Living Zoroastrianism by Philip G. Kreyenbroek

Author:Philip G. Kreyenbroek [Kreyenbroek, Philip G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781136119705
Google: cHvNuQhH1GYC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-01-11T04:44:48+00:00

Mr Dadrawala does not believe that the situation of the Zoroastrian religion is deteriorating any faster than it did in the past; the real problem in his view is liberal propaganda. He concedes that intermarriage is on the increase, but denies that there is a decrease in the numbers of Zoroastrians. He claims that those Zoroastrians who migrated to the West have never been counted, and that it is a question of redistribution, rather than diminution, of the community.

An event that deeply moved and influenced Mr Dadrawala was his recent visit to Iran, on a tour led by Khojeste Mistree. Seeing the ancient monuments with his own eyes was a ‘high you cannot describe’, but the spiritual side of the journey had an even greater impact on him. Visits to various fires in Iran led him to develop a more personal relationship with fires than was the case before:

I began to empathise with fire, have a different feeling about fire. Before, I was a believer in fire, now I am not just a believer – I have come to empathise with fire. I have a different feeling about fires now, because we have seen some absolutely miraculous things in Yazd.42 At two places at least we have seen these fires that burn without fuel, and I think there is no logical or scientific explanation as to how it happens. We have just seen these miracles and that is it! It defies logic, it defies science, you just see it and you are stunned. And to narrate a very personal experience, one of the first fires we went to was in the village of Cham. It is a very secret fire … but we were allowed to see it. And the brilliance of this fire that I saw – I mean, spontaneously I began to cry over there, and that's something that has never happened to me in my life. I have been to the Iranshah,43 I have been to all the Atash Behrams in Bombay, but I have never been moved to tears. In Cham, as everybody could see, I cried like a baby. I was so moved I was sobbing on the bus. Whenever I am in difficulty now my thoughts go to the Cham fire.

Ever since I have come back to India I have moved away from community politics and have concentrated more on religious topics and religious education. Because politicians will come and go, Trustees of the Punchayet44 will come and go, but what is important is to educate our youth in the values of the religion, and what it has to feel so proud about. Let the community know what it means to be descended from Cyrus the Great. Who Cyrus the Great was, who Darius the Great was.45 And this has affected even my twelve year old son; he is tremendously impressed by these special fires of Yazd. And he is more religious and learned than I was at twelve. So I think it is

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