DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ZOROASTRIANISM
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# 42) Q: What is the differance between Humanism and Zoroastrianism? (Besides the fact that Humanism is not neccesarily Theist) You say that what you have to do to go to heaven is to be good. What changes from converting from your old religion, say Christianity, to Zoroastrianism? If I am a good Christian, then why do I need to become a Zoroastrian? What is distinctive about Zoroastrianism? Don\'t all religions say to be good? Thank-you for your time and help.

A: Well, you might be surprised to know that some Mazda Yasnis ( Zoroastrians) believe that Mazda Yasna ( The Worship of the Wise One, The Good Religion or Zoroastrianism)  is not Theist. While, certainly, I do not agree with their positions, I tell you this so you understand that there are many possible valid interpretations of what Zarathushtra taught.

Humanism you will have to define, but taking it at face value , one can say that it is the belief that humanity is the sum total  of ethics, politics and or 'spirituality', what ever that means to different people. While some, see the above paragraph, will allegorize the Gathas  to fit such a definition, I do not agree that we can or should totally nor selectively allegorize any document to fit our opinions. That is, there are generally acceptable principles , studied under Hermeneutics, which define what is allegorical and what is not in any given composition.

Thus I am firmly convinced that many passages in the Gathas are allegorical and clearly proven to be so and many are not and also clearly proven to be not so.  Thus it is obvious, to me, that the Gathas teach both Principles to live by and Absolute Standards In fact one can even say that , at least in some cases, these Standards emanate from such Principles.

Such Principles as Asha (The Universal Law) are defined, in their ethical sphere, as right, good and best and are, indeed, the Standards for these very qualities. Since these Principles either are Essences of, or have as their source, Mazda's ( or God's) own nature, I find that they do not spring from humanity but from God. That means that Secular Humanism and Mazdayasna are not the same thing. Nevertheless Mazdayasna is humanist in the sense that it is for human betterment.

However, I must be doing an awful job of communicating if you think that I have said, anywhere and or at any time, that you have to be good to go to heaven. There is no  such geographical place in Mazda Yasna. The closest thing , Christianity, might call heaven in Zarathushtra's teaching is called, among other things the House of Good Mind or Good Will. It is not a place you go to, it is a state of mind you acquire. Meaning that you dwell in good Mind/Good Will . It is a mental state and, indeed, the after life
is, implied to be, mental. Besides we can dwell in Vohumana Demana ( The Gathic name for House or Abode of Good Mind etc) right here and now , albeit only partially since we are not complete if we are still in this existence.

If you are asha like, in thought word and deed, you are Good ( among other things). and you dwell in the House of Good Mind/Will, either partially ( here) or totally ( after). Or to put it in the terms of Abrahamic religion, we do not go to 'heaven' if we are good, rather we can through, good thoughts, word and deeds acquire the Aspects of God's ethical nature and attain a state of mind where good mind/will dwells.

What changes? Well the whole nature of God and His relationship with man is different. Christianity has a big tension between what the Bible portrays as the character of God and His relation to man in the Pentateuch and how it portrays the same things in the rest of the Bible. This tension, and dichotomy, does not exist in the Gathas.  God in the Bible is always master and man is always servant. To be a servant of the Lord , is to be an outstanding Christian for example, it has become, as a matter of fact, a title for Christian pastors. The Church is called the flock and its individual members are sheep.

However, in the Gathas, God is said to be Friend, Soul Mate and Ally of man. The Gathas talk of an Airyaman an Assembly of the Nobel or of the Friends and not of a flock or of sheep.While God is also called Ahura and that is translated as Lord, the fact is that Ahura implies a Superior Being in the sense of being Superior and Sovereign in Essence. Man is never His servant, He, unlike the God of Abraham, gives only good for He is All Good. Indeed He is said to be incapable of harm. He judges only in the sense that he discerns and its our consciences and inner selves that condemn and punish
us, and never Him. He is not Holy , in the sense of Separate from His creation, but indwells it. For He is Energy , manifesting in Flame and Light.

Indeed the purpose of Creation in Christianity, is to Glorify and give obeisance on to God. While the purpose of Creation in Mazda Yasna is to have life improve to a complete or fulfilled state; at which time all evil would have been eliminated and the Cosmos will be Renovated. In this process man, as an ethically endowed and cognizant creation, helps God in eliminating evil , but not as a robot , but with free will, for it is the things that one does of his own free will and choice that  change and define a man and not the things one is forced, or threatened, to do.

So there is no divine punishment or condemnation, no torment. If you are wicked you get to dwell in an evil mental state both here and beyond, but there are other opportunities for your inner self or soul. if it s wicked . For it will be able to keep on choosing in other existences and can always learn to choose Asha like choices. It is implied that these existences are not corporeal,  so it is not likely that the Gathas truly teach reincarnation as we have come to know it, but they do teach inner self or soul return to some sort of life.

