|
|
THE
SPIRITUAL LEGACY OF THE MASTER BEINSA DOUNO
|
The
spiritual legacy of the Master Beinsa Douno includes more than 7,000
lectures comprising of about 100,000 pages, 150 original songs, the circle
dance Paneurhythmy, thousands of spiritual exercises and experiments,
and advice for practically every aspect of human life on Earth.
The
Master Beinsa Douno (Peter Deunov) was born on 12th July 1864,
in a small village near Varna, Bulgaria, into a family of a distinguished
Christian priest. He studied for about seven years in the United States
(Doctor of Medicine and Theology) where he established important connections
with American esoteric spiritual groups and societies. After returning
to Bulgaria in 1898, he received an enlightenment about his mission and
wrote A
Proclamation to the Bulgarian People
announcing his Divine task.
At the beginning
of the twentieth century (in 1901) the Master Beinsa Douno started to travel
around Bulgaria (giving lectures on phrenology and education) and began to spread
the message about the new epoch. Later, he began to gather his first disciples
for a spiritual assembly every Summer. In 1914 the Master started his public
activities with the lecture 'Here is the Man' (alluding to Christ).
In 1922 he opened the spiritual School which lasted for 22 years (a very symbolic
number of years from a spiritual point of view). In the 1920's a spiritual
community called 'Sunrise' was formed by the Master. In this community he unfolded
a wonderfully rich, intensive and inspiring Divine work.
The
mission of the Master was to open the epoch of the cosmic-spiritual Spring and
to give practical knowledge for the ascent of humanity to the Kingdom of God.
From a mythological point of view, the whole human culture
is like a grain of wheat, which now starts to sprout into the Divine world.
This great transformation affects all three
levels of life the microcosmos of the human, the cosmos of human culture,
and the macrocosmos of Heaven and Earth.
On
the microcosmic
level the Master led the human being
beyond the ordinary path of evolution and introduced the Path
of the Divine Disciple. His spiritual
Teaching shed Light on the daily life of the disciples, on their relationships
and on their entire existence. He imparted knowledge concerning the principles,
methods and means for the successful resolution of the problems which
beset the disciple in the various situations in life. He blessed the
path of the disciple with Love the great alchemical stone which transforms
life on Earth into a celestial life.
It is by
following the path of the disciple that the human soul blossoms.
The Master revealed the great treasury of human virtues
which originate in the aura of Christ. By
developing these virtues, the celestial gifts which lie dormant in the human
soul are awakened and enable the disciple to overcome the narrow self-consciousness
and achieve superconsciousness. Thus, the disciple spiritualises his or her
own life and enters into the Garden of Paradise.
For the
disciple who is linked with the living Word of the Master, all the forces in
Nature and space are animated and filled with Light the Sun, the Earth, the
elements and even the food become an ocean of living energies, from which Divine
sustenance for physical, psychic and spiritual development is received.
The Teaching of the Master contains an immense treasury of principles, knowledge,
rules, recommendations, exercises, advice and methods for spiritual work with
all natural and cosmic forces.
As
a great worker in the Divine field, the Master ploughed and weeded the
human mind and the earthly culture in order to sow and nurture the seeds
of the new epoch. He did enormous work to counteract the injustice and
imperfection caused by egoism, dogmatism and illusion. While maintaining
innumerable spiritual ties with the existing social and cultural structures,
he worked unceasingly for their transformation and spiritualisation.
In this area the task of the Master was to establish
on Earth a new celestial foundation for all human life a task which
can be achieved only by the World Teacher turning the 'Wheel of Eternal
Life'.
The Teaching
and Work of the Master sowed the seeds for the coming Sixth Race, the race
of the sons and daughters of God, newly born in the Spirit with blossoming souls.
This Sixth Race will bring the culture of love and fellowship to humankind and
it was for this purpose that the Master formed the 'Brotherhood' a rich, creative
laboratory where he worked with many people of different age groups and professions
in order to establish the principles and living structures for the new solar
culture.
During
the epoch of the Holy Spirit the new humankind will become a part of the
Universal Brotherhood. The Master revealed magnificent images of the
souls linked with the Universal Brotherhood who, like birds flying from
epoch to epoch, bring new impulses for the development of humankind.
He introduced many new ideas, principles and laws for life in the celestial
Kingdom of the Universal Brotherhood, with an emphasis on the importance
of 'Life for the Whole'. Furthermore, the Master disclosed the mystical
depths of the Teaching of Jesus Christ the great spiritual transformer
of human history and Head of the Universal Brotherhood.
Growing
like grains of wheat in the cosmic-spiritual Spring, human beings ascend
to
the Divine world of the New Heaven and the New Earth. During
this process, the Master, as a great cosmic-spiritual Sun, shines to warm
and awaken human souls and to illuminate the reality of the New World.
He described countless spiritual worlds and explained the basic principles
and laws which operate in the Universe. He
painted a magnificent picture of the whole of Creation, linking the physical,
angelic and divine realms. The Master shed great light on the Divine
worlds of Love, Wisdom and Truth.
