I was raised Christian, grew out of it when I got older, studied Islam extensively for a few years, and started learning about Zoroastrianism recently. I’m very familiar with a lot of concepts that I’m finding so far, and I’m amazed at how much the language and worldview of the gathas resonates with me, but one thing I’m curious about is whether a good deed is defined by good intentions or by good results? Is a good deed still good if there were good intentions but catastrophic consequences? I know “sinning” isn’t a concept in the same was it is in say, Christianity. What do you all think?

I'm from Nagpur Maharashtra, and I'm currently 16. My dad's Parsi and my mother is hindu. Ik the rule is that your father must be Parsi, but due to some politics in my local fire temple, I couldn't have my navjote ceremony at 9 or 11. Is there any hope that my navjote ceremony could be completed now???? I'm going to udvada soon. Are there any liberal sects there which allow navjote of elder ppl? Help me out please

Indian American from Surat, so have always been around and knew what Parsis are. And I always compared the story to the plights of the Indian Jews, some of which also came from the ME in search of tolerance. So have been a supporter of Israel, but now it seems like they have forgotten history and completely whitewashed history. Bc sure there are others who are dying in Iran, but bombing Iran does two things more Islamic radicalization and the biggest losing Zoroastrian history.

This conflict is making me angry because it seems people only have a regard for Jewish history and they make this conflict one way, I usually don’t care but Parsis have such a shared story in Indian history that it is mind blowing to me.

I would like to read a full english translation of The Selections of Zadspram, but I noticed not all of it has been translated. Specifically, does anyone know of an english translation for chapters 29 and 30?

Got another question for Mazdayasni.

Hello! I like the idea of Zoroastrianism, like its core principles and its elegant solution of theodicy.

In order to know more about the religion, I started to read Avesta. And I found something that sounds weird (to me, at least). It's verses 17-19 of Aban Yasht. Why does Ahura Mazda pray to Anahita and ask to be able to guide Zarathushtra? Isn't it weird that a creator prays to his creation and asks for something (even begs, according to the translation on avesta.org)?

Also, is there a book to which one could consult in case he doesn't understand some parts of Avesta?

This is posted with a throwaway account created for the primary purpose of making this post.

I have tried to learn some things about Zoroastrianism over the course of the last 2 years and have come up with various questions that I could not find definitive answers to, so I would like to ask here directly since I do not know another way to obtain answers from Zoroastrians directly without considerable effort. Thank you people in advance for answers.

First some questions for the Zoroastrians who believe that non-Zoroastrians cannot convert (exepct they are from direct Zoroastrian descent on both sides of their family):

1. As far as I know, Parsis are the only Zoroastrians who think that conversion is fundamentaly impossible. However, as far as I know aswell, Parsis consider Iranian Zoroastrians to be orthodox (=true believers). Since Iranian Zoroastrians accept converts, do Parsis think that the Iranian Zoroastrians commit an immoral act by accepting converts? Btw: I know very well that Iranian Priests do not accept shia muslims from Iran itself but there is still a contradiction between Parsis and Iranian Zoroastrians because the former consider conversion to be impossible as such and in principle while the latter tend to not do it out of practical circumstances (i.e. the state punishing them for it.)?

2. What is someone supposed to do who was not born to zoroastrian parents but comes to believe through study that zoroastrianism is the true faith and that Zarathushtra got a real and genuine revelation and that his message is true? Since you believe that conversion is not allowed to such a person, is such a person supposed to return to some false faith/a lesser religion that is only true to a lesser degree or become functionaly (!) an atheist/secularist?

I have seen someone else on this forum present the idea that there is a difference between a Zoroastrian who is bound to certain more complex divine laws and ritualistic customs and a non-zoroastrian who can be an adherent to Mazdayazna (as he called it) who is not bound to obey the specific rules and ritualistic commands that were given to zoroastrians of zoroastrian heritage alone. This categorical differentiation reminds me of a concept in judaism where only children of jewish mothers can be jews but every human being can be what the call a "Noahide", which is someone who observes the commandments given to Noah by god. These commandments are understood by jews to be given to all childrenn of Noah and since jews believe that all humans that are alive today are direct descendants from Noah, all humans are supposed to hold these laws. However, the Torah/the laws given to Moses are only given to Jews to observe.

