THE PARSEE DOCTRINE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2036, 8 July 1885, Page 2

THE PARSEE DOCTRINE.

' The Parsee doctrine as to the rule of human life is contained in the revelation ofHormazd to Zoroaster in the ZendAyasta, says a reviewer in the New Zealand Presbyterian, The sum of it is—good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, or to be always on tW^ide' of' Hormand, or to walk in the in time unto salvation, . Verify this seems a pure and practical creed; but when we come to' ask what is meant by good as here qualifying thoughts, words, and deeds, we discover that its significance is peculiar, and involves the believing of some of the most absurd doctrines, and the performance of some of the silliest and filthiest rites imaginable. They are commanded to abound in charity, not to the poor only, but to their mbeds (priests), and tddogs and birds; In one part of the Vrfdidad the salvation of man is declared to depend on certain rites called Mazdayagna rites, charity, repentance, penance, and intercession of friends.

These Mazdayajna rites are of the most extraordinary' description—such as ceremonial cuttings of the hair and parings of nails, drinking nirung (oiie of the filthy products of the cow) to castout evil spirits from the body, the performance of the Sagdid, or bringing a dog to look on' the dead body of a friend, with a view of divining from the dog's expression the future condition of the dead.