 |
||
 |
|
|
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL REFLECTIONS 1
A Review
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov never wrote an autobiography and rarely spoke of himself. When he did, his remarks were slipped in to his lectures as illustrations on various topics of his teaching. Now they have been gathered together in chronological order to give a coherent account of the life and work of this great Bulgarian born spiritual Master. Although biographical books outlining his life already exist, this ‘autobiography’ is different because it is in his own words, making it essential reading.
We are given insights, sacred moments and ways of approaching the most difficult conditions facing us, in a manner that is both affecting and profound and touches the deepest recesses of our soul. The title ‘A Living Book’ comes from Aïvanhov’s often repeated statement that ‘My work is to write the book of myself’ and from his desire that each of us should understand that we are a living book, which we are in the process of writing with our thoughts, feelings and actions. In holding this book, we hold a manual for our future.
We are given a vivid picture of Aïvanhov’s life and of the elements that helped form him as a teacher. We see life first in early twentieth century Bulgaria and then in France, where he lived and taught from 1937 until his death in 1986. His account of his early days shows a child linked to, and loving, the beauty of nature, the bubbling springs, the magic of fire, the peace of the forest. We see him bringing wood for the fire to the village’s one room school house, we hear of his grandmother’s healing traditions, and we note the importance of his experience of community both in work and celebration.
He recalls with humour his youthful failings, his impatience, his idealism and the great gulf between that ideal and his own actions. For during his youth there also emerged a deeper sense of the sacred and an awareness of the reality behind the visible. His openness to experience and his longing to be of use were all contributing to the development of an acute observer who can both see patterns and draw conclusions. He developed from a dreamy child to a questioning adolescent with no clear channel for his energies, then into a disciple eternally grateful for the gift of his Master, Peter Deunov, and finally into a Master in his own right.
The trials and tribulations of a great Master are not only his; we haveour own trials and tribulations, which although not perhaps of such magnitude are for us as difficult to deal with. But with his simple way of expressing the way he dealt with his, he infuses us with inspiration and gratitude that we have been shown how to deal with our own.
There is a vast range of experience and insight given in this book by a man who knows human life. He demolishes the idea that a teacher is some remote, unworldly being, a hermit occasionally emerging to offer pearls of wisdom to rapt disciples but with no idea of the realities we all have to face. He says, “I know your difficulties; I’ve experienced them. I have been hungry, I have been cold, I have been ill, I have had no money, nowhere to stay, been unable to wash myself, been badly dressed, I have had to wait for hours in the corridors of power, I have been continually under the threat of deportation, I have had my name dragged through the mud, have been the target of plots against me and have been thrown into prison.”
The path of a Master is not an easy one. He speaks with an astonishing humility. He is reluctant to tell of many of his intimate experiences, as he knows that he may be neither believed nor understood. He is also aware that if he deceives or leads anyone astray he will have to answer for it, and this awareness informs his strong sense of responsibility. He not only saw the responsibility of such a role but experienced the dangers as well. In the appendix we are given letters written by him during his time in prison on trumped-up charges (the only place where we see his own writing as opposed to his recorded spoken words). Here he says, “Thanks to the exceptional conditions in which I have been placed, I have had even greater opportunities to test out this knowledge. I have experienced over and over again the power of thought… I must drink poison, and not only must I not die, but I must transform that poison into ambrosia.” This is the work he wants for us, not just talk of love and peace and brotherhood, but a lived experience of transformation.
This is the extraordinary testimony of someone who is alive, in a world that is alive, and his words are living words that give life. This book is like a river, an abundance of life pouring forth, to nourish our deserts and to make flowers bloom. We are invited to come and drink from this water and, in a typically humorous way, asked not to bring tiny mugs and little saucepans to fill, but to come carrying buckets, so that we too can imbibe from this spring of light and life and ourselves be inspired to begin the work of becoming ‘living books’.
