A Universal Religion?

The religion known in the west as Zoroastrianism, and by its founder as the \"Religion of Good Conscience\", has laid claim to being the first Monotheist religion, the first Universal religion and the root of much of Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and belief.
Over the millenia, the words and compositions of its founder, one Zarathushtra Spitaman, (known to us by the Greek alliteration of his name - Zoroaster), were lost due to passage of time and the obsolescence of its language. Its original message was lost because of accidents of history, as libraries and books were burned again and again by invaders and its wise men were either killed, enslaved, deported or went into hiding.
However, thanks to the long, arduous and painstaking work of literally hundreds of scholars in the last 200 or so years, the original message of Zoroastrianism, the message of its \"Manthran\" (Thought-provoker) Zarathustra, Zoroastrianism has surfaced once again, revealing it as ever-relevant, unique and inspiring.
Zarathushtra's is a message about a spirituality that progresses towards self-realization, fulfillment and completeness, as a good creation of a totally good God. It is a message of freedom - freedom to choose, freedom from fear, freedom from guilt, freedom from sin, freedom from stultifying rituals, superstitious practices, fake spirituality and ceremonials. The God of Zarathustra, is not a God of \"Thou shalt\" and \"Thou shall not\". God in Zoroastrianism does not care what you wear, what and when you eat or where and when you worship. God instead cares how righteous, progressive and good you are.

*
1. God is not about fear guilt and Condemnation.
* 2. God is Wisdom Love and Logic.
* 3. God does not have favorites and does not discriminate on the basis of nationality sex, race or class.
* 4. God treats humans with dignity and respect.
* 5. God is not a slave master, or despot, among his serfs.
* 6. God is man's Soul Mate and Partner.
* 7. God is not Jealous, Wrathful or Vengeful.
* 8. Man is not sinful, fallen or depraved.
* 9. God has no opponent and heaven and hell are states of mind and being.
* 10. Man was created to progress to likeness and eliminate wrong from the Cosmos
in partnership with God.

The Zoroastrian Religion pictures humanity as the growing and evolving creation of a God that respects it, and wants it to collaborate in the task of preserving, nourishing, fostering and refreshing this Living World of ours. A Zoroastrian is supposed to progress towards God (Ahura Mazda) by his own choices. Choosing to do good, and to avoid choosing to do wrong or evil. Zoroastrianism is thus the first truly ethical religion of mankind and teaches that mortals achieve their goal of god-likeness and spiritual completeness by fighting evil through good thoughts, words and deeds.
Mazdayasna (The Worship of the Wise), another name for Zoroastrianism, teaches the equality of all mortals before their Wise creator God; who only sees a difference in righteousness among mortals. Thus there is equality of race, nation, gender and social position.
In its most sacred prayer the Ahunavar (Choice of the Lord), Zoroastrians are taught that their Lord and leader are to be chosen, through a Good Mind - a mind that is a well-informed and benevolent - and only on account of their individual righteousness. This sets the basis for a spiritual and political democracy as far back as around 4000 years ago! Only an informed and unbiased mind is capable of making a truly righteous choice and this is precisely, the invitation of Zarathustra, the great Aryan teacher of righteousness, when he tells us:
\"Listen to the best things with your ears, reflect upon them with an unbiased mind. Then let each man and women for him or her self choose between the two ways thinking. Awaken to my doctrine, before this great event of choice comes upon you\"
[Avesta: The Gathas: Song 3:2 (Free Translation)]

Great find. I have always felt that religion should have been more personal and less dogmatic however, I am truly surprised by the antiquity of such knowledge and not surprised why those that would come to power would want it squashed and so they did.

We all should take a good long look at history and ask ourselves..... Why do we allow ourselves to be ruled by the wealthy/power/elitists?????

