Zoroastrian News – اخبار زرتشتیان

A conference on Zoroastrian youth identity in 21st century will be held by Council on Persian Culture (cPc) at Morvarid Hall of the California Zoroastrian Center.

The conference which is the 11th cultural and educational conference organized by cPc, has been planned for December 6th, 2008 from 9AM to 5PM.

The conference executive committee announced that the theme of this year conference is related to “Our Youth and Their Life in Diaspora”. There will be three main speakers: Dr. Mitra Dinyari, Dr. Touraj Daryaee and Moobed Kamran Jamshidi from France. Musical programs and dances will be performed between speeches.

Attending the conference is totally free of charge and everyone is welcome to attend.

Council on Persian Culture who organizes this conference, operates under California Zoroastrian Center.

On Sunday November 16, 2008, the Fifth Annual Thanksgiving Interfaith Choir Festival was held in the LSD Chapel in Irvine, California.

The theme of this year’s event was “Hamony and the Spirit of Cooperation”. This year’s festival was rich in music and choral presentations from various religious and cultural organizations. Overall, the event was joyous and magnificently harmonious.

There were short presentation by the representatives of various religious traditions including Sikh, Baha’i, Buddist, Hindu, Jain, Judaism and Islam. Ardeshir Anoshiravani, MD represented the Zarathushti religion with the following presentation:

I am convinced that if Zarathushtra were amongst us, he would have thoroughly enjoyed all these musical presentations. Zarathushtra invented the word “Grutha-mana”, which means “the Abode of Songs”. Zarathushtra defined this word as the reward for righteous people, as the worldly heaven for promoters of progress and peace. One can say that we are all spending an evening in “Grutha-mana” the Abode of Songs.

In humble adoration, with hands outstretched, I pray to Thee, O Ahura Mazda!

Through Thy benevolent spirit , Grant me in this hour of joy, All righteousness of action, all wisdom of the good mind, That I may thereby bring joy to the Soul of Creation. (Gathas, The Devine Songs of Zarathushtra 28.1)

Zarathushtra not only wants harmony between human beings, but he promotes a unique philosophy of life; that we have to be in harmony with the creator, “Ahura Mazda” to bring joy to “the Soul of Creation”. Zarathushtra instructs us that we show our dedication to our creator by living a “Good Life”, By enhancing our knowledge and wisdom, by making the right choices, by following the path of Asha, by practicing Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds. He first and foremost, requests us to be in harmony with Ahura Mazda’s divine order and live harmoniously with our universal environment. Zarathushtra does not try to inculcate us with the message of God, but he wants to teach us the language of God so that we all can get the God’s message for ourselves.

Photos are from Jerry Keane.