Torkom Saraydarian (1917–1997) was an American writer, poet, and musician. He was born in Sevas, Turkey to Armenian parents. He was trained in "The Ageless Wisdom Teachings" under the guidance of his father. He visited monasteries, temples and mystery schools seeking answers to his questions about the mystery of man and the universe. He was musically trained and played the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

oud The oud ( ; , ) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. Saraydarian composed hundreds of musical pieces.T.S.G. Foundation archives His work intends to represent a synthesis of sacred culture of the world by creating a truly universal approach to spirituality. His work spans over books (published and unpublished), musical pieces, and lectures.

Early life

At age nine, Saraydarian began to receive education in the Ageless Wisdom under his father's guidance. At that time, people attended meetings — in caves or outside — to hold ceremonies and dramatizations to reveal the world's mysteries.

United States

In 1959, he moved to the US with his family from

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. He began inviting people into his home in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Van Nuys City Hall, Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley ...

to learn how to live more productive, healthy, right lives via the principles of Ageless Wisdom. This was the inception of th
Aquarian Educational Group
(AEG). At AEG's 35th anniversary celebration in

Agoura, California Agoura () is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located southeast of the city of Agoura Hills and adjacent to the city of Calabasas, Agoura was the historical name of the area before much of the area ...

he stated:

Now, how we started this group. This group was started in 1961 — unofficially. One day I was coming home from the church. I saw 15 boys sitting and doping themselves. All my neighbors — very beautiful boys and girls. When I saw them doping and smoking, my heart broke. I said, 'Don't they have fathers, don't they have mothers?' Because I was from the old country and could not understand America. (That was not America, but I say 'America'.) I couldn't understand how people could drug themselves and dope themselves. So I went home, I meditated, I thought. I said, "We must form a group to bring all these children in and slowly educate them."

For ten years, he taught classes and lectured in a one-room garage without a salary except for small donations left by students.

Teachings

Torkom Saraydarian's seven principles of right living are Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy, Freedom, Striving and Sacrificial Service.

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.Torkom Saraydarian at the Aquarian Educational Group's 35th Anniversary, July 21, 1996.

Through the practice of these principles, Torkom aimed to teach people how to be successful, co-operative, creative and have healthy, happy relationships.

Legacy

Torkom taught for over 50 years in the US and internationally, and counseled thousands of people. He collected over 8,000 books, booklets, and periodicals and therewith formed the TS library. He presented thousands of lectures, seminars, and workshops in the US and internationally. He wrote 170 books, of which some have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Armenian, Danish, Swedish, German, Yugoslavian, and Russian, as well as thousands of articles. He studied and wrote summaries of major books of the Wisdom Teachings, including The Secret Doctrine, The

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...

, Treatise on Cosmic Fire, and the

Agni Yoga Agni Yoga () or the Living Ethics (), or the Teaching of Life (), is a Neo-Theosophical religious doctrine transmitted by Helena Roerich and Nicholas Roerich from 1920. The term ''Agni Yoga'' means "Mergence with Divine Fire" or "Path to Me ...

Books. With his daughter, Gita Saraydarian, Torkom helped create the TSG Foundation as the major publishing house for his works. He also created The Creative Trust with Gita to house his creative works and created

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

courses and spiritual training curricula. TSG University curriculum was founded to promote his work.

Publications

Music

Torkom composed and recorded hundreds of musical compositions and sacred songs.

References

External links

Related groups and Foundations:
The TSG Foundation US
Educational institutions using his work:
The Torkom Saraydarian University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saraydarian, Torkom 1917 births 1997 deaths Jordanian emigrants to the United States American people of Armenian descent