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{{En cours|Kamawiki|15 février 2007 à 07:24 (CET)}} Il existe une page en anglais sur Peter Deunov. Je vais faire mes classes pour la traduire et je la mettrai ici.

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Peter Konstantinov Deunov (nom Bulgare Петър Константинов Дънов qui se prononce [pɛtar kɔnstantinɔv dɤnɔv]) était un maître spirituel qui a fondé une école de christianisme ésotérique. Il était appelé Maître Beinsa Douno (Bulgare: Беинса Дуно) par ses disciples.

Biographie

Il nait le 11 juillet 1864 à Nikolaevka (tout près de Varna, Bulgarie). Troisième enfant du pasteur Constantin Deunovski et de Dobra Georgieva. Son grand-père maternel était Atanas Georgiev (1805-1865), une figure publique active dans la lutte pour l'indépendance de l'église lors du rétablissement de la nation bulgare aux 18e et 19e siècles. Son père, Constantin Deunovski (1830-1918) était le premier pasteur et professeur bulgare de Varna.

En 1872, Peter Deunov est admis à l'école élémentaire et il gradue de l'école secondaire de Varna après la libération de la Bulgarie de l'Empire ottoman. Le 24 juin 1886, il termine ses études à l'école américaine de Théologie de Svishtov et il enseigne à Hotantsa, près de Roussé, de l'automne 1887 à l'été 1888.

En août 1888, il part pour les ÉU. Il s'inscrit au Séminaire Méthodiste Théologique de Drew de Madison au New Jersey et y complète ses études en mai 1892. Au cours de l'automne 1892, il s'inscrit à l'école de théologie de l'Université de Boston, Mass., il présente une thèse sur La migration des peuples germaniques et leur christianisation et obtient son diplôme en juin 1893. Il participe comme élève régulier à l'école de médecine de l'Université de Boston pendant un an.

En 1895 (à 31 ans), Peter Deunov retourne en Bulgarie, s'établit à Varna et refuse tous postes qui lui sont offerts comme pasteur Méthodiste et Théosophique. En 1896, il publie Science et Éducation, dans lequel il analyse le développememt de l'humanité en regard des événements mondiaux dramatiques et il mentionne l'avénement d'une nouvelle culture laquelle prendra sûrement place dans le prochain siècle.

En 1896, il est un des fondateurs du Centre culturel et communautaire "P. R. Slaveikov". Il y est nommé bibliothécaire et dans les années subséquentes, il prononce les conférences suivantes devant les habitants de Varna: "L'origine de l'homme", "Étude sur les philosophies ancienne et moderne", "Science et philosophie", "Pourquoi et comment nous vivons" et "La base de l'éclaircissement".

En 1897 (à 33 ans), Peter Deunov, avec quelques-uns de ses partisans à Varna, fonde une Société pour l'Élévation de l'Esprit Religieux du peuple bulgare, avec les membres suivants: Dr. Georgi Mirkovich, Maria Kazakova, Todor Stoyanov, Penyu Kirov, Anastassia Jelyazkova et Milkon Partomyan. Il publie la même année, une brochure de textes mystiques intitulée Hio-Eli-Meli-Mesail. Les événements de 1897 le place au centre de la société spirituelle qui plus tard se développe en une Chaîne Synarchique (1906) et en la Fraternité Blanche Universelle (1918), pendant qu'il se distingue comme individualité avec le surnom de Maître. Après 1897, il est beaucoup plus approprié de faire référence à lui comme Maître Beinsa Douno, plutôt que comme Peter Deunov, bien que les surnoms de Beinsa Douno apparaissent dans les publications littéraires seulement dans les années 1930. L'étymologie du nom Beinsa Douno a des racines en Sanskrit et se traduit par: Celui qui amène le bon à travers les mots.

En 1898, il écrit et donne une conférence, Appel à mon peuple (nation), devant la Société de la Charité de la Mère de Varna. Cette conférence est un appel à l'auto-identification sociale et spirituelle. Pendant l'année suivante, il enregistre Les dix témoignages de Dieu et la promesse divine. À partir de 1899, Maître Beinsa Douno convoque des réunions annuelles à Varna qu'il appelle à l'origine des Réunions de la Chaîne Synarchique. Dès lors jusqu'en 1942, la Fraternité Blanche Universelle a tenu ses réunions annuelles à plusieurs places chaque année en août: à Varna (1899-1909), à Veliko Tarnovo (1910-1925), à Sofia (1926-1941), aux montagnes Rila et Vitosha.

De 1901 à 1912, il voyage à plusieurs endroits en Bulgarie, il donne des conférences et fait des interprétations phrénologiques d'individus sélectionnés parmi les gens. Dès 1904, il habite pour de longues périodes à Sofia, au 66 Opalchenska Str. Il commence à donner ses conférences en public. La figue historique, cosmique et métaphysique du Christ a une place centrale dans ses conférences. En 1912, dans le village d'Arbanassi (près de Veliko Tarnovo), il travaille sur la bible et prépare Le testament des rayons de couleur de la lumière qui est sorti en septembre de la même année. La page titre avait une devise: "Je serai toujours un esclave fidèle au Seigneur Jésus-Christ - le Fils de Dieu, 15 août 1912, Tarnovo".

