Vaklush Tolev

At the age of 13 Vaklush enrolled in a grammar school in Asenovgrad. There he was impressed by the town's legal community and court and not infrequently he went to listen to defence speeches.

At the age of 14 he took the floor alone at a church festivity and delivered a sermon entitled ‘Does God exist?’

Within two or three years he had become president of the school's Christian Philosophical Society, which organised the presentation of papers followed by active discussions and disputes in a ‘consensual form of conflict without hatred’[6] with representatives of the materialist viewpoint, the Remsists (of the RMC/The Worker's Youth League).

In the course of his secondary school years, he took part in the political life of the younger generation at that time. He subscribed to magazines like ‘Nation, Politics’, ‘Labour and Faith’ and others.

In 1939 he attended a conference aimed at reaching agreement between the different political wings. In the same period he began to write poetry in secret.

One verse written by Vaklush which has remained from 1945 goes as follows:

In 1942 he relocated from Asenovgrad to Panagiurishte due to a political conflict involving the distribution of leaflets. He graduated from secondary school there and the following year (1943) he commenced the standard military service of 18 months in the School for Reserve Officers.

Vaklush Tolev sums up military education in principle by saying that ‘It awakes a sense of service beyond one’s own personal world.’ As well as part of ‘a physical and spiritual growing into manhood’, it gives ‘a broadening of one’s horizon and sense of responsibility’.[6]

He took part in the Second World War in 1944 as commander of a platoon in the 21-st regiment, Smolyan, of the 1-st Army. He did not bear or use arms. 50 soldiers were entrusted to him and he returned them all alive – only one was wounded, and that was for looting. (He had taken the boots of a slain German soldier.)

Prior to the military operations, Vaklush Tolev had been accepted to study law in the Legal Faculty of the University of Sofia, where he was supposed to have begun his studies in the autumn of 1944.

After the events of the 9th of September 1944 and the change of regime, he was put on trial before the People's Court because of his political views and actions as an officer in the army of the Bulgarian Monarchy.[1] The court pronounced the defendant guilty – ‘An enemy of the people’. The sentence was ‘Death’ and to serve as an example for others, as was the custom on occasion at the time, the loudspeakers in the courtroom were switched on so as to boom out the sentence. The young man had the right to some last words, the expectation being that he would be crushed by the sentence pronounced. But from the loudspeakers boomed his answer, namely that he would lead a principled struggle against communism until the complete annihilation of this ideology. It was precisely this display of daring that led to his sentence being annulled: they let him live with the idea of breaking him in the prisons.[1] The following period of his life he has defined as ‘Heaven’s caring, by means of social repression’, because instead of wounding him, these years in prison helped him preserve his selfhood. Apart from that, ‘I was spared from absent-mindedness’, concluded Vaklush.[6]

He used his time first of all for his examinations in the Faculty of Law, but as he was by now a convict, his exclusion from the ranks of university students was not long in coming. In his prison years he wrote poetry, plays and philosophical essays,[3] and worked on several languages – English, German, French, Latin, Old Bulgarian. He devoted three years to the study of Marxism/Leninism in order to extract its essence. He formulated three main pillars of the ideology: godlessness, class struggle and armed revolution in order to take power. It is precisely these concepts which undermine the moral values provided by religions and ethical teachings, concluded Vaklush.[10]

After the court trial he was sent to Plovdiv jail, which almost exclusively housed political prisoners, mainly from the National Legions movement, as well as several former ministers and journalists – around 500 people in total. The first great act of rebellion which Vaklush carried out was when ideological violence and аbuse were employed so the convicted men would sign an appeal to their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, calling them to go to the urns and vote for the Fatherland Front (a political organization under the wing of the Communist Party). When they were assembled to sign, he urged everyone who was not in agreement to exit the room and around 150 left along with him. After about a week, the decree came from the Ministry of Justice for him and 7 others to be transferred to the Pazardzhik penitentiary where they were isolated in solitary cells for a period. This was a method of terrifying, breaking and recruiting a person, commented Vaklush Tolev. It was then that his oft-repeated thought was born: ‘when you are sufficient unto yourself, no-one can vanquish you.’ ‘This means that your spirit must be free,’ he explained. The feeling of fear did not exist for him and that's why ‘any kind of constraint, even if it be the Great Wall of China, is no obstacle.’

He performed hunger strikes, fasts and a day of complete silence every Monday (in Belene and in Shumen)... Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, Kardzhali, Shumen, Belene, Varna – he was moved from prison to prison with a file which read ‘Not amenable to political re-education’. ‘I changed places of worship,’ Vaklush would later say. ‘For me they were places of worship, because there inner prayer was a matter of judgement, and not of genuflexion before an altar.’ When he was asked in Varna where he had felt best, he answered: ‘Places where there was a law, that’s where I felt best. Because the law, when applied by you, protects us.’[11]

He was freed on the 15th of August 1956, the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, in Varna, after an amnesty was passed for political prisoners. He began work in Plovdiv – once more moving from place to place as someone inconvenient to the authorities. Whilst still in the prisons, people had always gathered around him to listen to his analyses and ideas, something which continued after his release as well.

