171 " Zoroaster..."
"Zoroaster, the prophet and poet sees the universe as the cosmic struggle between aša
“truth” and druj “lie.” The cardinal concept of aša - which is highly nuanced and only vaguely
translatable - is at the foundation of all other Zoroastrian doctrine, including that of Ahura
Mazda (who is aša), creation (that is aša), existence (that is aša) and Free Will, which is
arguably Zoroaster’s greatest contribution to religious philosophy. The purpose of
humankind, like that of all other creation, is to sustain aša. For humankind, this occurs
through active participation in life and the exercise of good thoughts, words and deeds.
The name Zoroaster was famous in classical antiquity, and a number of different Zoroasters
- all described as having occult powers - appear in historiographic accounts.
In Pliny’s Natural History, Zoroaster is said to have laughed on the day of his birth. He lived
in the wilderness and enjoyed exploring it from a young age. Plutarch compares him with
Lycurgus and Numa Pompilius (Numa, 4). Plutarch, drawing partly on Theopompus, speaks
of Zoroaster in Isis and Osiris: In this work, the prophet is empowered by trust in his God and
the protection of his allies. He faces outward opposition and unbelief, and inward doubt.
The works of Zoroaster had a significant influence on Greek philosophy and Roman
philosophy. The ancient Greek writer Eudoxus of Cnidus and the Latin writer Pliny the Elder
praised Zoroaster’s philosophy as “the most famous and most useful.” Plato learnt of
Zoroaster’s philosophy through Eudoxus and incorporated some of it into his own Platonic
realism. In the third century BC, however, Colotes accused Plato’s The Republic of
plagiarizing parts of (what is attributed to) Zoroaster’s On Nature, such as the Myth of Er.
Plato’s contemporary, Heraclides Ponticus, wrote a text called Zoroaster based on
Zoroaster’s philosophy in order to express his disagreement with Plato on natural
philosophy.
Zoroaster was mentioned by the nineteenth-century poet William Butler Yeats. His wife and
he were said to have claimed to have contacted Zoroaster through “automatic writing.”
The 2005 edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy places Zoroaster first in a
chronology of philosophers."
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org
172 "... an IS-BE called Ahura Mazda."
"Ahura Mazda (Ahura Mazdā) is the Avestan language name for a divinity exalted by
Zoroaster as the one uncreated Creator, hence God. He is the nameless "Father Asura",
that is, Varuna of the Rigveda. In this view, Zoroastrian mazda is the equivalent of the Vedic
medhira, described in Rigveda 8.6.10 as the "(revealed) insight into the cosmic order".
Ahura Mazda is seen as the Ahura par excellence, superior to both *vouruna and *mitra, and
the nameless "Father Asura" of the Rigveda and is a distinct divinity. The Zoroastrian faith
is thus described by its adherents as Mazdayasna, the worship of Mazda. In the Avesta,
"Ahura Mazda is the highest object of worship".
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org
173 "Laozi, a philosopher who wrote a small book called "The Way"..."
"According to tradition, it was written around 6th century BC by the Taoist sage Laozi (or Lao
Tzu, "Old Master"), a record-keeper at the Zhou Dynasty court, by whose name the text is
known in China. Tao Te Ching is a Chinese classic text. Its name comes from the opening
words of its two sections: dào "way," and dé "virtue".
This ancient book is also central in Chinese religion, not only for Taoism (Dàojiāo ) but
Chinese Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was largely interpreted through
the use of Taoist words and concepts. Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters,
calligraphers, and even gardeners have used the Tao Te Ching as a source of inspiration. Its
influence has also spread widely outside East Asia, aided by hundreds of translations into
Western languages."
Tao is nameless. (Tao) goes beyond distinctions, and transcends language.
Laozi describes a state of existence before time or space:
"The Way that can be told of is not an unvarying way;
The names that can be named are not unvarying names.
It was from the Nameless that heaven and Earth sprang;
The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures.
Each after its kind."
"The Spirit never dies.
It is the Mysterious Female.
The doorway of the Mysterious Female
Is the base from which Heaven and Earth sprang.
It is there within us, all the while;
Draw upon it as you will.
It never runs dry.
We put spokes together and call it a wheel;
But it is on the space where there is nothing that the value of the wheel depends.
We turn clay to make a vessel;
But it is on the space where there is nothing that the value of the vessel depends.
We pierce doors and windows to make a house;
And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the value of the house
depends.
