Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Zarathustra, Zoroastrianism & Balkh (6th C. BC)

**************************

Click Here to View the Main Index

Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

**************************

"It was from Bactria that came prophet Zarathustra (Zardasht)."....http://www.afghan-network.net/Culture/old_balkh.html

Ferdowsi's Shahnameh tells us that King Vishtasp was King of Balkh at the time of Zoroaster....Dates proposed in scholarly literature diverge widely, between the 18th and the 6th centuries BCE.....Controversy over Zarathuštra's date has been an embarrassment of long standing to Zoroastrian studies. If anything approaching a consensus exists, it is that he lived no later than 1000 BC, give or take a century or so, though reputable scholars have proposed dates as widely apart as 1750 BC and '258 years before Alexander.'" (Encyclopedia Iranica)

Vishtaspa (Vištāspa) is the Avestan-language name of a figure of Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, portrayed as an early follower of Zoroaster, and his patron, and instrumental in the diffusion of the prophet's message. Although Vishtaspa is not epigraphically attested, he is – like Zoroaster also – generally assumed to have been a historical figure (and would have lived in the 10th (?) century BCE or earlier….the Gathas celebrate Vishtaspa as the "patron of Zoroaster and the establisher of the first Zoroastrian community."….

"Zarathustra and his followers wandered until they found a sympathetic friend in King Vishtaspa, who was not the father of King Darius but an earlier ruler of the same name, who may have lived in eastern Iran or in Bactria, modern Afghanistan. There, Zarathushtra won over the king, and his court, and became the court prophet."....http://www.pyracantha.com/Z/zardusht.html

"Zoroaster's teachings were incorporated into the prayers of Zoroastrians, which they call the Avesta, collected and written down in about the fifth century AD, probably from earlier versions. The verses containing Zoroaster's teachings in poetic form are known as gathas, and are composed in an archaic language similar and comparable in age to the language of the Rig Veda from India. Some scholars date the gathas to the second millennium BC, which may be an indication of Zoroaster's antiquity, though this is contested by others. Most Zoroastrians are content to believe that their religion was in existence at least by the time of the Achaemenids (Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes and others, sixth to fourth centuries BC), who are generally accepted as having been followers of Zoroaster."......http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/22-1_109.pdf

"In English, an adherent of the faith commonly refers to himself or herself as a Zoroastrian or as a Zarathustrian. An older, but still widespread expression is Behdin, meaning "follower of Daena", for which "Good Religion" is one translation. In the Zoroastrian liturgy, the term Behdin is also used as a title for an individual who has been formally inducted into the religion in a Navjote ceremony.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism

Anahita was perhaps "a daeva of the early and pure Zoroastrian faith, incorporated into the Zoroastrian religion and its revised canon" during the reign of "Artaxerxes I, the Constantine of that faith."......Artaxerxes I (Persian: اردشیر یکم‎, Old Persian: Artaxšaça, "whose rule (xšaça < *xšaϑram) is through arta (truth)"; was the fifth king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire of Iran from 465 BCE to 424 BCE. He was the son of Xerxes I of Persia and Amestris, daughter of Otanes. He may have been the "Artasyrus" mentioned by Herodotus as being a Satrap of the royal satrapy of Bactria.

"In Zoroastrian tradition, life is a temporary state in which a mortal is expected to actively participate in the continuing battle between truth and falsehood. Prior to being born, the urvan (soul) of an individual is still united with its fravashi (guardian spirit), and which have existed since Mazda created the universe. During life, the fravashi acts as a guardian and protector. On the fourth day after death, the soul is reunited with its fravashi, in which the experiences of life in the material world are collected for the continuing battle in the spiritual world. For the most part, Zoroastrianism does not have a notion of reincarnation, at least not until the final renovation of the world. Followers of Ilm-e-Kshnoom in India believe in reincarnation and practice vegetarianism, two principles unknown to Orthodox Zoroastrianism."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism

"There is also a tradition that Dzogchen,and Padmasambhava, come from a place called Oddiyana in Shamballa. Texts from this same Tun huang site identify Oddiyana as "Shamis en Balkh" in modern day Balkh, Afghanistan where many ruins, Buddhist stupas and monasteries exist. This is the town oft associated with Padmasambhava, and Rabia and Rumi as well. Although Padmasambhava is usually thought to be Indian, it is possible that he is from the Afghanistan region also associated with his name.

