Vaklush Tolev

Vaklush Tolev (Vaklush Tolev Zapryanov, Bulgarian: Ваклуш Толев Запрянов), also known as Vaklush, The Teacher of Wisdom, was a theologian by education, a public figure, a university lecturer, and an author of a multitude of works of religious, philosophical, cultural and historical nature. Some of his work includes ‘The History and Theory of Religions’ (in three volumes), ‘The Spiritual Gifts of Bulgaria’ (in two volumes), ‘The Seven Rays of the Evolution’, ‘Uncovenanted Testament’, to name but a few, as wells as of the magazine, ‘Nur’, composed entirely of his original materials. On his path as an enlightener and spiritual teacher, Vaklush Tolev formed his original views and his interpretation of history, social ideas, and analyses into a whole teaching of personal, social, and universal nature, which he called The Way of Wisdom – an expression of the Spiritual Wave of Wisdom already at work within the life of humanity. Inspired by Vaklush Tolev's ideas, an association, ‘The Way of Wisdom Society’, was established. The society works to achieve the unfolding of the spiritual potential of the Bulgarian nation as well as the guiding principles in the spiritual and cultural evolution of humanity. The followers of the Teaching of Wisdom call…Citește mai mult

Biography Vaklush Tolev was born on January 7, 1923, which was the Day of the Nativity by the old Julian calendar, in the village of Popovitsa (known as Papazli until 1934), in Plovdiv county. His family was wealthy and well respected: his grandfather, Zapryan, was the mayor of Popovitsa, while his father, Tolyo, was well known for his incredible generosity and nobility. His mother, Vasilka, who was also from an affluent family, was a woman with leadership skills, intuition, and imagination, according to Tolev. Etymologically, the name ‘Vaklush’ is said to point to either the word 'Vlach' (Romanian origin ‘vakul’- ‘black, black-eyed, swarthy’) or to be connected to Bacchus – the Latin name of the ancient Greek (or Thracian) god Dionysius, spelled in Greek as Βάκχος (which in turn is read as Vákhos) – and has its root ‘vak, bak’ in Sanskrit, meaning ‘higher spiritual power’. Due to his immense desire to learn, Vaklush began attending school even before reaching the minimum age requirement for elementary school. Initially, he was admitted just as an observer, but later, with the official permission of the Ministry of Education, he was admitted as a fully participating student. Later on, he would admit that…Citește mai mult

Secondary School Years At age 13, Vaklush enrolled in a grammar school in Asenovgrad. While there, he was impressed by the town's legal and court system and frequently went to listen to defense speeches. At age 14, he took the floor alone at a church festivity and delivered a sermon titled ‘Does God exist?’ Within two or three years he had become president of the school's Christian Philosophical Society, which organized the presentation of papers followed by active discussions and disputes in a ‘consensual form of conflict without hatred’ with representatives of the materialist viewpoint, the Remsists (of the RMC/The Worker's Youth League). During 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 to reach an agreement between the different political wings. In the same period, he began to write secret poetry. One verse written by Vaklush, which has remained from 1945, goes as follows:

Military education 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 by saying, ‘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 a sense of responsibility. He was drafted into the Second World War in 1944 as a platoon commander in the 21st regiment, Smolyan, of the 1st 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.)

The period of repressions Before the military operations, Vaklush Tolev had been accepted into the legal faculty of the University of Sofia, where he was supposed to begin his studies in the autumn of 1944. After the events of September 9, 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. 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 turned on 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, that he was going to fight an ideological war 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 prison system. The following period of his life…Citește mai mult

Ecclesiastical education After an amnesty was passed for political prisoners, he was released from prison on 15 August 1956, the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, in Varna. Once more, he began work in Plovdiv, moving from place to place as someone inconvenient to the authorities. While still in prison, people had always gathered around him to listen to his analyses and ideas, something that continued after his release as well. Since he had a conviction, the right to study at any university in the country was denied to him. Later, with great difficulty, as ‘an enemy of the people,' he graduated in Theology from the Theological Seminary in Sofia, the only autonomous institute of learning at the time. He completed five years' worth of the program in only 18 months. During his first year, he was already banned from continuing his studies on the orders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, but he was later reinstated after interventions from people at the highest levels of the administration who were inspired by and respected his character. He graduated in 1968 with a speech/sermon, taking its title from the Biblical expression of Pontius Pilate, ‘Ecce Homo’…Citește mai mult

Ecclesiastical Work 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 organization according to the criteria that 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 reorganization’, starting with the cleaning and repair of the reading room, followed by the stock processing. 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 and dissertations on literature and Slavic philology, including the Russian consul, who at the time was preparing his dissertation on Prince Tseretelev. Subsequently, Vaklush Tolev also became the main official responsible for the early printed artifacts, 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. Around 25,000 icons were cataloged within a few years, and…Citește mai mult

Lecturing After 10 years of serving the Metropolitan Archdiocese, Vaklush left of his own will. Once again, he worked in various places to earn a living but always bearing his freedom within, as he would say. After the events of 10 November 1989, he got actively involved with the party ‘Bulgarian Democratic Forum,’ the heir to the Bulgarian Legions. In 1991, he was invited to give lectures on the history of religions at the Universities of Plovdiv and Sofia. The people around Vaklush Tolev gradually began to attempt the organization 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 organized 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’.

Ending Vaklush Tolev ‘remained forever’ in this world on the 27th of November 2013. Following his wishes, he was cremated on the 31st 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 has been honored):

Co-deity (‘sabozhnik’ in Bulgarian) ‘Wisdom bears with it the principle of knowledge’ summarises Vaklush Tolev – ‘not forgiveness for sin, but the knowledge of how not to sin’. 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. The Temple House of the 13 Immortal Bulgarians Honoured by Name 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…Citește mai mult

The Rights of the Soul 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. ‘It is the human being who is sacred and not the institution!’ – said the theologian, 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. ‘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 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.’ The association: ‘The Way of Wisdom Society’ ‘The Way of Wisdom Society’ is a voluntary, independent, apolitical and non-religious non-profit association. It is the leading social and practical expression of the Teaching of Wisdom transmitted throughout…Citește mai mult

Celebratory Days of Wisdom 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-Deity (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!

The Teaching: The Way of Wisdom The Teaching of Vaklush Tolev is defined by some as a syncretism of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern (Asian) religions, occultism, esotericism and even proto-Bulgarian symbolism. He himself distills the present and future existence of humanity into a new ‘Doctrine of the Hierarchy of Spiritual Waves’, according to which the current Spiritual Wave is that of Wisdom, proclaimed through his Teaching, The Way of Wisdom. The preceding Waves were those of Creation, Mythology, Justice and Love, while the future ones are those of Truth and of Freedom. He does not define the Teaching of Wisdom as a new religion, but as a culture of knowledge. The fundamental concept is not for one to seek God outside of the human being any longer, but within oneself. ‘The battle for the human being has finished,’ says Vaklush Tolev, ‘the battle for the bringing forth of God from the human being begins.’ Despite his training in the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church and his education as a theologian, Vaklush Tolev professes the doctrine of reincarnation, which at the current time is absent from the dogmas of Christianity. He points out, however, that in the Teaching of Christ and in…Citește mai mult

Concerning the Prayer of Love 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…Citește mai mult

The Prayer of Wisdom 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!

Let Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done!