MY MESSAGE
Three thousand seven hundred and odd years ago, when every man and
woman was, almost blindly, following social norms, when clan system had
divided humans in small pockets, when priests prided themselves as leaders
of superstitious cults, when princess paraded themselves as chiefs of
exploited communities, and when imaginary gods and fanciful goddesses played
kind and rough with imaginative men and fancying women, a man rose to
declare Freedom of Thought, Word, and Deed for all. He spoke of "The
Super-Intellect Being", the god, the Only God, he had realized through
his good mind. He explained the Primal Principles of Good Life he had
understood. He dealt with good and evil, discretion and determination,
promotion and creativity, innovation and renovation, progress and
prosperity, and perfection and eternity. And he based all these on Good
Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds. He founded a religion, the religion of
"Good Conscience," a universal religion for all humanity. He
declared his religion to all; those lived close to him and those who lived
far. His voice rose to go well beyond his widening circle. His voice reached
the wide world of humanity. It widened human thought. It strengthened human
speech. It invigorated human action. It refined human behavior. His voice,
fresh, sweet and clear as ever, is still heard. Its reach is widening,
reaching the wide world. Our talks will echo that vital VOICE: the Voice of
ZARATHUSHTRA.
And my message is: Do listen to the Voice. It gladly guides.
* * * * * *
THE MESSAGE OF ZARATHUSHTRA
Part VII
DIVINE EMANATIONS
Zarathushtra uses some twenty abstract terms to
prescribe the way of promoting mental and physical faculties of soul to
achieve perfection and immortality. He
calls them "the primal divine laws of life."
They are described as "divine names" in Haptanghaiti, the
"Seven Sections" in the Gathic dialect.
In the Farvardin Yasht, it is "the progressive thought-provoking
message, the very spirit of God," which gives these abstracts
"beautiful, active forms," and God the Creator is their
"guardian and guide." The
context of the Gathas shows them as divine emanations, which are sometimes
poetically personified. They
are the universal laws of nature, the natural way of living.
Of these asha, precision, has been mentioned
more than 150 times and merezhdika, compassion, only once.
We shall only briefly define the ones mostly mentioned in the Gathas:
Spenta Mainyu, the progressive mentality
stands for the creative faculty of God.
It creates, sustains, and promotes the creation.
It leads to perfection and immortality.
Vohu Manah, the good mind is the source
of all that is good and wise. It
was through his own good mind that Zarathushtra discovered, understood, and
reached the Godhead. Good mind
leads to refined speech, which, in turn, turns into noble actions.
Zarathushtra's doctrine rests on three pillars--Humata, Hűkhta,
Hvarshta--Good thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds.
Good mind helps one to discriminate between good and bad.
It defines the sources of happiness and sorrow.
In fact, it is the bliss some call "heaven."
Two other cognate abstracts are khratu, intellect, and chisti,
comprehension which enhance one's knowledge for better work.
Asha or arta is the old Indo-Iranian law
of "truth, precision, righteousness" that governs the
universe-sun, moon, earth, seasons and all.
It is precision and order in the universe that points to the Creator,
Maintainer, and Promoter. It
has been enacted to maintain the creation.
It is the road to perfection. In
human society, asha is the right thing, done at the right time and
right place, and with the right means to obtain the right result.
This promotes a society to perfection.
It ensures justice for all. It
safeguards the rights of every member of society.
It provides every individual with what he or she has contributed to
society. Asha in a society sees
that neither the society nor any individual exploits any person.
And, above all, asha gives freedom of thought, word and deed
to every member.
Seraosha is the divine voice one gets in tune
with after one is fully in conversant with good mind and righteousness.
It is the guiding inner self of a person.
It is divine inspiration.
Âthra, fire in the Gathas is mental light,
warmth, and energy, three qualities that help one become as creative as one
can. The physical fire, used as
the best of altars, represents the mental âthra, a sublime object to
observe and mentally to see the light, feel the warmth and enjoy the energy
to translate Good Thoughts into Good Words and Good Deeds.
Ushtâ is
enlightenment that comes through meditation, concentration of mental
faculties. It is the true
happiness that radiates happiness to others without any discrimination,
social or otherwise.
Daęnâ is clear conception.
It is "conscience" in an individual and
"religion" for a fellowship of individuals who actively join to
promote the living world in accordance with the Primal Principles of
Life.
Good mind, precision and other principles create
perfect order. Zarathushtra
calls it khshathra. It
means sovereignty, rule, settlement, and dwelling.
It is the "desired," the "good," and the
"chosen" government of the righteous, yet it belongs to God.
It is the "ideal" order on the earth established by human
beings who are wise, enlightened, experienced, sincere, and above all
devoted to the promotion of the living world.
Âramaiti, serenity and tranquility, thrives
under a good order. A tranquil
order promotes health and happiness, and mind and body grow together
evolving to:
Haurvatât, wholeness, perfection.
Evolution to wholeness means continuity, and continuity stands for
immortality--ameretât. Wholeness
and immortality make human beings godlike and make them live in
eternal bliss, the ultimate goal of the Zarathushtrian doctrine.
Zarathushtra
uses more principles among abstract qualities that could help mankind to
make the world an ideal place to live in peace and harmony with every living
being, and to achieve the divine eternity ordained by God.
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