Aim of this Blog

Aim of this Blog


There is something very wrong with the world that we are made to see around us. Human Society is not happy, there is
protest, discontentment, poverty, inequality, greed, corruption, Ego, Fanatics’, Agnostics’, natural calamities occurring with frightening regularity and above all Global terrorism which just does not want to call it a day.In short there is chaos everywhere. One word that can describe all this is “Qayamat”. In Jamasphi” and at many places in our Zoroastrian scriptures like“Chithrem Buyaat” prayers, it is mentioned that time is near for Shah Behram Varjawand our Saviour to come in this Qayamat and revive us and our Deen. The Saviours from other religions will also appear and will work together with a common goal for grooming mankind and his spiritual revival.

Today every one wants to die a Martyr's death for Religion, but no body wants to live for the sake of true teachings of Religion. It goes without a doubt that we have let go the true kernel of Mysticism in religion and embraced only the outer shell of a glossy show of Religion. We forget that Religion is not show business but it is a way of living. Your Left hand should not be able to know what Tarikats your right hand is practicing.

The Western Astrology call this as Aquarian age and phenomenon that we see today are occuring with lightening quickness. For we never knew that Communist USSR will disintegrate one day and fragment into many small nations, that Germany will one day be united, the revolution in Egypt, Syria, the fall of dictators, and China a sleeping giant awakening to technological boom are all an indicator that we are very much in this Aquarian age. The transition from the Age of Pisces to Aquarian Age is already taking its toll till we roll into Age of peace and calm. We are looking forward to being Optimistic and not being fatally Pessimists. Please see the link provided:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius

More than 100 years before in past when faith was at its lowest Nadir in our community without caring for deep religious significance when there was idle talks about futility of our time tested customs like Dokhmenashini, Rituals, Sudreh Kusti being only a symbol, Avesta Manthra prayers being considered as waste of time, faulty myopic thinking that offerings of sandalwood to Atash Padshah being waste of sound monetary resources which could have been better utilized for betterment of our community, lack of faith was the reason behind these ignorance’s. Ignorance coupled with arrogance was, and still is the main reason stymieing our spiritual progress.

The Zoroastrian hidden Masters in Demavand who are very much concerned about our community’s spiritual progress saw the need of sending a forerunner before the advent of Shah Behram Varjawand Saheb, and they chose Behramshah Nawroji Shroff whom his followers lovingly call him as Ustad Saheb. He brought amongst us Zoroastrian Mysticism called as Zarathosti Ilme-Khshnoom.

The word Khshnoom can be found even in our scriptures, so it is not something alien that is thrust on us. It is the revival of the lost knowledge called as Ilme-Khshnoom that our forefathers had with them that kept the flame of faith burning in their hearts, that Ustad saheb brought for us. The literature is penned down by his chosen and authorized disciples late Dr. Saheb Faramroze Sohrabji Chiniwala, and Late Jehangirji S. Chinwala.

Late Ervad Phiroze Shapurji Masani had for so many years maintained his publication “Frashogard” all under guidance of Ustad Saheb. Today we see that day by day our faith is again going downhill. The need of Saviour can only be felt when all seems to be lost towards Traditional cause. It is to rekindle that hope and faith and iron out unwarranted fear of our religion dying a premature death that this Blog will be looking forward to. The aim for starting this Blog is to translate the majority of Khshnoom literature that is in Gujarati writings of Late Chiniwala brothers and Late Phiroze Masani for the benefit of those genuinely interested in Zoroastrian Mysticism .

When there is too much of chaos nature allows it only up to a certain threshold limit, once it crosses the limits it puts a
full stop to it, for nature has its own ways of bringing Order out of Chaos.

So in mean time what are we Zarathosti Bastekustian supposed to do that will hasten the advent of Shah Behram Varjawand Saheb ? Are we supposed to look skywards and wait for him eternally ? His advent will much depend upon us also.

In nature there is a law of “Supply and Demand”. If the demand is there, supply is guaranteed. In Bible it is said that "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find it, knock and the doors will open to you." ….. Mathew 7:7 Niv. Unfortunately the much needed knock never seems to happen and everybody is busy enjoying their fun filled moments and warns us to keep off limits of their rights and Freedom. But they seem to forget that behind every right that one asks for, there is a responsibility which is conveniently forgotten.

