Zaratustra
Este cargo de la jerarquía lo ocupa actualmente alguien que estuvo encarnado como el fundador del zoroastrismo en la antigua Persia. Es el iniciado del fuego sagrado más alto en el planeta y la autoridad que gobierna las energías del fóhat. Está por encima de los sacerdotes del fuego sagrado y del sacerdocio de Melquisedec.
Todos los miembros de la Gran Hermandad Blanca prestan servicio en la Orden de Melquisedec igual que sirven al fuego sagrado, pero sólo los que alcanzan cierto nivel iniciático pueden ser llamados Sacerdotes de la Orden de Melquisedec. Otros miembros contribuyen a los propósitos de la Orden pero no tienen el título de sacerdotes. Zaratustra tiene muchos discípulos que sirven debajo de él y cuando el más avanzado de ellos alcance cierto logro, estará cualificado para el cargo y el instructor avanzará hacia un servicio cósmico.
The historical record
El zoroastrismo es una de las religiones del mundo más antiguas. Zaratustra, su fundador, fue un profeta que hablaba con su Dios cara a cara. Zaratustra vivió en una sociedad analfabeta, cuyo pueblo no dejó nada escrito. Sus enseñanzas fueron transmitidas por tradición oral y mucho de lo que se escribió más tarde sobre su vida y sus enseñanzas se ha perdido o destruido. Aquello que los eruditos han podido reunir sobre él proviene de tres fuentes: el estudio del entorno histórico anterior y contemporáneo a la época en que se cree que vivió Zaratustra, la tradición y los diecisiete cantos sagrados «Gathas». Los eruditos están de acuerdo en que Zaratustra compuso estos cantos. Los Gathas están contenidos en el Avesta, las escrituras sagradas del zoroastrismo.
Se cree que Zaratustra nació en lo que hoy es el este de Irán central, pero no es seguro. La fecha de nacimiento de Zaratustra es aún más difícil de establecer. Los eruditos la sitúan entre 1700 a.C. y 600 a.C. El consenso es que vivió alrededor de 1000 a.C. o antes. Los Gathas dicen que Zaratustra era de la familia Spitama, una familia de caballeros. El nombre griego equivalente a Zaratustra es Zoroastro, que significa «estrella dorada » o «luz dorada». Fue alguien perteneciente a la clase sacerdotal que formuló mantras.
La tradición sostiene que a la edad de veinte años Zaratustra dejó a su padre, su madre y su esposa para ir en busca de la Verdad. Diez años más tarde tuvo la primera de muchas visiones. «Vio en la orilla a un Ser radiante, que se reveló como Vohu Manah, «buen propósito»; y este Ser llevó a Zoroastro ante la presencia de Ahura Mazda y otras cinco figuras radiantes, ante las cuales “no veía su propia sombra en la tierra, debido a la gran luz que tenían”»Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content.
Ahura Mazda significa «Señor sabio». Zaratustra reconoció a Ahura Mazda como el único Dios verdadero, el Creador del universo. Poco después de su primera visión, Zaratustra se convirtió en el portavoz de Ahura Mazda y comenzó a proclamar su mensaje. Instituyó una reforma religiosa de largo alcance. Su principal objetivo era extirpar el mal, y predicó contra los «daevas» (demonios) de la antigua religión.
Al principio Zaratustra tuvo poco éxito en la diseminación de su mensaje. Fue perseguido por los sacerdotes y seguidores de los daevas y, según la tradición, intentaron matarlo varias veces. Pasaron diez años antes de que Zaratustra obtuviera su primer converso, su primo. Entonces fue guiado divinamente a la corte del rey Vishtaspa y la reina Hutaosa.
Vishtaspa era un monarca honesto y sencillo, pero estaba rodeado por los «karpan», un grupo de sacerdotes egoístas y manipuladores. Convocaron un consejo para desafiar las revelaciones del nuevo profeta y conspiraron exitosamente para que lo metieran en la cárcel. Como cuenta la historia, Zaratustra consiguió su libertad al curar milagrosamente el caballo negro favorito del rey. Vishtaspa le dio permiso para que enseñara la nueva fe a su consorte, la reina Hutaosa. La bella Hutaosa se convirtió en uno de sus mayores partidarios y le ayudó a convertir a Vishtaspa.
