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Michele Moramarco is a subscriber to Parsiana and at the magazine’s behest has written an article stating how his interest in Zoroastrianism originated, culminating in his navjote in Italy. The first of his three-part article dealt with his exposure to and interest in Zoroastrianism. The second extract referred to his understanding and practice of Zoroastrian precepts. His plans for furthering the study of and interest in Zoroastrianism in Italy and elsewhere are brought to light in this concluding installment. The author can be contacted on e-mail: moramarco.m @libero.it

Although I’m only a recently initiated behdin, a newcomer with so much to learn and not even welcomed by some in the fold, I have personal views on Zoroastrianism which I would style as neither orthodox nor liberal, but rather as "composite.” Like the verita­ble traditionalists, I subscribe to a "dualistic”  interpretation of Zarathushtra’s teachings and would steadily join in the doc­trinal battle that Khojeste Mistree, founder of Zoroastrian Studies (ZS) in Bombay, is bravely fighting to guard this invaluable treasure of the faith against all shallow or "academical” attacks; like the reformists, I support sincere conversion (and deem Ervad Kersey Antia’s The Argument for Acceptance a milestone in this direction). Like the traditionalists, I reckon the wondrous power of sacred manthras and rituals as vehicles of divine energies which nourish the "subtle body” of the sincere faithful; like the true reformists (not those who want to get rid of all post-Gathic traditions), I am suspicious of excessive ritualism, which ceases to be a resource and becomes a burden to the soul. Like the traditionalists, I consider the dakhme­nashini system as the one which best befits our Daena [incidentally some years ago, the chairman of the Italian branch of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature)said it was a pity there were no Zoroastrians in our country, for, the use of dakhmas would repopulate our mountains with vultures and other rapacious birds which are on the verge of extinction]; like the reformists, I don’t think this or other traditional practices represent the core of the faith and can’t at any rate be dis­pensed with. 

Well, mine must seem a strange position to many. I grew up in the so called swinging ’60s as a young radical, yet I have long turned "backwards” in terms of values; I’m a staunch supporter of conjugal loyalty and decency in customs; I don’t think any kind of promiscuity is spiritually sound in a Zoroast­rian perspective; I believe in a rightfully hierarchical social order and dislike all sorts of fatuous rebelliousness.  Zoroastrians should openly oppose the ever-increasing materialistic trends. These include: idolatry of physical beauty and possessions; legitimation of base instincts, adultery and sexual promiscuity by the media; spreading of sports which pollute the air, etc — All of which in the end turn out to be destructive of society and nature. It seems to me that the Zoroastrian testimony on these subjects, on the whole, is rather weak: it would be only fair if a mobeds’ (or a lay) council would take a stand on some aspects of the contemporary so called civilization. For instance (but not wanting to offend anyone), I cannot undestand why we should show compliance to the rather stupid and unfair business of beauty contests. "Miss Italia” is paid lots of money without doing anything, only for being good looking, while nearly a third of the Italian workers’ families cannot afford a summer vacation and sometimes find it hard to "reach the end of the month” with their wages. I guess in India it’s the same. 

I know Zoroastrianism is not an "ascetic” religion, but this doesn’t mean going the opposite side and accepting ways of life which are clearly inconsistent with the moral order! If in Iran you get excessive dress restrictions (and many others, unluckily), in democratic America thousands of kids are involved in pornography, social researchers say. I think Zoroastrians should have nothing to do with this sort of "freedom” and should rather invoke a good and authoritative "khshathra” against this rottenness . 

In the 19th century some Parsi priests refused to travel on steam-powered ships because they polluted air and water. Surely this was excessive, but today we should think twice before getting flushed with car-racing! 

Zoroastrianism rightly upholds prosperity vs. poverty, but this doesn’t mean that worldly success is "per se” godly (quite often the contrary, for in many cases it is achieved at the expense of others). I get the impression that some Parsis have been caught by the glittering images of the Western way of life and tend to imitate it. 

