Ervad Dr.
Jehan Bagli
obtained a
Doctorate in
Medicinal
Chemistry
from the
University
of London,
and was the
director of
research at
the
Wyeth-Ayerst
Research
Laboratories
in
Princeton,
NJ until his
retirement.
He became an
ordained
Zoroastrian
priest at
age 14, and
established
the first
Zoroastrian
publication
in North
America "Gavashni"
in 1974.
This
publication
has since
become the
FEZANA
journal. Dr.
Bagli is an
accomplished
Zoroastrian
scholar and
researcher.
Cherishing
the
Ecosystem
Author,
Ervad Dr.
Jehan Bagli
The initial
declaration
of the
Principles
of Global
ethics
proclaimed
by the 1993
Parliament
of World’s
Religion
reads:
“The world
is in agony.
The agony is
so pervasive
and urgent
that we are
compelled to
name its
manifestations
so that the
depth of the
pain may be
made clear.
Peace eludes
us…the
planet is
being
destroyed…
neighbors
live in
fear….women
and men are
estranged
from each
other…children
die.
We condemn
the poverty
that stifles
life’s
potential;
the hunger
that weakens
the human
body; the
economic
disparities
that
threaten so
many with
ruin.
We condemn
the social
disarray of
the nations;
the
disregard
for justice
which pushes
citizens to
the margin;
the anarchy
overtaking
the
communities;
and the
insane death
of children
from
violence. In
particular
we condemn
aggression
and the
hatred in
the name of
religion.”
The above
declaration
of the late
20th
century,
reflects an
extraordinary
semblance to
the lament (Ys
29.1) of the
soul of
Universe (Gevush
Urvan)
in the
verbalization
of
Zarathushtra
some 4000
years ago.
In the
Gathic
scripture,
the soul of
the Universe
laments to
Ahura Mazda
about its
oppressed
state,
through
anger (aeshemo),
fury
(hazas),
outrage
(remo),
aggression
(deres),
and
rapine
(tevis),
and
pleads for
the calling
of a Divine
savior to
restore
order. The
above
affirmation
of the world
body,
clearly
reveals, the
likeness of
the misery
and the
anguish
prevailing
in the world
over an
exceptionally
long period
of time.
The above
scenario is
an
unequivocal
confirmation
that in the
long span of
four
millennia
little has
changed in
human
attitude
towards
their planet
and towards
the
fellowship
of human
brotherhood.
Today planet
earth
sustains
over six
billion
human
beings.
Lives are
snuffed out
by the
thousands,
from
Mozambique
to Somalia
through
starvation,
and from
ethnic
cleansing in
Europe to
conflicts in
the name of
religion and
freedom in
the Middle
East. The
disparity of
wealth
between ‘the
have’ and
‘the have
not’ feeds
fuel to the
fire of
indiscriminate
hatred and
terrorism.
One often
wonders if
it would
make any
difference
to the
leaders of
the world
community in
United
Nations and
to the world
in general,
what a
dwindling
group of
some 180,000
Zarathushtrians
have to say
about the
behavior of
human
towards
Nature and
its
ecosystem
that
sustains
them.
However,
what
Zarathushtis
have to say
only
chronicles
what the
first
prophet of
mankind, the
first Aryan
Manthran had
declared
then and is
equally
pertinent in
21st
century of
the present
day world.
Zarathushtra
in his
hymns, does
not discuss
specific
issues, he
does not
provide
direct
solutions to
precise
problems we
face in the
world today
for he is
oblivious to
them. The
words of
Asho
Zarathusht
are the
dictate to a
Righteous
way of life,
They are a
roadmap
that points
to the Path
of Asha,
the path of
purity and
cleanliness
in this
physical
world. He,
through his
inspirational
message
preaches the
mankind
TO THINK
and unravel
the meaning
implicit in
his words.
The aim of
Daena
Vanghui
the Good
Religion, is
to
appreciate
and hold
sacred, the
elements of
nature -
heavens,
water,
earth,
plant,
animal and
human, and
to use them
with
moderation
and
reverence.
The tenets
are
unequivocal
about never
to abuse
the
Nature
with excess,
or to
defile the
elements
with
pollution,
or to
diminish
them with
greed (Ys
32.3-5).
Today we see
wide spread
devastation
around, with
the acid
rain, the
greenhouse
effect, the
depletion of
ozone layer,
indiscriminate
deforestation
of plant
kingdom,
pollution of
our water
with
chemical
waste, and
wanton
contamination
of plant and
animal
habitat
through
thousands of
gallons of
oil spill
only because
of the
erroneous
judgment of
human
beings.
We are here
reminded of
the
reflections
of late
Prof. Carl
Sagan on a
meeting of
the “Global
Forum of
Spiritual
and
Parliamentary
Leaders”
held in
Moscow 1990,
when he
said, “
……there was
a general
consensus
that humans
have become
predators on
the
biosphere,
always
taking never
giving. ‘We
have not
inherited
the earth
from our
ancestors,
but have
borrowed it
from our
children”.