"The Bundahishn is the concise view of the Zoroastrianism's creation myth, and of the first battles of the forces of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu for the hegemony of the world. According to the text, in the first 3,000 years of the cosmic year, Ahura Mazda created the Fravashis and conceived the idea of his would-be creation. He used the insensible and motionless Void as a weapon against Angra Mainyu, and at the end of that period, Angra Mainyu was forced to submission and fell into a stupor for the next 3,000 years. Taking advantage of Angra Mainyu's absence, Ahura Mazda created the Amesha Spentas (Bounteous Immortals), representing the primordial elements of the material world, and permeated his kingdom with Ard (Asha), "Truth" in order to prevent Angra Mainyu from destroying it. The Bundahishn finally recounts the creation of the primordial bovine, Ewagdad (Avestan Gavaevodata), and Gayomard (Avestan Gayomaretan), the primordial human. "....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundahishn

Elevated/raised is Persian bala and sham is Persian candle. ...CANDLE (Pers.-Ar. šamʿ). The Arabic word (Ar. also šamaʿ) literally means “beeswax” (Ebn Manẓūr; Dehḵodā), for which Persian uses mūm (Dehḵodā, Moʾīn, s.v.).

Balkh was referred to as the “Mother of Cities” and the “Elevated Candle” (Sham-i-Bala) and it was in Balkh that the great Prophet Zoroaster was born. It is said he is also interred there, according to the Persian poet Firdousi. For many years, Balkh was the central hub of the Zoroastrian religion.

It was from Bactria that came prophet Zarathustra (Zardasht). Another source of spiritual home that made Bactria sacred was a great temple of the ancient goddess Anahid, or Anailtis- Tanata in Persian and Ananita in the Avesta hymns. The temple was so rich that often it attracted the needy Syrian kings who sat out to plunder it. In her name and honor, in Armemia, girls prostituted themselves. Anaitis was a Scythian goddess, but she is identified also as Assyrian Mylitta, the Arabian Alytta and the Greek Venus Urania. Artaxerxes Mnemon of the Sassanids was among her devotees. She is also associated with the Persian Mithra. Her association with Zoroaster adds to her popularity.

Zurathustra Spitama was born probably at Raghae or Rai, in Media Atropatene; and he belonged to the tribe of Magu who had acquired a monopoly in religious functions. It is probably Zorothustra who changes the religion of the Iranians from the old Aryan to the Zuroasthuran.By this time, the language also changed. Iranians held the fire sacred and stopped burning their dead, instead they exposed the dead to the birds. Out of the old religion came new practices, for example, holding some animals [like the dog] sacred and punish people severely for harming them. Also minute rituals were created around new practices. Lastly, the existence of a dualism in Nature appeared. They explained Evil as the work of Ahrimen, Anhra Mainyn, the prince of Darkness and the lord of the Hosts of Devas [this may have been acquired from contact with Semitic people]. The legend is that Zarathustra appeared during the reign of Gustasap at"Bactra the beautiful, city of the high - streaming banner". Zarathustra's wife's family were very influential in the Royal court, that helped Zarathustra spread his religion. Hence, Bactria became the heart of the new creed. According to Firdousi. Zarathustra was killed by an invading Scythian party in front of his fire-altar, in Balkh.

"Just to the west of Zhang-zhung there once existed the vast Kushana empire ....... an area in which Indian Buddhism and the Bon teachings interacted with various strands of the great Iranian and Central Asian religions-- Zoroastrian, Zurvanist, Mithraist, Manichean, as well as Indian Shaivism and Nestorian Christianity.......

When Zoroaster died, his sperm was miraculously preserved in Iran’s . When the time arrives, the sperm will impregnate a girl who is swimming there, and she will give birth to three sons. The first will be Ukhshyat-ereta ("He who makes righteousness grow"); later he will be called Hoshedarmah. One millennium later, Ukhshyat-nemah ("He who makes reverence grow") will be born, to be followed 1,000 years later by Astavat-ereta ("Righteous world"), who will oversee the end of time.

Saoshyant is a figure of Zoroastrian eschatology who brings about the final renovation of the world, the Frashokereti. The Avestan language name literally means "one who brings benefit," and is also used as common noun.