Le 16 mars 1914, il donne sa première causerie dominicale qui a été prise en sténographie ayant pour titre : Apercevez l'homme et qui débute la série le pouvoir et la vie. Maître Beinsa Douno expose les principaux principes de son enseignement qu'il appelle Le Nouvel Enseignement de la Fraternité Blanche Universelle. Le 8 février 1917 à Sofia, il commence une série de conférences spéciales pour les femmes mariées qui dure jusqu'à 30 juin 1932. Pendant 1917-1918, au cours de la Première Guerre mondiale, le gouvernement de Vassil Radoslavov l'envoye en exil à Varna sous prétexte que son enseignement affaiblit l'esprit des soldats au front. Il habite à l'hôtel de Londres (actuellement l'hôtel Moussala) et il correspond avec ses partisans. À la fin de la Première Guerre mondiale en 1918, le nombre de ses partisans dans tout le pays grandit rapidement et vers 1930 on en compte approximativement 40,000.

Le 24 février 1922, il ouvre une école éotérique à Sofia qu'il appelle École de la Fraternité Blanche Universelle. Il consiste en deux classes d'étudiants. La classe ésotérique générale s'ouvre avec une conférence intitulée : Les Trois vies, et la classe ésotérique spéciale (pour la jeunesse) avec Les Deux Chemins. Les conférences ont été données devant les deux classes ésotériques chaque semaine pendant 22 années — jusqu'à décembre 1944.

En 1927, Maître Beinsa Douno implante le village d'Izgrev près de Sofia (aujourd'hui un secteur résidentiel de la ville) où il rassemble son audience, ses partisans et disciples pour avoir un centre où l'école ésotérique travaillera. Il s'installe en permanence à Izgrev où il partage plusieurs parties de son enseignement. Dès 19 août 1927, il donne une série de conférences lors de la réunion annuelle de la Fraternité Blanche Universelle qui comprend entre autres l'intitulé : La voie d'un disciple.

Entre 1929 et 1932, Maître Beinsa Douno établit le contact avec le chef théosophique Jiddu Krishnamurti (dans la ville d'Ommen, au Pays-Bas) qui laisse la Société Théosophique à cette époque et dissout l'ordre les Étoiles de l'est.

À l'été 1929, il emmène ses partisans et disciples camper près des Sept Lacs Rila pour la première fois. Le 21 septembre 1930, il ouvre une nouvelle session de son enseignement, appelé conférence du dimanche matin qui a duré jusqu'en avril 1944. En 1934, il commence à travailler sur la Paneurythmie : une série de vingt-huit exercices qui consistent en mélodies, textes et mouvements plastiques. Plus tard, il ajoute les exercices sur les rayons solaires et le pentagramme.

Le 4 mai 1936, il est battu par un adhérent d'un parti politique, ce qui lui cause une hémorragie cérébrale et une paralysie. Malgré ses problèmes de santé, Maître Beinsa Douno est allé camper avec ses partisans le 14 juillet tout près des Sept Lacs Rila et il a complètement retrouvé la santé le 12 août.

Le 22 mars 1939, il écrit un message à ses disciples intitulé Le testament éternel de l'Esprit.

Au début de 1944 pendant les attaques aériennes à Sofia, il organise l'évacuation d'Izgrev à Marchaevo (un village non loin de Sofia) pendant qu'il demeure chez un de ses disciples. Il revient à Izgrev le 19 octobre 1944. Le 20 décembre 1944, il donne sa dernière conférence La dernière parole à la classe ésotérique générale.

Il décède le 27 décembre 1944. Son corps est enterré à Izgrev.

Contribution créative

Doctrine idéologique et méthodologique

Plusieurs aspects dans l'Enseignement de Maître Beinsa Douno sont disposés et développés dans plus de 7000 conférences de son cru, qui ont été données et sténographiées durant la période de 1900-1944. Ils ont été publiés dans plusieurs séries multi-volume: les conférences devant la classe ésotérique générale ou devant la classe ésotérique spéciale, les causeries dominicales, les conférences de la Réunion Annuelles, les conférences matinales, etc.

Les principales catégories dans son enseignement sont: l'Amour, la Sagesse, la Vérité, la Justice et la Vertu, compris comme attributs du Christ historique, cosmique et mystique. L'amour est une catégorie centrale du macrocosme et du microcosme, qui fonctionne dans plusieurs aspects de l'existence humaine comme aspiration (dans la sphère émotionnelle ou le coeur), sentiment (dans l'âme), pouvoir (dans la sphère idéale du "je" ou la raison) et principe (dans l'esprit). La soi-disant Grande Fraternité Universelle est la vision fondamentale cosmogonique. Il est décrit comme un organisme, consistant en âmes humaines avancées (loges du Grand Initié et leurs disciples) et les neuf hiérarchies d'êtres super-sensibles (les Anges, les Archanges, les Principautés, les Vertus, les Puissances, les Dominations, les Trônes, les Chérubins et les Séraphins). D'après le Maître Beinsa Douno, le Christ est le gouverneur suprême de la Grande Fraternité Universelle.