"RTI" also known as "Right to information"is blatantly misused in today's world of so called Freedom . Some want Freedom to enjoy whatever is appealing to them, but is considered as Taboo in Society. Not before all these false ideology will be swept away by fury of nature and realization of folly will dawn naturally aftermath,nevertheless too late by then, but the road will be paved for introducing Shah Behram Varjawand to the world.

In middle of face-off between two warring sides and Chaos, we will come to know the time of Varjawand Saheb's arrival automatically. As a Mother knows intuitively the time of delivery of the baby, we will feel the desperate pangs of labour like a Mother feels before her delivery.

Right now only a few are longing for his arrival but just as "A lone sparrow does not herald a spring" similarly one requires a collective thought force to set everything in motion. For that I had started a short exercise every 7.30 a.m. in morning but unfortunately we don’t seem to realize its importance. Till we are all vibrating with one frequency, other word is called as Hum Mithra, Varjawand Saheb’s advent will be a distant dream only. The exercise is as under to be followed by a Mithra every 7 a.m. or around that time frame. No need to be very rigid about time. The Mithra is as under:-

What is Hum Mithra:-

Man proposes and God disposes. Hence we requires Dadar Ahura Mazda’s blessings all the time for success and that is known as “Daham Afriti”. Without it we cannot move forward even an inch. But for his Daham Afriti to be assessable to us we require to think with one vibration in Hamoi, only then can we succeed in our purpose. Dadar Ahura Mazda is not happy when there is infighting so how can we receive his Daham Afreeti. This one thought force having selfless single pure vibration is known as Hum Mithra. The Law of cause and effect governs this universe so whatever incidents we see bad or good its cause has to be there. Every action has its reaction. The bad precedent that we are facing now after a crematorium is announced in Worli where innocent public are falling prey to it. Those encouraging Aramgah and such ashmogi are themselves the victims of their own deeds so we have to pity them instead of contempt for them and a calming thought has to be passed by us at a particular time collectively. If love is the language of angels then why should we be harsh to even our so called enemies. For in life there are no enemies, and everything is Karmic. The Bhali Dua is as under:-

Bhali Dua at 0730 am every morning:-

2 Yatha , 1 Ashem Vohu.

Those ignorant brothers and sisters opposing our age old customs of Dokhmenashini and believe in universality of our religion by inviting all to our holy places and Iranshah need our pity and not contempt for they are bitten by the demon of ignorance and arrogance. O Paak Dadar Ahura Mazda shower your choicest blessings upon them that they regain their lost faith and begin realizing that the true nature of religion is humility.

"Let no harm come upon the Traditional Zoroastrian flag and its values which are so dear to us. Let the reformists agenda and their nefarious plans never succeed. Let no harm befall upon Pavmahal of India that is - our Iranshah of Udwada and all Atash Behram, Atash Adran and Dadgah of India. Let not one day pass without Atash Parasti and our reverence towards Holy consecrated Fire(Pavmahal),Dokhmas, Sudreh Kusti, Mathravani which acts as a weapon to thwart evil. Enable us to protect our racial traits of Parsi Panu through Boonak Pasbani. Enable us to maintain our true “Zarathosti Khandani” by not intermarrying and continue with our Aryan Lineage intact. May the advent of Shah Behram Varjawand come soon, and before him may his forerunners arrive at the earliest and grant us spiritual strength to withstand evil around us. Let my Kusti Padiav and my Tarikats be helpful to nature to fight for the cause of righteousness against the evil negative forces of Drujis, and may it protect us all Zarathustis and entire humanity who live by their religion and its tenets. "Phiroj baad Khureh avizeh Vehdin e Mazdiyasnan" - Let the Khoreh of Mazdiyasni Zarathosti deen protect its faithful followers"

1 Yatha, 2 Ashem Vohu



Best regards,

Firdosh K Sukhia
firdosh.sukhia@gmail.com

Saturday, April 23, 2016

UNIVERSALITY OF ZOROASTRIANISM DOES NOT IMPLY PROSELYTISM - By Late Ervad Phiroze Masani



In this age of rank materialism it is but natural that most of the people can have no idea of the subtle laws of nature working in all human activities. The cumulative Law of Asha implies all the beneficent forces in nature carrying out the Divine Moral Order of the Universe as inculcated in the Zoroastrian Law. When the community begins to decline in its number on account of the inexplicable disturbance caused by the people themselves to this Moral Order by not living a life parallel to and in strict accordance with the Law of Asha, a strange remedy for the increase of the population is suggested by a few of the community viz. that of proselytism. This suggestion has caused much provocation of late in the community when attempts have been made by some philologists to prove the advocacy of proselytism from the extant Zoroastrian scriptures by their usual practice of twisting and perverting the texts so as to render them suitable to their views.

