The iron-gate turns heavily upon its hinges with a jarring noise, and the dead enter the Tower of Silence. No roof the charnel-house has, no balcony, no corridor, no parlour. A circular enclosure, open to the sky, dreary and dreadful, it gives its inmates but a bare stony bed, with no pillow and no covering. […]
Category: Religion
Understanding The Essence Of Muktaad …How To Truly Observe The Muktaad Days…
The holy Muktaad or Fravardegan days are the last ten days of the Zoroastrian calendar and are of great significance in every pious Zoroastrian’s life. On August 17, 2018, it will be the first day (Roj Hormuzd) of the first month (Mah Fravardin) of the Shehanshai calendar corresponding to the year, 1388 Yezdazirdi (YZ). […]
Give Me A Painless Death, Ahura Mazda
Killing is the kiss of death, its embrace, extinction. The bravest heart quails to look it in the face and trembles at its sight. The strong in body and robust in mind and defiant of spirit and undaunted in courage, that think they can make light of death and frighten and fight death itself, are […]
Popular Parsi Myths (VIII)
Myth: The Northern direction is inauspicious from the Zoroastrian point of view Fact: The Northern direction is not inauspicious simply because doctrinally we are precluded from praying facing the North. In fact, in the char disha no namaskar we pay homage to all four directions, including the North. Is there any rationale for not praying […]
Console The Disconsolate, Ahura Mazda!
Great is the gloom that death casts around us. Time fails to soften the sorrows and heal the wounds of those that are disconsolate by temperament. Endowed with deep emotional nature and gentle feelings, they cannot forget the dear ones that are torn from them. They cannot be comforted by consoling words. Death lacerates the […]
Popular Parsi Myths – Part VII
.Myth: ‘Paalak’ is a Zoroastrian form of adoption and is religiously valid. Fact: The Parsi custom of naming a ‘paalak’ for undertaking obsequies of a deceased cannot be confused with adoption. The fact is adoption is not yet legal among Parsis in India. The only codified law available for adoption in India is The Hindu […]
Death The Harvester
Death the grim harvester is heedless of the seasons of life. Old age and sickness provide a rich harvest for it. As the frosty wind cuts off the buds that have not yet blossomed and flowered, so does death fall as a noiseless shadow upon sprouting human seedlings and blows its withering wind upon […]
Prepared To Face Death
Peremptory is the summons of death; none can resist it. When the hour sounds and death knocks at the door, nothing in the world can keep it out. Not priest, nor prince, nor peasant can ever retard the hour of death. Grim death is ever at man’s heels. It is closer to him than […]
Superstition Is Based On Baseless Fear
Superstition is the irrational interpretation of life by the savage mind. It is born of ignorance and fear and thrives the most where reason is asleep. The superstitious mind lacks balance. It makes a fool of the wise man. Superstition bends its knees to gods and demons alike. It is the ignorant handmaid of religion. […]
Credulity Thinks Not, Reasons Not, But Believes
Credulity sees not and hears not and cogitates not. It is the child-mind that refuses to grow. It thrives where ignorance, superstition and fear lull man’s intellect to sleep. It cares not for reflection, discrimination and judgment. It just believes without any consideration of the possibility or otherwise of a question. It is wedded to […]
Man Alone Thinks And Thoughts Make Man
Marvellous is the power of thought. Thinking is as natural to man as breathing. Thought has lifted man above the level of the animal world. It has raised him from the savage to the civilized state in life. Man’s thought rules the world. The power to think is man’s most precious right and his proudest […]