In bridging
creation and
religion the
professor
continues,
“…there is
nothing in
the
Judeo-Christian,
Muslim
tradition
that
approaches
the
cherishing
of nature as
in the
Hindu-Buddhist
tradition or
among Native
American.
Indeed both
western
religion and
science
assert that
nature
should not
be viewed as
sacred.” He
further
concedes
that , “ a
poignant
metaphor of
stewardship
has emerged
recently….
The idea
that humans
are the
caretakers
of the
earth, put
here for the
purpose and
accountable
now and into
the
indefinite
future, to
the
landlord.”
It is indeed
remarkable
that highly
reputed
astrophysicist
concludes,
on the
threshold of
21st
century
then, with
the words
that
essentially
resonates
the message
of the first
Prophet of
mankind.
Zarathushtra
initiates
his Gathic
hymns with
an appeal to
his God, for
“ the
support of
the Holy
Mentality/Spirit
(Spenta
Mainyu)
so I may
perform all
action in
consonance
with Thy
divine Law
of Asha, to
bring wisdom
to the Good
Mind, to
provide
solace to
the Soul of
the living
world.” (Ys
28.1).
Implicit in
the above
enduring
message is
the covenant
that the
soul of
human
creation
makes with
the Creator
to preserve
and protect
the creation
against all
adversities,
before
descending
to the
earth. This
is
documented
in the
Younger
Avestan Book
of Creation,
Bundahisn
(3.23-24).
Humans are
thus charged
with the
crucial
responsibility
to be the
stewards of
the
creation, to
help refresh
and renovate
Purity,
Righteousness
and
unconditional
Love in the
material
world, to
bring it in
close
proximity to
the
Spiritual
existence (Ys
30.9).
The Creation
myth of the
ancient
societies
reflect the
values that
have
developed in
their
interaction
with the
environment.
This is
particularly
true for the
Native
Indians of
North
America.
While these
values did
not converge
into the
worship of a
single deity
with Supreme
Wisdom;
their
fundamental
principal of
the unity
and
interconnectedness
of all
creation is
astonishingly
compatible
with the
primordial
Zarathushtrian
concept on
the one
hand, and
the modern
understanding
of the
emergence of
the Universe
on the
other. Their
reverence
for their
planet is
profoundly
expressed as
McDonagh
quotes Chief
Seattle of
Duwamish
Indians in
his book ‘To
Care for
Earth’
saying,
“ The rivers
are our
brothers,
they quench
our
thirst…the
air is
precious to
the red man,
for all
things share
the same
breath – the
beast, the
trees, and
the human”
The
traditions
that
followed
Zarathushtrian,
era,
apparently
had lost
this
profound
kinship with
Nature.
Western
church has
to some
degree lost
the global
vision of
the need for
harmony or
oneness in
the cosmos.
Harold
Oliver,
professor of
Philosophical
Theology at
Boston
university
says, “ The
awakening of
ecological
consciousness
in the 1960s
had an
immediate
effect on
theology,
because the
theorist of
the new
movement
laid the
primary
responsibility
for the
ecological
crisis at
the door of
Christianity
itself. It
was argued
that the
wanton
exploitation
of nature in
the name of
technological
progress was
rooted in
Judaeo-Christian
doctrine of
creation
which
mandated the
human
subduing of
the
earth.” It
was the
sermon of
Joseph
Sittler in
1964 on the
“The
Care of the
earth”
that
revealed to
a wider
public, the
enhanced
sense of
ecological
consciousness
which was
extrapolated
to an appeal
for a
renewed
theological
accountability
for the
natural
world.
In contrast
many earlier
traditions
such as the
Hindu,
Buddhist and
even
Platonic
secular
philosophy,
encouraged
renunciation
of the
material,
and path of
ascetic life
style as a
course to
spiritual
evolution.
We note that
in the
history of
our own
religion
when some
two thousand
years after
the time of
the Prophet,
in the early
Sasanian
era, rose
the prophet
Mani, an
Iranian of
Noble
Partian
descent, to
proclaim a
heterodoxy
that
amalgamated
Zoroastrianism
with the
fundamental
tenets of
Judaeo-Christian
and Gnostic
tradition.
He portrayed
his credence
for the
material
creation as
evil and
held that
the best
course for
mankind was
to lead a
gentle,
ascetic
life, dying
as a
celibate for
the
salvation of
their soul.
This was in
fundamental
violation to
the
Zarathushtrian
doctrine
which
declared a
life of
fullness
with
moderation
and care for
the
environment
through
Righteousness,
to evolve
spiritually
in harmony
with Nature.
Despite its
antiquity,
the teaching
of Asho
Zarathusht
in this
respect is
unique. He
postulated
that
spiritual
and physical
are the two
complements
of the
Single
Oneness
and
that it is
through the
preservation
and
protection
of the
material
world,
through
respect and
reverence
for the
Creation of
Ahura Mazda,
that humans
will attain
the
spiritual
perfection.
