Zoroaster — "Contemplate the beams of fire with a most pious mind. Every one, both men and wo…"
Contemplate the beams of fire with a most pious mind. Every one, both men and women, ought to-day to choose his creed.
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More from Zoroaster
"He who chooses the good mind, he who chooses righteousness, he who chooses the spirit of devotion, he shall attain immortality."
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"Devotion, like fire, goeth upward."
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About Zoroaster (c. 1500-1000 BCE (debated))
Iranian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism, the first major religion of cosmic dualism between good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Angra Mainyu). Closely associated with The Buddha (near-contemporary Eastern moral-cosmological revolutionary). For an intellectual contrast, see Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher of 'beyond good and evil' — Nietzsche appropriated Zarathustra's name for Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883) precisely to invert the original's moral cosmology — the historical Zoroaster founded the good-versus-evil framework Nietzsche's character announces the end of.
Details
Sermon or teaching, from 'The Teachings of Zoroaster and the Philosophy of the Parsi Religion'
Date: c. 1500-1000 BCE
PhilosophicalVerification
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Found in 1 providers: gemini
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Understanding this quote
What it means
The quote urges people to approach sacred fire with reverent focus and, on this very day, personally decide what they believe. It frames faith as an individual choice that every adult, regardless of gender, must make consciously rather than inherit passively. Fire stands in as a focal point for clear thinking, and the call to choose 'today' stresses urgency: belief is not a someday decision but a present responsibility each person owes themselves.
Relevance to Zoroaster
Zoroaster founded one of the first monotheistic-leaning faiths, where sacred fire symbolized Ahura Mazda's truth and purity rather than being worshipped itself. He preached that each soul freely chooses between truth (asha) and falsehood (druj), a radical ethical stance for his time. Including women as equal choosers matches Zoroastrian teaching that both sexes share moral agency, and the meditative gaze on flame mirrors his priestly role as a reformer-prophet guiding Iranians toward reasoned devotion.
The era
Zoroaster lived in the Bronze or early Iron Age Iranian plateau, likely between 1500 and 1000 BCE, amid polytheistic tribal cults, blood sacrifice, and hereditary priesthoods. Religion was inherited by clan, not chosen, and women rarely figured as spiritual decision-makers. Against that backdrop, demanding that every man and woman personally elect a creed was revolutionary. Fire altars were replacing animal sacrifice as the central rite, making contemplation of flame a new, deliberately ethical mode of worship.
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