|
|
Forward
An Introduction to the Gathas is a twelve-lesson course on the Gathas at a basic level. It was published in twelve booklets, once a month, from October 1989 through September 1990, and was distributed world-wide to interested persons. What follows are excerpts from that publication, with minor editorial changes. In addition, in Volumes 6 and 7, there are new essays by Farrokh Vajifdar and Daryoush Jahanian, respectively. These two essays did not appear in the original publication.
One of the most interesting aspects of the original publication was the interaction with the readers, expressed through letters to the Editor. Regrettably, these letters have not been published here due to considerations of space, although many of them are excellent examples of learning and good thinking. In addition, in each booklet of the original publication, photographs appeared with an invitation to the readers to express their opinions about what aspects of Zarathushtra's teachings the photograph depicted. These photographs, and the letters about them appear here in volume 11 only, except to the extent that we were unable to get the permission of a given letter-writer to publish his or her letter here.