Foundations of Identity and Belonging

Zoroastrians believe that people are made by God (Ahura Mazda) as his fellow workers (hamkars) in the fight against evil. Humans possess five facilities: (i) mind / spirit (man), (ii) desire / discernment, (iii) conscience (daena), (iv) insight / intuition and (v) wisdom (which depends on the application of insight). There are variations of the five, but Zoroastrians believe they should all be moving in the direction of full use of these faculties. Some believe that perfection is possible in this life.

God has assigned each person a task in life (xwarr). Individuals have complete free will and may refuse to carry out that task. The soul is judged after death according to the balance of its own good and evil thoughts, words and deeds and rewarded or punished as appropriate in heaven or hell.

There is no doctrine of rebirth in the traditional religion although some Parsis in India do now believe in it. This visit to heaven or hell is temporary because there is a strong sense that the purpose of punishment (in hell) must be corrective. Therefore, at the renovation, all people are resurrected; while the resurrected body is on earth, individuals are judged both physically and spiritually ahead of reward or punishment before ultimately dwelling with God in eternal heaven.