Point of view regarding the Universal White Brotherhood

"...(in the Universal White Brotherhood), brotherhood becomes a reality achieved without effort, without even the need to question the differentiations between individuals of different nationalities, cultures, religions and social standing. The individuals are seen, and see each of their fellows, simply as human beings and, consequently, as their brothers and sisters, born on the same planet, sharing the same lot in the face of life and death. All differences fuse into one constructive accord, just as the voices in a choir blend into one to create a single work of art.”

Agnès Lejbowicz
“Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov, Master of the great Universal White Brotherhood”
Proveta Ed.

“Brotherhood is not an idealogical slogan to be tossed about in political or religious arguments, a hollow word calculated to flatter some people in order that their trust be subsequently abused. Neither is it a pleasant sentimental dream for lazy people who want to escape from problems and think they will be fondled and coddled by hordes of devoted servant friends. Brotherhood only exists when we live a brotherly life; it begins when people unite, not for social and economic reasons, but so tha they can pray together, meditate together, sing together and eat together. A collective life with an unselfish goal forces people to make efforts, to develop their strength of character and above all to enlarge their state of consciousness to the point where they see that when something happens to one, everyone experiences it and that when they harm someone, it is themselves they harm.”

“Brotherhood does not destroy families or churches or political parties or countries, nations or races. Families destroy each other. Churches, political parties, countries and races are always inveighing against each other, to the point of extermination. The aim of brotherhood is to unite people by linking them all together to a higher ideal. Brotherhood brings all the methods to help us overcome the sectarian spirit which is everywhere. This sectarian attitude, which comes from an overblown sense of personal importance, leads to denying truth to others, refusing them love, disagreeing with their intelligence and depriving them of their liberty. When it is the prerogative of the State, it defrauds people of the most necessary of good things; when it is the attribute of religion, it thinks that it can appropriate God. The sectarian attitude tries to convince others, by violence which is disguised to a greater or lesser degree, that it is the only legitimate holder of these rights and has sole privilege in conceding them. The sectarian attitude is intolerant and always accusatory; it slanders and divides mankind endlessly, weakening, injuring and killing it. Brotherhood, on the contrary, abolishes all divisions with its inner work of moving behond the self towards the universal. The spirit of brotherhood builds links everywhere which consolidate humanity. A brotherly attitude does not limit but liberates and allows growth, does not accuse but works at transforming evil, is not divisive but creates unity, does not injure but heals, does not destroy but brings life.”

Georg Feuerstein
“The Mystery of Light”
Passage Press.

“When Aivanhov started to teach in France over half a century ago, he named his school l’École Divine, “Divine School,” and he always thought of his fellowship in this way. He regarded the Divine School as belonging to the Universal White Brotherhood, that invisible college of higher beings who have the spiritual evolution of humankind at heart. When the fellowship grew in size and became a legal entity, the name Fraternité Blanche Universelle, or “Universal White Brotherhood” was chosen.

In Western Europe and especially in America, this name has occasionally provoked consternation and misunderstanding, since the appellation “white” has widely assumed racial connotations. However, for Aivanhov and his fellowship, which incidentally includes nonwhites, the name evokes altogether different associations. “White” stands for all those inner virtues by which a person lives with integrity in the world, illumined by the radiance of the transpersonal Reality. Aivanhov regretted that some people would deprive themselves of the advantages of his fraternity only because of its name.

He always made it very clear that the Universal White Brotherhood is not an exclusive club accessible only to the privileged few. Rather it is an open community of beings who share the same level of existence, or vibrate in unison with one another, because they are absolutely dedicated to the highest spiritual ideals. And that community far exceeds the number of those who call themselves his disciples on earth. As Aivanhov explained:
“The Universal White Brotherhood is a power which extends to the limits of the solar system and beyond. You must not make the mistake of judging it by the Brotherhood that exists here, on earth: a handful of men and women who are not always very wise or enlightened. The true Universal White Brotherhood on high is composed of all the most highly evolved beings that have ever existed, whereas we are simply workers who are trying to benefit from the light and support of those beings in order to carry out their plans on earth. But the Brotherhood on earth must become a faithful reflection of the one on high; and this means that its members must become more and more keenly aware of the tremendous privilege they have received in belonging to this sublime entity.

In another talk, Aivanhov said:
“The ideal of the Universal White Brotherhood is to teach human beings to work no longer exclusively for themselves, but for the whole world”

Justice, liberty, equality, these three notions must necessarily be based on the idea of brotherhood if they are to retain their meaning. Without brotherhood, these three notions destroy themselves.

Justice, which is invoked by all revolutions, is based on reciprocity and equality of rights. As rights are so often not obtained or, even when recognized, are very insecure, justice cries out for vengeance and so the battle begins. Certainly, injustice exists as the opposite of justice. But there are, in fact, two injustices, says the Master. One is the injustice of deprivation: it takes away from people the benefits and prerogatives that they merit. The other is synonymous with love: it gives to those who do not deserve it, simply because they are in need.

Brotherhood, therefore, is seen to be the highest form of injustice according to the supreme criterion of what is just; it is the pure altruism that gives to those in need because it respects their dignity. It is the ‘unjust justice’ that brings together and unites people, whereas justice, despite its spirit of fairness, divides them and leads them to massacre each other in interminable vendettas. Throughout the centuries it is the notion of brotherhood that has allowed human societies to advance towards more impartial and less cruel laws. Justice without brotherhood is impossible.

Freedom challenges equality and vice versa. By his desire to manifest himself just as I do, my neighbor will always hinder me in the exercise of my freedom. And this means that without the criterion of brotherliness, freedom will express all its greatness and all its decadence in free competition, and the law of the jungle will continue to rule in the economic as well as in the sexual, emotional and intellectual domains.

Equality without brotherhood leads to stagnation and mediocrity. In an egalitarian society, what is the point of making efforts? You will be criticized for wanting to surpass others. Whereas in brotherhood, you are encouraged to surpass yourself in order to support, enlighten and unite others. This means that true equality can exist only when human beings help each other in a brotherly spirit, when they freely exchange their spiritual and material riches so that all may benefit from the strengths and qualities of everyone else. Only brotherhood transforms inequalities and gives life and dynamism to society through these different exchanges based on sharing and solidarity.

It is the notion of brotherhood that establishes the criteria of what is truly just in justice, of what is truly free in freedom, of what is truly equal in equality and of what is truly radical change in revolution.

Georg Feuerstein
op. cit.

Aivanhov, like Deunov, was an inveterate spokesman for the ideal of brotherhood between all people, regardless of their race, nationality, creed, level of education, or station in life… He always exhorted his disciples to cultivate the disposition of brotherly (or sisterly) love not only among one another but in their relationship to the world at large. He knew that individual and global peace and harmony can only merge when love melts down the walls people tend to erect around themselves. “In harmony everything blossoms.”

Aivanhov tirelessly devoted his energies to the welfare of this growing community. True to his ideal of balance and harmony, he spent half his time in seclusion, where he did his inner work, and the other half in the company of his disciples and visitors. When he was on his own, he would work, pray, meditate, and tend to his lush garden. He explained this careful partition of his day as follows:

‘If you are always alone, without ever giving of yourself, you feel miserable and deprived, something is missing; and if you are with others all the time, everything you have inside slips away until the reservoir is empty, there is nothing left to give.’