ZARATHUSHTRA'S WORK: The Gathas - Song 4

Each stanza of this song contains the translation in italics, a brief commentary, and a closing thought to ponder.  

Try reading on stanza each day and pondering upon its meaning.

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ON GUIDANCE

Contemplate deeply each stanza over the next week.

Song 4.1 (Yasna 31.1)

Keeping the two principles of Yours in mind,

we shall teach the hitherto unheard words 

to those who destroy the righteous world 

by their wrongful doctrines.  

No doubt, the two principles will prove the best for those 

who are devoted to the Wise One. 

With the two principles of Good and Evil in view, Zarathushtra and his companions embark on teaching an entirely new doctrine, never heard before. The teachings are particularly meant for those who prove destructive to the life based on righteousness. For those who are already on the right track, the two principles should prove highly useful.

The Zarathushtrian Doctrine is novel, it leads to progress by steps, and aims to guide the wrongful toward the Laws of Existence; it reaffirms that the ethical are on the right path.

The Role of Water in Physical and Mental Health

As an advocate for maintaining balance between our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies, I have come to understand the importance of ensuring that our bodies receive enough pure and clean water.

Looking back…. as a child and adolescent I was not aware that water was an option as a drink!  I, as well as my siblings were raised on tea, hot and cold, and occasionally soda.  Mom, being from England, introduced us to tea, and it became a part of our culture.  Little did I realize until much later in life the outcomes of being “dehydrated”.

An article written by Peter Ragnar (a natural life scientist, Taoist, and Self-Master, and Author) had gotten my attention.

This article was titled: "Your’re Not Demented, Just Dehydrated"

"Sleeps Unaware of the Clarion Call…"

Are you familiar with this line from an old song?  After 60 years of listening to the song I received some new insight that makes it more meaningful for me in this era.  

I will conclude with the song, but first let me share the insights with you by paraphrasing the song and its insights.  Then when you watch the song at the end it may help you to become more awake.

The medieval version of this song was about two lovers who had broken up and now set impossible tasks for each other in order to express the impossibility of their reconciliation. Woven into the modern lyrics is a second set of lyrics to make a striking counter point. So this song is actually two songs sung at the same time.

Let’s break down one interpretation of this song.

AI and Critical Thinking

We have arrived at a world where AI is increasingly becoming a valued productivity tool. It is often prioritized for its ability to create large amounts of content in a rapid and polished manner, for now entire books can be "created" (really just amalgamated: a mixture of different elements united into one) in minutes rather than days, weeks, or years. The important question is what happens when AI becomes so common that nobody notices it anymore?

AI is making the creation of content cheaper, faster and easier to produce. Yet as more information is produced it may rapidly evolve into more noise (something that lacks an agreeable quality, that is undesired or interferes with one's understanding, is disturbing, irrelevant or meaningless.). The more that content is amalgamated the more probable that at some point it becomes noise. 

The only reliable signal in a world flooded with noise is human judgment.  

The value of human work is shifting. The skills that will most matter won't any longer be typing, drafting, or generating information, they will be judgment, creativity, and the ability to recognize what is worth paying attention to. You know, WISDOM! The subject matter of this blog and one of the chief pursuits of Divine Science University (DSU). 

ZARATHUSHTRA'S WORK: The Gathas - Song 3

Each stanza of this song contains the translation in italics, a brief commentary, and a closing thought to ponder.  

Try reading on stanza each day and pondering upon its meaning.

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Of Beneficence and Harmfulness (Good and Evil)

Song 3.1 (Yasna 30.1)

Now I shall speak to those who wish to hear of the two principles, which are of importance even to the wise. I shall also, with reverence for good mind and the good consideration of righteousness, have praises for the Lord, so that you may see brilliant happiness.              

Zarathushtra opens a new chapter in his Divine Doctrine—Good and Evil, two important principles that have even perplexed the wise. To understand the problem he keeps in view 1) good mind and 2) the approach to the problem through the Universal Law of Righteousness of precision—two important points for problem solution. 

And as usual, he has his praises for God, the guide who leads us by means of our good mind and righteousness to radiant happiness.

The perplexing duality of Good and Evil—the two ever-posing choices in life—can be realized by understanding the Universal Law of Righteousness that governs precise regulation of all matters physical and spiritual.

Contemplate deeply each stanza over the next week.

Adjusted Reality

Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world.   –– Albert Einstein 

The introduction to the book Adjusted Reality by Dr. Sherry McAllister, a Doctor of Chiropractic, uses this quote by Albert Einstein to introduce the concepts of her book, which explores an adjusted reality made of elements that shape a unique and immersive adventure.

Says Dr. McAllister, “a remarkable journey awaits that unravels the tapestry of the past, weaves together the threads of imagination, and embarks on an odyssey to reshape the future. Picture a world where misconceptions crumble, trust is restored, and the key to robust health lies not in a pill bottle but in the embrace of a philosophy yet to be fully explored.”

Take Einstein’s quote for example.  The imagination of a child playing is unbounded by limitation.  Their imagination takes them to places yet undiscovered. “But imagination can also inspire fear of the unknown,” McAllister points out.  For many this fear developed as the lights went out at bed time.  Imagination for many worked overtime  envisioning monsters in all of the places that were thought to be safe and secure.  Many Americans are “faced with similar unknowns, ….  With no brighter, reasonable alternative, many revert to that chilling childhood place” of fear.  

