Aim of this Blog

Aim of this Blog


There is something very wrong with the world that we are made to see around us. Human Society is not happy, there is
protest, discontentment, poverty, inequality, greed, corruption, Ego, Fanatics’, Agnostics’, natural calamities occurring with frightening regularity and above all Global terrorism which just does not want to call it a day.In short there is chaos everywhere. One word that can describe all this is “Qayamat”. In Jamasphi” and at many places in our Zoroastrian scriptures like“Chithrem Buyaat” prayers, it is mentioned that time is near for Shah Behram Varjawand our Saviour to come in this Qayamat and revive us and our Deen. The Saviours from other religions will also appear and will work together with a common goal for grooming mankind and his spiritual revival.

Today every one wants to die a Martyr's death for Religion, but no body wants to live for the sake of true teachings of Religion. It goes without a doubt that we have let go the true kernel of Mysticism in religion and embraced only the outer shell of a glossy show of Religion. We forget that Religion is not show business but it is a way of living. Your Left hand should not be able to know what Tarikats your right hand is practicing.

The Western Astrology call this as Aquarian age and phenomenon that we see today are occuring with lightening quickness. For we never knew that Communist USSR will disintegrate one day and fragment into many small nations, that Germany will one day be united, the revolution in Egypt, Syria, the fall of dictators, and China a sleeping giant awakening to technological boom are all an indicator that we are very much in this Aquarian age. The transition from the Age of Pisces to Aquarian Age is already taking its toll till we roll into Age of peace and calm. We are looking forward to being Optimistic and not being fatally Pessimists. Please see the link provided:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius

More than 100 years before in past when faith was at its lowest Nadir in our community without caring for deep religious significance when there was idle talks about futility of our time tested customs like Dokhmenashini, Rituals, Sudreh Kusti being only a symbol, Avesta Manthra prayers being considered as waste of time, faulty myopic thinking that offerings of sandalwood to Atash Padshah being waste of sound monetary resources which could have been better utilized for betterment of our community, lack of faith was the reason behind these ignorance’s. Ignorance coupled with arrogance was, and still is the main reason stymieing our spiritual progress.

The Zoroastrian hidden Masters in Demavand who are very much concerned about our community’s spiritual progress saw the need of sending a forerunner before the advent of Shah Behram Varjawand Saheb, and they chose Behramshah Nawroji Shroff whom his followers lovingly call him as Ustad Saheb. He brought amongst us Zoroastrian Mysticism called as Zarathosti Ilme-Khshnoom.

The word Khshnoom can be found even in our scriptures, so it is not something alien that is thrust on us. It is the revival of the lost knowledge called as Ilme-Khshnoom that our forefathers had with them that kept the flame of faith burning in their hearts, that Ustad saheb brought for us. The literature is penned down by his chosen and authorized disciples late Dr. Saheb Faramroze Sohrabji Chiniwala, and Late Jehangirji S. Chinwala.

Late Ervad Phiroze Shapurji Masani had for so many years maintained his publication “Frashogard” all under guidance of Ustad Saheb. Today we see that day by day our faith is again going downhill. The need of Saviour can only be felt when all seems to be lost towards Traditional cause. It is to rekindle that hope and faith and iron out unwarranted fear of our religion dying a premature death that this Blog will be looking forward to. The aim for starting this Blog is to translate the majority of Khshnoom literature that is in Gujarati writings of Late Chiniwala brothers and Late Phiroze Masani for the benefit of those genuinely interested in Zoroastrian Mysticism .

When there is too much of chaos nature allows it only up to a certain threshold limit, once it crosses the limits it puts a
full stop to it, for nature has its own ways of bringing Order out of Chaos.

So in mean time what are we Zarathosti Bastekustian supposed to do that will hasten the advent of Shah Behram Varjawand Saheb ? Are we supposed to look skywards and wait for him eternally ? His advent will much depend upon us also.

