and friends she
continued to say: ‘That’s where he belongs. He’s
happy there.’
For his part, when he arrived in Varna and saw her
tired and preoccupied by so many difficulties, he often
scolded her gently and told her not to take everybody’s
problems so much to heart.
The friends of Mikhaël’s sisters were always much
impressed by this serious young man of twenty-six
who turned up from time to time with his violintucked under his arm. He knew so many fascinating
things about physiognomy music and the influence of
nature on human beings. Seventy years later, one ofthem confided:
I was fifteen when I saw Mikhaël for the first time.
He was so sunburned that I thought he looked like a
Hindu. He had a beautiful, mellow voice. I was studying a theorem about a triangle, and for something tosay, I talked to him about it, whereupon he explained
the symbolic meaning of the triangles he saw on myface, full-face and profile. That day I learned a gooddeal about myself and my character!

21
2100

Mikhaël also played the violin with great feeling, andalthough his family admitted that he was not a virtuoso, they used to say that there was so much love in theway he played that several people were healed when heplayed something specially for them. The fact is that
although music was always a source of joy to him, it
was also a tool. In Sofia, he still lived with the friends
who had given him a room when he first arrived. As
before in Varna, this gave him the occasion to integrate music into his spiritual work. One of the family
who was a professional pianist would spend hours at
the piano, and as before in Varna, Mikhaël would sit
quietly in a corner of the room to listen. He had longthought of music as a great wind capable of bearing
him to higher planes, and here was a golden opportunity to learn to use it more intensively than ever. As helistened, his eyes closed, he tried to discern the specificforce emanating from each piece:
When we listen to a piece of music, we must first of allknow whether it is a force for good or for ill; what it represents and what comparison it suggests. Is it like thewind or like thunder? Is it like a cataract or a waterfall
tumbling down the mountainside? Is it like electricity?
Or heat? Whatever the energy it emits you must learn
to use it. If it suggests the wind, you can imagine thatyou are on a ship in full sail. If it suggests electricity, you
can use it to set in motion your spiritual ‘appliances’,and so on.2
He often joined other friends who were musicians and211spent hours listening to them. The friendships of his
youth were without doubt extremely important tohim. Speaking in later years of some of these profoundand sincere relationships, he would not hesitate to say,
‘We had great love for each other.’ His friend Ivan was
an exceptionally gifted musician and his improvisations on the guitar were often a source of inspiration
to Mikhaël. Thanks to the subtle affinity, the mysterious emanations that flow between two beings, Ivan’s
music had the power to propel Mikhaël to the world of
the spirit. For this he was always grateful, and for the
rest of his life he had a special affection for the guitar
because of the mystical experiences it had inspired in
his youth.
The two young men, both disciples of Peter Deunov,
certainly had a great deal in common. Their spiritual
aspirations and the similarity of their tastes were abond between them, and in addition to making music
together they often experimented with telepathic
communication. Unfortunately their friendship lasted
only a few years, for Ivan died young, and his premature death was one of the great griefs of Mikhaël’s
youth. Fifty years later he could still say: ‘He is stillwith me.’Mikhaël continued his lessons at the Conservatory ofMusic for several years. If truth be told, he was both
happy and unhappy about his studies, for he was wellaware of the flaws in his playing and knew that his fingers would never acquire the necessary agility. If only212

he had been able to learn as a child! Would he ever bea really good violinist? After a few years, recognizingthat he would never be a virtuoso, he regretfully gave
up his music lessons. He kept his violin and continued
to play, but never in the same way.
His role in life was not that of a musician. Indeed, he
had known for a long time that the higher beings who
guided him ‘put one obstacle after another in his way
on the physical plane’ in order to help him to ‘growon other planes’. Just as they had barred the route toa specialization in mathematics, so they now made it
clear that the world of musicians was not for him. In
his mind he heard them murmuring: ‘You cannot leadpeople to the ultimate goal by means of music. We willshow you another realm, a realm in which there will
also be music; a realm in which you can act effectively.’
As soon as he acquiesced he felt a powerful urge toturn to inner realities; he was learning to recognize themusic that is hidden in all things, animate and inanimate; everything became music.
The music of the spheres reverberated still in every
fiber of his being, reminding him constantly that justas the stars, the trees, and the stones of the earth possess their own special note, human beings too are partof the great cosmic choir, of the great orchestra whose
conductor is the Creator himself. Above all, he understood that he must learn to play as perfectly as possibleon the instrument of his own being. One day, thisresolve received an unexpected stimulus.

213

I was still a student in Sofia, and I was sitting reading
in my room one evening, when I heard a violin being
played in the street. It was so extraordinary that I wentout to see who was playing like that. And what did I
see? A gypsy, an old man dressed in rags and playing
a violin… but what a strange kind of violin! It was aroughly made wooden box, with some strings stretched
across it, and from those strings he drew sounds…
sounds such as I had never heard in even the best concerts. I was amazed. And all the neighbors had comeout on their balconies to listen. When he stopped playing I went up to him and asked ‘Where does your violin
come from?’ ‘I made it myself,’ he replied. So then I
asked him if I could have a closer look at it. It was simply a piece of wood that had been hollowed out, allcrooked, and with a few strings on it. ‘Would you sellit?’ I asked. ‘Oh, no, I’ll never sell it!’
I kept thinking about this encounter: I could not understand how the gypsy could produce such pure sounds
from so crude an instrument. How astonished Stradivarius would have been, I thought. But then I realizedthat it is not necessarily the perfection of an instrumentthat counts. It’s something else. It all depends on the
person who plays it. I thought about this for a long time,and I concluded that I too could make music with an
instrument as crude as mine—that is, myself.
The important thing is to have the will to triumph. We
always complain that we don’t have the right conditions, but that is just an excuse for doing nothing. If you

214knew how difficult the conditions of my life had been
when I was young… You can have no idea! But I did notcount on external conditions to bring me success—andthat old gypsy only made me more convinced. I told
myself, ‘I must produce good things from my difficulties.’
And what was it that I really wanted? To be useful.
This is the overriding desire of my life: to be useful toothers, to be able to help, console and comfort them.
Night and day this desire is with me. It is this desire thatinspires me to play my violin.3***
In the life and in the mission of Omraam Mikhaël
Aïvanhov, thought was an instrument capable oftremendous realizations; silence was both a need anda means of communication; a look was a mysteriously
potent means of exchange. But it was perhaps his useof speech, the power of words, that was the mostimportant.
The only thing I am concerned about is the wind…
the Word. And the Word can achieve wonders. I havenever cultivated a talent, I have used only words.4
When he gave advice he spoke with great frankness,and that advice cut straight to the heart of a problem.
We see an example of this in the way he helped awealthy young friend who always looked unhappy.
Meeting him in the street one day, Mikhaël greeted215him warmly, whereupon his friend exclaimed: ‘You’relooking very joyful. What has happened?’‘Oh, nothing much,’ replied Mikhaël. ‘I have justbought some joy. And it cost very little.’
Puzzled, his friend looked at him in silence. He knewthat Mikhaël had almost nothing in the world, andyet he always seemed to be in a state of supernatural
joy. It was incomprehensible. On the other hand, heknew him well enough to know that he was not teasing. With a sigh, the young man complained that hehad spent a lot of money in his life without receiving
any joy in return. Wordlessly, Mikhaël beckoned tohim to come with him, and pausing some distancefrom a poor man selling buttons, shoelaces, and string,
he murmured:‘Look! There’s someone who sells joy. He stands there
for hours in the cold, the wind, and the rain, waiting
for customers. Go up to him and buy something, shoelaces for instance. Ask him how much they are, and if
he says they are ten leva, give him fifty and tell him
to keep the change. When he hears that he will think:‘Ah, there are still good people in the world.’ His faithwill be strengthened, and his joy will be yours too. It
will reverberate within you all day long, and it will
have cost you only a few cents.’
Thoughtfully, the young man looked at the peddler
and suddenly a smile lit up his face. Mikhaël added:216‘You can also pay a visit to someone who is ill. Take
him some little gift. Tell him that all will be well; that
God is merciful. If you comfort others and give themjoy, you yourself will become joyful. But when you
want to give joy to someone you must choose carefully, for not everybody is ready to accept it.’5
Mikhaël always spoke simply with words that wentstraight to people’s hearts. His methods were those of
all white magicians who, having mastered and refined
their own faculties and feelings, are capable of using
the power of words to great effect. For him, words werepowerful instruments capable of eliciting vivifying
reactions.
One summer, before joining the brotherhood camp,he spent a few days with a friend in the little town of
Dupnitza to the west of Rila. One day, as he was on his
way to join his friend for a picnic in the hills outside
the town, he heard that two murderers were thought
to have taken refuge there. Deciding that he ought togo and warn his friend, he walked on, never dreamingthat the shirt he was wearing was similar to those of
the assassins and would give rise to a serious misunderstanding. Hardly had he reached the hill when hefound himself surrounded by a crowd of armed civilians and policemen who pointed their guns at him andordered him to stop. He guessed from the expression
on their faces that they had taken him for one of the
fugitives. Standing still, he waited for them to comecloser before saying anything. And what he said was217surprising: ‘You have arms, but I have one that is better.’
The police, taken aback, looked at him suspiciously,
and Mikhaël, taking advantage of their hesitation took
out the New Testament he had slipped into his pocketthat morning, saying: ‘There you are. This is myweapon, and it is more powerful than yours.’
At once, it was as though a tableau, frozen in time,came back to life as the tension went out of all thosethreatening countenances. The police asked what he
was doing on the hill and ordered him to accompany
them to the station. As he walked along quietly, an
inner voice kept repeating: ‘Don’t worry! Everythingis going to be all right.’ An hour later, his friend, who
had also been arrested and then released, came to fetch
him and stopped in the doorway in amazement to see
Mikhaël sitting in the middle of a group of policemen.
He had brought out his New Testament again and was
explaining a passage of the Gospels.
As they left the police station together, the two young
men were greeted by the crowd that was waiting fornews of the arrests. Learning that the ‘assassin’ wasa visitor in the home of an honest citizen, they burst
into applause. Mikhaël’s popularity was assured, andin the days that followed there occurred a phenomenon that was often repeated in his life: his radianceand spontaneous kindness drew people to him, andsuddenly everybody wanted to confide in him and ask

218his advice. For several days, his friend’s house wasbesieged by people who seemed never to tire of listening to this young man whose eyes expressed such lightand goodness, and who gave such clear and practicalanswers to their questions.
When he left Dupnitza to join the camp at Rila, someof these new friends went to find him there to continue their questions and talk about their problems.
Every year after that, whenever Mikhaël was at thecamp near the Seven Lakes, his friends from Dupnitza
hiked up to see him.6
No one who had anything to do with Mikhaël ever suffered from boredom. In his eagerness to stimulate theflow of life within them, he was not afraid to irritate
them or even, when necessary, to arouse their anger.
Some of them never forgave him.
One day he had just reached the top of Mount Musala,when a Protestant pastor arrived and sat down besidehim. Almost numb with cold, the man still managed topull a Bible from his pocket saying: ‘Do you know the
Bible? Do you read it?’ Without more ado he started topreach. For him, nothing was more important than thewritten word. The spirit seemed to have been forgotten, and he did his best to convert Mikhaël to his own
narrow views. After listening to him for a few minutes,
Mikhaël lost patience and decided to shake him up alittle and try to get him to reflect beyond the rigid limits of his militant theories. At one point, insisting that219

human beings were more important than books, evenone inspired by God, he said:
Books can be destroyed, but they can always be written
again, because the knowledge in them will always exist.
I could throw this magnificent book into the ravine, but
I would never throw you there. You are more important.
The pastor could not help but see his point. How often
in history men had killed each other in the name ofreligion, in the name of a holy book! Fanaticism has
always led to destruction. More and more, Mikhaël
talked about the importance of turning to the universal principle that is the source of all religions, and tohis mind it was the sun that was the visible representation of this vital principle. The language of light isuniversal; all human beings can understand it. It is thelanguage of life.

Notes
1.

June 3, 1946.

2.

‘Art and Music II’, in Know Thyself : Jnana Yoga II.

3.

‘Préparer l’avenir de la jeunesse’, in La Pédagogie initiatique
I.

4.

March 12, 1980.

5. See his own account: ‘Love is Hidden in the Mouth’, in The
Second Birth.

220

6.

See his own account : ‘Gentleness and Humility’, inSpiritual Alchemy.

221

9

#

I Will Give YYouou aPrecious Stone
The estate known as Izgrev—Rising Sun—was anextensive property recently acquired by the fraternityof Peter Deunov. It lay on the outskirts of Sofia near
Boris Gardens, one of the largest parks of the city.
Close to the entrance they had built a white housewith a lecture hall and a private room for the Master.
Over the years, as more and more disciples wishedto live together in a fraternal setting, several smaller
houses had been built on the grounds. Each had asmall flower garden, and the absence of fences orhedges preserved the overall impression of one large
park. As the years passed the fraternity at Izgrev
expanded, and more and more visitors came, some-times from afar, to see this experiment in collective living and meet the Master whose influence was so great.
When Mikhaël approached Izgrev after a forty-fiveminute tram ride through the city, he could always tellwhether Peter Deunov was there or not. When he wasthere, the very air seemed to vibrate, the enthusiasmthat animated the community was palpable. When he
was absent it was as though the sun had disappeared
from the sky. Mikhaël, struck by these observations,concluded that the presence of a Master kindles amore intense life in the hearts of his disciples.
Mikhaël had a room in the city and spent a good dealof his time in the mountains. He sensed that Peter
Deunov wished him to remain at a distance from thebrotherhood, and although he did not understandwhy, he was convinced that it was for the best. As he
explained later, this distance helped him to pursue his
spiritual exercises in a spirit of detachment. When he
was younger had he not been a little too possessive in
his first enthusiasm at having found the Master he hadsought for so long? He admitted frankly that he hadgone to see him very often to ask for advice, and in his
passionate desire to advance as quickly as possible, tocorrect his defects and endure ordeals of purification,
he had often stayed too long and taken up too much of
the Master’s time. He never tired of pleading with him:
‘Make me someone who will be of use to the wholeworld’. It was only later that he realized that the distance Peter Deunov had asked of him had been nec-

223

essary so that his Master might ‘write on him as on aliving book, just as the sun writes with its rays on theearth’.
Each time he returned to Izgrev, his joy in the Master’spresence was renewed. In their private conversations
Mikhaël always had many questions for him, and as
they talked he rejoiced in the power and love emanating from the Master. After so many years he understood the true nature of Peter Deunov’s feelings
towards him. Mikhaël was now thirty, and he continued to listen to every word his Master uttered with theloving attention he had shown at seventeen. His only
desire was to deepen his understanding of the great
truths of initiatic science. The Master had already
imposed many ordeals on him, each more arduousthan the last, but he had also let him see that he wassatisfied with his work. Not many years later it was
Mikhaël he would choose from among thousands tocarry his teaching to France.
At about this time, in his usual enigmatic way, Peter
Deunov gratified Mikhaël with another public expression of approval. Interrupting himself in the middle
of a lecture, he said: ‘Brother Guirev is tuned to longwaves, while brother Mikhaël operates on shortwaves.’
Brother Guirev was an intellectual, a veritable encyclopedia, who liked to show off his learning. In referring to the longer wavelength of red, the color of mate-224

rialistic science, in contrast to the short waves of violet, which represent the spiritual world, Peter Deunov
had described the most prominent and the most selfeffacing members of the fraternity. The message wasaddressed to both, and having uttered it, he went onwith his talk.
Violet light, that with the shortest wavelength and thehighest frequency in the solar spectrum, was a constant source of inspiration for Mikhaël. But two of themost important means he used to open his soul andspirit to the spiritual world were fasting and silence.
More than once, while still a young man in Bulgaria,
he followed a practice much recommended by Hindu
Masters and spent thirty days in silent retreat.
In India, where such methods are used by those seeking inner revelations, the practice of silence requires
great self-control. How much more so in a country
where few understand the meaning of such a thing!
Mikhaël had to muster all his inner strength and discipline. People questioned him, trying to get him totalk; children laughed and teased him. But the rewardsof his silence must have been very precious, for herepeated the experience more than once during his
twenty years with Peter Deunov.
***
Mikhaël continued to work, to refine and purify himself so as to be ready for what was to come. Some of his225

companions who had seen the ardor he had brought
to his spiritual exercises for so many years wondered
what he was preparing himself for. He himself had noclear notion of what it was, but with a determination
which seemed almost sacred, he worked ‘to become
an instrument ever more flexible, ever more adept in
the service of God’. As always, his over-riding desire
was to become useful, not only to the few he lived andworked with, but to the whole of humanity.
Knowing that this time of preparation was essential
and indispensable—it was also of absorbing interest—he spent twenty years with Peter Deunov. He wasthirty years old but he still did not feel sufficiently prepared. Convinced that he still needed to purify his
motives, to strengthen his will, to be more detached,he prayed ceaselessly to the invisible entities whose
presence he sensed all around him to give him ‘thestrength to work for the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth’.
Friends, recognizing his wisdom and his experience inthe spiritual life, often sought his advice. But to be
Mikhaël’s friend was never a bed of roses. He asked agreat deal of himself, and although he was devoted tohis friends and very sympathetic, he asked a great dealof them also. He tried to stimulate them and give themsomething vivifying. In his desire to help all those he
met he was always genuinely interested in them.
Some people found his lofty ideals and his personal226

integrity uncomfortable and even exasperating. Somebecame angry. Others were envious of the apparently
effortless influence he had on his companions. But
most people sensed that he understood them andshared in their personal interests. His spontaneity andsincerity attracted friendship, and although his outspokenness sometimes brought him enmity instead,he knew that he had to deal with that as we all haveto deal with light and darkness; both are necessary tolife. He would say later that he had tried to help andencourage those who called on him, but that he always
directed them to Peter Deunov, always reminded themof the aspects of the teaching most likely to enlighten
and encourage them.
He made no attempt to assume the role of teacher—heprobably mistrusted himself in this respect—and recognizing that humility was essential to evolution, he
preferred to remain in the background. When he wentto Izgrev he did so discreetly. In spite of his profoundunderstanding of Peter Deunov’s teaching, he avoided
the dinners and receptions to which many of his fellow disciples were invited to give talks.
The truth is that his whole life was oriented toward
something very special and unusual. Since adolescence, his quest for God had led him to decide not togive physical expression to his sexual energies but totransform them and make use of them for his spiritual development. Since then he had sought inspiration in beauty, in the subtler dimensions of life. His

227

attitude toward the opposite sex was unequivocal, andhis companions knew he had chosen to live in chastity.
During much of his youth, however, he had had toendure the purifying fire of criticism and derision. His
close friends knew how he spent his time. They
respected and admired him. But others, unable tounderstand how anyone could sacrifice the things towhich most people aspire, openly sneered at his
options which seemed to them too radical.
Like all the great beings who had traveled this pathbefore him, Mikhaël certainly had his own inner struggles, but never in his long life would he deny the realityof the human body created by God or its innate
impulses, which are good or evil depending only on theuse we make of them. He would say later that in his
youth he had been filled with a great effervescencewhich had sometimes frightened him, but that when
he had discovered its profound meaning he could only
thank heaven for all he had received. Several years earlier, Peter Deunov, who was well aware of this, had
told him: ‘For you, Mikhaël, a look is enough.’
He had not explained his remark, and Mikhaël had
reflected at length on the meaning.
The Master had seen the roots, the structure, of mydeepest nature and had summed it up in a single
phrase: I need only a glance, a look. Later on, I often
used a glance and I discovered some important laws or,
to be more accurate, I discovered how to look in such a228

way as to sanctify oneself, how to be filled with wonder,
to feel elated and fulfilled with only a single glance.1
For his part, Peter Deunov was well aware of Mikhaël’s
detachment, of the stability of his conduct, and in particular of his frank and unambiguous attitude toward
women. A few years earlier in the garden at Ternovo
he had witnessed a minor but revealing incident:
Mikhaël, perched on top of a ladder that was leaning
against the branch of a tree, was lost in the contemplation of nature, when a girl approached and climbed
half-way up the ladder to talk to him. Peter Deunov
knew that the two young people were very fond ofeach other, and although he could not hear what they
were saying, he could see that they were both enjoying
their conversation. Finally the girl climbed down,
beckoning to Mikhaël to follow. Peter Deunov had
noted with interest that Mikhaël remained on the ladder and went back to his meditation. The incident wasso significant in his eyes that he mentioned it to
Mikhaël several years later.
To Mikhaël’s way of thinking, true purity was God
himself, and in a human being it was one of the mostimportant virtues. When his friends talked to him of
their problems, of their sexual desires or obsessions,
he was not afraid to assert that they should face themsquarely, and use them as a starting point for a more
profound understanding of beauty. One day, a friend
told him of a recent experience which had disturbed
him deeply. With an expression of despair, he said:229

‘I don’t know where to turn. I’m so miserable I haveeven considered killing myself. I’m incapable of working. I must get the picture of that girl out of my mind.’‘That’s the wrong way to go about it,’ replied Mikhaël.
‘On the contrary, look at her mentally, and little bylittle the picture will fade away. You should see thisimage as a blessing, a starting point for a reflection
about beauty.’
Later, he would often say: ‘True purity is not what
people think. Purity is God himself. It is the divineworld. It is the way we use things that make them goodor bad.’ Ever since he had gazed at the spring in thevillage of his childhood, he had constantly striven for
purity. But never would he reject the sexual energies
created by God. Never would he approve the renunciations of certain narrow-minded spiritualists. On thecontrary, in later years he explained how one could
use those energies to fuel one’s ascent to the divine
regions for which all human beings are destined. At
the time of his youth, however, it had not always been
easy for him to make his contemporaries understandhis position. More than once he had been obliged tomake his position clear to young girls or women in thefraternity who had fallen in love with him.
One of the women who attended the Brotherhood
meetings in Sofia pursued him with her attentions.
She was a university professor and a brilliant andhighly cultivated poet and philosopher. Nothing230escaped her critical observation and no one was able
to best her in an argument. She even argued with Peter
Deunov who was always very patient with her. From
the first moment she saw Mikhaël she had been mesmerized by his beauty and the extraordinary magnetism of his eyes. Poetry came easily to her and she began
to write extravagant poems in his honor. She becameso possessive that she began to station herself beneathPeter Deunov’s window whenever Mikhaël was with
him in order to overhear their conversation, andalthough Mikhaël did his best to avoid her andinsisted that she leave him alone, she persisted in following him home.
She beseeched him: ‘Brother Mikhaël, this is the firsttime I have ever loved someone.’‘You should be singing with joy because of your lovealone. Tell me, why has it not changed you? You
should be nicer to your brothers and sisters, forinstance.’
But she was not interested in being nicer, all she
wanted was to be allowed to kiss him. But Mikhaël
continued patiently to tell her:
‘It is not allowed. In any case, if you did you would bevery unhappy.’
Refusing to be put off, she continued to send him
poems and love letters in all the languages she knew.
She was forever knocking at his door, sometimes in231

tears, and Mikhaël, with equal perseverance, continued to resist her until one day, seeing that she wasalways bothering Peter Deunov when he himself waswith him, he told her:‘You really do love me, don’t you? You still want to kissme? Very well. I will kiss you later, on condition thatyou never disturb the Master again and that you stop
criticizing and contradicting him.’
Commenting this episode later, he said:
It was very difficult for her. She thought about it, tried to
calculate whether she had the strength to do as I asked,
and finished by promising that she would try, because
she wanted the promised reward. But she was unable tokeep her promise. So I was released from my side of thebargain also, and I managed to avoid giving her what
she wanted. From then on she changed. She no longer
shouted and insisted on having her own way. She was
unrecognizable. So you see, if someone loves you it ispossible to use that love to help him and get him to seehimself as he really is. If his love is not genuine you cannot help him. He must have faith in you; above all hemust love and have faith in God.2
Far from being indifferent to feminine beauty, Mikhaël
always looked on it with admiration and delight. He
never attempted to ignore it. With astonishingstrength of mind, he succeeded in working exclusively
with the eyes, and his efforts were sometimes rewarded232

by unexpected gifts from subtler regions. During thenight, he was often awakened by the presence of
unreal creatures of extraordinary beauty.
They were all round me, looking at me in such a waythat I felt myself melting in indescribable love. They did
not touch me, just stayed there, looking at me, and alltheir power was in their eyes. I have never yet seen suchan expression in the eyes of a human being. It seemed
to come from a great distance and a great height. The
experience lasted for hours. I learned later that thesecreatures were devas, and I understood that they had
visited me in order to show me that there existed innature a beauty beyond anything one could imagine.3
Through their absolute purity, light and radiance,these creatures opened up a new world in Mikhaël’ssoul. He received from them ‘revelations about true
love, the love that needs no physical manifestation’.
***By 1930 or 1931, Mikhaël was no longer attending lectures at the university. He remarked later that much ofwhat he had studied had been a waste of time, that it
had ‘drawn a veil between reality and his life’, and wasbest forgotten.
In Bulgaria, before qualifying for a teaching position
in Sofia or any major city, three years of experiencein a village school were required. For his first school
term, Mikhaël was employed in a high school not far

233

from the capital. It is probably here that he lived in thebungalow that he once described as ‘so small that two
people could not be in it at the same time’. In the classroom, applying educational methods that owed little
to prevailing customs, he soon obtained results that
surpassed his most optimistic expectations.
Mikhaël had noticed that delinquency had been on
the rise in the country following a popular series ofplays about the bandit Zigomar. This confirmed his
conviction that the power of suggestion exerted bytheater and cinema has a stronger influence on people’s minds and behavior than church, school, or evenfamily. With this in mind, he organized and produced
several short plays with his pupils. One of them inparticular, the adaptation of a Tolstoy legend about agrain of wheat, was a great favorite with the parents.
Seeking to awaken his pupils’ minds and hearts to new
ideas, he explained the lines they recited and helped
them to discover the beauty in them. At home the children talked about this new teacher who was so unlike
those they had known before, and their grateful parents began to pay him frequent visits.
Three or four years later, Mikhaël was appointed
director of a college, and during the few months of thischarge he was busier than ever. His methods, basedon a pedagogical principle of love and patience, created once again a sincere and dynamic relationshipbetween himself and the students. Their parents, notknowing how else to thank him, brought him cheese,234

nuts, and fruit. His office was often fragrant with thescent of their gifts. At the same time, however, heattracted the envy and resentment of some of theother teachers, who, unwilling to change their attitude
toward their students, opposed him in different ways.
Jealousy always came as a surprise to Mikhaël. He
found it difficult to realize just how powerful and tenacious it could be. But in spite of his new responsibilities and endless problems of this kind, he was always
full of energy and undertook to give a series of spiritual talks for the peasant population of the region,
who attended in great numbers. They loved this new
director who used such colorful imagery and expressive gestures, and who spoke with such humor, peppering his talks with anecdotes to illustrate his meaning.
The time was drawing near when Mikhaël would becalled on to leave his country forever. Peter Deunov
had kept him in the background for years, and mostof the members of the brotherhood had forgotten the
mysterious remark he had made one day by the shoresof the second lake of Rila: ‘You do not yet know
brother Mikhaël; at the moment he is disguised, but
one day you will know him.’
In the 1930s, Peter Deunov had begun to reveal certain
things to Mikhaël in order to prepare him more
directly for his future task. One of these revelations
was in the form of an allegory:235‘I have in my possession a precious stone. It is as big
as an egg and valuable beyond words. I intend to giveit to someone to take to another country, but as hewill have to travel through a dense forest teeming withbandits and savage beasts, I will coat it with mud.
Later, when it is washed, it will shine in all its splendor.’It was a prediction that was to be fulfilled ten years
later, but at the time Mikhaël was not able to decipher
the hermetic language in which his future wasdescribed. He was to be the bearer of the teaching,symbolized by the precious stone, and he was to besoiled in the same way as the gem. Since Peter Deunov
had prophesied in 1917 that the forces of darkness
would oppose him, Mikhaël had known that he wasdestined to endure great ordeals, but the meaning of
this allegory of the gem that had to be soiled in order
to be protected became clear to him only when thoseordeals were imminent. Even if Peter Deunov knew
the nature of the tribulations that awaited Mikhaël, tohave revealed them would only have made things moredifficult for him. Thus this veiled allusion to the mission he would entrust to him a few years hence andwhich had to be concealed.
He also told him:
‘When you have passed through the narrow gate you
will be so transformed that you will not recognize

236yourself. You will shine like the sun, and the wholeworld will be drawn to you.’
On another occasion he made an astonishing statement:‘You must realize that in the world above you were
free. Before incarnating you signed a contract in frontof an assembly of all the greatest spirits. You agreed
to accomplish a certain task here below, and you must
now fulfill your promise.’Peter Deunov sometimes told his disciples that before
their present incarnation they had had to agree tocarry out a specific task on earth. To Mikhaël he spokeof the signature of a free being, of one who did notneed to reincarnate in order to achieve perfection andwho could be entrusted with a special mission by thegreat assembly of spirits only if he consented. He did
not elaborate, knowing no doubt that Mikhaël would
one day understand all the implications. Humanbeings are not permitted to know their future; evenhigh initiates and great Masters are subject to this rule.
Their mission is revealed to them only progressively inthe course of their life.
Peter Deunov had also said: ‘You came to bear witness
to truth’, and Mikhaël often pondered those words. To
bear witness to truth, he reflected, every fiber of one’s
being would have to vibrate in unison with truth; one
would have to have the flawless purity of a diamond237

that bears witness to the transparency of all diamonds.
One day, it occurred to him to ask the Master:‘When were you best pleased with me as a disciple?’
Mikhaël was then thirty-four. In the seventeen years
Peter Deunov had known him, he had tried and tested
him in different ways and followed his progress
closely. He knew that Mikhaël was an exceptional
being who never drew attention to himself. Destined
to enlighten and console, he was a being of integrity,
courage, and steadfastness beyond question. Over andover he had proved capable of sacrificing his own tranquility to support and defend his brothers and sisters.
All this Peter Deunov recognized, and yet he chose to
speak of the apparently insignificant incident in thegarden at Ternovo, many years before:‘You were in deep meditation when that girl, who hadgreat affection for you—and you for her—came looking for you. But when she climbed down the ladderand asked you to do the same, you stayed up there
and continued your meditation. That was the moment
when I was best pleased with you.’‘But, Master,’ exclaimed Mikhaël in astonishment,‘does that mean that it was the symbolic and perhaps
prophetic aspect of what you saw that pleased you? Itseems to me it was nothing much.’Peter Deunov smiled and said nothing. He had beenpleased to see that Mikhaël remained faithful to the238divine world, to his ideal, to the mission of those who
renounce marriage and procreation in order to devote
themselves totally to the realization of the kingdomof God on earth. But he certainly knew also that
Mikhaël’s unconditional choices, his frankness andhonesty sometimes caused resentment. Even thatyoung girl in the garden at Ternovo who had loved
him would, in the future, become one of his worst
enemies under the influence of an unscrupulous man
with whom Mikhaël would refuse to associate.
***
It was during these years that Peter Deunov made several important revelations to Mikhaël about his future,
predictions he had deciphered in the Akasha Chronica.
While he spoke of these things his expression took on
extraordinary intensity, his features were transformed
and radiant. Mikhaël would never forget thosemoments, the beauty that suffused the Master’s face
and the accent of truth in his words. Progressively, inthe three years that followed, Peter Deunov revealed to
Mikhaël many things about himself, in particular thatbooks he had written in a past incarnation in India
had been a source of instruction for the whole world.
He told him that he had been especially destined fora work of spiritual assistance to women, and that hewould one day converse with the great archangels,
rulers of the planets. These revelations and promisescame as a confirmation and consecration of all that
Mikhaël had already accomplished.

239

During this period Peter Deunov was especially close
to Mikhaël, who had worked so humbly by his side
for twenty years and who was already, without doubt,
an exceptional spiritual guide. The Master could now
allow himself to show his love for him. Mysteriously,
he sometimes called him Iacchoi. The name was unfamiliar to Mikhaël, and he was puzzled by the Master’s
use of it. It was only many years later that he would
come across it in a book about the Dionysian Mysteries. There he learned that for the alchemists, the nameIacchus was synonymous with the sun. It also referred
to Dionysus, Apollo, and Osiris. In the Mysteries, theplural form, Iacchoi, was the name given to androgynies, those perfect beings who possess both the masculine and feminine principles within themselves. The
Master’s use of this name was once more an enigmaticreference that gave Mikhaël matter for deep reflection
and meditation.
I think now that by giving me this name he was giving
me an inkling of what he thought of me. He wanted totell me that I was nothing, but that he saw me as one
who could become perfect.4
In these years Peter Deunov was very much alive to thethreat that the rise of Communism posed for the fraternity. In 1937, he invited Mikhaël to his house one
last time and entrusted him with the mission to makehis teaching known in France. To prepare the way forhim, he gave him three letters that he had dictatedto his secretary, Boyan Boëv. The first stated that240

Mikhaël was leaving on a specific mission to which hiswhole life was dedicated. The second was addressed
to a Polish woman who was in a position to introduce
him to interesting people in Paris. The third, dated
June 12 and signed by brother Boëv, was addressed toa Bulgarian brother, Anastassi, who also lived in the
French capital. It said:
One of our brothers, Mikhaël Ivanov, is leaving for
Paris. He is being sent by the Master. As you know, he is
one of the very advanced disciples. He is deeply knowledgeable and totally dedicated, living and working only
for God’s work.
The official reason for Mikhaël’s departure for France
was to visit the Paris World Fair: Peter Deunov neverdisclosed to his other disciples that he had entrusted
him with a mission. Knowing that his choice would
inevitably arouse envious reactions on the part ofthose who thought themselves better equipped forsuch a task, he chose to say nothing.
On July 18, 1937, after bidding farewell to his family,
Mikhaël boarded the train that was to take him to
Paris. A small crowd of friends and many of his pupils
and their parents were at the station to see him off.
Many wept when he left, sensing perhaps that theywould never see him again. Mikhaël could only lookat them, his heart torn. For years he thought often of
those children he had loved and of the brothers andsisters who had come to wish him Godspeed.

241

He was thirty-seven and was giving up everything,family, friends, and the country in which he had beenborn, for the sake of this new mission. Symbolically,
he was selling all he possessed in order to carry theprecious stone to a distant land.

Notes
1.

‘The Masculine and Feminine Principles: Exchanges andRelationships’, in Love and Sexuality I.

2.

May 17, 1941.

3.

‘The Masculine and Feminine Principles: Exchanges andRelationships’, in Love and Sexuality I.

4.

January 1, 1961.

