Spinoza and existentialism

The important thing to stress is that Spinoza RELIEVES westerners from the angest and the guilt of Judaism and Christianity. To us as Mazdayasni there is no such angest and guilt to begin with. We have an amoral religion already - as proposed by Spinoza - with an ethics which is just as hard and relentless but also beautiful and realistic as the ethics of Spinoza. To Spinoza, this is an ethics of attribution. And this is almost identical to Zarathushtra's radical proposal that thoughts PREDATE words which in turn PREDATE actions. Zarathushtra therefore reminds us that while direct actions are NOT within our control, the thoughts that predates the words that predates the actions ARE within our control. Identifying ourselves with our thoughts is then an identical ETHICAL rather than moralizing position within Mazdayasna and Spinozism. If we then apply this combination of thoughts (attribution) and identity to our experience of existence, I guess we arrive at a Zoroastrian form of existentialism. Although to me, Sartre and Camus are of little or no interest, since they still dwell within the post-Christian experience of nihilism. Spinoza was already beyond that, way ahead of his time, only being fully applied with the arrival of Gilles Deleuze in the late 20th century. So let's use the term existentialism here with a bit caution.
Ushta
Alexander

2008/9/19 Special Kain

Another two cents:

I've just found an essay on Spinozism and existentialism (haven't read it all) by Fahim Khan (don't know him at all). Maybe you'll like it, maybe you'll leave it.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/88199/Formal-Literary-Essay-on-Spinozism-and-Existentialism

Dino

--- Special Kain schrieb am Fr, 19.9.2008:

Von: Special Kain
Betreff: AW: [Ushta] Asha vs Karma
An: Ushta@yahoogroups.com
Datum: Freitag, 19. September 2008, 13:51

Dear Alexander,

I just stumbled upon another nice analogy. :-)
Asha is the truth and righteousness. So it could be TRUTH and JUSTICE. The Egyptian goddess Ma'at has a similar meaning: She represented TRUTH and JUSTICE, equating the two as essentially the same 'thing'.

My two cents, Dino

--- Alexander Bard schrieb am Do, 18.9.2008:

Von: Alexander Bard
Betreff: [Ushta] Asha vs Karma
An: Ushta@yahoogroups. com
Datum: Donnerstag, 18. September 2008, 9:22

Dear Ronald

What makes Zoroastrianism distinctly different from Hinduism and Buddhism is the priority we give to asha (the truth about existence, the laws of the universe, and the laws in accordance with which we exist; asha can also mean rightfulness, as in living in accordance with asha) rather than karma. You are very unlikely ever to hear Zoroastrians - even the Parsees in India - speak about karma. But the term asha is in constant usage. As Zoroastrians (or Mazdayasni), we often debate what asha means to us in our daily lives and in our beliefs. The closest thing to asha I could think of in any other religion or philosophy is the concept of "dao" in Daoism.

Ushta
Alexander