Judging from its history, Zoroaster was the state religion of three Persian dynasties and survived until the conquest of Persian Muslims in the 7th century AD.
In the midst of the emergence of Islamic power, Zoroastrians fled from Iran by emigrating to India. Zoroaster now has around 100,000 to 200,000 worshipers worldwide, and is now practiced as a minority religion in several regions of Iran and India.
Zarathrustra Reform
Zarathrustra was the founder or pioneer of the Zoroastrian faith. Most of what is known about him comes from Avesta - a collection of Zoroastrian religious scriptures. However it is unclear exactly when Zarathrustra lived.
Some scholars believe Zarathrustra lived during Cyrus the Great, a Persian king from the sixth century BC. Although most of the linguistic and archeological evidence shows an earlier date - sometime between 1500-1200 BC or even older.
Zarathrustra is thought to have been born in what is now northeast of Iran or southwestern Afghanistan. He probably lived in a tribe that followed an ancient religion with many gods (polytheism), a belief similar to the initial form of Hinduism.
According to Zoroastrian tradition, Zarathrustra had a divine vision of the supreme being while taking part in the purification ritual of paganism at the age of 30. He then began teaching followers to worship a single god named Ahura Mazda.
Zoroastrian Principal Teachings
God
As a reformer at a time of polytheism, Zarathustra called for the teachings of monotheism to worship a single God, the creator of all things and all of nature, both in the form of essence (spirit) and matter (maddah). Ahura Mazda is the pure, pure essence of all material forms which cannot be seen by eye's eye and cannot be grasped by human reason.
The essence of Ahura Mazda is divided into two. First, it is transcendent (celestial) symbolized by the sun. Second, it is immanent (ardhi) which is symbolized by fire. Both are elements that emit light, illuminate the universe, are holy and are not contaminated with badness.
Based on these characteristics, followers of the Zoroastrian religion who purify and sacred fire. Although in the end made the religion shifted from monotheism to paganism. Zoroaster also changed to religion of pantheism and paganism. The fire itself eventually changes from being merely a gesture to the Creator itself.
Human
In the "Book of Advice of Zartusht" there is the concept of man. That man was originally a supernatural being and his spirit existed before his body. Both the body and the spirit are created by Ahura Mazda and the spirit is not eternal.
Man belongs to God and will return to him. While Angra Mainyu is an opponent of God.
Humans are free to choose between good and bad. Whoever chooses good and truth then he will reap the rewards of the eternal afterlife. As for those who choose evil, he too will be tormented in hell.
Ethics
The teachings of the Zoroastrian religion mostly focus on ethical issues. Its theological rationale has a core moralistic view of life.
The main and inevitable fact of life is ugliness. Good is good and bad is bad. Rejecting the existence of separate principles and ugliness is the same as connecting or linking evil to God. Therefore ugliness is certainly something that stands alone and separately.
The morality of the teachings of the Zoroastrian religion is expressed in three words namely: humate, huklit, and huvarsht which means good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. The main thing of all three is good deeds.
Dead
Followers of the Zoroastrian religion do not allow burial and burning of deceased corpses, because they assume that it will tarnish water, air, earth, and fire. Every death ceremony was led by a priest and held in the Bachram temple, the largest temple for followers of Zarahustra with its fire burning.
In the implementation of the rite of death that is by placing the body on the Dakhma or tower of silence (tower of silence). There is a clear division of places for men, women and children. The stages carried out during the ritual of death are as follows:
The corpse is kept in a room at home for three days before being brought to Dakhma, a place to carry out the ritual of death.
In the Dakhma (tower of calm) the corpse is undressed, then put to sleep on an open tower so that the corpse is eaten by crows or vows.
After the meat has been eaten by the birds, the bones are left to be thrown into the well.
Court after death
According to Zoroastrian religious teachings that every human spirit that has died will roam for three days around his body. On the fourth day, the spirit faces trial on the "bridge of vengeance". The bridge is guarded by Lord Rashu who acts as a very fair judge in weighing the good and bad deeds of humans. If his good deeds are heavier, the spirit is allowed to go straight to heaven, but if his bad deeds are heavier or bigger then the spirit will be drawn and put into hell.
Meanwhile, if good and bad deeds are balanced then the spirit will be taken to a place called Hamestagan or a mixed place. In this place the spirits will experience improvement by feeling the pain in the form of heat and cold.
Hell in Zoroastrian religious belief is not a place of eternal torture. Hell is only temporary and is a place of purification from human taints and sins. The end of the cleansing of sins takes place at the time of judgment (reckoning) ie at the end of time.
Thus the spirit will face two trials, namely: the court at death and the general court on the Day of Judgment when the human body is raised and reunited with his spirit.
For the teachings of the Zoroastrian religion, the judgment on the Day of Resurrection is followed by the final purification of the taints and sins so that all become holy without blemishes. There is no eternal torment and all humans eventually enter heaven.
Resurrection Day / Doomsday
Zoroastrians believe the end will definitely happen. On the Day of Judgment he will be raised again from his grave to receive the results of his actions while living in the world.
Human deeds are then weighed, very few good deeds will fall from the bridge into hell. Meanwhile, those who have poor charity can cross the bridge safely to heaven. The bridge is called Civant (a concept similar to the Shirathal Mustaqim bridge in Islamic religious beliefs).
At that time all the evil spirits were destroyed by Ahura Mazda including Angra Mainyu also destroyed.
The concept of heaven according to the teachings of the Zoroastrian religion is very simple. Heaven is like a place of reunion for very large families and in it is like an ideal world life. Life in heaven is a natural refinement of life on earth. That's where the whole family gathers in an eternal life and eternal enjoyment.
The Existence of Zoroastrian Religion in Cross History
Zoroaster became the official religion of one of the greatest empires of the ancient century, the Persian Empire. The existence of this religion can be said to be long, because it is able to survive for three dynasties before being destroyed by the presence of Islam.
Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, was a devout Zoroaster. According to most records, he was a tolerant ruler. This is evidenced through a policy that allows non-Iranian people to practice their own religion. In addition he ruled using the Zoroastrian Asha (truth and truth) law, but did not impose Zoroastrianism on people from his territory conquered by Persia.
Zoroastrian concepts, including the idea of a god, heaven, hell, and judgment day, were probably first introduced to the Jewish community in Babylon, where people from the Judean Kingdom had lived in detention for decades.
When Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC, he freed the Babylonian Jews. Many returned to Jerusalem, where their descendants helped create the Hebrew Bible.
The Persian Muslim conquest between 633 and 651 AD led to the fall of the Sassanian Persian Empire and the decline of Zoroastrian religion in Iran. Over time, most of Zoroastrian followers of Iran converted to Islam.
Meanwhile, some Zoroastrians fled from Islam to India. These people are known as Persia.
Experts speculate that the group sailed across the Arabian Sea and landed in Gujarat, a country in western India, between 785 and 936 AD.
Now Persians become ethnic minorities in India and Pakistan. There are currently around 60,000 Parsees in India and 1,400 in Pakistan.
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