L'histoire de la culture mondiale est vue comme la projection d'un rythme cosmique, structuré dans des périodes globales et des sous-périodes. Les périodes sont comme suit: Polaire, Hyperboréenne, Lémurienne, Atlantéenne, Cinquième, Sixième et Septième périodes. Les sous-périodes de l'actuelle Cinquième période sont aussi appelées ères culturelles: l'ère du Cancer (Indien Ancien), du Gémeaux (Persan Ancien), du Taureau (Egyptien Ancien), du Bélier (Grèce Ancienne et Rome), du Poisson (Européen De l'ouest), du Verseau (Slave) etc. La conscience humaine se manifeste et se développe à travers des étapes collectives, individuelles, collectives suprêmes et cosmiques. D'après le Maître Beinsa Douno l'humanité entre dans l'ère du Verseau depuis 1914, c.-à-d. la mise en oeuvre de la transition évolutionnaire de la cinquième à la sixième ère culturelle dans la cinquième période. Pendant cette ère, d'après le Maître Beinsa Douno la course Indo-européenne est chef de file dans un aspect évolutionnaire. Les premières étapes dans la conscience collective suprême sont faites pendant l'étape de la transition actuelle. Une de ses formes sociales s'est accomplie à travers les aspects suprêmes de l'amour - la vie pour le Tout. La conscience collective étendue, en rendant effectif la vie pour le Tout, est considérée comme un attribut de la prochaine sixième ère culturelle et de la future sixième race qui provient d'elle. D'après le Maître Beinsa Douno, la sixième race se manifestera dans la future sixième grande ère et rendra effectif la culture de l'amour à une bien plus grande étendue.

L'aspect psychologique du développement humain d'après le Maître Beinsa Douno est une transformation importante à travers quatre archétypes culturels: l'Ancien Testament, le Nouveau Testament, le Vertueux et le Disciple. Cette dernière transition comprend un ensemble de méthodes scolaires ésotériques, qui vise la transformation de la conscience idéale et conceptuelle dans l'imaginaire et est désigné par l'expression : l'épanouissement de l'âme humaine. D'après le Maître Beinsa Douno les disciples ésotériques lient leur conscience en permanence avec le Christ, l'expérimente constamment dans leur intellect, leur émotion et leur volonté et apprenne constamment de ce qu'Il accomplit en eux. Donc la conscience du disciple ou son corps éthérique plus spécifiquement, est perçu comme objet et sujet du soi-disant Second avènement du Christ.

The main methods for spiritual work in the School of the Universal White Brotherhood are: prayer gatherings, musical and respiratory exercises, reading of the Word of Master Beinsa Douno, greeting the sunrise, outings in the mountains, life in brotherhood communities, annual meetings etc. The special methods are: The Testament of the Colour Rays of Light and the Paneurhythmy dance (read this link The Background of Paneurhythmy). All the methods are considered esoteric practices for experiencing Christ through the wholeness of the human being and more precisely through the human etheric body.

Philosophical contribution

The contribution is formulated as ideas in various fields of philosophy. Developed in numerous lectures of Master Beinsa Douno, these are subject to analysis and interpretation from now on. Some of the ideas in the philosophical domain are as follows:

• ‘Your consciousness can travel at the speed of slow trains, it can travel at the speed of Light, and it can travel even faster. Hence, time and space are functions of consciousness. Consciousness is out of the scope of time and space…’ (Youth Esoteric Class, year 1, lecture 13, Contradictions in Life, 24 May 1922)
• ‘Contemporary people still cannot imagine that Light is living. We live in a living Light, while the Light that physics discuss, represents the sub-consciousness of the living Light. The same phases can be found in the consciousness of Light like the phases in your consciousness - sub-consciousness, self-consciousness and super-consciousness. [not in Freud meaning - Editors note]’ (Youth Esoteric Class, year IV, lecture 25, Influence of the Inner Light, 12 April 1925)
• ‘One can identify whether there are beings on the Sun by the light of the Solar spectrum. Above all, wherever there is intelligent life, Light comes in a special way… There is a difference in the spreading of the Sun rays coming out from a un-intelligent being [or non-living object] and those coming out from an intelligent being - the laws are different.’ (Youth Esoteric Class, year IV, lecture 15, The Tests of a Disciple. The Wheat Grain, 25 January 1925)
• ‘People want to attribute a certain form to God, but I ask the question what form can you attribute to Light? Light itself creates forms. How does it create forms? As soon as it encounters an obstacle, it already creates a certain form. … Make the environment of your thoughts rarer or denser and they will immediately experience some refraction.’ (Youth Esoteric Class, year I, lecture 5, Old and New Lives, (29 March 1922)
• ‘The first process, which is the beginning of will, is restricting. Without any restrictions the will cannot be manifested. Above all, the will presupposes a strictly determined movement in the consciousness, i.e. an inclination of consciousness’ (Youth Esoteric Class, year I, lecture 4, Characteristics and Manifestation of the Will, 15 March 1922)
• ‘The more advanced the evolution of a certain form [of life] is, the more intelligent the atoms comprising it. In order to reach a higher stage of development, the atom has to pass through the four Kingdoms - the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom and the kingdom of human beings. …The more stable the atoms of given elements in the human organism are, the better characteristics they convey to human character.’ (Youth Esoteric Class, year V, lecture 13, Real Variables, 1 February 1926)

Contribution to the sciences on self-knowledge

During the period 1901-1912 Master Beinsa Douno carried out phrenologic research among selected individuals from the Bulgarian people. Later on some of the results were stated in his Sunday sermons, and the opening of the Esoteric School of the Universal White Brotherhood (1922) is an indication of his comprehensive approach to the esoteric sciences on self-knowledge - astrology, chiromancy palmistry, phrenology, kabbalah etc. His original methodology in this area includes the following major principles:

• Master Beinsa Douno gave an impulse to esoteric disciples to study on their own the traditions of some esoteric science, correcting and directing the process of learning and research.

