The unique DNA of Persian Iranians (Aryans)

(History mate) Why Iranian DNA is strangest in the world

The Iranian (Aryan) mother of Future Buddha

• The historical Buddha's connection to Aryan Iran explained by Dr. Ranajit Pal in Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander: The Buddha's mothers (Queen Maya and the world's first Buddhist nun Ven. Pajapati Gotami) were from the area of Sistan Balochestan in Iran: Sistan and Baluchestan province

Zoroastrian: Compassion Consortium (11/27)

Jen B. (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven (eds.(, Wisdom Quarterly; Vegan Spirituality

Vegan veterinarian Dr. Armaiti May (VAPA)

The Compassion Consortium meets monthly. Each month's service is unique and features a presentation with experts from various religious and/or philosophical traditions who share the conviction that all living kind, and the planet itself, deserve respect, justice, and loving kindness.

Each service also includes elements of traditional worship services — such as meditation, music, and movement. These practices help each participant personally express faith, gratitude, and celebration to the degree that they wish to participate.

• 
  Friday, Nov. 27, 4:00 pm ET
• Zoroastrian Dr. Armaiti May, DVM
• small animal veterinarian, vegan advocate

Zoroastrianism priest or camel driver (Tang Dynasty)

Dr. Armaiti May, a graduate of the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, worked at an emergency dog and cat hospital then trained in veterinary acupuncture through the Chi Institute of Chinese Medicine.

She has served on the Board of Directors for RedRover, an animal organization that brings animals out of crisis and into care, and is president of Vegan Toastmasters, which empowers vegans to speak effectively on behalf of animals. She is launching a non-profit organization called the Veterinary Association for the Protection of Animals (“VAPA”) to educate the veterinary profession about the benefits of veganism and support humane teaching methods in veterinary surgical training.

​

ABOUT: VAPA (vapavets.org) is an online community and an advocacy group. Its members are united around a common goal -- providing the best care to the animals of this earth with the same level of love and respect as we offer one another.

VAPA is one of many groups that is collectively evolving humankind's understanding of humane advancements in veterinary medicine, animal wellness, and domestic care. There is now a consensus that humane practices are more cost-effective and scientifically sound.

Some of its primary organizational goals are to help end the requirement for cruel and redundant surgeries in veterinary medicine education while advocating for humane alternatives any time the well-being of an animal is at risk.

Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord (or Asura)

ABOUT: Zoroastrianism is an Iranian (Aryan) religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra). It innovated a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ontology and an eschatology that predicts the ultimate conquest of evil by good.

The religion states that active and ethical participation in life through good deeds [karma] formed from good thoughts and good words is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

Zoroastrians believe that there is one universal, transcendent, all-good, and uncreated supreme creator deity called Ahura Mazda or the "Wise Lord." [Who from a Buddhist perspective, some suggest, may be an Asura or Titan.]

Please don't ask him to kill me. I don't want to die

Historically, the unique features of Zoroastrianism -- its monotheism, messianism (waiting for Godot, the Maitreya, the Messiah), vegetarianism, belief in freewill and judgement after death, its conception of heaven, hell, angels, and demons, among other concepts -- may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) and Gnosticism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Greek philosophy.

With roots dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism enters recorded history around the middle of the 6th century BCE (around the time of the Buddha or the Axial Age). It served as the state religion of the ancient Iranian [Persian] empires for more than a millennium (approximately from 600 BCE to 650 CE) but declined onwards as a direct result of the Arab-Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654 CE), which led to the large-scale persecution of the Zoroastrian people.

Recent estimates place the current number of Zoroastrians in the world at around 110,000–120,000 at most, many of them in India where they are known as the Parsis.

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The Faravahar is an ancient symbol of the Zoroastrian faith. It depicts a bearded man with one hand reaching forward. He stands above a pair of wings that are outstretched from a circle representing eternity.

It is represented on the Compassion Consortium wheel of interfaith symbols on the home page and also attached as an image to this event announcement. COMPASSION CONSORTIUM NOVEMBER 27 SERVICE-DR. ARMAITI MAY, VEGAN/DVM/ZOROASTRIAN, Sun, Nov 27, 2022, 1:00 PM | Meetup

Fire worship: backstory to "The Fire Sermon"

G.P. Malalasekera (Pali Proper Names), Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

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About the Fire Sutra

You're not enlightened nor on the path.

