Zarathustra: Difference between revisions

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Zoroastrianism is the one of the oldest of the world’s religions. Zarathustra, its founder, was a prophet who spoke to his God face-to-face. Zarathustra lived in a nonliterate society, whose people did not keep records. His teachings were passed down by oral tradition, and much of what was later written down about his life and teachings has been lost or destroyed. What scholars have been able to piece together about him comes from three sources: the study of the historical milieu prior to and during the time Zarathustra is believed to have lived, tradition, and seventeen sacred hymns called Gathas. Scholars concur that Zarathustra composed these hymns. The Gathas are recorded in the Avesta, the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism.

Zoroastrianism is the one of the oldest of the world’s religions. Zarathustra, its founder, was a prophet who spoke to his God face-to-face.

Mary Boyce, Emeritus Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of London, points out:

<blockquote>Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed world-religions, and it has probably had more influence on mankind, directly and indirectly, than any other single faith.<ref>Mary Boyce, ''Zoroastrians, Their Religious Beliefs and Practices'' (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), p. 1.</ref></blockquote>

According to R. C. Zaehner, former Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford University, Zarathustra was

<blockquote>... one of the greatest religious geniuses of all time.... [He] was a prophet, or at least conceived himself to be such; he spoke to his God face to face.... [Yet] about the Prophet himself we know almost nothing that is authentic.<ref>R. C. Zaehner, “Zoroastrianism,” in ''The Concise Encyclopaedia of Living Faiths'', ed. R. C. Zaehner (1959; reprint, Boston: Beacon Press, 1967), pp. 222, 209.</ref></blockquote>

Zarathustra lived in a nonliterate society, whose people did not keep records. His teachings were passed down by oral tradition, and much of what was later written down about his life and teachings has been lost or destroyed. What scholars have been able to piece together about him comes from three sources: the study of the historical milieu prior to and during the time Zarathustra is believed to have lived, tradition, and seventeen sacred hymns called Gathas. Scholars concur that Zarathustra composed these hymns. The Gathas are recorded in the Avesta, the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism.

It is believed that Zarathustra was born in what is now east central Iran, but that is not certain. Zarathustra’s date of birth is even more difficult to establish. Scholars place it sometime between 1700 B.C. and 600 B.C. The consensus is that he lived around 1000 B.C. or earlier. The Gathas say that Zarathustra was of the Spitama family, a family of knights. The Greek name for Zarathustra is Zoroaster, meaning “Golden Star,” or “Golden Light.” He was one of the priest class who formulated mantras.

It is believed that Zarathustra was born in what is now east central Iran, but that is not certain. Zarathustra’s date of birth is even more difficult to establish. Scholars place it sometime between 1700 B.C. and 600 B.C. The consensus is that he lived around 1000 B.C. or earlier.

The Gathas are the key to determining Zarathustra's approximate year of birth. They are linguistically similar to the Rigveda, one of the sacred texts of the Hindus. According to Boyce:

<blockquote>The language of the Gathas is archaic, and close to that of the Rigveda (whose composition has been assigned to about 1700 B.C. onwards); and the picture of the world to be gained from [the Gathas] is correspondingly ancient, that of a Stone Age society.... It is only possible therefore to hazard a reasoned conjecture that [Zarathustra] lived some time between 1700 and 1500 B.C.<ref>Boyce, ''Zoroastrians'', p. 18.</ref></blockquote>

Other scholars working with the same evidence place his birth between 1400 and 1200 B.C.

The Gathas say that Zarathustra was of the Spitama family, a family of knights. The Greek name for Zarathustra is Zoroaster, meaning “Golden Star,” or “Golden Light.” He was one of the priest class who formulated mantras.

Zarathustra was also an initiate. According to Boyce, “He ... describes himself [in the Gathas] as a ‘vaedemna’ or ‘one who knows,’ an initiate possessed of divinely inspired wisdom.”<ref>Boyce, ''Zoroastrians'', p. 19.</ref> But first and foremost, Zarathustra was a prophet, and ''he is'' a prophet and he lives today among us as an ascended master.

