Main beliefs of Zoroastrianism

hinduwebsite ^ | 2009 | Jayaram V

[Cronos]

Zoroastrianism is one of the most ancient religions of the world.

At one time it was the dominant religion of Iran and adjoining

regions. Its popularity declined when the Islamic invaders occupied Iran and

introduced Islam. A handful few who fled from Iran,after

the fall of the Sassanid Empire, to escape persecution in the hands of

the new rules took shelter in India. They are

known today in India as Parsis, a small community that has been

persistently striving ever since to keep the tenets of the religion

alive, despite hardship and lack of following. Apart from them a few people in Iran continue

to practice Zoroastrianism. They enjoy a minority status in Iran, an

Islamic nation, with a

limited degree of freedom to practice their religion. The total number

of people practicing Zoroastrianism in the world today would be around

250000 of whom 80% live in India and the rest in various parts of the

world including the USA. Although Zoroastrianism lost its status as a

popular world religion, its study and knowledge are very useful in our

understanding of the development of religious thought in the ancient

world and how some of its important beliefs and practices have

parallels in other religions such as Judaism, Christianity,

Islam and Hinduism. The following are some of the

important beliefs of Zoroastrianism.

1. Belief in Supreme and Universal God. Ahuramazda is the supreme,

omniscient and omnipotent God, who symbolizes truth, radiance, purity,

order, justice, courage, strength and patience. He is the creator as

well as sustainer. He also protects the good from the evil and

maintains order by keeping the chaotic evil at bay.

2. Belief in the  duality of existence. Zoroastrians believe

that the world is battle ground between good and evil forces. Although

the good will ultimately triumph and the evil forces would be

destroyed, Zoroastrians believe that every human has a role and

responsibility in enhancing and marinating the sanctity and purity of

our existence by staying away from evil, avoiding all possible contact

and communication with it and by enhancing the good amidst us through

religious practices and observances and adherence to the teachings of

Zoroaster. 

3. Belief in the divinity of creation. Zoroastrians believe that

God created both the invisible and invisible worlds from Himself using

His astral body and His own light. His creation is therefore very

sacred and divine. It is everyone's responsibility to keep it pure and

maintain the order or asha established by Him.

4. Belief in the spiritual nature of the world and human beings.

Zoroastrians believe God created the spiritual entities and beings

before manifesting their counterparts in the material plane. The

material world consisting of fire, water, air, earth, plants, animals and

humans is very much like the body of God, while His spirit rules

supreme and pervades the whole creation in various aspects and

entities. The fravashis or guardian spirits were created in the

material plane as human beings from the primeval man, from whose seed

were born Mashye and Mashyane, the first man and first woman.

All the races of humanity descended from these two in due course of time.

3. Belief in polytheism. While Zoroastrians worship Ahura Mazda as

the highest and supreme God, they also believe in the existence of a

number of divinities who represent His good qualities and who assist

Him in containing the evil in the material world. Highest among these

are the six Immortal Beings or Amesha Spentas who personify His good

qualities individually, followed by angels, lords or ahuras and other

divinities. Sacrificial rituals called Yasnas, rituals and prayers are

used to invoke these divinities on different occasions to sanctify the

world and help the faithful in their lives.

4. Belief in the basic goodness of the humanity. Zoroastrians

believe that human beings are essentially divine in nature and share

the spiritual nature of God. So they are not born as sinners nor there

is a compulsion to be a sinful. Human beings are born pure and have a

choice either to follow the teachings of God and remain righteous or

follow the ways of the evil and be damned. Depending upon their

choices and their actions, God decides their fate in the spiritual

realm. God offers knowledge of righteous conduct and provides

instructions for the expiation of sin. Buy He does not make a promise

to take upon Himself the sins of his worshippers.