In nature there is a law of “Supply and Demand”. If the demand is there, supply is guaranteed. In Bible it is said that "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find it, knock and the doors will open to you." ….. Mathew 7:7 Niv. Unfortunately the much needed knock never seems to happen and everybody is busy enjoying their fun filled moments and warns us to keep off limits of their rights and Freedom. But they seem to forget that behind every right that one asks for, there is a responsibility which is conveniently forgotten.

"RTI" also known as "Right to information"is blatantly misused in today's world of so called Freedom . Some want Freedom to enjoy whatever is appealing to them, but is considered as Taboo in Society. Not before all these false ideology will be swept away by fury of nature and realization of folly will dawn naturally aftermath,nevertheless too late by then, but the road will be paved for introducing Shah Behram Varjawand to the world.

In middle of face-off between two warring sides and Chaos, we will come to know the time of Varjawand Saheb's arrival automatically. As a Mother knows intuitively the time of delivery of the baby, we will feel the desperate pangs of labour like a Mother feels before her delivery.

Right now only a few are longing for his arrival but just as "A lone sparrow does not herald a spring" similarly one requires a collective thought force to set everything in motion. For that I had started a short exercise every 7.30 a.m. in morning but unfortunately we don’t seem to realize its importance. Till we are all vibrating with one frequency, other word is called as Hum Mithra, Varjawand Saheb’s advent will be a distant dream only. The exercise is as under to be followed by a Mithra every 7 a.m. or around that time frame. No need to be very rigid about time. The Mithra is as under:-

What is Hum Mithra:-

Man proposes and God disposes. Hence we requires Dadar Ahura Mazda’s blessings all the time for success and that is known as “Daham Afriti”. Without it we cannot move forward even an inch. But for his Daham Afriti to be assessable to us we require to think with one vibration in Hamoi, only then can we succeed in our purpose. Dadar Ahura Mazda is not happy when there is infighting so how can we receive his Daham Afreeti. This one thought force having selfless single pure vibration is known as Hum Mithra. The Law of cause and effect governs this universe so whatever incidents we see bad or good its cause has to be there. Every action has its reaction. The bad precedent that we are facing now after a crematorium is announced in Worli where innocent public are falling prey to it. Those encouraging Aramgah and such ashmogi are themselves the victims of their own deeds so we have to pity them instead of contempt for them and a calming thought has to be passed by us at a particular time collectively. If love is the language of angels then why should we be harsh to even our so called enemies. For in life there are no enemies, and everything is Karmic. The Bhali Dua is as under:-

Bhali Dua at 0730 am every morning:-

2 Yatha , 1 Ashem Vohu.

Those ignorant brothers and sisters opposing our age old customs of Dokhmenashini and believe in universality of our religion by inviting all to our holy places and Iranshah need our pity and not contempt for they are bitten by the demon of ignorance and arrogance. O Paak Dadar Ahura Mazda shower your choicest blessings upon them that they regain their lost faith and begin realizing that the true nature of religion is humility.

"Let no harm come upon the Traditional Zoroastrian flag and its values which are so dear to us. Let the reformists agenda and their nefarious plans never succeed. Let no harm befall upon Pavmahal of India that is - our Iranshah of Udwada and all Atash Behram, Atash Adran and Dadgah of India. Let not one day pass without Atash Parasti and our reverence towards Holy consecrated Fire(Pavmahal),Dokhmas, Sudreh Kusti, Mathravani which acts as a weapon to thwart evil. Enable us to protect our racial traits of Parsi Panu through Boonak Pasbani. Enable us to maintain our true “Zarathosti Khandani” by not intermarrying and continue with our Aryan Lineage intact. May the advent of Shah Behram Varjawand come soon, and before him may his forerunners arrive at the earliest and grant us spiritual strength to withstand evil around us. Let my Kusti Padiav and my Tarikats be helpful to nature to fight for the cause of righteousness against the evil negative forces of Drujis, and may it protect us all Zarathustis and entire humanity who live by their religion and its tenets. "Phiroj baad Khureh avizeh Vehdin e Mazdiyasnan" - Let the Khoreh of Mazdiyasni Zarathosti deen protect its faithful followers"

