The Universal White Brotherhood (UWB) is a religious movement founded in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in 1897 by

Peter Dunov Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

. It was later established in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1937 by Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, one of Deunov's followers. Their teachings are also known as "Dunovism", after the founder. The group proposes a Christian

esoterism Esotericism may refer to: *Eastern esotericism, a broad range of religious beliefs and practices originating from the Eastern world, characterized by esoteric, secretive, or occult elements *Western esotericism Western esotericism, also known ...

, characterized by a number of practices, including prayers,

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

, breathing exercises,

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

of nutrition and paneurhythmy. A person can be both a member of the group and of another religion. It has two centers located in

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

and

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

and 2,000 followers in France. It is present in many countries, including

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Explanation of name

"Universal" refers to human's ability to understand universal concepts about life. It speaks to the idea that people can expand their consciousness with these concepts that extend to more than just one person or group. "

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

" refers to "the highest spiritual symbol, which is the synthesis of all colors, being the manifestations of the soul’s virtues". "Brotherhood" is meant to indicate that the UWB's teachings are for every human no matter what community, religion, or group they belong to. The Universal White Brotherhood believes that their teachings are for everyone so that they can expand their consciousness and embrace a virtuous spirituality.

History

In 1904 Deunov moved to

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria. He began to hold weekly Sunday lectures, which continued until his death in 1944. The school of the UWB was opened in 1922. Paneurhythmy began to develop in the 1930s, and Deunov began taking followers to the Rila Mountains during this decade. The movement was banned in

communist Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; , NRB; ) was the official name of Bulgaria when it was a socialist state, socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; ) together with its coalition partner, the Bul ...

starting in 1944. In France, the group achieved notability in the media in 1971. The 1995 and 1999 reports established by the

Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France The French National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of France, set up a Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France (), also known as the Guyard Commission, on 11 July 1995 following the events involving the members of the Order of th ...

, as well as the 1997 reports issued by the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission in Belgium listed the group as a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

. After the fall of communism in Bulgaria in 1989, UWB was recognized as a religious sect.

Pilgrimage

Every year some members make a pilgrimage to the

Rila Mountains Rila (, ) is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkan Peninsula, and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an elevation of 2,925 m whi ...

in Bulgaria during the month of August, where they perform paneurhythmy together to celebrate the new year. August 19 is believed to be the beginning of the divine year, and on this day the sun has "a special radiation". Shared lunches, lectures and concerts are also held.

References

External links

Official site

Site of the official Bulgarian White Brotherhood
{{Authority control Christian denominations established in the 20th century Esoteric Christianity Christianity in Bulgaria Christian denominations in France New religious movements established in the 1890s