Sarrmoung Account

Account of theAccount of theAccount of theAccount of theSarmoun BrotherhoodSarmoun BrotherhoodSarmoun BrotherhoodSarmoun Brotherhood

Major Desmond R. Martin

Account of the Sarmoun Brotherhood 2 of 9

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First publication of the above article: Major Desmond R.Martin, The Editor of The Lady, "Below the Hindu Kush,"The Lady, vol. CLX11, No. 4210, December 9, 1965, p.

870.

Reprinted in Documents on Contemporary DervishCommunities: A Symposium, Collected, edited, and

arranged by Roy Weaver Davidson (London: The OctagonPress, 1966), pp. 22–24.

First edition in this format: 31 October, 2007

The front cover drawing is the Naqsh-i-Sarmoun,(design of the Sarmoun).


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Account of the SarmounBrotherhood

Major Desmond R. Martin© 1965.

Not so long ago I found myself walking through amulberry grove in what might have been an English garden-- if one did not look upwards to the frowning crags of theHindu Kush, or at the robes of the monks of the Sarmouncommunity.

Established here in North Afghanistan for manycenturies, the brotherhood (and the sisterhood with which itis affiliated) maintain this settlement as a sort of countryretreat, where aspirants are trained in the ancient arts ofservice and self-discipline characteristic of the cult. Elderlymonks and lay members, perhaps from as far afield asTunisa or Armenia, make their last pilgrimage here, to theShrine of Musa the Patient, the pilgrimage of retirement.

The Sarmouni (the name means 'The Bees') haveoften been accused of being Christians in disguise,Buddhists, Moslem sectarians, or of harbouring even moreancient beliefs, derived, some say, from Babylonia. Othersclaim that their teaching has survived the Flood; but whichflood I cannot say.

Like their namesakes, however, members of the orderare not argumentative, being concerned only in dischargingthe terms of their motto: 'Work produces a Sweet Essence'(Amal misazad yak zaati shirin).

With only one break -- at the time of Gengiz Khan'sirruption across the Amu Daria to the north, when hedestroyed Balkh, the 'Mother of Cities' not far away -- they


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seem to have lived here for so long that no records remainof their origins.

Theirs is a good life, as much of it as I was allowed tosee. Many of the devotional exercises, such at thecommunal 'Zikr,' or Remembering, are held in private. TheBrethren, numbering no less than nine hundred, mainlylived in the hill-settlements called 'Tekkies,' artisticallysited oratories surrounded by vines and patches of herbs.

Each monk is specialist of some sort: in gardening,local medicine, herbs, mathematics as known to them,calligraphy or even falconry. One of the planes they grewmost carefully was Chungari (Herb of Enlightenment); thisI was not able to see, nor could I obtain a sample of it.According to Afghan folklore it has powers connected withmystical revelation.

Within the monastery walls numerous industries arecarried on. Working with felt, pelts, wool and looms, theinhabitants produce articles of surpassing beauty anddurability. Some of the carpets today called Bokharaactually originate there. The Abbot, Baba Amyn, allowedme to stay in a wood-lined cell, and talked to me inHindustani, which he had learned during three years spentin India as the servant of a Prince: a part of his training, ashe said.

I was issued with a bowl, a sheepskin run, horn, beltand cap, the standard dervish equipment, though I had littleidea as to their significance or uses.

One evening I was allowed to inspect some of thetreasures of the community, and was assured that they hadnot before been seen by any non-initiate. They had beendeclared 'deconsecrated,' as it were, because a new phase ofteaching, somewhere to the westward, had superseded theritual to which they belonged. Henceforth they wouldmerely be museum pieces.


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An articulated tree, of gold and other metals, whichseemed to me unbelievably beautiful and resembled aBabylonian work of art which I had seen in BagdadMuseum, was by far the most impressive. It served toindicate the postures assumed by dervishes in their Yoga-like exercises, which, performed to special music, theystudied for self-development. A tall pillar of lapis lazuli,about nine feet high by two feet in diameter, was used forthe Daur, a turning movement, in which the devotees circleround, one hand on the pillar, to achieve a particular stateof mind.

