Zarathustra's Prophecy

[Bruce Michael]

Dear Friends,

We are coming up to Three Kings day (Jan 6th). Can we flesh out the story a bit more? What was behind the coming of the Magi?

I have posted before about the stories in the Book of the Bee:
http://www.comparative-religion.com/forum/zarathustra-in-the-book-of-7820.html

Here is a quote from that book:

Chapter XXXVII - The Prophecy of Zârâdôsht Concerning Our Lord

'Hear, my beloved children, for I will reveal to you a mystery concerning the great King who is about to rise upon the world. At the end of time, and at the final dissolution, a child shall be conceived in the womb of a virgin, and shall be formed in her members, without any man approaching her. And he shall be like a tree with beautiful foliage and laden with fruit, standing in a parched land; and the inhabitants of that land shall be gathered together3 to uproot it from the earth, but shall not be able. Then they will take him and crucify him upon a tree, and heaven and earth shall sit in mourning for his sake; and all the families of the nations shall be in grief for him. He will begin to go down to the depths of the earth, and from the depth he will be exalted to the height; then he will come with the armies of light, and be borne aloft upon white clouds; for he is a child conceived by the Word which establishes natures.'

Gûshnâsâph says to him, 'Whence has this one, of whom thou sayest these things, his power? Is he greater than thou, or art thou greater than he?' Zârâdôsht says to him, 'He shall descend from my family; I am he, and he is I; he is in me, and I am in him. When the beginning p. 82of his coming appears, mighty signs will be seen in heaven, and his light shall surpass that of the sun. But ye, sons of the seed of life, who have come forth from the treasuries of life and light and spirit, and have been sown in the land of fire and water, for you it is meet to watch and take heed to these things which I have spoken to you, that ye await his coming; for you will be the first to perceive the coming of that great king, whom the prisoners await to be set free. Now, my sons, guard this secret which I have revealed to you, and let it be kept in the treasure-houses of your souls. And when that star rises of which I have spoken, let ambassadors bearing offerings be sent by you, and let them offer worship to him. Watch, and take heed, and despise him not, that he destroy you not with the sword; for he is the king of kings, and all kings receive their crowns from him. He and I are one.' These are the things which were spoken by this second Balaam, and God, according to His custom, compelled him to interpret these things; or he sprang from a people who were acquainted with the prophecies1 concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and declared them aforetime.

Here is the prophecy from the Avesta of the Saviour of the future Astvatorota/ Astvat-ereta/arata- Saoshyant:
Saoshyant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


"the mighty, royal, promising-bearing
Sun-ether-ayra, God-created,
Who will pass over into the resplendent Saviour
And the others, his Apostles;
Who carries the world onwards,
And overcomes old age, death, corruption and sloth,
Who helps to eternal life,
To eternal fructification,
To freedom of the will, (to mastery of the will)
When the dead rise again,
When the living Conqueror of death appears
And through the will the world is brought forward.

Quoted by F.W. Zeylmans von Emmichoven

That is enough for now-
Br.Bruce

 

[farhan]

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the Parsi Scriptures

 

[Bruce Michael]

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the Parsi Scriptures

Greetings Farhan,
Well I supposed he had to have a crack at it, but unfortunately, I'm afraid he's floundering in nescience.

Modern Parsis are now waking up to the true story:

The Being of Zarathushtra in the light of Anthroposophy


Your author says:

The author of St. Matthew's Gospel writes that when Jesus as born, some Magians and wise men of the East were directed to him by a star; the star went before them till it came and stood over where Christ was, and us they came to worship him and offer him their presents. St. Luke, on the other hand, claims to 'have perfect understanding of all things from the very first', he makes no mention at all of the Magians having come to Christ or of the star that directed them to him, although he makes mention of a petty fact of the shepherds having come to see Christ. No star directed the shepherds, the only sign given to them by the angel was: "Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger". (Luke, II :12) Nowhere else save in the Gospel of St. Matthew, is there a mention of the Magians having come all the way from Persia to present their gifts to Christ or of the star going before them.

