Part I: Amesha Spentas, Ashavidans, Ashavans, and Asha’s Law
This article supplements that of November 2019 entitled Who Was the Prophet Zarathustra (“Zoroaster”)? and includes excerpts from the book entitled Ashavid.
The Ashavid religion is both an inspired faith and a logical worldview. It is based on the divine revelation of the ancient Irano-Aryan Prophet Spitama Zarathustra. It is the faith that is most natural to noble Nordkind men and women, for they are the modern kindred of that ancient spiritual teacher—the first great Saoshyant (great spiritual leader). Ashavid embraces the reality that we are subject to Natural Law, which the Prophet called Asha Vahishta. Asha was created by God and absorbed into His Divine Being. Therefore, supernatural miracles in this earthly life do not exist, and we are subject to the natural laws of cause and effect. Moreover, if such miracles actually were a reality, they would defy the very system of nature that God created to bring order into the universe. [p. 404]
Ahura Mazda’s Amesha Spentas.
The Ashavid revelation proclaims that the Wise Lord Ahura Mazda is the Supreme Mind of the universe. He is our Creator God—our All Father whose attributes are both masculine and feminine yet transcend both. Ahura Mazda/All Father is one Person and is Serene Intelligence without physical form. Moreover, Ahura possesses a consciousness and self-awareness that is far beyond our brain-based psyche. And just as one might describe the traits of a specific human, Zarathustra gave the name “Amesha Spentas” to our Creator’s seven divine attributes or manifestations.
Among these seven, only one—the Holy Spirit or Spenta Mainyu—is exclusive to the Divine Being. The Holy Spirit is God’s active will, and it is through the Holy Spirit that eternal energy and matter were tamed and transformed, thereby imposing Asha’s order on the universe. [p. 405]
The six lesser Amesha Spentas are divine attributes that can be shared in small measure with men and women so as to touch our daily lives. Three of them are traditionally considered to be masculine or Father traits. The most important is the powerful Asha Vahishta, which is closely associated with Truth and could be translated as Supreme Cosmic Law. Asha is the Natural Law that governs and maintains order in both the material and spiritual worlds and to which man and other beings are subject. There is also the Good Mind or Vohu Mana who reaches out to men and women so we can share a portion of divine wisdom. People are touched by God’s Good Mind when they act rationally, morally, and with self-discipline. The third divine attribute is God’s Sovereignty (Khashathra) as the supreme force in the universe. [pp. 404–6]
Three other Amesha Spentas are traditionally described as feminine or Mother attributes. The most influential of these is Armaiti or Serene (or loving) Devotion and is closely associated with Asha. A mortal person may feel Armaiti as a warm and loving presence enhancing one’s feelings of joy. Armaiti provides soothing comfort during times of distress, sorrow, or doubt. Serene Devotion also inspires men and women to conduct themselves morally and spiritually, that is, says the Ashem Vohu prayer, to do “what is right solely for the sake of doing what is right and best.” Another feminine Amesha Spenta is Perfect Well-Being. (Haurvatat). People can enjoy a portion of this divine attribute through the physical and mental health that results from living in harmony with Asha. Perfect Well-Being’s twin is Immortality (Ameretat). That is, people can attain the divine blessing of everlasting life by living in accord with Asha’s spiritual laws. [p. 406]
Ashavidans and Ashavans.
An “Ashavidan” is a person who adheres to the Ashavid creed. Those who embrace the Ashavid doctrine are followers of the one true Prophet of our Creator who is the Wise Lord Ahura Mazda. Ashavidans, therefore, follow the creed that gives them the best theological guidance for living as true Ashavans. [p. 404]
“Ashavan” is a word coined by Zarathustra himself. It designates those men and women who seek wisdom and understanding of true reality and who produce “good thoughts, good words, and good deeds.” They live in harmony with the divinely-created moral and physical Law of Nature that is Asha. An Ashavan, therefore, shuns ignorance-derived blasphemy and superstition. Ashavans immerse themselves in the material world, yet they practice a high spirituality in their daily lives. They know that honest, responsible, and spiritual men and women are “friends” of God, and they will receive divine friendship in return. This is clearly and repeatedly stated in the Gathas (“Songs of Praise”) composed by Zarathustra (Yasnas 31:21–22, 32:1, 34:10, 43:14, 44:1–2, 45:11, 46:2–3, 49:5 & 7, 50:6). [pp. 404–405]
Asha’s Law of Cause and Effect.