5. Belief in the sanctity of the elements. Zoroastrians believe

that God created the spiritual world before he began His material

creation. The spiritual world is beyond the power of evil to

infiltrate it and corrupt it. However the material creation of God does not enjoy the same

immunity. It is prone to attacks from evil,

who had already entered the world during the second time period and established his presence. Human

beings should therefore be aware of the dangers that lurk in the

material world and do their part to stay away from evil. They should

neither do nor encourage any actions that would result in the tainting of

the material things and the elements. Fire, water, earth and air

should be kept pure by not allowing the evil entities to pollute them.

They should do this by leading righteous lives and avoiding physical

and mental contact with evil things such as dead and putrid matter and

other impurities. The dead bodies should neither be cremated, nor thrown into

water, nor buried in the earth. They should be allowed to disintegrate

or consumed by vultures and other birds who have been created by God

for the specific purpose.

6. Belief in the tradition of prophets. Zoroastrianism is based on the teachings of

Zoroaster or Zarathushtra, the first prophet. According to legend God

manifested Himself to him in a vision and revealed him the secrets of

creation and the religious instructions to be followed by

people on earth to pursue the path of righteousness. The teachings of Zoroaster are available to us in the

Zend Avesta, the main scripture of Zoroastrians. Followers of Ahura

Mazda believe the birth of Zoroaster heralded the beginning

the current cycle of creation, which would last for 3000 years. During

this period a prophet would appear on earth at the end of each

millennium to preserve the teachings and guide the humanity. The third

prophet, will be a future son of Zoroaster, whose name would be

Shoshyant, who would herald the Judgment Day and the eventual

destruction of evil powers in the material world.

7. Belief in afterlife. According to Zoroastrian beliefs

death is as a result of the spirit leaving the body. The sanctity and

purity of the body is lost once the spirit leaves it. Having left the

body the soul would remain on earth for a three days and nights,

hovering near the body. Then it would depart

to the spiritual realm, led by Daena, the guardian spirit, where it would be greeted with a vision of the

thoughts, words and actions it performed when it was inside the human

body upon earth. It would then be led to the Chinawad bridge, where an

angel would assess its actions and decide whether it should go to the heaven or

hell for a temporary residence till the Last Judgment Day. Zoroastrianism

believe in the

final judgment day, on which God would resurrect all the dead and

subject to a second scrutiny. All the good souls would be given a

permanent place in heaven and the rest will be condemned into a

purgatory till eternity. Some Zoroastrians also believe that the souls

are born in the material world as per the decree of God to overcome

their defects and achieve perfection. Life upon the earth is therefore

a great opportunity for the souls to refine their character and become

perfect beings of light. Zoroastrian texts describer heaven as a place

of pure joy and happiness inundated with the light of God and hell as

a cold and dark place where the evil spirits subject the sinners to

gruesome punishments.

8. Belief in sin and expiation of sin. Zoroastrians believe that

life upon earth is fraught with dangers because of the presence of

evil. People can commit sin by not following the religious

instructions of God, by not practicing the three commandments declared

by Zoroaster, namely good thoughts, good words and good deeds, by

indulging in sinful activities such as adultery, sodomy, theft,

pollution of elements, practicing other faiths, not disposing of the

dead according to the prescribed method, touching the dead matter, not

offering prayers and rituals to God, performing sacrificial rituals

for the daevas or evil spirits, not wearing kusti, the sacred thread

and kadre, the upper garment in the prescribed manner, doing business

with malicious intention or evil thoughts, not marrying according to

the instructions given in the scriptures and so on. The scriptures

also prescribe procedures to be followed for the expiation of certain

sins, while for certain mortal sins death is recommended penalty.

Heinous

sins are listed in some Zoroastrian texts such as the Menog-i Khrad

(Ch. 36)

9. Belief in the Judgment day. Zoroastrians believe that at the end

of current cycle of 3000 years, God will destroy the evil forces in a

final conflagration and herald the Judgment Day . On that day He would

resurrect the dead and subject their lives to another scrutiny. Those who prove to be pious

and obedient to his instructions would be suitably rewarded with

an eternal life in heaven and the rest will be condemned to an eternal

suffering in

a purgatory.