ASURA worshipping.....In the Gathas, the oldest hymns of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, the poet exhorts his followers to pay reverence to only the ahuras (avestan/Asura), and to rebuff the daevas(avestan/deva) and others who act "at Lie's command". This should not however be construed to reflect a view of a primordial opposition: Although the daevas would in later Zoroastrian tradition appear as malign creatures, in the Gathas the daevas are (collectively) gods that are to be rejected. (see daeva for details)...This reversal of the Hindu view of devas and asuras is very important and relates back to the split that occurred about 1500 BC....The Rigden Kings of Shambhala are referred to as Asura .....

"Avestan ahura derives from Indo-Iranian *asura, also attested in an Indian context as RigVedic asura. As suggested by the similarity to the Old Norse æsir, Indo-Iranian *asura may have an even earlier Indo-European root. It is commonly supposed that Indo-Iranian *Asura was the proper name of a specific divinity, with whom other divinities were then identified. For not altogether obvious reasons, the Oxford English Dictionary lists asura, rather than ahura, as a Zoroastrian term.

In the Gathas, the oldest hymns of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, the poet exhorts his followers to pay reverence to only the ahuras, and to rebuff the daevas and others who act "at Lie's command". This should not however be construed to reflect a view of a primordial opposition: Although the daevas would in later Zoroastrian tradition appear as malign creatures, in the Gathas the daevas are (collectively) gods that are to be rejected.

Boyce, Mary (1975), A History of Zoroastrianism
Dhalla, Maneckji Nusservanji (1938), History of Zoroastrianism

AMU DARYA...upper valleys of the Pamirs enabled Zoroastrian pockets to survive up to the present times...

under the Sassanian Dynasty when Zoroastrianism was declared the state religion of the empire in 224 AD. Under instruction from the highly influential Mobad (High Priest) Kartir, Buddhists were persecuted and Buddhist temples were burnt down. However, contrary to popular belief amongst scholars, there exists very strong evidence to suggest that around the same time, practising Buddhist communities continued to exist in places such as Sistan (where the aforementioned Saka steppe tribe eventually settled), Baluchestan and Khorasan.

Kusti - is the sacred girdle worn by Zoroastrians around their waists. Along with the Sedreh (Sudra), the Kushti is part of the ritual dress of the Zoroastrians....The Kôstî, which must be worn by every Parsi, man or woman, from their fifteenth year of age (see below, § 54 seq.); it is the badge of the faithful, the girdle by which he is united both with Ormazd and with his fellow believers. He who does not wear it must be refused water and bread by the members of the community; he who wears it becomes a participator in the merit of all the good deeds performed all over the Zarathustrian world (Saddar 10 and 46; Hyde 10 and 50). The Kôstî consists 'of seventy-two interwoven filaments, and should three times circumvent the waist. . . . Each of the threads is equal in value to one of the seventy-two Hâhs of the Izashnê; each of the twelve threads in the six lesser cords is equal in value to the dawâzdih hamâist . . .; each of the lesser cords is equal in value to one of the six Gahanbârs; each of the three circumventions of the loins is equal in value to humat, good thought, hukhat, good speech, huaresta, good work; the binding of each of the four knots upon it confers pleasure on each of the four elements, fire, air, water, and the earth' (Edal Daru, apud Wilson, The Parsi Religion Unfolded, p. 163). In the Brahmanical system also the faithful are bound to their god by means of a sacred girdle, the Mekhalâ......Another piece of clothing which every Parsi is enjoined to wear is the Sadarah, or sacred shirt, a muslin shirt with short sleeves, that does not reach lower than the hips, with a small pocket at the opening in front of the shirt (see § 54 seq.)

