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]

I thought this would be an interesting article to educate many who don’t know about other religions

[Cronos]

ping. note — the number 250,000 is incorrect — odds has identified that the real number is closer to 2 million and there may be quite a few hidden Zoroastrians in Iran

[KevinDavis]

Very interesting. Is Zoroastrianism dieing or is it still going strong??

[dixie sass]

I could see elements of all three great religions as well as Buddism. Interesting.

[Tainan]

Very informative post...Thanks.
A very very old religion that has seen many of its basic tenets adopted by what are todays major religions.

There are probably a number of Baha'i still hiding out and practicing in Persia also.

[paulycy]

Thus Spake Zarathustra.

[Sherman Logan]

In India the group has around five deaths to each birth, so I wouldn’t expect them to be around long. Partly this is because the younger Parsees mostly emigrate.

[cripplecreek]

I’ve learned that when it comes to most other religions, lots of folks simply make up what they don’t know.

[MikeSteelBe]

Thanks, that was interesting.

I find it fascinating that all major religions have some aspects of Christianity in their teachings. Examples would be self denial in Buddhism and fidelity in Islam.

They just all lack a God that would make a supreme sacrifice for his creation.

[RayChuang88]

Given how many of the tenants of Zoroastrianism are familiar to modern Jews and Christians, it's small wonder why the tribes of Israel may have taken many aspects of this religion and adopted it into the Jewish religion. Indeed, the Catholic belief in a single God and a hierarchy of angels is very close to the Zoroastrian belief in Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas hierarchy of lesser deities.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Interesting bit of trivia: it’s not a coincidence of language - the Japanese Mazda automobile corporation is actually named after Ahura Mazda.

[Cronos]

I thought it was dying at just 50,000 and dwindling in India, but odds pointed out to me reports that there are actually 2 million Zoroastrians in the world and not only that, but they are also finding fertile ground in Iran. I always knew that many Iranis hate the Ayatollahs (met quite a few in Britain where they can speakfreely) and hate the yoke of Islam. From that to accepting their ancient religion of Zoroastrianism is just a short step.

[struggle]

Interesting bit of trivia: it’s not a coincidence of language - the Japanese Mazda automobile corporation is actually named after Ahura Mazda.

Actually, it’s named after the founder Jujiro Matsuda. It’s just that non-Japanese can’t pronounce Matsuda well.

[SERKIT]

I never knew Zorro drove a Mazda. Interesting!

[Cronos]

well, Zoroastrianism predates Christianity and Islam (founded in 1700 or 700 BC -- dates are unclear)

From Buddhism there will be a linkage as both stem from Aryanic religions -- the Zoroastrians from Iranic and the buddhists from Indic

I think if you look at Aryanic/Indo-European religion, the basic idea is of two families of god -- Devas/Daevas and Asuras/Ahuras

In the lowest form, the Nordics these are two nearly equal "families" of the Aesir and Vanir. In the Celtic this may be the basis for fairies.
In Greek (highly developed) and Latin (not developed but borrowed heavily from the Greeks, Etruscans, Phoenicians etc.) there is one family (Olympians) overthrowing an early, related family (Titans) -- names of the gods also tie across the three (Deus in Latin, Zeus in greek, Dyaus Pitr in Sanskrit -- meaning sky father)

In the advanced religions of Indo-Irani Aryanic cultures you see the highest development of these. among Indics you see the initial thrust of equal levels of gods, with in fact the higher Devas like Varuna or Agni called Asura almost like "Sir God!", but later Vedic Hinduism sees the Asuras reduced to lesser supernatural beings (not quite demons), then post Jainism (700 BC) and Buddhism (400 BC) the Asuras become evil supernatural beings and post the influence of Christianity (Christianity reached India in Apostolic times thanks to St. Thomas), the Asuras became demons

in Iran the opposite happened with the Ahuras ("s" in Indic becomes "h" in Irani languages hence Sindhus became Hindus) gaining prominence and the Daevas becoming purely gods of the hearth (akin to the Roman "genius" of the house), until Zoroaster came along and said all of these are just symbols/not gods - the real God is Ahura Mazda the God of Light and his counter-force Aingra Mainyu

Buddhism arose out of Vedic hinduism, but more clearly out of Jainism (founded by Mahavira Jaina in 700 BC but claiming eternal existence)

Jainism arose from a time when Vedic Hinduism was decaying. Vedic Hinduism which predates 1700 BC (supposed to be the time when the Rig Veda was composed) details a religion that has a strong emphasis on yagnas i.e. fire sacrifices including horse sacrifices (the highest sacrifice indicating the horseback origins of the Indo-Europeans like the Hittites in Anatolia) and then the Rishis (holy men who meditated a lot and had powers) dominating Hinduism.

Hinduism also began to stagnate as monasticism reached its peak and then Jainism came with the radical strong ahimsa, utter veganism, etc. ideas. along with the rejection of a creator deity and indeed of creation or destruction.

Buddhism took this and made it "lighter"

[Cronos]

I don’t quite trust Bahai’ism — it being too syncretic in my opinion. It is still there in Iran to my knowledge, but heavily persecuted (far more than Christians or even Jews as Bahai’ism preaching a new prophet undermines Islam incredibly)

[Psycho_Bunny]

“The company’s name, “Mazda,” derives from Ahura Mazda, a god of the earliest civilizations in West Asia. We have interpreted Ahura Mazda, the god of wisdom, intelligence and harmony, as the symbol of the origin of both Eastern and Western civilizations, and also as a symbol of automobile culture. It incorporates a desire to achieve world peace and the development of the automobile manufacturing industry. It also derives from the name of our founder, Jujiro Matsuda.”

http://www.mazda.com/profile/vision/

[Cronos]

I’ve learned that when it comes to most other religions, lots of folks simply make up what they don’t know.

True, we all do that -- me too :)

[AU72]

There are still a few hundred thousand Bahais in Iran, with their leaders in jail they’re keeping a low profile.