242

PART III

BROTHERMICHAEL

10#

God Gives Freely
The train from Sofia, crowded with passengers boundfor the 1937 World’s Fair, made a two-day stopover in
Venice and reached Paris on July 22. On his arrival,
Mikhaël was taken in by brother Anastassi, but when
he tried to contact the Polish woman who was to introduce him to various spiritual movements in Paris, she
was away from home and her neighbors had no idea
when she would return.
While waiting for her to appear, Mikhaël set out todiscover Paris. For days he explored the different
quartiers, visiting churches, museums, the famous gardens, and the second-hand book stalls on the banksof the Seine. Gazing down the majestic sweep of theChamps-Elysées for the first time, he rememberedwith amusement the naive idea he had had of it atthe age of seventeen, when the name evoked for him
the mythical ‘Elysian Fields, the marvelous abode of
the great spirits of the past’. In dusty old bookshops
in the Latin Quarter, he browsed through rare texts
on alchemy. He also spent many fascinating hours at
the Palais des Découvertes, where visitors can observe
demonstrations of scientific experiments.
He also used this time to improve his rudimentary
French by frequenting the cinema, the theater and theopera. During the performances he continued as in thepast to note the effect of the instruments and voices onhimself and others, attempting to ‘understand how thedifferent sounds activated the spiritual energy centers
within’.
Back in his friend’s apartment in the evening, Mikhaël
retired to his room. There, listening to the children atplay, their cries echoing in the narrow street below, hepondered his situation. His visitor’s visa would soon
expire, and if he failed to get in touch with the personPeter Deunov had written to, he would have to returnto Bulgaria. The days sped by, and on the eve of his
departure he tried one last time to reach her. Miraculously, the telephone rang as she opened the doorof her apartment, having just returned from Warsaw.
Without hesitation she invited him to come and see
her and began at once to take steps to prolong his
visa. After interminable telephone conversations with
the immigration authorities, she was finally successful.
Toward the end of the day Mikhaël was still with her

245when the doorbell rang, and his hostess introduced
him to Stella Bellemin, a woman in her fifties who wasto be one of the most faithful disciples of the newteaching he had brought to France.
Stella had also just returned from a vacation. She had
been to Bulgaria and spent a few days at the Seven
Lakes of Rila where she had met Peter Deunov. Afterabout ten days with the Bulgarian brotherhood, she
had asked Peter Deunov, in the presence of his secretary, Brother Boëv, how she could help to make histeaching known in France. His reply was:‘When you meet the person you are destined to workwith, you will recognize him immediately.’
Many years later when the validity of Mikhaël’s work
was being contested, Stella remembered that althoughPeter Deunov had not named Mikhaël explicitly, there
was no doubt that he had been referring to him, andthat his secretary, who had been present at the time,
understood this perfectly. She would also recall that,during those ten days in Bulgaria, nobody had somuch as mentioned a brother who had recently left forFrance.
That evening in her friend’s apartment, Peter
Deunov’s prediction was fulfilled: as soon as she saw
the visitor in the sitting room, she knew without ashadow of doubt that he was the one Peter Deunov
had spoken of. And when she learned that he had

246

come to France to make known the teaching she herself had recently discovered, her decision was immediate: she would collaborate in his work by putting all
her resources at his disposal. Without hesitation—andwith a total disregard for convention—she offered
Mikhaël a room in her apartment and promised him all
the help he needed. Mikhaël did not accept immediately: he needed time to consider the question in private, but the next day he accepted her offer and moved
to her apartment in the rue des Princes, where she had
set aside a small room with an easterly view for himfrom which he could see the sunrise.
Stella was an astronomer, attached to the Bibliothèque
Nationale of Paris. Every morning she left for the office
and returned home only in the evening. Before long
many of her friends heard that one of Peter Deunov’s
disciples was staying in her apartment and came tomake his acquaintance. With attention and the utmost
patience, ‘Brother Mikhaël’, as he began to be called,
listened to his visitors and responded to their questions. And as they came in increasing numbers, seeking advice, instruction and consolation, there weredays when the apartment hummed like a beehive. On
weekends when Stella was free, he devoted many
hours to instructing her in the teaching Peter Deunov
had entrusted to him.
Toward the end of 1937 the social and political situation in France was deeply troubled. The threat of
war hung over Europe and dominated every conver-247

sation. That autumn the French government passed
a law severely restricting the right of foreign visitors
to the World’s Fair to remain in the country, andMikhaël, who had left Bulgaria with only a temporary
permit to visit the Fair, was now faced with the necessity of renewing it every week. But neither the longhours of waiting nor the harassment, suspicion andarrogance with which he was treated exhausted hispatience. With tireless regularity, he renewed the legal
formalities, and was so often obliged to be photographed that a great number of photographs fromthat period still exist.
For her part, Stella observed her guest closely andcould not help but be deeply affected by his extraordinary radiance. Drawn to the spiritual life since childhood, she was also an intellectual who had gained considerable authority in her field. She was not easily
impressed, but in later years she would often speakof the deep impression Brother Mikhaël had made on
her. Time and again she saw people who were harassed
and irritable thawed by a look and a smile from him.
He instilled such rare kindness into a few simple words
that their attitude was often completely transformed.
One day, an official warned Stella that Mikhaël wasa spy in the pay of the Soviet Union. She defended
him vigorously, but each week, because of misunderstandings of this kind, he had to find additional peopleof influence to back his request for an extension ofhis permit. It was two years before he obtained a visa

248

which had to be renewed only every three months, andit was many more years before the restrictions on him
were further relaxed. But he was never to have citizenship in any one country. He would always be a citizenof the world.
In the meantime he remained serene, counting as
always on the unfailing support of his friends in theinvisible world. It seemed that his prayers were always
answered. More than once, at the last minute andunder unusual circumstances, he met someone who
was in a position to get his papers renewed. Sometimes
it was the Bulgarian legation that put obstacles in his
way; sometimes it was the French authorities. One
day, just two hours before his visa expired, the Frenchpolice demanded that his application be countersigned by ten French male citizens with substantial
financial means. Half an hour later, ten ‘solid citizens’
arrived almost simultaneously at the apartment. All
were among his regular visitors and all, without a word
to the others, had decided to leave work earlier thanusual and go to see Brother Mikhaël. Together they
accompanied him to police headquarters.
His friends were constantly astonished by the unusual
events they witnessed, and even the most skepticalwere impressed. They could not help but recognizethat he was surrounded by invisible beings who
assisted him so that his work could go forward. Their
support even extended to seemingly insignificant
details: he received an unexpected gift of money that249

exactly matched the price of a small radio he needed;
he found at his door a Japanese tea service that he had
admired in a shop window, thinking he could use it
to offer his guests a cup of tea. Incidents of this kind
were frequent, but in spite of his faith, Mikhaël neverseemed to take them for granted. Each time he was as
astonished and delighted as a child.
***
As Brother Mikhaël’s popularity increased, the visitors to Stella’s apartment in the rue des Princes
became more and more numerous. Once a week ascore of people gathered for an evening meeting, but
before long the apartment became too small, andmeetings were held in the more spacious home of her
Polish friend near the rue du Bac.
Peter Deunov was not unknown in the French capitalat the time; in fact, several of his disciples in Parisclaimed to be there at his behest, but Mikhaël madeno such claim. He was simply a Bulgarian living inFrance, one among a number of Peter Deunov’s disciples. Without professing to represent Peter Deunov or
to possess any special expertise, he talked quite simply
about the major themes of this teaching which constituted the warp and woof of his life.
Although his knowledge of French was improving
rapidly, it was far from perfect. His audience, however,found little to complain about, for his lively humor

250

and vivid imagery more than compensated for any
shortcomings. But there were occasions when his
imperfect knowledge of the language was a handicap:
some of those who came to hear him were writers,
astrologers and alchemists, and occasionally, mistaking his limited means of expression for a lack ofknowledge, one of them would presume to give him
advice.
Many considered themselves to be initiates, a cut
above ordinary mortals, and they sometimes held forthat such length that Mikhaël could hardly utter a word.
Without attempting to correct their perception ofhim, he simply listened patiently as they described
how they had passed the ‘second or third degree of initiation’. For his part, he was completely indifferent tothese so-called degrees and had no intention of establishing them in the brotherhood. More than once hesaid that he had never known what degree of initiation
he had reached, that the brotherhood was not interested in titles and there were no ‘pundits’ among themembers. In his view, each time someone experienced
an expansion of consciousness it meant that they hadreached a higher degree of initiation.
One day Stella invited a friend, who was an engineer
as well as a seasoned astrologer, to meet Brother
Mikhaël. They had hardly been introduced when thevisitor, full of his own importance, began to question
Mikhaël as though he were one of his students: ‘Do
you have some notion of astrology?’251‘Yes, a little,’ replied Mikhaël, who had been known in
his own country as one of the foremost experts on thesubject.
The engineer then mentioned the titles of several
books and advised him to study this fascinating science which would open undreamed of avenues forhim. Not in the least perturbed, Mikhaël thanked him
for the information and made a note of the books he
had recommended. One evening a few months later,
intrigued by talk of Brother Mikhaël’s brilliant interpretations of the major astrological themes, the engineer returned to hear him talk and was astounded by
the extent of his knowledge and the natural authority
with which he spoke. From that moment on, his attitude changed completely. In a long letter of apology heexpressed shame at the arrogance of his behavior andsigned it, ‘Your worthless disciple’.
With his profound understanding of spiritual astrology, Mikhaël was able to speak of the great laws thatsustain the universe in ways that enhanced his audience’s understanding of the world around them. Several well-known astrologers attended his talks regularly, drawing from them a wealth of new and vivifying
ideas. In general, however, astrology was not a frequent topic of his talks; he referred to it only occasionally in order to illustrate or emphasize a point of theteaching.
During all this time, Stella, who never tired of listen-252

ing to him and observing his reactions, did her best to
fathom the secret of his behavior. Many years later, shewrote that his actions had often amazed her; his codeof conduct seemed so different from that of most people:
He was always natural, humble, unpretentious andsometimes seemingly ignorant, and this astonished mevery much. I still could not understand why he so consistently concealed every hint of his exceptional natureand true worth, of which I had received such a clear
indication from the very first moment we had met. […]On first meeting him, the thing that struck one above
all else was the intense light that radiated from him, alight that was imbued with tenderness and pure, impersonal love.1
In her desire to understand the wellsprings of his
action, she observed every detail: the harmony of his
gestures, so different from the abruptness of most people; the kindness that often cloaked his exceptional
inner strength; and the way he looked at each personwith an affection that made no demands on them.
Stella could find no discrepancy between his teaching
and his life.
***
Five months after Mikhaël’s arrival in France, his students asked him to address a wider public, assuring
him that his French was perfectly adequate for the253purpose. He finally agreed, and on the evening of January 29, 1938, gave his first public talk in the Luxembourg Hall, Place de la Sorbonne.
On the morning of the talk, Stella’s apartment waswithout water. Unable to get water from the washbasin in his room, Mikhaël tried the kitchen tap but
forgot to turn it off before going out. When Stella
returned from work that evening, she was horrified tofind her guest in the kitchen, mopping up the flood.
At the sight of her expression, Mikhaël could not help
laughing. For him, the significance of the incident was
perfectly clear: the water, symbol of fertility, abundance, and life, was a message from the invisible world.
With enthusiasm he explained:‘Don’t you see what a wonderful sign it is? It is an outpouring, a torrent of love! My talk this evening will bea success. The audience will be fully satisfied.’
In fact, the reality surpassed the portent. His talk, entitled ‘The Second Birth’, turned out to be the first in aseries of more than five thousand. That evening, hesurprised his listeners with the unexpected precision
and aptness of his French, and the eloquence of his
gestures contributed in no small part to his success.
From time to time, at a loss for a specific word, hedelighted them by asking them to supply it. Veryoften, after hearing their suggestions, he found theelusive word for himself, and the audience wascharmed by his informality.

254

This first talk was rich in themes central to his philosophy: the symbolism of fire and water, the subtler forms
of nourishment; the relationship between the twelve
signs of the zodiac and the four elements; the spiritual significance of a triangular prism; the symbolismof colors and their influence on human beings; and theneed to be born again.
To be born for the second time, he said, is to become aliving fountain of pure water which gives birth to a newand thriving civilization. The religion of such a one is
the true religion of divine love and wisdom. For him, theonly true temple of God is the universe, the sun is HighPriest in this temple and the stars are its votive lights. To
be born a second time is to open one’s secret, innermost
channels so that they may be filled with love and wisdom. It is to be a perfect prism, radiating the seven beneficial forces throughout one’s own being and projecting
them out for the benefit of all around him.2
Throughout his life, Mikhaël spoke of light as the‘celestial water’ that flows from the world above. His
great desire was to foster the upsurge of life by ensuring the constant flow of this ‘water.’ His first public
talk, then, was the initial outpouring of the fountainhead from which his mission flowed. At the same time,it inaugurated a ten-year period during which hewould lay the foundations in France of Peter Deunov’s
teaching and prepare to bring it to fruition.
After the success of this first experience, he continued255to give weekly talks in a rented hall. Before long, hisaudience grew in numbers until they overflowed onto
the podium, and a more spacious meeting place had
to be found. The new assembly room quickly became
inadequate as well, and people were often had to standoutside and listen as best they could.
The style Mikhaël adopted for his talks was similar
to that of Peter Deunov and corresponded well withhis own temperament. Rather than composing a discourse in advance, he prepared himself by spending
some time in meditation. On entering the hall, hegreeted his audience, his right hand raised in the salutation that had become customary in the Bulgarianbrotherhood. The gesture had real significance forhim. He saw it as an instrument, a means by whichto communicate energy, colors, and life-giving vibrations. He often said: ‘When you salute each other,
the gesture should be a true communion; it should bepowerful, harmonious, and alive.’
After the salutation, he remained in silence for a few
moments, sensing the state of mind of his audience.
And when he spoke, whatever his theme, he always
seemed to address the problems of each one and tooffer the lucid, practical solutions they needed. A
period of meditation invariably followed his talk, but
the pattern of the gatherings never became routine;
they were full of life, exuberance and surprise, forBrother Mikhaël maintained that routine ‘leads tosluggishness and death’.

256

To relax his audience or stimulate their attention, hefrequently interspersed his talks with jokes and anecdotes, and his laughter was contagious. Like the legendary story-tellers of the Orient, he peppered his discourse with tales that were both amusing and instructive. Particularly fond of Turkish folk-tales about Mullah Nashrudin learned in childhood, he was equally athome with the stories of Alexander Dumas, the Fablesof La Fontaine, or the Tales of a Thousand and One
Nights. These stories were often a way of summing up
an aspect of his teaching, but they also served to easetensions he himself had created in his audience. He
liked to say that laughter keeps the brain flexible, andthat the brotherhood was a school for laughter. His
own laugh was so infectious that when he started it
was impossible not to join in.
Mikhaël found constant inspiration in the everyday
events of life. For him, they were a reflection of invisible realities, and he used them as examples to illustrate a point of his teaching. One day, some friends
took him to Luna Park, in which one of the attractions
was the Rotor, or ‘butter dish’. This was a large circular
platform, and as it spun faster and faster, those standing near the outside edge lost their balance and werethrown to the ground, while those who stood close
to the central axis remained unaffected. This carnival
ride fascinated Mikhaël, and he often referred to the‘butter dish’ when speaking of the need to maintaina close bond with God, the center of all things: ‘If we
do not want to be defeated and thrown off balance by257

life’s difficulties, we must stay close to God, in spite of
epidemics, suffering and wars.’
His ability to recognize vivifying symbols in nature, inmusic or sports, in the inventions of human beings orin their professions gave Mikhaël a very practical andconcrete point of view in regard to the exigencies ofthe spirit. On one occasion he treated his audience toa special talk after André Jahan had taken him for aride on his motorcycle. Jahan—whom Mikhaël called‘Brother Jean’—had been a champion automobile
racer. He had placed himself and his professional skills
at Mikhaël’s service ever since his first public lecture
and was always ready to drive him wherever he needed
to go. That day his motorcycle had refused to start,
and when Jean diagnosed a dirty spark-plug, Mikhaël
immediately offered to clean it, but when it was put
back in place, the engine still failed to start. After Jean
had inspected it again he said, with a hint of reproach:‘Brother Mikhaël, in your zeal you have cleaned it too
thoroughly. The gap between the electrodes is too
great. The current cannot pass.’
To Jean’s surprise, Mikhaël exclaimed delightedly:‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’With the vivacity to which his audience was accustomed, Mikhaël recounted the incident and explained
why he had been so delighted:
It gave me such a good example that I could use to258

explain things to you. You must always remember that
if the electrodes of a spark plug are too far apart orif they are dirty, it will not work. It only takes a tiny
detail to prevent an instrument from functioning. The
same is true in the life of a disciple. We too have electrodes within us, and if they are too far apart they will
not work. […] Every thought, every feeling, everything
we eat, every breath we take, every one of our organs
must be in contact with our life as a whole. When thisis the case our life will become magnificent, because all
our instruments will function properly and enable us to
manifest as we are meant to.3
In contrast to so many fashionable speakers, Mikhaël
always spoke simply, using ordinary, everyday expressions, illuminating the meaning of life in a unique way,
and suggesting practical methods of selftransformation that anyone might use. His unpretentious imagery evoked an immediate response in manyof his listeners, but the very ordinariness of the language he used in speaking about elevated subjects
often disconcerted those who were more intellectuallysophisticated. A few were offended when he remarked
that ‘even a baby could understand’ what he was saying, but if they persevered they gradually discovered
the depth and complexity of the ideas that lay behind
his words.
Once his talk was over, so many people crowded
around him that it was sometimes an hour before hecould reach the car waiting to take him home. But even259

after a long and tiring evening, he never tried to avoid
them: on the contrary, he answered all their questions
patiently.
From the beginning, many of the Bulgarian disciples
of Peter Deunov who were living in Paris attended
these evening gatherings regularly. Most of them,
however, remained reserved in their attitude toward
Mikhaël. In his homeland, he had never been in the
public eye or lectured on the teaching like so manyothers. When the news reached Bulgaria that he wasgiving public talks in Paris, it was the signal for aperiod of great difficulty, not only for him, but also
for the Bulgarian brotherhood, for many members
believed that he had gone to France and proclaimed
himself Peter Deunov’s representative on his own initiative. Even when a number of Bulgarians returned
from Paris and spoke of his work with admiration, theskepticism remained.
During this contentious period, Peter Deunov’s mainconcern seems to have been to keep the peace among
his disciples. In 1937 he had given Mikhaël a letter
which clearly stated his mission in Paris. Later, in private conversations with other disciples, he spoke
approvingly of the spiritual work Mikhaël was doingin France. Never once, however, did he announce publicly that it was he who had commissioned that work.
It was hardly surprising, therefore, that some of his
disciples concluded that their Master disapproved of
Mikhaël’s activity and that it was only out of charity260

that he remained silent. In lieu of any public endorsement, however, Peter Deunov did take the precautionof writing to Mikhaël personally to reiterate his
approval: ‘Work as God directs you. I am pleased withwhat you are doing. Do as you think best.’ And in
October 1938, his secretary, Brother Boëv, wrote:
You can be sure that what you are doing has the Master’s complete approval. Pay no attention to those whoare being negative. All those I talk to here hold you ingreat affection.
Mikhaël was well aware of the criticisms aimed at him.
One day he assured his audience that he was simply
passing on what he had received in Bulgaria from Peter
Deunov and that he always communed mentally withhim before speaking. Moreover, he regularly began histalks by quoting a text by Peter Deunov, which he thenelaborated upon at length. His deep love for Peter
Deunov was evident, and for years he hoped to bring
him to Paris to instruct the French brotherhood himself.
Meanwhile, presenting himself as ‘a disciple of noimportance’, he continued to strive for the virtue of
humility. Humility, he used to say, is a point of view,
a way of looking at things: if we compare ourselveswith an ant, we are bound to think that we are very
big and grand, but if we compare ourselves with a star,
an archangel, or a divinity, we become conscious of
our smallness. Humility, in his view, is the one attitude261

that can stimulate us to achieve greater heights, for, ‘if
we think we have reached the top, we have no incentive to climb higher. There is nowhere to go but down’.
As always, Mikhaël was not afraid of appearing ignorant, and frequently this led people to underestimate
his knowledge or intelligence. The long-term consequence of this habitual self-depreciation was that,when the time came for him to broaden the scope ofPeter Deunov’s teaching, many members of the brotherhood reproached him for it. Even in those early days,
however, it was evident to many that he possessed avast store of knowledge drawn from the Akasha Chronica, as well as an exceptional gift for communicatingthat knowledge. He could not behave as though thelight that flooded his being did not exist, and yet for
years he continued to extol the reputation of Peter
Deunov and to minimize his own. He accepted criticism as an inevitable part of his mission and neverallowed it to hinder his work.
His conviction that a Master is a model to be imitatedmade him try to think and feel as the Master headmired so greatly. His own ideas were too original,
however, and his own perceptions too keen to allow
him to model himself indefinitely on the spirit of any
one individual, even a Master. His intelligence was toovast to be contained, limited and subject to concepts
which belonged partially to one particular period andwhich inevitably bore the mark of one particular mind.

262

Instinctively, through meditation and contemplation,
he drew upon the true source of all knowledge.
***
In the spring following his first public talk, Mikhaël
encouraged his students to attend the sunrise as often
as possible in order to draw strength and inspirationfrom the light, as was the custom among the disciplesof Pythagoras and other high initiates of Antiquity.
When some complained that they were too tired to getup early, he replied that the apparent fatigue caused bygetting up early would counteract their chronic stateof exhaustion:
When you are present as the sun rises, its rays dissolve
the harmful fluidic layers that surround you, and theseeds that God has planted in your soul begin to germinate.4
Several of his followers soon vouched for the fact thatthe regular practice of attending the sunrise left themfeeling stronger and more energetic; their complexion
cleared, and they became more emotionally stable.
Mikhaël often assured them that the day would comewhen everyone attended the sunrise and lived longer
and healthier lives as a result.
On Sundays, he liked to leave the city with those whoformed the core of the French brotherhood and spend
the day in the forest, where he continued to instructthem in initiatic science and introduced them to the263spiritual and physical exercises practiced in the Bulgarian brotherhood. In the peaceful setting of a natural clearing among the great trees, Mikhaël was in hiselement. In May 1939, inviting his regular students toaccompany him to the forest of St-Nom-la-Bretèche
for further practice in the gymnastic exercises taught
by Peter Deunov, he told them that these exercises
could greatly benefit their physical and psychic healthas well as their will, their thoughts, and their feelings.
The rhythm with which they were carried out was fundamental: ‘It is important to be attuned to the rhythmof cosmic forces and to carry out each movement
slowly and with concentration.’On the appointed day more than a hundred people
turned up. Once they were assembled in the clearing,
he explained how these seven daily exercises could
nourish, reinforce and harmonize certain centers of
the nervous system. Then, while talking about theirsymbolism, he demonstrated each movement. While
the participants were doing their best to follow his
gestures, dark storm clouds gathered overhead, but
Mikhaël, seeing their disappointment, reassured themwith a smile:‘Don’t worry. The clouds will disappear as soon as we
begin to sing.’
And indeed, as the first notes of their song rang out,
the sky began to clear dramatically, as though a great
wind had suddenly risen high above their heads.

264After a picnic lunch, Mikhaël spoke about the beautyof the forest and explained how to tap the forces ofnature and draw energy from the big trees or from running water. For him the link between the two worldsof spirit and matter was an ever-present reality anda potent means of realization in the physical world.
The universe is an immense living organism whose
elements, from the smallest atom through the angelichierarchies to the supernal God, are linked. The cyclesof nature were a means of strengthening his ties withthe divine world. He used the phases of the moon or
the energies of fire, wind, streams and waterfalls asa means of self-transformation. He used to say, forinstance, ‘As this water washes and purifies all in its
path, so may I be made pure.’
While he was speaking that day, his gaze followed the
movements of a salamander as it crossed the space
between himself and the circle of participants andcame straight to where he was sitting. When hestretched out his hand, it remained perfectly still as
though waiting for him to pick it up, and then sat
in his palm, watching him with its beady little eyes.
Mikhaël looked at it pensively but without comment.
The incident was an eloquent illustration of what hehad just explained about the harmony and trust that is
possible between the different species.
In addition to the gymnastic exercises, Mikhaël introduced his students to the Paneurythmy, the symbolic
circle dance created by Peter Deunov. He also taught

265basic breathing exercises, recommending that they bepracticed regularly every morning after the sunrise.
Saying that the ‘essence of air’—that which Hindus
call prana—is life itself, he explained that deep, conscious breathing improves the circulation thus causing
the organs of the body to function better: the brain
can think more clearly and the heart and stomach canwork more efficiently. After explaining the traditional
pattern of rhythmic breathing—inhaling to the countof four, holding one’s breath to the count of sixteen,
and exhaling to the count of eight—he insisted thatbeginners should be very careful about trying to adopt
a slower rhythm. They should do so only very gradually.
By breathing you can extract and distil an essence fromthe air—call it prana, or life, or whatever you please.
When you inhale consciously through your nostrils thevarious ‘factories’ in your body work more efficiently to
extract that essence from the air. If you breathe unconsciously they can extract no more than a thousandthpart of that essence, and that is not enough for either
your physical or your psychic life. It is by conscious
breathing that you can get your brain to think moreclearly, your heart to beat and to feel correctly, andyour stomach to digest properly.5
While insisting on the beneficial effects of these exercises, however, he was always careful to warn against
certain dangerous methods reputed to promote rapid266

psychic development. In the years that followed, heoften explained that the simplest breathing exercises
were the most effective, for they involved no risk andwere beneficial to both physical and psychic health.
***The brotherhood began to attract more members
throughout France following a talk Brother Mikhaël
gave in Lyon in June, 1938. The subject of that talk was‘spiritual galvanoplasty’, an original concept to which
he attached great importance.
Using the example of the technique of electroplating,by which an object is coated with gold or other precious metal, he explained how a pregnant woman had
the power to influence the child in her womb:
If a woman knows the laws of gold-plating and decides
to apply them in bringing her child into the world, then,when a seed is implanted in her womb (cathode), shewill put a sheet of gold into her mind (anode), the goldof pure, lofty thoughts. The current is switched on andthe blood flowing through her body conveys the precious
metal to the seed. The child grows, clothed in gold andturns out to be robust, healthy and beautiful both inphysique and in character, and capable of overcoming
all difficulties and diseases, all evil influences. Mothers
have the potential ability to work miracles for theworld: it is they who possess the key to the forces of creation. Within fifty years women could transform the267

whole of humanity if they applied the methods of spiritual galvanoplasty.6
Throughout his life, Mikhaël often spoke of a dream
he cherished. This was an unusual scheme which
would enable pregnant women to benefit from ideal
conditions during the period of gestation. The only
problem was, as he said, that this scheme required agovernment with the wisdom to provide accommodation for expectant mothers in beautifully landscaped
estates, with spacious parks, trees, flowers and fountains. There, the mothers-to-be would live surroundedby music and color, and be taught how to bring exceptional children into the world.
Peter Deunov had once told Mikhaël that he was‘especially destined to give spiritual assistance towomen’, and this was one of his principal concerns,
but he did not restrict the notion of galvanoplasty to
the realm of physical gestation alone. Transposing it
onto the spiritual plane, he explained how all humanbeings can put golden thoughts in their minds and adivine image in their hearts and be constantly connected to the great central powerhouse from which
the current of life flows. ’Every human being,’ heinsisted, ‘possesses extraordinary innate powers ofself-perfection, and meditation is one of the mosteffective means of achieving self-mastery and inner
harmony.’
Within a year after the talk in Lyons, the name of268

Brother Mikhaël was becoming well known in Paris.
His ideas were discussed wherever there was an interest in spirituality, and people were eager to meet him
and hear him, for his words spoke to the highest aspirations of the human soul. One of those who had
often been present expressed the feelings of many:
As we listened to him, we discovered a new life. We
felt the desire to change our whole outlook on life byconsciously entertaining thoughts of love and kindness,
and at the same time to improve our health and evento transform our features. We began to realize that we
had the power to acquire all the beauty, all the wealthof the spiritual life.
In France at this time, it was fashionable to take aninterest in the occult sciences, hypnotism and extrasensory phenomena. Spiritual groups of every variety
abounded in Paris, and desiring to understand betterthe milieu in which he was called to work, Mikhaël
attended some of their meetings. He saw that manyof the speakers, whether astrologers, cabbalists oralchemists, were content to dazzle their audience witha show of sublime ideas but failed to speak about how
to put them into practice. Scanning their faces, helooked in vain for a subtle emanation of light, for somehint of radiance, but in spite of their vast erudition, hefound no light; some, indeed, seemed to emanate darkness.
As for his own audience, he was well aware that they269

were as heterogeneous a group as any in Paris. There
was a small nucleus of those who considered themselves members of the budding fraternity and whocalled each other ‘brother’ and ‘sister’. But a muchgreater number drifted from one spiritual group toanother in search of knowledge, with no intention ofcommitting themselves to anything. At one point,
more than forty spiritual movements were represented
among the audience at Brother Mikhaël’s talks. Many
who were interested only in the occult arts or in a particular discipline such as hypnotism and who were notready to alter their way of life soon stopped attending the meetings when they realized that his teachingrequired certain hard choices, certain sacrifices.
Finally, among his audience were several women forwhom the attraction was not so much the spiritualityof Mikhaël as his radiant personality.
Stella, who was in a position to observe all this, saw
that Brother Mikhaël gave the same love and consideration to all, without regard for age, intelligence orsocial rank. But she could not know that within thisgroup lay the seeds of danger for him.
As his reputation grew, he was besieged by invitations
to talk, and in the hope of spreading the teaching heoften accepted. In this way he found himself in contact with an ever more varied public, but although heattended their receptions he was not taken in by theirmodes and manners. More than once, when his hosts
tried to use him to impress their friends, he managed

270

to thwart their plans in such a way as to open theirminds to a higher view of life. His audience did notalways understand his message, but it never occurred
to him to protect his personal reputation. If the truth
had to be spoken, he was not deterred by the possibility that it might offend someone. He knew in advancethat he would be criticized, even hated, and more thanonce he suffered the consequences of his words.
One evening in a gathering of occultists and writers,a well-known author buttonholed him and, almost
incoherent with fury, began to abuse him. A hush fellon the gathering, and Mikhaël, listening in stunnedsilence, wondered what he could possibly have said ordone to merit such venom. All of a sudden he understood: the man had attended one of his talks accompanied by his mistress. The subject that evening had
been death and immortality, and he had spoken of
the true nature of love, the love that vivifies rather
than exploiting the loved one. After his talk the young
woman had asked several questions about love, andhaving understood the wrong her lover was doing her
by obliging her to practice sexual magic with him, she
had decided to leave him. Faced with the wrath of his
adversary, Mikhaël responded with humor:‘Believe me, sir, I had no idea that that young lady
belonged to you and that you had such rights over her.
If I unintentionally freed her from your designs, how
can you blame me? The sun has the right to shine, and271

those who have no hats are in danger of sunstroke.
You should have worn a hat!’
At this, everyone laughed and the incident was closed,
but for years the writer bore a grudge against Brother
Mikhaël. And then one day he went to see him andtold him that life had taught him a lesson, and that inspite of himself he had come to regret the harm he haddone to several women.7
From time to time, people approached Mikhaël andoffered to help him in various ways. A young American diplomat, for instance, who had been struck by his
spiritual influence, told him that if he agreed to live in
the United States she would put her immense wealthat his disposal and do all she could to make his teaching known in her country. Although Mikhaël sensed
that to accept her proposal would be to put himself
under an obligation to her, the prospect seemed tooffer such advantages that he felt he could not decidewithout first consulting Peter Deunov. The negative
reply he received confirmed his own feeling and hewent quietly on with the work he had already begun,
devoting himself to instructing those who gathered tohear him speak.
At about this time, he began to be confronted with difficulties similar to those experienced by Peter Deunovin Bulgaria when the religious authorities opposed his
work and exiled him from Sofia. With the intentionof destroying Brother Mikhaël’s reputation, some272

Church leaders in France launched a campaign ofslander against him. It seems that they feared that theirown authority would be undermined and were distrustful of any spiritual activity not within their jurisdiction. Also, these free public meetings at which a
foreigner talked about such things as reincarnation or
man’s subtle bodies must certainly be considered suspect…
It was true that Brother Mikhaël had come to France
for reasons that were entirely altruistic: everything he
did was done without payment. Within the first year,
after he had been giving his weekly talks for eightmonths, he took an unequivocal stand in this respect:speaking to a group of regular listeners, he declaredthat he would always work without payment, as Peter
Deunov had always done. ‘Above all,’ he added, ‘God
gives freely and we should do the same.’
His attitude in this regard was always firm and unambiguous. Throughout his life he never accepted payment for his talks. There were people around him, ofcourse, who contributed voluntarily and anonymously
to his expenses, but Mikhaël was always content withvery little. Later, when he received offers of property—houses or land—he invariably refused, for his
conduct was dictated by his knowledge of what hetermed ‘natural law’. He knew that by accepting a giftfrom someone he would be binding himself to that
person in the future, and this he could not do; he owed
it to himself and to his mission to remain free of all273

such ties. It was only forty years later that his circumstances would be eased somewhat, thanks to royalties
received for his published talks.
As the months went by he continued to speak of theglorious future that awaited those who persevered intheir striving for perfection. He often used to tell themthat the highest ideal of every human being was toresemble God, even though that seemed utterly
impossible. ‘That is what is so wonderful!’ heexclaimed, and he gave them a prayer which he hadreceived from Peter Deunov and which he called theformula of the high ideal:
To have a heart as pure as crystal, a mind as luminous
as the sun, a soul as vast as the universe, a spirit as
powerful as God and one with God.
He knew, of course, that most people needed time
before they could assimilate the truths he put before
them. Sometimes, he realized, they were frightenedwhen he talked of purity and the beauty of a life given
to the pursuit of perfection. As in his youth, hethought that it would be enough to show them where
truth and splendor lay, but he was soon disillusioned:
some of those whom he had encouraged andinstructed found that he asked too much of them.
Mikhaël never tried to pressure people or use his clairvoyance or other psychic gifts to attract or impress.
When asked if he was clairvoyant, he denied it, saying

27
2744

that at best he could ‘sometimes feel things a little’.
He maintained with complete sincerity that he did notpossess the gift of seeing prosaic, everyday things. In
his view, the only kind of clairvoyance worth having
was that which came as an expansion of consciousness, an awareness ‘of things that one has never before
noticed, things that one has been too fast asleep or too
blind to see’. And the best way to obtain this discernment was to follow the path of purity and love of God.
He never encouraged people to consult clairvoyants,
for the good reason that to do so was not the best way
to transform themselves. He often cautioned against
experimenting with the occult, for he had seen too
many people who had become psychologically unbalanced by such experimentation. ‘As far as I am concerned,’ he sometimes said, ‘I would like to be clairvoyant, but only so that I might see angels.’ Involuntarily,
however, he often gave proof of his capacity for seeing things on a very elevated plane. Over the years it
became clear that he knew the past or the future ofthose close to him as well as the future prospects ofsociety and the world.
His frequent out-of-body experiences had taught him
that Plato’s ‘world of ideas’ was a reality, a realm that
contained all truth, all the best, purest, and most noble
thoughts. He asserted that it was possible for all theseideas, each in its own way and according to its own
nature, to materialize on the physical plane as color,
form, movement, scent, or sound. Many clairvoyants

275who consulted him realized that he could speak ofthese materializations because he could see them andhear their music. They themselves often had to ask
him to explain the meaning of phenomena they saw
but did not understand.
On the other hand, people often thanked him for having helped them: ‘I was in great difficulty, and you
helped me to extricate myself.’ Or, ‘I was very ill andyou healed me.’ When this happened, Mikhaël simply
smiled and said that he had had nothing to do with it;that he had many friends in the invisible world whosometimes assumed his form and features and did
things in his name: ‘These spirits,’ he added, ‘do many
good deeds on earth, and they are always glad to let
someone else take the credit for them. It is they whoshould be thanked.’
Physical illness, as he well knew, is often caused by
obstructions on a subtler plane, and it was to thoseplanes that he directed his mental work. One day hewent to see a man who was paralyzed and who had
already consulted the most eminent specialists without success. After sitting by his bed for a long time,
listening to him and observing his reactions, Mikhaël
told him that he could be cured if he wanted it
enough. ‘If you believe with all your might, you will bewalking in a month or two.’
When he prescribed certain breathing exercises, meditations and prayers, the sick man’s family listened276with skepticism, but the invalid followed Brother
Mikhaël’s unusual instructions to the letter. Gradually
the paralysis was defeated and he was able to walkagain. One day, referring to the case of this man—who
was known to all present—Mikhaël insisted on theimportance of guarding against the accumulation of
poisons in one’s system, of immersing oneself in thetorrent of heavenly life through prayer, meditationand purification.
There are certain extremely poisonous substances
which coat the walls of the body’s canals with a fluidthat prevents them from functioning correctly. These
poisons are worry, anxiety, discontent, jealousy andresentment. […] Also, it is essential that our nerve fluids
circulate freely, and for that we need light… The firstthing to do is to improve and cleanse the canalizationsof our body so that all our cells may be washed andnourished both by our thoughts and by our nerve fluids.
You must shine light, therefore, into all the darkplaces.8
When Mikhaël defined thought, he knew what he wastalking about. For him thought—which is so tremendously potent when it is concentrated—was a natural
instrument that he had always used in the service ofgood. One day he had occasion to use it like a flashof lightning to prevent a cyclist from crashing into achild. Quite unaware of danger, the young boy wasriding his scooter directly in the path of the man277speeding down the hill toward him. Mikhaël described
the incident the next day:I stopped and watched over the child, concentrating
my mind to stop him moving to one side just as thecyclist went by, and for no apparent reason he suddenly
stopped still. The cyclist was furious. He realized that
he too had been in danger. I decided to talk to theboy who was about seven: ‘Listen to me. You have justbeen saved from great danger. You were about to crossthe road just when that cyclist was coming straight atyou. You didn’t even look to see if it was safe to doso. You must look, otherwise you will be killed.’ He listened gravely, and I added: ‘Can you say thank you to
God for protecting you? Go, now, and be careful.’ As
I walked on I could see him standing there thinking. I
think he had understood me, for I had spoken gently butvery seriously. I wish that you would all learn to pause
in life and look round, to left and right, in front andbehind.’9

Notes
1.