ZARATHUSHTRA'S WORK: The Gathas - Song 2

Each stanza of this song contains the translation in italics, a brief commentary, and a closing thought to ponder.  

Try reading on stanza each day and pondering upon its meaning.

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ZARATHUSTRA’S SELECTION

Introductory commentary: The second song of the Gathas is a play. The play is not only the oldest Indo-Iranian play on record (approximately 3700 years old), but one can even go further to state that it is the oldest dramatic poem in the world which survives in the very words of the author—Zarathushtra Spitama [zara-THOO-stra spi-T'AH-mah].

While it is generally believed that "might makes right" in the living world, it SEEMS that the strong more regularly oppress the weak and deprive them of their legitimate rights. It seems that ours is a world of the survival of the strongest rather the most fit, or suitable. 

While this law is perhaps good for the jungle, man has outgrown being a mere animal. He is a creator now. He has discovered how to make fire. He has discovered metals and learned how to mold them into instruments. He has invented many articles. These discoveries have made him very powerful. He can make wonderful things and, equally, he can destroy wonderful things. His destructive aspect poses a great threat, not only to his own existence, but to life on the  Earth.

Explanation of Cosmic Energetics

By Dr Schavi M Ali | Source

The planet Earth — which was called “Geb” in ancient Kemet in the Medu Neter Language and which is known as “Prthivi” (“Vast One”) and also as “Bhumi” (“Land” or “Ground”) in the Vedic language of Sanskrit and as “Ard” in Arabic (“Ground”) and as “Gaia” (“Earth Goddess”) in Greek and as “Terra” (“Land”) in Latin — moves on a certain axis just as all planets do.  Since ancient times, it was taught that it turns at approximately “7.83” cycles per second [1] and that with the turning there is a slight wobble.   The wobbling is due to the inner core of Earth vibrating at a particular “frequency”, and there are times when this frequency reaches down to great depths within the tectonic plates and magnetite particles and other substances of the planet this depth is the “amplitude”.

ZARATHUSHTRA'S WORK: The Gathas - Song 1

Each stanza of this song contains the translation in italics, a brief commentary, and a closing thought to ponder.  

Try reading on stanza each day and pondering upon its meaning.

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HUMBLY I PRAY

Ideal are the thoughts, ideal the words, ideal the deeds

of the Righteous Zarathushtra.

Let the ever-living promulgators present the Gathas.

Homage to the righteous Gathas!              

This introductory salutation was, most probably, composed by an early reciter of the Gathas who was, himself/herself, a devout promulgator of the Sublime Songs and a preacher of the Divine Doctrine. 

There is only one path in life, and that is the path of Righteousness.

ZARATHUSTRA’S WORK: The Gathas - Yatha Ahu (Principle of Choice)

This second introductory passage, the Ahuna Vairya, commonly called by the two words in the beginning, the Yatha Ahu, is the Principle of Choice. 

It is the Zarathushtrian master formula for a spiritual and material policy making system in which one is free to choose a person as his or her lord and leader.

Both the lord and the leader are to be chosen

because of their righteousness.

These two appointments are made with good mind

so that acts of life are done for the Wise One,

and the dominion of the Lord is well established,

in which the chosen person becomes

the rehabilitator of the rightful who are oppressed.              

ZARATHUSTRA’S WORK: The Gathas - Ashem Vohu (Truth, Righteousness, Cosmic Order)

This second introductory installment of the Gathas establishes the main principle of Zarathustra’s teachings.  Ashem Vohu is the central concept representing truth, righteousness, cosmic order, and the right way to live.  

This portion of the Gathas is translated and presented as:

Righteousness is the best good. 

It is radiant happiness.

Radiant happiness comes to the person to whom

righteousness is for the sake of the 

best righteousness alone.              

Righteousness is the universal law that stands for order, evolution, progress, and perfection as established by the Creator for creation. One becomes righteous by doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, and with the right means to obtain the right result. 

ZARATHUSTRA’S WORK: The Gathas (An Introduction)

Here we look at the introduction to Zarathushtra’s work.  The Gathas are a set of 17 philosophical songs, or poems, composed by Zarathushtra Spitama roughly 3,500 years ago, comprising 241 stanzas of roughly 5,500 words (or ~9,000 in English).  They encode large amounts of knowledge in each stanza inviting many different interpretations and nearly infinite applicability.  

These are the thoughts and teaching of Zarathustra woven into poetry in order to honor the divine and enlighten the listener.  For those of us who do not speak the "dead language" of Old Avestan, we, undoubtedly loose some of the nuance of the original, but there is enough scholarly work that we can "get close".  Which is what this series seeks to do. 

The Gathas were composed by one person, Zarathushtra Spitama. They have been translated by many – Zoroastrian and non-Zoroastrian priests, philologists, professors, litterateurs, “translators”, adventurers, and sheer admirers. The resulting translations are so diverse that one has to imagine as many Zarathushtras as there are translators of his songs.  

Rather than devise lengthy sermons or a list of prescriptions on how one should live their life, Zarathushtra decided to gift humanity with a guide to attaining the divine in oneself.  He trusted each person to actualize this desire according to their own understanding and circumstances.