This subject of proselytism and marriage with the aliens is one which can be viewed from many standpoints-Sociology, Biology, Emb¬ryology, Anthropology, Philosophy and Religion. Whether alien marriage is disastrous to the social stability of a community, whether pure species can be continued, whether there is extinction of the generating power by the blending of seeds of different genera and species of mankind, whether there can be harmony of thought compatibility of temperaments resulting from such marriage, – these and many more are the subjects which lie outside the scope of the present undertaking. Here we have to see whether alien marriage and proselytism are advisable, not from the scientific, economic, social or moral point of view, but only from the point of view of religious scriptures and that too from the extant remnants of original Zoroastrian scriptures only. There are also other interesting questions relating to the subject, such as the object of nature in the institution of the different religions of the world according to the various differentiated stages of progress reached in the course of evolution by different groups of souls according to their varying constitutions.

Our task is to make out whether modern proselytism is a Farman or Mandate given by Zoroaster himself or met with in any of the extant Avesta Scriptures, or whether it is only a figment of the imagination of a meagre portion of the present-day community.

Some want to convey without any scriptural evidence that the only remedy for an increase of birth-rate in the community and the panacea for the perpetuation of the Parsee community is proselytism. If proselytism served as remedy against the extinction of a race, why should nature have made so many varieties of the races of men instead of one homogeneous group of all mankind on earth? If only one religion was suitable for the progress of all these various classes of men, why should nature have sent so many prophets with so many different messages of religion? If the extinction of a race was preventable simply by an addition of people or 'grafting' from different races, why should there be rise and fall of nations or races on the earth?

A religion always has its life, so long as it is put into practice in every day life by each individual member thereof. Zoroastrianism seems to die out and is dying out at the present day, not because there are only one hundred thousand souls belonging thereto, but because most of these have imbibed very nasty materialistic views from outside by which their life is guided, and are abandoning day by day all the precepts of Ashoi or Perfect Rectitude worthy of observance in every day life, and are crying for a religion of physical convenience and material ease with no sanctity or spiritual purity or responsibility.

The vitality of Zoroastrianism can never be expected in the nature of things to be upheld by an addition of some Hindus or Mohammedans or Christians into the community and by making an external stamp on their designation as "Zoroastrians". The vitality of Zoroastrianism can only be upheld by making faith a living force and sincerity the basic virtue in every present member of Zoroastrian fold who should be quite willing and ready to observe all the tenets of Purity as taught in that great religion. It is thus by adding to the quality and not to the bulk of the community, that stability can be maintained and increase can be made in the number of the community in the near future. First teach your own religion to the members of your own community, 99% of whom are quite ignorant of the tenets of their sacred religion. In the Yacna Haftanghaiti Ha 35 we find a very fine passage regarding the teaching of religion. There it is stated that –

"Then a man or a woman knowing the Truth may practise it as such, and may teach it to those who are capable of practising the same as it ought to be practised."

From this it is seen that it is the duty of every Zoroastrian first to know the Laws of Ashoi taught by the prophet, then to practise the same himself or herself, and then as a practical observer he or she will have a natural right of preaching the same to other co¬religionists who are capable of practising the same. Thus we learn that without the qualification of strict profession of a religion by its own members, mere number of adherents can never help to sustain the life of that religion. Nature requires truth or intrinsic value of everything, and not mere show of things. Alien people who are nominally styled Zoroastrians by the 20th century innovators of proselytism would not give life to Zoroastrianism but on the contrary take away the life therefrom.