Ephedra is a type of plant that ancient Zorastrians used to create a ritual drink that allowed them to hallucinate and get closer to God. It may well be that the tube was used in some pre- Zorastrial ritual involving ephedra. Ephedra has medicinal factors. (http://www.crystalinks.com/firstasians.html)

In Zoroastrian tradition, life is a temporary state in which a mortal is expected to actively participate in the continuing battle between truth and falsehood. Prior to being born, the urvan (soul) of an individual is still united with its fravashi (guardian spirit), and which have existed since Mazda created the universe. During life, the fravashi acts as a guardian and protector. On the fourth day after death, the soul is reunited with its fravashi, in which the experiences of life in the material world are collected for the continuing battle in the spiritual world. For the most part, Zoroastrianism does not have a notion of reincarnation, at least not until the final renovation of the world. Followers of Ilm-e-Kshnoom in India believe in reincarnation and practice vegetarianism, two principles unknown to Orthodox Zoroastrianism.[8]

According to Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, it was during this middle period of Aryan history that Zarathushtra (in later language, Zardhusht) carried his message to the kingdom of Bakhdhi.... One latter tradition informs us that Zarathushtra established himself and died in Balkh. Some authors conclude that in addition to Bakhdhi / Balkh being one of the areas of Zarathushtra's ministry, that he was also born in Bakhdhi / Balkh. The Avesta, however, states that Zarathushtra was born in Airyana Vaeja (cf. his father's house was in Airyana Vaeja), and the Vendidad lists Airyana Vaeja and Bakhdhi as separate nations, Airyana Vaeja being the first and Bakhdhi the fourth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi .....During the 6th century BC, Zoroastrianism spread to the land of the Medes, but did not become dominant because already in place was an indigenous and powerful religion preceding Zoroastrianism. Later, when Zoroastrianism gained strength, those who remained faithful to the old religion were called "Deva Yasna," by the Zoroastrians meaning the "Slaves of Dev". According to a number of Kurdish researchers, with some variations "Deva Yasna" has survived among the Kurds.

Much of the pre-Zoroastrian Iranian Mithra in terms of how he was worshipped by the Iranians is little known. It is known that Mithra boasted a considerable following; there are indications that he was attributed elements of a sky god - he was associated with the sun, altho not equated with it, and was termed the 'god of light' - and was often invoked with other high gods, such as Ahura, who at that time bore a prominent although non-universal position. The Mitra counterpart in India played an amorphous part along with the other gods (Varuna, Indra, Agni, Vishnu, et cetera) such that even as the Rig Veda, one of Hinduism's holy books, classifies its 33 gods (a number which constantly increases with time) into 3 classes: celestial, aerial, and terrestrial, the gods constantly are found to overlap their jurisdictions. From the etymology of the name Mitra/Mithra it can hypothesized that the god was one of contracts, perhaps, a spiritual moral contract as we find the fussion of Mitra and Varuna into Mitra-Varuna as a deity of moral integrity. Unfortunately, as the Zoroastrian reformation of the Iranian Pantheon occurred centuries later, the gods would be drastically re-ordered into a new henotheistic heirarchy, and as such, except for glimpses of possible remnants of more ancient beliefs in the Avesta, little else can be gleaned concerning this primitive Mithra.

The Magi are popularly referred to as wise men and kings. The word magi is the plural of Latin magus, borrowed from Greek μάγος magos, as used in the original Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew. Greek magos itself is derived from Old Persian maguŝ from the Avestan magâunô, i.e. the religious caste into which Zoroaster was born, (see Yasna 33.7: "ýâ sruyê parê magâunô " = " so I can be heard beyond Magi "). The term refers to the priestly caste of Zoroastrianism.[6] As part of their religion, these priests paid particular attention to the stars, and gained an international reputation for astrology, which was at that time highly regarded as a science. Their religious practices and use of astrology caused derivatives of the term Magi to be applied to the occult in general and led to the English term magic.

......"as the birthplace of Zarathustra.......By the late 20th century, most scholars had settled on an origin in Eastern Iran and/or Afghanistan. Gnoli proposed Sistan (though in a much wider scope than the present-day province) as the homeland of Zoroastrianism; Frye voted for Bactria and Chorasmia; Khlopin suggests the Tedzen Delta in present-day Turkmenistan. Sarianidi considered the BMAC region as "the native land of the Zoroastrians and, probably, of Zoroaster himself." Boyce includes the steppes to the west from the Volga. The medieval "from Media" hypothesis is no longer taken seriously, and Zaehner has even suggested that this was a Magi-mediated issue to garner legitimacy, but this has been likewise rejected by Gershevitch and others.