"All is burning!" But what is the "all" that is burning? This is the third recorded sutra of the Buddha. It was delivered at Gayāsīsa in Gayā, India, after he converted tebhātika-jatilā (three ascetic brothers: Uruvela Kassapa, Nadī Kassapa, and Gayā Kassapa).

Our senses are burning with lust, anger, ignorance, and the anxieties of birth, decay, death, and so on. Knowing this, the follower of the Noble Eightfold Path feels revulsion towards them. And passion -- by seeing their true nature -- fades out. One ultimately attains supreme freedom. 

Modern Christian fire worship Jerusalem, 2017

At the end of this discourse, the 1,000 recently ordained Buddhist monks who had been listening, who were former matted-hair yogi wandering ascetics (jatilas) living along the river, realized full enlightenment (Vin.i.34-5; J.i.82; iv.180).

It is said that this sutra was given on the Pitthipāsāna at Gayāsīsa (AA.i.166; ThagA.i.435). It is also called the Āditta Sutta. (See Āditta Sutta 3).

Sadhus and sadhvis of India, wandering ascetics who practice magic and many things.

Indo-Parthian stone palette, illustrating a fire worship, possibly Zoroastrian (wiki).

 
The backstory

Amateur "fire worship" can get carried away, particularly in modern California.

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We are jatilas who tend the sacred fire (W).

Three fire-worshipper brothers named Kassapa were yogi ascetics with matted hair, tebhātika-jatilas, who lived on the banks of the Nerañjarā river.

Uruvela-Kassapa lived at Uruvelā with 500 disciples, and further down the river lived his two brothers, Nadī-Kassapa with 300 disciples, and Gayā-Kassapa with 200. These are the 1,000 ascetics in the sutra.

The Buddha visited Uruvela-Kassapa and took lodging for the night where their sacred fire was kept, in spite of Kassapa's warning that the spot was inhabited by a fierce dragon or nāga. The Buddha using his magical powers overcame first this nāga then another. They both vomited fire and smoke.

Uruvela-Kassapa was pleased with the Buddha's exhibition of magic power (iddhi), so he undertook to provide the Buddha with his daily alms food.

Devas loved the Buddha

Meanwhile, the Buddha stayed in a grove nearby, waiting for the time when Uruvela-Kassapa might be ready to be converted to the Dharma and enlightened. Here the Buddha was visited by the Four Great Sky Regents, Sakka King of the Devas, Brahma, and others.

The Buddha spent the entire rainy season there performing 3,500 miracles of various kinds, reading the thoughts of Kassapa, splitting firewood for the ascetics' sacrifices, heating stoves for them to use after bathing in the cold weather, and so on.

Still Uruvela-Kassapa persisted in the thought, "This great ascetic has great magic power, but he is not enlightened like I am."
 

It's not an all-boys club. There are sadhvis.

Finally, the Buddha decided to startle Uruvela-Kassapa by declaring: "You are not enlightened! Nor do you follow a path that can possibly lead to enlightenment."
 

Thereupon, Uruvela-Kassapa admitted it. Then he reverently asked the Buddha for ordination as a Buddhist monk. The Buddha asked him to first consult with his pupils.

When he did they cut off their long dreadlocks (jatas) and threw them into the Neranjara river along with their sacrificial utensils. And they all ordained as Buddhist monks.

When they saw the hair and utensils floating down river, Uruvela-Kassapa's brothers, Nadī-Kassapa and Gayā-Kassapa, came to Uruvela-Kassapa's encampment to inquire what had happened.

They, too, decided to ordain under the Buddha along with their pupils, for a total of 1,003 wandering ascetics. Because they had been fire worshipers, the Buddha decided to give them a discourse later dubbed "The Fire Sermon." And as a result of hearing it, they all attained full enlightenment. More

Happy Spring! (Narooz)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly edit of Wikipedia entry Nowruw

Spring: the flowers of the New Year when Bhumi (Gaia) is in full bloom (Lila Daley)

 

Nowrūz (Persian, نوروز‎, "[The] New Day") is the name of the Iranian/Persian New Year  (2013 actually being 1392) in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations.

