Tomb of Hafez -Persian mystic and poet. He was born sometime between the years 1310-1337 in Shiraz , Persia (Iran), son of a certain Baha-ud-Din. His lyrical poems, ghazals, are noted for their beauty and bring to fruition the love, mystical, and early Sufi themes that had long pervaded Persian poetry.

Good Religion back to the World. It is not an oriental mystic sect or cult, but a World Religion for all Mankind.

Suppressed and forgotten by the World during thousands of years, it is time to recall that God was realized in the Profound Teachings of Zoroaster, a thousand and more years before any prophet brought "divine revelations".

Where later prophets described God in rather "human" terms, Zoroaster never did. He realized a Supreme Being, who is independent of being worshipped and obeyed and thus ...
God is not about fear, guilt, torment and condemnation

Righteousness is God's Order. Enlightened is the person who is righteous, only for the sake of righteousness.

This web page is dedicated to the divine message revealed by Zarathushtra Spitama who was known to the ancient Greeks as Zoroaster. About 3500 years ago, Zarathushtra preached that there is only ONE GOD whom he called Ahura Mazda (Lord of Wisdom). The Gathas, composed by Zarathushtra, are incorporated in the Avesta, the religious book of the Zoroastrians.

The principal and cardinal virtue for the followers of Zarathushtra is to adhere to the Zarathushti creed of Humata, Hukhta and Havarastra (Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds).

Good Thoughts
Good Words
Good Deeds

"Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed world-religions, and it has probably had more influence on mankind, directly and indirectly, than any other single faith." "Zoroaster was thus the first to teach the doctrines of an individual judgment, Heaven and Hell, the future resurrection of the body, the general Last Judgment, and life everlasting for the reunited soul and body. These doctrines were to become familiar articles of faith to much of mankind, through borrowings by Judaism, Christianity and Islam; yet it is in Zoroastrianism itself that they have their fullest logical coherence...."

Click here to learn more about the Spiritual Philosophy of Zarathushtra & Zoroastrianism

(Birth of Zoroastrianism)

http://www3.sympatico.ca/zoroastrian/

http://www.kavehroom.com/

About 5000 years ago, i.e. around 3000 BCE a group of people called the Proto Indo-Iranians lived on the South Russian Steppes, to the east of the river Volga [ Boyce]. The Proto Indo-Iranians believed in a primitive concept of order (called rta in Sanskrit). They knew that order existed in the universe because night followed day, the moon waxed and waned and each year the seasons followed one another. They believed that divinities or gods called Asuras, among which Varuna and Mithra were most popular, guarded this law. The Proto Indo-Iranians worshiped instinctively and often, through fear. For example, when they saw lightning and heard thunder they thought that the gods were angry with them. For every natural phenomenon such as an earthquake, snowstorm or hurricane they would make sacrifices of animals, plants and food to their deities in order to appease them.

About a thousand years later i.e. ~2000 BCE, the Proto Indo-Iranians split into two groups. One group migrated westwards and came to be known as the Iranians while the other group went east and was known as the Vedic Indians or Vedic Aryans. Because of this common root the early religious scriptures of the Indian and the Iranian have some similarities but after the split each of them developed separately.

The Iranians were mostly nomads, they did not have a fixed place to live, for they herded cattle and would keep moving around in search of fresh pasture and water. Since they lived in the open they worshiped nature and they had a god or goddess for each of the elements of nature, i.e. they believed that one god looked after the sky (Asman), another took care of the Earth (Zam), the third looked after the Moon (Mah) and a goddess called Anahita looked after the waters. They called this whole pantheon of gods and goddesses as Ahuras. The word Ahura comes from the root Ah meaning, "to be", so Ahura can be derived as the Being. The Iranians believed their Ahuras to be very powerful and their ritualistic priests called Karapans had many rituals and made sacrifices of animals and plant food to fire and water. Their Ahuras were similar to Asuras of the Proto Indo-Iranians and of the Rig Vedas.

Several hundred years later the Iranians learned the use of bronze and developed horse drawn chariots. Some Iranians abandoned the task of herding cattle and became warriors and they would go from place to place raiding cattle. These lawless people worshiped the gods of war and were called Daevas. Their priests were called Kavis who were very shrewd and practiced black magic.

It was during this time somewhere around 1400 BCE that Zarathushtra was born. As a young boy he was interested in nature and wanted to know as to how the world was created. His search for creation and the creator lead him to God with whom he communed after several years of meditation. When he was 30 years old, he introduced a religion known today as Zoroastrianism. The ancient Greeks knew Zarathushtra as Zoroaster and hence his followers are called Zoroastrians. Some followers who live in India prefer to be called Zarathustis.

Tenets of Zoroastrianism

Zarathushtra was the first to introduce a novel way of thinking and a completely new philosophy of life. He taught that there is only ONE God whom he called Ahura Mazda. This term consists of two Avestan (a language used during the time of Zarathushtra) words, Ahura and Mazda. The first word Ahura was already used by the pre-Zoroastrians for their God and Zarathushtra introduced the concept of God as the creator who infused life into the physical world. This is probably why many scholars have derived the word Ahura from the root Ahu meaning life giving force and translate it to mean Lord. The new word, Mazda, that Zarathutra introduced means super-intellect or supreme wisdom. Hence the term Ahura Mazda means Lord of Wisdom. (GE had named their light bulb Mazda to honor the God of Light, probably in the misconception that Mazda means light. The Japanese cars were named after light bulbs; so whoever drives a Mazda drives a "wise" car).