1 Yatha, 2 Ashem Vohu



Best regards,

Firdosh K Sukhia
firdosh.sukhia@gmail.com

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Grief as Blessing Part 1

I saw grief drinking a cup of sorrow and called out, " It tastes sweet, does it not ?" You've caught me," grief answered, " and you have ruined my business, how can i sell sorrow when you know it's a blessing?" ...........................Jalaluddin Rumi ( 1207-1273)



Persian mystical poet and Sufi saint Jalaluddin Rumi writes about pure love we can achieve, beyond ego, in the soul’s divine longing and ecstasy of union with God.



Oh how we love to grieve, how we love to read romantic tragedies of breaking of our hearts, We even read books about how important the grieving process is to our recovery, and then we go to identify grief as a necessary stage of sorrow that we experience to overcome our losses and regain our sanity. Jalaluddin Rumi, a thirteenth-century Persian mystical poet, sends a message from the middle Ages. He suggests that grief is a blessing, rather than something to tolerate as a necessary evil on the way to recovery. It is not sorrowful at all, but instead it is an opportunity to drink nectar that is available in the dark moments of our lives.For most of us, grieving is how we react to a loss or a tragic event , and it seems to be a natural way of reacting to the experiment in our lives. But if we knew the wisdom of Rumi's words, we might be able to shift right in the middle of this grieving and turn our sorrow into something sweet-tasting.



One of the Universal teachings of life can also be found in the Kabbalah, a mystical text of Judaism that goes back many centuries as do Rumi's teachings. The simple lesson for us is “The falls of our life provide us with the energy to propel ourselves to a higher level." You have to ponder and ponder on this ancient wis­dom to understand its deep import properly. As we allow to soothe the sharp anguish of life's painful moments, one begins to incorporate this wisdom during the sadness and grief. We than discover the truth of this idea that every fall provides us the opportunity to generate the necessary energy to move to higher consciousness. Every sinking into despair has within it an energy to move us higher. How many times in our life have dark times of despair, such as some kind of an accident, an illness, a financial disaster, a breakup in a relationship, a fire or flood, a loss of property or a death propelled us into the stages of anguish, anger, denial, and then grief ? Like most of us, you sink into sorrow and feel the need to tell everyone about your misfortune. Ultimately, after a Iong period of time you begin to rise above it and reach the state of acceptance.



Now suppose you knew that what had taken place in your life which you termed a loss or a fall was exactly what was supposed to happen? Suppose you knew instantly that you had to experience the event that triggered your grief and sorrow? Then suppose you could choose to act in accordance with this new awareness? Undoubtedly this "supposing" conflicts with all you have been taught about how you're supposed to react to catastrophe and death. I am not suggesting you not to respect genuine feelings. I am suggesting that the truth of Rumi’s observations offer you another way of responding to these kind of circumstances. I am encouraging you to open to gift or sweetness that is also in the sorrow.



This is an highly holistic intelligent system that we are all an inseparable part of and there are no accidents. There is something to learn right here, right now in the middle of sorrow. You can take this lesson and taste the sweet certainty in the mystery. You do not have to pretend to like the tragedy, only to vow to use it to generate the energy to move to a higher place in your life. You could call out to your sorrow just as Rumi did over eight hundred years ago and say to yourself, "It tastes sweet, does it not ?” That is there is something to learn right here, right now in the middle of this sweet sorrow, and I am going to drink it in this manner, and ruin the business of the grief peddlers.



In what we refer to as primitive societies death is an occasion for celebration. There is a basic knowing even in the times of grief and mourning , that does not question the divine timing of each one’s arrival here on earth, or the divine timing of one's depar­ture either. It is all in order! Perhaps the comfort is the sweetness of seeing that it is all part of the perfection of our universe, which has an invisible organizing intelligence flowing through every cell of creation, including the many painful experiences over a life­time -- then celebrating it all.



