It’s a Pleasure to Introduce You to Torkom Saraydarian

As our lives unfold we are introduced to various authors along the way. After we read their books we thank whoever introduced us to them, if possible. I have been introduced to several and among them is Torkom Saraydarian. I am almost certain his is not a name most of us would recognize. If we are serious about transforming our lives Torkom’s work is an excellent place to begin.

First a bit about Torkom: an excellent example of a spiritual person.

Torkom Saraydarian (1917-1997) dedicated his entire life to the service of his fellow man. His writings and lectures show his total devotion to the higher principles, values, and laws that are present in all world religions and philosophies. These works represent a synthesis of the best and most beautiful in the sacred culture of the world. His works enrich the foundational thinking on which man can construct his Future.

Torkom Saraydarian was an extraordinary human being. He was known worldwide as a renowned scholar of comparative religions. He was a great teacher, writer, lecturer, and composer of sacred music. His works represent a synthesis of the best and most beautiful in the sacred culture of the world by creating a truly universal approach to spirituality. These works enrich the foundational thinking on which we can construct our future of true global living.

The remarkable achievement in his writings was to synthesize and make comprehensible the huge body of knowledge known as the Ageless Wisdom. At the age of nine, Torkom began to receive education in the Ageless Wisdom under the guidance of his father. At that time, people did not discuss these things in the open, but would disappear to attend meetings – in caves, under the stars – where they would hold ceremonies and dramatizations to reveal the mysteries of the subtle worlds. This early training kindled Torkom’s inner questioning and yearning for truth. He entered a monastery at the age of eighteen.

In 1959 he left Jordan to come to the U.S.A. with his family. He saw people in danger of losing themselves; in need of direction, of guidance. In response to this need, he began inviting them into his home in Van Nuys, California to study and to learn how to lead themselves into more productive, healthy, right living via the principles of the Ageless Wisdom. This was the inception of The Aquarian Educational Group. For the first ten years, he taught classes and lectured in a one-room garage – to “hippies,” doctors, lawyers, philosophers – without a salary except for the small donations left by students. He took in strangers who came to him in crises and helped them to gain real independence. He asked for nothing in return. Despite his total dedication, compassion, and sacrificial nature, he was not “soft” with people. His “straight words” and honesty, grounded in clear observation, were given freely.

Torkom Saraydarian’s books are grounded in the seven principles of Right Living: Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy, Freedom, Striving, and Sacrificial Service. These seven principles are richly colored threads woven throughout all of his works, and they are the vehicle through which one’s inner divinity can bloom.

“We are an international group in which everyone can take part because it is the principles that give life -
not religions.”
“We didn’t build a religion. We didn’t build hatred between people. We emphasized great principles and these great principles worked.” (From The AEG 35th Anniversary lecture, 7/21/96)

Through the practice of these principles and others, Torkom taught people how to be successful, to have a good self-image, to have healthy, happy relationships; how to be cooperative, to have a life’s purpose, to be more creative; how to be healthy, joyful, responsible, and loving:

“‘Love each other’ is nothing. ‘Love each other’ is now obsolete. ‘Love others more than yourself’ is the new commandment!” (From Healing Through Love, lecture by Torkom, 1/13/93)

Torkom Saraydarian’s books are unlike any others you will ever read. They probe all aspects of our world, both personal and public, showing us the inner spiritual workings and how we can tap the energies around us, both to help ourselves and others. What makes Torkom’s books unique is that he does not feed us the lines we want to hear; he tells us the truth and then helps us navigate down this difficult path. A truly rare find in today’s world!

Among his books is the first of a two volume set titled:

Education as Transformation – Volume I Individual and Cosmos
Let’s just focus on the table of contents at first.

Table of Contents

Part I Foundation
1. The Foundation of Education
2. Seven Characteristics of a Spiritual Person
3. Education in the New Age
4. How to Help People Through Your Absence
5. Meditation and Education
6. Chakras
7. The Mysteries of the Moon
8. The Emotional Nature
9. Equilibrium
10. Equalization
11. Evolution
12. Contentment and Integrity
13. Karma
14. Labor
15. Light and Dark Sparks
16. The Light that Shines Within Us
17. Polarity in Thought
18. Psychic Energy
19. Punctuality
20. Purification
21. Purity of Body
22. The Law of Magnetic Rapport
23. Renunciation
24. How to Develop Right Relations
25. Solemnity
26. Thanksgiving
27. Planetary School of Life

Part II Questions
28. The Mechanics of Questioning
29. The Value of Questioning
30. Kinds of Questions
31. Questioning and the Inner Source
32. Self-questioning
33. Sensitivity
34. Questions on Teen Education

Notice there are two parts: Foundation and Questions. How would we define these terms? What would we consider to be our Foundation? How do view Questions? What value do we place on our ability to question? What kinds of questions do we ask? We can learn a lot about ourselves by the questions we ask.