Ashavid rejects the Angra Mainyu (satanic) notion that our Creator ordains every bright and pleasant day and every destructive storm to please or torment specific persons or groups of people. Ashavidans know that Nature’s Laws were designed and set in motion by God, and those laws govern the physical universe. However, they also understand that natural disasters are random acts of those cosmic forces. Therefore, not only an Ashavidan, but any true Ashavan, prepares for nature’s dangers so as to safely enjoy its bounty. [pp. 407]
True Ashavidans, as well as all Ashavans of any religious faith, know that our misfortunes result from simple cause and effect. They who are the enlightened ones know that the most common causes of misfortune result from ignorance and defiance of Asha’s Natural Law. So, when someone strolls onto an open field during a lightning storm wearing metal-cleated shoes, or drives a vehicle recklessly or while intoxicated, or takes harmful drugs, they invite the death or maiming that is likely to befall them. If a person deteriorates his or her health with self-destructive food and drink, especially when combined with gluttony and other habits that defy Asha, that person will pay the price of misery and death. Likewise, when the slothful do not work and the reckless do not wisely restrain their spending, they ensure their own financial ruin. [pp. 407–408]
An Ashavidan and all true Ashavans know that through the Creator’s design, our souls are manufactured by our bodies, and the body’s genetic quality affects the soul’s potential. However, our free will is also crucial to our spiritual well-being. The high quality of our genetically-inherited traits, our cultural and personal training, and our willed personal actions keep us alive and healthy and free from wanting life’s essentials. Our honesty with ourselves and with others, our moral code expressed through good words and deeds, and our ability to love also help to define our lives. And after death removes us from the material world, our souls survive, and these virtues remain with us and produce a blissful fate. [p. 408]
Moreover, an Ashavidan knows that when one is killed by criminals or by accident or warfare or dies from the ravages of advanced old age, God Ahura Mazda has not “taken” that person. Our Creator does not decide our time of death. Nevertheless, like those of other faiths, an Ashavidan believes that Ahura Mazda does, in fact, warmly receive the souls of the worthy dead. [p. 408]
In opposition to the Ahuravan way are “drugvants,” that is, those of evil thoughts, words, and deeds who are “followers of the Lie.” This is another term used by Zarathustra, and it is based on the Irano-Aryan word drug (Indo-Aryan druh). This ancient word meant (and should still mean) “evil.” Just as prosperity in this world and the next comes to Ashavans, Asha’s Natural Order ordains that low-quality genes, cultures that defy nature, training (or the lack of it) that ignores Natural Law, and the absence of a disciplined personal will condemn us to misery and an ignoble life. Consequently, the path of deception, uncontrolled self-indulgence, infidelity, cold-hearted greed, and malicious hatred and cruelty render our lives tasteless and chaotic in the material world and in the life beyond. [p. 408]
Faith, Reason, and the Path of Asha
When one prays for anything other than inspiration, courage, strength of will, or moral guidance, Ahura Mazda does not respond. We turn onto the true spiritual and material path only when we use our God-created intelligence to learn the Divine Law that is Asha. Only when we exert our will and use our reason can we discover Asha’s solution to the obstacles blocking our path. When we pursue solutions that conform to the Good Mind’s wisdom and Armaiti’s Serene Devotion to the truly ethical path, we have turned away from the fallacies of thought and depravity of spirit that Zarathustra called “the Lie.” It is only when we have done these things that we place ourselves onto the path of Truth. Such is the path leading to mental and physical health, vigor, and longevity for ourselves and for worthy people who are affected by our actions and words. Therefore, Ashavidans and all other Ashavans seek to know and bring themselves in harmony with Asha’s law. And this noble quest can reveal the secrets of the good life through Ahura Mazda’s Good Mind. [p. 410]
