Zoroastrians

Zoroastrians
By Mary Boyce

This is a book about what is said to be the forefather of our great religions, founded by the prophet Zoroaster in very early civilized man. It would be commonly associated with fire worshipers as you would find sacred fires as places of worship. In simple form the fire was to the early man where you gathered for warmth, cooking and where humanity came together. While today the fire may be a symbol of the faith, in its beginning it was much more a practice to bring people together. Zoroaster believed there was a separation of good and evil at creation. How subsequent tenants of this concept transitioned from lessons around a fire to a doctrine still practiced 4000 years later begins with song. Have you ever had a song stuck in your head and you couldn’t get it out? Well it was the Prophet Zoroaster who brought what is believed to be the world’s first religion to humanity through song. In a land where writing had yet to be invented, Zoroaster would have his priests commit to memory the Gatha in song, later to be written down.

This book is an academic account of the tenants of Zoroastrianism from is roots through all its evolutionary changes. With a sense of an archeological dig, the reader becomes aware of not only how the world affected Zoroastrianism but also how this ancient faith in turn influenced the Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions. This religion is still alive in corners of the world with strong holds in Tehran, Iran and Bombay,India. In a chronological format the author begins with an overview of the tenets of Zoroaster in the beginning and then pulls them through history capturing the ebb and flow of humanity, giving the reader a sense of before, after and most important the present day pictures of life as a Zoroastrian. I found myself focused on the travesty brought on to this religion by Islam and therefore spend a bit of time dwelling on its relevant bearing on us today.

In the early sections of the book the reader will be introduced to many new terms which may slow down the reading process with words that have no resemblance of English. That is because they are not even close to English sounding words. However spending time to get the cadence and meaning fluent in your mind will make the rest of the book more enjoyable and meaningful. Of the many, I’ve included at the end of this review terms that are critical in terms of understanding and enjoying the book.

If one were to distill all the coda into a practical statement on the merits of Zoroastrianism you could say that Wisdom to see things as they actually are, where Justice is the result of making choices in alignment with reality, and Lying being the fraudulent representation of reality. However history and humanity collude to blur this message. The 21st Century view of Zoroaster’s original tenant must be viewed through a kollidescope and thus provides reasons for debate. You could begin with the lack of the written word, using only the treasures of archeology as only clues to the testament of what was preached left in the symbols found in art. You must also contend with the evolving languages brought on by conquest, dominion and merging of one ruler over another. The effects are found in conquest and merging of cultures where a King could impose an interpretation of preceding doctrine thus imposing a schism in Zoroastrianism similar to what is found between Protestants, Catholics, and Lutherans in our western world.

Since Zoroaster came before the split of the Indo-Iranian culture many of the tenants developed in the beginning had a significant influence over the beliefs, doctrine, and practices, of both the Hindu and the Buddhist people. Against the backdrop of geography and time, we all know that within one language the story takes on at least different colors and many times evokes completely new paths of thought. The next few paragraphs are dedicated to the train to modern day Zoroastrianism. Avestan was the language Zoroaster used in the beginning. This is found in his original Gathas as they were written down long after his death. Pahlavi was the language in the time of the Persian Kings. Sanskrit, albeit equally as old as or older than Pahlavi is the language of India, found it was in prominent doctrine through immigration. The Indo-Iranian split occurred well before Islam, however when Islam forced Zoroastrianism to take refuge tin Bombay, translation from both Avestan and Pahlavi to Sanskrit took on a prominent influence in how we see the Zoroastrian Doctrine today.

With regard to critical deviations from its origins one could look at the Zurvanite split as the most prominent. This occurred under the Achaemenians times of Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. The Avestan word ‘zurvan’ means ‘time’ and in a few of the younger Avesta it was used as the name of a minor divinity, hypostatizing time. The usage appears to be a very limited concession to Zurvanites who had come to believe that Time, Zurvan, did not merely provide the framework for events but was actually in control of them, hence a sentient being. While this would be considered heresy to Zoroastrians it ended up under the rule of the King of kings as being a sect of Zoroastrianism. Simply stated by Zurvanite’s through the authority of the King of kings, Ahura Mazda created both good and evil, which is contrary to Zoroaster who said he created all things good, and what wasn’t created by Ahura Mazda was evil. One could easily draw the one –v- many parallel story in the division of Eastern Orthodox and Western Christianity.

The Manichaeism deviation took root under the Sasanian kings with the introduction of a man named Mani who was reared under the Semitic influence brought a pessimistic view on life. Since he gained favor of the King of kings he was given license to twist existing Zoroastrian text to give authority to his views. Again the original Zoroaster priest found heresy in his preaching.

The Mazdakite deviation was brought on an ascetic pessimism where the Sasanian kings found common property to include the women of pheasants as slaves for the royalty. This fractured the families practicing the original tenets of Zoroaster as well strained the loyalty the people held towards their king and his religion. As timing would have it, it was against this back drop that Islam raged through Persia.

