Chapter 17
Religion of Life and of Joy
“What do you think Farashushtra? I have not had a moment’s peace from the day I heard Zarathustra’s address to Vishtaspa; his words incessantly echo within my mind whilst I see his dear face and that wondrous look in his eyes. I hear his words of warning—never before have I witnessed such insight.
O Djamaspa,
O wise one,
I instruct you with words that you might grasp and love
what I say unto you.
He who recognizes the wise and the ignorant will be
Supported by Mazda Ahura through the radiance of
truth!
(Gathas, chapter 46, verse 17)
O Farashushtra,
Go with your followers for whom we wish both eternal
illumination and joy!
Go to where truth abides by righteousness!
There, blessed thoughts and strength rule.
There is the glory of Mazda Ahura displayed.
(Gathas, chapter 46, verse 16)
Farashushtra has granted me his glorious jewel of truth
through love for the benevolent creed.
May Mazda Ahura grant his wish to attain truth!
(Gathas, chapter 51, verse 17)
Only one who has been endowed with an immaculate mind, an honest heart, wisdom and purity can say such things. I constantly go over his words. I speculate upon them for I want to grasp their depth.”
“Wise Djamaspa, I feel much as you do for I feel the same way about Zarathustra’s speech. His words are jewels—they are the invaluable pearl of the oysters of wisdom. They are the fruit of thought, research, speculation and choice. From the day I first heard his words I was no longer the same person I used to be and I spend my days going over his every word. But what puzzled me the most were these words: ‘…transcend your self, forget your self, leave your self!’ I do not truly understand the message of these words. What can this overcoming of the self mean? Let us go to him for he might be able to shed light on this enigma.”
“Wise leader, great Zarathustra, from the day of the assembly when you addressed Vishtaspa you robbed us of our peace of mind for we have been unsuccessfully trying to unravel the mystery of your message. We wish to grasp its every word. What has consumed us the most was your term of ‘overcome your self’ which you did stress to Vishtaspa!”
“You are justified in reflecting upon this particular term. This term has oft times been interpreted in various ways. Indeed, a misinterpretation could culminate in misfortune. But first, Djamaspa, tell me what you think the term might mean.”
“Great leader, allow me to go further back than that particular day. Let me go to the days when I sought the way of righteousness. I once went to the mountains and happened upon a cave before which there stood men with unkempt hail, foul bodies and hands. They neither worked nor lived in any particular manner of life for they had no homes, no wives and no offspring. They were wanderers who roamed about and lived off unworthy deeds which were mostly limited to begging, thus their lives suffered the most meager and unworthy level of subsistence. They valued not themselves and as they humiliated themselves they were strangely happy. They dwelt in the most abominable places, dressed in the most foul attire, ate the most offensive food and generally enjoyed the basest human life had to offer. Their words were essentially inane, empty and mad.
I spoke much with these people and I found them to believe themselves to be the seekers of righteousness. They found righteousness in defiling all that is a part of our terrestrial life and existence. They held that they had transcended their selves and that they stood free of all bonds for they saw all bonds as the inhibitors of men. I often heard them speak of transcendence. When you spoke of ‘overcoming the Self’ I immediately recalled their words on liberation and the transcendence of the Self. Yet, I knew there had to be a vast difference between the two; what you speak of is the beginning of life and of creation, but what they spoke of was the beginning of the destruction of life.”
Zarathustra was heartened by Djamaspa’s words.
“How happy I am that you spoke thus. For men might interpret what I mean in a completely different manner. They may overcome their Selves and arrive at the destruction of their lives as opposed to their cultivation and development.”
As Zarathustra finished speaking he took a rotten grain of wheat and placed it before Djamaspa and Farashushtra and asked them what they thought of that particular seed.
Djamaspa replied, “Obviously this seed is rotten. The characteristic of a rotten seed is that it is neither edible nor is it able to produce.”
“T’is indeed so Djamaspa! In order to grow the seed must be healthy and unblemished. Man is much like the seed. The essentials necessary for the proper growth and development of man are healthy body and hale mind. A broken mind can never have the power of growth and fruition for such a mind is as stale as the rotten seed whose power of birth has been undone.
Do you know what lies at the base of a healthy soul which can eternally give forth?
