Unveiling the Bundahishn: My Journey to Bringing Ancient Zoroastrian Wisdom to the World

Ever since I started this blog in the year 2010 I have echoed two themes consistently in this blog. The first theme is the problem of evil and the other one is cosmic fatalism. These two ideas have strongly influenced my thinking and has disturbed me since my teenage years.

No religion has addressed these problems as effectively as Zoroastrianism and no culture developed on these ideas as seriously as the Sassanians, it was during their era that the ancient religion of Zurvanism was in vogue. I am extremely sympathetic to the Sassanian view of astrology that the planets are pure evil and these planets are the commanders of the world who are in turn controlled by the Evil being, Ahriman, while the twelve zodiac signs are controlled by the Good God, Ohrmazd.

The Sassanians have greatly contributed to astrology, astronomy and science. One of their greatest contributions to religious literature is the text Bundahishn, also known as Primal creation which outlines the origin of the cosmos, the spiritual and material creation, the struggle between Ohrmazd and Ahriman, the horoscope of the world, the chronological events in the 12000-year Persian cycle and the final resurrection of humanity.

The text Bundahishn provides a horoscope of the world marking the descent of Ahriman onto Earth, who returned after 3000 years, since he was stupefied by Ohrmazd at the end of the third millennium in the larger 12 millennium Persian cycle (i.e. Ahriman returned at the start of the seventh millennium).

Despite the fact that the author of Bundahishn provides lot of clues about how the luminaries were disposed in the sky when this event actually happened, no one has accurately traced this event in human history so for. It is with this motivation that I started my hunt for the horoscope of the world. My background in astrology and programming helped me to trace this important event in human history.

Once I discovered this event in human history I was able to deduce a date for the prophet Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism and also was able to identify the location of Airyanem Vaejah, the original homeland of the Aryans, also the first land created by Ohrmazd. There is no clear consensus on these topics among scholars even to this day. Scholars are extremely divided on these issues.

One thing which I have learned from this book of mine is that it is important to have an open mind in scholarly inquiry, particularly when engaging with new evidence or challenging established views. Just as Gherardo Gnoli, the Italian scholar and an expert in Iranian studies stated that one should be willing to change their mind many times as new evidence comes to light, reflecting a commitment to intellectual growth and adaptability.

The book also uncovers how astrology is linked to the Great Deluge which is mentioned in the various ancient cultures of the world, whether it is the myth of Gilgamesh, the Great Flood of Noah or the Chinese Great Flood myth of Gun-Yu, there is something for everyone in this book. It is a must read book for all those enthusiasts who are interested in Zoroastrianism and in Sassanian culture.

There is an intriguing thematic connection between the seven Archons described in Gnostic texts and the seven planets or commanders associated with Ahriman in Zoroastrianism. In these Gnostic traditions, the Archons are seen as forces that govern the material world and hinder humanity's path to spiritual redemption. 

With this context, I am thrilled to announce that my book (consisting of all my research findings) has just been released and is now available for purchase worldwide! You can find both the digital and print versions on Amazon and Pothi, respectively. I hope readers everywhere enjoy reading it!

You can read more about the book from my author’s website - harshithskumar.com. The E-Book and the Print version are available at these links E-Book Print version 

We're all females, there are no males in the world

We are all brides of the Bridal Chamber (Pleroma) who are waiting to unite with the bridegrooms of the Saviour. We are the weak female seeds of Achamoth, the lower Sophia who aborted us out of joy when she saw the Saviour descending from the above Pleroma to save her.

In fact it was for this reason that the Saviour requested Achamoth to bring forth the Demiurge, Jehovah whom was used as a tool to create the heaven and the earth in the image of the above Pleroma for the sole purpose of providing a space for the spiritual seeds of Achamoth to grow and become mature.

As long as we were children of the female only, as of a dishonorable union, we were incomplete, childish, without understanding, weak, and without form, brought forth like abortions, in short, we were children of the woman. But having been given form by the Savior, we are the children of the man (husband) and of the bride-chamber (Excerpta ex Theodoto 68).

When Peter objected to Mary's presence by saying, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus defended Mary by saying, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.". The above statement by Jesus should not be interpreted as meaning females are not allowed in heaven instead it should be interpreted in the light of the Valentinian Bridal Chamber meaning that we are all female brides who have to make ourselves as males in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."

When we female brides unite with the male bridegrooms of the Saviour in the Bridal Chamber we will become androgynous beings who are neither males nor females. No one can enter the Pleroma without pairs or without male and female consorts or syzygies. This is the will of the Father and this is the reason why the Saviour has created the bridegrooms for our sacramental marriage with them in the Bridal Chamber.

