ZARATHUSHTRA'S WORK: The Gathas - Song 7

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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RENOVATION

Song 7.1 (Yasna 34.1)

The deed, the word, and the veneration 

by which I give immortality, righteousness,

and the motive for wholeness to the people,

are very much offered by us,

Wise Lord, to You. 

The message of Zarathushtra leads to mental veneration of the Divine. Words and deeds that give righteousness, and power to move towards wholeness, and immortality. This mental veneration, words and deeds are what Zarathushtra and his companions offer to Mazda Ahura.

No sacrifice, intoxicating substance, or other material offering is needed to please the Divine One. Only our good thoughts, words, and deeds should be offered to promote a good life.

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Song 7.2 (Yasna 34.2)

Moreover, all these offerings are made to You alone

through thoughts of good mind

and actions of a progressive man,

whose soul is in accord with righteousness.

Wise One, he goes singing everywhere

songs of glory and praise for You. 

The offerings of all the achievements of Zarathushtra are made to the Wise One alone. No one else. They are made through good thoughts and actions by a person who is progressing in their spiritual growth. Not one who is unchagingly traditional, but a person whose soul, and self, is in harmony with truth. He sings his songs—the Gathas— his praises for Ahura and guidance for mankind.

Praise and celebration of the Wise One

should stem from good thoughts and good actions.

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Song 7.3 (Yasna 34.3)

Therefore, we make a humble offering

to You and to Righteousness.

The living beings in Your dominion

are those who promote good mind.

Indeed, it is in the rise of a beneficent person,

Wise One, that there lies gain for all those belonging to You. 

The offering of veneration, words and deeds—a solemn dedication to serve the Creator and the creation—are made by Zarathushtra and companions. Truely-living persons in the divine dominion are those who promote good mind to acquire useful knowledge. Feeling a rise, a surge because of the dedication, Zarathushtra foresees the gain awaiting those dedicated to the Wise One.

Dedication to serve has its own clear rewards.

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Song 7.4 (Yasna 34.4)

Therefore, Lord, we yearn for Your fire,

which is strong through righteousness.

It is very swift and forceful,

and clearly and strongly helps the supporters.

But, Wise One, for an enemy daring to harm,

it has the power of arms to stop him. 

The divine fire is the zeal that derives its strength from righteousness. It is forceful and swift in clearing and opening the way for the righteous mission to proceed. It is also strong enough for stopping those who want to harm the cause of righteousness.

Fire is a symbol of the energy pervading all of existence, it provides our growth and defense, progressing reality to it’s ideal state.

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Song 7.5 (Yasna 34.5)

What is Your dominion, what is Your power,

Wise One, for us to follow in action

through righteousness and good mind

in order to protect the oppressed person of Yours?

For You, we have renounced

all the false gods and the barbarian people. 

Zarathushtra is seeking to know the divine dominion and power so that one acts according to the universal law of righteousness and good mind and provide a social order in which those oppressed and deprived of their rights are protected and rehabilitated. Zarathushtra and his companions have renounced false gods and the cruel people whose superstitious cult is the cause of exploitation and oppression.

Renounce flawed beliefs and malicious people in favor of the way of thinking which comes from understanding the order of existence.

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Song 7.6 (Yasna 34.6)

If indeed, You are so, Wise One,

through righteousness and good mind,

then grant me guidance through all the goals of this life,

so that I happily return to You 

with veneration and praise. 

Through good thinking and righteousness, Zarathushtra ignores all false gods and their worshipers. They are completely out of his consciousness. The Wise One is the only Guide. Zarathustra prays to achieve all the goals of his present life—his mission to spread this message so that he successfully returns to the Divine One with more praises of love and adoration.

Seek guidance by understanding how reality works through the use of your good mind.

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Song 7.7 (Yasna 34.7)

Wise One, where are Your devotees

who comprehend good mind,

and despite retrogression and failure,

attend to inherited doctrines with wisdom?

I have none besides You.

Therefore, protect me and my people through righteousness. 

Once dedicated to the cause and comprehending the circumstances with good mind, one is not deterred by initial failures. One continues to wisely work for the mission one feels is their inheritance. Zarathushtra knows no one else except the Wise Lord. He prays for support for himself and his companions as they work on progressing in rightousness.

Failures should not deter one from staying on course.

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Song 7.8 (Yasna 34.8)

Indeed, they are afraid of our actions

just as a weakling is afraid of a stalwart,

because these actions constitute a danger to many.

Wise One, those who are antagonistic to Your principle,

do not think of righteousness,

and are at a distance from good mind. 

 

The days when ritualistic priests and exploiting princes were in power appear to be disappearing. They are now as afraid of the Zarathushtrian mission as a weakling fears a strong person. The reason is simple. They do not think of righteousness and and do not use their good mind, and therefore remain antagonists to the Divine Doctrine.

The deceitful fear the actions of the truthful and righteous and will spread lies and destruction to stop them.

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Song 7.9 (Yasna 34.9)

Wise One, he forsakes progressive serenity,

esteemed by your wise one,

with his evil deeds solely 

because of his lack of good mind.

He avoids them much on account of their righteousness,

just as the disheveled barbarians keep far from us. 