Svezda, Vie et enseignement du Maître Omraam Mikhaël
Aïvanhov en France, Éditions Prosveta, p. 35f.

2.

.‘The Second Birth’, in The Second Birth: Love, Wisdom,
Truth.

3.

April 3, 1943.

278

4.

April 24, 1945.

5.

May 15, 1941.

6.

‘Spiritual Galvanoplasty’, in Spiritual Alchemy.

7.

See his account of this incident: ‘The sun is the source oflove’, in Love and Sexuality II.

8.

May 17, 1941.

9.

April 14, 1945.

279

11

#

An Attempt at a
FraternalCommunity
Brother Mikhaël talked with such infectious love
about Master Peter Deunov, about life in the Bulgarianbrotherhood and the marvelous ambience of theircamps by the Seven Lakes of Rila, that several of his
students planned a visit to Bulgaria in the summerof 1939. He was tempted to accompany them, for the
obligation to renew his residential permit every week
was a severe constraint, and he thought he might moreeasily obtain a visa from his own country. But Peter
Deunov, consulted by letter, advised him not to leave
France, warning that he might never be allowed to goback, and twenty-five people left for Bulgaria withouthim.
Jean, his wife Raymonde, and Stella did not accompany them. Instead they invited Brother Mikhaël tojoin them on a trip to Italy. The invitation was tempting and certainly less risky than a return to Bulgaria,
but even a brief absence from France involved complications, for Mikhaël needed the authorization of several different departments in order to be sure he would
be allowed back into the country. After several
attempts, however, the necessary permissions were
granted and he set out with his three companions.
They visited the length and breadth of Italy, campingout each evening wherever they found themselves.
Long before they had originally planned to go home,
however, Mikhaël announced that they would haveto cut short their vacation and return to France as
quickly as possible, for hostilities would soon breakout. Although his companions had seen no sign ofimminent danger, they knew better than to discount
his warning. Driving as fast as possible, they crossed
into France just before the frontier closed on September 3, the very day France and England declared war
on Germany. Those who had spent three weeks in themountains of Bulgaria had returned only three days
before.
World War II had begun. From then on, life was very
different for the people of France, and when the Ger-281

man army occupied Paris a few months later, manymembers of the brotherhood moved to the country.
During the year 1940, Mikhaël gave only a few talks;
he could do little more than keep in touch with themany small groups of his regular listeners who met to
meditate together. It was only in the second year of the
Occupation that a few fraternal activities began again
as discreetly as possible. Strict precautions were necessary, for public gatherings were forbidden and meetings had to be held in the members’ private homes.
Mikhaël’s situation was particularly precarious, formost foreigners were being sent back to their homelands. To avoid being expelled from the country, he
had to be careful to renew his papers well in advance.
In 1942, the constraints of the Occupation became
more and more burdensome. Food supplies were running low and meals were reduced to the barest essentials. Severe regulations restricted the movements ofFrench citizens, and it became dangerous to gather
even in small groups. In view of this, some of the members of the brotherhood agreed to rent a house of theirown in which they could live together without drawing undue attention to themselves.
A suitable villa was found in Sèvres, and several people moved in with Brother Mikhaël. A loft with large
windows was converted into a meeting room in which
they could meditate at sunrise without being dis-282

turbed. Mikhaël chose a small room for himself, inwhich he arranged his few belongings with his customary attention to detail. He continued to take careof his own needs and, as Stella Bellemin wrote later:
He never allowed himself to be served in any way, eventhough the group could well have relieved him of certain chores. He made his own bed and tidied andcleaned his room. He also took great care of his own
clothes.1
His visitors were often surprised to find, instead of theascetic cell they had expected, a bright room decorated
in beautiful colors and enlivened by several crystals
that caught the light of the sun. As they were often
tired when they arrived after the journey on thecrowded Métro, Brother Mikhaël urged them to sit
and relax for a few minutes in silence. Some were ill atease to rest in his presence, but afterwards they weregrateful to him for his exquisite sense of hospitality,
more concerned with their deep needs than with conventional etiquette. The personal attention he gave
to each guest and the frankness and sensitivity withwhich he responded to them soon established anauthentic spiritual exchange. At the time, one of thebrothers wrote:Within a few minutes of meeting him, I was weighedup, illuminated, encouraged and invigorated to thedepths of my being. I was completely transparent tohim… and when, in a few words and with the utmost

283

tact, he sketched a portrait of my character, he gave me
exactly the nourishment and the medicine I needed.2
From that year on, Mikhaël gave a short talk for the
residents almost every day after the sunrise, in addition to his regular weekly talks in the evening. One of
his favorite themes was that of brotherhood. He used
to paint a glowing picture of a life of sharing and harmony in which all would open themselves to love. A
fraternal center, he said, should be a veritable focal
point of light.
When he talked of brotherhood, he was not referring
principally to a gathering of human beings on earth,but rather to the great family of those of all eras whoseek the light, who have embraced a philosophy oflove and justice, and who belong, consciously or not,to one great universal family. As time went on he often
talked about the great Brotherhood of white light thatexists on a higher plane:
The power of the Great White Brotherhood extends
throughout the entire planetary system, and evenbeyond. It must not be confused with the Brotherhoodon earth which consists of a handful of men andwomen who are for the most part neither wise nor
enlightened. The true Universal White Brotherhood is
made up of all the most evolved beings in existence.
The Brotherhood on earth is a reflection, a ‘branch
office’ if you will, whose purpose is to carry out the plansof the Brothers above while benefiting from their light284

and their help. It must become, more and more, a faithful reflection of the one above.3
In Mikhaël’s eyes, the name of his brotherhood—Universal White Brotherhood—was a marvelous reminder of a higher reality that could be actualized by human beings on earth. The name—in which
the word ‘white’ had no racial connotation—inspired
him because it evoked the energy of the white lightthat illuminates the whole of creation.
His enthusiastic temperament led him to make allkinds of plans for the future. Not all of them materialized, but he was an indefatigable sower of ideas andimpossible dreams which stimulated and invigorated
others. Already during his second year in France, hetalked of his dream of finding a piece of land where all
those who wanted to live together in a fraternal spirit
could have a small house of their own.
His idea of a true brotherhood respected the differences between people; he did not encourage them tolive permanently together in one house. The community he envisaged was more in the nature of a village inwhich all the members would have their own house orapartment: a collective ideal in which all would enjoy
the beauty of music, the arts, and science. There would
be a place for dancing the Paneurythmy, a library andan educational institute; there would be concerts,
dancing, films, and studios for artists and craftsmen.
There would be a university in which comparative285

astrological research would be carried on in relation todifferent aspects of human life such as the phenomenon of precocious talent, health, healing, chemistry,
crystals and their influence, plants and their relationship with celestial bodies, childbirth and so on. The
role of spiritual galvanoplasty, the means by which amother can form her child during gestation, was also
one of his most frequent themes.
He sometimes spoke of a special plan for a village laidout in concentric circles, with streets forming the radii
linking the circles, and between the houses and thestreet, footpaths lined with trees and shrubs to safeguard the privacy of the residents. With infectious
enthusiasm he talked of the beauty of a spiritual family
in which the members came together at certain timesof the day, but in which the individuals were free togo about their own business, to stay or leave as they
wished.
Never, either then or later, did he ask them to pool
their financial resources; never did he attempt to control their private lives. He used to say, rather, that in
the ideal family no one lays down the law, because
where love reigns all is harmony. Over the years heoften affirmed his faith in the coming of the kingdomof God on earth, which would be a world of love, joy
and song, ‘a world in which all human beings loved
and respected each other, in which none would needto molest others in order to satisfy their own cravings’.

286During the war, he had an inspiring experience whichsuggested an image of a truly fraternal world. Returning home late one evening, he missed the last train.
The ticket offices were closed; everyone was at homebehind closed and bolted shutters, and it was growing
colder. Not knowing what else to do, he sat down on abench and began to pray.
After a few minutes he heard the rhythmic tread ofa German patrol, and hoping that he would not be
arrested for being out after curfew, he stood up,
walked briskly toward them and explained his
predicament. To his surprise, they escorted him very
courteously to a mansion in which there were a number of officers, and gave him a bed for the night. Lyingin the dark, unable to sleep, he could hardly believe thestrange adventure that had led him to be offered hospitality by the enemy. The next morning he was invited
to breakfast with them. No one asked him what he wasdoing there, and when he was ready to leave, one ofthe officers walked with him to the station.
Speaking of this incident years later, he said:‘Just think. If all men and women lived in brotherhoodand love, you could move freely about the world and be
welcomed with open arms in every country as membersof the same family.’4
During this time of war he continued to say: ‘Peacemeans universal brotherhood. Peace will never be287

born of violence.’ In his view, the age of Aquarius
would be an era in which fraternal communities
thrived in the world, for Aquarius is synonymous with
universality. But in order to adapt themselves andrespond to the high frequency vibrations of Aquarius,human beings will have to perfect and refine theirintuition, become more spiritual, be truly fraternal
and make room in their hearts for the love of others.
He often spoke of the mountains, of the wealth to befound in them, of the pure, luminous spirits that dwellat their summits and with whom it is possible to communicate. And in his desire to share with the membersof the brotherhood in France the joys he had knownat Rila, he spoke of spending several months in themountains with the whole group. He also spoke of his
wish to have a center for the Brotherhood near Paris.
At the same time, he was well aware that most people
were not ready to live in a spirit of true sharing. Even
the few who lived together in the villa, who had chosen an ideal of brotherhood and were fully supportiveof Brother Mikhaël’s ideas, found it difficult to adapt
to each other without conflict. In April 1942, he told
them frankly that they were not ready to put his ideas
into practice. He added:
Many communities have sprung up in the West, butmany have been unsuccessful because they were
founded on self-interest or commercial and financial288

gain, instead of being founded on love and wisdom.
They did not live in a spirit of humility.
It would be another five years before the members of
the brotherhood finally achieved something more substantial, for Mikhaël’s enthusiasm for a fraternal community was accompanied by a strong sense of reality:
they needed to prepare themselves for a long time inadvance. In the meantime, they continued to rent thisfirst villa until 1947 and did their best to live as a family,
taking all their meals in common.
Mikhaël had always continued to practice the yoga ofnutrition which he called Hani-yoga, from the Bulgarian word meaning ‘to eat’. For him, food was ‘a love
letter from God’. It is capable, he explained, of preserving life and restoring energies, for, in addition to
its physical properties, food contains precious ethericproperties, and it is important to be aware of this wheneating, as the mouth is a marvelous ‘laboratory’ which
can assimilate even the subtlest elements. For this reason he asked the residents to take their meals in silencein order to facilitate this conscious work, adding thatnoise, discussion and arguments during meals areharmful to health.
He was asking them, in fact, to practice a discipline, aform of yoga: learning to avoid any noise while eating
is an extraordinarily effective way of acquiring true
self-mastery. Explaining that the control of smallthings is conducive to inner harmony and a first step289

toward the control of larger things, he asked them torefrain from even the slightest sound with the dishesor the cutlery. Such attentiveness was so different
from their habitual behavior that he had great difficulty in obtaining it. He had to keep insisting on theneed for care and respect, reminding them repeatedlythat true silence is both uplifting and nourishing: ‘You
must learn to remain completely silent, without moving or even rustling a piece of paper.’As he explained, silence is harmony, and it is only
when we establish true silence within ourselves that
we can really hear music. All his life, Mikhaël stressed
the importance of musical vibrations and their subtle
influence. He often said that it was not so much theintellectual understanding of music that was important but the sensations it generated: ‘Do we understand the song of birds, or waterfalls, or the wind in
the branches? No, but we are captivated andenchanted by them.’
Music accompanied all the activities of the brotherhood, and Peter Deunov’s songs had a special place ofhonor. Brother Mikhaël insisted on the value of fourpart choral singing, because of the equilibrium created by a mixed choir, but more importantly, because
everything in nature sings with its own voice, and thefour voices represent the four elements.
Years later, speaking of those early days, one of themusicians in the group said:290

It was impossible to associate with him without feelingcalled upon to outdo oneself, to give the best of oneself.
Things that had been ordinary and routine becamea challenge, an occasion for reflection and selftransformation. Under his guidance, professionalmusicians were urged to put aside all their erudition,
all the conventions they had learned. If they allowed
themselves to be guided by him, it was not long before
they realized that they had begun to attain levels of perception previously undreamed of.
During the brotherhood meetings, the more sensitive
among them often perceived colors, perfume or music,
and sensed the presence of the angelic beings attracted
by the spiritual work. Such moments gave them adeeply beneficial sense of joy and tranquility, a keener
awareness of the reality of their spiritual family.
***
Despite the war, Mikhaël did not talk about politics
more than before. It was not his role to do so. He spoke
rather about the purity that is indispensable for all
great achievements, about the sun and the beneficial
influence of its rays, about the spiritual intuition of
the human heart, about music and about the birth ofa new humanity. In this period of daily atrocities, hespoke about the love that alone is capable of resolving
all conflicts and explained how to transform one’s own
nature so as to contribute to the transformation of theworld.

291

In his view, if war was ravaging Europe, it was because
war existed in the minds of men and women. People
were killing each other because they did not realizethat they were all members of the same divine family.
He spoke also of prayer, by which we are united withthe great current that rises ceaselessly from the heartsof all believers. For him, true prayer was vibrant andalive, free from routine:
If you always recite the same prayer you will put yourself to sleep and your prayer will be without effect. A
formula can be helpful to someone who really does notknow how to pray, but I much prefer a prayer that is
unrehearsed, one that flows spontaneously. When you
ask a favor of a friend, you speak simply and naturally,
without affectation. This is how you should pray. […]Picture in your mind a dazzling light in which everything pulsates and vibrates. Suns, angels, archangels,
all is bathed in the softest, most subtle light. It is this,
this light, that is the formless image of God.’5
Sensing the anguish that gripped most of members of
the brotherhood during the air raids, he gave themmethods to help them to control their emotions. On
several occasions he spoke about fear from the initiatic
point of view, saying that it was the greatest enemyof every human being. When, after one of his talks, awoman told him that she was always paralyzed by terror during the air raids, he told her what she could do
to overcome her instinctive reactions: ‘Breathe deeply292and unite yourself to God; in this way you will be incommand of your cells.’
He himself had always seen silence and immobility
as a means to self-mastery in moments of difficulty.
Speaking to the residents of the villa after the sunrise
on April 19, 1944, he related that he had often beenwalking home from the railway station when the antiaircraft guns began firing. In spite of the danger, he
always continued calmly walking. Then one day when
the thunder of the guns seemed louder than usual, hesuddenly felt impelled to hurry and began to run, hoping to avoid the shrapnel falling all around him. The
faster he ran, the more frightened he felt, until thoroughly annoyed with himself, he stopped and withgreat effort managed to compose himself. In conclusion, he noted:
That experience taught me that by running I had triggered the fear that lies dormant in every human being.
You must not think that those whom we call brave do
not feel fear. In the course of their evolution, all humanbeings have to experience fear, it is a ‘spirit’ which must
be defeated. The only solution is to grow in love of God
and work with the will and with purity and justice;in this way fear will disappear. The first thing to do isestablish this link with God. This has a calming effect.
One’s inner light and self-control grow stronger, and all
within becomes marvelously luminous. 6
Mikhaël did not hesitate to tell adolescents as well as293

adults to face up to fear. On one occasion he wasawoken by the telephone at three o’clock in the morning and heard the voice of a friend who sometimes
sheltered people wanted by the German police:‘Brother Mikhaël,’ she whispered; ‘the Gestapo hammered on my door a few minutes ago and woke me up.
When I opened the door they demanded that I give up
a young Jewish boy who is hiding here. His whole family has been arrested. I managed to persuade them towait outside, and I have told the boy not to try to flee.
I promised that you would get him out of this predicament. Can you do something?’
Mikhaël, deciding to call on the co-operation of theboy himself, sent him this message:‘Don’t hide. Keep calm and speak politely to the officers and you will come to no harm.’
To everyone’s amazement, the boy had the courage
to obey these terrifying instructions and was notarrested. The Gestapo questioned him and then told
him to go back to bed. One of the people who witnessed this scene said that it was as though they had
suddenly forgotten the purpose of their visit—or perhaps the boy’s confident attitude reassured them.
Mikhaël, for his part, offered no explanation. If people
were astonished by his methods, it was because they
did not realize that he was aware of certain factors thatwere imperceptible to others. Without regard for his294own safety, he continued to devote a great deal of timeand energy to giving spiritual help to all those who
appealed to him and who were often in great danger.
From time to time during these years he would accept
the invitation of friends to spend a week or two attheir country estate. Here, far from Paris he was free
to meditate in solitude and take the time to rebuild
his depleted strength. His hostess was an energetic
woman who had assumed the task of preparing themeals for her forty employees. Conditions were
extremely hard; money was scarce and she was beset
by constant problems. One day Mikhaël, who could
see that she was wearing herself out, told her:‘You’re burning the candle at both ends. You mustrest. I suggest that once the meal is ready you go andrest for a quarter of an hour. Then, when the workers
arrive, you can come back and serve them.’‘How can I do that? It’s impossible!’
The next day he came to the kitchen a quarter of anhour before mealtime, saying:‘You should go and rest now.’‘But the meal isn’t ready…’‘If you don’t do it, you’ll have a very difficult old age.’
Mikhaël said no more at the time. And later, when295she brought the subject up again, sometimes justifying
herself, sometimes blaming herself for her indecisiveness, he responded only with a smile. Eventually she
found a rhythm which enabled her to get all her work
done without exhausting herself. ‘Brother Mikhaël
taught me to respect myself,’ she later confided toStella.
It was at this time that Brother Mikhaël said:
It is important to know yourself and not do violence
to your physical system. You can avoid serious damage
if you submit to the rhythm of nature. At one time I
did not know this and I squandered enormous sums ofenergy trying to swim against the current of life. No.
You have to learn to wait. There are times when the tide
carries all before it and we have to stand back and wait
until the tide turns and allows us to move ahead safely.
We want to compete with the ocean, get the better of
it: we want to be the stronger. But it is impossible. For
my part I am highly influenced by these alternations. In
the last few days of the waning moon I am in an almost
permanent state of disassociation. I feel that I am nolonger on earth, that I am far away from you all. My
physical body is lying down, asleep, but on the invisible
plane I move about and am active. My friends tell methat at those times they feel me near to them. In periods
like this you should rest so that your cells may be purified and revivified.7
***

296

The summer of 1944 saw the last months of the war in
France. In Paris it was common knowledge that Hitler
had ordered the commanding officer to destroy thecity. Large areas could be blown up at any moment, for
it had been systematically mined, and immense quantities of explosives were stored in the tunnels of the
Métro. While gun battles erupted in the streets,
snipers fired from the rooftops, and the few pedestrians hurried about their business as fast as they could.
In August, during the chaotic week before Paris wasliberated, Mikhaël left Sèvres without explanation
and went into the city, where he stayed for several
days. At one point he found himself on Lafayette
Street, as bullets ricocheted off buildings. Several people were gunned down before his eyes, and he himself
was struck by flying fragments of stone.
In spite of the danger, he remained in Paris, continuing the special work that had brought him there, andabout which he never gave any explanation. In Sèvres,the members of the brotherhood could not help wondering what his strange behavior signified. Experience
had taught them that he never did anything of consequence without ‘an indication from above’. They
knew also that he continually united himself mentallywith all those who worked with the forces of light,
joining his prayer to theirs to create a spiritual forceof great potency. When Paris was liberated a few days
later, they understood that Brother Mikhaël had
thought it necessary to be at the center of the city
for this spiritual work. His prayer, in union with that297

of all believers throughout the world, had certainly
contributed to bringing about the end of hostilities.
Often in the course of his life he did such things which
seemed mysterious to those around him, but whichwere quite natural to him. In his single-minded desire
to bring the kingdom of God to earth, he worked
untiringly with light, acting, as it were, ‘as a prism
which receives the light of the sun and refracts it inlife-giving rays of color’.
Once the war was over, the rhythm of life gradually
returned to normal and in the brotherhood, as in society as a whole, people began to breathe freely again.
Toward the end of 1945 the French brotherhood wasofficially informed that Peter Deunov had died on
December 27, 1944. The news had not reached themearlier, owing to the difficult circumstances that had
interrupted postal services between certain countries
toward the end of hostilities. When he received thenews, Mikhaël thought back to the previous December, remembering his premonitory dreams about Peter
Deunov’s death, which at the time he had not wanted
to believe. Perhaps he had been unable to recognize
the truth of these messages because Peter Deunov was
too dear to him, for in spite of them, he had continued
to make plans to bring him to France. This separation
was a great personal distress for Mikhaël. It also
marked the beginning of the anticipated period oftribulation.

298

Notes1.

Svezda, op cit., p. 55.

2. A. Laumonier, preface to, ‘Michaël Ivanoff’ in Les sept lacsde Rila. Ed Izgrev, 1946. (Our translation)
3. ‘On Participating in the Work of the Universal WhiteBrotherhood’ in On the Art of Teaching.
4.

‘The Idea of a Pan-World’ in A New Dawn: Society and
Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science.

5.

June 7, 1942.

6.

April 19, 1944.

7.

June 7, 1942.

299

12

#

The
Conspiracy
Peter Deunov had not misread the signs when, in 1918,
he had told Mikhaël that the powers of darkness
would put obstacles in his path ‘in the twenty-sixth
year’. The prophecy came true toward the end of thewar, when dark forces began to conspire against
Mikhaël in an effort to destroy him and annihilate hiswork. In June 1944, recognizing the imminent danger,
he urged the members of the brotherhood to be attentive to what was going on around them, not to beswayed by the tactics of those who served the powersof darkness, and to ally themselves constantly with all
those who worked with ‘white forces’, the forces oflight. For Mikhaël, the four-year period from 1944 to1948 was fraught with attacks, temptations and ordeals
calculated to bring down even the greatest spiritualmaster, saint or prophet.
One such attack occurred in his native land after thedeath of Peter Deunov. In an attempt to counteract
any influence he might still have, some members of the
Bulgarian brotherhood held public meetings in various towns and villages in a deliberate attempt to discredit him. Even Boyan Boëv, Peter Deunov’s secretary, weakened by poor health, was drawn into thiscampaign and denied having written to Mikhaël about
his mission at the dictation of the Master. A little later,
however, he regretted this injustice, and admitted that
he had lied.
In spite of the slander, no one could erase the deep
impression Mikhaël had left on his friends, on themembers of the brotherhood, on his pupils and theirparents. In 1945 and 1946, he received many lettersfrom compatriots, assuring him of their esteem. Oneof these touched him very deeply: it was from his
friend Alexander, from whom he had not heard for along time. Alexander wrote that he had been arrestedby the Gestapo and had spent several months inprison. During those months he had undergone a profound transformation:
In that solitude, shut up between four walls, I was born
again… I experienced greater spiritual growth than in
all the rest of my life, and it was your words which were301the primary cause of this great and definitive transformation. Those words heard in the past still lingered likeghosts in my consciousness, and while I was in prison
these ghosts became more spiritual. They came back tome as living figures which represented my destiny andmy future. My dear, dear Brother Mikhaël, if this single transformation were your only achievement in life,
it would be enough.
But the letters which affected Mikhaël most profoundly were from those who had been with Peter
Deunov shortly before his death. The Master hadtalked to them about ‘the great white brotherhood onhigh’ which must be materialized on earth, and had
added: ‘It is Mikhaël who will realize it on earth.’ He
had also said: ‘Mikhaël will experience great ordeals,
but afterwards he will go further than I.’
Even in the French brotherhood Mikhaël came underattack: a few of those who had stayed with the Bulgarian brothers and sisters at Rila in 1939 reproached
him for giving his own interpretation of the teaching.
They did not know—or did not want to admit—that
Peter Deunov himself had written to him to endorse
the work he was doing in France.
But the most perfidious attacks came from some ofthe secret societies in Paris, which attempted to bribe
him and gain control of his brotherhood, for it was
now a factor to be reckoned with. Brother Mikhaël’s
stature and spiritual influence were such that more302

than one of the occult organizations in Paris sought touse him in order to enhance their own power. Theirleaders’ tactics were shrewd: they praised him publicly,
declared that he was uniquely capable of assuming
great responsibilities in the world, and offered him
wealth and renown if he agreed to fuse his brotherhood with their own association.
Mikhaël declined. Speaking about one of these groups
later, he said that although they had retained certain
aspects of ancient Egyptian initiation, their goal today
was domination, and that when he had ‘had the misfortune to refuse to join them’ he had brought terrible
reprisals upon himself.
In addition to these powerful adversaries, there were
those who, seeing him in the light of their own narrowinterests, offered him expensive gifts or money to use
magic for their personal benefit. At this period he also
had to contend with frequent difficulties caused by
women who fell in love with him. One of them, confident of success, announced that she was going tomarry him. When she saw that this was not to be, shebecame one of his most implacable enemies, and evenwent to the immigration authorities to persuade themnot to issue the identity card he was due to receive.
Another admirer offered him her estates and her
immense fortune in return for marriage.
Mikhaël brushed aside all these offers as unrealistic
fantasies. He knew very well that any benefits he might303

gain from such associations with the rich of this world
would cost him his freedom. As might have been
expected, however, many of those whose offers were
rejected turned against him and bore him a lasting
grudge. Some of them were to play a key role in theordeal that was being prepared for him.
As though all this were not enough, he was once again
being harassed by police inspectors, who questioned
him about his reasons for staying in France. Fortunately, the officers of the local precinct knew perfectly
well what kind of work he was doing, for they hadinterrogated him regularly during the past nine
years—each time he had applied for a renewal of his
residential permit—and had great respect for him.
During the war, however, the alliance between King
Boris of Bulgaria and Hitler had often led to Bulgariannationals in France being suspected of espionage.
Most of them had been expelled from France immediately after the war, but Mikhaël, having refused toreturn to his homeland, had acquired official status asa stateless person and could not legally be expelled.
For a time he was under close surveillance by secretservice agents who managed to infiltrate the brotherhood meetings. This surveillance ceased when theyfailed to find the slightest evidence to justify their suspicions.
The year 1946 saw an influx of new members into thebrotherhood from the secret societies that had failed
to win over Brother Mikhaël. Their goal was to infil-

304

trate and undermine the group from within. In particular, they hoped to detect something in his behavior
toward women that could be used against him. Theirefforts were in vain, for his conduct was so transparent
and impartial that they could find no hint of impropriety. For want of anything more substantial, they
spread increasingly insidious and corrosive rumors
impugning his moral integrity. The climate of suspicion and conflict in the fraternity created by all thismade it increasingly difficult to see exactly what wasgoing on.
Mikhaël knew that he could not avoid the ordeals thatwere coming closer and recalled one in particular that
had been foretold by Peter Deunov: ‘Mikhaël willknow great misfortunes, particularly through women.’
He was not blind to the prevailing rumors and deceitful maneuvers, but he did not allow them to distract
him. He welcomed all who came and did his best to
enlighten them, for he always hoped ‘to leave in theirsouls some trace of beauty and harmony’. In fact,
throughout this trying period, he continued his teaching, excluding no one and taking little heed of any
possible repercussions. At the same time, although histendency was to ‘invite the whole world to dine at thetable of the brotherhood’, he had always warned his
regular participants not to invite people who had no
notion of spirituality or who were looking for miracles
or ready-made solutions to their problems. One of thebrothers remembers those days:

305

He was fully aware of the motivations of someof those who came to his talks, but he remained
present to each person and as attentive as ever totheir needs. During those difficult days he seemed
to be suffused with light and inspiration as neverbefore.
Hoping to kindle enthusiasm in the heart of eachmember of his audience, he spoke of the energy ofthe sun, of sacred fire, of the music that awakens thechakras, of true and universal brotherhood. In April
1946, however, seeing that the mood in the group was
unchanged, he took a very serious decision. Speaking
in a tone that revealed deep sadness, he began byreminding them that it was in response to their own
insistence and in the desire to be useful to them that
he had attempted to be their instructor. And he added:
My failure to convince you to put this teaching into
practice shows me that it was very presumptuous of me
to undertake the task. Henceforth I abandon my role as
your guide.1
He said no more, and the members of the brotherhood
were aghast. They had recognized long ago that
Brother Mikhaël was a true spiritual Master and they
had no desire to lose him. A ripple went through thegroup, as one after the other stood up and assured himthat they sincerely wanted to live in harmony. Several
asked him explicitly in the name of the group to be
their spiritual Master. Even those who later betrayed306

him and bore false witness against him joined in thegeneral consensus. Stella, who knew who they were,
heard them asserting:‘Brother Mikhaël, you are truly a Master! We shallalways be faithful to you whatever comes.’
At that moment, there was a keen awareness in thegroup of the gravity of a spiritual commitment andthe demands it made on them. But Mikhaël, althoughdeeply moved, refused to take advantage of the generalemotion. Yes, he would remain their teacher, but on
condition that he continued to be simply their‘Brother Mikhaël’. In spite of his insistence, from thatday on those whom he called his brothers and sisters
considered him as a Master. As one of those who had
been present at this meeting told us:
The evidence of our own eyes was not to be denied:
his purity and magnanimity, the integrity and fortitudewith which he faced his ordeals, and the clarity withwhich he transmitted Peter Deunov’s teaching only
served to confirm what we had felt from the moment wefirst met him.
Stella in particular defended him faithfully and continued to believe in him in the face of all opposition.
She could never forget that he had been for her ‘theoccasion of a prodigious expansion of consciousness’.
Several years later she would write that he had guided307her ‘as a sighted person guides one who is blind, tohelp her to awaken her higher sense of sight’.
That incident marked an important phase in the lifeof the brotherhood. Something powerful had taken
shape: a subtle force, a collective entity now surrounded and protected the members, but this entity
needed to be nurtured and reinforced. Mikhaël’s attitude did not change; he continued to speak to themwith the same simplicity. Despite the agitation surrounding his person and the sadness he sometimes
felt, his visitors always found him serene. He continued to insist that they should always verify what heput before them. On April 25, he told them:
Do not bother your heads about whether I am an initiate or not; try simply to check the authenticity of what
I give you. Before eating, make sure that this ‘food’ ispure, unadulterated and true.
In the weeks that followed several people wrote to him
to express their admiration and respect. But he, as
always, kept his sights fixed on a higher world so as not
to forget his own lowliness and succumb to the temptation of pride. Referring to these letters one day inJune, he made it quite clear that he had no desire to be
praised, that he was content to be an insignificant servant. He added: ‘Focus all your attention on the teaching, for it is the teaching that possesses every virtue.’
***

308

The year 1947, Mikhaël’s tenth year in France, was tobe one of the most difficult in the history of the brotherhood. It would see both the realization of their
dream of a fraternal community and the tornado thatwould sweep Mikhaël toward one of the most painful
ordeals of his life. For his part, although he sensed theapproaching storm, he did nothing to forestall its fury.
In his New Year message to the brotherhood, he wrote:
Nineteen forty-seven is poised before us, as mysterious,
dark and impenetrable as the sphinx of ancient Egypt
which waited to be conquered by the response of wiseand enlightened disciples before opening its treasurehouse and dispensing its blessings.
That year, he faced two opposing tendencies in theway he was perceived by others; the one glorified him,
the other did everything possible to defile him. The
first manifested itself when a film producer, wishing
to make a documentary about the brotherhood, wasgiven permission to film everyday life at the villa. The
shooting took place in an atmosphere of great cordiality. Some time later, the film was shown in the cinemas of Paris following the newsreels, and Mikhaël
went with a few friends to watch it. The photography
was superb and the editing was done with great subtlety. The film ended on a powerful note: it showed
Brother Mikhaël as an immense figure rising with thesun above the terrestrial globe. Paradoxically, justbefore being publicly debased and humiliated, he wasbeing glorified in the most extraordinary way. This309

film led to a radio interview during which he spoke
about Peter Deunov, Bulgaria, and the fraternal camps
at Rila.
The contrary tendency was expressed in a savage
attack published in a major newspaper. Some journalists who had been allowed to visit the villa wrote anarticle which attempted to discredit him and ridicule
the brotherhood. On April 24, 1947, aware of the distress and indignation of the members, Mikhaël told
them that instead of being angry, they should be joyful
about all they had received; above all, that they must
be prepared for the difficulties to come. He added:‘Public opinion will be divided about us.’During the following months he took advantage ofseveral occasions to instill greater energy and ardor
into his followers. On May 1, he spoke to them about
the approaching feast of Wesak. He explained thateach year on the day of the full moon of May, great
numbers of initiates gather in the Himalayas, somephysically, others in their astral bodies, to commemorate the birth of the Buddha and work together withthe forces of white light.
In the course of this ceremony, which falls on Monday,
May 5, these ‘white brothers’, uniting themselves bymeans of potent invocations to the celestial hierarchies,
will work to bring cosmic forces to earth and send
waves and vibrations of the highest spirituality throughout space for the benefit of humanity.

