These are the tenets of the Mazdayasni Zarathushtri religion, as accepted and preached by all the Dasturjees and religious teachers and common Zarathushtris in India. May our faith increase day by day, in these glorious tenets, that our ancestors have believed in for thousands of years. All our Scriptures are sacred, including the Gathas, Yashts, and the Vendidad. We pray all of them in our Fire temples, before the Sacred Fire, and they have immense spiritual power, their very utterance in the sacred Avestan language serving to further righteousness and fight evil. All our fire-temples and rituals of the Yasna are sacred and are necessary for the religion, such as the Nirang-din ceremony, which creates the Holy Nirang. The spiritually powerful Nirang forms the foundation of many other sacred rituals, that when performed, increase the power of good in this world and decrease the power of evil. Dakhma-nashini is the only method of corpse-destruction for a Zarathushtri, as enjoined in the Vendidad: this is the destruction of the dead body in the stone-enclosed Dakhma, by the flesh-eating bird or the rays of the Sun, the most spiritually powerful method as commanded by Ahura Mazda to Zarathushtra. Dakhma-nashini is also very hygienic and ecologically-sound, because it prevents the world from being spiritually or materially polluted by decaying dead matter. Marrying, Zarathushtri man or woman, to a Zarathushtri only is commanded in our religion in the Vendidad, to preserve the spiritual strength of the Aryan Mazdayasni religion, and the ethnic identity of the Zarathushtri Aryans. For the Zarathushtri, ethnic identity and religion are synonymous, as declared in the Vendidad by Ahura Mazda Himself - the Mazdayasni faith was revealed by Ahura to the Aryans under King Jamshed, thousands of years before Zarathushtra, and was meant only for the Aryans of Iran. As such, there was no "conversion", because the Aryans of Iran were already Mazdayasnis when Zarathushtra came, and Zarathushtra was RE-REVEALING THE ORIGINAL FAITH, along with the AGUSTO VACHO - previously unheard of words of Ahura Mazda, such as the most powerful Ahunavar (Yatha Ahu Vairyo). The Fravardin Yasht also says that the Righteous of every nation in this world are present in heaven in the form of Glorious Fravarshis. Thus, the Righteous of every religion go to heaven, all religions are equal, and it is folly to convert. Conversion goes against the Master Law of Ereta (righteousness) itself, because God has given us birth in our respective religions, to adore Him in them, and not to mistrust His Judgement and rebel and go over to another faith. For, each faith leads ultimately to God. Thus, the Zarathushtris do not convert other people, but they rely on MARRIAGE WITHIN and INCREASED CHILD BIRTH to increase their numbers. The observance of the Laws of the Vendidad is an important pillar of the Zarathushtri religion. This includes the concept of menstrual seclusion (the woman is in a state of impurity during menstruation and must stay away from all religious objects including the household fire, and also stay away from her husband during those days) and the dreaded impure state of NASU the corpse is in after death, only touchable by the Nassesalars (corpse-bearers) who may then be purified by ritual means. The Vendidad also carries strong moral injuctions against the acts of homosexuality and prostitution, prohibiting these immoral acts. Faith, and Hope in the coming of the Saoshyant (Saviour) has sustained our religion through the centuries. We firmly hope, and pray, that Ahura Mazda sends the Saoshyant to the earth to defeat evil and further righteousness (Ashoi). The Zarathushtri religion was the first to proclaim that Ahura Mazda will send the Saoshyant, born of a virgin, and many other religions took on this belief. We firmly believe that when the Saoshyant comes, the final spiritual battle between the forces of good and evil will commence, resulting in the utter destruction of evil. Ristakhiz, the ressurection of the dead will take place - the dead will rise, by the Will of Ahura Mazda. The world will be purged by molten metal, in which the righteous will wade as if through warm milk, and the evil will be scalded. The Final Judgement of all souls will commence, at the hands of Ahura Mazda the Judge (Davar), and all sinners punished, then forgiven, and humanity made immortal and free from hunger, thirst, poverty, old age, disease and death. The World will be made perfect once again, as it was before the onslaught of the evil one. Such is the Frashogad (Frasho-kereti), the Renovation, brought on by the Will of Ahura Mazda, the Frashogar. Atha Zamyat Yatha Afrinami, May it be so as we wish Published with the kind permission of www.hinduism.co.za. Their ‘Understanding Hinduism’ website is an award winning site featuring a whole host of various articles promoting Hinduism. It truly is a wonderful, thoughtful and thought provoking work and a true beacon for the promotion of Hinduism and Vedic culture in the world today. Please visit their enlightening website at www.hinduism.co.za. Copyright reserved by the author.
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