The adoption of Zoroastrianism by King Vishtaspa and other Paoiryo-tkaesha souls of the time was never conversion or change as it is understood at present from the profession of one established religion to that of another, but it was simply an adoption of system where there was formerly no organization in their belief.

In fact there was no prophet nor any form of established religion such as Hinduism, Buddhism etc. before the advent of Zoroaster, and hence it is very improper to say that Zoroaster converted the people of primitive faith to his own faith. The Paoiryo-tkaesha people were Yazdan-Parast or God-worshippers no doubt, and Zoroaster who expounded the entire Law of Nature to them only pointed out the straight path which was the short cut to the goal of highest spiritual progress.

As has been pointed out there was no established form of religion either in Iran or the neighbouring country of Turan before the advent of Zoroaster, and the Paoirya-tkaesha or further advanced souls of Iran, Turan and many other countries are laudably remembered in Avesta scriptures. Just as the Iranian Paoiryo-tkaesha people were put on the track of Zoroastrianism, in the same way the Turanian good people (not all the Turanians of course) followed the path of Zoroaster, but this adoption of Zoroastrianism by the Turanians cannot therefore be termed Conversion. Iran and Turan implied only a distinction of locality or country and not one of religion. The fact that all the holy ones of Iran, Turan, Sairima, Sainina and other places are equally remembered in the Fravardin Yasht, does not show that all those who lived beyond the limits of Iran professed a faith different from that prevalent in Iran then. This memory of those holy ones in the Fravardin Yasht, never for a moment implies the advocacy of the present day proselytism by Zoroaster, but simply points out to us that Mazda-worshippers were not confined to Iran only but also inhabited neighbouring and distant regions alike.

In the first place we admit emphatically that Zoroastrianism is a universal religion, but it must be clearly pointed out wherein the universality of Zoroastrianism consists. This can be explained in two ways. The religion taught by Zarathushtra or the 'Daena-Zarathushtri' is the law of the entire universe, not a fraction thereof as taught by Zarathushtra. The twenty-one Nasks covered all the laws governing all the planes of the universe viz. the Spiritual, the Subtle and the Physical. Zoroastrian Law is universal in as much as it is the law which teaches all the laws of life for the emancipation of the soul out of the physical vesture which imprisons it and dwarfs its powers and it is the law which is the Greatest, the Best, the most Excellent of all the laws that ever taught about the evolution of the soul.

In Yacna Ha 12 or the confession of Faith formula, the Law of Zarathushtra is depicted in the following terms. –

"I attune myself with the Good Mazdayacnian Law, – which is efficient in putting down the dual incessant fight between good and evil principles in man – which helps one to put down the weapon of body by effecting liberation of the soul – which leads to the union of the soul with its self counterpart, divorced so far down here for a purpose; – which teaches the Divine Moral Order governing the entire Universe, – which is the best, the greatest and the most excellent, of all the laws leading to the evolution-stage of the soul, and even to the most advanced goal of the soul – which pertains to Zarathushtra of Ahura".

Thus the universality or rather the universal greatness, because of the universal application, of the Law of Zarathushtra is to be noticed in more than one Avesta passage.

In the Vendidad Fargard V, the Universal Character of Zoroastrianism is depicted very beautifully with the same implication of the greatness of the Law of Zarathushtra. There it is said that the Law Mazdayacnian as taught by Zarathushtra is greater in size, beauty and excellence than any other law, just as the Sea Vourukasha is greater than all other seas or just as a big tree covers all the smaller ones, or just as the sky covers the entire earth round. This idea of the universality of the Zarathushtrian religion from the point of view of its greatness and dignity is to be found also in the Gathas.

The line in the Gathas 44;10 is in the Avesta put thus "Tam Daenam Ya Hatam Vahista" – i.e. 'that Law which is the best of all-laws-leading-towards-the-evolution-of-the-Soul; – thus it is a direct reference to Zoroastrianism as the Universal religion because it is all-exhausting or including each and every law of the universe. It is universal because of its greatness as the Supreme Law including in it all the other laws of nature.