Nowruz is also widely referred to as the "Persian New Year." Nowruz is celebrated and observed by Iranian peoples and the related cultural continent and has spread in many other parts of the world -- including parts of India, Central Asia, Caucasus, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea, and some groups in the Balkans.

 

Nowruz marks the first day of SPRING and the beginning of the year in the Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. 

 

Nature's otherworldly lights (aurora borealis) visible from space

 

Auroras ("sunrises") north and south

As well as being an Asuran (Buddhist titan) Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranians (the Parsis and Iranis of India), it is also celebrated in parts of the South Asian sub-continent as the new year. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.

 

Originally being a Zoroastrian festival, and the holiest of them all, Nowruz is believed to have been invented by the founder Zoroaster (Zarathustra) himself, although there is no clear date of origin.

 

Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox. Nowruz is also a holy day for Sufis (Buddhist-influenced mystical Muslims), Bektashis, Ismailis, Alawites. Alevis, Babis, and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith. More

India: Kashmir rally, Mumbai massacre

Serene Dal Lake in war torn Kashmir, made famous by a Led Zeppelin song residents have never heard, Kashmir Valley, India (AFP).

Kashmir, in the extreme north of India, is a state (J&K) with a wondrous valley, home of the remains of Jesus Christ, and the gateway to Buddhist-India (Ladakh). Its proximity to Tibet means constant foot traffic between world-famous Hemis Gompa, the Chinese line-of-control (de facto border), and Lhasa (in the Tibetan Autonomous Region).

Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is the banking and movie capital (Bollywood) of India. It is home to millions -- as made infamous by the Academy award-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" -- and recently suffered an appalling attack from Pakistan. It is home to a little-known religious minority (the Parsis) who practice Zorastrianism (Zoraster as in Zarathustra), which formed the foundation of the Christian tradition.

Suspected communist rebels kill 16 police in India
MUMBAI, India (AP) - Suspected communist rebels ambushed a police patrol in western India today, killing 16 officers, police said.

Thousands rally in Kashmir to mourn slain separatist leaders
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Kashmiris chanting pro-freedom slogans today held a rally to commemorate two top separatists slain on the same day a dozen years apart.

• Asia News

Another example of post-colonial civil strife thanks to the United Kingdom and its waning dreams of empire: Supporters of the moderate faction of Indian-administered Kashmir's main separatist alliance the All Parties Hurriyat Conference attend a rally in downtown Srinagar. Tens of thousands of Kashmiris chanting pro-freedom slogans today held a rally to commemorate two top separatists slain on the same day a dozen years apart (AFP/Tauseef Mustafa).

Dawn of Religion Pt. I

Hammurabi [Manu] receiving the "Code of Laws" from the Sun God [Surya/Sol].

"Dawn of Religions in the Paradise on Earth"
Dr. Ranajit Pal (ranajitpal.com)

Of Paradise or EDEN: this had been
Perhaps thy Capital Seat, from whence had spread
All generations, and had hither come
From all the ends of th' Earth, to celebrate
And reverence thee their great Progenitor...
-- Milton's "Paradise Lost"

The discovery of agriculture freed primitive men and women from the woes of food-gathering and [there] grew the first cities. The emergence of copper and bronze gave birth to industry and then came the epoch-making invention of writing[Note 1], which totally transformed society and ushered in what we fondly term civilization[2].

Another great leap forward was the advent of the wheel, which brought nations closer together and broadened the political and cultural horizons of people. Finally, the smelting of iron marked another phase in the story of humankind that has had fateful consequences.

In this "new" world arose the modern idea of God together with a sharpened notion of human selfhood. This phase is discernible in all the ancient religious texts of the world, the RgVeda[3], the Avesta[4], as well as the Old Testament[5] and has been roughly dated to the mid-eighteenth century BC[6] when the patriarch Abraham left Ur and migrated to Palestine.

