ZOROASTRIAN
CONCEPT OF
SIN AND SALVATION
Zoroastrianism started in 1400 BC circa by
Zoroaster a hermit who lived in the mountains of
Northern Iran. The religion was founded by Zarathushtra
(Zoroaster in Greek; Zarthosht in India and Persia).
Though claims have been made to a date of 6000 BCE to
the founding of the religion; the literary criticism
places it around 1500 and 1000 BC . Zoroastrianism
became the state religion of various Persian empires, by
7th Century BC. during the islaic invasion of Iran,
most of the Zorostrians fled to India where they are
known as Parsees.
Zorastrian Sacred Text
The
Zorastrian holy book is called the Avesta which contains
the original five hymns called Gathas. The Gathas
define revelations regarding God , Good and Evil ,
worship, laws of righteousness and cosmic order. Later
traditions embellished these principles and developed
associated myths and philosophical teachings..
Supreme God and Satan
He
claimed that God Ahura Mazda the true living
all-powerful good God gave him the revelation. Ahura
Mazda was so holy that he is unapproachable and
unseeable. Ahura Mazda created all things visible and
invisible. Because of his holiness his contact with
prophets were always through mediatory attributes called
Amesha Spentas or Bounteous Immortals.
These are the angels who are depicted sometimes as
concepts and emanations and at other times as persons.
This almighty godhead Ahura Mazda along with Mithra –
the sun (Son) whose glory cannot be looked upon and
Spenta Mainyu (The Holy Spirit) formed a Trinity. There
are theological controversies whether these were equal
to Ahura Mazda and whether Spenta Mainyu is a person or
a sentient. Ahura Mazda being good defines the evil,
which is in every living being. The prototype of Satan
is defined in Angra Mainyu (also called Ahriman) and his
army of devils. Ahura Mazda has been fighting this "Lie"
of Angra Mainyu since creation. The angelogy of the Jews
essentially comes from the Zoroastrian concept.
Zoroastrians were also looking forward to a messiah who
would be born of a virgin - a savvier known as Saoshant.
They also believe in the final judgement day when every
one will be resurrected and will be judged according
what they have done while on the earth. Good deeds and
bad deeds are weighted against each other and hell or
heaven are awarded accordingly. If they weigh equally
they were placed in purgatory. It is easy to see that
there is consonance between this ancient religion and
Christianity concerning the beliefs surrounding God and
Satan, the soul, heaven and hell, savior, resurrection,
final judgment, etc. In fact the similarity runs deeper
in the ceremonies as well such as baptism, communion,
angels, worship on Sunday, the celebration of Mithra's
birthday on December 25th, celibate priests and the
dresses of the priests during ceremonies. Culturally
also as the Church grew in Syria, Iran etc they adopted
many of the worshipping styles including the
architecture, praying facing towards the East and the
beautiful stained glass windows etc. Mithraism as a
subcult of Zorostrianism is very similar to Christian
concepts in most areas.
Zorostrianism is also connected with the Aryan
traditions and hence to Hinduism. Zoroastrians actually
traces their Aryan origin from the Polar region. When
the Zorostrian refugees came to India, they were
therefore received with open arms just as Cyrus was
received by the Jews during his conquest by the Jewish
priesthood. Zorostrian influence on the Jewish
revelation is found in the Pharisee group, with which
Jesus identified himself (except for their extreme
adherence to the Law in letters) and Paul became the
spokesman. The name Pharisee itself may have phonetic
connection to Farsee (Parsee) showing the influence of
Zorostrian thought on Judaism. Paul himself was brought
up in Tarsus, which was the main center of learning of
Mithrites. When Jesus met him on the road to Damascus he
was blinded and realized that Jesus was indeed the God
of Light whom he was searching for. The Gnostic
connection of the Christian Church right from the early
growth period is also well known. Early church had to
struggle through these varying concepts of God among the
prevalent religions and cults to separate the wheat from
the chaff. It was Paul’s scholarly understanding of
these movements that made it possible. That is why the
Eastern Churches consider Paul as the builder and the
architect of the Church.