In 636 (AD) the Muslim Arabs, driven by poverty and religious fervor, had begun to attack the rich lands bordering their deserts. They overran the Byzantine province of Syria, and soon afterwards crossed onto Mesopotamia and met the Iranian imperial Army at Qadisiya. This conquest utterly different from that of Alexander, was carried out in the spirit of Surah 9.29 of the Quran:”Fight those who believe not in God and the Last Day and do not forbid what Allah and his Messengers have forbidden – such men as practice not the religion of truth, being people of the book – until they pay tribute (dhimmi) out of hand and have been humbled” The dhimmi (Zoroastrian who will not convert) has to stand while paying and the officer who receives it sits. The dhimmi has to be made to feel that he is inferior when he pays a strenuous tax.

Against this force of terror the doctrines of Islam in the beginning were attractively simple; and some of the most important – such as belief of heaven and hell, the end of the world, and the Day of Judgment – derived ultimately from Zoroastrianism and were disarmingly familiar. It made the choice of conversion over death or life in oppressed destitute an easy one. At a deeper level conversion meant change from a dualistic faith of justice/injustice and truth, with an accessible to reason, to one which demanded submission to an inscrutable, all-powerful God, whose decrees and purposes were regarded as beyond man’s understanding, rendering one’s access to God dependent on the Umma and a Caliph. Faced with the choice of death or paying tribute or adopting Islam found many adopters yet they had to find a way to make it work for them as Persians which gave birth to Shi ite.

The Shi ite movement grew steadily strong through the eighth century, fostered by propagandists for the house of Abbas, rivals of the Umayyads; and in the end there was open rebellion which led to Abbasid victory in 750. Ex-Zoroastrian converts an generatio once removed denied access to their original faith and language molded Islam to their liking while still being held to the ultimate mandate to convert which helped convert many more people who could now cross over and regain their sense of power. While strains of Zoroaster can be found in Shi ite Islam there exists a fundamental difference in their character, where a Zoroastrian may be found as a person with a positive and constructive outlook on life the opposite may be found in a She ite.

The triumph of Islam over Zoroastrian Persia led to a variation in the Zoroastrian practice where the inhabitants of Pars, thus adopting the name Parsis in Iran sought refuge in what we now know as Bombay. These religious refugees of India thrived in their own right yet still saw minor changes in their doctrine as the result of interpreting Pahlavi to Sanskrit and the comingling of Hidu and Zoroaster people. Over time as the Christians’ encroached on Parsis people prompting more change where as the Irani people stuck under the yoke of Islam in Iran held more closely to the original Avesta in Iran. There are exponentially more Parsis today than there are Iranis.

Today you can find Zoroastrian fires that have been tended for over two thousand years. Many scholars continue to piece the puzzle together causing a continual threat to the original message of Zoroaster. His original simple message was based in reality, “behold the way things are as sacred”. It is founded in truth and justice. It was simple yet humanity, specifically forces beyond themselves, made many attempts to make it dogmatically complicated. By contrast one can observe in Judaism and Christianity went to great length to impose a complicated message of right and wrong. I am no expert on Hindu or Buddhism, however I can say as found in this book more evidence that Islam is a religion of anything but the truth. As a by-standing participant in today’s terroristic acts on free men, I found a very ominous parallel between the times of 636 Persia and today’s western world. Most people are not even aware of Zoroastrianism. Many people think it is now as has always been , a small dark cult lost somewhere in this world. But contrarily it was the religion of the King of kings for over a thousand years for a multitude majority of people, annihilated in the short span of 70 years. Islam’s greed, borne in a sense of superiority equal to that of Hitler’s Aryan Race syndrome, and is now knocking at our door. Former president Bush recognized this. Our current President appears about to let them in.

Terms:
• Ahura Mazda – Ormzad, lord of wisdom who Zoroaster saw as God
• Gathas are the hymns composed by Zoroaster which contain the basic doctrine that was committed to memory by his followers
• Zend Avesta the sacred book of Zoroastrianism
• Vendidad is a book read at night of the Avesta containing the code against demons.
• Dakhma – is the funeral practice of placing the dead body on a high platform for the vultures to eat the flesh. When there were only bones they would be collected and placed in an ossuary. This was out of respect for the earth as they believed the body would contaminate the pure earth.
• Spenta - is an adjective which characterizes the good creation, possessing power to aid.
• The Doctrine of Three Times – Creation, Mixture, Separation – makes history in a sense cyclical, with the world restored in the third time to the perfection it possessed in the first one. Meanwhile all the sorrows and strivings of the present time of Mixture as part of the battle against Angra Mainyu (evil). Thus Zoroaster not only saw a noble purpose for humanity, but also offered men a reasoned explanation for what they have to endure in this life.
• Yasna – is the act of worship. It is the main Zoroastrian service
• 7 Amahragpands – the seven creations are the first being Ahura Mazda and the six lesser beings forming the heptad with Ahura Mazda himself the six are:
o Vohu Manah – Good Purpose
o Asha Vahishta – Best Righteousness
o Spenta Armaitiurvatat - Holy Devotion
o Khshathra Vairya – Desirable Dominion
o Haurvatat – Health
o Ameretat – Long Life
• Saoshyant – is the one who will bring benefit; and it is he who will lead humanity in the last battle against evil. (saviour)