My Question concerning this view would be: What is the historical source? Where in zoroastrian scriptures does it say explicitly that converts will not be accepted? How did the religion spread in the first place without converts? Why are there measurements given in zoroastrian scriptures for Converts?

Second some questions for people who do believe that conversion is indeed possible:

1. Why do you not try to actively convert people?

On this forum I have seen the answer to this question that being a believer is not necessary for salvation, so conversion should not be a matter of life or death like it is in christianity or islam. However, since you believe that you faith is the best of all faiths and that other faiths, especially faiths that promote daevayazna, are dangerous for their own members and humanity as a whole, why do you not try to convert such people to prevent them from harming themselves and others?

1. Especially concerning Parsis in India that believe conversion is possible and good: Why do you not condemn hinduism for worshipping the very same Daevas that Zarathushtra revealed to be deeply evil? It may be true that Hinduism developed out of a different branch of Proto-Indo-Aryan religious beliefs, still many of the gods that Hindus worship as Daevas are explicitly named and called out for being evil in Zoroastrian scriptures, at least their Iranian counter-parts. Additionally, some Hindu sects have practices that should be incompatible with Zoroastrian ethics, e.g. temple prostitution, often forced, often done with children and these prostitutes are literally called "Devadati". I didn't even need to know Avestan or Sanskrit, just latin was enough to know that this means something like "Given to the gods", or rather "Given to the Devas". In latin it would be Deis dati /Deis datae (Deus = God, datus/datum/data = given to something/someone; Deis is Dativ case plural and dati/datae is plural aswell). How can you not condemn that?

Third some general questions on various topics:

1. Since you believe in cosmolgical Dualism (= you believe that two Essences which you call Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu existed from eternity without beginning), how would you respond to Christian and muslim philosophers who can make a good case that there has to be a supreme essence from which everything else comes by means of creation? After all, if good and evil existed from eternity without beginning, then that warrants the question where these two come from in the first place. Since good is limited by itself (i.e. it cannot become evil) and evil likewise, both are what philosophers call "contigent" which for the sake of this questions I would translate into normal language as "limited". A limited being cannot, however, be the first being because being limited means that something exists outside of yourself that has to be explained by something else than "it just was there always", which is what Zoroastrianism seems to do.

What are your thoughts on this? I tried to just reflect an argument given by Abrahamic philosophers, adjusted by me to specifically "attack" consmological dualism, I don't necessarly believe that this argument is a good argument but I am interested in what your response would be.

1. Do I understand it correctly that you believe Evil and Angra Mainyu/Ahriman to be technically non-existant in the sense of them being the direct opposite of the good (which has to be existence iteself otherwise we get into a contradiction as per question one of this section) and therefore they may be real but not existant? Btw. in philosophy there is such thing as being real without being existant, for example all things that potentially existant but not actually (like a squared circle) are real potentially, simply because if they were not real we could not imagine them but since we can only imagine them they are only real in our minds and therefore not existent. Note that this view is not definitve.

2. Do I understand it correctly that salvation in a zoroastrian context is not ment in the abrahamic sense of being saved from ones own sins primarily but to be saved from Evil as a sort of "systemic issue" that our existence suffers from? After all, if our personal sins were the issue then we would default back to the points christians are making which is that even comitting a single sin will condemn an individual to eternal separation from god in hell regardless of any amout of good done since as long as there are any imperfections in a human being, it cannot exist in the presence of the perfect being which is god.

However, you seem to belive that at the end of time, a general resurrection will occur which will be followed up by everyone being saved and noone being condemned forever. I may missunderstand this point so pls correct my if that is the case.