The
main worshipping ritual of Zoroastrianism is the homa
ceremony. The central altar is the Fire. "The Homa
ceremony consisted in the extraction of the juice of the
Homa plant by the priests during the recitation of
prayers, the formal presentation of the liquor extracted
to the sacrificial fire, the consumption of a small
portion of it by one of the officiating priests, and the
division of the remainder among the worshippers. Animal
sacrifices were also made of the horse, the ox, the
sheep, and the goat. After the ritual sacrifice, the
flesh was put on fire and eaten first by the priest and
then by the whole congregation
There
are fundamentally two approaches to the problem of evil
in the universe in Zorostrianism. One is the war
approach. In this we are given two camps one at war with
the other. The Army of Good is that which follows the
laws and wishes of God – Ahura Mazda, and the Army of
Evil is that which follows the orders and instructions
of the Satan Angra Mainyu. It therefore concludes that
Ahura Mazda is the progenitor of all Good and Angra
Mainyu of all Evil. However Angra Mainyu is not equal to
Ahura simply because Angra Mainyu is a creation of Ahura.
This can therefore come about only with the assumption
of free will of the creature. Good and Evil are
therefore mental and moral choices. They are generated
in our mind and in our conscience. If we are wise we
will automatically choose good, and if we are ignorant
we will choose evil. Both in the physical and moral
dimensions the principle of duality is essential by
definition. Defining Good means defining Evil. This
leads to the second approach to the existence of evil as
mental construct – simply the ethical dualism. Based on
our understanding we do make choices, which are either
good or evil. This defines the law of Asha – the law of
Karma, which is immutable
You
are Holy, O Lord Supreme Mazda Ahura,
You were the First, I know, when Life began;
All thoughts and words and deeds of every man shall
bear
Fruit, as laid down in your Eternal Law
Evil to the Evil, Blessings to the Good,
This is ordained to the end of creations. - Yasna
43.
According to Zarathushtra, there is no Angra Mainyu in
person. Angra Mainyu is in our own minds. When we choose
evil we side with the Satan and when we do good we side
with God. Though God is a person externally, Satan is
not. Satan is to be feared only if we are evil.
Creation and Fall of Man
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The Zorostrian
Adam and Eve are called Matro (Mashye) and
Matroyao (Mashyane) Here is the story of the
creation of Adam and Eve and their Fall because
of the Evil One Ahriman and his devils.
CHAPTER 15.
1. On the nature
of men it says in revelation, that Gayomard, in
passing away, gave forth seed; that seed was
thoroughly purified by the motion of the light
of the sun, and Neryosang kept charge of two
portions, and Spandarmad received one portion.
2. And in forty years, with the shape of a
one-stemmed Rivas-plant, and the fifteen years
of its fifteen leaves, Matro [Mashye] and
Matroyao [Mashyane] grew up from the earth in
such a manner that their arms rested, behind on
their shoulders (dosh), and one joined to the
other they were connected together and both
alike. 3. And the waists of both of them were
brought close and so connected together that it
was not clear which is the male and which the
female, and which is the one whose living soul (nismo)
of Ohrmazd is not away. 4. As it is said thus:
Which is created before, the soul (nismo) or the
body? And Ohrmazd said that the soul is created
before, and the body after, for him who was
created; it is given into the body that it may
produce activity, and the body is created only
for activity;' hence the conclusion is this,
that the soul (ruban) is created before and the
body after. 5. And both of them changed from the
shape of a plant into the shape of man, and the
breath (nismo) went spiritually into them, which
is the soul (ruban); and now, moreover, in that
similitude a tree had grown up whose fruit was
the ten varieties of man.
