Religious & Spiritual Experience

For most Zoroastrians the deepest spiritual experience is to pray before the temple fire. They believe that here, they stand in the presence of Ahura Mazda, where the sounds and power of the Avestan prayers induce a trance like state. As the prayers are believed to give spiritual protection Zoroastrians find them comforting.

A fundamental Zoroastrian belief is Ahura Mazda created the world, and created it perfect (all suffering, misery, disease and death are external assaults by the cosmic force of evil Angra Mainyu). They naturally have a sense of awe and reverence before the wonders of nature. As they believe the world is the Good Creation of Ahura Mazda, there is a religious obligation to enjoy it and misery that could be avoided is a sin. This means that community gatherings are invariably happy (and usually noisy) occasions.

Many educated Iranian and Parsi Zoroastrians reject much of the later priestly literature emphasising their belief in, and practice of, good thoughts, words and deeds. The ritual fire is therefore of less symbolic importance but remains spiritually uplifting.