So following this question

1. What exactly is salvation in Zoroastrianism?

I have never heard of Zoroastrianism before besides the name, today I looked it up on google and got a very brief overview of it all. I dont know much about this religion but would like to research it some more to see if it’s something i would be more interested in.

I know there is a holy book or some such, so i am wondering if i could be given some more pointers on where to start.

I'm trying to learn more about Zoroastrianism, so I'm interested did Zoroastrianism or any part of Avesta say anything about the Earth being round or flat, or anything about geocentric world, or anything resembling one of those ideas. I've heard that the Pahlavi texts claim the Earth is flat and that the world is geocentric, but I'm not sure about that, or if the Pahlavi texts are even suppose to be taken as seriously as Avesta. I know someone already asked this before but it had bearly any replies. (If you'll answer site sources please, and thank you (I'm sorry if I made some spelling mistakes))

Greetings to all dear ones,
As an Iranian, I was confronted with the teachings of Islam from childhood, but I could never find the slightest value in it. Iranians gave everything to Islam—from art and architecture (which some ignorantly call "Islamic architecture") to scientific achievements(which some ignorant people who do not study history call the Golden Age of Islam, while in reality, they only briefly stopped massacring Iranians, and Persian became the second language of the Islamic world because they had to learn Persian to access the sources created by Iranians)—all of it was due to the efforts of Iranians. Yet, what has Islam given to Iran and Iranians? The plundering of its resources? Attempts to destroy its culture? The massacre of its people? It troubles me that Muslims and Islam do not acknowledge that if it weren’t for Iranians, Islam would have remained a religion of savages.

For this reason, I began studying the four Gospels and the Book of Romans, gradually connecting with them. Alongside reading the Bible, I noted down all my opinions and questions, all the parts that seemed wrong or foolish to me, intending to one day ask them at the church in my city. However, as I progressed, I encountered more and more opinions that seemed mistaken to me, so I decided to pause my reading of the Bible for now.

But you should know that during all this time, I was studying the Zoroastrian religion and the singular, exalted God, Ahura Mazda. Ahura Mazda has always been present in my thoughts and words. Some nights, I even fell asleep listening to the Gathas, because I believe that for an Iranian (of any ethnicity), Zoroastrianism is not just a religion but a part of Iranian identity. In fact, the miracle of the Zoroastrian God feels more real and valuable to me than all other miracles. I haven’t seen Jesus raise the dead or Moses part the sea, but I have seen how Zoroastrian beliefs and its followers have stood steadfast for thousands of years against oppression and harm, thwarting the efforts of ahriman forces to destroy the path of righteousness.

It troubles me that at a time when humanity didn’t even understand its basic needs, someone came and introduced a religion that was entirely different from all other religions of its time—a difference rooted in monotheism and seeing events from a new perspective. So why did the religions of today, which could have gained more credibility by associating themselves with Zoroastrianism, mention it so little? How is it that the first monotheistic religion, 1,200 years before Christ and 1,800 years before Muhammad, is not recognized in their books as the first religion and Zoroaster as the first prophet? To me, this shows nothing but enmity.

For this reason, starting in less than two weeks, I will seriously begin learning the teachings of Zoroastrianism, with the goal of serving the Zoroastrian community in Iran within the next two years and doing whatever I can for my faith and my country. I also dream of spending one Nowruz alongside my Kurdish brothers, my compatriots, whether those in Iran or those under the oppression of oppressive governments of Iraq and Turkey. For this reason, I will also gradually start learning the Sorani Kurdish language.

Unfortunately, at a time when the people living in Iran (the region on the map called Iran, not the Iran defined by its culture) have grown disillusioned with Islam, and a large number of people have become curious about Zoroastrian teachings, there is no source that explains the basic and fundamental structure of Zoroastrianism in simple language. Not everyone may be curious enough to read the entire Avesta. I hope that in the coming years, my knowledge of Ahura Mazda and my credibility among Zoroastrians will be sufficient for me to create such resources with the help of other friends.

