Zoroastrianism

Zarathushtra's Message

What is the controversy of dualism in our religion?

If Ahura Mazda is good, why do we have death, disease and destruction in the world?

Is there rebirth in the Zarathushtrian philosophy?

The answers to these three questions are interrelated.

Everything in nature is created by Ahura Mazda, and is therefore good. According to Asho Zarathushtra, Nature is governed by the Law of Asha (Righteousness). This is a law programmed by Ahura Mazda that follows a precise system - night follows day, seasons follow one another, planets orbit the sun, babies grow into adults. One action sets into motion a series of reactions. Natural floods, avalanches, droughts are part of this cycle of cause and effect. It is only because they affect human life that we call them calamities. If they happened in a barren area unknown to us, we would not even think about it.

Also, many a time human behaviour is the cause of such disasters. As any elementary school student with basic knowledge of geography knows, if you cut down forests, the top soil gets swept by melting snow and causes floods in plains thousand of miles away. Think about it. The action of some greedy, thoughtless human beings can effect the lives of hundreds of people they have no contact with - yet Ahura Mazda is held responsible for the calamity. The same issue applies to all the environmental and social problems that we are facing today - overpopulation, poverty, hunger, illiteracy, global warming, acid rain, chemical warfare.

There are some who say that it is not Ahura Mazda who is responsible for these calamities that beset humans, but the devil Ahriman. They use this theory to explain that Ahura Mazda is not all-powerful, and that Ahriman is equal in influence (if not more powerful). This theory does not stand up to examination. Did you know that in the Gathas there is no mention of Ahriman, the term we use for the devil incarnate? In fact, the term did not come into existence for several centuries after Asho Zarathushtra's death, probably in the time of Adarbad Marespan circa 200 A.D.

In the Zarathushtrian faith as preached by Asho Zarathushtra, there is no external evil force. So the question of whether Ahriman is equal in power to Ahura Mazda or less so does not arise. There is no such creature as Ahriman. Whatever evil there is in the world is the perception of our mind. According to Asho Zarathushtra every human being is endowed with a mind which has two mentalities - spenta mainyu (divine, righteous mind) and aka mainyu (negative, regressive mind). The dualism in Zarathushtrian religion is purely ethical and is confined to human behaviour only.

Take the issue of death for instance. It is not an evil event. As far as Nature is concerned, death is merely a stage in the cycle of life. Going back to what you studied in school, do you remember the life cycle of a plant? A seed is planted. It grows into a tree - a strong upright one if it receives careful nurturing, maybe not such a healthy specimen if it is left to its own devices. When it has lived its life to its maximum ability, it withers and dies. Sometimes it is knocked down by lightening or axed down by a woodcutter. In any case, its life ends. But does it? The leaves and bark decompose to form soil that becomes a part of the nurturing ground for another seed. The essence of the tree lives on.

And it is the same for human beings. Not in the physical sense as in the case of a tree, but in the sense that the soul exists even after the physical end of life. The Gathas do not specifically mention the process of reincarnation. However, at a purely personal level, I am satisfied that there are enough references to justify that there is a case for rebirth. First, let me clarify that most people have misconceptions of reincarnation. Some of these are based on popular Bollywood movies where people return in the next life to take revenge for murders done in a previous one. Or else they have a belief in the transmigration of souls that you could be a human being in one life and an animal in the next, and therefore there is a possibility that the ant you step on may be your grandfather.

Rebirth or reincarnation is a series of progressive lifetimes as human beings governed by karma or the law of cause and effect. Every thought, every action that we have sets into motion a cause. These causes have their effects. These effects make our lives, for better or for worse. The causes set into motion by our thoughts and actions will produce effects which will rebound on us; if we are good, we deposit good karma in a cosmic bank account from which we benefit in that life and subsequent lifetimes. If we do wrong, we have to pay for it, perhaps in this lifetime, perhaps later.

The law of Karma or "what you sow, so shall you reap" philosophy is prevalent throughout the Gathas. In Ha 43.5, Asho Zarathushtra says:

Spenta at thwa mazda menghi Ahura
Hyat thwa angheush zanthoi daresem paourvim
Hyat dao shyaothana mizdavanm vacha ukhda
Akem akai vanghuim ashim vanghaove
Thwa hunara darnoish urvaese apeme

Thou art Divine I know 0 Supreme
Thou was the first, I know, when life began.
All thoughts and words and deeds Man shall bear fruit
As laid down in thine Eternal law
Evil to evil, blessings good to good
Thy wisdom thus ordains till end of time.

This is why taking responsibility for your own actions is so important and the prayer Jasa Me Avanghe Mazda takes on such significance. In this prayer we say that of my own free will "I choose to think good thoughts, I choose to speak good words, I choose to do good deeds."

Unlike other philosophies, in the Zarathushtrian faith hurtful or wicked actions will not be forgiven if one sacrifices enough animals or does penance. The law of cause and effect expects you to give your due for what you have done. If you choose to do good deeds, happiness will be yours. If you choose to do wilful evil, you will suffer the consequences.

You may well ask, how this signifies that the.Law of Karma acts over several lifetimes and not just one life span like many Zoroastrians believe. Well, I have no answer for this except that in the natural scheme of evolution, it takes thousands of years for things to evolve and reach perfection. If you read the Gathas you realise that the purpose of human endeavour is to strive towards Haurvetat (perfection) and Ameretatat (immortality or oneness with the Source of Creation). I think it is highly unlikely that any judgement about the goodness or the wickedness of a soul can be decided in an average life span of sixty odd years. Or that reaching perfection or immortality is realistic within a time period that is a nanosecond in the relative evolution of humankind.

Another of my reasons for believing that the Zarathushtrian message does favour the proposition of rebirth is that the Gathas speak of the journey of the soul or urvan after death. The soul crosses a sword-like bridge (chinvat). If the soul's deeds do not merit a welcome by Rashna (Truth), Meher (Light) and Sarosh (Conscience), the soul "falls to the abode of untruth" (Earth) until it realises the truth and then progresses towards immortality. Now, some scholars take this reference to "abode of untruth" to mean "failing down into hell" but in my mind I agree with those who feel this refers to the soul returning to Earth. My reason for believing so is that it is consistent with the Zarathushtrian aim for striving for perfection. If one gets stuck in hell, how can the soul progress? The case of returning to Earth to try and strive to attain perfection is like failing in school and having to repeat the class till one is ready for promotion to a higher grade.

The principle of rebirth and Karma also neatly explains why "good" people suffer, why innocent children die, why there is sometimes a sense of instant recognition when you meet strangers. All this is because these are "carried forward" from previous experiences. Our attitude in facing up to the consequences of our previous actions help us grow more enlightened. If we take setbacks with fortitude and faith our soul becomes stronger. If we whine or become angry, more negativity is added and it takes longer for the soul to progress.

If examined carefully, the theory of rebirth is more logical and consistent with the Zarathushtrian principles of freedom of choice, and law of Karma, than another one that says that Ahriman strikes humans with death and disease at random. In this scenario, human beings - as well as Ahura Mazda - have to sit back helplessly and take what Ahriman dishes out. There is no guarantee that you will be spared even if you lead a pious and blameless life because Ahriman remains powerful as long as there is someone else being wicked. In other words, you pay for the actions of someone else. The Law of Asha would never allow such injustice. This theory perpetuates a fear of an erratic external power that rules your life that was prevalent in pre-Zarathushtrian times. It negates everything that Asho Zarathushtra tried to change.

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Information provided by Farishta Murzban Dinshaw