The view of
mankind in
covenant
with the
Creator,
assumes that
when humans
violate any
part of the
created
order –the
immutable
order of
Asha – it is
harmful to
the whole.
Depletion of
ozone layer
and the acid
rain are the
glaring
examples of
human
negligence
that has
markedly
perturbed
the order of
Nature.
Charles
McCoy in his
essay
Creation and
Covenant
elaborates
that:
“God makes
covenant in
creation
with the
whole of the
natural
order
(Jer.33.20-25).
Humanity is
created
within the
same
covenant of
creation, a
covenant
that Adam
breaks
beginning
the
faithlessness
of humans to
God
(Hos.6.7).
God upholds
the covenant
and makes
anew with
Noah, with
Abraham,
with Isaac
and with
Jacob.”
McCoy
further
develops an
understanding
of the
covenantal
theology and
ethics by
expressing
the process
of creation
historically
when he
says:
“ The world
created by
God ‘in the
beginning’
is not
complete,
but is
created in
process
towards
increasing
fulfillment
and towards
final
consummation.
Humanity as
a part of
this created
order is
also created
incomplete
and in
process
towards
further
growth and
towards
fulfillment.”
Writing in
the last
decade of
the 20th
century
McCoy is
inadvertently
reflecting a
paraphrase
of
Zarathushtrian
tenet. As
per the
Zarathushtrian
theology the
Universal
Mind in
consonance
with
the
Progressive/Holy
Mentality
first
created the
perfect
Spiritual
existence,
Mainyava
(Phl. Menog)
absolute in
purity,
absolute in
the order of
Truth,
perfect in
unconditional
Love,
compassion
and beyond
defilement.
Along the
same
pattern,
followed the
creation of
the other
complement -
the world of
actuality –
the
Gaethya
(Phl. Getig)
with one
exception.
Included
within the
corporeal
creation,
was the
pivotal
genesis of
mankind,
gifted with
the spark
of the
Divine -
the Good
Mind – and
endowed with
absolute
Freedom of
choice,
to be
exercised
with
moderation.
Mankind,
through the
benevolence
of the
Creator and
following
the
Spenta
Mainyu
must evolve
to
comprehend
the material
creation and
to preserve
it. Even
to an
average
intellect,
it is
apparent
that mankind
has
FAILED
MISERABLY
in their
mission to
link their
Good
Mind,
Freedom of
choice, and
Moderation
efficiently
and
effectively.
For if they
had the
state of the
world would
not be
unchanged
over 4000
years. It is
in the
misuse/abuse
of the Good
Mind –Vohu
Mananh
– that lies
at the very
basis of the
ethical
duality of
Good and
Evil that
has flawed
and
contaminated
the
otherwise
flawless
physical
creation.
The
challenge
that was put
to the
mankind by
Asho
Zarathusht,
and that
other
traditions
in recent
times has
come to
realize, is
to be the
Guardian,
the
Custodian;
not just of
the
creations
around but
first and
foremost of
the creation
within. Only
through the
recognition
of the
wholeness,
only through
spiritual
harmony of
mind and
body within,
that human
can progress
spiritually
to
effectively
combat the
pollution,
of the
cosmic waste
without.
Mankind in
general,
over time is
unfailingly
caught up in
a race of
greed and
ego,
terminating
in mistrust
and
distortion.
Though many
are unaware
of
Zarathushtra’s
primal
message,
those who
should be
conscious
have largely
forgotten
the
fundamental
objective of
his tenets.
The Make of
car, size of
Bank account
and footage
of the
Living area,
has become
the markers
for judging
of prestige.
While
nothing is
wrong with
all of the
above, as
the tenets
uniquely
endorse a
full life,
these
markers
engender a
potent
malaise of
the
spiritual,
when these
material
excesses,
become ends
in
themselves.
In order for
human to
acknowledge
the
wholeness
and
interdependence
with their
universe, it
is a
prerequisite,
that one
identifies
first, with
oneness of
the body and
mind, of the
physical
with the
spiritual,
in the
little
‘world’
within
oneself.
This can
then serve
as the focal
point for
convergence
to perceive
the Spirit
in the world
at large.
What brings
an
environment
of harmony
within – a
Microcosmic
Haurvatat
-will lead
to harmony
with the
environment
without –the
Macrocosmic
Haurvatat.
In this year
of the
UNESCO
celebration
of
anniversary
of
Zarathushtra
it is
perfectly
congruous to
say that the
teachings
of the
Prophet
“ to live in
harmony
interconnected
within the
human
brotherhood
and through
it with the
universe as
a whole”
are as fresh
and as
relevant NOW
as they were
THEN,
when he
taught them
some four
Millennia
ago. As
Rabindranath
Tagore said:
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