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In South Central Asia
around the 7th / 6th century BCE lived and taught the
Iranian-speaking prophet Zarathushtra of the Spitama clan. He was later to
be known to the Greeks and the Latins as Zoroaster. The settled society of
his time was composed of priests, warrior-nobles and pastoralists; its
wealth was based on cattle and, secondarily, on agriculture. That society,
in common with others of that vast region, was in turmoil. Inequality and
injustice were rife, and the precarious existence of the pastoralists was
constantly threatened by the inroads of nomads and warring tribes in
search of grazing land for their wandering herds and indeed of more animal
wealth. Their acquisition of others' domesticated cattle was through
stealth and theft, and cattle-rustling was then considered not as a felony
but a special kind of profession.
For Zarathushtra, himself
a priest by vocation of the old religion, this turbulent state of affairs
was unsustainable. It was self-destructive, therefore non-progressive. The
gods and goddesses of the ancient pantheon were representative of cosmic
and nature forces, broadly divided into the class of creator-gods or
asuras and, in keeping with their war-like requirements, of warrior
deities or devas. Whereas in India the former were deemed to have
become aloof and had been demonized, in the Iranian world it was to be the
latter class of the devas who were to suffer that fate. It was
Zarathushtra who brought about this major theological reversal.
The Iranian prophet
selected one, and one alone, from among the Indo-Aryan asura
divinities to dignify the sole deity Mazda. Mazda means wisdom, and
it was this abstract concept, compounded of Knowledge, Experience,
Understanding, Common Sense and Insight, which had declared itself to
Zarathushtra' s inner vision. He was to exalt this sole deity with the
title of Ahura, Lord or Master. This new concept of the divine was
henceforth to be Mazda the Ahura or Ahura Mazda: Lord Wisdom. Nowhere in
his religious poetry ─ for Zarathushtra was a highly skilled composer of
sacred verse ─ do we find the common word for god, baga, nor even
yazata or worshipful being. For him Mazda would suffice, for the
name meant also the Creator of Thought, and the Giver of Thought. Mazda
had created through Thought his chief aspects of asha,
Truth-Order-Justice, and vohu-mana, Good Mind. Other aspects were
Right-mindedness, Supreme Power, and the integrating forces of Wholeness
(of Mind and Body) and Un-dying-ness (of the union of Body and Spirit).
All these aspects of divinity are as facets of a diamond, inseparable from
the gem, and therefore integral parts of his being. Later Zoroastrianism
counted seven such aspects, and the magical seven, it is recalled, has had
a strangely powerful universal appeal throughout history.
The term prophet in
connection with the person of Zarathushtra is best understood as
forth-teller, not fore-teller. indeed he prophesied nothing,
but through the intense and penetrating spiritual experience accorded him
by his consistent religious vision taught that through Mazda, as Supreme
Wisdom, mankind too could share in the divine and aspire to the godhead
inherent in every being. It was nothing less than a program for man's
perfection towards a perfected society and on to a perfected world - an
ideal existence in this world when all manifestations of evil would
cease, and where an eternity of goodness would prevail throughout. Here it
must be emphasized that all references to man and mankind denote the human
species and do not designate gender differences. Zarathushtra's message is
to every man and woman and for all Human-kind, as even casual study of his
sacred verse makes abundantly clear.
Also clear is man's duty
towards the animal kingdom. Amongst his sacred chants we find a very
striking set of verses dedicated to the Soul of the Kine, exemplifying the
domesticated herds and flocks on which the economy of the ancient Aryan
societies was based. The Kine-Soul questions Truth and Good Mind -Why its
suffering? Why was it created -was it for wantonness or for well-being?
Who has been appointed its protector? We have noted the depredations of
wild nomadic raiders and cattle thieves. Such theft was accompanied by
hostility, mindless violence, brute force and suffering: it occasioned
Zarathushtra's vehement opposition to all forms of animal cruelty.
Through this metaphysical poem he powerfully formulated the first known
Animal Rights Charter
The question of evil in
Zoroastrianism has evoked some curious answers through ignorance of its
precepts and ensuing misunderstanding. What the prophet actually taught is
well worth repeating: there are two original Principles, one of which
elected to ally itself to Goodness and Progress (Spenta mainyu);
the other chose to do the worst things and fell into the ways of Deceit
and Stagnation (Angra mainyu). As a concept Good Cannot exist, and
is meaningless, without its necessary foil of Evil: indeed the two are the
obverse and reverse of the same coin. The Good Principle attached itself
to Mazda and became empowered to declare itself through Wisdom. Both
Principles manifest themselves as mainyu,5 (modes of thought) in the mind
of man, resulting in every individual's choice of good or evil in thought,
speech, and activity. This in turn became the good Zoroastrian's motto:
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Works. It is all-important to realize that
Ahura Mazda stands above and beyond the two wholly opposed Principles. He
is not directly opposed by the Evil Principle. The prophet was concerned
less with explaining evil than with fighting it. Later Zoroastrianism,
unable to sustain the prophet's high level of abstract thinking in
theological and ethical matters, made Ahura Mazda the direct opponent of
the Evil Principle, and is the work of priestly commentators who continued
the difficult teaching through a necessary simplification, that of Ormazd
(Ahura Mazda) versus Ahriman (Angra Mainyu). Mankind, we have seen
it in our own times, has shown great capacity for good as also for the
most unspeakable acts of evil. In Zoroastrianism there are several
gradations between the two extremes of action, yet it teaches the
optimistic truth that good will finally overcome evil only through
awareness of Wisdom and the active participation of mankind. It
happens to be the only religious system where Man is seen as a co-worker
with the Supreme Deity, and Zarathushtra addressed Mazda ''as friend to
Friend". Unfortunately its priesthood's wel1-intended simplification,
meant for the grasp of the popular mind, soon gave rise to the charge of
Dualism.
