“I am proud of my religion, Zoroastrianism, an ancient monotheistic religion which teaches the universal principles of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds among other values. Zoroastrianism, founded by Prophet Spitama Zarathustra, was the religion of the huge Persian Empire, which ranged from the Mediterranean Sea to some parts of China. But today, there are only about 120,000 Zoroastrians in the entire world. In Southern California, there are approximately 500 Zoroastrian families.
As a Zoroastrian, I believe in and pray to one God, called Ahura Mazda, which means the “Lord of Wisdom.” Ahura Mazda is the Omnipotent (all-powerful), Omniscient (all-knowing), and Omnipresent (ever-present) God of all creation. Every day I recite prayers in the divine language of Avesta, which is related to Sanskrit. After using the bathroom, I pray the kushti, which is intended to purify me from the effect of the bathroom’s lower vibrations.
My religion gives me a sense of belonging and direction in life. Believing in God and praying daily gives me an inner strength to face the challenges that I come across. Knowing there is Someone up there looking after me and stopping me from hitting my head hard has not only kept me going, but led me to success.
I was initiated when I was 10 years old
I was initiated into the Zoroastrian religion in a ceremony called the navjote (pronounced “no-jut”) when I was ten years old. During the navjote, the priest dressed me with a white cotton undershirt-like garment called the sudreh, and a woolen cord known as the kushti, both of which are to be worn at all times (except when bathing). The sudreh is always made from one piece of cotton cloth, which represents the Plant Kingdom. The kushti, made of seventy-two strands that are woven together, is tied around one’s waist using special knots, and is worn directly on top of the sudreh. I wear these two garments every day. The wool from which the kushti is made represents the Animal Kingdom. The purpose of these two sacred religious garments is to protect me from evil and help me make good decisions.
At my navjote, I had to drink purified bull’s urine. Relax! It’s not as bad as it sounds! The urine is taken from a very rare bull whose hair is completely white, cared for by priests at the fire temples. Then, the urine is prayed over for several days by priests. This purifies it, making it perfectly safe to drink.
Fire is sacred in my religion
Fire is very sacred in my religion because it represents the inner fire or divine energy within each and every one of us. When my family visited India on a religious pilgrimage, I saw many of the Zoroastrian fire temples. This was an amazing opportunity for me since we don’t have fire temples here in the United States. During our stay in India, we visited all seven of the main fire temples, known as Atesh Behrams. Each of these has two large fires which have been consecrated using extensive prayers recited by the Zoroastrian priests. In India there are also smaller fire temples called Agiaries, which each have only one fire. In all fire temples, the fires are tended to regularly and kept burning twenty-four hours a day. I was blessed with the chance to come inside several fire temples and pray before the brilliant, scintillating fire!
Many people have never heard of my religion
Today there are relatively few Zoroastrians, and most people have never even heard of Zoroastrianism, although it was the forerunner of all the other great monotheistic religions to follow. The Zoroastrians who fled to India to escape religious persecution by Moslems in Persia came to be known as the Parsis, and were respected for two things: trustworthiness and charity. That is why Indians would willingly give jobs as bankers to Parsi Zoroastrians. They knew they could be trusted. Also, many Parsis donated large sums of money to various charitable causes, and continue to do so today.
The Zoroastrians who stayed in Persia came to be known as Iranis. Today the Parsis are much more conservative than the Iranis because the Parsis had a chance to preserve their faith, whereas the Iranis were persecuted. During the last three decades, members from both sects of Zoroastrians of these groups started emigrating to the United States. However, my grandparents, both Parsi Zoroastrians from India, came to America in 1957.
As I enter college at the University of California, Berkeley, I am thinking of forming a Zoroastrian Club. At Santa Monica High, there was a Jewish Student Union and a Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Students, but no Zoroastrian Club. I was the only Parsi Zoroastrian in the whole school so I didn’t have anyone my age to talk to about my religion. Hopefully, I’ll meet Zoroastrians at Berkeley with whom I can share thoughts and feelings.”