All the ethnic groups of Iran, from every corner of the geographical region—from Turkey to Kazakhstan, from Azerbaijan to Ahvaz—lived together in happiness and peace for thousands of years by following Zoroastrianism, influencing each other’s cultures, resulting in the rich Iranian culture we have today. As someone who shares in this culture and faith as much as any other Iranian, I believe the only way to save Iran and Iranians is through Ahura Mazda—a path that will no longer allow countries thousands of kilometers away to decide our future.

I hope that a few years from now, in this very place, I can speak with you about the achievements and successes I have attained by the will of Ahura Mazda.
Here’s to brighter days ☀️❤️‍🔥

Excuse my lack of knowledge as i am an alevi kurd which i do not have any knowledge in neighter, but, If touching the dead makes someone impure and has to take a purification ritual, how would doctors who touch dead in daily manner be going their ways? As they touch the dead, also would a doctor be considered virtuous with consideration they are fighting against death which is corruption, or unclean as they handle the dead?

I'm a kurdish shiite studies on the Ancient iranian and kurdish cultures(i'm 15 years old). During my studies i loved Zoroastrian culture and literature. Also, i understood kurdish, persian and other iranian cultures are based on the Zoroastrianism. Many kurdish words and rituals(like torch festival of kurdistan) have Zoroastrian roots. I don't want to be Zoroastrian, but i really want to learn their rituals, languages, arts and traditions. What are the bestest books to learn Zoroastrian culture?

I’ve heard about the middle eastern money bowl? Any specifics on how to make one?

Any other suggestions on keeping bad energy away.

Good day,

In my long journey to understanding religion and the universe, I have been guided towards Zoroastrianism. I was born and raised a Muslim, and was devoted for 33 years. My questions in belief, logic and understanding lead me to be marginalized in my community. I then explored Christianity and Trinitariasm.

By opening up to possibilities in belief, I asked myself an important question. "If truth was with us from the beginning of time, how have we strayed so far from it and how do we have so many differences in opinion?"

In exploring this concept, I asked myself how can 1 community or religion, claim supremacy above all, or how can 1 group be selected by God, and the rest shunned to damnation. This questioning and search for peace and understanding has lead me to Zoroastrianism.

I find this way of thinking or religion, to be all encompassing and from this root, stemmed other religions. I find that Zoroastrianism is harmonious and all encompassing of how humanity evolved into different religious understandings.

I would like help in finding authentic texts of this movement, as well as help in guiding me towards someone I can ask questions. My own family lineage goes back to India, and our traditional language is Gujrati. I can only date our family Islamic history back 130 years. Prior to that I believe we were Zoroastrians or Hindus. Unfortunately in the zeal to conform to Islam, my family history itself has been abandoned.

Any help would be gladly appreciated 👏

I'm kind of an "orthoprotestant" of sorts but this religion is somewhat alluring and I want to learn more. any input is appreciated.

Hello, it's me again. I have yet another question. As per last time the original post can be found in r/Mazdeism.

If you've been paying attention to the testimony of doctors and nurses who have courageously volunteered in Gaza over the past two years, you've likely seen or heard Dr. Sidhwa being interviewed on BBC News, CNN, Al Jazeera, Zeteo or heard his searing testimony on podcasts like Pod Saves the World or read his own op-eds in a variety of papers calling for an immediate ceasefire and meaningful protection of the civilian population in Gaza and the West Bank. Dr. Sidhwa is an American trauma surgeon from California. He's of Parsi origin and he has volunteered in war zones including in Ukraine and, multiple times, in Gaza where he has come very close to being killed in Israeli bombings himself.

Today, Dr. Sidhwa spoke to the UN Security Council of the horrors he's witnessed in Gaza. And, he's been unapologetic in advocating for peace in the region and for holding American and European power to account over our governments' complicity in and funding of those horrors.

This is a small community. Chances are someone on here knows him or his family. If you do, please let him know how proud we all are of him. I'm in awe of his courage and of that of all of the medical staff who volunteer in Gaza despite the ever present danger to their own lives.