Sexual intercourse for producing spiritual children

Marriage and Procreation were an hotly debated topic among early Christian fathers. What should be the attitude of Christians on procreation, sex and marriage? While I cannot speak for all Christians and for all sects of Christianity out there I will be more concerned with the attitude of those Christians who believed in the same doctrines which I believe in. In this case I am concerned of Valentinianism and the attitude of Valentinian Christians on marriage, procreation and celibacy which is my main concern since I am a Valentinian Christian.

April D DeConick from the Rice University has made a thorough study on this subject and her work The Great Mystery of Marriage. Sex and Conception in Ancient Valentinian Traditions will be the main subject of this post.

April proposes a unique view not supported by reputable scholars in the field by saying that Valentinians neither advocated celibacy nor did they practised promiscuous sexual intercourse but instead they had pure sexual intercourse to bring forth children possessing divine qualities in them or in other words children with a pneumatic spiritual seed in them.

Its true that the positive attitude on marriage and sex by the Valentinian Christians is due to their high emphasis on mythogony. Their eschatology is a consequence of their mythology and their positive attitude on marriage and sex is a consequence of their eschatology. According to them myth was far more real than ordinary reality. Achamoth, also called the Lower Sophia brings forth spiritual fetuses or seeds out of joy after seeing Jesus along with his angels descending to her realm from the above Pleroma. Since these spiritual seeds were conceived without a proper sexual intercourse between Achamoth and Jesus these spiritual seeds were weak and immature and needed a place for them to grow and to become mature. It was then that Jesus ordered Achamoth to bring forth the Demiurge Jehovah so that she can use him as a tool to create earth and human beings. Therefore human beings are nothing but mere carrier bodies for the pneumatic spiritual seeds of Achamoth which she sows every time a child is conceived from a mother's womb.

Earlier I had argued that the Bridal Chamber should be interpreted allegorically as a union between the Holy Father and the individual obviously disturbed by the idea that Valentinians practised carnal sexual intercourse inside earthly Bridal Chambers. The Bridal Chamber in Gospel of Philip should be interpreted allegorically and spiritually. After reading the work of April D DeConick I have to accept that I was wrong and I have to advocate the view that the Valentinians might have had a pure sexual intercourse inside Bridal Chambers just to produce children possessing divine qualities. We cannot be sure because remember Gospel of Philip insists that the marriage in the Bridal Chamber is not fleshy.

However I don't think that marriage and sexual intercourse was so important a thing for Valentinians as April makes it out in her work. The reason being if marriage and procreation were so important to Valentinians then Saint Paul would have obviously stressed more on this point and would have recommended us to strictly marry without fail at least for the sake of bringing forth spiritual children instead Paul advocates the view that it is better to remain as a celibate but if men cannot control then he says it is better to marry rather than to burn with the passion of lust which is completely in contrast with the view espoused by April D DeConick in her work.

Marriage and procreation should be of secondary priority and importance for human beings since it is not mandatory that you should be married to receive redemption instead one should worship only the Holy Father through sacraments and become like the Holy Father which is a view also espoused by the same Gospel of Philip.

It is not possible for anyone to see anything of the things that actually exist unless he becomes like them. This is not the way with man in the world: he sees the sun without being a sun; and he sees the heaven and the earth and all other things, but he is not these things. This is quite in keeping with the truth. But you saw something of that place, and you became those things. You saw the Spirit, you became spirit. You saw Christ, you became Christ. You saw the Father, you shall become Father. So in this place you see everything and do not see yourself, but in that place you do see yourself - and what you see you shall become.

- Gospel of Philip

If time permits then one might concentrate on having sexual intercourse to produce spiritual children so that as many souls as possible receive the gnosis of the Father and return to the Pleroma as soon so possible but the main goal of human beings should be to be in search of the unknowable Holy Father through sacraments and to finally rest with him.