• He forbade the use of esoteric sciences for personal evaluation and criticism.

• He gave an impulse to the so-called evolutionary development of these sciences: they should not be approached from an objective and positive points of view; they should facilitate the development of virtues in the human soul and should assist the birth and knowing of the Internal Christ.

• He used a synthetic approach among different esoteric sciences; for instance in order to understand completely the details of a horoscope, human palm, face or the phrenologic parameters of a skull - one has to consult, summarise and synthesise particular results from astrological, chiromantic, physiognomic, phrenologic or any other analysis.

Some ideas and approaches of Master Beinsa Douno in the above-mentioned esoteric sciences are utilised by the Varna astrological tradition for the creation of the so-called three-dimensional model of a horoscope - an innovation in the astrological methodology.

Musical Works

Peter Deunov studied music and the violin in 1880s. During the first decade of the 20th century Master Beinsa Douno started composing music to Biblical texts and to texts written by him, called brotherly songs later on, and from 1922 he started producing songs and melodies in the two esoteric classes of his School, which he called esoteric musical exercises. According to him they were methods for esoteric work and were meant to tone up and harmonise the psychic processes going on in esoteric disciples. Some of the texts to the musical exercises were written in sacred proto-language, which Master Beinsa Douno called Vatan language and he defined it as the primary language of humankind.

Predictions and Insights

• "Christ Impulse will gradually penetrate into the human being and will take over guidance during the further development of the humankind. We are still in the beginning of all this now. In the future Christianity – but not the external, official, Christianity, but the mystic, Esoteric Christianity – will become a world religion for the whole humankind. Christ will be placed in the center of the new culture. Remember, that Christ is a manifestation of the love of God. And He will come as an internal light in the minds and hearts of the people. This light will attract everybody around Christ as a great center. The opening of the human minds and hearts and the reception of Christ from within – this will be the second appearance of Christ on the Earth. He will preach mainly the great science of Love and the methods how to apply it. He will preach the Path of discipleship, brotherhood and serving. Because this is what the law of evolution requires nowadays." (The Master, The Life of the Sixth Race, (ISBN 954-744-050-0))

• "Eight thousand adepts are coming into the world. Some will reincarnate, others will be incorporated."

• "We need to learn the great law that God is our Father, that we have to live like brothers, that no one has the right to kill and there can be no violence. This is what God wrote and we all have to live according to His law. If the contemporary European people do not accept Christ’s Teaching, in ten years there will be a war worse than any other war in human history… And I say, ‘Christ is coming! If people accept Love, war will be cancelled; if they do not accept it, there will be a war and then people will experience even greater suffering.’" (24 June 1923)

• "There is no epoch in human history when Christ has worked like now. Now Christ is working harder than ever. Several centuries ago Christ was up there in the supreme worlds, and now He has descended lower, into the Astral and Ether Worlds, closer to the material world. Two great events will happen: first, the spirit of Christ will start implanting into human beings - of course, in the beginning it will start implanting into the prepared souls. When you experience a fine, unselfish feeling, when you are full of mercy, love, grace, this shows that the spirit of Christ has illuminated you and it has started working within you. Apostle Paul says as well, does not he, ‘It’s not me living, but Christ’s spirit implanted in me.’" (Master Beinsa Douno, The According of the Human Soul, compiled by Boyan Boev, Sofia, 2001).
• "Christ will come, this is beyond doubt, and soon will He come… The Second Coming should not be understood to mean the end of the world, but the second coming of Christ." (11 August 1911).
• "Christ is working in the world, but the people do not see Him. They want to see Him as a human being; they want to touch Him, to physically sense Him. If He fills people’s hearts with beautiful, elevated feelings, what can you desire? …It’s wrong people to expect Christ to be born again as a baby. Christ was born and is being born in the hearts and souls of people. Christ cannot be born by a woman today. If you expect the coming of the Saviour, open your souls. He will be born there. Moreover, Christ is being born in many souls at the same time. When Christ is born in your soul, you will be useful both to yourself and to the people around you. This is Resurrection. This is what wakening of the human soul means. When Christ lives in the souls of people, everybody will be resurrected; everybody will rise and join hands as brothers." (25 March 1923).
• "After the war people will start talking about United European States and this idea will be implemented." (1 May 1940).
• "After a hundred years you will find Europe absolutely different. The borders will be abolished and other relations will be established among the nations and people." (20 September 1935).
• "The world today is facing punishment and liquidation; therefore you have to be awake. By 1999 the world will see what it has never seen before." (1939).
• "An earthquake is coming to Europe, which will start from the north, will shake all of Europe, so that it will be remembered for thousands of years. The reason for this earthquake is explained too. The Old Testament reads, ‘Make sure your deeds and thoughts do not become too bad for the Earth to be able to endure them."
• "In 22nd century the Kingdom of Christ will be established on the Earth."

