Unio Mystica

Dear Zaneta

Jesus did NOT teach that you should not hit back at people and instead show them the other cheek if they hit you. That is just one of the most common and disturbing misunderstandings about Christian ethics. What Jesus meant was that SURPRISE is an important element of every intersubjective relation. When hitting back is the PREDICTABLE thing to do, that is when you should not hit back as to surprise your enemy and to win over your enemy.

Jesus was NOT a pacifist (he repeatedly talked about God sending his angry angels to re-conquer the world and punish sinners etc MILITARILY) and neither was Zarathushtra, although for quite different reasons. But the main problem with Christianity is that it sees this world as inferior to a coming world free from sin. We have no such beliefs. As Zoroastrians we consider THIS world as SACRED. And that is a belief that we as members of this forum all share. It is the very fundament of what it means to be a Mazdayasni.

Ushta
Alexander

2009/4/8 Zaneta Garratt :

Hi Georgios and Dino,

Thanks for both your letters-

Jesus was out to try and reform the Jewish religion and make it more available to the ordinary people, especially the poor, he was a kind of peaceful revolutionary I guess-his parables and sayings are really clever though- And I cannot see the point in forcing religious beliefs on people, you are correct there-and asceticism does not appeal to me either as I really enjoy a good vegetarian meal and a couple of glasses of wine rounded up with a nice piece of cake and a cup or two of tea. I also agree with you as we are here now, our job is indeed to make the world we live in now a better place and preserve the environment which is sacred-and well, I believe in an afterlife although those with a more scientific outlook on life seem not to but we should definately live for making this world a happier place and show more tolerance towards others who are of different opinions than ourselves, it would be boring if we all thought the same anyway. So the points you both make are definately good and valid, Best wishes from zaneta


To: Ushta@yahoogroups.com
From: special_kain@yahoo.de
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 07:21:02 +0000

Subject: RE: [Ushta] Unio Mystica

Dear Zaneta,

Firstly, I don't like the term "true religion", I don't like "true this" or "true that" at all. That reminds me of Parsis letting me know that I wasn't a Zoroastrian proper. Or of true Norwegian Black Metal, for that matter.
Secondly, we should never forget about our planet and what's going on right here, right now. But that's exactly the problem with most religions, where this world is just a shady, inferior and poor imitation of an allegedly superior and heavenly astral plane. There's no asceticism in Zoroastrianism, which is great! Some ascetics have, undeniably, done incredibly important things and creatively contributed to our understanding and wisdom. But we don't have to be one of them in order to further increase our understanding.

Ushta, Dino