What is the Bahá’í Faith?
Founded a century and a half ago, the Bahá’í Faith is today among the fastest-growing of the world’s religions. With more than five million followers, who reside in virtually every nation on earth, it is the second-most widespread faith, surpassing every religion but Christianity in its geographic reach. Bahá’ís reside in more than 100,000 localities around the world, an expansion that reflects their dedication to the ideal of world citizenship.
The Bahá’í Faith’s global scope is mirrored in the composition of its membership. Representing a cross section of humanity, Bahá’ís come from virtually every nation, ethnic group, culture, profession, and social or economic class. More than 2,100 different ethnic and tribal groups are represented.

Since it also forms a single community, free of schism or factions, the Bahá’í Faith comprises what is very likely the most diverse and widespread organized body of people on earth.

People of virtually every background, in every nation, have become Bahá’ís. Shown here is a gathering of Bahá’ís from the Cochabamba region in Bolivia. Many are members of the Aymara and Quechua indigenous groups.The Faith’s Founder was Bahá’u’lláh, a Persian nobleman from Tehran who, in the mid-nineteenth century, left a life of princely comfort and security and, in the face of intense persecution and deprivation, brought to humanity a stirring new message of peace and unity.

Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be nothing less than a new and independent Messenger from God. His life, work, and influence parallel that of Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad. Bahá’ís view Bahá’u’lláh as the most recent in this succession of divine Messengers.

The essential message of Bahá’u’lláh is that of unity. He taught that there is only one God, that there is only one human race, and that all the world’s religions represent stages in the revelation of God’s will and purpose for humanity. In this day, Bahá’u’lláh said, humanity has collectively come of age. As foretold in all of the world’s scriptures, the time has arrived for the uniting of all peoples into a peaceful and integrated global society. “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens,” He wrote.

The youngest of the world’s independent religions, the Faith founded by Bahá’u’lláh stands out from other religions in a number of ways. It has a unique system of global administration, with freely elected governing councils in nearly 10,000 localities.

It takes a distinctive approach to contemporary social problems. The Faith’s scriptures and the multifarious activities of its membership address virtually every important trend in the world today, from new thinking about cultural diversity and environmental conservation to the decentralization of decision making; from a renewed commitment to family life and moral values to the call for social and economic justice in a world that is rapidly becoming a global neighborhood.

The Faith’s most distinctive accomplishment by far, however, is its unity. Unlike every other religion — not to mention most social and political movements — the Bahá’í community has successfully resisted the perennial impulse to divide into sects and subgroups. It has maintained its unity despite a history as turbulent as that of any religion of antiquity.

In the years since Bahá’u’lláh lived, the process of global unification for which He called has become well-advanced. Through historical processes, the traditional barriers of race, class, creed, and nation have steadily broken down. The forces at work, Bahá’u’lláh predicted, will eventually give birth to a universal civilization. The principal challenge facing the peoples of the earth is to accept the fact of their oneness and assist in the creation of this new world.

For a global society to flourish, Bahá’u’lláh said, it must be based on certain fundamental principles. They include the elimination of all forms of prejudice; full equality between the sexes; recognition of the essential oneness of the world’s great religions; the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth; universal education; the harmony of science and religion; a sustainable balance between nature and technology; and the establishment of a world federal system, based on collective security and the oneness of humanity.

Cao Đài is a relatively new, syncretist, monotheistic religion, officially established in Tây Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926. Đạo Cao Đài is the religion's shortened name, the full name is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (Great Religion [of The] Third Period [of] Revelation [and] Salvation). The term Cao Đài literally means \"high place.\" Figuratively, it means that highest place where God reigns. It is also the abbreviated name for God, the creator of the universe, whose full title is Cao Đài Tiên Ông Đại Bồ Tát Ma-ha-tát (Chu Nom: 高臺天皇大菩薩摩訶薩, translation: High Place Great Heavenly Emperor Bodhisattva Mahasattva).

