1922 - 1944
On
February 24, 1922, The Master inaugurated the School of the White Brotherhood
in Sofia. This school started with two courses: General Occult Course and
Special (Youth) Occult Course. The General Occult Course opened with The
Master's lecture "The Three Lives",
while the Special (Youth) Course opened with his lecture "The Two
Paths". During the following 22 years, lectures in the School
were held weekly. According to the School archives, from October 1923 to
December 1944, 52 disciples attended the General Occult Course and 45 attended
the Youth Occult Course.
In the first six months of 1922, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church fired off a campaign against the White Brotherhood in Bulgaria. Danyil Laskov and Mikhail Kalnev published critical materials in the media. On July 7, 1922, the sitting of the Bishops' Council declared Peter Deunov as self-excommunicated from the Holy Church. Some of The Master's followers were excommunicated from the Church as well.
The first communities of the White Brotherhood were founded during the first half of 1922. Zhecho Vulkov, Boris Nikolov, Assen Kantardjiev, Konstantin Konstantinov, Krastyu Tyuleshkov, Georgi Tomalevski, Hristo Durzev and Kouzman Kouzmanov founded a community in the village of Achlare (now Ekzarch Antimovo), in the Karnobat region. Rudolph Zeman and Louisa Zeman along with ten other disciples founded a community in Kazanlak. Both attempts to live in a community failed.
On July 26, 1922, The Master met with the Prime Minister Alexander Stamboliyski in Yastrebets (in the Rila mountains).
On August 19, 1922, the annual Meeting of the White Brotherhood was held in Veliko Turnovo. On this day, The Master delivered his public lecture for the citizens of Veliko Turnovo and the representatives of the Orthodox Church from all over the country in the "Nadezhda" club. It was entitled "The New Life". The dispute between the Master and the representatives of the Orthodox clergy, scheduled for 2 p.m., had to be canceled due to a stormy rain.
During the days of the 1922 Veliko Turnovo Meeting, several schools of the White Brotherhood were founded across the country: in Stara Zagora, Sliven, Yambol, Bourgas, Aitos, Rousse, Veliko Turnovo, Varna, and others. A council of correspondents were appointed for diffusing the lectures of The Master given in the Sofia School to each town school.
On August 21, 1922, at the meeting of the White Brotherhood in Veliko Turnovo, The Master presented the song "Fir-Fur-Fen - Bless". That song launched the school music exercises tradition wound up in 1944 with "The New Genesis".
In 1922, The Master and a few disciples set the camp "El Shadai" in the Vitosha mountain, South of the Dragalevski monastery.
In 1922, Ivan Tolev began publishing the "Universal Chronicle" where surveys of The Master's lectures were printed.
During 1922 and 1923, a special meeting hall of the White Brotherhood was built at 14 Oborishte Street in Sofia. The first Brotherhood publishing house was established at the same address by Vlad Pashov, Dimitar Stoyanov and Kiril Mikhailov.
On June 9, 1923, the Party of the Democratic Union came to power after a military coup. The new government banned the annual meetings of the White Brotherhood. However, from July 1 to 5, the First Youth Meeting of the White Brotherhood was held in Sofia. The Meeting Word of The Master was recorded in shorthand and published in the book 'First Youth Meeting.'
On August 26, 1923, Sunday, The Master and his disciples climbed the mount Cherni Vrah in the Vitosha mountain for the first time. There, his lecture "The Common Sense" was recorded in shorthand.
On September 11, 1923, The Master gave his lecture "The High Ideal" for the General Occult Course.
In September 1923, Petar Kambourov, Marin Kambourov, Nikola Grublev and Hristo Hristov founded a community of the White Brotherhood in the village of Arbanassi. The community disintegrated in 1926.
On July 6 and 7, 1924, the Second Youth Meeting of the White Brotherhood was held in Sofia. It wrapped up with a hike to the mount Moussala in the Rila mountain on July 17. There, The Master delivered the lecture "The New Alphabet". Eight Youth Meetings of the White Brotherhood were held in total.
