Zarathustra's City of Light
by Hossein Vahidi
Translated exclusively for Gallery Mamak
by Mamak Nourbakhsh
Introduction
Zarathustra’s City of Light is an attempt to acquaint readers with the Teacher’s philosophy and rich life. Born, according to many writers and historians, around 1700 BC, this eastern holy man dared stand up and oppose the tyrants of his day who ruled by instilling terror within the hearts of the layman by manipulating his conventional religious beliefs. In order to liberate the masses Zarathustra not only left the religious order he belonged to but went on to offer a philosophy of life which erased all mediators between man and the Creator. This philosophy, thus, allowed man to live in harmony and freedom through the blessed creed of, ‘Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds’.
Zarathustra expounded upon the nature of the cosmos and man’s relation to the totality of being in simple loving chants which he called the Gathas . Through these hymns Zarathustra elaborated on his idea of dialectics, creation, and good and evil centuries before modern philosophers. This book is an analysis of Zarathustra’s life and ideology based upon an interpretation of his Gathas.
Was he a prophet? a seer? a genius?
That is for the reader to decide. The present book is meant to be a stepping stone to a better understanding of this teacher and his philosophy. Though deeply rooted in the heritage of ancient Persia, this man offered a philosophy which will live eternally for it is at once timeless and unlimited by space: it is the very essence of being.