6. Ohrmazd spoke
to Mashye and Mashyane thus: 'You are man, you
are the ancestry of the world, and you are
created perfect in devotion by me; perform
devotedly the duty of the law, think good
thoughts, speak good words, do good deeds, and
worship no demons!' 7. Both of them first
thought this, that one of them should please the
other, as he is a man for him; and the first
deed done by them was this, when they went out
they washed themselves thoroughly; and the first
words spoken by them were these, that Ohrmazd
created the water and earth, plants and animals,
the stars, moon, and sun, and all prosperity
whose origin and effect are from the
manifestation of righteousness. 8. And,
afterwards, antagonism rushed into their minds,
and their minds were thoroughly corrupted, and
they exclaimed that the evil spirit created the
water and earth, plants and animals, and the
other things as aforesaid. 9. That false speech
was spoken through the will of the demons, and
the evil spirit possessed himself of this first
enjoyment from them; through that false speech
they both became wicked, and their souls are in
hell until the future existence.
From The
Bundahishn ("Creation"), or Knowledge from the
Zand
Translated by E. W. West, from Sacred Books of
the East, volume 5, Oxford University Press,
1897. |
Threefold Path to Heaven
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Good Thoughts,
Good Words,
Good Deeds |
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are the
ways to heaven. Salvation is essentially through work,
which deviates very much from the salvation through
faith – Bhakthi Marga of the Christian Approach. Faith
is an impetus to do good deed. This concept is explained
in the symbolism of Fravahar. Fravahar is a guardian
angel, which is the personification of Forward Pulling
Force.
Wings:
upward progress of the soul. It has three segments
representing the threefold path to heaven – Good
Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.
Ring
(in the center) represents the immortal soul, which has
neither beginning nor end.
The Old
Man represents the wisdom of the ages – revelations of
God handed down through generations. One hand points
upward showing the right direction. The other hand holds
a ring of promise of heaven and immortality.
Tail,
which is heavy, indicates the Bad Thoughts, Bad Words,
Bad Deeds. These retard our upward movement.
Two
Curly Threads at the Waist represents the freedom of
choice. We make our choice, which decides the ultimate
destiny of man.
Explanation of the Faravahar Symbol
1.
The Faravahar’s face resembles the face of human
being and therefore, indicates its connection to
mankind.
2.
There are two wings in two sides of the picture,
which have three main feathers. These main
feathers indicate three symbols of “good
reflection,” “good words,” and “good deed,” which
are at the same time the motive of flight and
advancement.
3.
The lower part of the Faravahar consists of three
parts, representing “bad reflection,” “bad words,”
and “bad deed” which causes misery and misfortune
for human beings.
4.
There are two loops at the two sides of the
Faravahar, which represent “Sepanta Minu,” and
“Ankareh Minu.” The former is directed toward the
face and the latter is located at the back. This
also indicates that we have to proceed toward the
good and turn away from bad.
5.
There is a circle in the middle of the Faravahar’s
trunk. This symbol indicates that our spirit is
immortal, having neither a beginning, nor an end.
6.
One hand of the Faravahar, points upwards, showing
that we have to struggle to thrive.
7.
The other hand holds a ring. Some interpreters
consider that as the ring of covenant,
representing loyalty and faithfulness which is the
basis of Zarathustra’s philosophy.
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Death, Heaven and Hell
After
death, the urvan (soul) is allowed three days to
meditate on his/her past life. The soul is then judged
by a council of trinity Mithra, Sraosha and Rashnu. If
the good thoughts, words and deeds outweigh the bad,
then the soul is taken into heaven. Otherwise, the soul
is led to hell.
The
Redemption of the Universe
There
are three eons for the created cosmos:
First the era of creation when things were formed
Second is the present eon where the duality of Good and
Evil are fought out.
Third is the eon when the good and evil are separated.
Good will be in Heaven and the Evil will be in the Hell.
A Saoshyant (savior) will be born of a virgin, in the
lineage of the Zoroaster who will raise the dead and
judge everyone in a final judgment. The cycle will
repeat itself until finally everything will be redeemed
including those in Hell.
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