In 1924, the magazine "Wheat Grain" was launched in Sofia. It was about to become the official voice of the White Brotherhood in Bulgaria. "Wheat Grain" was regarded as a sequel to the "New Life" magazine, published in 1923 by Georgi Markov and Metodi Konstantinov. "Wheat Grain" was published until 1944. Its editor-in-chief was Georgi Radev (1900-1940). The members of the editorial board were Georgi Markov, Metodi Konstantinov, Kouzman Kouzmanov, Georgi Tomalevski, Konstantin Konstantinov and Dobri Garvalov.
In February 1925, while on a hike to Chamkoriya (now Borovets), The Master met with the Bulgarian tzar Boris III not far from the royal residence Tzarska Bistritsa.
On August 23, 1925, the annual Meeting of the White Brotherhood was held in Veliko Turnovo. The Master's lectures were published in the books "The Two Holy Postulates" and "Duties and Guidelines by The Master".
On August 29, 1925, The Master was held in custody by the military in Veliko Turnovo under the martial law currently established in Bulgaria. He was released within a few hours, however, and allowed to go to Sofia the next day. On September 12, 1925, the municipal authorities of Veliko Turnovo collected signatures in an attempt to ban the White Brotherhood in Veliko Turnovo.
In January 1926, a reception hall was built for The Master on a piece of land called "The Baucher" at the outskirts of Sofia. This was the highest point of the Sofia field, south-east of the capital. The place was going to become the White Brotherhood physical and spiritual center called "Izgreva" (The Sunrise), today Izgrev borough of Sofia.
In the next few years, disciples, auditors and followers of The Master bought lots and built cabins around the 'Baucher'. This way, Izgreva was transformed into a spiritual village (ashram) in which the White Brotherhood School work was concentrated on the physical level.
On August 22, 1926, the annual Meeting of the White Brotherhood was held in Izgreva. One thousand-four-hundred-and-sixty people were present. Stoyan Vatralski published a report about the meeting under the heading "Who are the White Brothers and What is The White Brotherhood about?" in the newspaper "Zornitsa".
In July 1927, Roussi Nikolov from Stara Zagora began building a prayer hall according to a blueprint of his own design. The building was constructed by The Master's followers from the villages of Kableshkovo and Gabarevo, from the Bourgas district. The prayer hall was shut down in 1958 and demolished in 1971.
From August 19 to 24, 1927 the annual Meeting of the White Brotherhood was held in Izgreva. More than 1000 people attended. The meeting was wrapped up with a climbing of mount Moussala on August 28.
On December 14, 1927, the fifth Youth Meeting of the White Brotherhood was held in Izgreva.
In 1928, Elena Andreeva (1899-1990) joined Pasha Teodorova and Savka Keremidchieva in their work of making a shorthand record of The Master's lectures. The three stenographers settled in Izgreva in a house built especially for them and playfully called 'the steamboat'.
In the summer of 1929, following Simeon Simeonov's idea, The Master and a group of his disciples camped for the first time at the Seven Rila Lakes. Thus, the School in the Rila mountain was opened.
In the beginning of 1930, Professor Dimitar Mikhalchev published his study "The Religious and Philosophic Ideology of Peter Deunov" in the "Philosophical Survey" magazine.
On July 12, 1930, the Eighth Youth Meeting was held in Izgreva, and on August 19, the annual Meeting of the White Brotherhood was held at the Seven Rila Lakes. In the next two years the Meetings were held at the Seven Rila Lakes.
On July 25, 1930, the drinking fountain "Giving Hands" was built in proximity of the Second Rila Lake.
On September 21, 1930, Sunday, The Master introduced a new aspect of his Word: the Sunday morning lectures. They were held in Izgreva well until April 1944. The first shorthanded Sunday morning speech was called "The Absolute Truth".
On August 5, 1931, The Master took the participants in the annual Meeting of the White Brotherhood to the Prayer's Mount (North-East of the Second Lake) for the first time.
