Years ago, I began the painful process of trying to bring my sister to this country from Iran and working with my brother to bring his wife here also. There were so many disappointing challenges and setbacks.
But we agreed to never give up. My spiritual teachings tell me that ultimately there is a positive outcome for good thoughts, good words and good deeds and actions. Like the story of the rabbit and the turtle, a good and right idea always will win, even if it seems to be slow-going. I understand from my spiritual teachings that the divine will is operating through me as I pray and trust in God to bring about good results.
As a Mazda Yasni, I am disciplining my mind and making it the highest intelligence I can, so that I can attain the “total mind.” The total mind is when a Mazda Yasni experiences the deepest level of consciousness and superior mind that is related to the universal divine intelligence.
I believe humanity must pass beyond physical limitations and transcend to the higher self. For me, universal consciousness is a form of divine illumination that brings intuitive insight. As I yield self-will to the divine will, I experience union with divine spirit and I see good outcomes happening in my life. I also believe this will bring the best of all outcomes in the challenge of uniting my family.
Mazda Yasna teaches that human beings must cultivate, worship, adore and love as the best means of realizing God (Ahura Mazda). As taught by Prophet Zarathushtra in the Holy Avesta, I believe my spiritual path leads to total awareness, self-realization and immortality.
I have experienced what would be called an enlightening of my mind, a fulfillment of my God-given potential, and direction to search within myself for a spiritual path that resonates with my consciousness and heart. Emotional freedom and control of my thinking, will and actions has brought down barriers that could have prevented me from the progress of attaining God-realization.
I love the three simple principles of my faith that open our world to respect and tolerance for all other religious faiths: As mentioned previously, they are good thoughts, good words and good deeds. We see love, consciousness and wisdom as an expression of the Almighty in each human being. We believe that peace will reign when people choose the positive forces of intelligence, love, awareness, unity and justice, and see them as one universal consciousness. We also strive to be active in our communities and improve and upgrade existing institutions.
Prophet Zarathushtra believed that there is perfect balance and order in the universe. Because of this, I am trusting this truth to work out all my affairs, including those of my family. I believe, wherever we find ourselves, we can have creative, rational and independent thought, use our hearts and minds to bless, and use our hands in helping our communities through the principles of the Mazda Yasnan faith to serve humanity.
Partava worships with a local group of his faith, has presented at the 11th of the month Interfaith Prayer Services, and attends the monthly LIA interfaith potluck and dialogue gathering. This column is coordinated by Lane Interfaith Alliance, a network of more than 40 religious traditions and spiritual teachings. For more information, visit www.laneinterfaithalliance.org.