Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 88
In 1917 Aïvanhov met his ―master,‖ Peter Deunov (1864-1944), a guru he served and
emulated all his life. Raised by a father who was an Orthodox priest with radical views,
Deunov studied medicine and theology in the United States and in 1895 he returned to
Bulgaria, where he published his dissertation on ―Science and Education.‖ Steeped in
Theosophy and Gnostic (Bogomil derivative) ideology, Deunov created his White
Brotherhood movement in 1900. His theosophy was ―Christ‖ centered echoing earlier
Rosicrucian movements and the later Anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner. Most concurrent
versions of theosophy emphasized a more oriental bias with foundation myths featuring
Buddhist and Hindu masters. Deunov may have gathered up to 40,000 followers at the peak
of his movement according to Feuerstein (Mystery, 25).
Aïvanhov became Deunov‘s principle disciple by 1937 when he moved to France to extend
the movement. In 1959 Mikhaёl Aïvanhov traveled to India, met with ―various masters‖ and
claimed he met the legendary (I say fictional) adept Babaji (This ―god‖ was popularized in
Swami Paramahansa Yogananda‘s Autobiography of a Yogi published long before Mikhaёl
Aïvanhov‘s India sojourn). One master Aïvanhov met apparently gave him his moniker
Omraam, a combination of the mantra Om and the divine name Ram. This master was
purportedly none other than Neemkaroli Baba, popularized later by the American guru of
LSD fame, Dr. Richard ―Ram Dass‖ Alpert. This represents a departure from his master,
Deneuv. Feuerstein reports group estimates that Aïvanhov‘s following (1998) approached
10,000 worldwide. That is a considerable loss from his master‘s numbers in 1944.
The Fraternité Blanche Universelle (FBU) may be in decline, as movements that depend on
charismatic leaders tend to go after the guru dies, but this does not prevent self-proclaimed
upstarts from revitalizing and refining the cult. Currently I‘m tracking one communal group
out of Quebec, Cite Ecologique de l'Ere de Verseau (Ecological City of the Age of Aquarius),
that recently relocated a few dozen followers to Florida. Unlike most FBU devotees, the Cite
Ecologique group lives communally and it hawks standard New Age products through
members and on a web site (http://www.kheopsinternational.com )that makes no mention
of the group. Another Michael, a Michel de Cornellier, leads and founded it around two
decades ago. De Cornellier was a gym teacher. Its primary texts are the writings of Mikhaёl
Aïvanhov in French. Controversy follows this sect regarding their strict parochial treatment
of children, racist and elitist practices, and complaints from former members who allege
undue influence to gain donations (The Gazette, May 26, 1990, Montreal). But that takes us
off my topic.
Of the two books, I think Holy Madness would be a worthwhile read for any student of the
new religions and cults whether or not you share the author‘s valuation. The presentation
on Omraam Mikhaёl Aïvanhov however is overly apologetic and leaves much back-stage
information out. My one experience with Aïvanhov and his devotees is enough to convince
me that the guru and his cult are more problematic than Feuerstein likes to imagine. One
couple I interviewed after Omraam‘s lecture is illustrative. The young lady, a devotee, was
clearly smitten with the man, even saluting him with raised right hand as all devotees did
during his final blessing. Her boy friend, like me, just stood there watching. We may have
been the only two who did so among the thirty or so folks left, most of whom were
Aïvanhov‘s entourage and choir. I asked the young man what he thought of it: ―Boring,‖ he
said out of earshot of his smiling girl friend.
*For those readers unaware of this divine White Brotherhood, it is basically a heavenly or
metaphysical hierarchy of ―ascended‖ beings, angels, gods, and goddesses who guide the progress of
the human race. White purportedly stands for the pure white light that these beings emanate both
literally (in case you ever meet one!) and symbolically as a sign of their spiritual attainment. Each
Theosophical group expresses its unique myth on the Brotherhood, a.k.a. the Masters or the
Hierarchy.
Joseph P. Szimhart

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 89
Van der Braak, Andre. Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American
Guru
Monkfish Book Company, 27 Lamoree Rd., Rhinebeck, NY 12572
(www.monkfishpublishing.com), 2003, 228 pages, ISBN 0-9726357-1-8 (pbk)
spirituality/memoir
Enlightenment Blues is the second significant memoir I have read by a former
student/disciple of the American guru Andrew Cohen—the first was by Cohen‘s mother,
Luna Tarlo, who published Mother of God in 1997. Andre van der Braak knew Tarlo as they
were ―students‖ together and shared a house briefly. He read Tarlo‘s book during his final
struggles to defect after eleven years of devotion to Cohen‘s unnerving spiritual leadership
and the idiosyncratic cult of enlightenment focused on the guru. Van der Braak currently is a
Ph.D. candidate and teaches philosophy in Amsterdam. During his hiatus with Cohen, van
der Braak rose and fell in the community ranks and became one of Cohen‘s chief editors, in
one case reading over 4,000 pages of transcripts from Cohen‘s talks, then pruning and
shaping them into the book, Enlightenment is a Secret. Curiously, for his dissertation
subject he chose Nietzsche.
Cohen, now around fifty years old, apparently has held sway over a core of one hundred
fifty students, a number that has not significantly changed over the past fifteen years
despite the continual turnover. Nevertheless, he has continued to teach that his
enlightenment is a ―revolution‖ that would change the face of planetary spirituality. Van der
Braak describes his early years as a young Catholic with a romantic, idealistic bent. He was
a good athlete but his stuttering disorder contributed to his shyness. Early on he was
attracted to Transcendental Meditation, the J. Krishnamurti teachings, and Buddhism. He
encountered the writings of the prolific transpersonal philosopher, Ken Wilber. Van der
Braak did his Masters thesis on Wilber. [Ken Wilber who is still writing and developing
remains influential among intellectually sophisticated New Age seekers. Bill Clinton and Al
Gore were both reading Wilber during Clinton‘s second term. Wilber was once a disciple of
the teachings of Da Free John, a.k.a. Da Love Ananda, if not a supporter of that American
guru‘s controversial behavior and cult following.]
According to van der Braak, Andrew Cohen once entertained having Wilber as his disciple
(not that Wilber ever reciprocated). I mention this because the reader of van der Braak‘s
book might easily react with disdain or pity for the devotees described in the book, who for
all intents and purposes follow an immature trust fund hippie with a cocky self image. I
know a part of me did, namely that part that works hard for a living and tires to be a good
husband and father. One has to wonder how anyone could fall for such a transparently
overvalued cause. Cohen had absolutely no training as a monk or a leader in the mystical
tradition he claimed to embody. Until members gave significant donations (One former
female student complained of succumbing to pressure from Cohen to give two million
dollars.), Cohen reportedly lived mainly from a trust he inherited from his grandmother
around 1985, when he left on his spiritual quest to India. In short order after some
superficial seeking (a.k.a. guru hopping), he met Poonja, a then little known follower of
Ramana Maharshi, who was an Indian ―saint‖ in the Advaita tradition. Poonja somehow
recognized that Andrew was special and ―transmitted‖ or sparked feelings of
―enlightenment‖ in him. This epiphany transformed Cohen into a driven man. He appeared
to some of his friends to exude the enlightenment he claimed to have received.
Cohen‘s group evolved over time from one of a free-wheeling band of devotees who had
personal access to the guru and directly felt both his charm and his intensity. Within the
first few years it had become, according to Cohen‘s mother Luna Tarlo, just another fascist
enterprise. Not unlike so many new religious movements, this one flourished initially due to
the enthusiasm of these first students who advertised Cohen‘s cause. The message was that