31
3100

He urged them to forgive their enemies and to takespecial care during these days of preparation to avoid
all negative thoughts. Knowing that many of themwere afraid of the intrigues going on in the background, he added:
If you do not light your lamps no one will be able to seeyou. We are all afloat on the ocean of life, and our ship
is often in danger of sinking in the terrible storms thatthreaten it. If we want to be saved we must be capableof sending luminous signals heavenward. Then someone will come and rescue us.
All those who were able to do so prepared themselvesby meditation for the celebration of Wesak. Four days
later, Mikhaël spoke to them about inner peace anddescribed how a dove had come to him while he wasmeditating, settling on his left hand. ‘It is because ofthat dove,’ he added, ‘that I tell you now not to grovel,
but to become like birds.’
In the spring of 1947, in the midst of all the difficulties
the brotherhood was experiencing, the members realized a cherished dream. After much searching, theyat last found a house on the outskirts of Paris which
seemed to suit their needs, and they decided to buy it.
The new house was at the top of the rue du Belvédère
de la Ronce above Sèvres, on a hectare of land bordering the forest. Around it was the countryside dottedwith occasional houses and clusters of trees. In the dis-311

tance, the dim forms of the Paris skyline could just be
seen.
The brotherhood took possession of the new property
that spring, but a tremendous effort of co-operation
was needed to make it habitable. The house had notbeen lived in for eighteen years and was in a state ofextreme disrepair. Several weeks of back-breaking
labor were needed to bring order out of chaos, but thisgreat family worked together in a spirit of joy which
often expressed itself in outbursts of song. Mikhaël,in grey overalls and a beret, was everywhere at once,
helping with all the different tasks. He had lost noneof his practical common sense and had not forgotten
the lessons learned in Bulgaria when he had worked as
carpenter, brick-layer and house-painter. One of those
who worked with him remembers:
When he took a paintbrush or trowel from someone’s
hand to demonstrate a better way to use it, it was
because he knew not only how each tool should be handled, but also its hidden symbolism.
One day, as he went to check on the progress in themeeting hall, he found a young woman on her knees
scrubbing the floor with all the ardor of youth. Hersmile as she looked up at him soon gave way to an
expression of dismay as he told her that she was going
about it the wrong way: ‘When we do the ceiling thefloor will be dirty all over again.’312

That evening he talked about how to work and about
the symbolism of ceiling, doors and windows. He
explained how important it was for our spiritual, psychic and physical life to begin by tidying and cleansing
the upper levels before descending gradually to thelower levels, and that this means that we must thinkand use our minds before moving on to the level offeelings and acts.
When you begin a job you must always bear in mind
certain rules. For instance, things have to be done in acertain order, also you must clean your tools after use.
If you only knew the profound science hidden in the gestures we make when we work… Even if this work seems
to be not even remotely spiritual, the whole universe isreflected in our gestures.2
By June, the greater part of the work was done: thegrounds had been cleared and leveled and the house
was ready for occupation. The ground floor was
arranged as one large meeting room. In one corner of
the top floor under the mansard roof, Mikhaël chose atiny bedroom with a window looking out to the east,
and a sitting-room next to it. On one wall of this room
he hung a magnificent portrait of Peter Deunov, and it
was here that he received his visitors.
At last, the dream of a good number of people who
had longed to share a home in which they could live
together in harmony was to be realized, and theirmood was euphoric. In spite of the numerous diffi-

313

culties, they were full of hope. The shared work ofrenovation had given them the feeling that they werebuilding a better future together. Even the threatenedstorm seemed to be receding.
Once the work was completed, Mikhaël consecrated
the property and gave it the name that Peter Deunov
had chosen for the brotherhood center in Bulgaria:
Izgrev. All the members were invited to come for thesunrise whenever they were free, and on Sundays theygathered to hear Brother Mikhaël speak, perform thegymnastic exercises and dance the Paneurythmy to theaccompaniment of flute and violin.
***
This harmonious interlude was short-lived, for
Mikhaël’s enemies, who had tried in vain to find something blameworthy in his attitude toward women,
multiplied the rumors and innuendoes. Those who
considered themselves his disciples felt as though they
were being torn apart by the conflicts and slanderous
rumors; they could not help but be influenced by theclimate of anxiety. In June, Mikhaël told them:
I am not asking you to believe me or to follow me
blindly. No. Open your eyes and you will see the difference between us and the others. Trust your intuition.
Set it free; allow it to function; release it from impurities and from its old habits.3
More and more his talks revealed this constant desire314

to liberate his fellow human beings. His knowledgeof human nature told him that an ideal of perfection
could never be imposed on anybody. Witnesses tell usthat he had never attempted to attract the masses; onthe contrary, he excelled at screening his audience. In
his talks, he sometimes began by discussing a seemingly random variety of subjects, knowing that those
who were only superficially interested would not havethe patience to stay to the end. Then, once they had
left the room, he gathered up the threads of these different subjects and wove them into a coherent whole,a complete and well-balanced picture.
One day, noting the arrogant attitude of four individuals who had just come into the room, he introduced
one subject after another, skimming superficially overeach one, until at last the four men stood up and wentout, remarking audibly on the insignificance of the
speaker. They had discovered that Brother Mikhaël
was ‘not dangerous.’ As soon as they had left, however, bringing together all the apparently irrelevant
elements, he drew a masterly conclusion.
In July, most of his regular students left Paris and went
their separate ways for the vacations. There would be
no more talks from Mikhaël for three months, andwhen the brotherhood gathered again at the end of
September, the climate would be very different.
Mikhaël, who spent part of his nights in prayer,
defending himself against the various attacks aimed at
him—which even included black magic—decided to315

go away for a rest. He left for the Alps with one of thebrothers.
In the mountains one day, he stretched out on the
ground to rest and in a half-sleep had the first of four
visions that would come to him within the year, symbolic visions of trial by the four elements. He saw himself standing on a mountain that was crumbling
beneath his feet. Although the ground was disappearing at dizzying speed, he sensed that he would not fall,and began to leap lightly from rock to rock. Afterwards, he understood that the time of his great tests
had begun; this vision heralded the ordeal of earth,designed to test steadfastness of will.
In the meantime, having readied themselves for theattack, his enemies set out to break him. The man who
served as catalyst for the alliance of destructive forces
ranged against him was a mysterious individual who
had been living in Paris for some time, but who professed to hail from Tibet. The names he claimed as
his own were those of the most prestigious of highinitiates: Sherenzi Lind, Kut Humi, and many more.
His followers called him King of the World. It waslearned later that he was an international spy who had
come from Cuba, but for a long time he succeeded inhoodwinking many people by means of his considerable occult powers. As far as is known, neither his true
nationality nor his name were ever divulged.
This unscrupulous individual was a formidable hyp-316

notist who used his powers to influence many people
and force them to do his will. His aim—which came tolight only later—was to gain ascendancy over the different spiritual movements and use them as a cover forhis clandestine activities. Determined to take over thebrotherhood, he used every means in his power to subjugate Brother Mikhaël and make him serve him. His
first step was to attempt to win the trust of the members of the brotherhood by speaking of their spiritual
guide in highly flattering terms.
As long as he had not met the man, Mikhaël avoided
speaking about him. As soon as he met him in theflesh, he recognized him for what he was and realizedthat he had acquired a dangerous enemy. But eventhen, faithful to his method of leaving people to verify
a situation for themselves before forming an opinion,
he spoke of him several times in terms which left his
listeners free to make up their own minds.
Those who sensed the falsity of the Cuban’s claims
found this magnanimous attitude unwise. For a longtime, some even believed that he had managed todeceive Brother Mikhaël. One day however, Mikhaël
took three members of the brotherhood into his confidence and disclosed his true perception of the selfstyled ‘King of the World’. Did he do this deliberately,
acting on the intuition that his destiny would beaccomplished through this man? However that may
be, one of the three betrayed his confidence.

317

When the Cuban learned that he had been unmasked,
he launched his attack—although he still endeavored
to remain in Brother Mikhaël’s good graces. His firststep was to win over a Bulgarian who nursed a longstanding grievance against Mikhaël, and to invite tohis home some of the women who had a grudge
against him. Fascinated by his flamboyant personality
and rough-hewn, dominating visage, most of those
who accepted his invitations were easily persuaded tolet him hypnotize them, and several of them became
docile instruments, ready to do whatever he asked.
***
In September the storm clouds broke. Witnesses in
the pay of his enemies officially accused Brother
Mikhaël of raping forty women. The major newspapers published these allegations in front-page headlines, depicting him as the most debauched satyr of
all times and accusing him of conducting orgies in theforest with his disciples. No words were too abusive
to be applied to him. Immediately, Izgrev was besiegedby journalists, many of whom, armed with cameras,
climbed the trees outside the walls, trying to spy on
Brother Mikhaël’s every movement. He received
threats and insults from complete strangers.
On September 28 1947, Mikhaël spoke to a hushed
gathering. His usual audience was there in force, a heterogeneous group which included members of thebrotherhood, occasional visitors, members of other318

movements who were still drawn by his radiance, andthe enemies who had already secretly betrayed him.
After a brief meditation he spoke of the attacks a manin his position can be subject to: the poisoned arrows,
the destructive vibrations, the tornadoes that could
eventually bring him down:
I’m obliged to strive like a tightrope-walker to keep mybalance. Who can help me in this task? Only very few
help me.
And he added that he knew the identity of those who
had joined the brotherhood with the intention of
causing his downfall. After alluding to the implausible
accusations made against him, he added that he waswilling to continue his work:
If you want me to go on talking to you, to go on encouraging you and giving you joys of a higher kind, I will
stay with you. But you may be sure of one thing: wherever I may be, in prison or elsewhere, I shall always beready to praise God.
Then, reminding them that it was Peter Deunov who
had sent him to France, he invited those whom heknew to be his enemies to speak out openly in frontof the group. Seeing that they were too ill at ease to
speak, he said:
You say nothing. You accept that I should remain withyou… I ask you then to help me by praying for me319

tonight. You need the support of others to evolve. So doI.
At this, trying not to draw attention to themselves,
those who had betrayed him slipped from the room.
By then, however, everyone knew who they were, andthey would come back only when they were sure ofreaching their objective. After a brief pause, Mikhaël
concluded the meeting by saying that they were all free
to leave him, but that it was in the teaching that theywould find all spiritual riches.
At Izgrev and in the other groups, most of the members passed the night in prayer. Knowing Brother
Mikhaël’s purity and integrity, they realized that theaccusations leveled against him must cause him thegreatest possible moral torture.
During the months that followed Mikhaël gave few
talks. He was often overwhelmed by great sadness, notso much because of what he was going through as
because, ‘so few human beings are capable of committing themselves to a high ideal’. This sadness was palpable in the two or three talks he gave in October.
At the same time, seeking to prepare his brothers andsisters for what was to come, he repeated that theirordeals would serve to winnow out some of their number, and urged them to cultivate discernment andwork with diligence to purify themselves.
That autumn was a waking nightmare for the broth-320

erhood. The ‘Tibetan’ continued his work in concert
with Mikhaël’s other enemies who had assembled thefabricated ‘proofs’ they needed to have him arrested.
Since Brother Mikhaël had proved to be incorruptible,
it did not really matter what pretext was invoked; whatmattered was to get rid of him and take over his movement. From several women, who had been transformed through repeated hypnosis into their docile
tools, they obtained signed declarations charging that
Brother Mikhaël had seduced them. Some of these
women seem to have been infected by a current ofhysteria and sincerely believed that their mysterious
hypnotizer was truly the Master of the world. Others
had never forgiven Brother Mikhaël for resisting theircharms. Still others, who had succumbed to an offer ofmoney or had been set up in business, signed because
they were in no position to refuse. Certain witnessesof these events maintain, however, that a large majority of the women in the brotherhood took no part inthese sratagems.
One day, Mikhaël was given a warning which he realized was extremely significant. While meditating in his
room he had the second symbolic vision of ordeal by
the four elements. He saw himself suspended over apool of dark water swarming with crocodiles whichwere trying to seize and devour him. The waters rose,
the earth disappeared under terrible floods, and he saw
many of his brothers and sisters drowning.
After this vision he understood that the dark water321

symbolized hatred and evil, and he knew that his enemies were determined to crush him. As he would saylater, it is when one is subjected to ordeal by water that
one finds out ‘if one is capable of resisting the temptation of hatred.’ He himself did not feel hatred—or
if he did, he refused to give in to it. He continued
to work mentally to help his enemies, constantly picturing them bathed in light. His ‘dearest wish’, as heconfided to a small group of his disciples, was to win
the heart of his most bitter enemies so that he could
help them, even at the risk of incurring the condemnation of the world. He raised no objection, therefore,
when the so-called Tibetan, seeking to benefit from
Mikhaël’s reputation, spoke of him as one of his closest associates.
Later that autumn he agreed to participate in a threeday convention to which all the major spiritual movements were invited. He prepared for the event by fasting. At the convention, the ‘Tibetan’, in a long saffronrobe, spoke at length. When his turn came, Brother
Mikhaël, in a light grey suit, walked up the steps andseated himself in the lotus position at the front of thestage, as close as possible to the audience. A memberof that audience remembers the moment:
His face expressed great serenity, his gaze was direct
and full of warmth, and with his first words the atmosphere in the auditorium was transformed. Using simple, everyday terms, in strong contrast to the solemn
orations of the other speakers, he spoke to the people322

in front of him as to friends. That evening, he revealed
himself in public as never before.
The convention was followed by a lull before theopening of a new round of hostilities. Although
Mikhaël gave no more talks until the New Year, heremained readily accessible to those around him. They
could sense that he wanted them to make their own
choices in complete freedom and without undue influence from him, and was ready to put himself at risk
to help them to develop their discernment. It was withthis in mind that he invited the ‘Tibetan’ to Izgrev
to address the members of the brotherhood, theirfriends, and families.
For most of those present, the occasion was a turning
point. The regular students, accustomed to the clear
language and highly spiritual ideas of Brother
Mikhaël, soon realized that the guest speaker possessed disturbing powers of fascination which he usedwith great skill. A witness recounted the scene:
On the wall behind the rostrum was a photo of Peter
Deunov, and beneath it the armchair which wasalways reserved for him. Brother Mikhaël sat to one
side with his three guests on his left. We sang. I could
sense that part of the circle centered on Brother
Mikhaël began imperceptibly to move and to be centered on the ‘Tibetan’. But not everyone was taken in.
After the meeting several people could be heard to say:323

‘The man’s an impostor. Why did Brother Mikhaël
invite him?’Those who had looked forward to this meeting in trepidation were deeply impressed by the outcome, for it
gave them a glimpse—not for the first time—of theextraordinary inner liberty which allowed Brother
Mikhaël to take such unprecedented action. In spite ofwhat he knew of the influence and power of his enemy,
he had given the members of his group the opportunity to make their own choice.
Nineteen forty-seven drew to a close. The journalists
had not abandoned their quarry, and scurrilous andlibelous articles continued to appear in the press. In
spite of this, Mikhaël declared in his New Year message that the year just ending had been one of the bestin the life of the brotherhood. It was an astonishingdeclaration. Speaking of the ordeals they had experienced, he said that each member had been tried andtempted in every dimension of his being: heart, intelligence, and will. Then, referring to his enemies, hewrote: ‘My only concern is to assist them spiritually.’
The magnanimity with which he treated his enemies
was not always understood, but his explanation wasinvariable: he was working to help each of them bysurrounding them mentally with light, and he hoped
to win their hearts through love. He admitted one daythat on several occasions he had been offered the324

opportunity to use his personal powers to avenge himself on them, but that he had never done so.
The prediction with which he closed that New Yearmessage was remembered in the brotherhood for along time: the coming year, he wrote, would be a yearof tribulation, marked by the separation of the sheepfrom the goats. ‘The children of light will seek eachother out. They will join forces and gain strength fromeach other.’During the month of January Mikhaël took no part inpublic activities. At home one night, he had a phone
call from a brother who had learned what his enemies
were planning and urged him to escape, saying: ‘You
must leave the country. They are plotting to have you
put in prison.’But Mikhaël had no intention of running away, andrefused to abandon his brotherhood and his work. He
had consented long since to the suffering and trials
that would be part of the life he had chosen, and thatnight, more conscious than ever of the ferocity of his
enemies, he agreed to go through fire. The moment
was, perhaps, a turning point in his mission: on one
side of the balance were the terrible ordeals thatthreatened to undermine his work; on the other, wasthe possibility of escape and a new beginning elsewhere. In one sense he was free to refuse the bittercup offered to him, but he knew that if he wanted toemerge into the light, he would first have to descend325

into the most terrible darkness. Not long before this,speaking about the trials that he and his disciples were
undergoing, he had said that there came a point when
all human beings had to go through hell:
Jesus descended into hell because the path to heaven
goes that way. Everyone has to pass through hell toreach paradise. In other words, when you begin to workat overcoming your faults, a kind of hell opens up before
you, and for a time you have to make your way throughthat hell. When you emerge victorious, another external struggle awaits you, and if you are once more victorious, all will fall silent, no voice will ever be raised
against you again. But until that last moment you haveto be heroic.4***
On Wednesday, January 21, 1948, Mikhaël was arrested
without warning and booked on a trumped-up charge
at the local police station. Later, on the strength offalse testimony sworn to by several women, he wastransferred to a cell in the Santé prison in Paris. Jean,
who had been with him when the police arrived, wasalso taken into custody but was released the next day.
The members of the brotherhood, paralyzed by shock,were completely at a loss. They did not believe Brother
Mikhaël to be guilty, but some were intimidated by
the climate of hostility, or embarrassed to acknowledge that they belonged to his spiritual family. Only

326

a small nucleus remained absolutely loyal, and these,with heavy hearts and in constant anguish, tried todecide how to defend him. Articles continued toappear in the press, and the brotherhood was surrounded by an ambience of threats, hostility and derision.
A few days after the arrest, Jean was at Izgrev withhis wife Raymonde and a brother called Maurice. It
had rained relentlessly for several days and the threefriends were deeply unhappy. Their spiritual Master
was in prison and the brotherhood was divided initself. Breaking the silence that had settled in, Raymonde began to talk of a dream she had had four years
earlier:‘Peter Deunov had just died, and in my dream hearrived at the villa carrying two large suitcases.
“Where is my son?” he asked. Someone answered,“He’s very busy.” Peter Deunov replied, “Oh, he’s busy
is he…” then, going straight through the wall into
Brother Mikhaël’s room, he put the suitcases down
and said: “There, my son; they are yours.”’
When Raymonde stopped speaking the atmosphere
seemed lighter. Jean and Maurice both knew that she
had surprising mediumistic gifts and often received
strong premonitions. They could not help but be
struck by the dream which symbolized the inheritancethat Mikhaël had received from Peter Deunov: responsibility for the teaching he had brought to France.

327

‘We just have to go on,’ said Jean, standing up.
‘Brother Mikhaël has shown us the way. He has talked
about the future and I believe in that future. I am surethat all that he has foreseen will come true.’In the meantime, Stella had thrown herself into thetask of preserving the existence of the brotherhood
against all odds and devoted herself heart and soulto this cause. With the help of the president of theassociation—also called Jean—she did her best to keep
everyone calm and bolster their courage.
Only the deeply troubled climate of post-war society
can explain certain aspects of Mikhaël’s arrest andlong detention before being brought to trial, or thetrial itself which contravened several specific requirements of the justice system. Twenty years later Stella
was to write that the ambience of those times had
allowed what would have been impossible later: fivemonths after his arrest he was still detained at the
Santé prison without having been brought to trial.
Mikhaël would speak little about those long months ofdetention in the harrowing conditions of prison andthe terrible treatment to which he was subjected. Years
later, however, referring briefly to his state of mind at
the time, he spoke of the inner voices that attempt tolead human beings to despair:
When I was falsely accused, I, too, heard the voicesthat cause one to doubt. No one is beyond their reach.

328

In 1948 and 1949 they tempted me, tried to make me
doubt myself and my ability to accomplish my mission.
But I clung to the memory of the luminous experiences
I had had, and my doubts vanished.5
His teaching makes it clear that good and evil are bothnecessary to life. Just as fire can be used to warm or todestroy, just as poisonous plants can be used to kill orto heal, good and evil both have a twofold task. Whatis important is to know how to use evil and transform
it into good. As a mountaineer uses the irregularities
on a rock-face as toe-holds on his climb to the summit, or as nature transforms garbage into nourishment
for trees and flowers, so can we use trials, illness andsuffering as a means of rising to higher things. In thissense, what appears as evil to those who suffer is often
a hidden form of good.
Many years later, he would say:
All that had happened to me—to have the press present
me before the world as a satyr, a monster—was it not
the worst that could happen? I tell you frankly, allthose unfounded accusations, all that derision, werevery hard to bear. There are times when one would
rather die than be so deeply dishonored. Many people
have committed suicide for one hundredth of what I
endured. Calumny works in one like a deadly poison.
But initiatic science was there to show me that it was
perhaps the greatest good that could have happened tome, for it obliged me to tread an unknown path, to find329

undreamed-of weapons and resources, untapped inner
energies that I would never have found otherwise.6
During the five months following Mikhaël’s arrest,
Stella and several others devoted days and nights tothe preparation of his defense. They had engaged ateam of lawyers, but to their despair the most competent of them died just before the trial, which had been
set for June 26, 1948. They were obliged to fall backon others who were unknown to them, and the results
were decidedly inferior.
On Saturday, June 26, a dozen faithful followers were
present at the Palais de Justice when Mikhaël was
brought into the courtroom, but there was to be notrial that day: he had been brought to court only to be
told that the hearing had been postponed. As he was
led out, his followers were allowed to shake his hand.
In spite of this delay, his defense team was feelingquite hopeful, for that day one of his accusers had
signed an official retraction. It turned out to be the firstof a series. Also, an unexpected ally had just come forward: a woman who had been the pseudo-Tibetan’s
representative in France had realized, not long before,that she had been taken in by him. On entering his
office unexpectedly one day, she had surprised him in
the act of dictating a letter to a woman who was oneof Mikhaël’s most virulent adversaries, in which she
was accusing him of rape. Realizing what was goingon, this witness had written to the judge to describe330

what she had seen. She concluded her letter by asserting that ‘Mister Ivanov was innocent of all the crimesof which he was accused’.
The following Saturday, Mikhaël was again taken to
the courthouse, only to learn that his trial would takeplace two weeks later, on July 17. But this time no one
was allowed to approach him before he was hurried off
to prison again.
It was at this point that a voice was raised in the media
in his defense. Acting on information that would
come to the ears of the competent authorities only
several months later, a reputable journalist publishedan article in Le Populaire, in which he revealed thatthe stranger who had come to Paris claiming to be a
Tibetan initiate was in fact a spy in the pay of theSoviet Union.
Mikhaël’s trial began at one o’clock in the afternoon
of July 17 and was over the same day. Those who were
present as witnesses for the defense described it as a
travesty of justice. The hearings were supposed to beclosed to the public. Several legal stipulations were,
however, flagrantly ignored, and a number of reporters
and photographers were admitted. Also, an influential
member of the government, the Garde des Sceaux, waspresent throughout the trial. This was a gross breachof the law, but it became known later that he wasdetermined to see the accused convicted and deported
from France. The witnesses for the defense, in an331atmosphere of hostility that was almost palpable,
sensed their powerlessness. When called on to speak,they could barely be heard above the shouts and jeers.
Brother Mikhaël was sentenced to four years in prison.
At seven o’clock the next morning, Sunday, a small
group of his followers gathered at Izgrev to pray
together. Their hearts were heavy, their minds in turmoil, and their courage at a low ebb. Two hours later,some of those who had plotted the destruction ofBrother Mikhaël’s reputation arrived in a body. Claiming recognition as ‘members in good standing’ of thebrotherhood, they had come to carry out the second
phase of their plan: to shut down the center preliminary to taking it over for themselves. Mustering all
their powers of persuasion, they did their utmost to
demoralize those present and split their ranks. But all
their arguments met with immovable resistance, andthey were forced to withdraw in defeat.
Mikhaël’s lawyers appealed against the verdict. In thedays that followed, the women who had falsely
accused Mikhaël began, one by one, to sign official
retractions. Fear, blackmail, hypnotism or bribery had
been used to obtain their testimony, and on the day of
the trial several of them had been close to panic when
they began to understand the consequences of what
they had done, and found themselves obliged to go
through with it and perjure themselves in court. It was
only when they could look back on events with some332

objectivity that most of them realized clearly what had
happened to them. Even then there were some who,
for the sake of their families who had received large
sums of money, or in an attempt to protect their own
reputations, never publicly acknowledged that they
had lied.
The trial, as might be expected, was the occasion of afurther winnowing among the members of Mikhaël’slittle spiritual family. As one of them recalled later:
We were revolted by the injustice of the proceedings
we had witnessed. We felt like grains of sand being
sifted through a series of filters of increasingly fine mesh.
Like steel that is being tempered, we passed from heatto cold, from profound discouragement to extravagant
hope. As we reflected on what Brother Mikhaël had
said about the divisions and sorting that was to come,
we tried to understand the meaning of all the suffering
he had foreseen for the brotherhood. But we could neverallow ourselves to despair, for these were the trials forwhich he had so unerringly prepared us.
Nevertheless, their courage and faith were sorely tried:
sometimes they were faced with offensive articles published in the press, at other times they received lettersfrom people who spoke of their admiration for
Mikhaël’s work and declared him to be a saint and a
Master.
On July 22, Mikhaël was transferred from the Santé333

prison to the huge prison camp at La Celle St-Cloud
known as the Châtaigneraie, where conditions wereslightly more humane and the rules less stringent.
Stella and Jean, the only ones to be granted a thirtyminute visit, found him serene, his face radiating asubtle inner light. He inquired affectionately after
each member of the brotherhood before giving his visitors encouraging advice and assuring them of his faith
in the victory of light and truth. In prison, he added,
he felt truly free.

Notes
1.

Quoted by Svezda, op. cit, p. 107.

2.

‘What Can We Learn From a House’, in Harmony.

3.

June 26, 1947.

4.

October 12, 1947.

5.

July 14, 1956.

6. ‘Une nouvelle attitude devant le mal’, in La Pédagogie
initiatique. (Our translation).

334

13

#

PrisonAt the Châtaigneraie the prisoners lived in huge barracks. Well aware of the accusation against the newarrival, the other prisoners were free with their jeers
and insults, calling him derisively ‘the Magus’, a title
that many of the newspapers had used. To test him
they played all sorts of tricks on him and charged their
tobacco or other items from the prison shop to his
account. But none of his fellow prisoners was completely indifferent to his presence. Some, too deeply
disillusioned or discouraged to trust another humanbeing, simply observed their strange comrade insilence.
One of these men—a prisoner by the name of
Lemery—later wrote that it was the serene kindness
that shone from Mikhaël’s eyes that disarmed eventhe most relentless. In his desire to be one voice to
speak out on his behalf, Lemery wrote that he used
to watch him as he meditated for hours, seated in thelotus position on his bunk, always clean and neat inspite of the difficult conditions, his abundant silver
hair carefully combed beneath his Basque beret. Aftera vivid description of the violent disputes of the cardplayers at one end of the shed, the deafening noise,
the constant coming and going of the various cliques:
the swindlers, the pimps, the vagrants with criminal
records, felons of every kind, rotted by vice, Lemery
concluded:
And there, far above and detached from all this slime,
lives, ponders, works, and meditates our living example,
one who radiates peace and whose presence alone, likea ray of sunlight, illuminates and purifies the oppressive
atmosphere of that accursed shed—one of the best,
apparently, in this enormous camp of the Châtaigneraie. […] To be frank, I have to admit that I hung backfor a long time. I wanted to study the man and get
to know him before I could consider him not just as
a comrade, but as a friend and confidant. It was thesight of the way he lived, of his attitude toward everyone that imperceptibly won me over. I was graduallydrawn to him, attracted by what he had to say. His loveof nature made me understand that a man who wascapable of standing for long periods of time behind thebars admiring the dawn at sunrise, as nature awoke tothe song of the nightingale, was not, could not be, theman described by some of the newspapers. […] One only336

had to live with him and observe him to be convinced of
his innocence.1
From the beginning, Mikhaël took careful stock of themilieu in which he would have to live for an undetermined length of time. Exerting every ounce of his
mental strength, he surrounded himself with light toward off the noxious emanations that he sensed all
around him, on both the physical and the subtler
planes. Later, he would say that he had worked to reinforce his aura to prevent all that from entering andundermining him.
For if that had happened, it would have gone on growing and might even have driven me to live as they lived,
weakened my faith and love, and prevented me fromfollowing my path. Even at night I worked to strengthen
my defenses… For two years I had to struggle constantly, not only against that, but also against the general lack of understanding on the part of others.2
The two winters he spent in prison were particularly
cold. For reasons of hygiene and to dissipate the nauseating stench in the shed, prison regulations requiredthat the windows be kept open day and night. Withso many prisoners crowded into one place, the air was
thick with the smoke of their cigarettes, and the open
windows at least assured that there was a minimum
supply of oxygen. Stiff with cold, the men paced up
and down the shed for hours on end, stamping theirfeet in an effort to keep warm, but Mikhaël, sensitive337

though he was to the cold, spent long hours meditating on his bed under the open window.
Most of his fellow-prisoners suffered from nightmares,
and his nights were often disturbed by their cries andgroans. Every morning he awoke to the four walls thatshut out the sun. Every meal brought the same moldy
bread, rancid oil, and rotten, unpeeled potatoes floating in water.
Far from condemning the conduct of the prisoners,
many of whom behaved with the frenzy of rampaging
beasts, Mikhaël could not help ‘seeing them as children, full of a wild, unbridled energy, who had neverlearned how to behave’. But he also said that he had
never envied hermits so much as during his imprisonment. He prayed ceaselessly, asking always for lightand more light, because ‘light always goes hand inhand with gratitude, not with a spirit of revenge’.
One young boy, member of a gang that had committed
some crimes during the Occupation, observed himfrom a distance. On the brink of despair, he was only
waiting for the right moment to carry out the suicide
pact he had made with his comrades. The wretchedness of his life in prison and the thought of what
awaited him afterwards was more than he could bear.
But he could not help being touched by this prisoner
who was so different from the others, whose attitude
was that of a free man, who talked courteously to eachone, and who gave to the least privileged the gifts he338

received from his visitors. Finally, he decided to confide in him about his plans for suicide. To his astonishment, Mikhaël rebuked him energetically and talked
to him about the meaning of life and its difficulties,
before explaining with great kindness and compassion
how he could transform his own existence if he had
the will to do so. Every day after that, the boy returned
with more questions, reflected on what Mikhaël told
him, and gradually achieved a certain serenity. His
desire to end his life faded and was replaced by the willto transform it.
Imperceptibly, other prisoners were surprised to findthat they too were beginning to trust the newcomer.
Something strange was going on in this shed: here wasa spiritual Master who was a prisoner and yet manifestly free, who listened to them, who counseled andinstructed them. Capable of abstracting himself fromthe filth, the coarse language, the cruel and amoral
behavior, he was gradually restoring the hope andcourage of those who were willing to listen to him.
After a time, Mikhaël noticed that at the end of their
compulsory outdoor exercise the prisoners werealways exhausted. Their environment was unhealthy:
they were not getting enough food, and they took no
exercise other than the daily walk round the prison
yard—which resembled nothing so much as a funeral
cortege. One day, disregarding the suspicious frownsof the guards, he detached himself from the procession and began to step briskly round the yard with339

another man, explaining to him how to walk without
becoming tired.
Encouraged by his example, someone else took the
initiative of forming a group of runners. But when
the runners returned to the shed they were moreexhausted than ever. Little by little, Mikhaël’s group of
walkers became more numerous and more receptive to
his ideas, and he began to instruct them in the valueof their movements, the rhythm most beneficial to thehuman organism, and the importance of synchronizing their breathing with this rhythm.
He also took advantage of these occasions to respondto some of the inmates who questioned him about theeternal problem of evil in the world. Why did God
allow evil to exist? Why was there so much injustice?
In a desire to help them he talked about the innate
ability they all possessed to transform their lives, andhe was not afraid to offend by talking openly of theirpresent situation and the reasons that had broughtthem to it.
He spoke as their friend, meeting them on their own
ground in order to help them to rise above the conditions they had resigned themselves to. Listening totheir conversations, he realized that money was the
god through which they proposed to avenge themselves on society. One day he undertook to persuade
them that another God existed, and began a discussion with a small group. It was not long before others

340joined in, many of them insisting that they had nointention of allowing themselves to be convinced.
‘What is God?’ asked Mikhaël. ‘What is the deity? In a
moment you too will be able to prove that God exists.
Listen: do you believe that there are any just people onearth?’
A chorus of denial greeted this, but when Mikhaël
insisted: ‘Not even you?’ several admitted that they
considered themselves just. It was society that was at
fault for failing to understand or help them.
‘And are there intelligent people on earth? Are there
people who are beautiful?’
All agreed that intelligence existed and that beauty
existed, particularly in women and children.
‘In other words,’ said Mikhaël, ‘you admit that intelligence, justice, and beauty exist. What about strength?
Do you know anyone who is strong?’
Yes, they all agreed, and Mikhaël continued:‘So you agree that there is such a thing as strength.
And surely you must admit that there are other virtues
as well? Now, imagine that all the qualities and virtues
whose existence you acknowledge are multiplied,
amplified and intensified to an infinite degree. The
deity is precisely that: the sum of all virtues and qualities carried to an infinite, unlimited dimension. We

341

cannot deny this reality, because we all possess somefragments of it. If the deity does not exist, where do
the particles of virtue we possess come from? What istheir source? It is very difficult to deny this truth. You
can certainly refuse the notion of God as an old man
with a beard and a notebook and pencil who spends
his time recording the sins of human beings, but thevirtues, these you cannot deny or ignore.’
His audience stared at him in silence, and he went on:‘I can even prove to you that although you don’t realize
it, you are all seeking God.’‘Oh no! Impossible!’ exclaimed one of the men.
‘Yes. You are always thinking of God, always looking
for him,’ insisted Mikhaël.
Turning to one of the men, he asked why he was inprison.
‘Because of a woman’, replied the man.
‘That means that you are drawn to beauty, that you
look for it. Why?’‘Because it makes me happy.’‘Well, this simply means that you are looking for God,but in a limited form.’

342

Turning to the men around him, one after the other,he continued:‘And you, who fight because you like strength, can’t
you see that strength, even wrongly understood, is
God in another form? And you, you steal from shops
because you love wealth; but wealth is God. Wealthbelongs to God and comes from God, and from now
on you must look for it elsewhere and in other ways.
There are those who desire knowledge or power, andthese too are attributes of God. And aren’t those whoare looking for tenderness looking for God? Yes, weare all looking for God; we are all in pursuit of thedeity in one form or another. It is the means and methods we use to reach and lay hold of our goal that are
ineffectual, false, twisted, inappropriate and base. But
in reality we are all drawn to great things, to the one
thing that is great, limitless, infinite.’3
The relationship between Mikhaël and many of his
companions in misfortune was established only progressively, and the same was true of his relationshipwith the personnel. For the first few months, they
made life extremely difficult for him. The Governor
and supervisors even forbade visits from his lawyers.
The guards on duty in his barracks were changed frequently and ordered not to talk to him. They were
warned, on the strength of some newspaper reports,that this prisoner was capable of hypnotizing them inorder to escape. At one point, Mikhaël discovered that
one of the new inmates in the shed was in reality a343

detective inspector who hoped to trick him into
incriminating himself.
One day, a guard approached him and without a word
struck the Bible he was holding, knocking it to theother end of the room. When Mikhaël protested andreproached him for his brutality, the man had the pretext he needed to accuse him of insolence. Surrounded by a detachment of guards, he was taken
before the prison tribunal. His companions, watching
him go, were convinced that he would be condemnedto that terrible, dark cell from which he would return,like so many others, a sick man.
But the outcome of his appearance before the tribunal
was not what they had expected. When he explained
what had happened, the judges simply smiled and sentenced him to be deprived for three months of themeager ration of cigarettes and wine that prisoners
were entitled to. Mikhaël, who had never smoked in
his life and who did not drink wine, was greatly
amused. ‘But the other prisoners were disappointed to
be deprived of the rations I used to distribute to them’,
he said later.
Gradually the guards became less suspicious of him.
The harshness of their attitude gave way to a certain
curiosity and, finally, to friendliness, for they could
not help but notice that most of the inmates trusted
him and talked to him about their problems. It was
obvious that Mikhaël was a pacifying influence in the344

shed. Eventually, the guards themselves began to seek
him out and ask his advice. Pretexting that an officer
wanted to see him, one of the supervisors sometimes
came and took him discreetly to an office where they
could talk without being disturbed. Even the prison
Governor, who had developed a feeling of genuine
friendship and respect for this unusual prisoner, hadlong conversations with him.
Mikhaël’s inner freedom was such that he could say
many years later:
I found that in the midst of the greatest difficulties there
was always someone singing within me. In each one of
us is this being who watches and sees everything, whosings and laughs at what goes on.4
During his days in prison Mikhaël continued to listen
to his companions, to console and instruct them, but
it was at night that he felt truly free. In spirit he could
slip through the bars, send his thoughts out to theworld, and work mentally with light. He lived as muchin his soul and spirit as in his physical body.
In his New Year message for 1949, Brother Mikhaël
wrote to his ‘dear brothers and sisters’, begging themnot to panic, not to see enemies lurking in every corner, but to remain united and understand that ‘God,
who dwells in every visible form, manifests througheven the most terrifying events’. He encouraged them345

to treat everyone with love, above all those who criticized or slandered them.
This is what I have always done, even with my worst
enemies. They may have caused my downfall, but who
knows: I may yet touch the depths of their hearts andsouls.
While still in prison he had two visions symbolizing
trials by air and fire. In the first, he found himself surrounded by the wild shrieking of a tornado. Sinister
faces peered at him, while objects hurled by the wind
were falling all around. Taking shelter behind a large
rock, he could only wait for the storm to abate. The
vision of the trial by fire came a little later. He saw fires
ravaging the earth and found himself in the middle ofa blazing furnace with thick clouds of smoke swirling
overhead. Again, he succeeded in passing through theordeal and emerging unscathed from the fire.
In his first talk after his release from prison, he
described the four visions he had been given before
and during his incarceration and explained their
meaning. The trial by earth is necessary to test one’s
strength of will, one’s steadfastness. The trial by water
is designed to test the reactions of the heart, of theemotions. The trial by air reveals the equilibrium of
the intellect, and the last and most painful, the trial byfire, is necessary to burn away all the wastes that prevent the soul from uniting with the forces of the cosmos. These are, in fact, the same four indispensable346

ordeals imposed on initiates in the temples of ancient
Egypt and India.
Endeavoring to understand the full import of theordeal he was undergoing in prison, Mikhaël methodically reviewed his life up to that moment, and it wasthen that Peter Deunov’s words came back to him: ‘Atime will come when the forces of darkness will put obstacles in your way and try to prevent you from advancing.’ At
the age of seventeen, he had not known exactly what
those ‘forces of darkness’ represented. Also, althoughPeter Deunov had foretold great trials, he had notbeen at liberty to speak of the prison, and it was only
when Mikhaël was deprived of his physical freedomthat he remembered the allegory of the young man
who was entrusted with a precious stone that had tobe carried through a forest.
He understood then what he had not understood fifteen years earlier: the precious stone, symbol of theteaching he had brought to France, had been horribly
defiled and trampled underfoot. And he too, thebearer of this stone, had been vilely dishonored andslandered, dragged through filth by those who wanted
to destroy him. Just as Peter Deunov had foretold, he
was making his way through a forest infested withbandits and wild beasts.
When he had recounted this parable, Peter Deunov
had said that after his ordeal, the bearer of the precious stone would be cleansed of all the impurities cast347

upon him; that he would be given all he needed, andthat the gem would shine in all its splendor. Mikhaël
was to say later that there had been a moment inprison when he had sensed the presence of Peter
Deunov. He had seen an indication of this presence inthe changed attitude of the Governor and guards who,
having once treated him with brutality, began to protect him.
***
Two years were to pass, however, before he wasreleased. Certain charges against him had fallen under
the weight of their own absurdity, and others had been
withdrawn. On March 24 1950, the appeal court
reduced his prison sentence to 30 months, whichmeant that he was free immediately. Several prominent people who had been taken in by the ‘Tibetan’and had used their influence to get Mikhaël condemned now did everything in their power to makeamends. Years later the Garde des Sceaux who had
been present illegally at his trial was to write and ask
his forgiveness for having influenced the judge. He
explained that at the time he had been convinced of
Mikhaël’s guilt; only later had he found out that thewhole affair had been a conspiracy.
At Mikhaël’s request, the date of his liberation was
kept secret from all but Stella and Jean, who went
without a word to anyone to meet him at the gates of
the Châtaigneraie.