Therefore just as we take advantage of what is,
we should recognize the value of what is not.
Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self requires strength;
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of will power.
He who stays where he is, endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present."
Many believe the Tao Te Ching contains universal truths that have been independently
recognized in other philosophies, both religious and secular."
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org
174 "...Genesis..."
"Genesis (Greek: "birth", "origin") is the first book of the Bible of Judaism and of Christianity,
and the first of five books of the Pentateuch or Torah.
"1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters
were born to them,
2 that the "sons of God" saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives
for themselves, whomever they chose.
3 Then Yaweh said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh;
nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the "sons of God"
came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty
men who were of old, men of renown.
5 Then Yaweh saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
-- Reference: http://bible.cc/genesis/6-4.htm
175 "... Omphalos stones..."
"An omphalos is an ancient religious stone artifact, or baetylusr. In Greek, the word
omphalos means "navel" (compare the name of Queen Omphale). According to the ancient
Greeks, Zeus sent out two eagles to fly across the world to meet at its center, the "navel" of
the world. Omphalos stones used to denote this point were erected in several areas
surrounding the Mediterranean Sea; the most famous of those was at the oracle in Delphi.
Most accounts locate the Omphalos in the temple adyton near the Pythia. The stone itself
(which may have been a copy) has a carving of a knotted net covering its surface, and has a
hollow centre, which widens towards its base
The Omphalos at Delphi came to be identified as the stone which Rhea wrapped in
swaddling clothes, pretending it was Zeus. This was to deceive Cronus, his father, who
swallowed his children so they could not grow up and depose him as he had deposed his
own father, Uranus. Omphalos stones were said to allow direct communication with
"the gods".
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org
176 "...Python, the serpent..."
"In Greek mythology Python, serpent, was the earth-dragon of Delphi, always represented
in sculpture and vase-paintings as a serpent. She resided at the Delphic oracle, which
existed in the cult center for her mother, Gaia, Earth, Pytho being the place name. The site
was considered the center of the earth, represented by a stone, the omphalos or navel,
which Python guarded. Pytho became the enemy of the later Olympian deity Apollo, who
slew her and remade her former home and the oracle, the most famous in Classical Greece,
as his own. Many pictures show the serpent Python guarding the Omphalos, the sacred
navel-stone and mid-point of the earth, which stood in Apollo's temple".
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org
177 "...Cyrus II of Persia..."
Cyrus the Great (c. 590 BC or 576 — August 529 BC or 530 BC), also known as Cyrus II
of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, was a Persian emperor. He was the founder of the Persian
Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty. The empire expanded under his rule, eventually
conquering most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, from Egypt and the
Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, to create the largest state the world
had yet seen.
During his twenty-nine year reign, Cyrus fought against some of the greatest states of his
time, including the Median Empire, the Lydian Empire, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along
the Syr Darya in August 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who
managed to conquer Egypt during his short rule.
Beyond his nation, Cyrus left a lasting legacy on Jewish religion (through his Edict of
Restoration), politics, and military strategy, as well as on both Eastern and Western
civilization.
The only known example of his religious policy is his treatment of the Jews in Babylon. The
Bible records that a remnant of the Jewish population returned to the Promised Land from
Babylon, following an edict from Cyrus to rebuild the temple. This edict is fully reproduced in
the Book of Ezra. As a result of Cyrus' policies, the Jews honored him as a dignified
and righteous king. He is the only Gentile to be designated as a messiah, a divinelyappointed king, in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1-6).
Some contemporary Muslim scholars have suggested that the Qur'anic figure of Dhul-
Qarnayn is Cyrus the Great. This theory was proposed by Sunni scholar Abul Kalam Azad
and endorsed by Shi'a scholars Allameh Tabatabaei, in his Tafsir al-Mizan and Makarem
Shirazi and Sunni scholar Abul Ala Maududi.
During his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms,
achieved partly through retaining and expanding Median satrapies. Cyrus' conquests
began a new era in the age of empire building, where a vast superstate, comprising
many dozens of countries, races, religions, and languages, were ruled under a single
administration headed by a central government.
In 1992, he was ranked #87 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.
On December 10, 2003, in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi evoked
Cyrus, saying:
"I am an Iranian, a descendant of Cyrus the Great. This emperor proclaimed at the
pinnacle of power 2,500 years ago that he 'would not reign over the people if they did
not wish it.' He promised not to force any person to change his religion and faith and
guaranteed freedom for all. The Charter of Cyrus the Great should be studied in the
history of human rights."