Pagans prior to Islam would pray five times per day ......Zoroastrians are also expected to recite their (kusti) prayers at least five times a day having first cleansed themselves by washing (ablution). So even today, this is not a practice unique to Islam. But, contrary to the Muslims, they pray in the direction of the Sun (at each time of the day) and/or of the Holy Fire (if they are in a Fire Temple).

The Parsi religion is popularly called Zoroastrian after the Greek version of the name of the prophet Zarathushtra (zarat, like Sanskrit harit, golden; ushtra, Sanskrit or Old Persian for camel) who has been variously estimated to have lived either around the time 1200 BC or perhaps half a millennium later. A Greek tradition assigns him to an age 258 years prior to Alexander, that is the 6th century BC. (Ernst Herzfeld in his Zoroaster and His World has argued for the later date in contrast to the earlier date by Mary Boyce in her History of Zoroastrianism. In my judgment, Herzfeld's arguments are stronger.) The name by which the Zoroastrians call their own religion is Mazdayasna, the religion of Ahura Mazda (Sanskrit medha, wisdom). The Rigveda 8.6.10 has the expression medhaam ritasya, "wisdom of truth."....Zarathushtra presented his religion as rival to the religion of the daevas, that is Daevayasna. Zarathushtra came from Bactria in northeast Iran, near Afghanistan. The Avesta speaks of several lands that include the Sapta-Sindhu (that is the Sindhu-Sarasvati region). The scripture of the Zoroastrians is the Avesta. It includes the Yasna (Sanskrit Yajna) with the Gathas of Zarathushtra, Videvdat or Vendidad (Vi-daeva-dat, anti-Daeva), and Yasht (Sanskrit Yajat, worship), which are hymns for worship. During the Sasanian period the Avesta was translated into Pahlavi and this version is called Zend Avesta.......It has been assumed for some time that the daevas of the Mazda faith are the same as the Vedic devas and therefore Zarathushtra inverted the deva-asura dichotomy of the Vedic period. In reality, the situation is more complex and the Vedic and the Zarathushtrian systems are much less different than is generally supposed.......From Kashmir, which belongs square within the Vedic world, comes crucial evidence regarding a three-way division consisting of devas, asuras, and daevas. The scheme reflects the three fundamental gunas of Indian thought: sattva, rajas, and tamas....
Deva, or devata (sattva): power related to understanding
Asura (rajas): power related to activity
Daeva (tamas): power related to acquisitiveness
Kashmiri folklore is full of tales where daevas are counterpoints to devas and asuras. Sometimes the term rakshasa is used as a synonym for daeva. This term rakshasa occurs very frequently in Sanskrit literature. The word rakshas appears in the Rigveda, the Aitareya Brahmana and it is also considered equivalent to Nirriti. The rakshasa form of marriage is the violent seizure or rape of a girl after the defeat or destruction of her relatives.......It is entirely possible that the term daeva came into Kashmir late as a result of the immigration of Persians. It is equally possible that the term has been current in Kashmir from ancient times and its usage there parallels that by Zarathushtra from the nearby Bactria"......http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/connections/Vedic-Iran.php

"Darius was an adherent of Zoroastrianism[34] or at least a firm believer in Ahura Mazda. As can be seen at the Behistun Inscription, Darius believed that Ahura Mazda had appointed him to rule the Achaemenid Empire. Darius had dualistic convictions and believed that each rebellion in his kingdom was the work of druj, the enemy of Asha. Darius believed that because he lived righteously by Asha, Ahura Mazda supported him. In many cuneiform inscriptions denoting his achievements, he presents himself as a devout believer, perhaps even convinced that he had a divine right to rule over the world. In the lands that were conquered by his empire, Darius followed the same Achaemenid tolerance that Cyrus had shown and later Achaemenid emperors would show. He supported faiths and religions that were "alien" as long as the adherents were submissive and peaceable, sometimes giving them grants from his treasury for their purposes.[37] He had funded the restoration of the Jewish temple which had originally been decreed by Cyrus the Great, presented favour towards Greek cults which can be seen in his letter to Gadatas, and supported Elamite priests. He had also observed Egyptian religious rites related to kingship and had built the temple for the Egyptian God, Amun.".....Shahbazi, Shapur (1996), "Darius I the Great", Encyclopedia Iranica, 7,