Caodaiists credit God as the religion's founder. They believe the teachings, symbolism and organization were communicated directly from Đức (means Venerable) Cao Đài. Even the construction of the Tây Ninh Holy See is claimed to have had divine guidance. Cao Đài's first disciples Ngô Văn Chiêu, Cao Quỳnh Cư, Phạm Công Tắc, and Cao Hoài Sang claimed to have received direct communications from God, who gave them explicit instructions for establishing a new religion that would commence the Third Era of Religious Amnesty.

According to Cao Dai, before God existed, there was the Tao, that nameless, formless, unchanging, eternal source referenced in the Tao Te Ching. Then, a Big Bang occurred, out of which God was born ( emanationism ). The universe could not yet be formed and to do so, God created yin and yang. He took control of yang and shed a part of himself, creating the Goddess to preside over yin. In the presence of yin and yang, the universe was materialized. The Goddess is, literally, the mother of the myriad of things in the Universe. Thus, Caodaiists worship not only God, the father, but also the Goddess, literally refer to as the Mother Buddha. Note that God's importance and role is higher than that of the Mother Buddha. Also, the Mother Buddha is male, as are all buddhas. The Mother Buddha only oversees yin and is not a part of yin, which is female.

There are 36 levels of heaven and 72 planets harboring intelligent life, with number one being the closest to heaven and 72 nearest to Hell. Earth is number 68. It is said that even the lowest citizen on planet 67 would not trade place with a king on 68 and so forth.

The Tây Ninh Holy See recognizes three main scriptures:

1. Thánh Ngôn Hiệp Tuyển
2. Pháp Chánh Truyền (The Religious Constitution of Caodaiism)
3. Kinh Thiên Đạo Và Thế Đạo

Other sects have additional scriptures.

God is symbolized by the Divine Eye, specifically the left eye because Yang is the left side and God is the master of Yang.

In the order of most to least difficult, the Three Teachings within Caodaiism are:

Buddha
Sage
Saint

The Three Teachings represent levels of spiritual attainment, with buddha as the highest. Caodaiism's various stages of spiritual development from human on up are: Thần (no suitable translation yet), Thánh (saint), Tiên (sage), and Phật (buddha). Thần, saints and sages may have, accordingly, extremely long lives in the realms of heaven, but only buddhas are free from the cycle of birth and death.
First Period:
1. The Teachings of Buddhas - Dipankara buddha
2. The Teachings of Sages -
3. The Teachings of Saints -

Second Period:
1. The Teachings of Buddhas - Shakyamuni buddha
2. The Teachings of Sages - Lao Zi
3. The Teachings of Saints - Confucius and Jesus

Third Period:
God is at the helm.

Jesus is regarded as a buddha and true Son of God, shed directly from God.

Caodaiism's organizational structure closely resembles that of the government of the United States. Caodaiism's governing body consists of three branches that are functionally equivalent to the U.S.'s legislative, executive and judicial branches.

The head of the Executive Branch is called \"Giáo Tông,\" which means leader or head of a philosophical or religious organization. Similarities between the hierarchy of Caodaiism's dignitaries and those of the Roman Catholic Church have led translators to borrow terminologies such as pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, etc. In practice, Caodaiism has more ranks and titles of which there are no official English translation as of yet. The actual Vietnamese term for Pope, as in the Catholic Pope, is \"Giáo Hoàng.\"

Caodaiism stresses equality among men and women in society. However, in the spiritual domain, ordained women may not attain the two highest positions: Legislative Cardinal and Pope. The church claims this is ordered by God, who declared that because Yang represents male and Yin corresponds to female, Yin cannot dominate Yang spiritually or else chaos would occur.

Excellent thread!

I have heard these spiritualities mentioned, know of a couple, but never understood the basic parameters of organization/core philosophies/heritage.

Nor did I realize some were ancient - as someone else also said here.

VERY interesting!

-Asta Sophi

Yes, very good thread, I should borrow my wifes world religion books and see if I can find another one, not already mentioned.