The Gathas depict him as talking to God. They say:

<blockquote>He is “the Prophet who raises his voice in veneration, the friend of Truth,” God’s friend, a “true enemy to the followers of the Lie and a powerful support to the followers of the Truth.”<ref>Gathas: Yasnas 50.6, 46.2, 43.8, quoted in Zaehner, “Zoroastrianism,” p. 210.</ref></blockquote>

== Calling as a prophet ==

Tradition holds that at the age of twenty, Zarathustra left his father, mother and wife to wander in search of Truth. Ten years later he had the first of many visions. ~~“He~~ saw on the bank a shining Being, who revealed himself as Vohu Manah ‘Good ~~Purpose’~~; and this Being led Zoroaster into the presence of Ahura Mazda and five other radiant figures, before whom ‘he did not see his own shadow upon the earth, owing to their great light’.”<ref>~~Mary~~ Boyce, ''Zoroastrians~~, Their Religious Beliefs and Practices~~'' ~~(London: Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1979)~~, p. 19.</ref>

Tradition holds that at the age of twenty, Zarathustra left his father, mother and wife to wander in search of Truth. Ten years later he had the first of many visions.

Boyce writes:

<blockquote>According to tradition Zoroaster was thirty, the time of ripe wisdom, when revelation finally came to him. This great happening is alluded to in one of the Gathas and is tersely described in a Pahlavi [Middle Persian] work. Here it is said that Zoroaster, being at a gathering [called] to celebrate a spring festival, went at dawn to a river to fetch water.</blockquote>

<blockquote>He waded in to draw [the water] from midstream; and when he returned to the bank ... he had a vision. He saw on the bank a shining Being, who revealed himself as Vohu Manah ‘Good [Mind]’; and this Being led Zoroaster into the presence of Ahura Mazda and five other radiant figures, before whom ‘he did not see his own shadow upon the earth, owing to their great light’. And it was then, from this great heptad [or group of seven beings], that he received his revelation.”<ref>Boyce, ''Zoroastrians'', p. 19.</ref></blockquote>

We can conjecture that the seven beings of this great heptad were none other than the [[Seven Holy Kumaras]].

Ahura Mazda means “Wise Lord.” Zarathustra recognized Ahura Mazda as the one true God, the Creator of the universe. Shortly after his first vision, Zarathustra became a spokesman for Ahura Mazda and began to proclaim his message. He instituted a religious reform that was far-reaching. His main objective was to stamp out evil, and he preached against the daevas (demons) of the old religion.

Ahura Mazda means “Wise Lord.” Zarathustra recognized Ahura Mazda as the one true God, the Creator of the universe.

The significance of this cannot be overstated. Zarathustra may have been the first monotheist in recorded history. Zaehner points out, “The great achievement of the Iranian Prophet [was] that he eliminated all the ancient gods of the Iranian pantheon, leaving only Ahura Mazdah, the ‘Wise Lord’, as the One True God.”<ref>Zaehner, “Zoroastrianism,” p. 210.</ref>

Some scholars assert that Zarathustra was not a strict monotheist but a henotheist, that is, one who worships one God but does not deny the existence of others. This is a technical distinction. As David Bradley, author of ''A Guide to the World’s Religions'', notes, “[Zarathustra] was a practicing monotheist in the same way that Moses was.”<ref>David G. Bradley, ''A Guide to the World’s Religions'' (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963), p. 40.</ref> Bradley thinks that Moses knew of the existence of lesser gods but insisted on the necessity of siding with the true God against all other gods.<ref>Ibid.</ref>

Shortly after his first vision, Zarathustra became a spokesman for Ahura Mazda and began to proclaim his message. He instituted a religious reform that was far-reaching. His main objective was to stamp out evil, and he preached against the daevas (demons) of the old religion.