On the other hand, I’m definitely "progressive” in terms of economic patterns: I made researches on many past experiences of industrial self-government, on the cooperative movement in Eu­rope, on Vinoba Bhave’s gramdan (land donation) in India, etc, and I’m an admir­er of the ancient Mazdaki Zarthoshti reform movement, on which I’m trying to collect all the existing materials. Furthermore, I wouldn’t certainly depict myself as an austere formalist: I believe that laughter is one of Ohrmazd’s greatest endowments to mankind, and I’ve even written a book, which was reviewed thrice on the national TV channels, about a cabaret group ("I Gufi”, in English: "The Owls”) who used to make fun of all kind of bigoted habits. One of the keys to the Zoroastrian spirit, I think, is the interweaving of  seriousness and mirth.

In other words, as a Zoroastrian I believe that our religion wheels around cosmic justice as the source of all happiness. I’m talking of that justice always longed for by earnest men, that justice which is true, good and beautiful (descending from Asha, which personifies the pattern designed by Ohrmazd for Creation, partially and temporarily subverted by Ahriman: Asha does not coincide with the destructive "natural law”); that justice which is the essential goal of the Good Religion. The soul of the cow and Asho Zarathushtra pleading for it and knitting it with Truth and immortal Bliss; the will to safeguard and increase the Good Creation: these, we all know, are the divine roots of the mes­sage. 

To be frank, I think traditionalists should be more worried about the mundane, "easygoing”  wave that is sweeping their own ranks than about intermarriage or conversion, which can be highly spiritual choices; and as regards extreme reformists (like Ali Jafar­ey’s Zarathush­trian Assembly and the like), I’m afraid they’re just heading somewhere else, outside the Zoroastrian lineage, by pursuing a rather unnerved version of the faith which can’t be easily identified as a sequence to Asho Zarathushtra’s preaching. I sense that this attitude is an outcome of a mistake made by quite a few Zoroastrians in the last two centuries, namely that of falling into the "monotheistic obsession.” In European relig­ious circles, the "Abraha­mic religions” are often branded as superior to the others because of their absolute "monotheism” postulating a jealous God who will never share his glory with other entities or beings. I’m convinced — and I think history shows — that this type of theology is likely to generate ar­rogance and conflict. Zoroastrians should vindicate, I think, that the majestic and pluralistic metaphysical scenery offered by Amesha Spentas, Yazads and Fravahrs is an inspired synthesis of what is best in both monotheism and so called polytheism.  

I positively stand for a form of integral and universalist Zoroastrianism. Universalism applied to Zoroastrianism doesn’t mean diluting its message, but rather affirming that it consti­tutes the root of any good concepts or practices developed in other religious contexts. Universalism is but an implementation of Farvardin Yasht: the righteous of every place and time are entitled to our veneration, and this also consists in studying their best thoughts, words, deeds, and in incorporating them in our heritage, or at least in counting them among our sources of inspiration. This, I think, is a bounden duty for every thought­ful Zoroastrian. In the past I’ve had contacts with a branch of the Brahmo Samaj, the Hindu universalist movement founded in 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. I envision the day when an "Ohrmazd Samaj” will work the rallying around noble Daena of its dispersed parti­cles which can be retraced in every reliable spiritual effort of man. This will mark the completion of the Mazdayasni edifice. Universalism will not destroy the faith, but rather exalt it and prove that it is excellent for "all the worlds.” Its revival will be made possible by the joint workings of a strict adherence to arcane fundamentals and of a universalist vision. 

Practices and action

As regards my religious practices, apart from the kusti prayers I read portions of the Gathas daily and listen to them and to various Nyaishes and Yashts through audio cassettes. Also some of the Pahlavi texts are bounteous purveyors of high vision to me. 

Often, at dawn, I merge spontaneously with the spirit of praise and recite some verses from Hushbam. During the day, which is devoted to my son, my work, my studies, music and some fun, I often pray from the Khordeh Avesta, especially Doa Nam Stayishn, Doa Tan Dorosti, Din-no Kalmo, Mazdayasno Ahmi (I often read the Naismi Daevo, the longer profession of faith from Yasna 12) and Kerfeh Mozd, praises and invocations which I find most strengthening. Every meal of mine is heralded by the Jamvani Baj. The Ashem Vohu comes up intermittingly to my lips nearly all the time. By grace of Ohrmazd, I’m constantly drawn to the lofty words of the Good Religion; in a sort of perpetual prayer, my mind is catched up by the celestial sounds and images of Daena even while I’m performing life’s ordinary tasks. I just hope I will never set my home afire through absent-mindedness! 