World response

Dissemination of the Teaching of Master Beinsa Douno

In the 1940s the teaching of Master Beinsa Douno became popular in some European countries: France, Lithuania for example, while in 1970s it was widely spread in Russia, Canada and USA. During the 1990s some disciples and followers of him appeared au Royaume-Uni, Germany, Australia and Congo. After the democratic changes in Bulgaria, followers of the Universal White Brotherhood in Bulgaria registered a non-profit organization at the court ("White Brotherhood - Bulgaria", 1995), which is governed by a Supreme Brotherhood Council having a domicile in Sofia. There are dozens of spiritual centres outside the territory of the country, biggest of all being the French centre in Bonfin. It was established in 1953 by Mihail Ivanov (1900-1986) - a disciple of Master Beinsa Douno, called by his followers Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov.

Spiritual and cultural influence

The works and activities of Master Beinsa Douno are subject of research and analyses by prominent scientists and spiritual leaders.

• According to Pavel Biryukov, a biographer of Count Leo N. Tolstoy, the great Russian thinker and writer left Yasna Polyana shortly before his death (1910) with the intention to travel to Bulgaria to meet Master Peter Deunov.

• Cardinal Giuseppe Roncalli, an Ambassador of the Vatican to Bulgaria before the Second World War, elected as Pope John XXIII later on, said, ‘In the present epoch the greatest philosopher living on the earth is Peter Deunov.’

• Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, said in a conversation with Boyan Boev (Munich, 1910): ‘The Slavonic people are destined to have a great mission. They, and particularly Bulgaria, will contribute a good deal to the elevation of humankind. Return to Bulgaria, there is a powerful spiritual movement in Bulgaria, headed by a great spiritual Initiate.’ After this conversation Boyan Boev became one of the closest disciples of Master Beinsa Douno.

• Paramahansa Yogananda, when asked while visiting Greece about his intentions with regard to establishing an ashram in Bulgaria, declared, ‘This is how far I can go, the Spirit of the Truth is active there’.

• Jiddu Krishnamurti, leader of Theosophic movement refused to be declared Maitreya and Christ and told the participants of a World Theosophic Congress in the Netherlands that the World Master was in Bulgaria.

• Onisaburo Deguchi, leader of the Oomoto, Japanese spiritual movement, said, ‘I am a wise man, the Master is in Bulgaria.’

• Alfred Lemonier, professor at the Toulouse University, France, during his visit to Bulgaria addressed Master Beinsa Douno with the following words, ‘We came to thank you from the bottom of our soul and spirit, and also to request new blessings, advice, example, physical, moral and intellectual power from you so that we can serve to the Whole better.’

After 1925 the Teaching of Master Beinsa Douno acquired world publicity through a number of publications in newspapers, journals and books.

• In Italy, Aldo Lavini published a comprehensive biography and research on the activities of Master Beinsa Douno in Il Messagero della salute (1927). The Alpha newspaper coming out in Palermo, an organ of the Psychological and Experimental Sciences Association called Master Peter Deunov a mystic apostle of Christianity in its complete glory. In Locarno, the Yoga Publishing House prepared and published nine selected lectures translated by the poetess Mara Belcheva where the introduction was written by Prof. Ginno Sordelli. Luigi Belloti, Director of the Italian Academy of Sciences, Literature and Arts, in his speech at the opening of the Academy (24 October 1929) declared Master Peter Deunov its spiritual leader.

• Die Gloke journal in the Czech Republic published the biography of Master Peter Deunov, and the philosopher Rudolf Burkert called him a prophet of the white race in his book Das Reich Gottes auf Erden.

• The German newspaper Reformblatt published an article titled Forerunners of the new culture, where the Universal White Brotherhood was commented ‘The true value of this movement lies not only in its ideas, but also in the unflinching power to implement these ideas in life.’ Master Peter Deunov is presented as a ‘handsome figure breathing kindness.’ The German Menschheitspartei movement (1932) announced its belonging to the Universal White Brotherhood in Bulgaria and its respect to Master Peter Deunov.

• Agnessa Hofmann, a leader in the Catholic Liberal Church in the Netherlands, visited Bulgaria in 1928 and said, ‘I came to meet Master Peter Deunov. Few are the Masters of humankind.’

• Nineteen lectures of Master Peter Deunov were published in English in the USA and they were received with enthusiasm by the press. The Rosicrucian Society in Oceanside, California, summaried their impressions from the lecture as follows, ‘The person who wrote these beautiful and elevated thoughts, has a profound knowledge of the secrets of life.’

• The Torch journal in Canada, an organ of the astrological society, published a response to the Great Law lecture, ‘By its merits this little booklet is second to no other book in the entire American rhetoric literature. The author has penetrated deeply into the work of the spiritual alchemy of the Universe; he shows how each virtue contributes to the construction of the common good of humanity.’

• The Hejnal journal in Poland published an article of Agni Pilshova, ‘There are many esoteric schools in the world, but the school in Bulgaria stands out with something specific. It tries to influence and educate society through its good example.’

• The press in Switzerland published an annotation about Georgi Radev’s book The Master Speaks (compiled from texts of Master Beinsa Douno), ‘Never have we come across so many truths delivered in such a concise form, so lively and brilliantly.’