Truth—in other words the harmony of the mind and the soul: that harmony which exists among words, thoughts, deeds, wisdom, heart and righteousness.
Mazda Ahura,
Grant righteousness and immortality to he whose words
and deeds, in the radiance of divine thoughts and
characteristics, are based upon truth through Thy
Kingdom and Thy love.
(Gathas, chapter 47, verse 1)
O Mazda, forthwith do Thy righteousness and immortality
lead to truth.
And so do divine thoughts, truth and righteousness increase
Strength and divine power.
Mazda Ahura doth, through His leadership and divinity,
grant righteousness, immortality, truth, divine strength
and supreme thoughts to he who loves Him in his
thoughts and deeds.
(Gathas, chapter 34, verse 21)
O Mazda Ahura,
Unfold my aims unto mine self!
That I might attain them through the radiance of divine
thoughts and that I might know Thee through truth.
O Mazda,
Grant me eternal righteousness and immortality!
(Gathas, chapter 33, verse 8)
O Mazda,
One might attain the two great divine truths advancing
attributes of righteousness and immortality through
the illumination of heart and wisdom.
May we attain these two heavenly attributes through
the radiance of the finest thoughts!
(Gathas, chapter 33, verse 9)
Then Zarathustra turned to Djamaspa and spoke: “What did you learn of these hymns?”
“I do not know what there is hidden in your hymns which, when sung particularly by you yourself, strum a special chord within my breast—a chord which only your hymns can cause to awaken. The hymns affect me even when I am not fully certain of their meaning—they take me to a realm beyond this life—a realm of thought, feeling and of wondrous speculation as to the origin of life overflowing with love for all its various aspects.
When I listen to your hymns I visualize an endless wheatfield interspersed with dabs of scarlet poppies. Chanting birds skip upon the branches of the solitary trees which fringe the outskirts of the field. A limpid blue sky rises to adorn the field with its crimson hued tufts of wooly clouds as the splendor of the sun heightens the gold of the field with rays which prance playfully upon the stalks.
I smell the most exotic zephyr of distant valleys, the aroma of fresh mint leaves along river banks, the melody of the cow herd’s song and the joyous squeal of the newborn kid as it suckles its first feed. I hear the clucking of the hens, the thudding of the windmill, the song of the swallow and the rustle of trees at midnight mingled with the song of the nightingale.
The silvery moon lifts up her head on warm summer eves to outshine the luster of the twinkling stars. Then comes the hour when the cock trumpets the dawn inviting us to once again rise and lend ear to the rush of the mountain spring as it stumbles over every adamant rock. The shepherd rises to take up his fife and lead his herd to green pasture accompanied by the blessing of the coupled fowl.”
Zarathustra interrupted Djamaspa’s musings: “I know you speak in earnest Djamaspa, but I ask you not to praise me. Let us go back to my initial question about the group of defiled men you met.”
“They believed their aim in this world to be the ‘transcendence’ of this vicious life. They said their aim was the achievement of righteousness and the refinement of the soul. Thus, did they strive to liberate themselves from all those bonds which tied them to the earthly life. They believed this to be the only manner through which they could transpire to arrive in the divine world and to enjoy its joys.”
Upon hearing these words Zarathustra cried:
“Woe to these imaginings! They are nothing but the most destructive beliefs bred to uproot all benevolence from the minds of men and to prepare the way for the vilest forms of evil ad decadence!
Friends try to grasp the message of these hymns and remember them:
O Mazda Ahura,
Truly art Thou the Creator of divine thoughts!
When men consulted with divine speculations did you
create this jocund earth for them.
Then did you send forth a leader to cultivate Thy creation
through righteousness.
(Gathas, chapter 47, verse 3)
May benevolent rulers, not wicked sovereigns, reign over
us through divine deeds, knowledge and righteousness!
Cleanliness is more jocund to men even then their birth.
One must strive to cultivate the world.
The world must be justly developed that it might be led to
the light.
(Gathas, chapter 48, verse 5)
O most omniscient Mazda Ahura, show me Thy unique
justice which comes from Thy kingdom and divine
thoughts for my happiness and joy!
O righteousness,
Grant me understanding and an enlightened heart through
the radiance of truth!
(Gathas, chapter 33, verse 13)
O Mazda Ahura,
Grant us all goodness in life which stems from Thee that
which was, is and to come, through They love!
fulfill us through the radiance of divine thoughts, heavenly
strength, truth, health and joy!
