Avesta is very close to Sanskrit and Nietzsche definitely understood Sanskrit.
He was after all a professor in Basel of PHILOLOGY and actually not philosophy.
And philologists all speak Latin, Greek and Sanskrit, you bet. Especially in the literature-centric Germany of the 19th century.
Nietzsche referred to Zarathushtra as "the originator of morality" in "Ecce Homo". Morality here being another word for what we today call Ethics (not to mistake it for moralism). Zarathushtra was the first thinker concerned with the creation of values as the creation of a meaning of life (I am my values, values are the motor of AESTHETICS, rather than anything else).
And in this, Nietzsche was of course absolutely right. Zarathushtra INVENTED Ethics (as opposed to blindly believing in nonsensical moralisms provided by gods through prophets). This is why he chose his character for "Also Sprach Zarathustra". The Man concerned with finding meaning in the world and overcoming all obstacles to become Superman.
Ushta
Alexander
2009/11/28 Special Kain
Varza's German translation was first published in 2008. There were several German translations available before. I've recently heard that even Nietzsche read the Gathas, but he only had a horrible full of mistakes by a jerk whose name I can't remember.
--- Alexander Bard
Von: Alexander Bard
Betreff: Re: [Ushta] The Wisdom of The Gathas
An: Ushta@yahoogroups.com
Datum: Samstag, 28. November 2009, 1:10
Dr. Varza would be more than welcome to join the Ushta List!!!
When was this German translation conducted? There must have been German translations as far back as the mid-19th century.
Ushta
Alexadner
2009/11/27 Special Kain
Dr. Varza also states that the Gathas comprise the original Zoroastrian philosophy (and he makes it abundantly clear that Zoroastrianism is a philosophy rather than religious faith) and the later Avestan texts were added by priests in the pursuit of their own selfish interests and striving for power, thus editing and modifying the original Zoroastrian philosophy in order to keep their new subordinates in line. Which is a radical and controversial break with the common picture of Zoroastrianism as presented in the mainstream media and most books.
I am very happy and proud to see that the first German translation of the Gathas ever was done and published by such a smart Zoroastrian! I'll see if I can contact him and invite him to join Ushta if everybody would be fine with it!
Ushta, Dino
--- Alexander Bard
Von: Alexander Bard
Betreff: [Ushta] The Wisdom of The Gathas
An: Ushta@yahoogroups. com
Datum: Freitag, 27. November 2009, 12:46
Varza's translation seems to have caught the true SPIRIT of The Gathas precisely without pumping any Islamic or Christian perspective into the text. He has kept the text as it is, without adding any dualist thinking afterwards, something which was not there from the very beginning. The Gathas is a poetic and a philosophical text which is much more concerned with nurturing a correct PATHOS towards the world instead of preaching a perfect LOGOS to follow blindly. This is why it is a WISE and CREATIVE text and not a DIVINE or SACRED text, big difference!! !
Ushta
Alexander
2009/11/27 Special Kain
Dear Bahman,
Frankly, I don't have any problem whatsoever with your response to that journalist's remarks. And I also agree with Alexander that Zoroastrianism deserves a much better treatment in the American media. But that wasn't a case that would get me upset, simply because she's a journalist and therefore a professional sensationalist. And it seemed to have been a fun interview where she was supposed to make such «controversial» remarks. I'm a media sociologist and media economist, so perhaps I am a bit over-tolerant when it comes to professional journalism, since there are far worse cases. On the other hand, if we were to stop such media treatment, why not start right here and respond to Ana Marie Cox? So perhaps you were right to do so.
What really pisses me off is to have to explain that Zoroastrianism is not that primitive proto-Christian faith that everybody sees in it. In the past few days I've read the German translation of the Gathas by Dr. Bahram Varza and it's so profoundly different from Jafarey's that I don't see any reason anymore why anyone would promote such a gross misunderstanding of Zoroastrian philosophy. In Varza's translation, for example, there's no talk about any other worlds than our natural world - this one and only world where we're breathing air right now, logging in to our e-mail accounts and typing postings on Ushta. He even refused to translate such words as Ahura, Asha, Mazda, Khashatra or Armaity to German, but only noted what these words mean at the end of every song. The only unfortunate thing about his translation is that he would translate Ahura to «creator» («Schöpfer» in German).
Ushta, Dino
--- Bahman Noruziaan
Von: Bahman Noruziaan
Betreff: RE: AW: [Ushta] a response to defamatory remarks by Ana Marie Cox-Political journalist
An: "Ushta Ushta"
Datum: Freitag, 27. November 2009, 1:47
Hello Dino,
Well I read her comments a couple of times and I did not see it the way that you have. However, I wonder what part of my message was extreme in your opinion?
What would be an apporopriate comment to this? Any comments or none at all from your point of view?
Bahman
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