Zarathushtra communed with Ahura Mazda and his dialogues are composed into hymns or songs called the Gathas. The term Ahura Mazda, as well as the separate terms Ahura and Mazda, appear several times in the Gathas. Zarathushtra has used the term Mazda 164 times, Ahura 131 times, Mazda Ahura 50 times and Ahura Mazda 8 times in his Gathas. It is imperative to note that prior to Zarathushtra the Gods and Goddesses were known for their power and strength while Zarathushtra laid the stress on Ahura Mazda's creative ability and wisdom.

According to Zarathushtra, Ahura Mazda conceived the idea of creating the universe and not only let it evolve into the inanimate objects such as the Sun, the Moon, the stars and the Earth but also the living species such as the plants, animals and human beings i.e. he infused life into his creations. Ahura Mazda is not a static God who has finished his creations for he his dynamic and progressive and a continuous creator. In his Gathas, Zarathushtra refers to Ahura Mazda as Tashô ( Yasna 31-11). This word stems from the root tash meaning to cut, to shape [ Dhalla]. When a tailor cuts a cloth he designs it into a garment, so the word Tashô signifies a designer and conveys the idea of improvement, progress and evolution. According to Zarathushtra, Ahura Mazda is the creator of life in this universe, he is omniscient, he is super intelligent, he is the wisest and he knows everything. He knows that at this very moment we are discussing him. He has supreme wisdom and he is kind, friendly and loving. Ahura Mazda is omnipresent for he is everywhere at the same time.

We, Zoroastrians, usually start our prayers with the words Kshnotra Ahurai Mazdao, which means glory be to Ahura Mazda. We praise Ahura Mazda for creating this world, for creating the Sun that gives us light and heat, for creating the air that we need to breathe, for creating the water that we need to survive and for creating the animals, birds, plants, fruits and flowers that bring us joy and happiness. We believe that Ahura Mazda has no form, shape of color attributed to him. This is why Zoroastrians never worship idols. We do not build some shape from clay or wood or metal and call it Ahura Mazda because, to us, Ahura Mazda is ever glowing eternal light from which emanates bounty and goodness.

Zarathushtra also taught that Ahura Mazda regulates the universe through ASHA, the law of precision. At the physical level Asha represents the laws in the universe. Scientists try to understand these laws, such as the laws of gravity and electric and magnetic fields. On the psychological level Asha is the powerful force of truth while at the spiritual level Asha is the fusion of order and truth leading us to the path of righteousness. Truth or righteousness is doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place with the right means to achieve the right purpose [ Dhalla]. Righteousness is the universal law that stands for order, evolution, progress and projection.

Zarathushtra taught that Ahura Mazda has given every human being a Vohu Manoh (Good Mind) in order to help us follow this path of righteousness. The Human Mind is the best gift that Ahara Mazda has bestowed upon us. With our Vohu Manoh we can not only think but we can reason and articulate and this is what makes us so unique from all other living species on this planet. We have a mind that can help us differentiate and distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil.

Ahura Mazda is in accord with Asha and he wants us to promote this path of asha, ashoi and ashem. According to this law good deeds produce good rewards and evil deeds have bad consequences. A scientist working in a lab, a mathematician solving a formula, a mother caring for her family, a student struggling with his homework, a musician composing or creating beautiful music and a person counseling the needy are all implementing Asha in their lives, if they act with truth and integrity. We know that if we do not live in harmony with nature it would lead to catastrophic consequences. Hence, in order to make this world a better place, not only for this generation but for generations to come, we must follow the path of Asha. Human beings are co-workers of Ahura Mazda, but we are not his slaves. We are not forced into doing something or being someone that we don't want to be. Zoroastrians do not believe that good things in life are detrimental to the spiritual life or that we should denigrate the material world.

Zarathushtra composed the Ashem Vohu prayer, which is the main motto of our religion. This prayer contains 12 words and the first and the last words are the same. The prayer (in red) and a word to word translation [ Rustomjee] are as follows:

Ashem Vohu Vahistem asti Ushta asti Righteousness (is Good) Best it is Radiant it is happiness   Usta ahamaai hyat ashaai vahistai ashem Radiant (comes) to for the sake of virtue (is) virtuous (which is) Happiness the one (who) itself best  

The first line tells us that the path of righteousness, truth, asha or Ashoi is good and it is the best. It is (Ushta) radiant happiness because only truth can bring us everlasting happiness. The second line tells us that righteousness is for the sake of the best righteousness alone. There is no goodness in forced goodness. We have to speak the truth, be honest, and help others because only such virtues can bring happiness and contentment in this world. We don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that lying, cheating and hurting others by being mean, nasty and greedy is harmful and cannot bring happiness to anyone. Our main mission in this life is to promote Asha for that will bring happiness to all and it will make this place a much better place not only for the present generation but for generations to come.

It has been enjoined that every morning as soon as we take our first step out of bed, we should pray one Ashem Vohu and pledge that we will do good deeds for the sake of righteousness and will do our best to make this world a better place not only for ourselves but for everyone around us. Spiritual truth, scientific truth, philosophical truth, social truth are the various manifestations of Asha. At Ahura Mazda's level truth and righteousness may be objective but at our finite, human level, it is subjective.

Zarathushtra's religion does not provide a fact-specific code of behavior but a timeless system that requires each succeeding generation to use their minds, to strengthen the horizons of their knowledge, to ascertain truth and right in the context of their world and to implement it in their lives.

Master Mehrdad Khan Moayedi
Ancient Hapkido/Shaolin Kung Fu
(727) 823-8914