Moreover, it is specifically stated that even the wicked after they have achieved to their full measure of reward for their choices will learn and be taught to deliver wrong unto right. Thus, while there is no salvation per se, (since man  did not  fall  and is not a depraved creature incapable of doing good) all men will eventually learn how to eliminate wrong and thus all will completely achieve the state of mind that is the equivalent of the Christian Heaven.

What changes? Well all the above things and more, indeed, every thing. But in a personal level, the changes are fundamental. You are not fallen and thus you are not incapable of doing good, you are not guilty before God, because God is not a judge that condemns or adjudicates guilt. Neither did he create us to obey without questioning. Rather He wants to convince us , because He respects free will, to do what is right. Thus He expects that, as we learn, we will do what is wrong many times. Therefore being wrong is not an act of rebellion but an act of ignorance and/or lack of conviction. His
purpose is not  to pass judgment and condemnation but to persuade through experiential and doctrinal teaching.

Since you have not fallen and are not in rebellion, there is no guilt , no original sin and no need for some one, that is innocent of guilt and sin, to die for us. It is we who are the captains of our destiny. There is no need to atone or propitiate an angry God for God is not angry. Anger is a state of mind that belongs to the angry and/or evil mind. Such a concept has no room in  God's Most Beneficial Mind.

What you must do, basically and only on your own and out of conviction, is learn how to be in accord with Asha  ( The Universal Law) this you do through a Good Will that chooses to control your thoughts words and actions and make them asha like or good. It is a life of self control, of balance, of stability , of equanimity, of righteousness, of consciously allowing the attributes of deity to govern you through your own good will and free choice, your very way of life.

Christian life is a struggle with our own debased natures and the powers of sin and the devil , a creature that does not exist in the Gathas. It denies the worthiness and goodness of physical life, which is pictured as a valley of tears. It blames your passions , who are enslaving you and your flesh ,
that is your body for surrendering to the power of sin. In Mazda Yasna sin is simply error, repentance is a change of mind, sin has no power other than the one we give it by not exercising mental self control. Your mind is the seat of both your reason and your emotions or passions and your reason must exercise control over your passions,

In  Mazda Yasna one feels incredibly free for one is not depraved, not guilty, not condemned, God's son has not died for one and one is not afraid of God because He will not punish or condemn, He can't ! He is All Good and incapable of harm. This a liberating religion. However it is a religion that puts heavy responsibility on man , as it should. It teaches the absolute necessity of self reliance and makes you see that, in reality, God has made each of us the artificer of our destinies .

What does any one, good, bad or indifferent, Christian, Pagan or Atheist, need to do to become a Zoroastrian? That is the wrong question. You can only become a Zoroastrian if you are convinced it is the way a of life you want to follow because it is a superior way to God. You have to express that conviction through a free and informed choice after studying  Mazda Yasna and what makes it different from other religions. But, in the ultimate sense, it is not an allegiance to a belief  or to any religion that gets you home. It is, rather,  living in accord to Asha through good will and a beneficent mind. In short, while belief is important, it is nothing without the well lived life. Thus, theoretically , even an atheist can make it home.

As to all religions saying we must be good. The problem lies in what a religion defines as good.  The Highest Good , in Islam is submission. In Buddhism and Hinduism is to renounce to all attachments and extinguish the self, to deny life as an illusion. In Taoism it is obedience to the balance of the Tao. In Bahaism it is obedience to and believe in Baha Ullah. In Christianity it is obedience to and believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In Mazdayasna its based, not in commandments and blind obedience
but, in Principles to apply to life's situations. Good is defined as Right. Right is defined as the Law of the Cosmos, which in its ethical sphere is what is and ought to be ethically correct or right. Since this law sustains, rules and promotes the cosmos and all the creations within it , then everything that serves in the fulfillment of creation's potential, growth and development is by definition good.

If the Goal of life is just to glorify God  and if God is judge jury and executioner Christianity is a valid an acceptable belief system.  If blind submission to authority, at all levels, is the will of God, Islam is an acceptable and valid belief system . If Life and all reality are an illusion and our love and desires do not, in reality, give us joy but suffering, then Hinduism and Buddhism  are valid an acceptable belief systems. If balancing one's good and bad actions and avoiding all action once that balance has been achieved, is the purpose of life then Taoism is a valid and acceptable belief system. If the purpose of life, is to grow in ethics, wisdom and spirit into the ethical stature of God then; Mazda Yasna is a valid and acceptable belief system.

It is thus for us to decide what is the purpose of life and what is an acceptable and valid belief system. Always knowing that we are in the area of belief, conviction and evidence and not of empirically verifiable facts. What this means, my friend, is that we must all hold our beliefs and test them to remain convinced of their validity. ( AN UNTESTED FAITH IS NOT A FAITH WORTH HOLDING)   What it also means, is that no matter how logically valid and non-contradictory our belief is and how irrational and full of contradictions some one else's might appear to be, we, must be humbled by the fact that we might be wrong . We  must, thus, respect others beliefs and opinions, even as we attempt to persuade them that they might not be as valid as they think.

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