The Ganges and the sacred town of Rishikesh

‘Rivers will help us to understand some of the essential questions of destiny. I have often been asked, ‘Why does a race, or a nation, experience collective catastrophes? Why is a population endlessly persecuted and obliged to suffer?’ When you observe things superficially, it can seem there is no justice. Why is a population condemned to suffer? Why, for a certain period, do the blows fall in a certain area and not elsewhere?

This question is a bit delicate, but I will tell you what Initiatic Science teaches on the subject. Let us take the example of Bulgaria. For five centuries it suffered under the rule of the Turks, and after the war of 1914, it was partly broken up for the benefit of other nations. Why should this country be submitted to sufferings that others have not known? The Bulgarians are a hardworking, religious, good people who do no harm to anyone. Why has Cosmic Justice been so severe for them? This is even more true for the Jewish people, who have been persecuted throughout the world for centuries and centuries.

The river remains the same, but the water in it continually changes
So, what is the answer does the river give us on the subject of these peoples who suffer? It says, ‘Observe me, my name is Thames, Seine, Danube, Nile, Amazon… I always keep the same name, but I am never the same, because the water that flows is never the same.’

People incarnate in different countries
Those who lived in Bulgaria before the domination of the Turks were good and magnificent, and that is why they did not suffer. Those who suffered five centuries under the domination of the Turks represent a water that came from elsewhere. From where? From far away: from France, England, Germany, etc. And even other continents.

When they returned to earth, all the people of those countries who were hard, unjust and evil, had to incarnate in Bulgaria in order to suffer. For that country, for a time, had been transformed into a correctional school. From all the countries, the unpleasant people at that moment therefore came to Bulgaria. And since France was a country of beauty, happiness and abundance, the good Bulgarians came to incarnate here in order to enjoy a bit of this happiness.’

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
Sèvres, February 7, 1942