In October 1932, Atanas Nikolov, Sava Kalimenov and Petar Pamporov launched the "Brotherhood" newspaper that was published until 1943.
In 1934, The Master presented The Paneurhythmy - a cycle of twenty-eight exercises, consisting of melody, text and body movements. Later, he added to them the exercises Sunbeams and Pentagram. The Paneurhythmy's text was published in 1935, by its author Olga Slavcheva. The score and the text along with a foreword dictated by The Master were published in a separate volume in 1938. Sunbeams was published in 1942. Ever since they were created, The Paneurhythmy have been performed perennially by the members of the White Brotherhood from March 22 to September 22 every morning.
In August 1934, the White Brotherhood camped in the site of Yavorovi Prissoi (in the Vitosha mountain). On August 5, the lecture called "The Great in Life" was shorthanded at this place.
On May 4, 1936, in Izgreva, a card-carrying member of the Party of the Democratic Accord battered The Master who sustained a brain hemorrhage causing paralysis. Despite his illness, on July 14, 1936, he went camping near the Seven Rila Lakes along with his disciples and recovered fully on August 12.
On August 19, 1936, The Master opened the annual Meeting of the White Brotherhood in Izgreva with the lecture "To Give Them Life".
In 1936-37, Vitorio Bertoli (1887-1976) and Annina Bertoli (1912-1989) founded in Paris a circle of Master's followers. In 1958, they launched the magazine "Le grain de ble" (The Wheat of Grain).
In 1937, Mikhail Ivanov (1900-1986) - The Master's follower since 1921 - emigrated to France and later founded a White Brotherhood Society in Paris (as the Master Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov).
In 1938, Georgi Radev published the book "The Master Speaks". This book was published in English in 1970.
In 1939, Savka Keremidchieva published the book "The Holy Words of the Master". Its English translation by Vessela Nestorova was published in USA in 1940 and had a second edition in Sofia in 1994.
In the summer of 1939, the Meetings in Izgreva and at
the Seven Rila Lakes were attended by The Master followers from France,
Latvia and Estonia.
On July 25, 1942, following a decree by the Ministry of Education, Milka
Periklieva and Vessela Nestorova together with the musicians Simeon Simeonov,
Danko Simeonov and Vyara Kourteva designed training courses for teachers
in physical culture introducing The Paneurhythmy in the Bulgarian
educational system.
From June 21 to July 3, 1942, The Master camped for the last time with the White Brotherhood at the Seven Rila Lakes. In August, they moved their camp to the mount Moussala where they stayed well into late September.
In 1942, Boyan Boev published the book "The Master On Breathing".
In the summer of 1943, using the mediation of Lyubomir Loulchev, The Master advised the Bulgarian tzar Boris III and the Minister of Internal Affairs Gabrovski to abolish the decree for the Bulgarian Jews expatriation to Germany.
On September 12, 1943, The Master and few of his disciples hiked to Cherni Vrah for the last time.
In January 1943, Boyan Boev published his book "The Master On Education" with a foreword by The Master and Metody Konstantinov.
On November 14, 1943, the Allies started their bombing raids over Sofia. On January 11, 1944, Izgreva was evacuated to the village of Murchaevo (24 km south-west of Sofia). The Master stayed in the house of Temelko Gyorev (1896-1990). This house is now a museum.
In the summer of 1944, The Master and his disciples found a small spring near the house of Temelko Gyorev. They built there a drinking fountain and called it The Spring of Goodness.
On June 22, 1944, The Master and his disciples went to the mount Ostrets in the Vitosha mountain, where his lecture "Love Understood and Misunderstood" was shorthanded. On August 26, they reached the high- mountain chalet "Edelweiss."
On October 19, 1944, forty days after the invasion of Bulgaria by the Soviet Army, The Master and the villagers of Izgreva returned to Sofia.
On December 20, 1944, The Master gave his last lecture for the General Occult Course. It was called "The Last Word".
On December 27, 1944, The Master came to the end of his
days on earth. His body was buried in the south slope of Izgreva. Today,
his tomb is called The Place.