Since he had a conviction, the right to study in any university whatsoever in the country was taken from him.

Later – with great difficulty, as ‘an enemy of the people’ – he managed to graduate in theology from the Theological Seminary in Sofia, which was the only autonomous institute of learning at the time, completing five years of the study programme in only 18 months.[3] Already in the first year, he was excluded ‘on the orders of the Central Committee (of the Communist Party)’, but he was reinstated after the intercessions of people at the highest levels of the administration in whom his character had inspired respect. He graduated in 1968 with a speech/sermon, taking its title from the Biblical expression of Pontius Pilate, ‘Ecce Homo’ – ‘Behold the Man’.

At the beginning of the 70s he was appointed by Patriarch Cyril as librarian in the Plovdiv metropolitan archdiocese. Until then there had been no full-time librarian and the library stock of around 15,000 items had been more like a warehouse, without any organisation according to the criteria which a library stock requires, without up-to-date records of periodical publications and virtually without readers. Vaklush Tolev, in the space of a few months, carried out ‘a general reorganisation’, starting with the cleaning and repair of the reading room, followed by the processing of the stock. The activity of the library expanded to such an extent that students began to make their way there for the purpose of coursework, and many people came to write academic papers, dissertations on literature and Slavic philology, including the Russian consul, who at the time was preparing his dissertation on Prince Tseretelev.[11]

Subsequently, Vaklush Tolev also became the main official responsible for the early printed artefacts, manuscripts and icon assets of the whole Plovdiv metropolitan archdiocese, which governs 5 ecclesiastical provinces in the form of its subordinated dioceses and subdivisions, churches, monasteries and so on. Within a few years, around 25,000 icons were catalogued as well as 12,000 manuscripts and early print artefacts. Thus the idea was born of creating a depot for the preservation of the most valuable icons, while the other metropolitan archdioceses also began to work according to his system of item description and record-keeping. They also began to appoint their own restorers. In liaison with the Department of Culture of the Municipal Council of Plovdiv the first exhibition of icons was also opened.[3]

After 10 years of serving the Metropolitan Archdiocese, Vaklush left of his own will. Once more he worked in various places in order to earn a living, but always bearing his freedom within, as he would say.

After the events of the 10th of November 1989, he got actively involved in the activities of the party ‘Bulgarian Democratic Forum’, the heir to the Bulgarian Legions. In 1991 he was invited to give lectures in the history of religions in the Universities of Plovdiv and of Sofia.[3] The people around Vaklush Tolev gradually began to attend to the organisation of public lectures and speeches in different cities as well as their documentation by means of audio and video recordings, while from 1992 a start was made on publishing projects as well. The need for an organised existence led to the creation of a social body, which has undergone development over the years – both in terms of name and in terms of structure. Today it is the non-profit association ‘The Way of Wisdom Society’.

Vaklush Tolev ‘remained forever’ in this world on the 27-th of November 2013. In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated on the 31-st of July 2014 and a portion of his ashes was scattered at the Cliffs of Orpheus in the Rhodope mountain range, Pamporovo.

On more than one occasion he had quoted a verse of his with which he wished to be sent on his final journey (and it is done):[12]

‘Wisdom bears with it the principle of knowledge’ summarises Vaklush Tolev – ‘not forgiveness for sin, but the knowledge of how not to sin’.[13] The source of this knowledge is ‘intuition, which brings insight’, while the human being in the doctrine of Wisdom is considered as ‘a god in evolution’. ‘The human being as evolving god will not develop with the opposing of Good and Evil, but will be freed of polarities’, he maintains. In this regard, Vaklush also provides the new concept of ‘co-deity’ (‘sabozhnik’) – an expression of the recognition that ‘You cannot deny the Creator Himself, who has instilled Himself in the Other through the Divine Breath.’ Spiritual Kinship is more important than that of blood, therefore the human being in the Teaching of Wisdom is no longer ‘brother’ or ‘sister’, but namely a co-deity, while what's even more important is that in the transmutation brought about by the new term, the concept of ‘enemy’ is eliminated.

