Ilm-e-Khshnoom - Traditional Zoroastrianism: Tenets of the Religion

Today the number of west oriented scholars have fast reduced. The present day few scholarly Dastoors
are a mixture of the past scholars whom Ervad Manekji brands as having lack of moral courage. I do not want
to go here into their respective psyches although materials are abundant. In any case they are now a spentforce.
They are just unable to kindle the fire of burning faith in the Parsis. They can, if they study Khshoom;
but they lack not only moral courage but also ordinary courage to do so. They are afraid that their pompous
scholarship will be tarnished. But if they try to understand the truths of Khshnoom and present them with the
help of their philological (or whatever you call it) scholarship to the Western scholars, I am almost certain that
the west will appreciate it and will look at the Zarthoshti Din with greater respect. Have the Dasturs got that
capacity or capability?
Let us now have a look to the parting words of Ervad Mankeji Bhathena:
"Let us hope that the young generation of our community will stop reading novels and the so called love
babbles and the worldly gibberish, which causes ill effects on the morale of the community; but instead,
study with patience this best treasure of the spiritual knowledge. (If this is done) then there is no doubt
that the fear of extinction which has now arisen and towards which the far sighted people are nodding
their heads with doubt, will disappear automatically, because the contents of this Ilm is the knowledge of
the laws of Nature governing each and every aspect of life and can lend the community to real prosperity
and along with that shower on it the bounty of the genuine bliss of the soul"
The far sight of this simple mobed is really surprising. 72 years back he talked of the young generation
reading trash. Today they are not even reading; they are glued to the T.V. Box.
(Parsi Pukar July-August ’99 Vol. 5; No. 1-2)
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