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From: Bahman Noruziaan
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Date: 23 Apr 2000
Time: 17:29:10
Another beauty among the beauties of the Zarathushtian Religion is the idea of the holiness or sacredness of the universe and all there is in it.
For a Zartoshti everything created in the world is sacred, in the sense that it has been created for a sacred purpose and to play a defined role in the course of creation. Everything should be used to its fullest capacity with a good intention. Nothing should be left useless or being abused.
The Sun, the Moon the stars the air, the earth, waters, trees, animals, humans and everything is holy and has sparks of divinity in it.
To bring this sense of holiness and sacredness of the creation of Mazda to one's daily life, the Zarathushtian Religion has introduced several spiritual beings, namely the Faravashis, the Yazatas and the Ameshaspendas, all created by the Good Wise God , Ahura Mazda, These beings make the bridge between the divinity and the material world.
Everything in the universe from the time of coming into existence to the time its existence is ended, is given a sparkle of the the divinity, which will keep it on the right track in the course of its existence. The right track being the track of Asha or the law ruling over the universe. This sparkle of divinity is called a Fravashi in the Zarathushtian Religion. Take away the Fravashi from a thing, it will not function as it should. Earth rotates around its axis as well as the sun obeying the Fravashi which takes care of it.
So, Mainoo and Gaiti ( being the spiritual world and the material one ) are one in that sense. Humans all have their own Fravashis, no matter of their religion, race or sex. And we the Zartoshtis praise the Fravashis of all good people of the world wherever and whenever the have lived.
On the other level, all beings have a Minoo, meaning they have a spiritual part. The Sun has its own Minoo, and in Khorsid Neyayesh ( the payer of praise to the Sun ) we praise the Minoo of the Sun, (Mas-o Vah-o Piroozgar bAd Meynooy-e Khorshid-e amarg-e rAyoonmand-e Khoremand) On the ther hand, the Sun is protected by a spiritual entity called a Yazat or Izad ( worthy of praise ) who is called Khir or Khorshid Izad. The waters have their own protector the AbAn Izad or Ardevisoor Anahita. This sense of sacredness has been flowing in the customs, rituals and beliefs of Zartoshtis fro thousands of years. Polluting or misusing any of the Good creations of Ahura Mazda is a sin in the Zarathushtian Religion. Letting the metals to get rusted and loose their functionality is not a proper act. Killing a chicken which is in its time of laying eggs is not proper, taking a fruit from a tree before its is completely done is not proper, abusing a horse or a donkey by overloading it and not feeding it is a sin in this religion. All because everything alive or non ( although I can extend the definition of life now, since everything is functioning as is; and has its own Fravashi and is alive in one sense) is here to serve a purpose and misusing or not using it is not admittable in the Zarathushtian Religion. That is why the Zartoshtis have always and will always try to use all the Good Creations of Mazda to its fullest extent, including their bodies by marring and bringing healthy and good children to this world, and celibacy is not a proper way of life in the Zarathushtian religion.
On a higher level there are six of the most important of these spiritual beings introduced in the Zarathushtian religion called the Ameshaspentas, they are also creations of Mazda and protect the six creations of him in the material world, namely the animals, the fire, the minerals, the earth, the waters and the plants. They like the yazatas also are the guardians of a spiritual faculty of the humanity, i,e the Good Mind, the Truthfulness and so on.
This oneness of the material world and the spiritual world is another cornerstones of the Zarathushtian Religion.
Those who have not studied the Good Religion or have but have not learnt it consider this as believing in many Gods. They can not understand that for a Zartoshti reciting in front of fire to Ahura Mazda and at the same time praising the fire as a Good Creation of Mazda and its spiritual minoo and its guardian Yazata i.e. the Azra Yazad is all one purpose. It is praising the whole scared universe and its creator. Zartoshtis praise the waters and face the waters in their prayers as well, the sun the moon the nature all is a big temple for every Zartoshti. It is not hard to feel and understand if one wishes so.
Bahman Noruziaan
