Sarmoung Brotherhood - Contemporary Accounts

Contemporary Accounts

In Studies in Comparative Religion (Winter 1974), it is said that according to the Armenian book Merkhavat, the Sarmoung Brotherhood, also referred to as the 'Inner Circle of Humanity', originated in ancient Babylon circa 2500 BC, at around the time the Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Ouspensky Foundation state that the brotherhood was active in the golden Babylonian time of Hammurabi (1728-1686 BC) and is connected with Zoroaster, the teacher of Pythagoras (born c. 580 BC–572 BC, died c. 500 BC–490 BC). According to the Foundation, Pythagoras stayed for twelve years in Babylon. (Merkabah mysticism is in a fact a form of Jewish approach esotericism, which Gurdjieff possibly encountered in an Armenian translation).

In The Masters of Wisdom, J.G. Bennett states that the Sarman left Babylon before the arrival of the Greek king of Macedon, Alexander the Great (who reigned 336-323 BC), moved up the Tigris and made their headquarters in the abandoned capital of the Assyrian Kings, close to modern-day Mosul in northern Iraq.

The Commagene King Antiochus I Theos Epiphanes (c. 86 BC-38 BC, ruled 70 BC-38 BC) seems to have been connected to the Brotherhood, and may even have been (as Adrian Gilbert suggests) its leader.

In Gurdjieff in the Light of Tradition (2002), Whitall Perry wrote that Gurdjieff believed that the northern Sufi orders could well be under the hidden direction of the Khwajagan - the 'Masters of Wisdom' - themselves in turn delegated by the Sarman 'Inner Circle', the 'Assembly of the Living Saints of the Earth'.

According to Account of the Sarmoun Brotherhood (1966, 1982) by Major Desmond R. Martin, a major centre of the contemporary Sarmoun Brotherhood was in the Hindu Kush mountains of northern Afghanistan. Major Martin was an associate of the writer and Sufi teacher, Idries Shah.

In the account, the motto of the Sarmouni is said to be "Work produces a Sweet Essence" (Amal misazad yak zaati shirin), work being not only work for God and for others but also self-work. In relation to this, it is maintained that just as the bee accumulates honey, so the Sarmouni accumulate, store and preserve what they term "true knowledge" (which is equally seen as existing as a positive commodity and associated with the spiritual gift or energy of Baraka). In times of need this is released once more into the world through specially trained emissaries.

In The People of the Secret, Edward Campbell (writing as Ernest Scott), another associate of Idries Shah, describes studies in extrasensory perception being undertaken in the contemporary Sarmoun monastery in Afghanistan.

Idries Shah himself does not describe any personal contact with the Sarmoung, but mentions the "Sarmouni" several times in his writings. For instance, in Tales of the Dervishes he attributes a teaching story to a Sarmouni called Pir-i-Do-Sara (d. 1790). He also offers the following "Sarmouni recitation":-

"He who knows and does not know that he knows: he is asleep. Let him become

one, whole. Let him be awakened.

He who has known but does not know: let him see once more the beginning of all.

He who does not wish to know, and yet says that he needs to know: let him be guided to safety and to light.

He who does not know, and knows that he does not know: let him, through this knowledge, know.

He who does not know, but thinks that he knows: set him free from the confusion of that ignorance.

He who knows, and knows that HE IS: he is wise. Let him be followed. By his presence alone man may be transformed.

I who know, and do not know that I know: let me become one, whole. Let me be awakened.

I who have known, but do not know: let me see once more the beginning of all.

I who do not wish to know, and yet say that I need to know: let me be guided to safety and light.

I who do not know, and know that I do not know: let me through this knowledge, know.

I who do not know, but think that I know: set me free from the confusion of that ignorance.

He who knows, and know that HE IS: he is wise. Let him be followed. By his presence alone man may be transformed.

We who know, and do not know that we know: let us become one, whole. Let us be transformed.

We who have known, but do not know: let us once more see the beginning of all.

We who do not wish to know, and yet say that we need to know: let us be guided to safety and light.

We who do not know, and know that we do not know: let us, through this knowledge, know.

We who do not know, but think that we know: set us free from the confusion of that ignorance.

He who knows, and knows that HE IS; he is wise. Let him be followed. By his presence alone man may be transformed.

As with our forebears

So with our successors.

So with us.

We affirm this undertaking.

So let it be.

The Canadian diplomat and Gurdjieffian James George has speculated, on the basis of the similar name and location, that Surmang, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery currently within Chinese borders may be real basis of the Sarmoung. Surmang has been more recently associated with the renowned and controversial Kagyu teacher Chogyam Trungpa.