This observation has been made from the early days and it is why in the Mystery Plays that there are two distinct plays- Kings' and Shepherds'. I have explained all this in previous posts.

Matthew does indeed stem from the Persian Mysteries.

This doesn't sound like the Founder of Islam:
"the mighty, royal, promising-bearing
Sun-ether-ayra, God-created,
Who will pass over into the resplendent Saviour
And the others, his Apostles;
Who carries the world onwards,
And overcomes old age, death, corruption and sloth,
Who helps to eternal life,

The Book of the Bee gives us a hint:
Zârâdôsht says to him, 'He shall descend from my family; I am he, and he is I; he is in me, and I am in him. When the beginning p. 82of his coming appears, mighty signs will be seen in heaven, and his light shall surpass that of the sun.

I have posted on the being of Zarathustra before:
http://www.comparative-religion.com/forum/zarathustra-8146.html
And furthermore:

Matthew's Star An Historical Fiction

A number of writers quote a remarkable prophecy attributed to Zoroaster (flourished circa 600 BC?) which runs: "You, my children, shall be the first honoured by the manifestation of that divine person who is to appear in the world. A star shall go before you to conduct you to the place of his nativity, and when you shall find him, present to him your oblations and sacrifices, for he is indeed your lord and an everlasting king."

The article "Magi" (Volume 9) has the statement: "The Zoroastrian doctrine of the Saviour of the Future (Saoshyant) was the basis for the story of the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem in the Gospel of Matthew (2:1-12)."

northanger's Journal -- Day
The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour:

7. And it came to pass, when the Lord Jesus was born at Bethlehem of Judaea, in the time of King Herod, behold, magi came from the east to Jerusalem, as Zeraduscht [Zoroaster] had predicted; and there were with them gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Saoshyant

Gathic passages suggest Zoroaster was filled with a sense of the imminent end of the world which caused him to envision Ahura Mazda sending "a man who is better than a good man" (Y 43.3), the Saoshyant, literally meaning "one who will bring benefit," who will possess revealed truth and will lead humanity in the final battle against evil. It is probable that Zoroaster realized that he was not going to live to see the age of Frasho-kereti. His followers ardently clung to this expectation, coming to believe that Saoshyant would come from the prophet's own seed, miraculously preserved in the depths of a lake (identified as Lake Kasaoya). When the end of time approaches, it is said, a virgin will bathe in this lake and become with child by the prophet, and she will in due course bear a son, named Astvat-ereta, "He who embodies righteousness" (after Zoroaster's own words: "My righteousness embodied"

Despite of his miraculous conception, Saoshyant will be born of human parents according to Zoroaster's teachings. Saoshyant will participate in the cosmic struggle, being accompanied by kings and heroes, and by Khvarenah. Avesta gives the most detailed account: "When Astvat-ereta comes from the Lake Kasaoya, messenger of Ahura Mazda…then he will drive the Drug out from the world of Asha." Such a glorious moment was eagerly hoped for by the faithful, and this hope was to be their strength and comfort in adverse times.

Regards,
-Br.Bruce

 

[bob x]

I have posted before about the stories in the Book of the Bee

Why should we care about a book from the 13th century AD? It has nothing whatsoever to do with Zarathustra himself.

 

[Bruce Michael]

Why should we care about a book from the 13th century AD? It has nothing whatsoever to do with Zarathustra himself.

Hi Bob,
The Book of the Bee is a historical compilation of earlier knowledge- i.e. it was only written down in the 13th. We can assume it to be Nestorian doctrine. (And most probably the original source documents are now lost.)

The poetic title of the book originates in the idea that a bee goes from flower to flower collecting precious nectar from each. Likewise, our author has assembled into one book a great variety of information gleaned from many books including the Bible as well as apocryphal works.

The author was 'on the ground' so to speak in Basra. So he was in a position to investigate the Zoroastrian prophecies.

Modern spiritual revelation has validated this information- so yes we should look carefully at such books. (Like the Arabic Infancy Gospel.)

Toodleoo,
Br.Bruce