348

In view of the complex web of influences involved in
the conspiracy against him, he was released with theproviso that he would not live in Paris for the next
five years. It was only in the spring of 1955 that he wasauthorized to live at Izgrev. In the meantime he stayedwith friends in the south of France.
The brotherhood in France had grown and become
stronger in the midst of adversity and was ready forthe reunion with its spiritual Master. As soon as he
was free, Mikhaël visited Izgrev briefly and gave a talkto a small group. His face was emaciated and deeply
marked by suffering, but a flame burned in his eyes andhis expression radiated serenity.
He began this first meeting, as always, by reading a text
by Peter Deunov. Afterwards, with the utmost simplicity, he spoke of his time in prison and his relationship with his fellow-prisoners. He touched lightly on
his feelings when he had been slandered and vilified.
‘The hardest thing of all’, he said, ‘is to be dishonored.’
But knowing how much his brothers and sisters had
suffered all this time, and in order to help them to forget past hardships and concentrate on their spiritual
work, he added:
Perhaps you think I should have endured these trials
alone. Yes, but if I had, the victory would have beenmine alone. You had to win with me. […] May all thedark clouds, all thoughts and feelings of hatred disap-349

pear, may the springs of love flow freely again, and may
we truly feel ourselves to be children of God.5
The majority of those present wept for joy. Throughout his life Mikhaël had accepted the trials that are thelot of all human beings. He had ‘worked’, as he put it,on different kinds of problems, on different kinds ofsuffering and limitations, in order to open a new path.
It was this constancy that was the measure of his love,of his capacity for sacrifice. Some years later, a brotherasked him why the life of initiates was always marked
by tragedy; his answer undoubtedly applies to himself:
You will remember that Greek mythology speaks ofPrometheus who was punished for giving heavenly fireto mankind. Every savior of humanity shares the fateof Prometheus. Tradition reveals that through original
sin the first beings created monstrous entities that peopled the earth. More than once since then, the phenomenon has been repeated because of the transgressions of humanity, and it is this propagation of monsters that is the cause of all our misfortunes. In sacrificing their lives, the saints, prophets, and martyrs wipedout a great part of the debt owed by humanity. In otherwords they opened up part of the path that humanity
must travel. The blood of Jesus Christ cleansed a greatpart of this road. The sacrifices of highly evolved beingsare very precious, because they cancel out the darkness
that, on the astral plane, still weighs on humanity.6
After that first brief visit to Paris in 1950, Mikhaël

350

returned to Pau. There, living in a house surroundedby trees, he followed a rhythm of life that helped him
gradually to rebuild his strength, devoting the mornings to his spiritual life, in communion with the generous sun of these southern climes, and his afternoons
to ‘giving what he had received’.
Resting on a bench one day after a long walk in one of
the city parks, he noticed that a woman sitting nearby
was glancing at him. He realized that she must haverecognized him, for his photograph had appeared in
all the French papers two years earlier. Turning to her,
he asked quietly: ‘Do you believe what they said aboutme?’
At that, she dared to look him in the face, and heranswer was spontaneous: ‘No, I don’t believe it. It’s
impossible. You have the face of a prophet.’
After a moment’s hesitation, she added: ‘What you
went through was terrible.’‘You know,’ he said gently, ‘the surest way of losing allstrength and courage is to consider evil as an enemy.
If you see it as something that can help you to evolve,
you transform it into good. We must not forget that it
is our trials that allow us to find unknown resources
within ourselves. This is why evil is often a blessing in
disguise.’
His new acquaintance was profoundly receptive towhat he was saying, and not long after this first351

encounter she was one of a number of people who visited him regularly.7
Beginning in June 1950, Mikhaël made the round trip
from Pau to Sèvres almost every Sunday. As before, hegave much of his time to those who asked to talk to
him privately. On these occasions, many people told
him that they had seen him physically before themwhile he was still in prison and thanked him for what
he had done for them. But although he never hesitatedto help those in need, he always refused to be seen
as a miracle-worker with powers of bilocation. Whensomeone claimed to have seen him in a dream or tohave been helped by his intervention, he alluded to themany spirits who supported him in his work, saying:‘I do not know which one of them helped you to findyour peace of mind or to solve your problem.’
His talks that year were often very long, and his closefriends spent many hours at a time with him. They
were regaining strength and drinking their fill of lightafter the long months of darkness. They sang, shareda meal, and listened to Brother Mikhaël as he talked
about forgiveness and inner light, about prayer andmeditation, about purity and man’s subtle bodies, andabout the role of music in achieving harmony. One ofthose present at these gatherings told us:
He was so inspired that we never tired of listening tohim. The atmosphere at these meetings was unique: thevery air seemed to be suffused with joy. Now and then a352

spontaneous burst of laughter or song arose; the musicians played selections of classical music, and it waswith reluctance that we went our separate ways at theend of the day.
In spite of the negative effects of the trial and all that
had followed, Brother Mikhaël’s radiance attracted
people from every level of society. This was a period
of intense activity, and he was constantly called on totalk in many different places. Judging from the themesof his talks, this was also a period of intense mysticalexperiences. It is clear that since his ecstasy at the ageof fifteen, he had experienced many others, but a talkhe gave on January 28 1951, is so vibrant that it seems
to be the echo of a recent experience. Before speaking
that day he had opened a small book of meditations byPeter Deunov, asking the invisible world to show him
what he should talk about. His gaze had fallen upona text about ecstasy, which he proceeded to comment
on with particular intensity:
Ecstasy is a marvelous, indescribable state. One has toexperience it to understand. One’s whole being is pervaded by sentiments of self-abnegation, altruism, andnobility. One loves with a love that embraces all creatures and renounces all trivial, material pleasures. The
heart is filled with impersonal, selfless, generous feelings. This gives you some slight idea of ecstasy. It issomething that can be experienced only when one has
admired, adored and contemplated the deity for a very
long time.

353

In spite of their joy at having their spiritual guide withthem once again, things were still not easy for themembers of the brotherhood in those years. The troubled atmosphere of the past was not wholly dissipated.
Hostile articles began to appear in the press again, andMikhaël knew that his enemies had not laid down
their arms. In March, he told those who assembled at
Izgrev that he was the happiest of men and was determined not to follow the advice of many people who
said he should speak out in his own defense. He had
no wish to threaten anyone or to appeal to the courts.
In his own words: ‘Either there is nothing to defend,
or what exists is good, and in this case, nothing candestroy it.’ A few months later, after the sunrise on
April 9, 1951, he spoke of the darkness in which seeds
must lie before they can germinate, and in doing sothrew a ray of light on a profound initiatic truth:
For two years I was drowned in darkness, and it waswith joy that I amassed that darkness. It was very, very
dark, completely black. This darkness is a mystery.
Things are formed in darkness. White is manifestation;
black is formation. A child is formed in darkness. Darkness is a twofold symbol: for ordinary human beings, it
is equated with evil, egoism and hell. For an initiate,
it is a mystery that has not yet been illuminated or
explained.
In the autumn of the following year, he at last felt free
to make an excursion into the mountains, as in thedays of his youth in Bulgaria. Early one bright Sunday354

morning in October, he and several brothers set out
for the Midi d’Ossau, a peak that rises to more than
9,000 feet in the Pyrenees. Once they had reached theheights, Mikhaël went off alone for a long meditation
before giving a brief talk to his companions. As they
were about to start on the return journey, the wholearea was suddenly wrapped in fog and they could seebarely a yard before them. It was then that an unusual
phenomenon occurred: in front of them, reflected on
the thick white mist, they saw their individual silhouettes, each surrounded by concentric circles ofrainbow-hued light. Compared to theirs, Brother
Mikhaël’s aura was immense.
‘It was a marvelous, overwhelming, unforgettable
experience,’ wrote one of those present that day.8
Turning to his companions, Mikhaël said that theinvisible world had allowed them to see their auras
reflected in the mist as in a mirror, so that they might
be more conscious of the subtle dimensions of life.
Then he set off ahead of them, almost running down
the mountain side, and the brothers watched in astonishment as, with sweeping gestures, he cut a paththrough the mist which folded away on either side. He
seemed to be blazing a path of light.
***
A full ten years passed after his release from prison
before Brother Mikhaël’s reputation was finally355

cleared of all stain. Towards the end of September
1960, he was in the South of France for the summer
convention of the brotherhood where many of his
brothers and sisters had joined him for the feast of St
Michael Archangel, when he received a summons to
the Appeals Court in Aix-en-Provence for the 28th.
That morning, as on many other occasions in his life,
his winged friends were present: as he left his cottage,
hundreds of swallows suddenly appeared, flying low
over his car and accompanying it a great part of theway.
When he returned home later that afternoon, he wasable to announce the news that the Court had at lastpronounced his judicial rehabilitation.

Notes
1.

Reported in Svezda, op. cit., p.93.

2.

February 11, 1951.

3.

Dialogue reported in talk of October 29, 1950.

4.

June 4, 1958.

5.

March 19, 1950.

6.

August 13, 1956.

7.

We had this information from one of her friends.

8.

See Qui est le Maître Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov ?,Éditions Prosveta.

356

14

#

The Beauty weCreate Aroundus

In the hinterland of the French Riviera, near the townof Fréjus, Jean owned a piece of land known as the
Bonfin. It consisted of a few acres of barren, slatey
ground on which grew one ancient evergreen oak, a
few meager pines and fig trees, and some old vines. In
the center, surrounded by thorn and scrub, stood theruins of an old farmhouse. Jean hoped that one day
his land would be a home for the brotherhood, andwhile Brother Mikhaël was absent, he had recruiteda few friends to help him prepare it for occupation.
When Mikhaël visited it in 1947, he had been particularly attracted by a steep hill to the east of the landwith a splendid view of the rising sun, which came tobe known as ‘the Rock of Prayer’.
Three years later, ownership of the Bonfin was transferred to the fraternity, and Mikhaël approved its use
as a convention center. From then on, a great deal oflandscaping and construction work went on, but for
years the land remained barren. Tremendous efforts
with pick and shovel were needed to build even themost rudimentary structures on the unforgiving
ground. In this country regularly swept by the mistral,tents and temporary shelters had to be firmly anchoredto the land, and even then they were sometimes carried off with all their contents by violent gusts of wind.
Mikhaël occupied a minuscule caravan which Jean had
built for him out of used materials he had collected
over the years. When the mistral blew, this precarious
dwelling rocked and swayed and threatened to fly
away.
Most of the sleeping and living quarters were
makeshift constructions of canisses, the tall reeds
which grew in abundance in the surrounding countryside and served to make fences, as well as walls androofs for kitchens, dormitories and washrooms. The
campers labored long hours under a broiling sun,clearing the scrub, digging up dead vines, laying out

358

paths. When they needed to cool off they tied a wet
handkerchief on their head. There were two wells on
the property, but they gave very little water and frequently had to be cleaned and disinfected. Jean wasin charge of providing the camp with drinking water:
every evening, accompanied by one or two brothers,
he rode down to the river Reyran on his motor cycleand filled barrels of water to take back to the Bonfin in
his side-car.
In the summer of 1953, the minimum equipment wasin place for the first summer convention. It was during
this convention that Brother Mikhaël sent all his‘friends near and far’ a vibrant message of hope and offaith in the advent of a new age for humanity in which
he asserted that the Golden Age of the poets was nofable. His desire to see all conscious beings sharing in‘the great work of our noble elder brothers’ had neverabandoned him and was as fervent as ever:
There is nothing more glorious than to strive with all
your strength, all your thoughts and feelings for therealization of this dazzling plan: the kingdom of God
on earth.
And he concluded his message with these words:
The sun is luminous and it is already rising over theworld. The air is pure; space is infinite; the spirit isimmortal; God is eternal. His beauty is beyond descrip-359

tion; his goodness is limitless; his wisdom is unfathomable, and his love all-powerful.
Gradually over the years, the summer conventions
would be extended from two weeks to three months.
Members of the brotherhood arrived from every corner of France and Switzerland for stays of various
lengths, and the coming and going was constant. They
gathered at the Bonfin, eager to live together and sharethese new and difficult conditions in a spirit of brotherhood.
For most of them the change of scenery was radical.
In the still untamed nature of the Mediterranean hinterland, they felt as though they were living in biblicaltimes. They could walk for hours without meeting
another human being, with only the immensity of theblue sky overhead, the twisted pine trees and parchedscrub all around, the little black pebbles rolling underfoot. In the distance rose the mountain which had
been nick-named le Gisant—its silhouette resembled
the recumbent statue of a knight on a mediaeval tomb.
When the campers wanted a bath, it meant a half-hour
walk to the Reyran: after bathing and washing theirclothes, they donned their wet clothes and let the sun
dry them as they walked back to the Bonfin.
As always, Mikhaël was content with very little. For
several years, he occupied the small caravan built by
Jean, before moving into a tiny cabin which measured
six feet by nine. It was only several years later that the360

brothers could afford to provide him with one of threerudimentary wooden cottages built with cheap materials from a demolition site. When he talked of the spiritual work one could do in a restricted living space, he
was speaking from experience. Since his youth he had
had years of training in this, and, as he had said several
years earlier:
Even when you are ill, isolated, in prison, or in exile,
you can work within yourself. Difficult external conditions often make it easier to improve one’s inner state.
It is then that one is stronger, because no help canbe had from outside. When there are obstacles anddifficulties on all sides, one direction is always wide
open: the upward direction. Thus, when you find yourself in the worst possible external conditions, when you
can move neither forwards, nor backwards, nor downwards, you must not hesitate: move upwards. Rise to ahigher plane. When we are overwhelmed by every kindof difficulty, we can always enter the world of the spirit
and turn to God. In that direction, nobody can put barriers in our way.1
The work of developing and improving the Bonfin
continued for several years. Great quantities of topsoil had to be imported before it was possible to planta few vines and grow the minimal crops of vegetables
required to feed the campers. Mikhaël made regularrounds of the teams at work, lending a hand whereverit was needed. Nothing escaped his vigilance, no task
was beneath him. But the evenings were a time of361

relaxation when he strolled among the tents andtalked to the campers. And always, in spite of thearduous nature of the work, he asked each one to be
mindful of the beauty of the environment: ‘The
beauty we create around us,’ he said, ‘is reflected in oursoul.’
In general, however, although he noticed the smallest
details and could wield a mason’s trowel or a paintbrush to good effect, he left all responsibility for thephysical plane to the campers. His role, he explained,
was to keep water flowing in abundance—water being
the symbol of life and love—for, ‘as long as there iswater, things organize themselves’. The life hebreathed into his brotherhood was almost tangible inits intensity, and from time to time visitors or workers
remarked on it. One summer an Italian carpenter
called Carrodano and his sons were hired to build several cabins with timber retrieved from a huge barnwhich had been hauled to the Bonfin. One morning as
Brother Mikhaël came down from the Rock followed
by a crowd of people, Carrodano was perched on theroof of one of the cabins. Putting down his hammer,
he watched as they came closer. 2‘Mister Ivanoff,’ he called, ‘I understand now. Today I
understand.’‘Ah, what do you understand, Mister Carrodano?’
asked Mikhaël.

362

‘I understand what you’re doing.’‘And what is that my friend? What am I doing?’
Then Carrodano, still sitting on the roof embarked
on the story of a rich man he had once known in his
native Italy who was always unhappy. One day he had
invited Carrodano and his work-mates to join him fora drink, in the hope that he would be infected by their
good cheer. But he only watched them with a gloomy
expression as they drank and sang and laughed, andfinally he left them.
‘So what I have understood, Mister Ivanoff, is that you
are giving the meaning of life to your brothers and sisters.’‘Bravo, Mister Carrodano,’ exclaimed Mikhaël. ‘But
how did you see that?’‘It’s visible on their faces… It was when I saw you all
coming down the hill after the sunrise that I finally
understood what you were giving them.’
Mikhaël’s mission with regard to his disciples lay on
different levels: he spoke to their intelligence, theirheart and their will; he appealed to their desire for perfection, but also to their generosity or their sense of
beauty. He was not blind to the difficulties of a lifestyle
based on collaboration, to the problems that arose
between people of different temperaments, to thedemands of a truly brotherly spirit. As he often said,363

however, all this constituted a school, a learning
process. A spontaneous sympathy or antipathy
between individuals, for example, was often rooted ina distant past, in a previous incarnation, and one must
learn to put these manifestations of the personality at
the service of the individuality.
To explain the respective roles of these two naturesin human beings, he used the example of a tree. The
personality, like the roots of a tree, can draw on great
reserves of ‘subterranean’ riches, the raw materials
that are the instincts, passions and desires. The personality is very powerful, but it has one defect: it tends
to use everything for the benefit of the ego or inferior
self. The individuality, on the other hand, has received
the most beautiful and most radiant attributes: thepower to produce flowers and fruit. ‘All that is truly
spiritual is inspired by the individuality,’ he used tosay.
Using this example of the tree, he explained that thepersonality is as ever-present and as necessary to ahuman being as are the roots, trunk and branches to atree. Whereas the individuality, like the fruit and flowers of a tree, is not always present, and it is important that we learn to recognize where our impulses
are coming from: the personality or the individuality.
The personality is capable of becoming the best of servants, and we must not be like some ascetics of thepast and try to uproot it. If we give our individuality
first place and allow it to govern and dominate the per-364

sonality, then our physical body can become a basis forthe manifestation of God.
The Bonfin was a school; his school. He asked those
who came there to behave as exceptional humanbeings, to be pure in thought, word and deed. He gavethem methods they could use to harmonize themselves with the cosmos, to live in union with thesource of all life, the universal soul, God himself. ‘It
is in this communion with universal life that you willfind the meaning of life,’ he told them.
A stay at the Bonfin was an apprenticeship in what
he called ‘our real work’, the work that harmonizes andunifies all other activities. ‘Never neglect the practiceof concentration and meditation,’ he used to say. And
as he often referred to progress in the spiritual life as‘a work’ to be accomplished, he was asked more thanonce to explain what he meant.
It is a work which goes on where you would least suspect it. It is possible to remain completely motionlessand silent and yet take an active part in God’s work.
How? By rising to the level of the universal soul. Once
there, you unite yourself to it and participate in its
work. Nobody knows what you are doing; not even you.
You can be in several different places in the universe at
the same time.3
The implication is clear: perseverance is an essential
ingredient of the spiritual quest, and it was in this365

sense that he liked to use the popular expression,‘Bonnecontinuation!’—Keep
up
the
good
work!—thereby stimulating in his disciples the forces
necessary for the continuation and completion of thework undertaken. He knew that the greatest strengthof human beings lay in perseverance in the face of
all that might conspire to hinder their work of selftransformation. In fact, the transformation he refers to
is an alchemical process, which he likens to the change
in color of a litmus die when the last crucial drop ofacid or alkali is added. ‘One more drop! Just one more!
Keep up the good work, until the red turns to blue.’
What matters is to continue, to continue one’s efforts
until the ultimate transmutation is achieved.
***
As the years passed, the Bonfin was transformed.
Flowers, shrubs and trees were planted, oleander,
mimosa and eucalyptus, and a level area was laid out
next to the old oak tree for the morning exercises.
The scene that unfolded every day at dawn must havereminded Mikhaël of his days at Rila: the stars werestill bright in the sky when the first campers emerged
from their tents. After summary ablutions because of
the scarcity of water, they dressed warmly, took up a
blanket as a protection against the chilly morning air,and set off in silence for the Rock of Prayer. A brief
climb up some steep boulders led to a slope of sandy
soil scattered with pine trees which brought them to366the summit where they settled down for their meditation.
The site is beautiful. Against the gradually lightening
sky to the east, the outlines of distant mountains standout in a graceful succession of dark blue curves, andin clear weather the Mediterranean can be glimpsed
through a cleft in the hills to the south. An hour or soafter the sun had risen, Brother Mikhaël turned to thegroup for a short talk. Then came the descent to thecamp, the exercises, and breakfast which was set out
on three tables under an awning of reeds.
At noon the talks sometimes took place in a room inthe old farmhouse, but usually the campers remained
sitting around the tables out of doors. And when the
mistral blew and a fine layer of dust settled on thesoup, everyone was too happy to care.
But the time had come for renewed efforts. During thefirst convention in 1953, Mikhaël encouraged the participants to spend a little more time in front of thesun in the morning, simply to contemplate it, like children. Five years later, he suggested longer meditations
and emphasized the importance of the conditions conducive to real concentration.
Brother Mikhaël’s love of the sun was contagious. As
one who had been close to him since 1939 said:
As we listened to him we were filled with the desire to
be as radiant as he was. He who had contemplated the367

sun since his childhood. He who had accepted the mostterrible ordeals without losing his inner light. We knewof Peter Deunov’s warning of the ‘narrow gate’ throughwhich he would have to pass, and we could see that hehad, indeed, emerged ‘as luminous as a sun’.
In 1958, during the convention, he declared that animmense work was going on in the subtler dimensionsof earth and of the cosmos, and that entirely new elements were beginning to appear in the world. Heprophesied the impending dawn of a new era thatwould endure for many centuries, during whichhumanity would be free from war, disease and crime.
He often said that this new era would dawn first in
the souls of a handful of men and women toward theend of the 20th century, and that a Golden Age would
manifest as love in the hearts of human beings.
All his labors to bring about the kingdom of God onearth bore the mark of his close relationship with theangels of the four elements. He did everything hecould to create an elevated spiritual ambience for his
disciples, to help them to be more aware of certain
aspects of nature and their own links with her. On
August 6, 1958, when running water was at last
installed at the Bonfin, he made it an occasion to thankthe Angel of Water for this gift, and to explain:
Water represents the fluidic dimension of nature. It is
the earth’s blood… and this water is transformed intoblood in human beings. This is the true blood that nour-368ishes all the creatures of nature. You should meditate
on water, for it is a very profound symbol. When you
drink it with love, respect, and gratitude it is transformed into life, for it is the bearer of life. No chemical
process can exist without water; even precious stones
cannot exist without some particles of water, crystals
cannot form without water. It is thanks to a minutequantity of water that a precious stone is hard andtransparent and capable of reflecting the sun’s rays…
Ask water to communicate its transparency to you.
Sometimes at sunrise he asked those present to join
in his spiritual work by praying with him to the Angelof Air or the Angel of the Sun; and in the evenings
around the fire, he spoke of the importance of burning
all that is old and obsolete within oneself in order toenhance life. He often spoke of fire and water, thetwo elements that are indispensable to life. It was his
understanding of these two principles that led him, on
August 29, 1958, to speak of the respective roles of man
and woman:
Man possesses immense energies, but if it were not for
woman, those energies would simply return to the great
cosmic reservoir. Woman has the tremendously important role of capturing the spirit, the energies of thespirit, and creating forms that allow the spirit to act. It
is thanks to the union of these two principles that theearth and the forms that people it exist. The spirit isso subtle that without woman it could not survive onearth.

369

Toward the middle of September he announced that
he would leave shortly for a visit to India. The summer
convention of that year had been the last in a particular phase of his own life as well as that of his brotherhood. He would remain in India for a year, and when
he returned a new phase would begin. On September
29, he talked at length about the meaning of the feastof the Archangel Mikhaël which falls in the autumn,
at the beginning of a season of apparent death.
It is a cycle of disengagement and liberation; theadvent of something new. It is the moment when the
fruit is released from its shell, when seeds are gathered
to be eaten or put in storage for the future. The feastof the Archangel Mikhaël began a week ago, and thewhole of nature takes part in the festivities on thatday. The Angels and the Archangels, all the forces ofnature, even the divine Mother are invited to the celebration. On September 22 an extraordinary banquet
takes place. But human beings know nothing of whatgoes on in nature, and very few are invited to take partin the festivities.
During the three months before his departure for
India, several events made a great impression on thebrotherhood. One day, on developing a photographtaken during the meditation after lunch, a form could
be distinguished over Brother Mikhaël’s head: it was
the cabbalistic symbol of the Shin, whose vertical andhorizontal lines represent the masculine and feminine
principles respectively. The same form appeared on370

a photograph on three different occasions. The phenomenon, which could have been attributed tounusual reflections of light, was remarkable because
the sacred symbol was so perfectly formed. In thebrotherhood it was seen as an expression of the equilibrium that reigns in a human being who has developed the two principles within himself.
On January 1, 1959, Brother Mikhaël told those gathered at Izgrev that his absence would benefit them;that it would perhaps allow them to find their true
strength within themselves. He had been with themfor twenty-one years, and it was now time for him to go
in search of certain sacred things that had been conserved in an oriental country deeply imbued with themysticism of the great spiritual Masters.
He told them:
You are under the protection of a being who is allpowerful. It is he, this great being from on high, who
told me: ‘I have taken them under my protection.’ All
powers are his. For a long time now he has taken careof me. Several times in the past forty years I have sensed
his presence, but I have never been able to speak to him.
Now, by the grace of heaven, he has spoken directly tome. I believe what he says. I know he will take good careof you. I have been instructed to undertake this voyage.
I am simply obeying heaven’s orders.
Brother Mikhaël was entering his sixtieth year. This371

allusion to a mysterious being who had been by hisside for forty years seems to relate to the ‘extraordinary event’ that had occurred in 1920 and which hehad mentioned briefly a few years earlier. All indications are that he was speaking of the beginning of his
relationship, at the age of twenty, with the one hecalled his ‘true Master.’
The date of his departure for India was set for February 11, 1959. He traveled alone, but more than two
hundred people were at Orly to bid him goodbye. As
they watched his plane fading into the distance, several of them feared that the months of his absence
would seem very long without the intense life which
dwelt in him and which he breathed into each one ofthem. ‘Hold on to the principles of love, wisdom, andtruth,’ he had said in one of his last talks. What a program for the coming months!

Notes
1.

December 3, 1950.

2.

See his own account: ‘A Disciple Must Develop His
Spiritual Senses’, in Harmony.

3.

January 4, 1959.

372

PART IV

THE MASTER

15#

The Land of theDevas
On his return from a year in the East, Mikhaël told
the brotherhood: ‘My new name is Omraam Mikhaël.’It was while he was in India that he had received thisnew name which seems to have always been destinedfor him. On March 6 he explained:
The two principles of science, solve and coagula, areconcealed in this name. ‘Om’ produces the vibrations
which disintegrate all that is bad or negative. It corresponds to the solve of initiatic science which returns
things to their source and spiritualizes them by transforming them into light. The vibrations of ‘Raam’ havethe power to condense and coagulate divine realities
and make them tangible. This is coagula.
He never revealed the exact circumstances of theevent, but in private he sometimes alluded to three
Masters whom he met during a two-week retreat ina Himalayan temple. One of these three, by virtue ofthe supernatural power invested in him, gave him thename of Omraam. In April, he would say: ‘It wassomeone who was greater than Babaji.’
A change of name is not unusual in the initiatic tradition. On condition that it is well chosen—normallyby a person of great wisdom—a new name can awaken
new forces in the soul. For this reason, the quality of
its vibrations is of first importance. Omraam Mikhaël
Aïvanhov, who was familiar with the symbolism andpower of numbers, calculated the numerological valueof his new name, and changed the spelling of his surname from Ivanoff to Aïvanhov.1 He said that he had
been inspired by the Indian pronunciation of his
name, but far more important, as he explained later,
was the fact that this brought the total numerologicalvalue of his name to 72, a number that is consideredvery important in the cabbalistic tradition, as it is thesum of the nine choirs of angels, each of which comprises eight hierarchies.
Little is known of the true import of his stay in India.
He himself referred to it with great discretion, but several of his later talks and occasional comments about375

that period of his life throw an interesting light on
both his personal itinerary and his mission as a spiritual guide. Although those comments, often brief, do
not constitute a chronological account of his travels,
they indicate that he spent the first few months of his
stay in the mountains.
I was in the Himalayas, beyond Almora. The air wasvery pure and there were few people about. I talked
very little and spent my time meditating. I spent several
months there and meditated day and night.2
This was in Kashmir, where he spent several weeks.
He loved this country sheltered by the Himalayanfoothills, its magnificent valleys studded with gentians, primroses, and edelweiss, and its torrents pouring from the glaciers above into the lakes and rivers
below. After visiting Srinagar, the ancient lakeside city
known as the ‘Venice of the East’, he went higher, andat Gulmarg he stayed for a long time in a small cottage,in spite of the rudimentary physical conditions. From
there he set out one day—as so often in his youth—for
a long hike into the mountains and reached a lake at analtitude of 16,000 feet. Lacking mountaineering equipment, he could go no higher.
It was here that he had a rare experience. He knew of
the technique that enabled certain initiates of India
and Tibet to travel from one place to another in a stateof weightlessness, but he also knew that they achieved
this only after long years of practice. He was aston-376

ished, therefore, to be given the experience without
having sought it. Suddenly, while walking in themountains and contemplating the summit of Nanga
Parbat, he had a sensation of weightlessness. He began
to run with such lightness that his feet barely touched
the ground. Effortlessly he ran, uphill and down, as
though flying over the slopes. ‘It was an unforgettable
experience,’ he said later.
On the heights above Almora he met two exceptional
beings, Anagarika Govinda and his wife, and they
became fast friends. At last, on June 17, he met Babaji.
Omraam Mikhaël had long wished to meet this ‘great
being’, but as he did not know where to find him, hedecided to communicate by telepathy.
Neemkaroli Babaji responded immediately by goingto meet him in Almora. When he arrived, he asked
the disciples who had accompanied him to leave himalone with this Master from another land. They spentsome time together and then Babaji arranged for him
to meet many interesting people, introducing him as‘the French sadhu, a yogi and great saint’. The people
greeted Babaji’s friend with respect, bowing low in the
traditional way.
But who was Babaji? First of all we must rememberthat ‘Baba’ or ‘Babaji’ are terms of affection meaning‘father’ or ‘little father’ which are given to many spiritual guides in India. Since the publication in 1946 of
Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, the West has

377known of the existence of Mahavatar Babaji, a very
mysterious being whose role seemed to be that of aguide for prophets and spiritual Masters. It was saidof him that he always seemed to be the same age, that
he had lived in the Himalayas for two hundred andfifty or three hundred years, and that he appeared anddisappeared at will. His disciples were highly evolved
beings toward whom he was extremely demanding. He
had been known to foretell events and it was said thathis predictions always came true, that he could see andhear people at a distance, and that among other powers, he had the ability to be present in several different
places at once. Countless people told of being saved
from danger or illuminated by the great Babaji, without ever having seen him.
The same things were said of another great Masterknown as Neemkaroli Babaji. Some maintained that
he too was several hundred years old, and althoughothers said they knew where and when he had beenborn, he remained a mystery. He had never been
known to represent himself as a great lord; on the contrary, he always behaved with the utmost simplicity.
After his return from India, Omraam Mikhaël told of
an incident involving Neemkaroli Babaji which had
occurred in the small town of Nib Karauri.
One day, Babaji was traveling by train along with anumber of sadhus who had not bought tickets. The
sadhus in India are usually poor and often use public
transport without paying. When they are found out

378they are simply asked to leave. On this particular day,the ticket inspector asked all the sadhus—including
Babaji, who was also without a ticket—to leave thetrain. At the next stop, after Babaji and the sadhus
left the train with the passengers who had reached theirdestination, they stayed on the platform. The whistle
blew to announce its departure, but to the surprise of
the engineer the train failed to move. When a detailed
inspection of the engine failed to determine the reason
for this failure, the advice of the station-master andother employees was sought and a general discussion
followed. They were all very puzzled and had no idea
what to do about it. Finally an old man, pointing to
Babaji, told the station-master: ‘Go and ask him. It
is he who is preventing the train from leaving. I saw
light coming from his eyes.’ The station-Master spoke
to Babaji, and when he invited him to get back on the
train, he did so, followed by all the sadhus, and without
more ado the train went on its way. 3
From then on he was known as Neemkaroli Babaji,
meaning the Babaji of Nib Karauri.4
In July 1959, the brotherhood in France received a letter
signed Mikhaël in which he told them of his meetingwith the ‘Maharajah Neemkaroli Babaji’. In a few
vibrant words he described this exceptional being andthen went on to speak of the great Babaji mentionedby Yogananada as though he were the same person.
Later, he seemed rather to mask these events as if, afterthat first enthusiastic message, he wished to confuse

379

the trail. He continued to speak of his encounters with‘Babaji’ without further indication of his identity, andto describe his legendary powers, particularly his ability to escape from a locked room or to be seen in different places at the same time. In one of his talks,
Omraam Mikhaël said that he had met Babaji only
twice, in another he spoke of numerous meetings:‘Several times after leaving me he sent someone tofetch me so that we could talk together.’ And one day,speaking of Neemkaroli Babaji, he said: ‘He has thesame powers as the other one.’
A communion existed between the two men thatneeded no words. Omraam Mikhaël recounted how,
one day when they were in a car together, he put his
hand on Babaji’s knee in a gesture of respect and affection, whereupon Babaji turned to him with a smile:‘He began to sing in a mysterious language, and we
exchanged a look such as I have never exchanged withanyone.’Before saying goodbye for the last time, Babaji invited
Omraam Mikhaël to stay in a temple near Nainital. He
himself would not be there; he visited Nainital only
occasionally and unexpectedly. The temple was in amagnificent site high in the mountains, and HanumanBaba, the yogi in charge, welcoming his guest withevery sign of respect, showed him in silence to Babaji’sroom. It was in this setting, looking out on the splendid panorama of the Himalayas, that Omraam
Mikhaël spent two weeks in contemplation.