It was Vaklush's idea that a Day be designated and a House erected for the 13 Named Immortal Bulgarians in the country's national history ‘distinguished through an insight into their destiny’ and ‘determined not by biography, but by aspects of character.’[14] To establish together a Day and a Temple House of immortal figures is ‘an unavoidable necessity not for the sake of survival, but for the sake of a new historical existence,’ says Vaklush Tolev. Because ‘A people without temples is like a child without a home – if it does not become aware of the necessity of a temple, it will vegetate.’[15]

In connection with humanity as a whole, Vaklush Tolev turned to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights about including an additional clause in the Charter of Human Rights, which would protect the Rights of the Soul.[3] ‘It is the human being who is sacred and not the institution!’ – said the theologian,[16] thus laying out the right to and basis for a change in the laws of the Institution. The request for a new clause includes the removal of anathema from all religions and the elimination of the concept of ‘enemy’ from the social relations between people.[17][18] ‘Humanity enters the Third Millennium with a new Table of Moral Values – there is no evil, there is only unevolved good; there is no enemy, there is a co-deity.’ – maintains Vaklush Tolev[19] and foresees that ‘in the Third Millennium enmity will be only internal – within one’s own self, and will last until the complete victory of the conscience.’[20]

7 January – the Day of the Nativity

The Nativity is the Way to Attaining Godhood!

13 February – The Day of ‘Nur’ magazine

‘Nur’ is the light of Wisdom’s being!

8 April – The Day of the Resurrection

The Resurrection is Dominion beyond the grave!

31 July – The Day of the Co-Diety (sabozhnik in Bulgarian)

History is the Spirit’s Providence.

13 October – The Day of the Children of Day

The Children of Day are a hierarchy of Serving.

1 November – The Day of the House of Wisdom

The House of Wisdom is the Temple of the Future!

21 December – The Day of Messages

Messages are the bread of the Father![25]

As early as 1956, Vaklush Tolev offered an amendment to the Christian prayer ‘Our Father’ (i.e. ‘The Lord’s Prayer’) (Matthew 6:9 – 13), while in 1957 he sent a letter to Patriarch Cyril on the matter, but received no answer. The Teacher of Wisdom considered that verse 13 of the Gospel of Matthew has been erroneous throughout the ages and that instead of ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’ it should rightly be ‘Deliver us from evil, so that we do not fall into temptation.’ Later Vaklush found a factual confirmation of his insight in the General Epistle of James – Chapter 1, Verse 13. When he examined the prayer, ‘Our Father’, in different languages he found out that in the Spanish translation it is rendered in the way that he views it.

In 2017 Pope Francis requested a revision of the same text from the prayer and pointed out that the French bishops had introduced corrections after which the phrase sounds like ‘Do not allow us to fall into temptation’. This variation was officially accepted by the Vatican in 2013 and Francis considered it to be more faithful. ‘I am the one who has fallen into temptation, and it is not He who has pushed me towards it,’ comments Pope Francis.

The Prayer of Wisdom retains the beginning of the prayer ‘Our Father’ since ‘the human being is the Divine Image and the Divine Likeness’. However, it changes the plea – replacing ‘Give us’ there now appears ‘Teach us’. This is ‘a new level of connection to the Divine Energies’.

The text of the whole Prayer of Wisdom reads as follows:

Our Father!

Hallowed be Thy name;

Let Thy kingdom come;

Thy will be done!

Teach us

To be alive within Thee;

Radiant in Spirit and in soul;

Chaste in thought and body;

And with co-divine service

Towards each created being of God

Thou art now and for all times!

Amen!

The Teaching of Wisdom changes the altar before which one prays – the Deity is no longer sought outside of the human being, but within oneself. The new altar in humanity's existence is the Book of Life, maintains the theologian, and this is namely the consciousness of the God within us – the manifestation of the Divine Breath of Life instilled in the human being, the Awakening of Kundalini. This is ‘an altar not of the transcendent God, but of the immanent God,’ concludes the Teacher of Wisdom.

In the book ‘Uncovenanted Testament’ the fundamental ideas of the Teaching of Wisdom are summarised. Amongst these are the assertions that in Wisdom one must live...

With a new planetary sociology:

o ’There is no evil, there is unevolved good’ – an inherent positive force for the transformation of negation;

o Gratitude – an impetus towards ascent;

o Responsibility – an awareness of predestination;

o Conscience – the essence and awakened consciousness of a God manifested through a human being;

With a new view of the human being:

o ‘A God-felt necessity’ – only through the human being can God seek Himself and come to know Himself;

o ‘A god in evolution’ – image and likeness;

o ‘A visible theogon’ (theogonic being) – the consciousness of a divine essence;

o ‘Co-deity’ (‘sabozhnik’ in Bulgarian) – a hierarchy which has attained awareness of Unity;

With new principles:

o Life – a self-realising God;

o Energy – an emanation of God, Godhood transformed;

o Material – the last vibration of the Spirit, condensed energy;

With a new practice:

o Altar – the Book of Life, the consciousness of God in the human being, etc.