• In 1953 in France Mihail Ivanov, one of the most devoted disciples of Master Beinsa Douno, known in the west world with name Master Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov, founded Fraternite Blanche Universelle (The Universal White Brotherhood) in Bonfin, from which dozens of spiritual centres started on the other continents during the following years. The followers of Master Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov practice Paneurhythmy and study especially the ‘mystic Bulgarian language’, to be able to sing the musical exercises of Master Beinsa Douno in the original.

• After the democratic changes in Bulgaria hundreds of spiritual seekers from all over the planet visit the Annual Meeting near the Seven Rila Lakes to take part in the Mountain School established by Master Beinsa Douno, and to perform the sacred dance of Paneurhythmy together with thousands of spiritual brothers and sisters.

• In 2005 the official internet site, dedicated to the Word of Master Beinsa Douno http://www.BeinsaDouno.org/, started working on a multi-language translation project in respect of his literary legacy in Russian, German, English, Spanish, French, Polish etc.

Attitude of the Orthodox Church to Master Beinsa Douno

Peter Deunov was born in a family of considerable contribution to the Revival of Bulgarian nation and especially - struggle for church independence.^{[réf. nécessaire]} During the second decade after the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire he founded a Society for the Elevation of the Spirit of the Bulgarian People (1897) where prominent figures in the struggle for church independence were members. But the bishops in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church did not accept his reformist ideas about returning to the principles of the early Christianity. According to him the clergy should work for free and selflessly, earning their living from their spiritual work among the people. On the other hand, his Esoteric-Christian doctrine is based on the principles of the cause-result relation and reincarnation (the law on reincarnation and karma) with the purpose to improve and elevate the human soul ever closer to the perfection of Christ - principles contradicting the official church dogmatics. The same is moral principle of vegetarianism - the practice in the social life of the Universal White Brotherhood.

During the second decade of 20th century the Bulgarian Orthodox Church made direct and indirect, overt or covert attempts to discredit Master Beinsa Douno. The principle charge against him was that he identified himself with Christ, in spite of his unambiguous speech on 8 August 1920, ‘Do not look for Christ on the physical level; do not try to find Him in one person only, because He is in all people. Moreover, where Christ is manifested you will see an intensive light. Christ is one and many. Sometimes you say, ‘Is Mr. Deunov Christ or Christ is in him?’ I will tell you that I am not Christ, but that Christ is in me. If I were Christ, whom you take me for, I would be governing the whole world. But as I am not such a person, I am not Christ either. Christ is not in the physical world.’

In the spring of 1922 the Bulgarian Orthodox Church campaign against Master Beinsa Douno was at its peak. In his Sunday sermon on 14 May he stated, ‘If somebody attempts to speak the truth today, the first thing he would be called is a heretic… If your teaching yields better results I will accept it, but if my teaching produces better results, accept my methods.’ On 18 June Master Peter Deunov said, ‘Now is the time for culture, we are the bearers of a cultural movement, of a cultural tide in Bulgaria. And the Bulgarian clergy, is plotting how to impede us, instead of working intelligently, benefiting from this blessing sent from Heavens. They have to understand that they will impede themselves first of all.’ On 7 July 1922 at the Bishopric Council of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Peter Deunov was declared to have self-excommunicated himself, and his teaching was declared ‘heretic and dangerous to the internal peace and public moral.’ Master Peter Deunov did not comment upon this event, did not come out to defend himself in public; he only emphasized the ideal of the Great Universal Brotherhood, ‘Let the Orthodox Church resolve this issue, whether Christ has risen, whether Love is accepted in the Orthodox Church. There is one church in the world. But the Universal White Brotherhood is outside the church - it is higher than the church. But even higher than the Universal White Brotherhood is the Kingdom of Heaven. Hence the Church is the first step, the Universal White Brotherhood is the second step, and the Kingdom of Heaven is the third step - the greatest one that is to be manifested.’ (24 June 1923).

Attitude of the Bulgarian Philosophers to Master Beinsa Douno

The Teaching of Master Beinsa Douno is subject of theological and philosophical analysis. In 1917 the Theologician Daniil Laskov published a couple of articles in the Spiritual Culture newspaper: What is Theosophy and The Attitude of the Bible to the Theosophical spiritism and occultism. In 1922 his book Peter Deunov and His Teaching came out, where the latter was defined as a ‘sum of pagan superstitions, theosophic spiritism and occultism.’ In 1929 Angel Tomov analysed the religious and philosophic concepts in the teaching in the Philosopher’s Review journal. He argued that the teaching could be understood only as a component of the mystic wave of the new epoch, typical for which is the growing interest in spiritism and the advent of theosophy and of various occult schools and mystic societies in the world. Later on the eminent remkeist Prof. Dimiter Mihalchev published in consecutive issues of the same journal several studies, ‘The Religious and Philosophical Points of View of Peter Deunov’ (1930) and ‘Against Danovism as Theosophic Teaching’ (1931). According to him it all comes down to pantheistic metaphysics sweeping the masses in mysticism thus ‘wasting their potential’ in regard to the state and the nation. In 1940 Dr Cyril Cholakov, a psychiatrist, a student of Mihalchev, published three pieces of criticism in the Mental Health journal, qualifying Master Peter Deunov and his thousands of followers in clinical terms. All critical analysis from this period aimed predominantly at the ideal and religious aspects of the teaching, ignoring willingly or unwillingly its Esoteric-Christian basis.