380

He used the evenings to learn more about Hinduism
from Hanuman Baba, who, having taken a vow ofsilence, replied to his questions by writing on a slate.
This yogi’s only nourishment was a pint of milk a day;at night he slept only two or three hours in a hole dug
in the ground. Thanks to this centuries-old technique
he deprived the five senses of their nourishment, thusachieving a certain numbness in his physical body:
Once the senses cease their activity, they no longer
absorb the psychic energy intended for the subtle forcecenters, so these centers can be awakened and the yogi
begins to see, hear, smell and touch the fluidic elementsof the higher realms of reality.5
In spite of the constraints of communicating by writing, a warm friendship developed between the twomen. Hanuman Baba explained to the foreign Masterthe meaning of certain exercises of Shabda yoga prescribed by Babaji. He also translated texts from the
Vedas and Upanishads for him and taught him the special properties of certain plants growing in the garden.
***
The period that followed this retreat in Babaji’s
ashram was very different. Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov visited the length and breadth of the country: thebig cities, shrines and places of pilgrimage, sacredcaves, palaces and temples. He spent long hours in381

some of the major libraries and even treated himself tosome lessons in Sanskrit.
Throughout his travels on the roads of India he lived
as an oriental, partaking of frugal meals which he prepared for himself. In hotels, the personnel respected
his wishes and smilingly provided him with what heneeded, for they immediately recognized him as a
Brahmashari, one who is consecrated in celibacy to theservice of God.
As the days passed, he met Indians from all walks oflife: members of the different religious castes, businessmen, members of the judiciary, and industrialists.
To all of them he showed the photograph of Peter
Deunov he always carried and was moved each time tosee them take it with respect and touch it to their forehead before returning it. Usually they invited him to ameal, told him of their problems and asked his advice,and to thank him for the honor of his presence, theyoften took him on a tour of their town or region.
When he was invited to speak to a group of scientists,
doctors, and physicists at Gulmarg, he expressed himself with the frankness which always characterized his
relations with other people, and his intervention provoked a lively discussion about the way to improveconditions in the country.
In the temples he visited he could not fail to notice themany sculptures of popular religious symbols, chief382

among them the lingam, a symbol of procreation,
which consists of a concave horizontal form surmounted by a vertical column. In the courtyard of atemple one day, he saw a group of women laying flowers at the foot of one such sculpture. Curious to learn
what they knew about the symbolism and having
noticed that many women in the towns knew English,
he decided to talk to them. Approaching, he asked
them what the sculpture represented. One of thewomen replied that it symbolized the two principles,
masculine and feminine.
‘Why are they shown together,’ he asked, ‘rather thanseparately?’In the silence that followed his question, he explained:
The Rishis have joined the two principles in this symbol, but in human beings they are still separate. In thetemples they are united, but not in yourselves. You areeither a woman, and in that case you continually seek
the other principle, man; or you are a man, continually in search of the other principle, woman. The two
principles are separated. If they were not, you would
not always be looking for the one that is missing. You
are not whole and complete in your own person, this is
why you look for a partner to make you whole. Greatsages, the Rishis and sadhus, possess the two principles within themselves: they are both man andwoman. This is why they do not need to marry. They
possess the qualities of both principles: the love of the383feminine principle, and the strength of the masculine
principle. They are the perfect lingam. 6
By this time he was surrounded by a large group ofpeople who had gathered to listen. In India, there isnothing unusual in such a scene: people recognize a
Master who is dispensing knowledge and wisdom;
they draw near and stay to listen. He went on to talkabout the chakras:
There is something more. You must develop the Ajnâchakra, which will give you the ability to see everything, but as you develop this feminine, horizontal
chakra, you must also awaken the masculine chakra,
Sahasrara, which is vertical. Only then will you be aliving lingam.7
Although he sometimes talked publicly in this way,
he was more often content to observe and listen. He
spent long periods in isolated villages, observing how
the people lived and learning about their interests andtheir problems. In spite of the wretched conditions, heremained with the poorest of the poor for a long timeand adapted to their way of life.
Traveling the roads, he sometimes met sadhus who,
renouncing all glory, dressed and behaved like ignorant beggars in order to carry on their spiritual workin peace. His practiced eye was not deceived by theirappearance, however, and he sometimes stopped totalk to them. They were always willing to converse384with him, and some even addressed him as Mahatma,
the title reserved for spiritual leaders, ascetics andsages. He denied that he had a right to the title, butwhen they insisted, he smiled and said no more.
After the traditional gesture of farewell, he watchedthem fading into the distance on the dusty road andreflected on the exceptional conditions in this country
for the development of the spiritual life: it was always
warm, and in many regions the abundance of fruit in
the forests made it possible to live without money. All
this made life easier for the sadhus and allowed themto concentrate on developing their spiritual faculties.
From his first days in India, he had noticed that thepeople still had faith in the power of a blessing. In thestreets, buses and hotels, even in the homes of the rich,people sometimes knelt before him and asked him to
bless them and accept them as disciples. At first, thissurprised and embarrassed him, but after a time hewillingly blessed those who asked.
***
Omraam Mikhaël visited many ashrams, from thehumblest to the most renowned, and even attended
a religious ceremony in an ashram for women which
was run by a young woman who was acquainted with
Neemkaroli Babaji. From the first, he was surprised
to learn that Babaji had spread word of his presencein India. In all the principal ashrams they knew who385he was and were expecting him. At Calcutta he met
Ananda Moyi Ma, of whom he said: ‘She is a woman
who has achieved something very great. There can be
no doubt that the Spirit is upon her.’He spent several days at the Ramakrishna Center. He
also visited Shivananda in his immense ashram at
Rishikesh, equipped with a hospital, a pharmacy, anda printing press. As soon as Shivananda saw him he
exclaimed in delight, jumped up and placed a welcoming garland of flowers around his neck. At the end of
the day, after a long conversation, he invited the foreign Master to join him in a walk along the shores of
the Ganga.
At Tiruvanamalai he was able at last to enjoy a few
days of tranquility and silence in the ashram ofRamana Maharshi who had died nine years earlier.
The atmosphere here was particularly cordial, luminous, and peaceful. The whole ashram was permeatedby a truly spiritual ambience. Ramana Maharshi’s disciples received him with the deference due to a great
spiritual Master and showed him every mark of confidence. He was taken to the room that had been
Ramana Maharshi’s and invited to stay and meditate
as long as he wished. Speaking later of his experiencein that room, he said that he had been in communionin the light with the soul of Ramana Maharshi. He
had always had a special affection for this mystic who
had refused to be considered a personage of impor-386

tance, and who had always possessed a lively humor
and great common sense.
His visits to ashrams in the four corners of the country
taught him a great deal about India. In a civilizationin which psychic powers have been highly developed
over the course of centuries, there inevitably exists awide variety of charismatic leaders, from simple fakirs
to true spiritual Masters. ‘Oh the powers, the powers…’ exclaimed Omraam Mikhaël one day; ‘Keep yourpowers, but keep them hidden. Show only love.’
Several of the sadhus he met were well known and had
thousands of disciples, but he also encountered many
who had assumed the role of guru, medium or clairvoyant without real knowledge, and who exploited thecredulity of their disciples. On the faces of those who
lived in such ashrams he failed to find the signs of spirituality he looked for. One day, watching a disciple
who was reputed to be often in a state of ecstasy, herealized that in fact he was ill.
After an ecstasy, you should be strengthened. Your
health and your inner light and intelligence should all
be enhanced. If you are depressed or exhausted, theexperience was not ecstasy but a pathological condition.8
One day he met a sadhu for whom he developed aparticular affection. He was a hundred and fifty years
old and remained almost constantly motionless in a387

state of samadhi. The disciples in his ashram considered their guru to be a transmitter, a kind of icon,
behind whose unresponsive physical exterior was anentity with whom they could communicate:
When I saw this sadhu—a hundred and fifty years
old… Oh, he was adorable. Truly, I love that man. He
is already pure, already liberated, and he remains onearth in order to help others. And to see how his disciples took care of him… it was magnificent. We justlooked at each other. No-one said anything, and thenhe began to speak. He took off his necklace of flowers
and put it round my neck. And what he said… it wasso poetic. He had read the Bible, the Gospels. He wasinspired. He told me things, but in Hindi, and there
were interpreters as he did not know English. What
he told me was more marvelous, more sublime, more
extraordinary than anything I had ever heard. I asked
his disciples: ‘Has your sadhu ever been wrong?’‘Never!’ He is already in communication with God.9
At Ganeshpuri, Omraam Mikhaël broke his journeyin order to meet Nityananda Maharaj, reputed to be agreat sage and an infallible clairvoyant. Arriving in his
ashram near Bombay, he found himself before a simple, unassuming man, dressed in nothing but a dhoti,
who greeted him silently and invited him with a courteous gesture to sit opposite him. Without a word,
Nityananda gazed at his visitor for a long time, thenclosed his eyes. The time passed. Sitting face to face,neither of them stirred, and for the disciples present it

388

was obvious that their spiritual guide was in a trance.
When Nityananda finally opened his eyes, he seemed
to return from a great distance. In perfect English, hesaid:‘His heart is pure. Peace is in his soul. All powers havebeen given to him.’
He added that his visitor had lived in India in the distant past, and mentioned an important personage
whose name is still known today. Others before
him—among them Peter Deunov—had spoken to
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov of the role he had playedin India in the past. In fact, only a few days before, asadhu gifted with clairvoyance had told him:
This is not the first time you have been here. You havealready been a Hindu. You have lived here in the past,and you will return.
Before leaving India, Omraam Mikhaël again visited
Ananda Moyi Ma and several of the greater clairvoyants of the time, all of whom spontaneously repeatedNityananda’s revelation. Finally, returning to Nainital
to see Hanuman Baba, he told him the name that
Nityananda had revealed. Hanuman Baba, still silent,
took out an ancient book about the great spiritual
Masters of India and showed him a picture of one ofthem, seated in the lotus posture. Over his head was
the figure of the seven-headed cobra, symbolizing thepossession of all spiritual and psychic powers.

389

Notes
1. Pythagoras taught that the universe was based on numbers.
Numerology stems from the notion that each number has
both a symbolic significance and a particular vibration, andthat each letter of the alphabet corresponds to a number.
2.

December 30, 1975.

3.

February 12, 1960.

4.

The differences in spelling are due to the transliteration.

5.

‘A Disciple Must Develop his Spiritual Senses’, inHarmony.

6.

February 14, 1960.

7.

Ibid.

8.

‘A Disciple Must Develop his Spiritual Senses’, inHarmony.

9.

July 29, 1960.

390

16

#

A Spiritual
MasterOn February 9, 1960, after a year’s absence, Omraam
Mikhaël Aïvanhov returned to Paris. The happy
crowd gathered at Orly airport were impatient to see
him again, for his dynamic presence and his spiritual
talks had been greatly missed. But when he appearedat the gates they were taken by surprise. A new power
seemed to emanate from this white-bearded patriarchal figure whom they barely recognized. So strongly
did he resemble Peter Deunov that some of those who
had known the Bulgarian Master wept openly.
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov was sixty years old. In
reality he had been teaching, enlightening, and guid-ing his disciples with the wisdom of a true spiritual
Master for many years, but that day at Orly he seemedboth the same and yet transformed. His whole being
expressed the stability that had always characterized
him, while at the same time radiating a new aura ofauthority.
The next day and for the following several days, inspite of the fatigue of his long journey, he received
countless visitors at Izgrev and gave several talks ina hall filled to capacity. But he did not delay long in
Paris and soon left for the Bonfin. Toward the end of
his stay in India he had heard of the disaster that had
struck Fréjus two months earlier when the rupture of
the Malpasset Dam on the Reyran had released flood
waters that had devastated the town and left hundreds
dead. The Bonfin, a few kilometers away, had beenspared.
The spectacle of destruction that met his eyes was
overwhelming. For miles around, everything was inruins, and the whole region was impregnated with theterror and suffering of the victims. Powerful, negative
vibrations assailed him on all sides, and he could sense
the souls of the dead still clinging to the ruins of theirhomes. For days, he did everything in his power tocommunicate with them mentally and help them tofree themselves from the horror of the sudden, violent
death which kept them tied to where they had lived.
By communicating with their spirit, he tried to help
them to move toward the light.

392

After two weeks of this intense spiritual work, hereturned to Izgrev, and then, at the spring equinox, hespent a few days in the mountains. After living as anoriental for months in India, he was finding it difficult
to adapt to the rhythm of life in Paris and had even lost
all desire to speak. For many years, he had dreamed ofcommunicating wordlessly with his brothers and sisters, and throughout his life he was to have a sense ofregret that this was not possible:
The things I say to you during these meditations cannot
all be put into words. One day you will sense andreceive within yourselves what I give you in these
moments of silence. In fact, some of you are alreadycapable of this. I could lead you to extraordinary
regions, but you are not aware of this and are not synchronized with my vibrations.1
It is true that the members of the brotherhood were
not yet capable of following his lead in this, but neither was he called to live the life of a contemplative.
It was impossible for him to be silent. For a long time
now, his days had been dedicated to action and a largepart of his nights to communion with God. From onhigh he received the strength that enabled him to live
in both worlds.
No sooner had he returned from the mountains thanhe resumed his task as teacher. The members of thebrotherhood were overjoyed. At last their guide waswith them again, he who had shown them the way to393

spiritual summits while helping them to assume full
responsibility for their earthly tasks. To begin withthey had been a little uneasy, afraid that the warm,
simple relationship of the past might have changed.
They could not fail to notice something new and indefinable in him that they had never sensed before. The
months he had spent with the yogis and sadhus ofIndia, the privileged relation he had enjoyed with thegreat Babaji, and the new name that had been given to
him in mysterious circumstances—all this was somewhat intimidating.
It was not long, however, before they realized that his
attitude had not changed. He was as accessible, cordial
and informal as ever, and no more inclined than before
to let them put him on a pedestal. ‘Stop singing mypraises,’ he said, ‘and start working without paying
attention to me. Try rather to understand my ideas andput them into practice.’ Over the years he repeatedthat he never told them anything without having
experienced and verified it beforehand, and they too,
he said, should verify everything for themselves. Hisconstant theme was the light dispensed by the sun
to all creatures on earth. He urged his disciples toimmerse themselves mentally in light as in an ocean,and to radiate out to the world all the colors it contains.
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov’s place is unquestionably
at the heart of the Mikhaëlic era foretold by Rudolf
Steiner. He belongs to the spiritual family of that great394

luminous spirit, Mikhaël, archangel of Light, whose
mission is to illuminate and liberate human beings. Far
from using his ascendancy to influence or coerce themembers of his brotherhood, he always pointed out
the different possibilities open to them. If he saw thatsome were leaning toward another genuinely spiritualgroup, he did not try to hold them back. ‘We are allmembers of the same family,’ he told them. One could
follow him as one follows a mountain guide, without
renouncing a particle of one’s freedom.
His stay in India had been a pilgrimage to spiritual
heights; an immersion in a unique civilization: the discovery of a human society both rich and poor, of yogis,
brahmins, government ministers, middle class citizens
and beggars. In that country he had come face to facewith the most difficult conditions on earth—poverty
and ignorance—but he had also discovered the spiritual values of a people in search of the absolute andthe suppression of earthly appetites, a people impregnated by the striving for detachment of hundreds ofgenerations before them. He had begun and ended his
visit with months spent in contemplation in the solitude of the Himalayas. Once again he had scaled thespiritual summits. Once again he had come back to hishuman family.
Omraam Mikhaël was one of those rare beings whose
love of God is so ardent that they are capable of concentrating all their energies toward the attainment ofspiritual summits. He first scaled those mysterious

395

heights that give access to the divine world at the ageof fifteen. He scaled them and he nearly died of joy,but he came down into the valley again, and if he came
down it was because he knew in his heart that he hada task to perform, and even the most sublime joy could
not turn him from it. That was what he had said about
his experience at the age of seventeen when he hadheard the music of the spheres: ‘It was fear thatbrought me back. Not the fear of death but the fear of
being incapable of returning to work on earth. If you havea task to accomplish in this world, you must work at it.
I could not give that up.’To the members of the brotherhood, he was now ‘the
Master’. Not because he had learned to dominate others, but on the contrary, because they had recognizedthat he had attained that degree of self-mastery thatis only possible after many years of intensive work.
He had begun this work of self-perfection to which
we are all called while still very young; he had experienced a great many of the difficulties known to humanbeings, and had used them as tools in his work of selftransformation.
After his time in India he sometimes spoke of the great
Masters who, once they had attained self-mastery,chose to live in solitude rather than with their fellow
human beings. For his part, his fellow human beings
were his family; his first concern was for them. His
thoughts were all for his brothers and sisters, all thosemen, women, and children: he longed to take them by396

the hand as their brother, lead them to the summitsof their own being and help them to understand theirrole in the society—the family—of which they weremembers. This is why he continually talked to them
about true brotherhood, the only thing that could
bring about a Golden Age for humankind. For if hewanted to help them to grow toward perfection, tofind inner peace and joy, his ultimate goal was evenmore far-reaching: he sought to lead them well beyond
their individual efforts. His goal was the creation ofa fraternal civilization of human solidarity that would
be both spiritual and material, centered on the highest
values for the greater good of all.
***In 1960, there was a large gathering of people at the
Bonfin for the summer convention. When the Masterleft his chalet at dawn and saw the long lines of shadowy figures walking up to the Rock, he could not help
but be moved. ‘Dear Lord’, he thought, ‘how beautiful
they are, all these brothers and sisters coming to pay
homage to your splendor!’ One morning, after his talkon the Rock, he confessed that he had been unable torestrain his tears as they sang. Beautiful music often
brought him to a state bordering on ecstasy, plucking
at the secret chords of his being that linked him to theworld of perfection. And as he had said two years earlier:
I use music in order to bring the most beautiful and397beneficial things down onto the physical plane for you.
[…] Very few people realize the importance of what they
are hearing. So, without your knowing it, I continue mywork, using the music we are listening to. Some of you
sense this and work with me… For me the question isclear: my whole life has been accompanied by music;
I owe to music many of the benefits I enjoy today. Yes,
thanks to music I have experienced some unforgettable
moments. It was never the only factor, of course, but it
has been an important one.2
After his long absence, it did his heart good to hear
the songs of the fraternity again and join his voice
to those of his disciples, to measure once again the
power of this music to stir the most sensitive fibers of
the human heart by linking it to sublime entities. In
India he had noticed that many ascetics did not singand even considered music a distraction from thingsof greater importance. That conception of the spiritual
life was utterly foreign to him: in his view, music wasan essential part of life.
If you knew the effect music can have on your different
bodies—etheric, astral, and mental—you would singall day long… Music is the most powerful means wehave of renewing and restoring the equilibrium ofsocial life.3
He was convinced that harmonious music would soon
play a predominant role in the life of people throughout the world. Classical music―and above all, sacred398

music―was what he loved, for it vibrates in harmony
with the higher realms and facilitates meditation. His
appreciation was not one-sided, however: when hechose music to accompany certain physical activities,
it was not to the classics that he turned, but rather tosongs full of energy and gaiety. He said that we should
always choose the kind of music that had a positiveeffect on everyone. A pianist with whom he had spenta long day in the countryside during a visit to Greece
told of his own experience:
I wasn’t feeling very well but the Master was in very
good form. All kinds of difficult things had happened
during the day. When we got home that evening, I felt
much better, the other brother was his usual self, but the
Master seemed rather somber. When I suggested somemusic he agreed and told me to choose, so, as I wanted
to respect his mood, I thought he would be pleased when
I put on a record of Byzantine religious music with the
Bulgarian singer Boris Christov. After a little while theMaster looked at me and said: ‘You’re not a good psychologist. You could see that I was in a serious mood, alittle sad, and yet you chose music that is very solemn.
I’ll show you what you should have done.’ He stood up
and went to my record library and put on some tunes
from French comic opera. Another time it was a rainy
evening during the dark of the moon, the atmosphere
was a little oppressive, we were all feeling serious andpensive, and he played some yodeling songs from the
Tyrol.

399

Even those with little sensitivity to music soon grew tolove it in this spiritual family where it had such importance and marked the rhythm of the day’s activities.
When Omraam Mikhaël explained that music was the
respiration of the soul, or that a beautiful song had
a beneficial effect on the singer, even the indifferent
responded. The music that resounded in the halls of
Izgrev and the Bonfin was of a truly magical beauty.
Every day after meals, they listened to the sacred
works of one of the composers he loved, those hecalled ‘the great musical giants’: Beethoven, Haydn,
Mozart, Handel, and Bach. But he loved the works ofother composers too: Vivaldi, Schubert, Dvorák andBerlioz.
Hearing him speak of the deeper meaning of some ofthese works, one could not help but discover their
spiritual beauty. He used to say, for instance, that
Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis could help one to work for
greater detachment; that Haydn’s Stabat Mater was
conducive to a continual and tranquil elevation of thespirit; that the Trio for flute and harp from Berlioz’s
Enfance du Christ attracted beings from the invisible
world who, unseen and unknown, came to dance. All
this was so natural to him that one day he asked themusicians to play the Trio three times running, ‘so thatthose invisible entities can continue to dance for theglory of God’.
To sing with him often became a mystical experiencefor his disciples, and when they succeeded in silencing

400

the clamorous voice of their own preoccupations anduniting their thoughts to his, they freed him for the
spiritual work that was the framework of his life.
Gathered around the fire one evening in August 1960,
the campers were so stimulated by his words that theysang one of the most beautiful four-part songs in theirrepertory with exceptional sensitivity. Omraam
Mikhaël did not sing with them. The next day he told
them that the power of that song had affected him in
an extraordinary way, that he had been close to fainting as his soul had taken flight. After leaving them hehad thought about the power of their love and, gazingat the stars, had taken a few deep breaths to help him
to assimilate what had just happened. ‘I know what I
do for you,’ he said, ‘but I want to thank you for what
you do for me.’The year following his return from India saw the
beginning of a fraternity center in Switzerland. On his
first visit to the country, his disciples invited him tovisit a site they had found at Les Monts-de-Corsier.
A long walk through forests and up and down rocky
slopes brought them to a broad clearing with a magnificent view. Below stretched the deep blues and greensof the Lake of Geneva, and beyond it the jagged spiresof the Dents du Midi pierced the sky. On clear days thegreat dome of Mont Blanc gleamed in the distance.
Once the Swiss fraternity had bought the land, hereturned to visit it again. It was winter, and nature,
robed all in white, seemed to have been fashioned that401

very day by the hand of the Creator. The Masterwalked for a long time in the snow. Later, when thegroup asked him to give the future center a name, hecalled it Videlinata, meaning ‘divine light’ in Bulgarian. As always when he dedicated a center for thebrotherhood, he exhorted them to use it with great
respect, to be conscious of what it represented and of
the work to be done there.
The brotherhood is an experiment, an attempt at thesocial actualization of a spiritual family whose members all support and help each other in a spirit of love.
Each one contributes something beautiful from his or
her own soul. The perfume that emanates from a brotherhood—as from a flower as it opens—nourishes thesouls and spirits of all its members.4***
At this period, Master Omraam Mikhaël asked those
who followed his teaching to redouble their efforts, tobe more attentive, to work with greater spiritual intensity. He spoke of the exigencies of certain Hindu andTibetan Masters of the past and described the initiaticordeals to which they subjected their disciples in order
to link them ever more closely to the divine source. For
his own disciples he had great ambitions, and although
he always showed them great love, he could also be
severe, even inflexible. The demands he made on himself, however, were a hundred times greater. Wishing
to be capable not only of instructing them but of giv-402

ing them an entirely new vision of life, he constantly
sought to perfect himself and increase his own knowledge. He was never satisfied that what he gave themadequately answered their needs.
The references he made at this time to the exigencies
of oriental Masters were important. In his view, true
universal brotherhood could only come about
through a blending of aspects developed respectively
by East and West. The spiritual philosophy, clairvoyance, knowledge and psychic powers of the former
allied to the scientific discoveries and material andsocial progress of the latter were capable of transforming the world.
In spite of the fascination Eastern mysticism held formany Westerners, however, he did not hesitate toinsist that Eastern methods needed to be adapted, forthey corresponded to neither the mentality nor the
climate nor the way of life of Westerners. In this heagreed with teachers such as Ramakrishna andVivekananda, neither of whom had encouraged theirdisciples to practice rigorous physical exercises; on thecontrary, they had declared that traditional techniques
whose goal was to develop great mental concentration
were no longer appropriate. They too had emphasized
the value of spiritual work, of meditation and contemplation as the most effective means of achieving liberation.
Without attaching undue importance to external403

forms, Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov extracted the vital
sap from ancient texts, from the maxims of Hermes
Trismegistus, from the teachings of Jesus and the Buddha, giving them their true cosmic dimension. By placing himself beyond all religions, cults, and philosophies, he could speak of a religion centered on divine
light that was capable of preserving the flame of life
within changing forms. In his view, only principles are
eternal; it is a great mistake to try to perpetuate forms
and structures.
At the same time, although he did not approve of theexcessively rigid forms established by many religions,
he readily acknowledged that pictures or statues could
be useful, often serving as a necessary support for
prayer. He himself made use of symbols in his spiritual
work—the Tree of Life of the Cabbalah, the rose, theprism, the seven colors of the spectrum—but healways warned his disciples that such symbols must be
no more than tools to help them rise toward the divineworld. In his initiatic school at Izgrev and at the Bonfin he advocated a spiritual work that mobilized mind,
heart, and will. Time and again he talked about therole of these three basic components of every humanbeing. They had an important place in his philosophy,
but also in his life:
I have experienced the mystical way: the heart, feelings,
sensations, love. I have tasted the spiritual way: study
and knowledge. I have also followed the way of concrete realization through work and the exercise of the404will. I have tried these three ways one after the other,and in each I have achieved results. And yet I do notwant to choose one or the other: I want all three.5
If he was to continue to reveal to his followers thetruths that would enable them to advance, he needed
tranquility and silence. But he saw that an understanding of true silence, the silence that is not merely a conventional attitude but a state of mind, was not accessible to all. Although his brothers and sisters werealways receptive, he often felt that he was a voice crying in the wilderness. He told them frankly that theirlack of resolve and perseverance saddened him. But
his regrets were for them, for those who were not yetaware of the value of ‘a silence penetrated by thoughtsof such an exalted nature, that it is endowed with all
the elements needed to form their subtle bodies, eventhe body of glory’. Six months after coming back from
India he told them:Once you have had a taste of the gifts this silencebrings, you will understand it. Silence is not simply aquestion of not fidgeting, not moving things about; it
is a question of putting a stop to all discontent, to all
the vague emotions that drift through one. The first
degree of silence is physical. It is necessary to attainthat silence before one can go higher and pacify one’s
astral feelings. The second degree of silence, then, is thepacification of feelings; the third is the pacification ofthought. When this silence is achieved, the spirit is free
to move about and visit regions it has never seen before.

405

In this total peace the spirit can soar aloft and bringback with it joy, health, fortitude and love. It can bringwisdom to our minds, so that our intelligence enables
us to understand everything.6
At the Bonfin and Izgrev he continued to insist on theneed for real silence during meals, the kind of silence
that makes it possible to assimilate one’s food consciously and to practice the yoga of nutrition so as toextract its subtlest and most potent elements and thus
improve one’s physical and psychic health. On January
8 1962, he said:
Help to calm your solar plexus with some consciously
harmonious gestures. During meals you often see me
quietly moving something on the table for no apparent
reason. These small gestures do me good; they harmonize my solar plexus and draw in strength. They benefit
you too. Whenever you are in a painful state inwardly,
make some harmonious gesture. For example you candraw the form of a circle in the air at the level of yourhead and upper body.
More than once he resolved to demand more of his
brothers and sisters. At times he expressed his displeasure in no uncertain terms when there was toomuch noise at meals. But each year at the close of thesummer convention, gathered with his disciples roundthe fire in honor of the Archangel Mikhaël, it was themagic of love that triumphed. The ambience createdby their spiritual aspirations and desire for perfection406was so irresistible that the Master was caught up in thecurrent and all his resolutions of severity were swept
away. His love overcame all else.
Over the years, however, he sometimes interrupted his
program of talks and left the convention for a few daysin order to give the participants a period of personalreflection. At the same time, it was an opportunity
for him to renew his own energy and inspiration. On
these occasions, he usually went to the mountains. At
other times he stayed at the Bonfin and took part inall the activities, depriving the participants only of the
spoken word, so that they might learn ‘to desire nothing more than the presence of God.’
This presence of God was the object of his own tirelessquest. His mission was very concrete and he wasextremely practical and competent on the physicalplane, but that did not prevent him from being a true
mystic: he would always need to spend long hours in
meditation and contemplation. Those close to him
knew that when alone he often voluntarily left his
physical body or was caught up in ecstasy. They also
knew that he slept little and, like all high initiates
whose consciousness is always alert and vigilant, wasable to carry on his spiritual work while his physicalbody was resting. He sometimes said that what hecould do in the daytime was less than a millionth partof what he could accomplish ‘on the other side’ atnight. It was then that he could speak to the souls of
his disciples most effectively.

407

***
In 1964, accompanied by two brothers, he visited thevillage of his birth in Macedonia. There, he happily
renewed many sixty-year-old memories, and the family members who still lived there gave him a joyous
welcome. One of his first visits was to the cousin
whose weaving he had ruined at the age of four. On
his return to France, he had commented humorouslyon that visit: ‘All these people were still alive and very
old, and I gave them something to make up for the distress I had caused them. We must never leave things
undone. Sooner or later we have to pay our debts.’
The principal reason for this visit was to meet his
mother, and as it was impossible for him to return to
Bulgaria, it was she who made the long journey from
Varna to Serbtzi with her son Alexander and one ofher grandsons. She was now eighty-eight years old andhad not seen her eldest son since 1937.
They both knew that they were seeing each other forthe last time. Back in Varna, Dolia told one of her
granddaughters: ‘I was afraid I would cry when I saw
him with his hair quite white, but I managed to holdback my tears. I was very moved, but I wanted theambience to be beautiful. Above all I did not want toupset him.’
On August 5, 1973, nine years after seeing her eldest
son again, her long life drew to a peaceful close.

408

***
At Izgrev, Videlinata and the Bonfin, the members of
the brotherhood gathered regularly for Easter, Christmas and Summer conventions, at which the MasterOmraam Mikhaël gave daily talks. He received anenormous amount of mail, to which he always replied
personally. In addition, he gave dozens of personal
interviews and spent hours listening to and advisingpeople. The task he had assumed absorbed most of histime. As one of those close to him told us: ‘Each day
he bore the burden of a spiritual Master who is both afather and a mother, ready to accept all the attendantdifficulties as well as the joys, the gratitude as well as
the resentments.’
At the Bonfin his visitors were invited to join him
under the trees of his garden or in his sitting-room.
For years he received them in the oriental manner, sitting cross-legged on a cushion. The sparse furnishingsin his chalet expressed the extreme simplicity of his
tastes. As one witness put it: ‘He was so alive, so radiant, and he preferred the simplest, least complicatedsymbols.’ The symbols of his choice, those with which
he most often worked, seemed to be teeming with life.
He chose them knowing that they would speak to thehearts and minds of his visitors, and the numerous
crystals and beautifully colored stones scattered about
his chalet bore witness to his special fondness for
them.

409

Each person who came to talk to him was received
with great consideration. Almost always he would
start by asking:‘What can I do for you?’
And if, having explained the reason for his visit, theperson was open and receptive, Omraam Mikhaël wasable to give him whatever it was he most needed. If,
on the other hand, the person was too emissive, he
was content to listen without trying to force his confidence. With some he was very understanding, affectionate and gentle; with others he was sometimes very
severe and exacting. Sometimes, in order to help the
person in front of him, he became a mirror in which
they could see the reflection of their own defects.
Many of his visitors understood only later why he had
spoken to them of things which seemed to have noconnection with the subject of the interview.
When he was asked for advice, he did not always
answer immediately. He would often say, ‘Wait. I’ll
give you my answer tomorrow.’ And when he was consulted about a project that had already been launched
he never intervened. If, for instance, two people
already had a commitment to each other, if there wasalready a bond between them, he would say that hecould not interfere in their decision or in a relationship which already existed. To all, he would repeat:‘What I am asking you is the most difficult of all: tobecome messengers of light.’

41
4100

***
He was overburdened with work. In order to renew
his inspiration and consolidate his close bond with thespiritual world, he needed to retire from time to timein solitude. In the mid-sixties, he began to make occasional visits to the Pyrenees to meditate and rest. Finding ideal conditions for his spiritual work, he often
spent time there between the brotherhood conventions, alone or with a few people. The place, which hecalled Castelrama, was in a beautiful setting. The viewof the mountains was superb, the air pure and invigorating, the silence broken only by the song of birds andthe deep voice of the wind.
In his small cottage he consecrated a room for meditation, and he encouraged everyone to do the same athome, adding that the smaller the room the easier it
was to concentrate. There were days when he spent
many hours in this oratory; at other times he climbed
the hill behind the cottage for long meditations, rejoicing in the sunlight and peace of the early morning.
Nourished by the natural elements around him, by thecurrents of energy flowing from the sun, he told his
companions that he felt no need to eat. Since his
youth he had been accustomed to eat sparsely twice aday, but at Castelrama he usually had only one meal aday.
At one point he felt the desire to repeat an experienceof his youth: to fast completely for ten days. During411

his fast he read, meditated, wrote, and joined his
brothers, working with pickax and spade to prepare
the ground for the basic installations they needed. As
his fast was not a treatment for illness, he did not needto rest and save his energies to heal himself. On thecontrary, he was full of vigor, living on sunshine andthe pure air. He was often in a state of ecstasy withthe beauty of the sunrise in the mountains. And as
his soul had never ceased to vibrate to the call of themountains, he often went off for long, solitary hikes tothe high peaks of the Pyrenees.
Although these periods of retreat were extremely beneficial, he never wished to remain alone for very long.
This paradox was a constant in his life: his need to bein permanent communion with the highest planes ofbeing was always tempered by his rare openness andaccessibility to his contemporaries and to the brotherhood in particular. He was never so happy as whensurrounded by his spiritual family. Before long, there
was a continual coming and going of disciples heinvited to stay—ten or more at a time—and Castelrama rapidly became a miniature brotherhood center.
Many surprises awaited his guests: in the Master they
discovered a host of unequalled thoughtfulness who
personally arranged a vase of flowers in their rooms.
He was the pater familias, relaxed and warm-hearted,
who often invited them to share a meal and at times
even prepared a Bulgarian dish for them. He made surethat they all had the opportunity to express them-412

selves, made plans for the future with them, and won
their hearts with his informal cordiality.
Omraam Mikhaël recognized the importance of therealities of life in the world and always tried to remain
in touch with the circumstances of his contemporaries
in order to understand their problems. In his constantdesire to be close to others, to understand their problems, and to see how modern mentalities were evolving, he often read novels and watched films and television. In this way he observed the behavior of his contemporaries and found examples with which to illustrate the major themes of his teaching. The news programs on television were a regular feature of his day,and in the evenings he would sometimes invite hisguests to watch a film and then discuss it with them.
He particularly enjoyed films in which a hero showedcourage and self-sacrifice in the defense of justice.
As he put it, Castelrama was like ‘a transmitting station’ from which his spiritual work went out to thewhole of humanity, always in his heart. Every so often,
local people whose acquaintance he wanted to
make—the local gendarme or the mountain-rescue
teams—were invited to a meal, and he had the art ofputting them all at their ease. The people of the region
became truly fond of him and were always happy toknow that he was there.
***

413

It was six years since Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov had
returned from India, six years since the members of his
brotherhood first gave him the respectful title of Master. In spite of this, he continued to refer to himself
as ‘a living book’ on whose pages Peter Deunov had
written for twenty years before sending him to France.
Although he loved to talk about the great Masters,
he never referred to himself as one. He always said
that Peter Deunov had chosen him, his most insignificant disciple, only because he cherished a high ideal
and worked in secret to perfect himself. His humility
was genuine. He knew that people regarded him as a
Master, but he did not fear any more than before todiminish himself in the eyes of his brotherhood or ofvisitors. Some of them went away perplexed, but hehad expressed this very clearly in 1939, soon after his
arrival in France:
Humility is like a valley lying between two mountains.
It is irrigated by the water that flows from the heights,
so that it produces an abundance of fruit and flowers.
Pride is like those peaks: isolated, solitary, and barren.7
In spite of his unassuming attitude, he was obliged
once again to contend with difficulties caused bycalumnies, conflicts and misunderstandings that
resurfaced in his homeland. There were still some in
Bulgaria who bore him a grudge, who even reproached
him for his physical resemblance to Peter Deunov. To
be sure, there were also many Bulgarians who had visited him at the Bonfin and who spoke of his work with414

enthusiasm, but they were not taken seriously in theirhome country, any more than others had been twenty
years earlier.
For his part, after a year in India where spiritual guides
were accorded unconditional respect, he found himself faced once again with western reticence, with theever-present tendency to analyze and criticize. Someof the members of the French brotherhood who had
known Peter Deunov continually criticized Omraam
Mikhaël Aïvanhov for introducing new elements into
the teaching. On July 21, during the 1966 convention at
the Bonfin, deciding that it was time to clarify the situation, he declared:
I speak with my own voice. Peter Deunov spoke withhis. If he did not talk about certain questions, it was
not because he did not know them. Perhaps the time
was not ripe to talk about them. Many things have tobe revealed before people can understand. There is noneed to be afraid. As I have already said, a person cansing only with his own voice. The Master did not speakwith the voice of Jesus. And my talks are not copies
of Peter Deunov’s. The teaching is something very vastand true. I had to find my own way. 8
Two weeks later he reverted to the same question andbegged them to pay less attention to persons and moreto the light of the sun, to that which is stable anddivine. This time, he spoke with even greater gravity,
alluding to his illumination at the age of fifteen:415

It is now fifty years since I was overwhelmed by thelight. My work is just beginning and one day it will
become visible to the whole world. I have been waitingfor orders from above, and it is only this year thatheaven has sent me a sign of the work expected of me.
For the first time I have been instructed to reveal manythings to you. A different era is upon us, with a different language and different means. My work is different
from that of Peter Deunov. Completely different. But
there is no contradiction between us. We are following
the same path, advancing in the same direction, always
toward the light, toward God. 9This declaration was enough to clear the air and put
new vigor into most of his disciples, enabling them toadhere to his teaching without reserve. As for himself,
although criticism never prevented him from doing
what he had to do, it was always an occasion to purify
his motivations and work to develop humility.
***
That summer he gave several talks about purity. In
fact, long before this he had frequently spoken about
purity. Drawing on examples from everyday life, hespoke first of the necessity in every area of life of separating the pure from the impure to avoid poisoning
oneself. Then he insisted on the importance of choosing one’s pleasures on every level with great care. His
explanation of what he called the divine algebra wasparticularly striking: ‘When the intellect is freed from416all impurities it attracts light and understanding; when
the heart is purified it becomes capable of happiness;when the will is freed from apathy it becomes stronger,
and when the physical body is freed from the wastes
that encumber it, it regains health.’
It was as logical as an equation.
With the skill of a painter, he described the beautyof the river of life, the ‘path of wisdom’ that flows
from the highest realms of the invisible world, pregnant with celestial energies. He explained mental exercises that one could use to slake one’s thirst at thisriver and recapture the purity that dwells at the summit of all that exists. He explained to couples how tolive their love for each other without sinking to levels that sterilize the spiritual life. Of paramount importance in his view is to recognize the potency of sexual
energy and use it for one’s spiritual development.
The sexual organs are a synopsis of creation as a whole.
The force that lies hidden in human beings is a sacred,divine force by means of which they can attain all their
desires. Let me give you an example: if you live on thefifth floor, the water you need has to be pumped up toyou, and this necessitates a certain amount of pressure.
If you do away with that pressure, the water will notreach all the floors. But men do their best to lower thepressure within themselves and reduce it to zero. They
cannot endure it. And yet, this force must be allowed
to rise through all the floors until it reaches the brain.