Closer inspection of this
uninformed misrepresentation of Zoroastrianism reveals that its detractors
from the Abrahamic systems failed to declare that they too harbored their
respective devils, whether as has satan ("the Adversary"), diabololic
("enemy", "accuser", "slanderer"), or iblis (exactly derived from the
Greek) and shaitan. It clearly behoves them not to impute their own
obvious dualistic tendencies to supposed influences from
Zoroastrianism, and in the
interest of Inter-faith Truth and Harmony, would urge them to rectify
their own theological defects before needlessly adding confusion to the
knowledge of the Faith of Ancient Iran whose teachings have been described
as "a veritable emancipation for devil-ridden souls".
Yet another canard which
needs dispelling is the mischievous imputation of Zoroastrianism simply
being fire-worship and its followers accused of being fire-worshippers. To
be sure there a1-e distinct references to Fire in Zarathushtra's sacred
poetry. On examination, these too prove to be tendentious, for whilst it
is quite true that some low forms of worship display a noticeable cultic
zeal towards all forms of ritual fire, the prophet had intended reverence
towards Fire as the visible symbol of Ahura Mazda's Truth. Truth, he
sings, is the strengthener of this bright focus which unites the spiritual
and the physical in man and dispels the darkness of elTor. It is this
union of the immaterial and material spheres, a true integrity of
spiritual and physical which singles out Zoroastrianism as a practical
psychology expressed in the precisely worded inspired utterances or
mathras of the complex philosophy that is inherent in his Gathas or
sacred chants- These were never intended to be mere spells.
Originally Zoroastrianism
had strictly confined its savior imagery to the spiritualization of man's
religious quest- With its stress on salvation or damnation being the
direct result of each individual's development through
activity, and full
accountability and responsibility for one's deeds, it is obvious that each
man and woman should be seen as savior. Great emphasis is laid on each one
to ponder the truth, recognize its justice and act accordingly through
careful choice of the right course. The aim was the perfection of this
world, as noted above, and a pious prayer composed by the prophet himself
entreats: "May we be those who shall bring about the regeneration of this
world!" But because the result fell short of the design, and that it had
not been achieved within the prophet's own lifetime, human good activity
within Tune was of the essence. Such activity was based on reflective, not
prescriptive teachings. Later Zoroastrianism, aware that this world's
perfection was yet far from realization, brought in the concept of three
millennial Saviors who would each accomplish a major share in the
eradication of evil from this world. It is of interest to note that some
half millennium before the advent of the Messiah of the Christians,
Zoroastrianism had already taught that each Savior was to be born of a
virgin mother impregnated with the miraculously preserved seed of
Zarathushtra- 'The prophet would been bemused!
The notions of Heaven and
Hell or Paradise and Purgatory in Zoroastrianism took their departure
point from the prophet's very different teaching that these were
earthly mental states that affected each person through his spiritual
evolution and religious views. John Milton in l7th century England had
acquired some grasp of this when he wrote, "The mind is its own place,
and in itself / Can make a Heaven or Hell, a Hell of Heaven"
(Paradise Lost, 1.254/5).
Later notions were to diminish this vital truth by suggesting that these
were other-worldly locations, but which failed to live up-to the prophet's
vivid earth-bound imagery by, in fact, visualizing the future existence
not as reform of the Self in this world for one's foremost existence here,
but as idealized replications in the Hereafter of the present physical
life. These pointless copies were to penetrate the thinking of the future
religions that took up this later Zoroastrian imagery for their particular
needs for redemption and salvation.
The forces of History were
to play their part in the changes, development and eventual diminution of
Zoroastrianism- Today, it is thought, there are a mere 150,000 souls who
profess this ancient faith which once served as the official religion of
three successive Iranian empires from 550 BCE to 650 CE. For all its
diminished numbers of followers, Zoroastrianism as a faith had never
vanished. Its great ideas lived on with continued vigor in various Greek
philosophical systems which ultimately came to fertilize the thinking of
the Renaissance and well beyond, and to this day still challenge certain
long-held but outworn theological concepts of some later religions.
May all its goodness
continue to benefit this world and all Humankind! |