Having understood the universal characteristic of Zoroastrianism from the point of view of its greatness we shall now try to understand why Zoroastrianism is a universal religion from the point of view of its universal efficacy resulting from the observance of all its tenets by its adherents. Every law of nature when observed by the people has its practical effect visible or invisible on the different planes of the universe including the physical. The law of vibration is at the bottom of this effect. Now the laws inculcated in the twenty-one Nasks by Zoroaster are the original Laws of Nature in obedience to which the multifarious activities in nature are carried on; and a Zoroastrian attunes himself with Nature or remains parallel with the functions of Nature, when he observes all the laws of his religion. The effect of this parallelism is accumulated invisibly in Nature, and this effect extends all over the globe as it rotates on its axis and revolves in space as well as over different planes of Nature from time to time besides this material one, thus reaching and affecting each and every member of all the kingdoms-animal, (including human,) vegetable and mineral, on this earth. Thus it is the nature of observance of the tenets of Zoroastrian religion and not the mere quantity or number of nominal adherents, that marks it out as universal in its effect, upon the creation universally, as explained above. The universal characteristic of Zoroastrianism can never be taken to imply proselytism or conversion of all mankind on the earth all at once-from the Red Indian to the greatest scientist – into Zoroastrian faith.

In Gatha fig:6 if the whole context is properly borne in mind the prophet explains what the Law of Asha in a nutshell implies, viz, the recognition of what is Right in Nature through the higher wisdom of the Good Mind, and then the sentence "Yatha-i Sravayaema tam deaenam Ya Khshmavato ahura" which literally implies "thus we can remained ourselves of viz., that law of thine, O Ahura."

In Gatha 53; 1, when the whole piece is translated literally, it is seen that no meaning of proselytism can be deduced from this paragraph – It can be seen that the eternal beatitude is bestowed upon the prophet himself, and not to any underlying or has even remote idea of proselytism.

Zoroastrianism is a universal religion in as much as if it is the complete Law of Nature taught by Zoroaster and possesses universal Superiority or transcendency and efficiency of universal application if properly followed by its adherents.

(DINI AVAZ – NOV.-DEC. 1997 – Vol. 22; No. 6)

Friday, April 8, 2016

What happens when a Zoroastrian body is cremated- By Late Adi Doctor

Question : It has become a fashion, these days, to opt for cremation even when there is a Dokhma say in a city like Mumbai. In some cases the survivors even ask the priests to recite the Geh Sarna, etc. before the body is taken for cremation. At least two questions arise :

a) What exactly happens when a Zoroastrian body is cremated ?

b) Can or should one perform the ceremonies of a Zoroastrian who is cremated and do they help the soul ?

Dr. Homi A. Press, Bombay.

Answer : (a). In the sixties (1961) all the Dasturs (High Priests) of India had resolved that where there was a Dakhma, no priest should preform the first four day ceremonies in case the body was buried or cremated. But the rule was honoured more in the breach than in its observance. Luckily in India, it is the survivors who decide how the body is to be disposed, though occasionally, today it is the cranky survivor who decides that the deceased should not get the benefit of Dokhmenashini.

What those who opt for cremation conveniently forget is that you try to burn a body and create yet another phantasmagoric form in the atmosphere. How does this all happen ?

First of all when a corpse is burnt, either through a conventional or an electric crematorium the smoke that emanates passes through the dense atmosphere layers on the earth and goes on to the higher subtle atmospheric layer. Normally this latter layer, which is pure (in Pahlavi it is called Vayu-Veh, literally, the good air) is polluted by the putridities carried from the burning body from the lower atmosphere.

Thus the very point to be noted is that the upper strata of atmosphere, that is normally healthy and full of oxygen, is vitiated by the carbonic acid fumes spreading from a burning body in the lower atmosphere. The Vahu Veh becomes Vayu-saritar - an extremely unfriendly act for ecology and environment.

Secondly, and this is an ultra physical point : the Sun's rays, which are always parallel, have infinite creative powers, many of which like the X - rays, Ultra-violet and infra red rays, gamma rays, cosmic rays are used for benevolent purposes by medical and other sciences. These rays destroy all infection and microbes, whereas in cremation, the heat generated creates infection and contagion.

The Sun's rays - Khurshed Nagirashni destroys not only the infection emanating from the corpse inside a Dakhma, but also the druj, highly subtle putridity, which is the concomitant of infection. Nay, not only that, it changes the subtle form of druj, converts it to electric particles and sends it upwards to where it belongs.

