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i never knew about this till today...really interesting

The sacred writings of Zoroaster that formed the basis of the religion that prevailed in Persia from the 6th century BC to the 7th century AD. Avesta means the lore, or sacred writings, and Zend, the commentary. Hence the application of Zend to the ancient Iranian language in which the Zend-Avesta is written

Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism are world religions but Zoroastrianism is just a national religion now though it was a world religion in days of yore. It is the religion of the Parsees. The correct name for the religion established by Zoroaster is Mazdayasnism which means the worship of Mazda or the Lord.

Mazdayasnism was first revealed by Homa to King Jamshid. Afterwards it was revealed to King Fiedoon. Then it was revealed to Thirta. Lastly it was revealed to Zoroaster.

After the death of Zoroaster his son in-law Jamaspa became his successor. Jamaspa wrote down the teachings of Zoroaster which are known as Zend Avesta, the scriptures of the Zoroastrians. Frashaoshtra, father-in-law of Zoroaster, was the first apostle of this faith. He expounded the tenets of this religion. Zoroastrianism became the state religion of Persia.

After the time of Zoroaster, Zoroastrianism underwent many changes at the hands of the priests who were called Magi. The priests re-introduced ritualism and the worship of the old nature-deities in a new garb by making them archangels of Ahura Mazda.

Persia is now a Mohammedan country. A few Zoroastrians are found there. They were persecuted and driven out of Persia. They took refuge in India. They are called the Parsees. They have become a self-contained community in India.

Zoroaster was not a philosopher or a metaphysician. He was only a Prophet who had the divine revelation.

Zoroastrianism is not a system of philosophy. It is a revealed religion of faith and devotion. During the days of Zoroaster there was an urgent need for ethics and virtuous life. The need for philosophy did not arise. At all times the need to lead a virtuous, divine life is far more imperative for the vast majority than the need to understand the various philosophical problems. If one leads the divine life according to the instructions of sages and scriptures, he will find a solution for all the philosophical problems from within through the voice of the Indweller.

Originally there was a common religion among the Aryans in Central Asia. There is similarity between the Vedic and Zend languages. Even the versification of the Zend Avesta is closely related to that of the Vedas. There is identity of divine names in the Zend Avesta and the Vedas.

The principal truths taught by Zoroaster were based on and derived from the Vedas. Zoroastrianism is based on the Vedic religion. The doctrines and ceremonials of the Zoroastrians have a mostly remarkable similarity to those of the Vedas.

The Yasna and the Visparad are the Vedas of Zoroastrianism. The first part of Yasna consists of Gathas or hymns which came from the mouth of the prophet. The Gathas are five in number. The Gathas are written in metres which correspond to the metres of the Sama Veda. The second part of Yasna contains prayers addressed to the Supreme Lord and other deities who form the spiritual hierarchy.

Visparad is a collection of invocations or litanies which are recited before other prayers and scriptures. The twenty-one Nasks deal with all kinds of Sciences, viz., medicine, astronomy, agriculture, botany, etc. They correspond to the Vedangas of Hinduism. Then there is the Khordah Avesta or little Avesta which contains Yashts (invocations) and prayers for the use of lay persons. The modern Parsees recite these prayers daily.

Zoroastrian scriptures are called Zend Avesta. They contain three parts. The first is Vendidad. This contains religious laws and ancient mythical tales. The second is Visparad. The third is Yasna. The Avesta contains direct conversations between Zoroaster and Ahura Mazda, the Supreme Lord.

FIRE, The Symbol Of God

People believe that the religion of Zoroaster was fire-worship. This is a mistake. "Do not say that the Iranians were fire-worshippers. They were worshippers of one God." These are the utterances of the great Firdusi. Fire is a sacred and supreme symbol of God. It is a sacred symbol in the Avesta. Fire is considered as the son of Ahura Mazda. The prophet of Iran did not teach fire-worship. He taught the worship of the one Supreme Lord of the universe, Ahura Mazda. Fire is the symbol of divine in all sacrifices. It is a sacred object. It is the symbol of divine life. It is the sacred symbol most reverenced by the Zoroastrians of today.