Progressive serenity and stability is valued by the one who is devoted to the Wise One, but the person lacking good mind forsakes serenity because of his evil actions. Just as uncivilized people shun our company, such a person would avoid good people because of their righteousness.

The wrongful flee from the good mind and right-mindedness and, as such, they will be kept far away from the Laws of Existence.

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Song 7.10 (Yasna 34.10)

The person of good intellect says

that the deeds of good mind must be maintained.

He knows that progressive serenity

is the true product of righteousness.

All these, Lord Wise,

are means of promotion in Your dominion. 

A wise person holds that one should maintain deeds done with the good mind, because he knows that progressive serenity and growing stability is the right result of proper procedure. These deeds promote the divine dominion chosen and established by righteous people.

Good deeds increase stability and promote good order.

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Song 7.11 (Yasna 34.11)

Both wholeness and immortality

lead to Your splendor.

The sovereignty of good mind

and serenity with righteousness

promote steadfast strength and courage.

These, Wise One, constitute our strength against antagonists. 

Wholeness and immortality lead to divine splendor. For that goal, a self-reliant good mind, enjoying stability and rightness, gives one the lasting strength and courage to overcome antagonism.

Good mind, stability, and righteousness, when combined, give one the courage to overcome.

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Song 7.12 (Yasna 34.12)

What is Your guidance and what is Your wish?

Is it for praise, or is it for veneration?

Wise One, declare it while we listen,

and the reward for following Your guidance.  

Show us, through righteousness,

the paths to self-reliance of good mind. 

Zarathushtra asks for guidance from the Wise One, and then supplies the subtle answer himself – the paths lead through righteousness to the goal of self-reliance that enjoys good mind. This is what the Wise One wishes, not praise and veneration. All that is desired is that we are guided to our goal. It is us who praise and venerate out of love.

Diety desires for us to be self-reliant and empowered by our good minds.

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Song 7.13 (Yasna 34.13)

Lord, this is the same road of good mind

You have shown me.

It is the religion of the benefactors 

by which good deeds lead only through righteousness to happiness,

the promised reward for the beneficent,

a reward, Wise One, solely given by You. 

Proceeding towards the goal, Zarathushtra sees that it is very path he has divinely realized. It is the religion of benefactors, a religion in which good deeds, done precisely according to the universal law, lead to happiness, eternal bliss. It is the reward promised and granted by the Divine One to those who promote goodness.

Deeds done to benefit ALL have divine bliss as reward.

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Song 7.14 (Yasna 34.14)

Indeed, Wise One, this reward is given to those,

who, in their choice of physical life,

truly serve the community of the fruitful world

with their deeds of good mind,

and Lord, promote Your plan of wisdom

through communal righteousness. 

The reward of eternal bliss is for those who choose, through their free will, to serve humanity on this earth of ours as best as they can. This world is very productive and rewarding. Serving it with good mind and close cooperation is promoting the divine plan so wisely prepared.

Joining others in wise service makes life more fruitful and blissful.

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Song 7.15 (Yasna 34.15)

And in response to my request in praises,

Wise One, tell me now the best words and deeds 

through good mind.

Make life truly renovated

with Your sovereignty as You wish. 

Zarathushtra concludes with this stanza praying for best words and deeds that issue from good mind and clear thinking. It is these words and deeds that continue to renovate—update—our life with divine support because that is what The Wise One wishes us to accomplish.

Continuous renovation of life, maturation, is the Divine wish.

ZARATHUSHTRA'S WORK: The Gathas - Song 6

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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DEVOTION TO DUTY

Song 6.1 (Yasna 33.1)

According to the Primal Principles of Life

the leader shall do full justice

to the wrongful and to the righteous,

as well as to the person

whose falsity is combined

with his probity. 

The leader, chosen by people, should be impartial. He should base his justice on the Primal Principles of Life and then deal with the wrongful, the righteous, and the person who is both. It is this impartiality that brings true justice and wins others over to righteousness.

We must choose impartial leaders who will judge ALL according to their behavior.

ZARATHUSHTRA'S WORK: The Gathas - Song 5

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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ABERRATION

Introduction: This song is an exposure of the fraud and aberration practiced by the priests and princes of the old Avestan religions. The worship of daevas, a listing of false gods, were the creation of a mentality of harm and deceit by the priestly profession. Superstitions direct a person away from Divine thinking. They can, however, become a good source of income for the cunning and unscrupulous, who continue to hoard what they can extract from simple people. 

These cunning persons are the ritualistic priests, called the karapan by Zarathushtra. The word actually means “arrangers of rituals”, but it also means “chatterers” and “mumblers” which they indeed were. They were the only priests that Zarathushtra knew of; in his Songs, he does not refer to any good priest. 

The karapans were not alone. There were also the rulers, turned into luxury lovers through the spoils they had accumulated. The two, having a common vested interest of exploiting the people, had joined hands to enrich themselves. They kept the people in darkness and ignorance through their increasing lust for wealth.  They had become tyrants, an action that earned them people’s hatred. However, they forgot that the Divine was watching them and a day would dawn when a thought-provoker would rise and lead the people out of their exploitation and darkness and to divine light. 

This was Zarathushtra's desire.

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.