|  Return
of Shahrzad
Part 6
By Eric J. Jerpe
December 19, 2003
The Iranian
Champter II: Yazd
Looking back through
the rear window, Roxana watched intently as the ghost city carved
into
the
side
of a cliff receded from view. When the mountain of the sacred spring
had faded into obscurity, Roxana turned and fixed her gaze upon
the stunningly beautiful woman sitting next to her in the back
seat. Admiring Scheherazade’s lustrous brunette tresses so
brazenly exposed to view, Roxana instinctively touched the shawl
covering her own hair, wishing in the stifling heat the same freedom
of exposure. Roxana nevertheless kept to decorum and continued
to wear her shawl.
Romeen reached the end of the dirt road and turned
left onto the highway leading to Yazd. He turned on the air-conditioning,
then
rolled up his window and told the others to do likewise. Soon,
to the relief of all, the effects of the air-conditioner could
be felt. With the comforting cool air circulating inside, the car
and its four occupants headed in the direction of Yazd.
Romeen was still trying to figure out a rational
alternative to the appearance, seemingly out of thin air, of this
woman called
Scheherazade. Only his wife had actually seen the phenomenal event,
and Romeen knew that he would have to wait until they were alone
together to question the intricate details of what she had witnessed.
For now, he was content to put curiosity on hold and enjoy the
presence of the two interesting characters of the Zoroastrian faith.
He began to question Porzand about religion, not because he wanted
to make the fallible clergyman look foolish, but in a genuine attempt
to reconcile those fundamental contradictions which upset his beliefs.
“
Magi, you must have heard about those two conjoined twins who died
in Singapore. Doesn’t this facet of life go a long way towards
proving that God is an imaginary being? How could the Perfect Designer
of the Universe allow such pathetic creatures as Laden and Lela
into the world?”
“
This universe,” responded Porzand, “is a battleground
between Spento-Mainyu, the Spirit of Good, and Angro-Mainyu, the
Spirit of Evil.”
“
Ah, ha!” said Romeen as if he had just caught Porzand in
a debating trap, “so your religion is not monotheistic, as
you claim. It is dualistic, with good and evil as opposing forces.”
“
I said ‘this universe’,” noted Porzand. “I
did not say ‘the Cosmos’.”
Both Romeen and Roxana looked puzzled. Porzand elaborated:
“
The Universe is everything that came into being as a result of
the Primordial Explosion. The Cosmos is everything that was, is,
or ever will be. This Universe is but one of an infinite or near-infinite
number of Universi within the Cosmos. Within this Universe, Good
and Evil are opposing forces. Throughout the Cosmos, the Eternal
Being, to whom Past and Present and Future are One, reigns Supreme.”
“
That begs the ultimate question,” said Romeen. “Why
did the Perfect God create the imperfect universe?”
“
Because the universe came into being out of conflict. The Twin
Spirits of Good and Evil do not exist independently but each in
relation to the other, as do the sub-atomic quarks that redefine
the meaning of existence.”
“
Now you’re talking more like a cosmologist than a theologian,” remarked
Romeen.
“
The most recent discoveries in Cosmology are vindicating the revelations
of Zoroaster,” declared Porzand.
“
So what are you advocating, magi?” pressed Romeen. “A
Zoroastrian theocracy of Iran to replace the Islamic theocracy
of Iran?”
“
Nothing of the sort,” responded Porzand. “We already
made that mistake in the days of the Sassanians. I am simply asking
for Zoroastrianism to be allowed to make its rightful contribution,
as the only religion to have originated in Iran, in the spiritual
lives of the Iranian people.”
Romeen then made a grim joke: “Maybe the mullahs will reduce
the crime of apostasy from capital felony to misdemeanor.”
“
Let us be fair,” said Porzand. “It is not only the
mullahs who are to blame for the stifling of our faith, but also
we, the Zoroastrian minority ourselves. One thousand four hundred
years of intramarriage has transformed Zoroastrianism into an ethnic
religion, something it was never meant to be, something not to
be found in the Gathas, the Holy Songs of Zoroaster.”
Porzand reached into his sack and pulled out a book.
He turned and addressed Roxana as he handed it to her.
“
Read this,” he said. “Then you will understand why
the corruption of the clerical hierarchy in the days of the Sassanians,
when Zoroastrianism was the state religion of Iran, paved the way
for the Arab conquest and the triumph of Islam. This is the writing
of Adra Viraf, described as ‘one who had not the slightest
doubt of God and the religion,’ a dissipated ‘Dastur’ (high
priest) who ‘had seven sisters who were as wives to him’.”
Roxana accepted the book and glanced at the writing
on the front cover: A Journey to Heaven and Hell by Adra Viraf.
The title
reminded her of Dante, an Italian movie she had seen with Persian
subtitles.
She opened the book and started to read. Soon she was engrossed.
In the introduction, Adra Viraf, a man whose “thoughts and
words and deeds were most orderly and proper,” was selected
to journey to the “Spiritual Realm.” In preparation,
Viraf drank from three golden cups filled with “wine and
the narcotic of Vishtasp.” (This passage brought to Roxana’s
mind something she had heard from a Zoroastrian girlfriend in
college: Zoroastrians are forbidden intoxicants when attending
religious
ceremonies, as are Jews and Nazarenes and Moslems.)
Roxana read on: “And the soul of Viraf went, from the body,
to the Chinvat Bridge of Chakat-I-Daitik.” She wondered,
Did the narcotic of Vishtasp have anything to do with this vision.
Crossing into Heaven, Viraf was escorted by angels
through the blissful realm. The identification of celestial beings
as individual
personalities caused Roxana to recall what her college girlfriend
had told her: What the Sacred Texts of Zoroastrianism had originally
defined as Aspects of Divinity were, by the time of the Sassanians,
generally being thought of as Archangels.
Viraf described what the dead experienced. Indeed,
his sensual depiction of the blissful realm made quite pleasant
reading.
He quoted the Gathas: “Ushta ahmai yahmai ushta hahmaichit.” (“Well
is he by whom that which is his benefit becomes the benefit of
anyone else.”)
Viraf put forth the first footstep onto Humat, the “star
track,” the place where “good thoughts” are received
with hospitality; its residents are “as glittering as the
stars” and “ever increasing in radiance.” Then,
he put forth the second footstep onto Hukht, the “moon track,” the
place where “good words” are received with hospitality;
the brightness of its residents “is like unto the brightness
of the moon.” Then, he put forth the third footstep onto
Huvarsht, the “sun track,” the place where “good
deeds” are received with hospitality; there dwelt people
whose “brightness is like unto the brightness of the sun.” >>> Part
7 >>> Index
* Send
this page to your friends
|