10. Belief in the efficacy of sacrificial rituals. Zoroastrians

believe in the performance of sacrificial rituals called Yasnas as an

important part of their religious observance and the best means to

communicate with God and His entities. The rituals constitute an

important aspect of righteous conduct. The rituals are meant to

purify the world and also the people involved in it. They are usually

performed by qualified priests, to the accompaniment of chants from

the Avesta, inside a fire temple. Zoroastrian scriptures emphasize the

importance of maintaining ritual purity while

performing the rituals for obtaining best results. Zoroastrians also

offer five prayers every day, during different times. In addition to

these they also perform an

initiation ceremony called Naujote for both boys and girls before induct

them into the Zoroastrian path. They also celebrate some popular

festivals in honor of God and His entities.

11. Belief in the efficacy of sacred chants. Zoroastrians believe

in the ritual chanting as the means to establish order and purity in

the world and in the lives of the worshippers. Manthras or sacred

verses from the religious texts, usually in Avestan, a sister

language of Sanskrii,  are chanted in a particular manner to

please God and the spiritual entities. Chanting mantras is considered

to be a form of practicing the three commandments, namely good

thoughts, good words and good deeds.

12. Belief in the importance of righteousness. In the Zoroastrian

world view, the material word is a battle ground between the good and

evil forces. Human beings have a sacred responsibility to remain on

the side of the good and assist God in getting rid of evil from

creation permanently. Men should therefore practice righteousness, aim

to cultivate the qualities of God as represented by the six Immortal

Beings and promote Asha or order, Truth and righteous conduct

everywhere.

[Cronos]

True. though the ties of Zoroastrianism to Christianity are closer -- the Jewish concept of hell and a Messiah began to be emphasized only post the Exile when they were freed by the Persian King Cyrus the Great who defeated the Babylonians. And the "fleshing" out of angels is more post this period (Zoroastrianism too has angels)

Also, the Magi who came to visit Jesus were Zoroastrian priests (Magi is a term for a priest of Mazda)

Finally, Christianity spread the most in the Persian Empire in the first 300 years after Christ due to the Assyrian Church of the East (which is now the Chaldean Catholic and Assryaisn Church of the East) -- this Church spread right from Ctesiphon (in modern day Iraq) right up to Mongolia (a mongol tribe, the Naimans were Nestorian Christians -- today the Naimans are part of the Kazakh federation and Sunni Moslems) and even the Uighurs (in China's Xinjiang province -- but they had a vast empire from the time of Christ right up until the Mongol Empire and then again until conquest by the Ming and now destruction by the communist Chinese) were Christian, Nestorian Christian until a few 100 years ago -- now they are all Sunni Moslem

[Cronos]

yes, the Christian belief in God and his angels is analogous to the Zoroastrian belief in Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas hierarchy of lesser deities.

[Cronos]

thanks for that — what about the Ahmaddiyas? And Babism?

[Thane_Banquo]

Zoroastrians believe that every human has a role and responsibility in enhancing and marinating...

Alright, let's get marinating. I'll buy the steaks, you get the limes and garlic. Who's bringing the beers?

[spetznaz]

Very interesting. Thanks C.

[Cronos]

Alright, let's get marinating. I'll buy the steaks, you get the limes and garlic. Who's bringing the beers?

:)

I didn't notice that one!!! Funny :-P

[Cronos]

No worries -- I had posted this earlier this week about Zoroastrianism from Nowruz to nowruz as well

[SuziQ]

Thanks! I'd always wondered about the tenets of Zoroastrianism. I work with a man, who, on first being introduced, described himself as being PERSIAN, from Iran.

I haven't asked, but I know he isn't Muslim, because he doesn't like the Mullahs at all! I don't think he's Christian, because he said he celebrates Christmas, but only as a non-religious holiday. So, by process of elimination, if he's anything, he might be Zoroastrian. He's a very nice man, regardless, always gentlemanly, always polite.