(Gathas, chapter 33, verse 10)
O Mazda Ahura,
We raise unto Thee that which is Thine on the path of
truth through our prayers and worship.
May all men attain righteousness in Thy kingdom through
the brilliance of speculation!
O Mazda Ahura,
Truly are the wise forever endowed with Thy divine strength!
(Gathas, chapter 43, verse 3)
O Mazda Ahura,
Grant my followers joy in Thy kingdom through the radiance
of truth as the brave give joy unto their friends!
I shall rise with all those who sing Thy thought inspiring
words to support Thy instructions.
(Gathas, chapter 43, verse 14)
When the sons and the offspring of Faryan to Touran
turn to truth,
And when they toil for the betterment and the cultivation of
the world through righteousness,
Then will Mazda Ahura unite them in the light of divine
thoughts, and then will he show them salvation and joy.
(Gathas, chapter 46, verse 12)
O Mazda Ahura,
How will he who seeks fertility and joy for the world and
he who strives to cultivate it abide in the light of truth
and brilliance?
How will he stand amongst the true and the wise?
(Gathas, chapter 50, verse 2)
I ask:
How can a leader who is humble, righteous of a clean
wisdom, just an instructor of truth, powerful and
forgiving lead the world to progress and cultivation?
(Gathas, chapter 51, verse 5)
O Mazda Ahura,
He who strives not for this creed but for the destruction of
the world is born of falsehoods.
He is of the malicious minded and of the ignorant.
I ask truth for myself and for my disciples.
May it come to us and grant us a benevolent reward!
(Gathas, chapter 51, verse 10)
Truly, friends, my religion is the religion of joy, creation, cultivation, renovation and health. It wages an eternal war against any creed which advocates destruction. It cannot abide by creeds such as those which belonged to the men you met Djamaspa.
Unfortunately, many are the advocates of such miserable creeds. Yet, they can breed forth nothing but evil, annihilation, ugliness and misery. When you speak with such men they first uphold that this world is the prison of light and of the good. They advocate that it is the home of torment, misery and evil for they believe that man can only attain salvation after he breaks through the walls of this prison and transcends this world. They believe one must forsake all that which is joyous, beautiful, right, fulfilling and plenteous in this world and turn to that which pulls us further into the swamps of misfortune, wretchedness and destitution, To these men goodness can only be found in that which is evil and evil exists in all that is good and beautiful.
Alas! How far this is from the transcendence I advocate!
I speak of the transcendence of the seed of wheat that it might rise to germinate and grow in order to give forth a thousand more seeds, but their transcendence is to stale and to kill the grain.
Thus, I ask you to rise against those wicked creeds. Strive to liberate the followers of those evil creeds through your instructions and to show the path of bloom, growth and development. Ask these unfortunate wretches whether creation and its wondrous aspects are to force them to hide from life and crawl as worthless worms into the depth of fetid swamps to begin and end their lives there?
Why then does the sun rise every morning to warm and illuminate the world?
Why does the rain pour to drench the earth and to bring it to fruition?
Why then does such a vast activity of birth and growth stem forth from all living creatures?
Were all these wonders just so that you might think of yourself in destitution?
Were you created to stand at the brink of the vast ocean of creation and to helplessly bat your wings as desperately as a bittern, watching but unable to quench its thirst?
Rise, wretched one, lift yourself from this abyss of desperation and lend your hands to the aid of fire and bend the harrow. Tie the harrow to your cows and plough the fields, sow the seed, reap the harvest and eat in joy.
Dance and enjoy life!
Leave your evil den and plant the eager sapling!
Eat of its fruit and give the wayfarer the shelter of its cool shade!
Raise your steed, gather your cattle, milk them and drink!
Rise in rapture, take your tools and toil!
Liberate yourself of the putrid swamps in which you hide!
Free yourselves of the humiliation of being a vermin!
Shed your obscure beliefs and save yourself of destruction!
The transcendence of which I speak is the transformation of the seed in storage into a stalk of many grains with which men can be fed. If you do so you will join the chain of life and like all its rings you will grow and be fulfilled. The necessity of your life and of your existence will be fulfilled.
Rise, and forsake your evil thoughts which have doomed you to a vermin like existence!