After two long years, the monarch was finally converted. But Vishtaspa required one final sign before he would totally embrace the faith. He asked to be shown what role he would play in the heaven-world. In response, Ahura Mazda sent three archangels to the court of Vishtaspa and Hutaosa. They appeared as effulgent knights in full armour, riding on horseback. According to one text, they arrived in such glory that “their radiance in that lofty residence seemed ... a heaven of complete light, owing to their great power and triumph;... when he thus looked upon [them], the exalted king Vishtaspa trembled, all his courtiers trembled, all his chieftains were confused.”[1]
Radiating a blinding light and the sound of thunder, they announced that they had come on behalf of Ahura Mazda in order that the king might receive the fullness of the message of Zarathustra. They promised Vishtaspa a life span of 150 years and that he and Hutaosa would have an immortal son. The archangels warned, however, that if Vishtaspa should decide not to take up the religion, his end would not be far away. The king embraced the faith, and the entire court followed suit. The scriptures record that the archangels then took up their abode with Vishtaspa.
Messenger of Sanat Kumara
In a dictation given January 1, 1981, the ascended master Zarathustra spoke of King Vishtaspa and Queen Hutaosa:
I AM come to deliver the sacred fire of the Sun behind the sun to raise you up and to establish in you the original teaching of Ahura Mazda, Sanat Kumara, delivered long ago in the land of ancient Persia unto me and unto the king and queen who received the conversion of archangels and of the sacred fire and of holy angels by the descent of light. Thus, by their lifestreams’ acceptance of my prophecy, there came to pass the multiplication of the bread of life from the heart of Sanat Kumara, whose messenger I was, whose messenger I remain....
The teaching of the hosts of the LORD and the coming of the great avatar of light, the teaching of betrayal and the consequent warfare of his hosts against the evil ones, was understood and propagated. The law of karma, the law of reincarnation, and even the vision of the last days when evil and the Evil One would be vanquished—all of this went forth by the conversion of the king and the queen and the reaching out of the faith to all of the subjects of the land. Thus, the tests were given by the archangels through my office unto these two chosen ones. Thereby passing the tests, they became blessed as secondary emissaries of Sanat Kumara. And therefore, I the prophet and they holding the balance in the earth manifested a trinity of light and the figure-eight flow.
Realize the necessary ingredients for the propagation of the faith throughout the earth. The archangels send their messenger with a gift of prophecy that is the Word of Sanat Kumara to every culture and in every age. Thus, the prophet comes forth with the vision, with the anointing and with the sacred fire. But unless the prophet find the fertile field of hearts aflame and receptive, the authority of the Word does not pass unto the people.[2]
Legacy
According to tradition, when Zarathustra was seventy-seven, he was assassinated by a priest of the old Iranian religion. Some accounts say that he perished by lightning, or a flame from heaven. Much of what happened after Zarathustra’s death is shrouded in mystery. Scholars say that his successors reintroduced back into the system the old gods that he had dethroned.
By the time the Medes came to power in the seventh century B.C., Zoroastrianism was a major force in Persia. When Alexander the Great conquered Persia in 331 B.C., he killed the priests and burned down the royal palace, destroying whatever may have been recorded of Zoroastrian tradition.
About A.D. 225, Zoroastrianism reemerged in Persia and was the state religion until around 651, when the Muslims conquered Persia. Although Zoroastrianism was officially tolerated, the Arab conquerors encouraged conversion to Islam through societal pressures, economic incentives or force. Many Zoroastrians converted or went into exile. Loyal Zoroastrians who remained in Persia were taxed for the privilege of practicing their faith. In later centuries, persecution of Zoroastrians escalated. As of 1976, there were only 129,000 Zoroastrians in the world. However, much of what Zarathustra taught lives on in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
His service as an ascended master
Today Zarathustra is an ascended master whose consciousness bears as an auric emanation of fire that is an all-consuming love, a piercing light that goes to the core of whatever is unreal. We call him a Buddha because he has the attainment of the expansion of the threefold flame and of the Christ mind at the level of initiation that we call the buddhic level.
Being in the presence of Zarathustra is like being in the presence of the physical sun itself. The mastery he has of spiritual fire and physical fire is, if not the highest, among the highest of any adept ascended from this planet. If you want to keep the flame of Zarathustra, visualize him keeping the flame, the divine spark, in your own heart. He is the greatest ‘fire-tender’ of them all, if you will. And when you call to him, remember that when you are engaged in the battle of Light and Darkness and you give your call for the binding of the forces of Antichrist, there is no greater devourer of the dark forces than Zarathustra himself. He is an ascended master with buddhic attainment whose auric emanation is one of an all-consuming love.
Retreat
► Main article: Zarathustra's retreat
Zarathustra’s retreat is patterned after the secret chamber of the heart, which is the place where the threefold flame burns on the altar of being. Your high priest, who is your Holy Christ Self, retires to that secret chamber to keep that flame. He and other ascended masters can and do visit you there and tutor your soul. Zarathustra has said that we may be welcomed in his retreat when you have the necessary development of the heart. He has not revealed its location.
Sources
Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, The Masters and Their Retreats, s.v. “Zarathustra.”