Many of the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the
Great through works such as Cyropaedia. Thomas Jefferson, for example, had two personal
copies of the book, "which was a mandatory read for statesmen alongside Machiavelli's The
Prince."
In a recent segment of ABC's Nightline with Ted Koppel, Ted Koppel mentioned Cyrus the
Great, when he was talking about the new documentary film being made in his honor, and
had this to say of him:
“Cyrus the Great is genuinely one of history's towering figures. America's own
founders such as Thomas Jefferson were influenced by Cyrus the Great in the field of
Human Rights.”
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org
178 "... unique system of organization used by Cyrus II..."
"During his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms,
achieved partly through retaining and expanding Median satrapies. Further organization of
newly conquered territories into provinces ruled by vassal kings called satraps, was
continued by Cyrus' successor Darius the Great. Cyrus' empire demanded only tribute
and conscripts from many parts of the realm.
Cyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. By pursuing a
policy of generosity instead of repression, and by favoring local religions, he was able
to make his newly conquered subjects into enthusiastic supporters. Due in part to the
political infrastructure he created, the Achaemenid empire endured long after his demise.
The rise of Persia under Cyrus's rule had a profound impact on the course of world
history. Persian philosophy, literature and religion all played dominant roles in world
events for the next millennia. Despite the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE
by the Islamic Caliphate (Arab Empire), Persia continued to exercise enormous influence
in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age."
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org
179 "... tree of life...."
"Trees of life appear in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality. These
often hold cultural and religious significance to the peoples for whom they appear.
The Sumerian (or Persian) Tree of Life was represented by a series of nodes and crisscrossing lines. It was an important religious symbol among these peoples, often attended
to by Eagle Headed Gods & Priests, or the King himself.
•In Chinese mythology a carving of a Tree of Life depicts a phoenix and a dragon -
in Chinese mythology the dragon often represents immortality. There is also the
Taoist story of a tree that produces a peach every three thousand years. The one
who eats the fruit receives immortality.
•An archaeological discovery in the 1990s was of a sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui in
Sechuan, China. Dating from about 1200 BCE, it contained 3 bronze trees, one
of them 4 meters high. At the base was a dragon, and fruit hanging from the lower
branches. At the top is a strange bird-like (phoenix) creature with claws. Also from
Sechuan, from the late Han dynasty (c 25 - 220 CE) is another tree of life. The
ceramic base is guarded by a horned beast with wings. The leaves of the tree are
coins and people.
•In Egyptian mythology, in the Ennead system of Heliopolis, the first couple, apart
from Shu & Tefnut (moisture & dryness) and Geb & Nuit (earth & sky), are Isis &
Osiris. They were said to have emerged from the acacia tree of Saosis, which the
Egyptians considered the tree of life, referring to it as the "tree in which life
and death are enclosed".
•The Egyptian's Holy Sycamore also stood on the threshold of life and death,
connecting the two worlds.
•In Germanic paganism, trees played a prominent role, appearing in various
aspects of surviving texts and possibly in the name of gods.
•The tree of life appears in Norse religion as Yggdrasil, the world tree, a massive
tree with extensive lore surrounding it. Perhaps related to the Yggdrasil, accounts
have survived of Germanic Tribes honouring sacred trees within their societies.
•In Norse Mythology it is the golden apples from Iðunn's tree that provides
immortality for the gods.
•The Tree of Life is mentioned in the Books of Genesis, in which it has the
potential to grant immortality to Adam and Eve. (However, it is not immediately
obvious, nor is it universally accepted, that the Book of Genesis account and the
Book of Revelation account speak of the same Tree of Life.)
•A Tree of Life, in the form of ten interconnected nodes, is an important part of
the Kabbalah. As such, it resembles the ten Sephirot.
•The Tree of Life appears in the Book of Mormon in a revelation to Lehi (see 1 Nephi
8:10-12). It is symbolic of the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:21-23), and sometimes
understood as salvation and post-mortal existence.
•Etz Chaim, Hebrew for "Tree of Life", is a common term used in Judaism. The
expression, found in the Book of Proverbs, is figuratively applied to the Torah itself.
•Among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, the concept of "world trees" is a
prevalent motif in Mesoamerican mythical cosmologies and iconography. World
trees embodied the four cardinal directions, which represented also the fourfold
nature of a central world tree, a symbolic axis mundi connecting the planes of
the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial world.