In every religion, fire has been the symbol of the Supreme Lord. Brahman is fire in Hinduism. Ahura Mazda is fire. The Jews worship their God as a pillar of fire. The Christians declare that their God is a consuming fire. Fire symbolised the brilliance of the Lord. It is purifying. Fire stands for effulgence, illumination. The worship of Agni or Fire comes in the Vedas also. In the Bible it is said, "God is light." Upanishads declare "Brahman is Jyotirmaya (full of light)." In every religion fire finds a place in rituals. Fire brings the message that God is Light of lights. Zoroaster himself held Fire in great sanctity as a noble gift from God. He summoned Fire from the sky and pointed it to heaven. The Heavens burst into fire. Some of the flames darted downwards and fired the altar at his side. Sacred fire in the altar of a temple is a symbol that reminds the Parsee of the glory of Ahura Mazda. It is called Atar in the Avesta.

Fire is declared to be the most helpful of all the spiritual intelligences or archangels. He is the most friendly. He comes down from Ahura Mazda. He is acquainted with all heavenly secrets.

The Jews received for the first time the ideas of heaven and hell, of angels and archangels of Messiah, of the resurrection and the last day of judgment from Zoroastrianism. These have laid the foundation to the doctrines of Christianity and Islam also.


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if u have time read this^ its really interesting.

...no one has replyed yet

Its cos no one cant be bothered reading, I'll have a read and tell you what i think.

its ok. i know it a bit too much. but i thought most people here would like it

i found it interesting

Interesting stuff.



I am a firm believer that the stories of the Christian Bible were stolen, and the existence of Zoroastrianism obviously proves a point.

i dont think it proves a point to a 100%. but worshipping fire does make sense...since without it we wouldn't survive.

True. But the worship of Fire doesn't make fire. Human ingenuity bought fire into existence, not the belief of it. Fire was "created" millions of years ago by Cavemen before religion became an understood concept. Not to say cavemen didn't believe in something. Forgive the basic concept of my meaning.

thats true^ but was the creation of fire an accident?...what do u think?

that'd be me..as a teacher I read enough 9 months of the year!

Are you suggesting that the discovery of fire was pre-destinied?

no i did not state that. i just asked you if u thought fire was created as an accident.

If one does not know that something exists. . . Yes, it has to have been discovered by accident.

anything is possible.

It's not like fire doesn't occur naturally. They could hav just as easily seen it occuring in nature somewhere, and either brought it back to their camp, or purposely tried to recreate it... Most people don't sit around rubbing dry sticks together for hours on end for no reason

True. A bolt of lightning could've struck down and fire erupted from the impact.

or maybe a caveman was sitting down, hitting two stones together...and he feels the heat from friction...so he likes the warmth feeling so he keeps hitting the two stones until it creates fire.

anything is possible.

or maybe

there was a war between cavemen and aliens...aliens were using all these lasers from there ships to attack but the cavemen used stones to destroy the alien spaceships...as the spaceships crashed...they created fire!

Now you're just being rediculous.

i was waiting for Omega to respond to this thread.

Fire is the symbol of divine in all sacrifices

what did they sacrifice^...

do u guyz think people still follow these beliefs?

cmon...somone else has to respond to this thread

very old thread (r.i.p.)

time to revive it

Mazdeism is an interesting religion. It shares many elements with other religions. This is probably because it descended from the Aryan religion which was a religion of an ancient people(the Aryans) that have originated and influenced many other cilivizations.

The aryan religion originated or served as a starting point to almost every religion, buddhism, hinduism, egyptian, greek, babylonian/sumerian and consequently all religions that descended from these, that means judaism, islamism and christianism. This explains why there is many elements from Zoroastrim found in other religions.

Originally posted by Atlantis001
Mazdeism is an interesting religion. It shares many elements with other religions. This is probably because it descended from the Aryan religion which was a religion of an ancient people(the Aryans) that have originated and influenced many other cilivizations.

The aryan religion originated or served as a starting point to almost every religion, buddhism, hinduism, egyptian, greek, babylonian/sumerian and consequently all religions that descended from these, that means judaism, islamism and christianism. This explains why there is many elements from Zoroastrim found in other religions. yup

thanks for the input.

wow that was so fascinating!












..... still havent finished readin it

Originally posted by ~Forever*Alone~
wow that was so fascinating!












..... still havent finished readin it take ur time