417

It is the pressure that causes it to rise so that it can beused. But as most people continually get rid of it, theresult is that they can never make use of it on the higher
planes.10
It was in this sense that he liked to talk about the
beauty of the work achieved by the high initiates, who
instead of squandering these energies had learned touse them to create a dazzling light in the brain, a divine
elevation of the soul. He himself had chosen celibacy
and continence in order to dedicate his life to helping
humanity, but he had never feared this force which,in the words of Hermes Trismegistus, he called ‘thestrength of all strengths’. Neither his spirituality nor
his behavior was ever inspired by a repudiation of thesexual force; on the contrary, in his view, the sexual
energies with which cosmic intelligence has endowed
human beings contain the seeds of evolution and transcendence.
His attitude toward women was always one of respectand spiritual love. What he looked for was beauty, thejoyful triumph of nature. The sight of a woman
singing moved him deeply because it made him thinkof the divine Mother, but what he sought above all inthe visible countenance were the emanations of inner
beauty. When he spoke about his attitude toward
women, he did so in order to help other men. He
declared without ambiguity: ‘Nothing is more beautiful than the sexual organs of men and women when418

considered as organs destined to accomplish thedesigns of God.’
His teaching about love and sexuality is balanced andvivifying, but it is a teaching for the future. He himself
acknowledged that very few human beings
today—even, and perhaps especially, within the stateof marriage—are ready to work for the self-mastery
which, thanks to the potency slumbering in the ethericcenters of the chakras, could have truly gigantic resultson the spiritual plane.
There is a close affinity in his philosophy between
sanctity and sexuality: ‘Human beings, he said, arecapable of attaining perfection only when they achieve
control of these special energies and direct them to thehigher spheres. And they can succeed in this endeavor
only by adhering to the high ideal of seeking to resemble the heavenly Father and the divine Mother, only
by opening their hearts spiritually to all creatures on
earth.’
Love is an exchange, and there can be exchange onother planes than the physical. There can be an
exchange between two people at a distance, througha look, a thought, a word, without ever embracing or
touching. […] When I speak of love I mean love thatis life, light and beauty, an exchange with divine creatures. That is the love I think about night and day, andthis love brings me blessings.11419

For Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, to renounce something without putting anything in its place had no
meaning. As he often said, he himself had renounced
nothing: he had simply transposed his choice of pleasures from the physical to the spiritual plane, thus
gaining a profound joy that was nourished by mysticalexperiences. The beauty of children, of nature at sunrise, of the stars, the oceans, the mountains—all thesethings spoke to him of the perfection of God.

Notes
1.

September 1, 1971.

2.

August 13, 1958.

3.

April 17, 1957.

4.

November 19, 1961.

5.

November 19, 1961.

6.

August 6, 1960.

7.

March 4, 1939.

8.

July, 21, 1966.

9.

August 6, 1966.

10.

August 26, 1958.

11.

‘Love and Sex’, in The Mysteries of Yesod.

420

17

#

The PPath
ath ofLight
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov’s dominating passion was
to set fire to hearts and minds. His aspiration, he sometimes said, was to be a Prometheus: to steal fire fromheaven and give it to human beings. His personal path
was the path of light, and all his teaching was centeredon this element so essential to life. Light, he said, wasthe most perfect image human beings can have ofGod, and he explained how to use it in order to transform oneself and become as radiant as the sun.
A series of talks given during the summer of 1967 constituted a synthesis of his teaching about the sun. For
many years he had spoken of the yoga that he called‘Surya yoga’—Surya being Sanskrit for sun. This yogaof the sun, he explained, was known to the ancient
Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Aztecs, Mayas andTibetans, and it was the one he favored above all others, for it included and summed up all other forms ofyoga. He used to say: ‘I teach many different kinds ofyoga, among them the yoga of nutrition. But I haverediscovered the richest, most ancient and most vitalof all forms of yoga: Surya yoga.
He liked to talk about the Spirit of the sun. In thisrespect his philosophy coincided with the age-old
philosophies of the Vedas and Puranas, which teachthat the true sun is not the star that is visible in the sky,
but the supreme Intelligence that reigns at the summit of the firmament, above the realms of physical creation. He revealed that behind the physical sun existed
a subtler, immaterial sun, a sun that is hidden to any
but the most highly developed consciousness.
Through love, it is possible for human souls to communicate on the level of the super-conscious with all
creatures in the light of that sun. ‘In our planetary system,’ he added, ‘the sun is the representative of God,the supreme sun of the universe.’
That year, aware that his ideas were not always easy to
grasp, he spelled them out in great detail. In one particularly long talk he explained that by leading people
to the light, the yoga of the sun could lead them toGod, the unique source of all light. When we contemplate the sun in the morning, at the moment when its

422emanations are most beneficial, we can rise mentallyto the subtlest planes and there obtain elements thatare lacking in our organism. ‘It is really very simple,’ heused to say. It is not even necessary to know which elements will restore your health; that is not important. It
is your soul and spirit that know how to find what you
need.’He realized, of course, that his words were not always
properly understood, that most people tended todevise structures and adopt set habits, but he always
refused to institute new forms which would inevitably
become inflexible. All spiritual Masters must certainly
have experienced similar difficulties: they speak ofeternal truths, but they see their disciples crystallizingthese truths into rigid forms that mask and stifle thelife within them.
In Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov’s philosophy, the sun
was not set up as an idol as in certain ancient solar
religions; his ‘solar religion’ is simply a way of finding
God, the true light that shines within each humanbeing. The sun is no more than a doorway opening onto the deity, the best example we have of selfless love,
because it gives without ceasing and asks for nothing
in return. It is a dwelling place, an authentic temple forthe spirit of truth, the spirit of purity and selfless altruism. And yet, as he declared:
There is nothing wrong in having churches and temples; on the contrary, they are excellent and necessary.

423

I have never suggested that they should be destroyed.
Even a house can be a temple. But when men are readyto grasp the truth, they will stop going to man-madetemples. They will worship in the great temple built
by the hand of God himself, the universe. And thenthey will understand that man himself is a temple ofGod, and that he must progressively cleanse, purify andsanctify himself so as to be a perfect sanctuary.1
From personal experience he had become convincedthat forms must constantly be renewed. As a youth hehad been inclined to see them as unimportant before
coming to realize that ‘a beautiful content should bein a beautiful form, for form is divine’. At the sametime he would never stop insisting that to attach more
importance to the form than to the spirit led inevitably
to rigidity.
He had always felt the need to demolish old forms sothat life might flow and the spirit be made manifest. He
would say that he used ‘little hammers’. ‘What I am
bringing you is new… new. I am breaking up the oldforms.’ And he reminded his listeners: ‘Peter Deunov
told me that I was the demolisher par excellence. And
what was I demolishing? Archaic ideas. Yes, a demolisher… he did not say destroyer but demolisher. Thereis a difference. Old ruins are demolished to make roomfor new constructions. Everything is new in this teaching, nothing is old. The whole earth will be made new.’
And this newness of which he spoke was a truly fra-424

ternal spirit, the desire to help others, to try to understand them and never to confine the spirit in the straitjacket of tradition: ‘The new age will be built on
enthusiasm, simplicity and transparency. Today we are
too old. The spirit of childhood has vanished.’
In the pure light of the Mediterranean mornings hetalked of the subject closest to his heart: light. For him,light was the ‘water that flows from the sun, the true
source of life in which are contained the seven colors’. Since the age of fourteen when he had discovered
the beauty and symbolism of a prism, he had always
used one in working with the seven rays. For him, theseven rays represented the seven Spirits imbued withlove, wisdom and understanding with which he seems
to have had a vital bond. He always carried a stick onwhich was mounted a large crystal. It was not so mucha walking stick as a symbolic wand which he used as
an instrument for his work. Knowing the influenceof the colors of the spectrum, he often repeated that
one could achieve great results by surrounding oneself
with them, by wearing them and working mentally to
blend them into one’s aura.
***
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov had a close relationshipwith one particular Being who, he said, was a spiritual
sun for our planet, a Being who illuminated the world
and protected life on the subtler planes. This Being
was Melchizedek, of whom he had already spoken in425his first talks in 1938 and whom he called ‘the Master ofMasters’. His great love for Melchizedek was apparent
in his frequent references to him, and the members of
his fraternity had come to realize that he lived in uninterrupted communion with him.
The existence of Melchizedek is recognized both in
the Judeo-Christian tradition and in certain oriental
traditions. In Genesis he appears as the high priest of
God who goes out to meet Abraham with bread andwine, the sacred symbols of the two principles. St Paulsays of him that he had ‘neither beginning of days nor
end of life’. And in Revelations, St John the Evangelist
describes him as a ‘son of man’, clothed in a long robe
girded about with a golden belt, with hair as white assnow and a face shining like the sun in full force.
As the representative of God he is the divine flame onearth, and all initiates turn to him to light their candles. Make haste to unite with God, with fire, for it
will be your salvation. Melchizedek has dominion over
the angelic hierarchies; nothing can withstand him. He
manifests where and as he wishes, and all Masters are
his disciples. St John saw him, he was with him. It was
Melchizedek who revealed the destiny of the world tohim and inspired the visions of the Apocalypse.2
In 1969, the Master Omraam Mikhaël decided to visit
Patmos, the island where St John had lived in exile. He
had a special affection for this Apostle, but it was perhaps especially his love of Melchizedek that led him to426

visit the birthplace of the Apocalypse, at the heart ofwhich shines this great being depicted as an old man
with eyes of light.
After a few days with the members of the brotherhoodin Athens, he boarded a boat bound for Patmos,
accompanied by a small group of disciples. The islandof Patmos is closer to Turkey than to Greece, and thejourney, which lasted thirteen hours in heavy seas,
was a real hardship for the passengers. At four o’clockin the morning, the Master, refreshed and full ofenergy, was knocking on their cabin doors, bringing
coffee and rolls for all. Soon they disembarked near avillage whose inhabitants were still asleep, and a stalwart porter took charge of their baggage. Every lineof his face expressed his admiration for the one hecalled ‘the man of God’, and although he understood
no French, he followed closely on his heels, anxious
to hear the sound of his voice. Every few minutes heasked, ‘What is the man of God saying?’
Once rested and restored, they climbed into the hills
to the monastery of Khora. The priest who acted as
guide in the museum was at first voluble in his explanations of its sacred treasures, pointedly ignoring theoccasional comments of the white-haired visitor
about the secret symbolism of a cross or an icon. Gradually, however, his attitude changed, and he becamesilent until Omraam Mikhaël asked him to tell them
about the life of St John. This he did, speaking with427

greater moderation, after which his face became radiant and he exclaimed:‘I don’t know what is happening to me. There is suchan extraordinary climate of sympathy between us. I
have never felt this with anyone before.’
And he began to weep with joy.
In the afternoon Omraam Mikhaël visited the grotto
where St John had lived and in which he had written
the Apocalypse. Following him, his companions—who were themselves in a state of mind rarely
experienced in this life—saw him descending thethirty steps that led through a garden full of flowers
to the grotto: he seemed to be flying. The grotto madea deep impression on him—with the stone bed on
which St John slept, the shelf carved out of the rockat which he dictated his Gospel to his disciple, andfinally the rock that had been split in three by a bolt oflightning as the Apocalypse was revealed. Toward theend of the visit, asking his companions to leave him,
he remained alone in the grotto for a long time.
He stayed on Patmos several days. At the time there
were few tourists on the island, and he found theatmosphere very pure and hallowed, still redolent of
the presence of St John. He loved being there and was
captivated by the beauty of the country, by the kindness of the people and their sincere, friendly expressions and by the solicitude of the monks who called428

on him constantly. On his return to France, he commented that the inhabitants of Patmos had the sensitivity of mediums and were capable of prophecy, as
though they were still permeated with the ambience of
the Apocalypse. For his part, he made a great impression on the villagers, who watched him wherever hewent and showed him the deepest respect.
One day, while out for a walk in the country with hiscompanions, a peasant woman approached, stopped in
front of him and asked shyly: ‘Are you a monk?’
Without waiting for an answer, she made the sign ofthe cross and kissed his hand, murmuring: ‘I wish you
good health. Be happy with your monk’s crown.’
She stood before him as though before an icon, while
he, for his part, gazed at her with an expression ofastonishment and delight. When she left them, heremained lost in thought for a moment. Then he
explained that while he meditated in his room before
setting out on this walk, he had asked the invisible
world a particular question. Only when he was back inFrance did he explain further: ‘When her words weretranslated for me, I realized that they were the answer
to the question I had been asking. Heaven had spoken
to me through that old woman. You cannot imagine
how happy that made me!’Leaving Patmos he returned to the Greek mainland
where he visited Mount Athos with two of his com-429

panions. Here, the numerous monasteries, often situated in almost inaccessible spots, shelter some 3,000
monks and are known for the ancient manuscripts intheir care. When a monastery they wanted to visit
could not be reached by land, the three visitors were
obliged to hire a small motor boat. And to their surprise, at each monastery the scene was the same: without knowing who he was, the monks manifested theutmost respect for Master Omraam Mikhaël and gave
him the room reserved for the Orthodox bishop. In
each place he asked the same question:‘Do you know of the existence of Melchizedek?’
Several years before, while in India, he had asked someof the great sadhus if they knew of a being who dwelt
in the Himalayas and who had neither beginning nor
end, neither father nor mother. There too they had
known of his existence, but their name for him wasMarkande.
***
Since 1960, the universal dimension of Omraam
Mikhaël Aïvanhov’s spiritual work had become
increasingly apparent. His published talks were disseminated in many countries, and in the years following his return from India he was asked to speak in a
number of European towns and cities. He was often
invited to address groups of professionals, scientists
or political leaders, but in many cases, knowing in

430

advance that he would be wasting his time, he refused.
His ideas about how humanity could be transformedby means of ‘spiritual galvanoplasty’, for example,
were too advanced for the world in which he was living. When he did address a particular group, however,his manner was the same as when he spoke to thebrothers and sisters of his fraternity; it was with thesame fire, the same ardor, that he explained the principal themes of initiatic science.
On one occasion, at a meeting of scientists at the
French nuclear research center at Saclay, he listenedwith interest to their scholarly dissertations and discussions, and when his turn came to speak, he led theirminds imperceptibly closer to the spiritual dimension,
intending in this way to stimulate in them a level ofreflection beyond that of pure science. His ideas aboutlight, for instance, were very different from the scientific notions of the other speakers, but they had themerit of stimulating the participants to make theirown discoveries on a subtler plane.
On another occasion, in a discussion with a groupof police inspectors in Paris, he talked about light ina way that, almost certainly, they had never heard
before:Do you think you can fight crime by increasing thenumber of policemen and gendarmes or by improving
your methods of surveillance and investigation? Well,431

you are mistaken. External methods are ineffectual inthis area. The only effective means is light.
To the five inspectors listening to him, this seemed astrange solution. ‘Light?’ one of them asked. ‘How?’
With his usual colorful images, he talked about criminals and how, when they were preparing their thefts,
kidnappings or assassinations they were confident
that no one knew about their plans. Then he added:
But suppose people possessed an inner lamp thatenabled them to see in advance and from far away themischief that threatened them: they would take precautions, and the evildoer’s plans would come to nothing.
So the only way to eliminate crime is by light. This is
why human beings must be taught to cultivate theirinner light: it will take a very long time, but it is the only
sure way.3
The inner light he spoke of was the light of a genuine
spirituality capable of transforming every humanbeing. Light, ‘the living spirit’ which bears within
itself love, wisdom and truth. Although well awarethat many people are not sufficiently developed spiritually to perceive the subtle reality of light, he stillinsisted on the necessity of concentrating on it asoften as possible, of drawing it into oneself so as torefine one’s perceptions and generate new vibrationsin the cells.
The private aspirations and inclinations of those he432

met did not escape him. He recognized their scale ofvalues and often called it into question without fear of
disconcerting them. His first concern was to set people in motion, and to this end he often deliberately
shocked or disappointed them. But although he wassometimes severe, his sense of humor and his great
kindness were never absent. On occasion, when he
was the guest of people who expected to hear him
talk about sublime subjects, he limited himself to a
few apparently random remarks about their preoccupations: about money which was always on theirminds, or about their obsession with sex. This was
sometimes the only way to reach them. As for his
hosts, they often understood only later why he hadtalked about things which had seemed so trivial at thetime.
After their initial sense of disappointment had faded,
they realized that he had stimulated something, that
he had opened the floodgates and the ‘water of life’
was flowing. An English brother who accompanied
him on a journey once said:
No human being was insignificant in his eyes; helooked for the divine spark in everyone he met. In hotels
he treated the employees with such exquisite courtesy
that their expression became animated, their eyes lit up,
and they turned to watch him as he passed. In conversation with flight attendants, guides at an exhibition ortaxi drivers, he had the gift of creating the ambience hewanted. If he saw that they were tense or shy, he would433

make them laugh by telling them something funny. He
could be so comic, in fact, that even his most serious
traveling companions were sometimes shaken out of
their solemnity. But his prime purpose was always tostimulate people.
On a visit to the Alhambra in Spain the guide
explained that wise men had come from far away tobuild the palace. Omraam Mikhaël listened closely,
and when the man had finished, he approached him
and asked how many pillars there were.
‘Thirty-two,’ replied the guide.
‘And why are there thirty-two’?
‘I don’t know, sir’.
Taking him discretely aside, Omraam Mikhaël
explained:‘In the past, wise men placed symbols everywhere to
explain the profound aspects of the nature that surrounds us and of our own human nature. Fountains
are one example.’
Intrigued, the guide listened closely.
‘The palm trees, the mosaics, the pine cones you see
here are all symbols. They express the religious andmystical lore of these men of old. By placing them here
in a way that would be understood, they hoped that434

this knowledge would be admired in the future. These
initiates who had studied all the ways of wisdom andknowledge found that there were thirty-two paths of
wisdom’.
Seeing the guide’s obvious interest, Omraam Mikhaël
explained the question of the two principles at the origin of all creation.
‘The fountains are there so that people can admire
the potent masculine principle which is the upsurgeof life—the people of old had such admiration for thisprinciple that they had large families! And the shells
remind us of the other principle, the feminine principle which creates life…’4***
His personal needs were modest. At the Bonfin he still
lived in his old cottage, and when traveling, the hotels
he chose to stay in were always the least luxurious.
The only condition he looked for was the possibilityof seeing the sunrise from his room. When his traveling companions complained about the rudimentary
accommodations they had to put up with, he insistedon the importance of a simple way of life. Wherever
he went, his sole purpose was to become always more
useful to humanity. When traveling by car or train, he
worked to perfect his knowledge of English, listening
to recorded texts on cassettes to improve his accent.

435‘A new activity triggers a renewal of life in the wholeorganism,’ he commented.
His traveling companions would say of him:
He was like a father, a marvelous educator. Travelingwith him was a veritable apprenticeship, for it is impossible to be close to someone of that caliber without constantly calling oneself into question and striving totransform oneself. But his spontaneous expressions ofapproval for one’s efforts were very comforting.
During the last twenty years of his life, he crisscrossed
the world as one who explores a fascinating unknown
realm. A few countries received several visits fromhim, to others he went only once. The purpose of his
travels was always to extend his spiritual work to every
region of the planet, but it was also to find ‘the traces
left in every region by humanity’s greatest spirits’.
Often, while traveling, he would isolate himself fromhis companions for several days at a time. Wheneverpossible he meditated in the midst of nature, the ‘true
temple of God’. On the other hand, he also liked topray in the religious sanctuaries of the world—in temples, mosques and basilicas—for he considered thatthey were all sacred.
In the spring of 1970 he was in Japan and stayed for aweek in a Zen temple in the heart of the mountains not
far from Tokyo. The twelve monks in residence welcomed him as one of their own and set aside a small

436

temple decorated with numerous Buddhas, in which
he was free to pray, read and sleep without being disturbed by the noise of the monastery. As soon as hearrived, they invited him to take part in their religious
rites which were attended by many people from theneighboring town.
Very early in the morning, the participants gathered
for a ceremony followed by a two-hour meditation.
They sat round the four sides of a room, facing thewall, in the Zazen posture, which includes precise rules
for the position of the head and hands. A monk moved
quietly about in the center of the room, a long ‘warning stick’ in his hand, watching the backs of those
meditating. When he saw someone becoming drowsy,
he tapped him sharply on the shoulder.
Master Omraam Mikhaël knew that the blow was
intended to touch a particular nerve, not only to prevent somnolence and remedy a slack posture, but also
to induce greater clarity in the brain and rally flagging
energies.
Naturally, he wished to experience it for himself. But
when he asked the monk to give him the traditional
tap during the meditation next day, the latter was very
embarrassed and refused politely, protesting that hedid not need it. In the face of the foreign Master’s
insistence, however, he finally acquiesced, and the following morning, coming up behind him during themeditation, he bowed with great respect before tap-437

ping him on the shoulder. In his turn, Omraam
Mikhaël bowed his head to signal his thanks. He foundthe experience instructive, for the blow did indeed
trigger in him an interesting reaction of lucidity in themind. Wishing to continue the experience, he asked
the monk to repeat the gesture every morning. The latter reluctantly did as asked.
Relating this incident after his return to France, hemade it clear that although the aim of Zazen is to arrest
thought and create an inner void, the void must never
be a goal in itself. It can even be dangerous if it does
not serve to attract plenitude. To create a void without
danger one must have previously worked to purify
one’s inner self. Before beginning one’s meditation it
is important to be in a state of calm and emotional
peace:
Then, after a few moments, you must be active anddynamic and focus your thoughts and feelings on thesubject you have chosen, projecting and intensifying
them until you feel yourself expanding, filled with asense of awe and wonder. Only then is it safe to pause
and try to empty yourself, to stop thinking and allow
yourself only to feel. If you do this you will be in no danger.5
Each time he returned from his travels, he was so
happy to be with his spiritual family at Izgrev or the
Bonfin once again that he spent the day giving thanks.
He often said that we should give thanks a thousand438

times a day; that the magic of gratitude was extraordinary, more beneficial than all the medicines in theworld. For him, the single word ‘Thanks’ was a potent
mantra, an ‘antidote capable of counteracting every
kind of poison’.
***For Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, everything in nature
was transparent, everything was luminous and alive.
His bonds with the powers of the invisible world werestrong, and in this sense the ‘marvelous’ that accompanies all great spiritual beings was ever present in
his life. From the beginning, he had always been conscious of the state of mind of his brothers and sisters.
He could see the fluctuations in their inner life in theireyes, and when he saw their light growing fainter, heassured them with great kindness: ‘If you think I haveno idea of your difficulties, you are mistaken.’ He waswell aware of their problems, for he himself had not
had a sheltered life, but he also told them: ‘It is you
who have to free yourselves, otherwise you will neverevolve.’Often, after listening to one of his talks, people would
thank him for having spoken about their personal
problems and given them the specific advice theyneeded. In fact, this happened so often that heacquired the reputation of being able to tune in to all
the questions and problems of a sizeable gathering. In
addition, many people told him of inexplicable events439

such as a cure or an apparition that had occurred when
they had called on him. Some had escaped unharmed
from an accident after saying his name, while others
had seen him before them in his physical body,although in reality he had been elsewhere.
As in the early years in Paris, he listened to them but
steadfastly refused to be considered a miracle-worker.
‘My mission is not to heal,’ he had said in the past, ‘but
to enlighten.’ In order to preserve the integrity of thatmission, he almost always denied that he possessed
any special powers, even those that had been natural
to him since his youth. It was important that his relationship with the members of his brotherhood shouldbe free of the aura of fascination that inevitably surrounds clairvoyance, mediumism or the power of healing. Without fail he turned their attention to the light,
to the angels, to God.
Shortly after his return from India he had begun to
talk about the ‘O.M.A. Company’. He explained that
he had become a collective entity, that the credit
belonged to those who worked with him and whom
he himself did not know. Any thanks should be
addressed to this collective being: ‘Don’t blame me,’ heused to say; ‘it was Omraam who did it!’One could sense that he had immense respect for all
the invisible beings who supported him and whom hesometimes referred to as angels, at other times as devasor simply as entities. While he was confident that he440

could always call on their assistance, he never forgotthat he was addressing free beings who must not beburdened with self-centered requests. From time totime he asked the Angel of Air to disperse the clouds
so that everyone could contemplate the sun, but herecognized that the Angel had the right to refuse. The
consciousness of his responsibility toward the invisible beings who helped him in his work gave him asense of being no more than a single link in the chainof beings working for the good of humanity.
He had the same attitude of respect and humility
toward nature as a whole. He did not attempt to go
against her laws or change the natural order of things,
and this approach had allowed him to forge a mysterious bond with animals, trees and even inanimate
objects. This bond had sometimes enabled him to talkto a car that had broken down so that, to the surpriseof all present, it inexplicably started up again andfunctioned just long enough to reach his destination.
‘This does not mean that metals are intelligent or thatplants have a soul,’ he explained, ‘but there is a cosmic
intelligence which suffuses all created things andworks through them.’
The truth is that he attached little importance to powers of this kind and never encouraged others to try toacquire them. To avoid exerting undue influence onothers, he tried to limit any manifestation of his own
powers, but some who realized this saw that it was441

painful to him never to be free to manifest himself naturally.
From time to time his phenomenal psychic energy
erupted in a small detail of everyday life. One day hewas sitting in his garden with some visitors when hesuddenly stood up and asked for a tool with whichto prune the branch of a tree. It was hanging dangerously low, and he had decided to cut it off. Only anhour before – although he did not know it — someone had hurt himself on it. The pruning shears handed
to him were very small and hopelessly inadequate, but
he took them without hesitation and with one stroke
cut off the thick branch. Afterwards he looked at his
companions in silence, as though he regretted having
shown his power. And those who had witnessed this
‘impossible’, inexplicable result were quite simply
dumbfounded.
When he talked to his brothers and sisters about their
desire to transform themselves, he always insisted thatthey must count only on their own efforts: their personal work should always take precedence over conventional methods or the use of psychic powers. It wasin this sense that he reacted during a pilgrimage to
Israel, where he went, in part, to meet Cabbalists but
primarily to seek traces of the spirit of Jesus.
On the shores of Lake Tiberius several people told
him the legend of the miraculous powers of this lake:
it was enough to bathe in it to be purified. This sort442

of thing meant nothing to him. He was indifferent tofables which many people considered highly important and was always careful to restore things to theirtrue proportions. On his return to France, he spoke of
this with a touch of humor, saying that it was not by
immersing oneself in water that one could be purified,but by working consciously, inwardly as well as outwardly. The person who had accompanied him on his
visit to Israel recounted:
It was after the Six-day War, and we had received
permission to visit Jerusalem, which was occupied byIsrael. The Master also wanted to visit the synagogue
marking the place were Jethro lived, and he spent along time meditating there. On another occasion wevisited the grotto where Shimon Ben Yohai, one of theauthors of the Sepher Ha Zohar, had lived. It was the
day after a big feast-day. Thousands of people had
been there on pilgrimage to the grotto, which is on awooded hill, and the ground around the sacred shrine
was strewn with litter. Seized with a holy fury, the Master appealed to the Angel of Air to clear it all away.
Immediately, torrential rain began to fall and continued for several hours. All the rubbish was swept away.
It was such an unusual event that all the newspapers
mentioned it the next day. But when the Master was
angry, it was never for long. He always regained his
serene good humor with staggering speed.
In Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov’s view, genuine psychic powers could be obtained, sustained and443

enhanced only through love. He had always rejected
powers that were used to dazzle people in order todominate them. Those who lived near his cottage,
however, could not fail to notice the mastery heexerted over himself and, consequently, over the elements. The fact is that he knew how to influence
nature by using the infinite possibilities with whichcosmic intelligence has endowed creation.
An instance of this occurred toward the end of one
summer in the 1970s. Forest fires, which are frequentin the south of France, were raging in the region, andthe Bonfin was in danger from the flames being blownin that direction. Night was falling. Master Omraam
Mikhaël, accompanied by others, climbed up to theRock of Prayer to call on the Angels of Air and Water.
‘Leave me alone to pray,’ he told them, and ten minutes later, out of a sky that had been cloudless only
a moment earlier, rain poured down and put out thefires. More than once over the years this phenomenon
was repeated, and when he spoke of it, it was always
to say that he had asked the Angels of Air and Water
to put out the fire, adding that one had to conquer agreat many things in oneself before obtaining powerover the elements.
The meaning is clear: all that exists in nature also
exists within each human being. Each of the four elements can be an agent of purification, but it is possible
to control the external elements only if one has purified and learned to control the ‘elements in oneself’.

444

An effect obtained in this way is not properly speaking
a miracle; it is rather the result of an individual’s personal mastery, comparable to the control exercised bya lion tamer over wild animals, or by a snake-charmer
who neutralizes the venom from a snake bite by forceof will.
Springs, waterfalls, rivers, lakes and oceans represented for him forces that we can all use in our conscious work as members of the human race. Whenever
he was on a ship or in a plane, he would communicate
with the intelligent beings that inhabit the elementsof water or air. ‘We should speak to animals, flowers,
and spirits, to the naiads and sylphs,’ he used to say;
‘We should ask them to work to realize the kingdom of
God on earth.’
On one of his visits to the United States, the househe stayed in was close to the ocean. Every morning
he went to the beach for the sunrise and stayed there
for hours engaged in his spiritual work. He never
explained what that work was, but simply said, ‘I am
sowing seeds.’ Later he said that he had been working
spiritually with the powers of water:
Water represents the universal fluid, the blood of theearth, and it has tremendous powers. You must learn tohave the right attitude towards it, learn how to talk toit, how to create a bond with it, because it can change
certain elements within you by diluting and dissolving445them. Water, you see, has power over certain substances that fire is incapable of changing.6
If he was able to work in this way it was because he
was familiar with the bonds uniting the different elements of the universe, which is truly a single organism.
It was because he lived in complete harmony with thatorganism that the elements responded to his intervention. One of those who visited Arizona with him in
1979 wrote in a diary:
Birds and animals were not afraid to approach him.
When he was in the country deer gathered to watch
him meditating; squirrels came into his room andstayed there, sitting close to him. One morning he cameto find us, saying: ‘Come quickly!’ We followed him out
to a small open plateau. Looking around him in surprise, he exclaimed, ‘They’re not here any more!’ Thenhe called out, and immediately a swallow arrived outof nowhere. ‘But you’re all alone,’ he said; ‘Go andfetch the others!’ The swallow flew away, and withinminutes, a multitude of swallows was flying round us.
Another day, when countless swallows were circling
round him, a golden eagle came and hovered high overhead. It was an impressive sight, and it happened again
several times. These great birds seemed to be more andmore interested in him. One day while he was talking
to us, an enormous eagle alighted very close to him. It
stood there motionless by his side for a long time. We
were absolutely astounded. But you should have seen
the Master’s unaffected delight, his ingenuous wonder446

when things like this happened. It was as though animals instinctively sensed in him the harmony and lovethat could restore humankind to a state of grace, that
could recreate an earthly paradise.

Notes
1.

‘The Sun is in the Image and Likeness of God’, in The
Splendour of Tiphareth.

2.

September 2, 1960.

3.

See his own account: ‘Light Enables us to See and be
Seen’ in Light is a living Spirit.

4.

Dialogue from talk of July 20, 1962.

5.

‘Knowledge: Heart and Mind’, in Know Thyself: Jnana Yoga
II.

6.

‘Three Kinds of Fire’, in The Splendour of Tiphareth.

447

18

#

A New
Springtime ofLove
At every brotherhood convention for the last twentyseven years, Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov had beenpresent and had spoken daily to the hundreds of participants. With unfailing regularity he had given thousands of unrehearsed talks for which he sought inspiration only in the realms of the spirit. His method
faced him with a constant challenge. At the age ofeighty he was still stimulated by the unexpected, andas he said, ‘walking the tightrope’ in this way forced
him to keep advancing:I can speak only if the subject is presented to me suddenly, as a suggestion from the divine world. Then, in
spite of all the defects, in spite of my mistakes in Frenchand all the unscholarly language, it works.1
With the passing of the years, the Bonfin became more
and more beautiful. In the 1980s the summer conventions lasted three months and included participantsfrom the five continents. At dawn, as usual, they gathered on the Rock of Prayer for meditation. The sun
was already high in the sky before the Master turnedand saluted them. Then, advancing slowly between
the participants crowding both sides of the path leading down to the Bonfin, he showed his great love foreach one with a glance, a word, or a brief recommendation, with a special solicitude for the children who
accompanied their parents. Those moments with himon this rocky hill were filled with great sweetness. The
ambience was light-hearted and gay because he wishedit so. And there was something magical in the scene
when the time came to leave the Rock and go down
to the Bonfin: all those children clustering around andrunning to keep up with him. He was like a father
with a large brood, the patriarch of myriad spiritual
offspring.
As always, he would do the exercises with the participants, and later, as he entered the hall and stoodto face his audience, they had the same impression ofcalm control together with tremendous energy. There
were days when he seemed to be inhabited by a mys-449

terious presence: sitting perfectly still, his eyes closed,
he talked soberly and succinctly. At other times heexpressed himself with great vigor, like a prophet who
had been sent to shake his contemporaries out of theirwell-worn rut. Usually, however, he spoke to his spiritual family with the simplicity of a father speaking to
his children.
His laughter, totally spontaneous and unaffected,
expressed a profound zest for life. ‘Life is beautiful,’ hewould say, ‘and we can make it more beautiful still if
we adopt the philosophy that teaches everything thatis most luminous, pure and noble.’ Through all thedifficulties and trials he had known in life, he hadachieved true joy. Speaking of the time he had spentin prison, he could say with all sincerity: ‘There wassomeone within me who was always singing.’ Perhaps
that was why he could laugh so heartily and infectthose who heard him with that joy. He could say, too:
‘In spite of all the disgrace heaped on me, no man ishappier than I.’ Those who knew him knew this, andas one of those who was close to him in those years
said:
His was the laughter of someone who is pure, free,
happy, fraternal, and hard-working. Happy. Yes; happy
to be on earth… and who could laugh when the occasion arose. A man who is solely preoccupied with his
own spiritual progress, who is always looking forward to
his next meditation, does not laugh; he is tired of beingon earth. But a man who laughs on this earth, a man of450the stature of the Master… that says it all. It was extraordinary to see how someone who had worked with suchasceticism to advance spiritually and who had endured
so much could be so happy. It was because he was interested in others; he was content to be on earth, however hard it might be, because he was always seeking toreveal its beauty to others.
After his talks he could sometimes be seen writing a
few words on a scrap of paper. In this he was faithful
to a habit acquired in his youth of repeatedly writingor saying, in his mother tongue:
Da bâde blagosloveno i sveto imeto vi vav veka
Gospodi.—May your name, O Lord be blessed and glorified throughout the ages.
In the last years he reviewed the different themes of his
teaching one by one. One might think that after fortythree years of regular talks he would have exhausted
most of his subjects, but on the contrary, with the
dynamic energy and humor characteristic of him, hecast new light on them. Rather than attempting a
meticulous academic discourse, he would gradually
explore his topic, shedding light on it from different
angles. His goal was always to inflame hearts and create links between those listening to him and the lightof the higher worlds.
Actually, the principal themes of this teaching havealways existed, for their source is in the highest

451spheres of the invisible worlds, and they have beentaught by all of mankind’s most enlightened spiritual
guides. In our times it has been given to Omraam
Mikhaël Aïvanhov to bring them before us in his own
unique way. Every element in his teaching has its practical application. In words so clear and simple that achild could understand, he speaks of the inborn
potential possessed by all human beings to become‘perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect’ and to transform the world in which they live. He speaks of thequest for sanctity and perfection as the mostenthralling work there is.
And if he constantly uses the word ‘work’, it is because
in his eyes every aspect of our existence is meant tobe made use of: spiritual work is essential, but equallyimportant is work on the physical plane. He insiststhat it is by means of the events of our daily lives that
we can arrive at perfection, that initiation no longer
takes place in temples but in everyday life, and that
all our faculties—our senses, emotions and activities—can serve as springboards in this quest for perfection.
The methods he taught were realistic, practical andeffective. He explained how to purify oneself in orderto receive energies from a higher plane, how to bringgood out of evil, and how to bring oneself into harmony with the four elements and learn to use theirpower creatively.