On a wall faced with white Afghan marble, delineatedin polished rubies glowed the symbol of the community.This is the mystical 'No-Koonja,' the ninefold Naqsh or'Impress,' an emblem which I was later to see in variousforms embroidered on clothes. This figure 'reaches for theinnermost secret of man,' I was informed.

Its operation could only be manifest, at the right timeand under special conditions, by the Lord of Time, the headof the community. He, unfortunately, was absent. In anycase he did not reside at this monastery, but at another verysecret place called Aubshaur. He is referred to, with greatdeference, as a sort of human incarnation of all teachers.He is the Surkaur, or 'Workleader.'

Since the marble, rubies, and lapis are all mined inAfghanistan, and many of the miners and prospectors areadherents of the Sarmouni, this extraordinary richness ofendowment was perhaps not as strange as it seemed to meat the time.

There are many legends about Sarmoun-Dargauh('Court of the Bees'), and one of them is this. Trueknowledge, it is asserted, exists as a positive commodity,like the honey of the bee. Like honey, it can beaccumulated. From time to time in human history,however, it lies unused and starts to leak away. On those


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occasions the Sarmouni and their associates all over theworld collect it and store it in a special receptacle. Then,when the time is ripe, they release it into the world again,through specially trained emissaries.

It is not only in the West, I though, as the greybeardedchief of the story-tellers told me this, that legends about asecret knowledge linger on. He was not very forthcomingwhen I started to ply him with questions trying to see howfar their doctrine had developed.

Were there any such emissaries in Europe? There wasone, but he must not speak of him. But surely it would helpeveryone if he was publicly known? On the contrary, I wasinformed, it might be a calamity. He had to 'work like abee, in private.' Could a visitor like myself have some ofthe 'honey'? No, myself least of all, strangely enough;because I had seen and heard so much, I could have nomore.

"Have you not seen that you are not allowed to takephotographs, even, though other foreigners have beenallowed to take them?" I had seen the treasures, that wasthe most that anyone could have.

Another evening, I watched the enactment of thebeautiful Ceremony of the Key. As the sun was setting,several dozen of us assembled, under the direction of the'Master of Presentations,' who was resplendent in apatchwork robe, intricately embroidered. In the light of thedying sun a dervish with crossed arms, hands on shoulders,knelt before the Abbot, deputising for the Surkaur.

Upon being handed a large key, he advanced towardsa carved door that was set in a big square wooden structure,a piece of scenery, decorated with flags and maces andother emblems of power and authority. He put the key intoan ornate lock and turned it. Suddenly, by means of aclever piece of engineering, the whole structure slid apart.


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The seen was lit by a procession of men carrying candlesand intoning the Saidd dirge in honour of the teachers.

Then we saw that the pieces of the box were turningon pivots and rearranging themselves into different shapes;the scene was completely transformed. Gardens, orchards,birds in flight, and other motifs, made from wood andpainted cloth, now replaced the rectangular structure.

The meaning of the drama was explained to me. Itwas an allegory, based on the idea that all teaching istransformed by mankind into something unnatural,institutionalized, like the box. "The Key of the Real Manopens up the real joy and meaning of life."


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Glossary

Terms from the Glossary of the booklet which appear in thearticle:

Aabshar, Aubshaur: Persian, 'Waterfall.'

Chungari: 'Herb of enlightenment,' literally 'Howness.' Anaromatic but non-narcotic herb consumed by dervishes atspecial times.

Darga (Dargauh &c): Court

Daur (Turkish usage = Devr); from Arabic: 'Turn,' amovement made by dervishes. One form of it is in thewhirling of Maulavi dervishes.

Dervish: Persian, 'one who waits at the door.'

Nu-Kunja (No-koonja, &c): 'Nine-sided: Enneagon.'

Naqsch (Naqsh): Impress, diagram, design.

Sarkar: Persian, 'Work-Chief.'

Sarmoun(i) [or Sarmoung]: Community named after thebees.

Surkaur: see Sarkar.

Tekkie, Takia, Takiy (&c.): Dervish centre, generally abuilding, sometimes with special characteristics in itsbuilding or arrangement inside.

Zikr (zikker, dhikr &c): A litany. Lit. 'Repetiton.'


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