[Cronos]

well, there are also many Iranis who hate Islam but don’t know where to go so don’t believe in anything. They don’t know completely about Zoroastrianism

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

It is an ongoing religion. Freddy Mercury (birth name: Farouk Bulsara) the lead singer of Queen was a Zoroastrian, as is his family which immigrated from Jordan to England and brought their faith with them.

[AU72]

I don't know anything about Ahmaddiyas but Babism was the Prophet known as the Bab (Gate) and foretold of ‘One who God will make manifest’. This was claimed by ‘Bahaullah’ (Glory of God) who founded Bahai 9 years after the Bab was martyred. Almost all the Babis became Bahais at the time and today there are no known Babis in Iran.

[Cronos]

ok, so Bahai’ superseeded Bab? Or are they the same?

[backwoods-engineer]

I never thought I'd see the day when I'd read a post on FR that promotes the idea that Christianity came from Zoroastrianism, and indeed adopted most of its tenets from Zoroastrianism.

If I want to read blasphemous stuff like that, I'd go to FireDogLake or Democrat Underground.

This has no place on a pro-Christian and pro-Jewish forum like FR.

[Cronos]

Do stop making up fantasies and actually read what I said. Did you read it? let me bold the parts that will enable you to understand

True. though the ties of Zoroastrianism to Christianity are closer -- the Jewish concept of hell and a Messiah began to be emphasized only post the Exile when they were freed by the Persian King Cyrus the Great who defeated the Babylonians. And the "fleshing" out of angels is more post this period (Zoroastrianism too has angels)

Also, the Magi who came to visit Jesus were Zoroastrian priests (Magi is a term for a priest of Mazda)

Finally, Christianity spread the most in the Persian Empire in the first 300 years after Christ due to the Assyrian Church of the East (which is now the Chaldean Catholic and Assryaisn Church of the East) -- this Church spread right from Ctesiphon (in modern day Iraq) right up to Mongolia (a mongol tribe, the Naimans were Nestorian Christians -- today the Naimans are part of the Kazakh federation and Sunni Moslems) and even the Uighurs (in China's Xinjiang province -- but they had a vast empire from the time of Christ right up until the Mongol Empire and then again until conquest by the Ming and now destruction by the communist Chinese) were Christian, Nestorian Christian until a few 100 years ago -- now they are all Sunni Moslem

Do you understand what "began to be emphasized" and "to be fleshed out" means?

By no means where these adopted from Zoroastrianism or even came from Zoroastrianism

[backwoods-engineer]

Yes, I understand completely. "Began to be emphasized" and "fleshed out" are academic-sounding dodges; they are comfortable, easy euphemisms for blasphemy.

You aren't the only one; that's why I also sent the message to "All".

[Cronos]

The Jews had angels, the prophecies of Isiahi etc. before the Exile, but these got emphasized post the Exile and most importantly the fulfilment of prophecies are fulfilling JEWISH prophecies what the Hebrew prophets revealed, , the coming of a savior is promised as early as Gen. 3:15 in the Bible. This was long before the birth of Zoroaster.

What do I mean by emphasized -- well simply that -- before the Exile, the Israelites were concentrating on keeping the law, following their kings, fighting invaders. Post the Exile there is more understanding of the earlier prophecies of the Messiah, of the nature of angels written about long ago, etc.

[Cronos]

Quite frankly, newbie, you don’t understand. Do read a little bit — I explained this in the post above

[Zionist Conspirator]

This is the first time I’ve ever heard that zoroastrianism taught polytheism or that man was basically born good—a strange belief for a dualistic religion.

[Cronos]

Well, Zoroastrianism initially derives from the Indo-European/ARyan religion which was polytheistic, so the holdover continued. However, it was dualistic by the time of the Achaemenids and post the Seleucid era was fractured with some becoming nearly monotheistic.

[Cronos]

Why is the concept of men being born good alien to the dualistic concept of competing gods? From what I understand in various branches of Zoroastrianism the idea is that man fights on the side of good (and is created by the good)