If you happen to watch Athletes on TV during Olympics their high jump in slow motion, you observe that first they set the bar on the stands, take a position thirty to fifty feet back, sprint fast towards the bar, and get down as low as possible to generate the added energy to propel their entire body over the bar. By getting down low we receive the necessary whiplash Fulcrum for ascending higher. This slow motion image of Act of high jump is analogous with the message of Rumi, and Kaballa. It is a common physical law of gravity, which holds good for us spiritually too.



" It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: 'And this, too, shall pass away.' How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction! " .................. Abraham Lincoln


Change means Nisti, Permanency or immortality means Hasti, when Nisti will merge with Hasti that will be Farshokereti a very far off event which is destined to occur, for which this divine stage of this mortal world is erected. The origin of evil will be known to us at Farsho Kereti, when each and every one of us has utilized to their maximum capacity their divine potentiality which was lying dormant within and have become a realized souls. There is no point in arguing endlessly now at this stage the Origin of evil, when we are supposed to concentrate on Keshash now.

Hoshbam Prayers:-

"Kshato Manao" as mentioned in our Hoshbam prayers is a spiritual stage we should all strive to acheive for, which literally means a happy contended mind, free from any worries or hassels, keeping faith in God knowing fully well that whatever happens whether good or bad is ultimately in our interest only for there is a lesson to be learnt in every incident that happens to us, and there is no accident as God does not play dice with us. "Az anay Khorsand Hom" also means same thing - Thy will (and not mine) will be done.

Are all Religions same ? :-

I am aware that not many are comfortable when i make references from holy books of other religion like Bible, Kaballah as they feel that whilst i quote from these books i am only digressing their attention from main teachings propounded in Zoroastrianism. But my dear friends you fail to realize the important fact that "Truth is one only", and so it is but natural that whether you look at Gita, Bible, Kaballah, Koran, Sufism or Khordeh Avesta we will find same truths reflected in all these revealed books of the great religions of the world. But then what is it that differentiates one religion from other and why is there any need for different Religions to co exist side by side when we can do away with various Religions and have only one Universal Religion in the world, since truth is one only. This is because of another important truth existing in nature which Shakespeare with his highly developed spiritual sense and command over language was able to pinpoint to us in his two plays :-





An honest soul, i'faith sir, by my troth he is, as ever broke bread: but god is to be worshipped All Man are not alike, - alas, good neighbour !

...............Much ado about nothing. Act 3, Scene 5, Line 38



Arviragus [ To Imogen] :- Brother stay here; Are we not Brothers ?

Imogen:- So man and man should be; But clay and clay differs in dignity, whose dust is both alike.

........Cymbeline Act 4, Scene 2, Line 4.



When even brothers are not alike how do we expect the whole race of humanity to be similar in outlook, in disposition and character, when there is is multipilcity, variety of human nature every where, and there are even exceptions to this multiplicity. In nature there are fish that can fly and birds that can swim. Let it be very clear to us that all Religions are not man made at all, but all religions lead to one divine truth because there is difference in humans its followers and not in the primeaval truth of the religion which always works in unision in Hamoi to each other. Now what is the Perenial truth ? That we are incomplete, ignorant and the degree of ignorance varies from one individual to other individual. Just like in a radio having different wave length of short wave, medium wave, FM,AM, we can tune in to several stations on one wave length, similarly there are five different wave lengths represented by 5 great religions of the world. Each wave length having multitudes of stations or its followers. That is the crux and real purpose of all the religions, that we understand that all religion are good in its own place and there is no conversion in nature. Conversion has to come from within, from evil to good. Since religion is not manmade and is made by God, it is not within our human capacity to choose whatever religion we fancy. One has to be born in that religion to practice it.



........... to be concluded in Part II

Regards,



Firdosh

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