The Marxist philosophy after 1944 examined Master Peter Deunov as a founder of a ‘specific Bulgarian theosophical teaching’ in the bourgeois society. His followers were defined as people ‘deaf and blind for the sufferings of the epoch’. Biased scenarios about an alleged ‘suicide’ by Peter Deunov were floated, in spite of the existing documentary evidence about pneumonia being the direct cause for his death.

In the late 20th century certain informal philosophic circles in Bulgaria proposed a method for structural reconstruction in respect of the interpretation of Master Beinsa Douno’s texts. In their opinion these were structured on a triple dialogue Christ-I-The Other, which made it possible to see them internally and to experience them as Word or as a Moral event. It is stated that only the structural interpretation makes them scientifically distinct from other esoteric or religious texts, since the morphology of Christ-I-The Other is not to be found in the Orthodox Christian literature, theosophy and Eastern Occultism. Contrary to the accusations that Master Beinsa Douno’s sermons lacked any structure is the so-called musical principle. It is understood as a spiritual practice for esoteric disciples where reading and/or listening to the Word spiritualises the intellectuality of the contemporary consciousness, revives the life of the Cosmic intelligence within it and thus experiences immediately what the Master, in the form of the Holy Spirit, performs within.

Attitude of the Bulgarian State to Master Beinsa Douno and the Universal White Brotherhood

Master Beinsa Douno and the Universal White Brotherhood do not participate on principle in any government institutions or political units. Nonetheless they were subject to both interest and repressions on behalf of politicians, statesmen, parties, the army and the police. There are documents, according to which Master Beinsa Douno intended to present his Appeal to My People before the National Assembly (1897); he gave up this idea later on. From 1912 to 1918 most of his disciples and followers were mobilised in the Bulgarian army and at his instructions they carried The Good Prayer and Psalm 91 sown in their military coats. On 11 November 1912, towards the end of the Balkan War, through Maria Stoyanova, he advised the Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand to sign an armistice with Turkey and not to attack his allies. In August 1915 during the course of the First World War the Tarnovian Military commandment dispersed the Annual Meeting of the Universal White Brotherhood and forced Master Beinsa Douno to leave the town. After Bulgaria’s capitulation at Dobro Pole (15 September 1918) he advised the Bulgarian Tsar through go-betweens to abdicate in favour of his son, Boris.

On 13 July 1921 the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior adopted a statute of the White Brotherhood Society in Rousse and actually this was the first legal registration of the followers of the Universal White Brotherhood. In the 1920s Master Beinsa Douno stayed for a long time in Sofia at 66 Opalchenska Street, right next door to the home of the communist leader Georgi Dimitrov. Memoirs of contemporaries have it that the latter hid several times from the police in the house of Master Beinsa Douno.

According to the memoirs of Petko Epitropov in July 1922 Master Beinsa Douno met Alexander Stamboliyski, then the Prime Minister, and had a private talk with him. On 9 June 1923 after a coup d’etat the party of the Democratic Accord took over; the government of the Democratic Accord did not allow the Annual Meeting of the Universal White Brotherhood to be held. On 21 July 1925 Master Beinsa Douno was summoned to a hearing at the Social Security Police Department in Sofia; his answers to the questions put to him were documented and kept and they represent a peculiar manifesto of his ideal doctrine. In 1936 he was attacked and beaten by an adherent of the Democratic Accord party; the incident led to a brain haemorrhage and paralysis; later on the Master recovered completely. Afterwards his attacker asked Master Beinsa Douno for forgiveness. On 2 October 1937 he was officially called to answer in written form and in detail questions about the attitude of his teaching to the church, the government institutions, the army, the social order, marriage, family and moral. His answers were documented and preserved for the generations.

During the Second World War Master Beinsa Douno advised his disciples Lyubomir Loulchev (advisor at the court) and Methodi Constantinov (high official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to persuade Tsar Boris III to withdraw his decision on the deportation of Bulgarian Jewry and practically he became their true saviour.^{[réf. nécessaire]}

Four years after the establishment of the totalitarian communist regime in Bulgaria, the Ministry of Foreign Affair recognized the Universal White Brotherhood as a ‘faith community’ (23 January 1948), but in October 1956 repealed its decision. In June 1948 the land plot in Izgrev where the prayer meeting hall was located was nationalised, and was given to the Embassy of USSR. On 6 December 1957 by virtue of a prosecution order the entire reference literature with the Word of Master Beinsa Douno was seized, and in August 1958 the Sofia City Council nationalized all land plots owned by then Izgrev citizens.

After the democratic changes in Bulgaria, the Council of Ministers adopted a statute of the Universal White Brotherhood Society (7 November 1990), and in 2001 it published a certificate, according to which the Society does not qualify as sect; it is an official spiritual movement coming into arising in Bulgaria as an original tradition that has lasted over a century in Bulgaria.

Contemporary survey of the work of Master Beinsa Douno

Originally (during the first half of 20th century) Master Beinsa Douno was identified by his disciples and followers as one of then Great Masters of the Lodge of the Great Universal Brotherhood. In 1940s Vlad Pashov, Georgi Radev, Boyan Boev and Methodi Constantinov were the first to argue in their scientific works the central cosmogonic and gnoseological significance of the concept of the Great Universal Brotherhood, they analysed in detail its macro- and micro-cosmic structure as given by Master Beinsa Douno (advanced human souls and nine hierarchies of super-sensitive beings under the supreme command of Christ) and defined the conscious relation with it as a main cognitive objective in the spiritual practice of esoteric disciples. Some Bulgarian publications from 1990s define him as Universal Master, without linking him with any of the existing philosophic, religious or esoteric doctrines so far. The prevailing opinion is that his mission was to renovate Christianity in relation with forthcoming Slavonic cultural epoch and the future Sixth race.