452

He astonishes and vivifies us with his unique perspectives on the meaning of love and sexuality; on thegreat laws of ‘cosmic morality’; on true purity―whichis to have a heart as transparent as crystal; on the yogaof the sun and of nutrition; and on the way in which
mothers can work to perfect the child in their womb.
And all this with a view to preparing the advent of atrue Golden Age for humankind.
***
One of the most important aspects of Omraam
Mikhaël Aïvanhov’s mission on earth was to lay thefoundations of a truly universal human family. Hisconstant themes were brotherly understanding, peaceand sharing. He was always trying to make people
understand the essential: that peace can be achievedon earth only when genuine brotherhood reigns
among human beings. Peace has to reign in our hearts
before it can reign in families, individual countries
and in the world as a whole.
Arriving in France on the eve of World War II, he
had undertaken the mission entrusted to him by Peter
Deunov in the midst of the morass created by a senseless war. He had to begin his teaching just when one of
the worst genocides in history was being prepared, justwhen millions of human beings were about to be sacrificed on the field of battle or exterminated in deathcamps.

453

And in the years that followed, when he himself hadendured the purifying fire of calumny and injustice,when he had lost his good name and his freedom, henever abandoned that task. Peter Deunov had predicted: ‘When you have passed through the narrowgate, you will be so completely transformed that you
will not recognize yourself. You will shine like the sun,and the whole world will be attracted to you.’ And
now he had become a spiritual guide who spoke not
only to one race or nation, but to men and womenfrom the five continents. He was seeking to establish auniversal civilization:
My only concern is brotherhood. One family… throughout the world. […] The Universal White Brotherhood
is preparing something very important. It has come towork for something which has never been in the mindsof human beings in the past. They were thinking ofother things: of how to become clairvoyant; how to
obtain psychic powers; how to unite with God. And
they forgot about the earth; they completely abandoned
the world. So many initiates, gurus and saints wereinterested in only one thing: how to save their own
souls. And the world was left to disorder, to poverty…2
Now, in the Age of Aquarius, the time has come tobuild a world of beauty, love, and brotherhood for all
God’s children. ‘We are working here for the wholeworld, so that all may understand that only true brotherhood will bring peace.’454

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov often referred to theimage of the two triangles combined in the Seal of
Solomon: he said that the teachings of India and Tibet
were based on the triangle that points up, and that itwas now time to take inspiration from the one thatpoints down, in other words, to bring the kingdom of
God down to earth:
Our teaching aims to prepare people who know how
to work on earth and organize things, while at thesame time, striving for an ideal that must become more
and more a reality. In the future, human beings will
never lose sight of either aspect of their life. In thisway they will become one with their ideal. We must be
fused into one with our ideal—God—without letting
go of our sense of the earth.3
His ‘sense of the earth’ was that it should be a worldof beauty, a marvelous garden of Eden. He pictured apeaceful, tolerant society of reconciliation, in which
all his human brothers and sisters throughout theworld would be spiritually nourished and even materially prosperous; a society which would allow everyone
to live in a happiness beyond words and to develop
all their inherent potential, from the physical possibilities of their bodies to the most sublime potentialof their subtle bodies. And they must work towards
this ideal by striving for harmony in themselves and intheir relations with others, by an attitude of friendshipand fraternal assistance. As heirs to the divine world
it is in their power to give concrete reality to all the455spiritual treasures which exist for all, which are withinreach of all of us.
In a time when so many nations were still at war witheach other, when terrorism ravaged whole countries,
he continued to insist that it is by establishing peacein our own hearts, in our family and in society that
we can achieve peace in the world, because, as he said,
there is peace when the microcosm is in harmony withthe macrocosm: ‘He who is at peace with himself is atpeace with the whole universe.’
He continued to talk about the role of women in thetransformation of the human race. He had longasserted that women possessed a reservoir of extraordinary substances capable of realizing Heaven’s
designs, but that for the most part they were unawareof it:
Once they decide to dedicate themselves to Heaven, sothat all that marvelous substance may be used for a
divine purpose, we shall see pockets of light burstingout over the whole face of the earth, and everybody will
speak the language of the new culture, the languageof the new life, the language of divine love. What are
women waiting for?4
The example of spiritual galvanoplasty, based on thefeminine powers of formation and transformation,
continued to be one of the themes he most liked todevelop. Within the spiritual family of the brother-456

hood couples tried to live in harmony and mutual
respect. They did their best to follow his recommendations for an ideal way of life, particularly during theperiod of gestation, in order to imbue their children
with beauty and peace. But this was all done in theutmost simplicity. His brotherhood was not the preserve of an élite; it was a family of ordinary men andwomen in which each one was free to learn, to grow,to advance on the path of perfection, to work for the
kingdom of God on earth. It was a seed which was
destined to grow into a great tree, an endeavor which
could become a marvelous, perfectly balanced planetary civilization, modeled on a spiritual, angelic civilization.
The kingdom of God which he so ardently desired
to see established on earth is a veritable Golden Age
which he called ‘the new springtime of love’. It is not
so much a physical realization as an inner state thatreflects all created beauty; it is the reign of love, joy
and peace, and it can become a concrete reality onearth thanks to a truly fraternal spirit. His one preoccupation was to prepare the way for this reality, andto gain the collaboration of his disciples in his work.
‘And,’ as he explained, ‘before the reign of wisdom,justice, and love could be established on earth, those
who looked forward to it must realize a “synarchy”
within themselves, a way of life founded on the harmonious alliance of heart, mind and will.’
One morning in January 1981, at the Bonfin, he spoke457

at length about the meaning and beauty of this ideal
form of government of self and of the world. He
asserted that the era of synarchy had already begun,and that one day the whole world would live together
in love and brotherhood. Immediately after thistalk—which he gave by exception at seven o’clock inthe morning—a brilliant rainbow appeared above theBonfin, as though the heavens were confirming his
vision of a nobler humanity.
Over the years, Omraam Mikhaël had often spoken
about synarchy. In his earliest talks in Paris he hadreferred to a secret kingdom whose existence was
known in a few countries, particularly in India, China
and Tibet. Already, in 1938, he had begun to mention
the name of Agartha and had spoken of its great
libraries and the keys to initiation hidden there. He
described it as a world in which the wisdom of thegreat initiates had been kept alive.
In The Mission of India to the West, Saint-Yvesd’Alveydre talks about Agartha, the city of initiates
which is 25,000 years old, in which all the sacred scriptures are preserved, in which the inhabitants live a lifeof perfection.5
Today, as he explained, the true power of synarchy lies
in kindness, purity, light and love, not in the domination of others. ‘The leaders,’ he said, ‘must be models
of integrity and justice. As for you, if you give the priority to the divine principle, if you feel and act accord-458

ing to the precepts of initiatic science, you will be living in synarchy.’
He maintained that the great Masters had always tried
to get human beings to understand the meaning ofsynarchy, and that Jesus himself had taught its principles. For the inhabitants of Agartha, he added, all thegreat spiritual teachings come from God: Buddhists,
Muslims, and Christians are all children of the samefamily. They are all destined to inherit the kingdom ofGod. ‘As long as human beings oppose each other in
the name of faith,’ he declared, ‘it means that they do
not possess true faith.’
At this period of his life he was more interested thanever in the correspondences between objects,
thoughts, feelings and actions. Modern technologicaladvances fascinated him and offered him many new
analogies with the spiritual life. He often used theseanalogies to great effect when explaining to his disciples how to exploit their innate powers to achieve selftransformation and exert a beneficial influence on theworld.
The year before, and not for the first time, he had given
a long talk on the laser, its symbolism, and its spiritualapplications. He had explained that if a great many
people concentrated at the same time on light, they
could produce a powerful beam of light and accomplish a work of peace and love. For him this was oneof the most beautiful exercises, one that he loved to459

do with his brotherhood and which was linked to themusic of light, the music of the universe.
From a study of his talks, it is clear that the ecstasy inwhich he was plunged into the music of the spheres
was at the source of his constant endeavor to create
harmony in his own being and to radiate it out to thewhole world. The revelation, received at the age of seventeen, of the structure of the universe led him to see
God as the great conductor of the cosmic orchestra, as
the composer who has given a particular note, a particular voice to each of his creatures. Ever mindful ofthe perfect harmony of the song of the universe, he
had studied its structure on the archetypal level, andall that he taught was based on that prodigious organization:
Well, from now on you know that I draw everything I
tell you in my lectures from the region in which I heard
the Heavenly Harmony, the Music of the Spheres. In
fact it is this Music that explains everything to me,
although, if the truth be told there is not really so muchthat needs to be explained. All one has to do is toachieve this harmony, and in an instant everything
becomes clear and one understands God’s wisdom, one
understands peace, one understands love.6
His conception of education had always attributed
great importance to the role of music, and he often
advised parents to bring up their children surroundedby music. At the Bonfin, he was never happier than460

when listening to a little open air concert given by theyounger children. Each time, he was moved by theirfresh voices and the trust in their eyes, and by theenthusiasm with which they played the violin or madea triangle chime. When they gave him their drawings,
he exclaimed at the beauty of the broadly smiling sunsor the multicolored trees.
By encouraging them to do even better, he sought tostimulate in them a taste for perfection. Small children
ran spontaneously to him, and even babies seemed towant to talk to him.
His attitude toward children had always been one ofrespect for their natural development. In his view, it
was not the role of the brotherhood to educate them:at some point, they would have to make their own
decisions about their orientation. At the same time,
however, he invited parents to bring their young children to the Bonfin during the holidays so that theymight benefit from the climate of beauty and brotherhood: ‘This,’ he said, ‘is the true pedagogy of the
future: this attitude, this silence, and the example oftheir parents.’ He himself always encouraged children
to do everything well so that their spiritual life, firmly
anchored in earthly reality, would vivify their role insociety:‘You can be better and more intelligent than anyone.
You can do good and be an example of brotherliness461

for your friends… And you must complete your studies… so as to be useful one day.’
Always attentive to the events of his times, he often
talked to young people about how to transform themselves before attempting to transform society. He had
not forgotten the turbulent energies and impassioned
searching of his own youth. As Peter Deunov hadonce told him, he was the demolisher par excellenceof stale, outworn ideas. At the same time he knew
just how important it was to steer the energies of theyoung toward life and away from violence and death.
One day, referring to the protest movements among
the young—such as that of the hippies in the UnitedStates, whose chosen symbol expressed an ideal ofpeace and love—he said that they had been confusedly
seeking universal brotherhood and were a manifestation of the age of Aquarius.
In spite of his sympathy for the aspirations of theyoung, however, he did not attempt to make things
easy for them. Rather, he taught them how to channel
their energies and aspirations and give them concrete
expression. Aware of their profound dissatisfaction,
he urged them to recognize that they would find true
strength only in themselves, in their ability to govern
themselves and behave with nobility and magnanimity. Explaining the immutable laws of cause and effect,
he encouraged them to adapt themselves to thedemands of society in order to become capable oftransforming it from within.

462

With vivid examples he would explain to them themoral laws of the cosmos: the first of which is the‘law of recordings’, by virtue of which everything that
happens in the world is recorded in nature’s memory.
Second, the ‘law of agriculture’, which determines theresults of human endeavor, for we reap only what wehave sown. Last, the ‘law of resonance’, which sends
our words back to us: ‘I love you’, or ‘I hate you’. And
these laws are effective on the higher planes as well:
the negative thoughts we allow to slip into us attract
noxious elements which end by poisoning us. Just as
everything is recorded in nature, our actions are
imprinted in our individual human memory and continue to torture us or to bring us joy. Hence the importance for human beings to behave in such a way as
to create new recordings within themselves, to create
new, more positive imprints.
***
In June 1981, Omraam Mikhaël saw his homelandagain. Forty-four years after leaving Bulgaria, he wasinvited as an eminent man of letters to attend the festivities marking the twelfth centenary of the foundation of the Bulgarian State. He was received with great
courtesy at Sofia and took part in several activities.
Izgrev, the brotherhood estate in Sofia at which he had
spent so much time in his youth, no longer existed.
Only one small plot had been preserved in the town,
and it was here that Peter Deunov was buried. His463

tomb was surrounded by roses and other flowers,
planted each year by members of the Bulgarian brotherhood. Omraam Mikhaël visited the tomb briefly,
went to a few of the places he had loved best in theregion of Rila, and then spent a week in Varna with hisfamily.
As he said on his return, those few days in his country
were inevitably full of contradictory impressions, foralthough he was glad to see his family and visit thehaunts of his youth, the atmosphere he had known in
the past could no longer be found.
The following year he returned to India. During his
previous visit a sadhu had told him, ‘You have lived
here in the past, and you will return’, and now, twentytwo years later, that prediction came true. In February
1982, friends welcomed him at New Delhi. Here he met
an old guru known as Madrasi Baba through whom
he received important revelations. This guru was alearned man who had studied medicine in England
and was now recognized by a large number of disciples
as an exceptionally gifted clairvoyant. On seeing
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov for the first time, he
exclaimed:‘Master, you appeared to me in a vision fifteen years
ago. I saw you descending from the sun. You revealed
certain truths to me. I saw you exactly as you are now.
Five years later you spoke to me again, and I am soastonished to see that you are exactly the same. On464

your forehead I see the symbol that designates a
Brahma Rishi, the highest of all symbols.’
After this first meeting the guru visited him often.
At one point Omraam Mikhaël told him of the mysterious statement made by Nityananda in 1959 about
he name he had borne in a far-distant incarnation inIndia. Greatly intrigued by this, Madrasi Baba undertook his own research in some specialized libraries andfound texts foretelling the incarnation of a solar Rishiin the era known as ‘Kali Yuga’—the era in which weare living today. The prophecy foretold that he would
be born in the eighth month of gestation, that the initial letter of his first name would be M, and that ofhis second name A. It also said that during a stay inthe ‘land of the devas’, the name Omraam, after thesixth incarnation of the Hindu Avatar Rama, would begiven to him unexpectedly by three sages.
These extraordinary revelations were made in successive stages, for Madrassi Baba, not content with his
initial discoveries, extended his research to otherlibraries. In the meantime, Omraam Mikhaël’s hosts
invited him to stay in another house they owned in themountains.
Here, his mornings were spent in solitude. At first,
when he joined them for meals, his companions hoped
to hear him talk about elevated subjects, but in fact hesaid almost nothing. Taking a few moments to touch
some of the beautiful objects on the table gently and465

with great love, he commented: ‘When the experience
one is living through is very compelling, it is best to
talk about little things.’ His radiance was intense.
Many people came and knelt at his feet, asking him to
bless them and their homes.
The house in which he was staying was in a beautiful
spot in the Himalayas at an altitude of more than 8,000
feet. It was spring, the orchards were in flower, andthe great forests of conifers and rhododendrons spokeof the power of life. One of his traveling companions
remembered those days:
The Master told us every day to express gratitude athousand times over. He himself never ceased to thankheaven. He told us: ‘Listen to the silence… Try to listen
to the silence!’ He explained that the coming of the
kingdom of God was not a question of time but of
space. And I must say that when we were watching
those magnificent sunrises in the Himalayas, we had
the feeling that the kingdom of God was truly close at
hand.
Back in France the following summer, he spoke of all
he had received in India, saying that if he was at last
talking openly about his mission, it was because hehad been given the right to do so. At the same time herepeated that he had not yet begun his real work, that
all he had done so far had been ‘no more than minor
preliminaries’. Never, he insisted, had he felt himself
to be adequately prepared for his work; he continued466

night and day to prepare himself. In his eyes, nothing
was more important than to work, first and foremost,on himself: ‘I say that I have not yet begun my real
work because I have found that it helps me to advance.’
It was also one way of developing humility. As he said:‘Pride is the lichen that follows a human being even to
the top of the mountain,’ and it is important continually to practice ways of defending oneself against it.
Paradoxically, it was perhaps his constant work toachieve humility that enabled him to speak of his mission in terms that left no doubt as to its universality. It
was at this period that this characteristic of his mission
seemed to come into its own. As he explained one day,it was the invisible world that counseled him to devote
less time to his talks so that he could be free to focus
on certain specific places on the planet, for, as he said:‘You have to know which button to push to open thedoor.’ It seems to have been important for him to bephysically present in certain places for this work.
In the countries where there were brotherhood centers, he always spent time with his brothers and sisters.
In the autumn of 1982 he was in England, where hestayed for several months in the home of the couple
in charge of the brotherhood. After the New Year hetraveled to Egypt with them and spent time in a small
port lying between the Red Sea and the desert. In themornings he walked far out into the sand dunes tocontemplate the rising sun, returning wrapped in asupernatural aura of silence and space that his disci-467

ples were careful not to disturb. He loved the stark
simplicity of the desert where the sun was absolutemonarch. In his eyes it was a privileged region, frequented by benign spirits which made spiritual workeasier. Some mornings he preferred the sea, and as thetide drew out, uncovering the great rocks along theshore, he waded out and settled down on one of themto meditate, as though on an island: ‘All around there
was nothing but water. It was truly extraordinary!’
As always, after these excursions he returned to the
Bonfin or Izgrev to join his brothers and sisters who
were waiting for him at the different conventions, but
he was soon called away again on his pilgrimage
through the world. During his absences the brotherhood was always in his mind. He often spoke of it as‘my wife’ and worked for it unflaggingly. During theseyears, although he accepted that he must remain withthose who followed his teaching, that he must continue to talk to them and awaken them to life, he said
more than once: ‘If the brotherhood were not there, I
would abandon everything and settle in the Himalayasor the Andes.’In April 1984, he gave several talks in the UnitedStates. In Los Angeles, disciples had gathered frommany directions to hear him speak, bringing theirfriends with them. The Master entered the room,
greeted his guests and then sat down and closed hiseyes. The minutes passed in silence. Gradually his
audience realized that the talk they had looked for-468

ward to was not going to materialize, that MasterOmraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov did not intend to speak,
but would only meditate with them. At last he stoodup, his gaze rested on each one in turn, and with a final
salute he left the room. Many of those present weredeeply disappointed, but for some the experience wasa veritable revelation: never had they known momentsof such intensity in the presence of a spiritual Master.
Mysteriously, he had chosen to do this—something he
had long wished to do—with a group that was unprepared and distinctly heterogeneous. But perhaps heknew that among those present were some who were
well able to unite their thoughts to his and collaborate
in his work with the light.
On another occasion, having been invited to speak on
a television program in Los Angeles, he talked about
peace, describing it as neither a thing nor a virtue, but
a state of consciousness:
Everyone clamors for peace, but they do not know what
it is. They are at war within themselves: their hearts
and minds pull in different directions. As long as people
have not achieved peace in themselves, they will neverachieve it outwardly. It is not possible unless one iscapable of harnessing all one’s inner powers in the service of an ideal.7
After his stay in the United States he went on to visit
Canada. He was eighty-four, and his energy was still469

astonishing. In June he talked to audiences of a thousand people; in one two-day period he gave seven talks
in different places. A French brother who had followed him in his travels commented:
It is very striking to see how the Master’s universal mission seemed to attain its true dimensions during theselast few years of his life. It is as though he were developing a new and different form of energy during his
travels throughout the planet, particularly his repeatedvisits to North America. On his return home after several weeks or months in Canada or the United States,
he seemed in some way renewed, filled with enthusiasm
for the new mentality he had discovered there. It is as
though he were slightly distancing himself not only fromthe typically Slavonic mysticism of his early years andfrom the French intellectualism of the ‘40s and ‘50s, butalso from the intensely initiatic period which began for
him in 1948 when he endured the greatest trial of his lifeand culminated in 1959 during his stay in India… Now,
without forgetting or repudiating any of that, he seemed
to transmute all these different aspects into a practical
simplicity more evident than ever… to the point that one
could glimpse it even in his photos. In his talks he laid
less emphasis on the intellectual aspects of his message,
concentrating more on the everyday aspects of life andthe sheer joy of living. This aspect was not only astonishing, it was truly captivating and stimulating when
seen in the context of universality, in the context of thenew ‘present’ that is just over the horizon.

470

In May of the following year, he went one last time to
Québec, where he consecrated a rural property newly
acquired by the brotherhood. He was enchanted bythis one-time golfcourse with its grassy slopes, its
seven small lakes, and the superb view toward the East
where the sun could be seen rising beyond the far distant mountains of the United States. He named it
Blagoslovénié, ‘fullness of blessings’. Here, as always, hespent many hours talking to those who asked for a private interview. But he also took the time to commune
with nature, to pray for long hours among the trees,
calling down heaven’s blessings on the center.

Notes
1.

‘Lire et écrire I’, in La Pédagogie initiatique II. (Ourtranslation).

2.

December 9, 1968.

3.

March 25, 1958.

4.

‘Woman’s Role in the New Culture’, in Love and Sexuality.

5.

June 7, 1942.

6.

‘Harmony II’, in Harmony.

7.

From his own account of the incident in his talk ofAugust 11, 1985.

471

19

#

I Am With YYouou
Even More Than
BeforeFor some years already, Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
had been preparing for his final departure from thisearth. Some of those who were closest to him during
this period confided to us that he knew, in his soul,that his present incarnation was drawing to a close.
Indeed, it is clear from his messages to the brotherhood during the last year of his life, that he needed atime of quietude in which to prepare himself as wellas possible for his passage into the next world and tocomplete his spiritual mission.

When he returned to France at the end of June 1985,
after one last visit to North America, he curtailed
many of his activities, gave no more interviews andanswered no more personal correspondence. During
the summer convention he gave only one weekly talk,on Sundays.
The feast of the Archangel Mikhaël on September 29
was celebrated in an atmosphere of special intensity.
As they gathered around the fire in the starlight andlistened to the Master Omraam Mikhaël’s talk, noneof those present could have known that there would
be no more. As always on this special day, he spoke offire and light: ‘Fire is the greatest of all mysteries…’ In
this, his last talk, as in his first public lecture in 1938, hetouched on the principal themes that had always been
central to his teaching: fire and water, good and evil,
the yoga of nutrition and the yoga of the sun.
Of fire, he said:
Visible fire is the symbol of an invisible reality. By ourlove, our soul and our consciousness, we try to unitewith celestial fire. This is why it is important to contemplate fire. We must ask Agni, the Angel of Fire, toinflame us with the celestial fire of divine love, so that
we may burn with that love; so that wherever we go,
we may create the new life by radiating and emanatingthat warmth and that love.
After a few minutes of meditation, he spoke again of473

the spirit of brotherhood and unity, of the harmonythat is so necessary to every organism, whether it bethat of an individual or of the universe. His closing
words were:I am always with you, even if I am not physically present. I am with you even more than before.
In October he withdrew completely. His participationin that spiritual feast day had been his last encounter
with the brotherhood on the visible plane. During thewhole of 1986, although he prepared himself in solitude for his departure for the worlds of light, histhoughts remained in close contact with each of his
brothers and sisters. His spiritual presence in thebrotherhood was almost tangible.
The messages of encouragement he sent to them during this last year of his life were intended to help them
gradually become accustomed to his physical absence.
He asked them to channel their love so as to become
examples for others and to direct all their energies
towards ‘a goal that would benefit the whole humanfamily’. He begged them not to be distressed by hisabsence but to work to transform themselves, and hemade it clear that it was necessary for him to withdraw
from the sphere of earth in order to work on otherlevels, that henceforth his ‘true work’ lay elsewhere.
Again and again he assured his brothers and sisters of
his great love for them, asserting forcefully:

47
4744

I have told you repeatedly, and I continue to say it: if
we are to achieve the Golden Age, we must stop living
separately and in isolation. Alone, even the most highly
evolved being can achieve nothing. Now the time hascome for the collectivity to achieve fulfillment. […] A
new day is dawning for the world. The Sun of Love,
Wisdom, and Truth will shine as never before.
At this time a member of the brotherhood who had
known Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov since he firstarrived in France wrote:
Gradually, as he began to travel all over the world, heseemed to distance himself a little from the brotherhood
he had founded in France. During those last years hemade it clear to us that his mission went far beyond
the personal problems of a limited group of individuals; his spiritual work was for the benefit of all beingson this planet. And when he spoke of the extremely difficult times that lay ahead for the world and exhorted
us to prepare ourselves for them, it was obvious that heknew that by then he would not be with us by then.
Already, in September 1984, he had begun to makeveiled allusions to his departure, saying occasionally:‘I won’t always be here…’ The following year, to a person who had been working closely with him for a longtime, he said: ‘What if we left at Christmas?’ Whenshe smiled and replied that Christmas was not a very
good moment for travelling, and that it might not be
the best time for him, he immediately talked of some-475

thing else. It was only later that she understood what
he had said to her subconscious mind.
All those who were in contact with him during thatlast year have borne witness to his unfailing love as
well as to his total acceptance of the state of a physicalvehicle which was nearing the end of its journey. As
one of them said: ‘He had been carrying an immense
burden… He was quite simply worn out.’
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov departed this world on
Christmas day, that great cosmic celebration thatbrings a spiritual renewal to humanity each year. Since
the day of his illumination at the age of fifteen, he had
worked with all his might to realize the kingdom of
God on earth, but he could be truly effective only byabandoning his physical body and regaining total freedom of action in the invisible world.
Death, he had always said, is birth on a higher plane:
Death is a change of place, a voyage, a transformation,
one energy transformed into another energy. Deathdoes not exist, there is only life. 1
On December 25, 1986, after a night in which his body
had grown gradually weaker, but in full consciousnessof his passage into the beyond, Omraam Mikhaël
Aïvanhov left this earth. In accordance with his
express wishes, the news was delayed for three days,
for he had let it be understood that he had important476

work to do on the invisible planes during this period,
and that his body should be left in peace.
On December 31, a number of people gathered at the
Bonfin for a last farewell. The silence was extraordinary, a silence in which each one tried to understandwhat his departure meant and to accept the fact of his
physical absence. The room in which he lay was suffused with an extraordinary sense of life. Those present were deeply moved to see that he looked soyoung; it was as though he were peacefully asleep, anda very subtle perfume pervaded the air. They could not
help but think of his own words about the death ofgreat spiritual Masters: ‘When they leave their physical body, their body of glory continues to be present
and radiant, continues to vivify all who come in contact with it.’That same day, throughout the world, thousands ofmembers of his brotherhood were united to his spirit
in prayer and meditation. In many of the brotherhood
centers, they gathered to re-read his last messages andto give thanks – a thousand thanks – as he had so often
recommended.
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov departed for higher
realms on Christmas day, this most significant of dayson which Christ, the cosmic Spirit, pursues his workby giving all God’s children the Light that can warmthem and renew and illuminate their lives.

477

December 25 marks the day when nature sees the birthof the Christ-principle, the life, light and warmth that is
destined to transform everything. Rejoicing is also goingon in heaven that day: the angels are singing, and all
the saints, the great masters and initiates are gathered
together to pray, glorify the Almighty, and celebrate thebirthday of Christ who is truly born today in the universe. 2

Notes
1. The Key to the problems of Existence, Chapter 18.
2.

‘Au commencement était le Verbe… ‘, Chapter 6.

478

AW
Word
ord from the
AuthorOmraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov never attempted to tell
the story of his whole life, but in his desire to stimulate
his listeners to pursue their own spiritual research, heoften spoke of his personal experiences.
In the many talks he gave between 1938 and 1985 (morethan 5,000) he often spoke of his youth, of the important events of his life, of his own spiritual endeavors,
as well as of his most intimate thoughts and feelings.
Far from setting himself up as an example, he often
seemed to belittle or laugh at himself, knowing thatthose who were capable of doing so would grasp theessence of his message. He did not claim to have been amodel child or youth. On the contrary, he often called
attention to his faults and errors, insisting that we canall improve and evolve, whatever our point of departure. And when he spoke—as he sometimes did—ofcertain exceptional mystical or psychic experiences, hewould add in a tone of gravity: ‘I am telling you thetruth. I know that the invisible world is listening tome; I cannot lie to you.’In writing not only of the events of his life but alsoof his thoughts and feelings, I have adhered strictly tohis own accounts. Even the dialogues are in his own
words. The single exception to this rule is his conversation with the lady he met in a park in Pau, which was
related to us by a witness.
At times it was difficult to pinpoint the date of themystical experiences of his childhood and adolescence. His purpose in speaking of them was to instruct
and enlighten; he was not unduly concerned about
incidental details, and he sometimes indicated a different age for the same experience. Time seems to have
had little importance for him. The experiences of thesoul are outside of time; they exist in the eternal present. All that matters is the reality of the event, therepercussions it triggers in the soul and the heart, andthe bonds it creates with the higher worlds. After contrasting and comparing many different accounts ofevents, I chose the chronological order he mentioned
most often and which seemed the most logical.

Acknowledgements
I would like to express here my heartfelt thanks to all
those—too numerous to be counted—who have contributed in their different ways to the completion ofthis book: by giving me long and repeated interviews;

480

by typing, copying, searching, and correcting texts; bycontributing financially or accompanying me on myresearch in France, Switzerland, and Bulgaria. Special
thanks to Violet for her constant and invaluable support, to Vassil and Ani, to Dolia, Blagost, Maurice andGiselle, to Cherry and Norman, to Véronique, Chantal, Yollande, and Jocelyne.

481

Chronology

1900, January 31

Birth in Serbtzi, Macedonia.

1907, Spring

Destruction of village.
Departure for Varna.

1908, October 3

Death of Mikhaël’s father.

1909

Reads Proverbs.

1915

Illumination.

1917, WinterFirst meeting with Peter
Deunov, Varna.

1923

University studies in Sofia.

1930

Teaches in secondary school.

1934 or 1935

College Principal.

1937, July 22

Arrival in France.

1938, January 29

First public talk.

483

1944, Christmas

Publication of first collectionof talks.

1944, December 27

Death of Peter Deunov aged 80.

1948, January 21

Arrested on false charge.

1948, July 17

Sentenced to 4 years in prison.

1950, March

Released from prison.

1950, March 19

Renews contact withbrotherhood.

1953, July 8First summer convention
at the Bonfin.

1959, February 11

Departure for India.

1959, June 17

First meeting with Babaji.

1960, February 9

Return from India.

1960, September 28

Rehabilitation by Courtof Appeals.

484

1961, Spring

Visit to England.

1962, May

Visit to Spain.

1964, May

Visit to Italy, Greece, Serbtzi.
Meets his mother.

1965, Spring

Visit to Sweden, Holland,
Germany.

1965, June

Visit to Spain.

1967, May & June

Visit to United-States & Canada.

1968, May & June

Visit to Israel.

1969, May

Visit to Greece & Turkey.

1970, April 25

Visit to Japan, Sri Lanka,
Hong Kong.
Visit to Morocco,

1971, May 6

Egypt, Ethiopia, Lebanon,
Greece, Yugoslavia.

485

1971, September 18

Fourth Esoteric Convention
in Berlin.

1973, August 5

Death of Dolia.

1974, April

Publication of Complete
Works Vol. 1

1975Complete Works soldin bookstores in France.

1976

First translations ofComplete Works.

1977, May & June

Inter-religious convention
in Paris.

1978, December 17

Visit to United-States, Antilles.

1981, Spring

Visit to Canada, United-States.

1981, June 18

Visit to Bulgaria.

1981, October 12

Visit to United-States.
Public talks.

4861981, December 10

Visit to Thailand.

1982, February 5

Visit to India.

1982, November

Visit to England, Scotland.

1983, January

Visit to Egypt.

1983, April 28

Visit to Scandinavia.

1984, January 18

Visit to United-States.

1984, May 6

Visit to Canada. Public talks.

1985, January 25

Visit to United-States,
Mexico, Canada.
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

1986, December 25

leaves this world.

487

Sources andBibliography
Sources
1. Talks and messages by Omraam Mikhaël
Aïvanhov.
2. Reminiscences of members of Omraam
Mikhaël Aïvanhov’s family, neighbors,
friends, and members of the brotherhood.

Bibliography
Prosveta: Complete W
Works:
orks:(Titles in italics are not yet available in English)
Vol. 1—The Second Birth: Love, Wisdom, Truth.
Vol. 2—Spiritual Alchemy.

Vol. 6—Harmony.
Vol. 7—The Mysteries of Yesod.
Vol. 9—Au commencement était le Verbe.
Vol. 10—The Splendour of Tiphareth.
Vol. 11—The Key to the Problems of Existence.
Vol. 12—Cosmic Moral Law.
Vol. 14—Love and Sexuality I.
Vol. 16—Hrani Yoga, le sens alchimique de la nutrition.
Vol. 17—Know Thyself: Jnana Yoga I.
Vol. 18—Know Thyself: Jnana Yoga II.
Vol. 23—La nouvelle religion: solaire et universelle.
Vol. 26—A New Dawn II.
Vol. 28—La pédagogie initiatique II.
Vol. 29—On the Art of Teaching.
Vol. 32—The Fruits of the Tree of Life: The Cabbalistic Tradition.

489

Prosveta: Izvor collection:
No. 201—Toward a Solar Civilization.
No. 203—Education Begins Before Birth.
No. 204—The Yoga of Nutrition.
No. 207—What is a Spiritual Master?
No. 212—Light is a Living Spirit.
No. 213—Man’s Two Natures, Human and Divine.
No. 214—Hope for the World: Spiritual Galvanoplasty.
No. 216—The Living Book of Nature.
No. 219—Man’s Subtle Bodies and Centers.
No. 220—The Zodiac, Key to Man and to the Universe.
No. 223—Creation: Artistic and spiritual.
No. 224—The Powers of Thought.
No. 225—Harmony and Health.
No. 226—The Book of Divine Magic.
No. 228—Looking into the Invisible.
No. 230—The Book of Revelations—A Commentary.

490

No. 232—The Mysteries of Fire and Water.
No. 233—Youth: Creators of the Future.
No. 235—In Spirit and in Truth.

Éditions Izgrev, Paris, 1946:(In the name of Michaël Ivanoff): Les sept lacs de Rila,
Preface by Alfred Laumonier.
Others:Corbin, Henry, ‘Le songe visionnaire en spiritualitéislamique’ in Visage de lumière, NRF Gallimard, Paris,
1967.
Jean du Bonfin (Pen name of André Jahan), Qui est leMaître Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov ?, Éditions Prosveta,
Fréjus, 1995.
Svezda (Pen name of Stella Bellemin), Vie et enseignement du Maître Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov en France,
Éditions Prosveta, Fréjus, 1992.
Disciples of the esoteric school founded by Peter
Deunov, Paneurythmie.
Le Kybalion, Bibliothèque eudiaque, Paris, 1917.

491

By the same author:
The Beautiful Story of a Master (A Biography for the
young), Prosveta
The Gypsy Queen (Folk tales), Prosveta
A New Consciousness, (An essay), Amazon

Original titles in French:
La vie d’un Maître en Occident: Omraam Mikhaël
Aïvanhov, AdA
La belle histoire d’un Maître, Prosveta
La Reine Tzigane, Prosveta
Une nouvelle conscience, AdA
Le temps de la colombe, AdA
L’autre rive de la vie, AdA
La naissance de l’aube, CreateSpace, Amazon

492