On the reverance of national awakeners and the modern dimension of spiritual awakening

published on 11/1/24 12:41 PM

Photo: БГНЕС

The national awakeners of Bulgaria are the individuals for whom we feel not only gratitude and admiration, but also perceive as some of the most significant figures in our history, because they awaken our sense of national togetherness. However, what is behind the concept of the word "buditel" (translated into English as an awakener, enlightener, spiritual leader) what archetype and why is today's Day of National Enlightenment leaders a typical Bulgarian holiday?

"The awakener is a very special person in Bulgarian history, who is a bearer of innovation", notes Associate Professor Moris Fadel, Ph.D., head of the Department of New Bulgarian Studies at the New Bulgarian University (NBU). "When others follow them, they become enligtenment leaders", he explains. "This is also a reference to Christianity, because the individual takes upon himself the fate of all the others". This definitely presents the awakener as an extremely bright person with a clear worldview and understanding of what is good for others, and perhaps also a person who must have been able to reach a certain catharsis in which one's own value system is transformed into a value system in which the highest moral values are a priority.

"The awakener must combine both in her or her personality", emphasizes Assoc. Moris Fadel and explains: "The excessive desire to impose something on others makes a person dogmatic and to a large extent schematic in his behavior, and such figures are always dangerous for a society An awakener must be a sensitive person who has gone through internal catharsis to be able to influence others. We imagine such a person as an infinitely spiritual person, striving for some old ideals. It's not true though!

Bulgaria's National Revival Period leaders were people of the new and modern times. They didn't try to bring us back to some old traditions. Their striving was to direct us to modernity and the new, and most of all - to Europe. That was lso the overall direction of the Bulgarian National Revival Period - pro-European. Nowadays, to a large extent, their ideal has been fulfilled and is the result of the work of our National Revival Period leaders."

Today, we could hardly imagine not being part of the civilized world. Our reality, however, could be quite different if the mission of the our national enlighterners did not include one more mandatory condition - to be able to convince society that the idea they are offering is the necessary perspective for a better life, i.e. . - to "wake up" others to that concept. "The awakeners think critically and perceive themselves and the world in this way, encouraging others to think in this way," emphasizes Prof. Fadel, adding:

"They are not ideologues. They do not utter slogans and do not campaign with "patriotic clichés", which would be extremely dangerous. The national awakener is not a populist either, because the populist repeats public fantasies. This is not what an awakener does! They do not express some social attitudes in an elementary sense. They are outside society and the circle of elementary living. National awakeners in our history have seemed lonely, isolated, in emigration. But their loneliness is rather on an external plane, while the inner world of the person is completely bound to the society, the people or the motherland."

The birth of the awakener is when a personal story and a social problem meet, prompting a person to gain an insight into what the future should be and what needs to be done in that direction, Moris Fadel points out and adds:

"Bulgarians can now meet anywhere in the world. This is so because our dream for centuries has been to be European citizens. This is our path, and today we have clear representatives everywhere. Young Bulgarians are increasingly making their way into European institutions and environments, which will one day become part of Bulgaria because it is not only a geographical concept, but also a spirituality and a concept of a community. Some of today's students will be tomorrow's national awakeners."

According to the observations of the university professor, in recent years young people are increasingly oriented towards the humanities. "This is precisely what spirituality is," emphasizes Assoc. Prof. Moris Fadel and wishes all modern and future spiritual awakeners to continue the work of our ancestors, preserving the aspiration for the new, for modernity and European values.

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