When he was 37-years-old he moved to France, where he gave most of his teachings.  The central theme of the Master's teaching is humanity's constant search for perfection.  The underpinning of his teaching is that we can all grow in spirit and in conduct throughout our entire lives; that growing spiritually requires sacrifice.

In 1938 he gave his first public lecture in Paris at the Sorbonne and the central them was "Spiritual Galvanoplasty."  In 1945 he founded the Universal White Brotherhood in Switzerland.  In this instance, the word White does not have racial implications.  It refers to "The Light." 

A humble man, he at first refused to be addressed as master by his disciples as he always regarded himself as their fellow-disciple of his own teacher, Peter Deunov.  In 1959 he travelled to India and met the Mahavatar Nimcaroli Babaji, whom Yogananda describes as "he who, for untold years has been the guide of prophets and Masters."  In India, in a process never fully disclosed, he was given the name Omraam.  Upon his return, he eventually accepted being called "Master."

"This name, says George Feuerstein, is made up of two famous Sanscrit mantras or words of power, om and ram.
Om is the most sacred mantra of the Hindus.  It stands for Absolute, or Divine itself.
The syllable ram, which was rendered as "Raam" in French to assist with the correct pronunciation, is the mantra denoting the fire element.

"The Master explained his initiatic name as follows: 'Thus the name I was given in India, OMRAAM, corresponds to the two processes of 'Solve' and 'Coagula': OM dissolves all things, rendering them subtle and fine, and Raam materializes them.  The name OMRAAM is the symbol of the process of concretizatin, the invisible, intangible idea that must incarnate on earth so that it can be seen and touched by the whole world.

"A true master, he explained, is one who knows the truth, is thoroughly familiar with and upholds the laws and principles of existence.  He also has the will and the ability to control his inner environment and to use this ability only in order to 'manifest all the qualities and virtues of unselfish love.'

"Disinterestedness is unselfish love, which, for Aїvanhov, finds the highest expression in the known universe in the sun.
"He also said: 'The ideal of a disciple is to free himself from all restrictions, to throw off everything that hampers him, and become the light.'

"The restrictions Aїvanhov had in mind are the boundaries erected by the ego-personality, which make it virtually impossible for the ordinary person to see things as they really are and to think, feel, and act in consonance with Reality."

George Feuerstein
"The Mystery of Light" Passage Press