On the other hand, any other method of burning (besides the Sun), throws up convergent rays, which meet at a point, that is they ae not parallel rays. At this point of convergence, an unseen invisible new form emerges. Thus in cremation the physical body, which is burnt to cinders, takes a new invisible subtle form that remains in the upper strata of the atmosphere, because in nature, nothing is destroyed. It only gets transformed into another form.

In Khurshed Nagirashni, which is a concomitant of Dokhmenashini, because the Sun's rays are parallel, they don't meet or converge at a point. Hence no such lingering invisible form anywhere in space is created.

What is noteworthy is that even when a body is cremated, after the subtle form hangs in the earth's atmosphere for many years as shown above, the basic elements therein are taken to their destination by the Sun's rays only. Thus we have a situation where our cremation enthusiasts, if they want to go to Delhi, instead of flying non stop, they travel from Mumbai to Jaipur by bullock cart and then take a flight to Delhi!

Coming to the teaching and admonitions of the Zoroastrian religion, for three days and three nights, the soul sits near the head of the corpse kept on the stone platform after Sachkar. When the Geh Sarna ceremony is performed, the deceased's last thoughts and desires which have crystallised into a "shell" are shattered to bits. If this "shell" is not smashed, it grows denser and then it becomes well-nigh impossible to destroy it. This happens if the Sachkar and the Geh Sarna ceremonies are not performed. The shell is then taken control of by the hovering spirits, and other dark forces.

One shudders to visualise what would happen to a Zoroastrian soul, the physical body pertaining to which is cremated.

1. Because invariably since there is no Sachkar and Geh Sarna, the thought cum desire shell becomes dense and crusty.

2. After Cremation, the convergent rays of the fire of the electric furnace help establish another subtle "form" in the atmosphere where the basic element of the millions of cells that formed the physical body are trapped.

So there are two ultra - physical forms which keep bothering and dragging the soul towards the earth.

3. A Zoroastrian soul, after death, is supposed to reach Chinvat on the dawn of the 4th day provided the four corner stones (Sachkar, geh Sarna, Dokhmenashini and Sarosh ceremonies) are present. If the body is cremated, besides the two phantasmogoric forms mentioned above that are created, the soul itself is in a state of suspended animation : it is neither on earth nor on the threshold of Chinvat but virtually captured by the forces of Ahriman, midway. The soul then indulges in a most heart rending lamentation, which if a living human were to see and hear he would either go mad or remain in a dazed condition through the rest of his life.

4. The basic elements of the myriad cells of a Zoroastrian are supposed to the entrusted to be Custodian of these elements Dahm Yazad, on and after the 4th day after death. That is why the last ceremony to be performed just after the Chahram ceremonies is the Daham Afringaan. At least the Zoroastrian soul which has had the benefit of all the four requisites, sits at the threshold of Chinvat in meditation, waiting for the baisc elements to arrive. But the soul of a cremated Zoroastrian is hanging in space in suspense, tormented by the wicked forces surrounding it, and hounded by the thought that the two crystallised "forms" belonging to it, will take ages for the trapped basic elements to be released !

(b). It is therefore pointless and wasteful to perform ceremonies for a cremated Zoroastrian, because they just don't reach or help the besieged soul in its hour of need. The ceremonies are helpful only for those Zoroastrian souls who have reached the threshold of Chinvat !

Adi Doctor - Dini Avaz - Vol. 21, No.5

Can Zoroastrians attend funeral ceremonies for those Z corpses being Cremated?

Question : One has a very good friend, who is a Zoroastrian. He is either to be cremated or buried after death. Can one attend such a funeral ceremony ?
Mrs. S.P.M. Mumbai.
Answer : In all such matters, the best guide for all faithful is the Vendidad, wherein burial and cremation are severely castigated. If such a devoted Zoroastrian attends or participates in the funeral ceremony he aids and abets in the wrong act of cremation or burial of a Zoroastrian. The two sins of making a mockery of our rituals and ceremonies and of polluting and defiling the elements will be on the head of such faithful Zoroastrian, who attends the funeral.
What most Parsees completely forget is that in nature, emotions and sentiments are completely discounted. What matters is duty towards one's religion, its tenets and doctrines.

Adi Doctor - Dini Avaz - Vol 26, No.3.