Selflessness and salvation

It may not be an exaggeration to say that over the years perhaps, a million books have been written about attaining salvation (nirvana). Religion is distinct from ceremonialism. If we detach the ceremonial part, from the ethical path, the major religions of the world are considerably similar in their philosophy.

There is a striking resemblance in the paths suggested by Christianity and Hinduism. The Bible mentions that the seven cardinal sins are: wrath, sloth, avarice, pride, gluttony, covetousness and lust ("the worst of all the seven deadly sins”).

Wrath makes a man temporarily insane;/Sloth is the father of poverty;/Avarice is the root of all evils;/Pride is a predecessor of destruction;/Gluttony kills worse than the sword;/Covetousness takes us the farthest from detachment;/and lust demeans us in the eyes of all.

Let us look at the Hindu route to nirvana which requires that man abjures the eight deadly sins: kaman (akin to lust); krodham (akin to wrath); lobham (akin to avarice); moham (akin to covetousness); egoism (akin to pride); pride; impatience and hatred. No fire consumes as quickly and as devastatingly as hatred which is the root of internal turmoil and external wars.

The Magis of the Ancient Persians, the Rushis of the Hindus and the Apostles of the Christians, convey the same message, and travel the same path to nirvana, except for their different geographical locales.

Nirvana is not attained through fasting or through yoga. It is neither attained through feasting and pomp.

The Hindu and Christian religions believe in fasting. Zoroastrianism does not believe in it. There are no days of fasting in the Zoroastrian calendar. What is enjoined upon a Zoroastrian is to fast from sin.

God never intended man to torture himself, to reach Him.

BEHRAM T. DASTUR