Roj Spendarmad Mah Khordad 1383 Yz.
The Borivali and Suburban Zoroastrian Association organized a lecture cum dinner program on Saturday, 19th October at the Rustomji International School at Borivali. The topic of the talk was ‘The Relevance of the Zoroastrian religion in day to day life.’ About 70 residents of the area attended.
A brief synopsis of the talk is given below. Readers of Frashogard who wish to listen to the entire 96 minute talk can download the MP3 file at the end of this post.
Here are a few photos from the event.
An overview of our day-to-day life – marked by rushing, stress, discomfort
An overview of our understanding of religion – ‘we’ll study it after retirement, need based approach to religion.
Deeper analysis of day to day life. What does the Zoroastrian religion say about life – a long journey towards salvation. But is our current lifestyle taking us towards or away from salvation?
The five questions we all need to ask: who am I? where have I come from? Why am I here? Where do I have to go? How do I reach there?
Zoroastrian Religion: so who was Zarathushtra? What do we know about our Prophet? Divergent views: poet; reformer; veterinarian; magician; herdsman; never existed!
What do our scripture say about Zarathushtra?
What are the common perceptions about our religion amongst Parsis?
- Rigid
- Need to move with the times
- Importance on sanitation and hygiene
- Freedom of choice
- ‘ema su thayu’ and ‘java de ni bawa’
But what is the Zoroastrian religion in reality? Din = Yazata – a divine living throbbing entity.
How to integrate Zoroastrian characteristics into daily life:
- Mindfulness
- Consciousness
- Escaping sensory illusions
- Fleeting nature of life
- Hamkheshi ba ekhlakh – respect to each other and towards creation
Integrating Zoroastrian features in our daily regimen:
- Getting up: thoughts to pass, 1 Ashem Vohu.
- In the toilet: fleeting nature of sensory illusions, eat the best, yet still excrete
- In the bath: water, its necessity – Ava Aredvi Sura
- Breakfast:
- Tea leaves: Khurshed-Meher
- Water: Ava Aredvi Sura
- Stove: Atash
- Which tea: Mah Bokhtar
- Biscuit or Toast: Khurshed/Meher/Ava/Atash/Mah Bokhtar
- Off to work
- Zoroastrian religion on what is work
- Relationships
- Why some relationships are full of friction
- Law of Keshash
- Salvation through work – no resigning
- Back home
- Wife and Kids
- Meaning of Khaetwodath
- Off to sleep
- Inevitability.
Closing remarks.
Click to download the mp3 file below: [96 minutes, 54 MB]
ERvad Marzban J. Hathiram
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