|
|
Imagine a people
living in a primitive settlement with hardly any civil facilities. Then a
person comes and constructs a modern city in the neighboring vacant land.
He invites them to come and settle in the new construction and enjoy a far
better living. He teaches them how to live a comfortable city life. Time
passes on and many are attracted to it. They come and settle in the city.
But some of them do not know how to live a civil life. They bring in their
old belongings, including their cattle. They build shacks around their
houses to make themselves feel still in their old environment and yet
enjoy some of the city facilities. The number of such encroachers
increases with the time to form the majority of the civilians. Then the
City Council or the Municipality rises to restore the city to its original
form. Some persons come up to oppose the restoration and want the city to
continue to maintain its primitive-cum-modern mode. If the City Council
wins, the shacks and shackles are removed and the city is restored to its
original modernity, but if the protestors win, the city continues to be
shaped by the encroachers. This is not an imagination but a fact that is
happening in many cities all over the world.
Our world was quite primitive in its beliefs. Zarathushtra rose, searched,
researched and inspired by the Divine Wisdom, founded "Good Conscience,"
an entirely new progressive way of good life, based on the "Primal
Principles of Existence" that leads to entirety and eternity. The wise
were attracted to its rationality and joined in the Fellowship. It also
attracted others, still lingering with their primitiveness. They brought
in their old beliefs and practices and mixed the two ways of living
together. It changed "Good Conscience" to a point that one simply could
not recognize its original face and form.
A hundred years ago
some wise elders thought of a reformation. The movement gained momentum to
a point that the Zarathushtrian Assembly was established in 1990 to
restore Good Conscience to its pristine purity. It has been done and the
movement is gaining ground. It is spreading into the four corners of the
world. Here is the declaration it made more than 14 years ago:
"The Zarathushtrian Assembly is a non-profit, non-political religious
corporation established in 1990 in Los Angeles, California, the United
States of America. While celebrating Nowruz and Zarathushtra's Birthday on
22 March 1991, it declared its existence. It is independent and is an
authority and a responsible entity for all its activities.
It is first of its
kind. It is unique. Contrary to what happens in reformative movements, the
establishment of the Assembly is not a protestant, sectarian, or
denominational one, and a separatist move to split apart from an existing
body. It has been formed as an outside organization, an
organization which does not identify itself with Zoroastrianism as an
ethnic entity or with any of its associations, institutions, and other
sacerdotal, sanctified, social, financial, charitable, singular, or
federated establishments. It lies outside the closed communal religious
fold of the people generally known as traditionalist or orthodox
Zoroastrians. It does not seek at all any recognition by any
authority/authorities of the traditional Zoroastrian community. In fact,
it is not interested at all in any of the communal activities aimed at
keeping the ethnic identity, maintaining the traditional rituals and
ceremonies, safeguarding the culture, opposing conversion/acceptance,
excommunicating persons of mixed marriages, and inbreeding to increase the
ethnic number. The Assembly operates outside their circle.
Nevertheless, the Zarathushtrian Assembly is a Zarathushtrian
organization, simply because it precisely follows Zarathushtra. It
has, in theory and practice, restored the religion of Good
Conscience to its Gathic purity and Zarathushtrian universality.
It reserves the religious, constitutional, and legal rights to call itself
and its members by the name "Zarathushtrian" and any of its
variants-Zarathushti, Zartoshti, Zoroastrian, Mazdayasni, and Behdin.
The Gathas are the
only guide in life for the members of the Assembly. Other Gathic texts are
of
explanatory importance. Its ceremonies, led by its own officiants, are
based on the Gathic texts. All other parts of the Avesta and Pahlavi have
only their ethical, historical, geographical, and anthropological values
and therefore there is a placid place for them outside the doctrinal
scripture: the Gathic texts.
Membership of the
Zarathushtrian Assembly is open to all those who, of their own individual
accord and after full consideration and conviction, choose the Good
Religion and wish to belong to its World Fellowship. The Zarathushtrian
Assembly belongs to the knowledgeable persons who are sincerely committed
to the good, Gathic religion of the Mâñthran, the
thought-provoker, Righteous Zarathushtra. All are welcomed to participate
in or witness its activities.
The Assembly teaches, preaches and practices the religion of Good
Conscience. It delivers the Divine Message of Zarathushtra to all those
who willingly wish to listen to it. It does not convert people because the
Good Religion is only a religion of personal choice and not quested
conversion. Any person who is a Zarathushtrian, either by free choice or
by birth and upbringing, and has knowledgeably performed his or her
initiation (navjote/sadreh-pooshi), can apply for the membership of
the Zarathushtrian Assembly, and upon the approval of the application
become a member and enjoy all the rights provided by the Constitution and
Bylaws of the Assembly.
The Assembly respects all other religious organizations, Zoroastrian or
otherwise. It recognizes even the institutions, which do not recognize the
Assembly. It extends its hand of friendship to all. It harbors no ill will
to any person or institution. And it hopes that this statement, made from
a position of faith and sovereignty, will dispel all doubts
in minds of the honestly concerned and that they will feel completely free
to pay their full attention and time to their duties of good choice. (Spenta,
the Assembly Bulletin, No.1-2, June-July 1991)".
As we see, there is a
big difference between the restoration of a city and the Doctrine. For the
city, all the encroaching additions are removed. There is a destruction of
the superfluous to save the original construction. In the case of the
Doctrine, the restoration takes place outside its encroached and changed
form. It reconstructs itself as a separate and independent body. It is the
result, which changes the situation. Those in the encroached form of the
Doctrine see for themselves and realize the condition they have been
living for so long. They abandon their old ways and move to the pristinely
"restored" Doctrine. That means the ultimate desertion of the
institutionalized creed.
The literate youth form the majority of those who choose to go over to the
pure and pristine Doctrine. And it is this youth who, still active within
their institutionalized organizations, invite certain Assembly members to
give talks and enlighten community members on the basics of the restored
Doctrine and if asked, provide them with the proven information on the
additions made to surround it. Otherwise as said, the Assembly has its own
place of religious gathering in every city in which it has its branch or
associated organization. Assembly members never attend any
gathering of the institutionalized Zoroastrians without a prior formal
invitation.
This is what really shakes those who see their authority being lost. The
entire uproar raised by them has only this as THE reason and motive. And
they know well that they cannot convince their religious fellows of the
advantages and benefits of living within their "doctrinal houses
surrounded by institutionalized beliefs." Those guardians of this
institutionalized Zoroastrianism have no MESSAGE to expound and
prove the superiority of their creed. Therefore, they do not engage in any
cool and calm dialogue and discussion that could at least come to a
conclusion the two "agree to disagree" and let each other live in peace.
All one hears is the uproar of insult, name-calling, ridicule, rumor and
even foul language. How long this state of affairs is going to last, one
may wait and see the ultimate result. However, one may also look forward
for the sound sanity that would usher in peace, prosperity and happiness -
through USHTA, radiant enlightenment.
The Restoration of Good Conscience to its pristine purity has
proved beyond doubt that the RATIONAL Divine Doctrine of
Zarathushtra Spitama was MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY or
Spiritually and materially practical and inspiring in the past, it is more
practical and inspiring in the present times and it shall be far more
practical and inspiring in the future. It is "MÂNTHRA SPENTA,
Thought-provoking Progressive." It is very progressively CONSTRUCTIVE
and never destructive. And it is attractive!
[i]
This article was posted on CreatingAwareness on Oct. 31, 2004
|