Now, in
the immense wealth of lectures, talks, prayers and songs of the Master, poets
can find perfect poetry, musicians inspired music, philosophers deep philosophy,
scientists living science and theologians can find an enormous treasury of
Divine Wisdom and Truth. The Teaching of the Master brings light and knowledge
to the many domains of human life on Earth. It helps to open the 'closed structures'
of the existing human culture, thus enabling the disciple to embrace the wholeness
of life and to receive the new Divine impulse. In this way,
by working on the three levels the microcosmos of
human life, the cosmos of cultural life and the macrocosmos of the entire spiritual
Universe the Master gave a powerful new impulse (following that given by Jesus
Christ) for the elevation of humankind. He
introduced the epoch of the Holy Spirit and prepared the soil for the coming
of the Kingdom of God on Earth. The impulse
of resurrection and salvation was given to humankind by Jesus Christ, but the
Master, whose work could be described as 'turning the Wheel of Eternal Life',
revealed the new reality of life from all aspects.
In
the spiritual legacy of the Master the Paneurhythmy plays an extremely
important role. It is the focus of the whole Teaching of the Master.
The dance represents an organic synthesis of
such important celestial components as spiritual music, colour rays of
light, sacred words, basic movements and archetypal ideas related to the
dawning of the cosmic-spiritual Spring. Performed in the context of the
appropriate style of life of the spiritual disciple, the dance aims at
the blossoming of the human soul and becomes a path of ascent and transfiguration.
The Paneurhythmy in its wholeness follows the
stream of the evolutionary ascent of humankind in the cosmic-spiritual
Spring and can be considered as a new, original form of yoga practice,
tailored for the coming Age of Aquarius.
The Paneurhythmy
as a circle dance was created by the Master between 1928 and 1932 with the enthusiasm
and appreciation of the spiritual community. It takes about one hour and a
half to perform and consists of three main parts.
The first part, the Paneurhythmy
in its essential form, takes forty-five minutes and includes twenty-eight different
movements with their own music and text.
(These movements are as follows: The first Day
of spring (1. Awakening, 2. Reconciliation, 3. Giving, 4. Ascending, 5. Elevation,
6. Opening, 7. Liberation, 8. Clapping, 9. Purification, 10. Flying these
10 movements form the introduction to the Paneurhythmy and are performed without
a break), 11. Evera, 12 Jumping, 13. Weaving, 14. Thinking, 15. Aum, 16, The
Rising Sun, 17. Square, 18. Beauty, 19. Mobility, 20. Conquering, 21. Joy
of the Earth, 22. Acquaintance, 23. Beautiful Day, 24. How Happy We Are,
25. Step by Step, 26. Early in the Morning, 27. Breathing, 28. Providence -
Blessing: 'May the Peace of God and the pure
Joy of God live in our hearts forever'.)
The
second part is called 'Sunbeams'
and is a dance imitating the radiation of the sunbeams
from the centre of the Source of Life. In contact with the Source of
Life we obtain the freedom of our souls and fly as birds in the celestial
worlds. The third part is called 'The
Pentagram'and it is performed by groups
of five couples, each forming a living pentagram in movement which symbolises
the cosmic-spiritual being (with a head, two arms and two feet) on his
and her endless path of evolution. (There is a very interesting interpretation
of the ten sefiroth in the Kabbalah which all together form a similar
cosmological figure.
The Paneurhythmy
is performed from the 22nd of March until the 22nd of
September (in harmony with the outward-flowing energies of the Spring and Summer
seasons of Nature), in the morning, in the open air, by a group of people.
The Paneurhythmy has its greatest effect and power when it is performed in correlation
with the spiritual style of life of the disciple. The
Master suggested several golden rules:
- Observe
a vegetarian diet (following the principle
of ahimsa non-violence or non-killing proclaimed in the Hindu Scriptures
as the highest form of duty no harm to any living creature).
- Abstain
from alcohol, drugs and smoking, all of which
abuse the body and contravene the aims of the Paneurhythmy the healing,
purification and illumination of our physical nature.
- Develop
the highest human virtues such as love, friendship,
peace, joy, harmony and many others. The virtues enable us to open our souls
in order to blossom in the higher realms of Being.
- Make
daily life a spiritual school. Every relationship
and every situation in our life contains a precious spiritual lesson which
must be learned and correctly resolved in accordance with the principles of
Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth. This rule necessitates attention to the smallest
details in life.
- Live
a healthy, wholesome life in harmony with Nature,
with frequent excursions to natural settings, Summer encampments, and other
outdoor spiritual activities.
- Meet
the sunrise whenever possible with appropriate
prayers, songs, meditations and spiritual ceremonies, given by the Master.
Sunrise is the most powerfully energetic time of the day/night cycle and marks
the spiritual dawning of the day in many traditions.
In
the Teaching of the Master, the meeting of the sunrise is observed by
contemplation of Christ as the Solar Logos and of the dawning of the new
solar culture. Usually the Paneurhythmy is danced after the sunrise ceremony
and forms an organic cycle with it. For instance, in the Summer camp
the ceremony of meeting the sunrise (lasting one hour and a half), and
dancing the Paneurhythmy (which itself lasts forty-five minutes, or an
hour and a half if all three sections are performed) become the most important
spiritual event of the day, the great morning Mass of communion with the
sacredness of life on all levels.
|