To extend the RA thread (http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9601288.0), here is something else
Source http//forum09.faithfreedom.org/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=8562
I love religions, in general, I dont know why, maybe I like God, maybe I dont, maybe I love knowledge, or maybe my soul yearns for it. So I did some research, and took my mind thousands and thousands of years back, and I found myself in a strange place, within a strange religion.
I stepped into a bright sunny day; it was the year 1900 BCE, in the second millennium. I saw a man, Im sure he was holy, because he was preaching, and there were people surrounding him. They called him Zoroaster, and his religion was Zoroastrianism. They worshiped a great Supreme Being and Creator called Ahura Mazda.
The mans name was Zoroaster, from what I heard from the locals, and he claimed that he had a vision one day at the age of 30. His story was that he went into the Daiti River to draw water for a Haoma ceremony. His vision was that he saw a shining figure, which led him to the presence of Ahura Mazda. In there, he was taught the cardinal principles of the Good Religion. As a result of this vision that he had, he felt that he was chosen to spread and preach the religion. But the people of that vicinity worshiped many gods called daevas, along with three other greater gods, each bearing the title Ahura. Zoroaster proclaimed that only one of these three gods, Ahura Mazda was the sole uncreated creator of the universe, and the Supreme Being.
So I stayed a while to see what would happen, and after some time, his idea of his new found vision did not take off very well, he had only one follower, and that was his cousin Maidhyoimanha. The local religious authorities opposed all his ideas. They felt that their own faiths, power, and particularly their rituals, were threatened because Zoroaster taught against over-ritualizing religious ceremonies. Many ordinary people did not like Zoroaster's downgrading of the Daevas (other gods) to evil spirits.
After 12 years, Zoroaster left his home to find somewhere more open to new ideas. He found such a place in the country of King Vishtaspa (in Bactria). The King and his queen, Hutosa, heard Zoroaster debating with the religious leaders of his land, and decided to accept Zoroaster's ideas and make them the official religion of their kingdom. I saw this religion grow within my own eyes, and I observed all the rituals that they performed. I asked, what is this new religions core belief? The local followers told me with great enthusiasm as if they wanted to convert me. You see, in Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is the beginning and the end, the creator of everything that can and cannot be seen, the Eternal, the Pure and the only Truth. They also informed me that he had a holy text called Gathas, the most sacred texts of Zoroastrianism that was composed by Zoroaster himself, the prophet acknowledged devotion to no other divinity besides Ahura Mazda.
The true final religion and they worshiped one supreme God. So I watched them pray, and they were very devoted in their ritual prayers. The Zoroastrians did prayers 5 times a day, and they called it "Geh". The devotee was summoned by a ringing of a bell in the AtashBehram / Agiary. (a Holy fire temple)
Their first prayers started at Dawn called, Havaan
Their second prayers started at noon called, Rapithwan
Their third prayer started in the afternoon, called Uziren
Their fourth prayer started in the evening, called Aiwisuthrem
And a final last prayer was at Night time, called Ushaen.
I saw each Zoroastrian entering the Agiary, he had his head covered, he would washed his face and limbs and performs the Padyaab Kusti before doing his prayers. I was amazed at their punctual rituals. Their prayers were recited in Avesta, or they also had a choice to recite in Pazend only (A Middle Persian language). In fact, in the Aveatan prayers, the Pazend portions had to be recited in an undertone so as not to break the seamless flow of Avestan Manthravani (beautiful Chanting).
I also noticed that the direction they would pray varied depending on the times of prayers. When they prayed in the morning, they all had faced east, at noon, they faced south, at sunset, they faced west, and at night, they all faced an oil lamb. But they never prayed in the direction of north, and they never prayed in the bathroom. Their physical rituals included both kneeling down and touching the forehead to the ground.
A particular time came upon them on a holy month called Bahman. In Zoroastrianism the month of Bahman was to abstain from flesh. I also heard some locals talking about the great event that their new prophet had, that the glowing entity that he saw was Bahman Ameshsaspand. Bahman Ameshaspand led him to the Court of Ahura Mazda where he beheld the Lord Supreme and the luminous Amesha Spentas(great six "divine sparks" of Ahura Mazda.). They revealed to Zarathustra what each of them protected. It was a journey into heaven and he also had visited hell.
He also saw a bridge, The Chinvat Bridge "bridge of judgment" or "beam-shaped bridge", the Zoroastrianism idea of the bridge is that it separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. All souls must cross the bridge upon death.
They told me that if a person had been wicked, this bridge would appear narrow and the demon Vizaresh would emerge and drag their soul into the druj-demana (the House of Lies), a place of eternal punishment and suffering. However, if a person's has good thoughts, words and deeds in their life, the bridge would be wide enough to cross, and the Daena, a spirit representing revelation, would appear and lead the soul into the House of Song.
The prophet Zoroaster also warned his followers of this obstacle towards heaven, but he promised to lead his flock safely across. I also noticed that they were very clean; each Zoroastrian believed that cleanliness was indeed close to godliness. They kept clean with ritualized bathing and washing, it was just a part of a daily routine, but it was also a routine for the different gahs / gehs, or even divisions of the day as it went along. When a person was contaminated in some fashion - then a further process of purification was also prescribed.
They also told me that the best time to pray was to recite prayers between 3 AM and 36 minutes before sunrise. During that time, magnetism in air is neutralized and nature is clean and to receive the best of the best vibrations like the Avesta Manthravaani.
I asked them, whats happened after one you die? And they told me that each Zoroastrian spirit leaves the body, but remains in its vicinity for three days and nights, suffering from temporary anxiety and distress caused by the sudden separation. During this period, the archangel Vohuman and Mithra prepare an account of the good works and the sins of the soul, to be used later to decide its fate in the spiritual world. On the third night the soul leaves the material world and enters into the spiritual world, led by an angel called Daena (who symbolically represents conscience). There it stands before the Chinawad or Chinavat Bridge or the Bridge of Judgment, where the deeds of the souls are reviewed.
Good souls are led to the Paradise and evil souls are led to the world of punishment. The journey of the souls who are destined to go to the heaven is made pleasant by the angels, where as the sinners go through an agonizing experience as they will be forcibly pushed towards hell. The souls will remain in their respective abodes till the end of the current cycle of time. At the end of it there will be a Judgment Day, when God will revive all the dead souls and review their actions once again.
After a while, I decided to leave, and left them in their ways of life, their rituals, and their belief. I, as an observer, only came for knowledge, and that knowledge I will take with me for the future and tell my children that, Once upon a time, a great Prophet was born thousands of years ago in a hot dry land. They were a people Indo Iranian stock, and spoke a beautiful language that seemed to rhyme when they chanted; it was called Indo-Iraninan. And they worshiped a great God, a Supreme Being, and slowly, my children will fall fast asleep into a world full dreams, and enchantment.
From an ex-Muslim
