Book I / II – (iv)
Zoroastrianism
The essence of the Avestic teachings is to be found in the prayers to the various cults of life as taught by Zoroaster, the Master of life, who lived several thousand years ago. Edmund Szekely, speaking of these cults, tells of the last two cults as follows:
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The Cult of the Light of Life:
The next cult in the Avestas is the cult of Humanity or as the Zend text expresses it, the cult of the Light of Life. What does this stand for? This Light, declares Zoroaster, comes to us continually from the most distant ages, making it possible for us to possess the total wisdom and experience of previous generations, without the need to try again for ourselves what they have already tried and proved right in the course of thousands of years. For Zoroaster, the greatest fault we can be guilty of, is to neglect this Light of Life and to limit it to only a few rays instead of absorbing It in its fullness through observance of the cult which bears its name. Most of the passages concerning the cult of the Light of Life are to be found in the book of the Avestas entitled Vispered, which is the exact Zend equivalent of our word Omniscience.
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The Cult of Eternal Life:
Then ninth and last cult in the Avestas is the cult of the Stars – the cult of Eternal Life. This cult became the one most widely known in antiquity, and most of the passages mentioning Zoroastrianism in the works of the classical Greek authors are concerned with it. According to Zoroaster, life is not the exclusive privilege of this planet; there are innumerable planets and solar systems in infinite cosmic space where life exists in a wide range of forms. Zoroaster teaches that life is a form of cosmic energy which will always appear wherever favourable preconditions exist. Life is a cosmic function, an inherent quality of the Universe, and there is in boundless space and time a universal solidarity connecting all forms of life on whatever planet. Certain planets or solar systems may disappear or appear, and the life of them likewise, but life itself, appearing and disappearing, on eternally changing planets and solar systems, is as eternal as the Universe. And man is a part of this eternal life – of this universal cosmic ocean formed by the sum total of all forms of life on all the planets. The most beautiful hymns in the Avestas are to be found in the part devoted to the cult of Eternal Life.
The Avestic term for the principle of life is Sraosha (the angel of inspiration). In Zend Avesta, we have an invocation to Mazda praying for the gift of Sraosha for those whom He loves.
Mr M.H. Toot, a great scholar of comparative religions, in his book, Practical Metaphysics of Zoroastrians, tells us that in 'Gatha Ushtavaiti,' Ratu Zoroaster proclaimed:
Thus I reveal the Word which the Most Unfolded One has taught me, the Word which is the best for mortals to listen. Whosoever shall render obedience and steadfast attention unto Me, will obtain for his own self the All-embracing whole Being and Immortality; and through the service of the Holy Divine Spirit will realize Mazda Ahura (i.e., Godhead)
HA 45-8
Again the same scholar quotes elsewhere in an as yet unpublished work, the following passages from 'Ahuravaiti Yasna':
Divine Guidance of the Eternal Master, Accomplishing long life in the Right Paths leading to the Absolute Kingdom of the Divine Mind, wherein the Omniscient, Self-existent Life-Giver Dwells by His all-pervading Reality, I cause to invoke that divine Sraosha (i.e., the Word) which is the greatest of all divine gifts for spiritual succour.
HA 33-35
The Creative Verbum:
Assimilating one's unfolding self with His all-pervading Reality the Omniscient, Self-existent Life-Giver has framed this mystic Verbum and Its melodious rhythm, with the Divine Order of personal self-sacrifice for the Universe, unto the self-sublimating souls, which is that person who with the Enlightened Superb Mind can give both these (Mystic Verbum and Divine Order) through His gracious mouth unto the mortals.
HA 29-7