As we read through the list we should be aware of our reactions to the various terms as we read them? How well do we understand the definitions of many of these terms? Many would admit we do not know what many of the words mean. But we may feel more certain that we know what some of the terms mean.

It is more likely that our own definitions of many of the words are too vague. Take the term “contentment” for example. We may equate it with the term “satisfaction.” However there is a big difference between these two terms. So take a minute to think about the difference between these two terms. Then read on to see how Torkom defines and describes these terms.

Here are some of the ideas Torkom gives in the above mentioned book (in italics) regarding the difference between contentment and satisfaction.

Satisfaction is a physical, emotional, and mental saturation beyond which we do not strive. We feel happy with what we are and with what we have.

Note the term saturation. Like a sponge that is so full of water that it cannot hold any more. We are happy with the water we have.

Contentment is the feeling of fullness physically, emotionally, and mentally, with deep spiritual gratitude, and with a strong spirit of striving to expand ourselves and to hold more light, love, energy, beauty and goodness.

Satisfaction has no striving. It escapes any labor if it feels its happiness is threatened. Contentment is not conditioned by outer conditions and circumstances. The content person can joyfully involve himself in hard labor, pain, and suffering and feel greater spiritual contentment. Contentment is accompanied always with gratitude for the opportunity to serve, to suffer, and to labor.

Satisfaction is based on outer conditions. Contentment is based on an inner flow of joy as a response to acts of sacrifice and lofty thoughts.

The inner flow is not influenced by outer conditions.

Contentment is possible when all our vehicles are aligned and integrated and the electricity of joy passes through them in harmony and rhythm.

We should align our thoughts, feelings, and actions with the inner flow of joy in order to become harmonized.

Contentment comes into existence when we put into our labor all we that we are, when all of our being cooperates with what we do, feel, speak, and think.

All the objects of our desires must be shared by our whole nature in order to bring contentment.

We may now see how vague our definitions can be.

We may feel more certain we know what “Punctuality.” We would be surprised to learn how limited our definition actually is. There are many ways to be punctual that do not involve being on time for appointments. Other words we may have heard, but not given much thought to defining them (like Karma).

Try to guess what each of these chapters might be about. We can learn a lot about the limitations of our own measures of many of these topics. Hopefully we will realize this book can help us overcome our limitations and open us up to new and higher thoughts.

What could the “Mysteries of the Moon” possibly or “Planetary School of Life” contain? They may even scare us away if we are closed minds. We should be open-minded until we have accumulated and analyzed the available information.

Part II is about Questioning. It is likely we give little thought to our ability to question things. We fail to realize how important questioning is in our lives. A few excerpts below are about the differences between religious people and spiritual people. One may be religious, but not spiritual. Another may be spiritual, but not religious. Others may be both spiritual and religious, leaving the rest to be neither spiritual nor religious.

There are millions of religious people in the world, but there are a few spiritual people. To be religious does not necessarily mean to be spiritual. There is a tremendous difference between religious people and spiritual people.

Most religious people are satisfied. They feel that they are already saved, that they are already sitting in the lap of God, that they already have wings to fly, and that they do not need anything.

To be spiritual means to always be progressive in your life. We cannot remain who we are. We must always be progressive – spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically, in our business, in our home, and in our relationships, in everything we do, even in writing a letter. If there is improvement there is progress. Only spiritual people can progress.

A spiritual person questions things that are given to him from the scriptures not because he wants to refuse them or ridicule them but because we want to know if they are facts, realities, figments of imagination, or fairy tales.

The questions of a spiritual person are different from the questions of a religious person.

A spiritual person has no preconceived, accepted stories. He is free to reject or accept anything to his reason, logic, and Intuition.

A religious person has already accepted all that the “book” has said to him. So for him it is blasphemy to ask any questions, whether the stories told him were true or fabrications. But in the meantime he does not reject the beliefs of other people, as long as their beliefs help them improve their own or others’ lives.

A spiritual person feels free to ask questions, and his intention is to find the truth – real, factual, objective truth.

We shall also get more into the benefits of questioning and some other chapters from this book in the future.

If we can’t wait the book is available. Even if we can wait this book is worth the investment of time and money.

We at Divine Approach will introduce more of these less known authors whose books focus on our complete nature, especially our spiritual nature. Their books will expand our consciousness and bring much enlightenment to our lives. We only recommend authors whose books we have actually read. There are certainly many other authors of which we are not currently aware. We will refrain from recommending any of them until we have read at least one of their books.