The Old Testament has often stood on [a] thin line between history and myth. That many of the outstanding archaeological discoveries in Assyria and Sumer were in part inspired by references in this ancient text is a glowing tribute to its authenticity. It has also stimulated groundbreaking works of world literature like Milton's "Paradise Lost."

Incidentally, before he became a celebrated poet, Milton (1608–1674) was an ardent political activist who not only took part in the making of history but also had a considerable familiarity with the historical literature of his day[7]; yet today not all pre-historians or archaeologists would agree with his claim that [all] mankind spread from Eden[8], which was in the East as stated in the Book of Genesis. However, his concomitant assertion that even after the fall, Eden remained a principal religious center where people from the ends of the earth came "to celebrate and reverence thee" deserves to be examined with greater care. This statement cannot be dismissed as mere reverent circumlocution as it has echoes in many other independent sources.

Archaeological and historical considerations indicate that the ancient Paradise was in Seistan, which may be seen as the original home of all the ancient religions[9] of the world. More>>

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NOTES

1. The earliest evidence of writing comes from the fourth millennium BC Sumerian tablets which were not religious invocations but temple book-keeping records. From the later documents we get a fairly vivid picture of the ancient cults - of the myths and songs for propitiation of the Gods, for warding off the evil spirits, for celebration of harvests and weddings, and lamentations of death and defeat. The dying and subsequent reincarnation of the shepherd-God Dumuzi played a very important role in the lives of common people of Uruk and other Sumerian cities. His wife Innana was also a very powerful figure who had astral associations and was the Goddess of procreation and war.

2. What are the driving forces behind this process of civilisation, it is hard to say. A related question is why did the Stone Age people abandon the way of life that had served them well for millennia? Is it that blind monster of history or fate, the ever-increasing thirst for material goods, a mystical awareness of the supernatural and the cosmos, or a combination of all of these factors? Today there is an ever-growing realization that with the progress of civilisation our environment is continually being threatened by man-made perils. The nostalgia for the lost habitat, therefore, has now become almost an instinctive response.

3. The date of the RgVeda has been variously given as 1200BC to 1500BC by the German scholar Max Muller, 2000-1400BC by the American Sanskritist Whitney and 2400-1400BC by Haug. The date given by Max Muller is now generally thought to be rather late. The contention that Vedic society was pastoral having no knowledge of agriculture is baseless.

4. The root of the name Avesta is said to be "vid," that is, "to see," which is also the root of the name RgVeda. The extant Avesta is said to be only a part of a much larger body of scripture that existed before. It is apparently Zoroaster's transformation of the ancient tradition. There are very large overlaps between the Avesta and the [Vedas?] which is likely to have been similar to the RgVeda. Alexander the Great is said to have destroyed the sacred books of the Zoroastrians. Despite several attempts the date of Zarathustra cannot be ascertained with any certainty. This is probably due to the fact that the name signifies the holder of an office. There were many Zarathustras. Herzfeld wrote that Gomata's adversary was Zarathustra.

5. History as narrated in the Old Testament is not written from a secular viewpoint. As in the [Buddhist] Jataka [Birth-] stories, the events are seen as revealing the presence and power of God. Nevertheless, owing to the absence of a fictive Jonesian superstructure, it is more useful as a [series of] stories of real tribes in real geographical settings.

6. Don Cupitt, After God, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997, p.28.

7. David Lowenstein, Milton and the Drama of History: Historical Vision, Iconoclasm, and the Literary Imagination, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

8. Mankind had spread from the Eden.

9. From the earliest times in history, religion must have played an important part in the lives of men and women and in this sense the idea of a precise dawn of religions is not a clear-cut one. Even in the Stone Age (500,000 BC to 10,000 BC) when there were no trappings of civilization, men and women believed in a hidden magical world inhabited by the spirits of their ancestors, animals, birds, and trees. Some of the these animistic beliefs and practices made their way into later religions. The transformation to agrarian society can perhaps be dated to about the 6th millennium BC, and the beginnings of the Bronze age to about... The discovery of iron has left imprints in the religious practices of all civilized nations, and it is possible to visualize a beginning of this phase.

• Contact the scholar: Dr. Ranajit Pal