Let’s now turn to action. Since there are other people interested in Zoroastrianism, I know that sooner or later a small Italian dar-e-meher will be established, but this isn’t obviously my main task at the moment. What I’m doing these days is trying to widen my "experiential” knowledge of the faith and to bridge the geographical gap between myself and the Zoroastrian world. I answered WZO (World Zoroastrian Organisation)’s Bam Appeal as my means allowed, and I’m willing to establish links with the Zoroastrians of Iran. I’d be glad to give assistance to all Zoroastrians coming to Italy for whatever purpose. In my school a girl asked me to help her plan a paper on "Poverty in India” for her final exams. I told her about a giant industrial group which has done and is still doing a lot against poverty in India, and directed her to the Tata website: she decided to devote some paragraphs of her paper to the scientific and humanitarian activities sponsored by the group [I’m glad to see that the expansion of Tata has reached this country; how exciting it would be to set up a small branch of TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sceinces) in Italy!]    

 One more field of perspective action for me is the edit­ing of Zoroastrian texts in Italian. Two great occasions of making the Avestan scriptures correctly known in Italy have been sadly missed in the last decade. In 1996 a major publisher re­leased an Italian translation of the Gathas, but apparently the translator — who drew freely and abundantly from the existing English translations — enjoyed twisting the language. Since Avestan is still partly cryptic, he must have thought, let’s make it even more so. A brilliant idea indeed! As a result, his rendering of the Prophet’s chants makes troubled reading and the whole book — which comprises a disputable introductory essay on Zoroastrianism — gives the reader a scanty if not distorted idea of the faith. Even sadder one could label the recent issuing, by another prestigious publishing house, of the whole Avesta in Italian. In this case also, the editor brought out a partially avowed second-hand version, translating from translations. This is quite acceptable, considering the lack of Avestan scholarship in Italy; what is not acceptable is the multitude of conceptual and linguistic inaccuracies — plus quite a few misprints — that spoil the finely hardbound volume. I’m not an Avesta scholar, but I plan to work on a readable Italian edition of the Gathas and the Khordeh Avesta (original text with translation opposite), based on the most authoritative English versions and, hopefully, with the assistance of ZS. To this end, I intend to set up a Centro di Studi Zoroastriani, which should work under the aegis of ZS and interact with the departments of Iranian studies at­tached to Italian universities.    

Religiously speaking, the Italian situation doesn’t look particularly favorable to the spread of Zoroastrian ideas. Owing to the present government’s cultural policy, Catholicism is regaining more and more ground in the media. "Miracles” by "saints,” often conjured by disturbed people in culturally de­prived areas, are presented as factual truth on TV. Superstition overflows. The other side of the coin is a devastating seculari­zation, which makes up actual reality beyond lip-service to God. Islamic membership is growing fast by reason of the constant immigration waves. Some Italians are converting to Islam, some to Buddhism (which is trendy among managers, artists, etc); many more prefer to join groups like Jehova’s Witnesses or Pentecos­tals, both Biblical literalists.  

There have been Zoroastrians from abroad (Iran, for example) who temporarily settled in Italy to study or work, and a famous Parsi, the great orchestra director whom co-religionists proudly call apro (our) Zubin, is often around here, but — as far as I know — there has never been a steady organized presence nor did any Italians ever join the ranks of the Good Religion. During the final centuries of the Roman Empire, Mithraism spread in many parts of the country, but — despite the reference to Mithra and some shared values — it differed a lot from Zoroastrianism, and soon vanished in the haze of history. This means that Italian Mazdayasnis will lack the support of an indigenous tradition, yet I’m sure that the freshly ignited white light of our Daena, though placed in a tiny vessel and covered by many clouds, will shine on.                                 

Concluded