From 1999 onwards certain informal philosophical circles in Bulgaria and the Netherlands, taking recourse to some biographical data about the life of Peter Deunov and to spiritual-scientific theses of the anthroposophic teaching of Rudolf Steiner, identified Master Beinsa Douno as manifestation of the Bodhisattva Maitreya in 20th century (for more information download this e-book file "The Teaching about the Lodge of Bodhisatva and the Issue of the 20th century Bodhisatva - An attempted contemporary reading, new ideas"). From this point of view they regard his teaching as the supreme emanation of Esoteric Christianity, and the methods of his school - as experiencing practices of the so-called etheric coming of Christ in astral level. These interpretations are argued against by some leading representatives of the Anthroposophic School in Dornach (Switzerland) and although Bodhisattva Maitreya is a central object of research in Anthroposophy, they have not stated any alternative points of view so far concerning the spiritual, historic and personal identification of the Bodhisattva Maitreya in 20th century.

On the other hand, the School of Esoteric Christianity in Dornach is examining certain attempts at personification of the Bodhisattva Maitreya (Juddi Krishnamurti, Valentine Tomberg, Omraam Mihail Ivannovi etc.) as illegitimate attempts to replace his true mission as a messenger of the etheric coming of Christ in an astral plan. The spiritual scientific dialogue between these two European traditions may be interpreted not only as a token of synthesis, but also as a total human union in Christ.

Référence litérature

1. (en) Methodi Constantinov, Boyan Boev, Maria Todorova, Boris Nikolov, The Master, PH, Sofia, Byalo Bratstvo, 2005
2. (en) Georgi Radev, The Master Speaks, PH, Sofia, Byalo Bratstvo, 2006 (lire en ligne)
3. (en) Beinsa Douno, The Testament of the Colour Rays of Light, PH, Sofia, Byalo Bratstvo, 2004
4. (en) Beinsa Douno, Paneurhythmy, PH, Sofia, Byalo Bratstvo, 2005
5. Master Peter Deunov. The Sping of the Good, Royal 77 PH, Varna, 1992
6. Master Beinsa Douno. Conversations at the Seven Rila Lakes, Queen Mab, Sofia, 1993
7. Master Beinsa Douno. According of the Human Soul, vol. I, II & III, Byalo Bratstvo PH, Sofia, 2002
8. Master Beinsa Douno. The Great Mother. Byalo Bratstvo PH and Royal 77 PH, Varna, 1998
9. The Master in Varna. A documentary chronicle, Byalo Bratstvo PH, Sofia, 1999
10. Master Peter Deunov. He Is Coming. Byalo Bratstvo PH, Sofia, 2004
11. Master Peter Deunov. The Mindful Heart. Bulgarian Classics series, vol. 59. Zaharii Stoyanov PH, Sofia, 2003

Selected literature in English

1. The Wellspring of Good. By Peter Deunov. Bojan Boev, Boris Nikolov (Compilers); (ISBN 954-474-316-2)
2. Sacred Words of the Master. A Call to the Disciple by Beinsa Douno. Vessela Nestorova (Translator); Publisher: Bialo Bratstvo (1994); (ISBN 954-8091-15-1)
3. The New Humanity and the High Ideal. By Beinsa Douno. Publisher: Sliabhair (1969); (ISBN 0-937785-04-0)
4. Paneurhythmy: Supreme Cosmic Rhythm. By Beinsa Douno. Publisher: Bialo Bratstvo (2004); (ISBN 954-744-035-7)
5. The Master Peter Deunov: His Life and Teaching. By Milka Kraleva; (ISBN 954-474-268-9)
6. Prophet for Our Times: The Life and Teachings of Peter Deunov. By Peter Duenov. David Lorimer (Editor). Publisher: Element Books (1991); (ISBN 1-85230-211-9)
7. The Way of the Disciple. By Beinsa Douno. Publisher: Alpha-Dar (1996); (ISBN 954-8785-05-6)

External links

• http://www.BeinsaDouno.org - The Word of Master Peter Deunov. Official organ of the White Brotherhood, Bulgaria (the site is in Bulgarian, English, Russian, French, German, Polish etc. Hundreds of original lectures are available in several languages out of a total of 4000)
• http://www.beinsaduno.info - Beinsa Douno Library with lectures in Bulgarian.
• http://home.earthlink.net/~rila
• http://www.bratstvoto.net
• http://paneurhythmy.us/about_Beinsa_Douno.shtml
• http://www.esotericpublishing.com/pr/deunov.html
• http://www.revelation37.freeserve.co.uk/contents/deunov.htm
• http://www.beinsa-douno.net/ - The website with English translations of two unedited lectures and two unedited prayers of the Master Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno). This site has discussable information - read the discussion page.

Liens externes

www.beinsadouno.org

Deunov, Peter Deunov, Peter Deunov, Peter

bg:Петър Дънов en:Peter Deunov de:Peter Konstantinow Danow