How to’s

Roj Gosh Mah Fravardin, 1379 Yz.

My previous post on Parsis and religious adultery got many responses and some queries. One of the questions asked was: “if you say not to visit the Agiary only for a purpose, like an exam, then on which days is it necessary to visit the Agiary?”

My simple answer: “On the day you feel it is not necessary to offer thanks to God for all that He has given you, don’t visit the Fire Temple!” (If such a day exists)

My detailed answer: A visit to the Agiary cannot be laid down as a time table, since it depends on every individual’s lifestyle and time constraints, as well as the distance the Agiary or Atash Behram is situated from the person’s residence. Parsis in Mumbai are spoilt for choice as they have over 45 Agiaries and 4 Atash Behrams to choose from! Most of our Baugs or colonies have Agiaries within the complex or very close to the Baug. Those living in cosmopolitan surroundings are not so fortunate.

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Roj Sarosh Mah Bahman, 1378 Yz.

When man consciously decides to go along with the Gav side of nature, speaks the truth and increases day by day the practice of Manthravani, a subtle change begins to occur in him – on the physical, emotional as well as spiritual level. One of the first characteristics which is developed through the practice of Manthravani is CONTENTMENT. Contentment implies offering thanks to Ahura Mazda for whatever condition He may put us in. This is a very important emotion. If we analyze ourselves dispassionately, we realize that most of our suffering and negativity comes through lack of contentment.

We always benchmark our life and conditions with those who we believe are much better off than us. A villager walking to work in the fields believes the executive going to office is better off. The executive struggling to catch the 8:13 local feels the senior executive driving his car to work is better off. The senior executive feels the Vice President been driven to office by his chauffeur is better off. The Vice President feels the Business Owner getting off the helicopter is better off. Finally, the Business owner peers down from his helicopter and sees the villager walking to his fields in a carefree manner – and feels the farmer is much better off!

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Roj Meher Mah Bahman, 1378 Yz.

We have seen earlier that our mind is constantly in the process of originating, analyzing and processing various thoughts. These thoughts, which can be either good, or Gav encouraged; or bad, or Vohun encouraged give rise to a sublime body which forms around our physical body. This sublime body is called ‘Tevishi’ – the emotions, or desire body. Thus our every thought and the resultant word and deed gather around our physical frame in a particular manner and form the Tevishi body. This body, although invisible to us, can be easily seen and understood by spiritually advanced persons, who can then immediately tell us what we have been up to in the last 24 hours. Spiritual Masters of all faiths are experts at visualizing and understanding this web of emotions around our physical body.

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Roj Tir Mah Bahman, 1378 Yz.

Prayers are known in the Avesta as ‘Manthra Spenta’. Manthra means Divine Words, a revelation, while Spenta implies something which gives spiritual progress and benefit. The Avesta Manthras are thus not compositions of a human, but are the essence of the Divine Wisdom received by Zarathushtra from Ahura Mazda, condensed and formulated into a language that can be spoken by the human tongue. These original Avesta Manthras were of various categories, which were then further expanded and added to by the authorized disciples of Zarathushtra, who are known by the name Zarathushtrotemo – those who best take forward the work of Zarathushtra. At different times, based on the spiritual advancement of the persons taking birth during that time period, Rainidars – the spiritual executors of Prophet Zarathushtra and the Repairers of the Faith, appear, and after proving their spiritual authority by passing through miraculous tests, rearrange the Avesta Manthras to better suit the needs of the people to be born thereafter. The last such Rainidar was Dastur Adurbad Mahrespand who lived around 320 AD during the reign of the Sassanian King Shahpur II (309-379 AD). The current Kusti prayers and the Khordeh Avesta are the compositions of Dastur Adurbad Mahrespand, from the original Avesta.

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Roj Avan Mah Bahman, 1378 Yz

Khshnoom – which is the mystical knowledge of the Zarathushtrian religion explains that man’s soul, called Urvan in Avesta or Ruvan in Pahlavi is on a long journey. This journey took the Ruvan from its original destination, which was very close to the Supreme Lord Ahura Mazda, to very far away. Currently, the Ruvan is on its way back ‘home’ – to Ahura Mazda. Why did the Ruvan have to set out on this journey? For the limited purpose of understanding our primary subject of prayer, we can say that the Ruvan was found lacking in certain aspects. These deficiencies had to be removed from the Ruvan to bring it back to its pristine state. In order to remove these deficiencies, it was necessary to set up a whole apparatus and procedure through which this could be done. Further, the Ruvan had to go through a process of fragmentation through which the original Ruvan was broken down according to certain laws of decimalization. Thus the Ruvan which is present within ourselves, as well as in all animate as well as inanimate objects is part of the original whole Ruvan.

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Roj Dae-pa-Adar Mah Bahman, 1378 Yz.

Of the many gifts given to Parsis by their Prophet Zarathushtra, that of the Manthras is one of the most significant. Manthras are the divine words of the Prophet and His appointed disciples which form what we loosely call today the ‘Avesta’. Over the thousands of years that have passed since the time of the advent of Zarathushtra, the great majority of the Manthras have been, unfortunately, lost. What we have left is not more than 5% of the original, which are used for daily prayers as well as the rituals which form the core of the faith. The question is often asked: What is the use of praying in a language we do not understand? Cannot the same prayers be translated in to a common language like English and the same said with more concentration and meaning? Would it not be better if some newer and shorter prayers were introduced? In order to answer these and related queries, it is necessary to firstly understand who man is, what is his role in nature, what is prayer, why does man need to pray and what benefits accrue from praying.

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