Philosophy and Ethics of the Zoroasters Vol 7, No 10 Philosophy and Ethics of the Zoroasters

Theosophical Siftings Philosophy and Ethics of the Zoroasters Vol 7, No 10 Philosophy and Ethics of the Zoroasters by Alexander Wilder Reprinted from the Journal of the American Akadêmê, November 1885 Reprinted from "Theosophical Siftings" Volume 7 The Theosophical Publishing Society, England "God is the ground of all existence, and theology is the highest Philosophy". — Aristotle [Page 3] SIR WILLIAM JONES, in his sixth anniversary discourse as President of the Asiatic Society in Bengâl, February 19th, 1789, making the Ancient Persians his theme, and citing the Dabistan for his authority, describes the primeval religion of Erân as identical with what Sir Isaac Newton declared to be the oldest of all religions: " A firm belief that one Supreme God made the world by his power and continually governed it by his providence; a pious fear, love, and adoration of him; a due reverence for parents and aged persons; a fraternal affection for the whole human species, and a compassionate tenderness even for the brute creation". A faith so simple and pure is profound and ethical enough for the most exacting moralist, as well as the most philosophic schoolman. It leaves little more to be said by way of explanation or supplement. There is a saying that the learned have the same religion, but never tell what it is. We may feel very certain, however, that this brief formula affords us the solution. Yet we have no occasion to suppose that any unworthy motive inspires their silence, or even undue carefulness to refrain from bestowing treasures upon those who know not the value. Rather is it the reason of Timaios, the Lokrian, as given by Plato: "To discover the Creator and Father of this universe, as well as his work, is arduous; and having discovered him it is impossible to reveal him to the many". The apocalypse may be made only to those who understand with the heart, as well as perceive with the other senses. Other writers have tried to show us that a simple faith, like this described by Mohsan Fani, was characteristic of the Aryan tribes of Upper Asia. Michelet would make us believe that there were no castes, no mages, no kings, among the archaic Persians; the father of each household was mage and king to all belonging to it; the fire on the family altar-hearth received their homage as being the symbol of the life-imparting spirit; the domestic animal was beloved and magnanimously treated according to its rank; the man revered himself as necessary to the universal existence. [Page 4] When their theology was first devised goodness was the cardinal principle. The Wise One, leader of the heavenly host, carries on the conflict of ages against the Dark Intelligence, not to hurt but to save his adversary. The battles are all without bloodshed or cruel violence. Every act that beautified the earth, that extended the field of usefulness, that wrought the suppression of hatred and the predominance of goodness, was a conquest. Page 1 Theosophical Siftings Philosophy and Ethics of the Zoroasters Vol 7, No 10 "Let every one this day, both man and woman, choose his faith", cries the great Zoroaster, standing before the altar. "In the beginning there were two — the Good and the Base in thought, word and deed. Choose one of these two; be good, not base. You cannot belong to both. You must choose the originator of the worst actions, or the true holy Spirit. Some may choose the worst allotment; others adore the Most High by means of faithful action". "The clear moral note, prominent through the whole cycle of Zoroastrian religion", says Miss Frances Power Cobbe, "has here been struck. The 'choice of Scipio' was offered to the old Erânians by their prophet three thousand years ago, even as it is offered to us today. 'Choose one of the two spirits. Be good, not base' ". A religion like this is personal and not public, a subjective living rather than an instituted mode of worship. No wonder that this noble faith, so ancient that we only guess its antiquity, maintained its life through all the centuries, passing the barriers of race and creed, to permeate all the later world-religions. We find its features in them all, its name and utterances translated into their numerous dialects, yet possessing the essential flavour of this primitive origin. It was in the nature of things that it should meet with adversaries. This has been the history of every world-religion. The various neighbours of the early Erânians were incessantly making hostile incursions. The tillage of the earth, which was a cardinal merit in their belief, was a constant invitation for attack. We find allusions to these conflicts all through the earlier Zoroastrian scriptures. The Erânians were first brought into collision