"The spread to India is a modern deal. Zoroastrianism is an 18k yr old Persian deal. Zarathustra was really from Western Afghanistan. ....Also there is an exoteric and esoteric Zoroastrianism. This is the only other account of a historical figure to have lived 18k years ago. From the same place and time. There was no other religious movement at that period. Just think. Ahura Mazda means Wisdom Light.....There are so many similarities with the story of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche. It's very interesting.".....http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=10002&start=0

".....wandered until they found a sympathetic friend in King Vishtaspa, who was not the father of King Darius but an earlier ruler of the same name, who may have lived in eastern Iran or in Bactria, modern Afghanistan. There, Zarathushtra won over the king, and his court, and became the court prophet. Zarathushtra is said to have had six children, three boys and three girls. This is not exact information, since the number and gender equals that of the six Amesha Spentas and may be only symbolic. But the last Gatha is composed for the marriage of Zarathushtra's daughter Pouruchista (Full of Wisdom) so he is known to have had at least one child. Zarathushtra, in the legends, had three wives (in sequence) of whom the last was Hvovi (Good Cattle) the daughter of King Vishtaspa's prime minister. Thus Zarathushtra married into the king's court; Pouruchista, in turn, married the prime minister.....There is no exact or provable information about Zarathushtra's life at court, though it may be assumed that it was here that he composed the Gathas, and the names of king and court appear in the poetry as if, in oral recitation, they were there listening to him. The prophet may have spent almost three decades there, before his death at age 77......http://www.pyracantha.com/Z/zardusht.html

"One of the controversies about Zarathushtra concerns whether he was a priest. He did not live in a religious vacuum, but was born into a society that practiced the polytheistic rites of ancient Indo-Iranian religion. This religion already had a well-developed system of priesthood and service. In one verse of the Gathas (Y,33, 6) Zarathushtra calls himself a "zaota" which in later Zoroastrian usage is the word for officiating priest. The word, though, literally means "invoker" and both Taraporewala and Jafarey translate it simply, claiming that Zarathushtra never meant to call himself a priest. It is very possible that Zarathushtra, if not a priest, had priestly training (how else would he know the highly technical spiritual language found in the Gathas, as well as the ability to compose philosophical/religious poetry?). Other Zoroastrians, including more traditionally minded ones, say that Zarathushtra was indeed a priest and the first of the millennia-old tradition of Zoroastrian ritualizing priesthood."..........http://www.pyracantha.com/Z/zardusht.html

"Unlike Mohammed's recitation of the Koran, the Gathas of Zarathushtra are not "channeled" - that is, the Gathas are regarded as the inspired composition of a poet-prophet rather than a text dictated by a heavenly being. Zarathushtra was inspired by God, through the Bounteous Immortals of Vohu Manah, Asha, and the others - but he was not a passive recipient of the divine wisdom. In accordance with Zoroastrian philosophy, he reached God through his own effort simultaneously with God's communication to him.".............http://www.pyracantha.com/Z/zardusht.html

"Ever since ancient Greek times the name of Zoroaster has stood for mysterious Eastern wisdom. In Hellenistic times many esoteric and magical texts were written using his name (though none of those texts had anything to do with the real Zarathushtra) and Zoroaster was thought of as one of the greatest magicians. Once the Avesta had been brought to the West in the 18th century, his name again became famous in the West - this time not for magic, but for the humanistic, monotheistic, moral philosophy found in the Gathas. Enlightenment philosophers such as Kant and Diderot mentioned him as a model; the playwright Voltaire wrote a play called "Zoroastre." Here was a philosopher from "pagan" antiquity who was monotheistic and moral without any help from the Christian Church! The French composer Rameau wrote an opera called "Zoroastre" and the free-thinking Mozart used a variant of the name for his character Sarastro in "The Magic Flute;" Sarastro is the priest of the Sun and Light who defeats the Queen of the Night. In the 20th century Nietszche was inspired by Zarathushtra's example when expounding his philosophy in THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSHTRA, though there is no identifiable Zoroastrian teaching in the Nietszche work. The German composer Richard Strauss, inspired by the Nietzsche work, wrote the tone-poem of the same name, which became famous in the 1960s as the theme for the Stanley Kubrick film 2001 - A SPACE ODYSSEY............http://www.pyracantha.com/Z/zardusht.html

**************************

Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….November 2012

**************************

No comments:

Post a Comment