Even the Isha Upanishad advocates that man should live a hundred years without lusting after other men's possessions and without renouncing the works of the Law but one might question what good does it serve when this whole world is full of evil and not from the Father of Truth. If we press hard on the Aryan religion and demand an answer to this question it would go not quite far and they would give an answer like that this world was created for humans and gods so that they can live happily and peacefully here after through give and take i.e. humans should perform Yajna and offer sacrifices to the gods and gods should receive those sacrifices since Yajna is the food for the gods and in turn gods should fulfil the desires of human beings. In this way this world was created for gods and human beings to peacefully coexist and finally to establish the truth of Brahman and live a righteous life accordingly. In this sense the God of the Aryans is a loving god who cares for humanity and wants human beings to live on earth even though it is difficult just for the sake of establishing the truth and saving as many human beings as possible and finally return them to Pleroma. Even though the soteriology of the Aryans is quite similar to the Valentinians the former lack proper mythological explanations for their attitude towards the world and also on the question of how we got here in the first place. The myth of the Valentinians surpasses all religions in correctly communicating to us on questions like how we got here in the first place? Why there is so much evil in this world and why an omnibenevolent and an omnipotent God does not try to stop evil? Why do some people don't believe in any God while others easily believe in the truth? Why do bad things happen for good innocent people? What is the purpose of life? Why does the universe exist? Where do we come from? Where are we going? What should be our attitude? What should be our code of conduct? What should be our role in life? Who should follow the Law and who should not? When does the universe come to an end? We all are truly indebted to Valentinian Christians for their remarkable Depth Psychology on the human condition and behaviour, their insights on the cosmos and their way of creating myths to convey their fascinating ideas even embracing their opponents who think them as unintelligible mad men devoid of any rationality.

Christianity is a mystery religion of Valentinian Christians

As a Valentinian Christian I love the Pauline epistles more than anything else in this world and I love Saint Paul. As a gentile I will defend him no matter what. I completely agree with everything in this video except the final conclusion in it. According to us Saint Paul truly received the highest pleromic revelation from the pneumatic Christ and was not motivated by other pagan mysteries like Isis and Serapis. For us he was not a false apostle of the church instead he was the great Apostle to the apostles, the great doctor of the church. Valentinian Christianity is the orthodox Christianity and all the other Catholic Christians, Protestant Christians, Mormonism and the countless different Christianities are plain wrong. I urge everyone to drop the Pastoral epistles from the Biblical canon. Christianity will live forever and spread worldwide and will be more appealing to the modern scientific world if all Christians see their religion as a mystery religion of Valentinian Christians. Pleroma literally exists and forms the body of Christ and the goal of ancient gnosticism was to return to it and lose your self identity to it.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world.

15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.…(Gospel of John)

Gnostics are often described as world haters or escapists. In some way such a description is quite right because it is absolutely foolish to talk about the wisdom of the wise to people of this age when the God of this age, The Demiurge has destroyed all the Wisdom of The Wise and has led people unto falsehood and untruth.

For it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?....(1 Corinthians 1:19)

Only the Father is real and this world which is created by the Demiurge is not real and actually this world is just a mere shadow copy of the things that exists in the Pleroma, the realm of the Father. We should not love anything of this world because if we love then the love of the Father is not in us and it is not at all difficult to hate this world and love the Father because he is such an amazing wonderful being that you will fall in love with him as soon as you see his radiance and you will start hating the things in this world seeing how deficient they are compared to the world of the Father. 

Restoration to Fullness is inevitable

The Vedas in Light of Sri Aurobindo

"I seek not science, not religion, not Theosophy, but Veda, the truth about Brahman, not only about His essentiality, but about His manifestation, not a lamp on the way to the forest, but a light and a guide to joy and action in the world. I. believe that the future of India and the world to depend on its discovery and on its application, not to the renunciation of life, but to life and the world and among men. .. The Veda was the beginning of our spiritual knowledge; the Veda will remain its end. These compositions of an unknown antiquity are as the many breasts of eternal Mother of knowledge from which our succeeding ages have all been fed. The recovery of the perfect truth of the Veda is therefore not merely a desideratum for our modern intellectual curiosity, but a practical necessity for the future of the human race. For I believe firmly that the secret concealed in the Veda, when entirely discovered, will be found to formulate perfectly that knowledge and practice of a divine life to which the march of humanity, after long wanderings in the satisfaction of the intellect and senses, must inevitably return."

- Aurobindo

Realized Eschatology - Christianity (Gnosticism)

"Valentinians insisted that they described something that is very real. They insisted that what the myth described was in fact MORE real than ordinary reality! As it says in the Treatise on Resurrection, "Do not suppose that the resurrection is an illusion. It is not an illusion; rather it is something real. Instead, one ought to maintain that the world is an illusion, rather than resurrection" (Treatise on Resurrection 48: 12-17).

They believed that the experience expressed through the myth was real and that through visionary experiences (gnosis) and ritual one could experience the events it described. Thus the "myth" is not merely a teaching story. It is a metaphorical description of the experience of redemption."