Zarathushtra was a mantran - not a prophet!

Dear Bahman

Parviz is absolutely right.
We do not follow Zarathushtra because of who he IS, we follow Zarathushtra because of what he SAID and what he inspires us to DO. That is radically different from Moses, Jesus and Muhammed who you are just BLINDLY obliged to follow or else you will be refered to as an "infidel" and deserves to get killed.
We don't have prophets in Zoroastrianism. We have intelligent and decent people - who we like to listen to - and opposed to them are stupid and bigoted people who we must resist.
Zarathushtra was quite possibly the greatest philosopher who ever lived. If that is not enough for you, then you should look for another religion to get your loved "prophet" who you can follow blindly without thinking for yourself. But Zarathushtra the author of The Gathasm it is not.
The key word here is "mantran", It doesn't mean prophet. It means "thought provoker", like "really smart and cool guy" in modern English.

Ushta
Alexander

2009/1/8 Parviz Varjavand

Dear Bahman,

We do not have an exact definition of what a Prophet is in the Iraji (Aryan) thinking lineage as we do in Abrahamic religions. The fact that the minds of some humans can be fantastically more advanced than other humans by a Gift is a fact. Some rare persons are documented to have done fantastic things with their minds. The title Mantran that is used for Zoroaster can mean "The one who stimulates the Mind". It does not mean "The one who puts his hand on a dead person and brings him to life". In that seance, I think Alex has a good point to make. Alex is afraid that once you make the guy a prophet, the door to other nightmares opens up. His book becomes Divinely inspired and Infallible. At least we of the reform movement are stuck on Gatha which is a pretty good book. Our brothers and sisters of the fanatic line are still stuck on Vandidad and claim that it is sacred because their "Payghambar Sahib" Zartosht has brought it down from heaven.

Ushta,
Parviz

--- On Thu, 1/8/09, Bahman Noruziaan wrote:

From: Bahman Noruziaan
Subject: RE: [Ushta] Which is the best assumption?
To: "Ushta Ushta"
Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 6:07 AM


Hello Alexnader

I wonder how you can make such strong inaccuracte claims:
"that historical Zoroastrians did NOT regard Zarathushtra as a prophet or divine messenger"

The Gathas, the Avesta as well as other Zoroastrian literature suggewst otherwise!

Regards
Bahman