I was born in 1957 and spent my childhood in a place of great beauty, the town of Rilla in the vicinity of the Rilla Monastery, which is known for its rich spiritual and cultural history. This moving and powerful place is connected with the name of the great Bulgarian Saint from the Ninth Century St. Ioann Rilski (St. John of Rilla). Being there one can just forget all concepts of self and the world and immerse oneself in a state of deep peace.  

   After I graduated from the English Language School in Sofia , I gained a Masters Degree in Bulgarian Philology at Sofia University . In 2002 I received a doctoral degree in the field of West European Literature. The theoretical focus of my dissertation concerns the relationship between whole and differentiated consciousness from the perspective of different cultural approaches. Thanks to a growing fascination with that subject, I wrote and published some books of poetry. I also wrote a book on Faith in the Works of Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard and Hermann Hesse with a grant from Central European University . I was gratified that the book was well accepted.  

   To help pay for my education, I gave lectures in Western European Literature in Plovdiv University and I spent more than seventeen years doing translations. I translated books by a diversity of such authors as Thomas Carlyle, Ursula Le Guin, Shirley MacLaine, Carlos Castaneda and Richard Bach. Many of the authors whose works I translated were stepping stones on my own spiritual path.  Marilyn Ferguson looks into the deep mystical meaning of modern scientific findings. James Redfield tries to reach a new spiritual dimension of self and relationships. Neale Donald Walsch reveals an unsuspected dimension in each of us of our connection with the Divine. Ken Wilber develops the science of the mind of a new century. In his Millennium Felipe-Fernandes Armesto offers a deeply insightful cultural history of the last thousand years of history.  

   When I was invited to translate A Course in Miracles, I realized I was to be in charge of this project.  It felt like an awesome task. Gradually I began to realize that A Course in Miracles was translating me! There were moments when my work was blocked. I had to go through a series of experiences in order to understand what I was translating. Many times I had to live the Course before I was able to translate it. Finally I began to notice that living so closely with the process of translating A Course in Miracles was transforming my own outlook about myself and the world. Gradually most of my negative judgments were replaced by a feeling beyond grievances and beyond joy: the feeling of Love. The Course taught me to recognize, respect and cherish that feeling. Now that I know for sure that this is only a process, the real work has just begun.  

   I live with my twin sons.  

   Maria Kisteva, PhD