with the freebooting nomadic tribes of their own Aryan stock; and then with the Skythic and Mongol hordes, the Jins and Turanians from beyond the Oxus. Besides these came other and more dreadful foes, the Semitic conquerors from the West. Their impure rites and atrocious cruelties are still commemorated in the legend of Zohak, the Serpent-King, who required a daily sacrifice of children for his repasts. The afflicted people of Erân languished for centuries under the yoke of the detested foreigners. Then, according to the legends, there arose Thraêtaono or Feridun, a youth nurtured in the ancient faith, who called an army together and expelled the oppressors. Doubtless, however, [Page 5] this is an old mythic parable; for the Persians themselves for centuries commemorated the achievements of Gah, the blacksmith, as their emancipator, and made his apron their banner. This much is historically true: There was an uprising through Ayraland, and the chieftains of Persia became men of war. "I march over the countries", says the sacred hymn, "triumphing over the hateful and striking down the cruel". Everywhere the temples of the Serpent-worship were destroyed, and idolatrous rites were prohibited. The Assyrians had cast the idols of other countries into the fire in the name of Asshur; the Persians melted the statues of the gods in the name of Ahura. In the wars with Greece the religion of Mazda contended for mastery over the worships of Apollo, the Assyrian Dionysos, and Dêmêter, but was arrested in its progress by the defeat at Salamis. It had, however, been more fully victorious nearer home. It displaced Bel and Assur from the Pantheon, and led the Hebrews to set aside the Hittite divinities Seth and Astartê for the purer faith of the God of Heaven. This name and its parallel, the God of Truth, are renderings of the titles of the Persian divinity. But more notable was their adoption of the designation Yâva, the occult name of Raman, the Assyrian Genius of Intellect. The completeness of the revolution among them is indicated by an unknown Hebrew prophet: Page 2 Theosophical Siftings Philosophy and Ethics of the Zoroasters Vol 7, No 10 "Is there a God beside me ? Yea, there is none ! A Rock I have not known, Framers of graven images are all of them emptiness. * * . I am Jehovah [Yava] doing all things, Stretching out the heavens by myself, Spreading out the earth — * * Who saith of Cyrus: ' My Shepherd, And all my delight he doth perform.' * * I am Jehovah [Yava], and there is none else, Forming light and producing Darkness, Making Peace and producing Evil: I am Jehovah [Yava] doing all these things.' " We need only to change the reading to the Persian designation of the Supreme Being, and this would be a very exact outlining of the original Zoroastrian doctrine. Every hymn chanted in the Parsi worship and every prayer is an acknowledgment of the Divine goodness and justice personified in Ahura Mazda. It has been remarked that the whole religion of the Avesta revolved around the person of Zoroaster. The Supreme One speaks only to him out of the midst of the fire, and commands him to teach the pure doctrine to the Erânian people. We find in this a memorable revelation like that of [Page 6] Moses. The Sacred Law of Ahura Mazda inculcated the obligation to truth in speech and action, the superior merit of industry, and goodness transcending all. Words so divine could not be ascribed to a man speaking from his own understanding. The Erânian sage is therefore always represented as uttering only oracles given to him by the Divine Being, and the collection, of which we now possess but fragmentary remains, is named the Avesta, or Revealed Wisdom. It can hardly be proper to ascribe the origin of the Mazdean worship and philosophy to any single individual. History has seldom preserved the memorials of the beginning of a religious faith. Great thoughts are afloat in the spiritual atmosphere, and so are apprehended by all who are in the suitable condition of mind. Religions are generally, more or less, outgrowths from older faiths, differentiated by the genius of the peoples and individuals by whom they are embraced. This is illustrated in the example afforded within our own historic period. The faith established by Mohammed had been already taught by the Hanyfs, and he at first only declared himself to be of their number. He was of an hysteric constitution, and the subject of powerful spiritual impressions. The religion of Islam of which he became the expositor was founded on the dogma that God is one, and that good works constituted the purest worship. A great apostasy took place after his death, which was suppressed by violent measures, but the men who had been his adversaries became the dominant party.

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