The doctrine of Wisdom encompasses such topics as ‘God-Dominion, Self-Dominion, No Dominion’, ‘Being, Non-Being, the Restoration of Being’, ‘Godhood as something possessed’, ‘Golgotha – the limit of spiritual passivity’, ‘The battle between thought and revelation’, ‘The Offspring of Adam and the Culture of the Future’, ‘The visible theogonic being – reality and universal essence’, ‘Divine humanity and Human divinity’, ‘God in Man – the struggle for Truth’, ‘Principles of Release from the Earthly and of Ascent’, ‘Self-baptism, Consubstantiality, Co-creatorship’, ‘He who is sufficient unto himself – Being in God’s Likeness and God-dominion’, ‘Self-destiny – freedom from the human’, ‘Intuition, God-inspiration, God-revelation’ and many others.

Some of the most characteristic aphoristic maxims (selected from ‘Nur’ magazine) are:

· ‘It is not the biography which is important, but the aspects of character.’

· ’I have no goal, I have service.’

· ‘There is a reality, more real than reality – that is the reality of the Spirit.’

· ‘Water is the astral image of light.’

· ‘There is no evil, only unevolved good.’

· ‘There is no enemy, there is a co-deity.’

· ‘There is no suffering, there is evolution (self-development).’

· ‘The Labour of Sisyphus is not in the senselessness, but in the absence of despair.’

· ‘It is the human being who is sacred and not the institution!’

· ‘The human being is a god in evolution.’

· ‘The human being is a God-felt necessity’

· ‘It is time for the gods, who became bad human beings, to be replaced by human beings who are good gods.’

· ‘It is the task of Evolution to create not welfare, but gods.’

· ‘Do not seek a memory of the human being – live with the dynamics of the Day – a god in evolution.’

· ‘The Resurrection in the Spiritual Wave of Wisdom is the dominion of the human being beyond the grave.’

· ‘Only inner humility has not offended Fate and the Lord.’

· ‘God is not proven, God is lived.’

· ‘Only God lives, the human being still exists.’

· ‘In the created Adam, the born Christ is at work.’

· ‘The guilt of others is not our innocence.’

· ‘He who knows is more than he who is without sin.’

· ‘Faith is knowledge of the unknown.’

· ‘There is no miracle, there is only unmastered knowledge.’

· ‘There is no miracle, but spiritual realities.’

· ‘The Path is one, but the streets are many.’

· ‘History is made by the will of Caesar and by the prayer of the Priest.’

· ‘Pain which has not become wisdom is suffering; pain which has become wisdom is radiance.’

· ‘Joy is the smile of Wisdom.’

· ‘Wisdom has one face – impregnated with Love and responsible before the Truth.’

· ‘Wisdom is to be, and not to have.’

· ‘In Wisdom there is neither fear, nor miracle, nor dogmas.’

· ‘Dogma falls away when knowledge becomes life.’

· ‘In Wisdom there are no secrets, but there will be mysteries.’

· ‘In Wisdom knowledge is not a method of religious confession, but a formula for attaining Godhood.’

· ‘The Wave of Wisdom is the age of the spiritual maturity of humanity.’

The emblematic sign of the Teaching of Wisdom is the Triangle with the Serpent-Fire-Kundalini, symbolising Wisdom, inscribed within it. The Triangle symbolises the upper part of the Christian Cross, the idea being the victory accomplished by the Cross of the Spirit over material. As a whole, the symbol expresses ‘The Polarity of Time and Unity’ and is a symbol of ‘Knowledge, Creativity, Limitlessness’.

Some of the symbols of the Teaching are: the Number 13 – where 1 is the Creator and 3 is the materialisation of the Creator, while 1 and 3 are the figure of 4 which the Initiated work with – a symbol of the Cross and the spiritualisation of material, i.e. the figure 13 is no longer something ominous, because the human being has to cultivate ‘this resilience, for which saintliness is required, in order to be able to endure the Power and Godhood.’; The Third Eye – as an organ of intuitive knowledge, testifying to insight (and not to proof), so the human being may be formed ‘who generates no doubt as to the idea that he is an evolving god’; The Lily – an expression of ‘purity, of inner openness – when the sun warms you, and of the safe embrace and enclosure of values – when the darkness wants to overwhelm you.’

The Holy Mysteries of Wisdom are three: Baptism, Communion, and Union in Marriage. Baptism in Wisdom will no longer be with water, but with the fire of Kundalini. Communion is included as a formula for the illumination of the flesh, of material. Union in Marriage is ‘a hospitable home for the coming and the safekeeping of souls.’

‘The Mysteries of Wisdom are the great alchemy for the transformation of a human being into a God,’ says Vaklush Tolev.

The New Hierarchy in the Teaching of Wisdom is the Children of Day. ‘The Children of Day are not heralds, but liberators,’ emphasises Vaklush Tolev. ‘They will not wage battles against the gods, but for the gods; not battles for the canonised, but for the sanctified one.’

The 13-th of October – the date on which the Society of Wisdom was registered as a social body, is celebrated as the Day of the Children of Day.