Obsessed with rituals

It makes me really sad to see the unresolved controversies, the unwillingness of priests, community leaders and elected trustees to progress with the times and be willing to accept changes and guide the community in the right direction. What was good thousands of years ago is no longer applicable today.

There are several ongoing issues such as dakhmenashini, the most advanced and environmentally-friendly method of disposing dead bodies. It was in keeping with our religious teachings of charity and not polluting the environment. Due to many reasons, the vultures have gone. Bodies lie in the dakhma for days and weeks; they rot and decompose, giving off a foul odor that spreads to surrounding areas. Yet our so-called self-proclaimed gurus try to convince the community that dakhmenashini is still the religious method of disposal.

Another issue is the refusal to perform prayers for people who are cremated. Disposal of a dead body, whether it is buried, cremated, sent to the tower of silence for birds to devour or donated for medical research, has no religious significance. Funeral prayers are to soothe and assist departed souls on their journey towards the spiritual world. The prayers are neither for the body nor for the method of disposal. Recently, two priests were barred from performing prayers at Doongerwadi and in two agiaries controlled by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet as they prayed for those who were cremated. I applaud these priests.

Refusal to perform mixed marriages and the navjotes of children of mixed marriages; disallowing a non-Zarathushti spouse from attending any of our prayers, including funeral ceremonies, and disallowing non-Zoroastrians from entering fire temples are other contentious issues. Our priests and community leaders have encouraged the misconstrued and misunderstood beliefs of a few people that the universal teachings of our dear Prophet are reserved solely for a select group of people.

Anyone born in any faith should be allowed to follow the path of Asha. Any good human being — living his/her life on the universal principles of good thoughts, words and deeds with all other virtues — should be considered no different from a Zarathushti. A Zarathushti born in the faith but who may not be conducting his/her life according to all the virtues and teachings of our religion can still enter the fire temple and his/her presence will not desecrate the fire; but a good non-Zarathushti’s presence in the fire temple will! How is the mighty power of the fire desecrated by the mere presence of a non-Zarathushti?

In Atash Nyiash, fire is defined as the son of God (Atash Ahurahe Mazdao Puthra) and this is emphasized and repeated 16 times. Do we really believe that the presence of a good non-Zarathushti has a power greater than that of the son of God? Can a human being really overpower the mighty fire that provides heat, light, tranquility, divine guidance, peace of mind and nourishment for our souls?

We take pride in saying that Zara­thushtra was the first prophet who taught that there is one God, the creator of the entire universe and the galaxies beyond. So, are we not all children of the same God? There is no religion in the spiritual world. Every religion ultimately talks about one supreme being. Why do we think we are superior to the others? Do we really think that God has chosen us above his other creations? God does not discriminate, so why are we discriminating against those who believe in the same God through their faith?

We are too preoccupied with our rituals, customs and dogmas. We follow the negative traits of manipulation, egoism, lies, arrogance, jealousy, anger, hatred, greed, false pride, selfishness, hypocrisy. We have diverted ourselves from the teachings of our Prophet: to follow the path of Asha; to be truthful, charitable, tolerant, peaceful, loving, compassionate and forgiving; to have empathy and to treat everyone equally.

This is what our priests, community leaders, elected trustees and self-proclaimed (and opportunistic) scholars should be guiding us towards. Their failure has caused nothing but confusion and chaos. In essence: they have moved away from spirituality. Whether they are driven by ignorance at best or selfish motives at worst, our leaders and priests are not only creating bad karma for themselves but for others who blindly follow them.

ERVAD JAL PANTHAKY

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

jal_panthaky@yahoo.ca