•Depictions of world trees, both in their directional and central aspects, are found in
the art and mythological traditions of cultures such as the Maya, Aztec,
Izapan, Mixtec, Olmec, and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative
periods of Mesoamerican chronology.
•Directional world trees are also associated with the four Year bearers in
Mesoamerican calendars, and the directional colors and deities.
•World trees are frequently depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots
extending into earth or water (sometimes atop a "water-monster", symbolic of
the underworld).
•The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band
of the Milky Way. Fragment of a bronze helmet from Urartu, with the "Tree of Life"
depicted.
•In ancient Armrenia around 13th to 6th century BC, the Tree of Life was a
religious symbol, drawn onto the exterior walls of fortresses and carved on the
armour of warriors. The branches of the tree were equally divided on the right and
left sides of the stem, with each branch having one leaf, and one leaf on the apex of
the tree. Servants (some winged) stood on each side of the tree with one of their
hands up as if they are taking care of it. This tree can be found on numerous Urartu
artifacts, such as paintings on the walls of the Erebuni fortress in Yerevan, Armenia.
•The symbolism of the tree is mentioned in the 135th hymn of the 10th book of
Rig-Veda, and in the 15th chapter of Bhagavad-gita (1-4).
•In the Japanese religion of Shinto, trees were marked with sacred paper
symbolizing lightning bolts, as trees were thought to be sacred. This was
propagated by the fact that after they passed (died), ancestors and animals
were often portrayed as branches on the tree.
•The Book of One Thousand and One Nights has a story, 'The Tale of Buluqiya',
in which the hero searches for immortality and finds a paradise with jewelencrusted trees. Nearby is a Fountain of Youth guarded by Al-Khidr. Unable to
defeat the guard, Buluqiya has to return empty-handed.
•The Epic of Gilgamesh is a similar quest for immortality. In Mesopotamian
mythology, Etana searches for a 'plant of birth' to provide him with a son. This has
a solid provenance of antiquity, being found in cylinder seals from Akkad (2390 -
2249 BCE).
•One of the earliest forms of ancient Greek religion has its origins associated with
tree cults.
In mystical traditions of world religions, sacred texts are read for metaphorical content
concerning the relationship between states of mind and the external experience of
reality. As such, the tree is a manifestation/causal symbol - the Tree of Life representing
the coveted state of eternal aliveness or fulfillment, not immortality of the body or
soul. In such a state, physical death (which cannot be overcome) is nevertheless a
choice, and direct experience of the perfect goodness/divine reality/god is not only
possible, but ever present.
Once the ego (surface consciousness) experiences shame, having been tempted to absorb
or believe in duality (such as eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), we are
protected from living eternally in that limiting, fallen, experience by the cherubim guarding
the gate of return to paradise. The cherubim are symbolic of the perfect knowledge of
self or true nature, with the power of purification and return to being."
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org
180 "... the carvings show cone-shaped instruments, and electronic detection devices which are stylized as baskets or water buckets, being carried by eagle headed, winged beings...."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Excellent photographs of these can be viewed at the following website:
http://www.crystalinks.com/godswaterbuckets.html
181 "... faravahar..."
"The faravahar or farohar (transliteration varies) is one of the best-known symbols of
Zoroastrianism.
The winged disc has a long history in the art and culture of the ancient Near and Middle
East. Historically, the symbol is influenced by the "winged sun" hieroglyph appearing on
Bronze Age royal seals. While the symbol is currently thought to represent a Fravashi (c.
a guardian angel) and from which it derives its name, what it represented in the minds of
those who adapted it from earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian reliefs is unclear. Because
the symbol first appears on royal inscriptions, it is also thought to represent the 'Divine
Royal Glory' (khvarenah), or the Fravashi of the king, or represented the divine mandate
that was the foundation of a king's authority.
This relationship between the name of the symbol and the class of divine entities reflects
the current belief that the symbol represents a Fravashi. However, there is no physical
description of the Fravashis in the Avesta and in Avestan the entities are
grammatically feminine.
Prior to the reign of Darius I, the symbol did not have a human form above the wings.
In present-day Zoroastrianism, the faravahar is said to be a reminder of one's purpose in
life, which is to live in such a way that the soul progresses towards frasho-kereti, or
union with Ahura Mazda."
-- Reference: Wikipedia.org