Found this passage in my son's high school history book. Is this coincidental or intentional as far as Mazda's name?

"Although the Persian Empire was short-lived, its official state religion, Zoroastrianism, continued to thrive long after its downfall. Zoraster taught that the world is governed by two opposing gods -- Ahura Mazda, or Ormazd, the god of goodness, wisdom, and truth, and Ahriman, the spirit of evil -- who are engaged in an enduring battle in which Ahura Mazda will ultimately prevail. People who follow Ahura Mazda and live a life of purity will be rewarded at death with an eternal life in paradise. In contrast, those who follow Ahriman will be condemned to eternal suffering."

I can buy into this philosophy, but I have two questions. First, do we get the 27 virgins when we enter paradise? And, is Ahriman an allegory to Chevy?

mazda was chosen because matsuda was too tough on english-speakers. The mythical connotations are cool but not applicable in this case. :)

Besides the cars, there have been Mazda lamps and vacuum tubes (no relation to matsuda, toyo kyogo or 'our' mazda)

I don't know about you, but each time I've chosen Mazda it was almost heaven. Each time I chose something else, it was close to hell ;)

This is from an old National Geographic (1930's?).

This is a close-up of the definition.

I also found something else that's interesting. Aren't you glad Dr. Wankel decided on a triangular rotor?

Originally posted by 8_wannabe
Found this passage in my son's high school history book. Is this coincidental or intentional as far as Mazda's name?

"Although the Persian Empire was short-lived, its official state religion, Zoroastrianism, continued to thrive long after its downfall. Zoraster taught that the world is governed by two opposing gods -- Ahura Mazda, or Ormazd, the god of goodness, wisdom, and truth, and Ahriman, the spirit of evil -- who are engaged in an enduring battle in which Ahura Mazda will ultimately prevail. People who follow Ahura Mazda and live a life of purity will be rewarded at death with an eternal life in paradise. In contrast, those who follow Ahriman will be condemned to eternal suffering."

I can buy into this philosophy, but I have two questions. First, do we get the 27 virgins when we enter paradise? And, is Ahriman an allegory to Chevy?

You won't find any concepts like getting 72 virgins in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrian outlook and practice has nothing in common with Islam. Zoroastrians are some of the most educated and successful people in society wherever they take root. A Zoroastrian suicide bomber is a contradiction in terms.

Zoroastrianism is a very enlightened, life-affirming faith that is still practiced in Iran and India. It was the first monotheistic religion and shares many beliefs with Christianity and Judaism... one true god, heaven, hell, a judgement. Persian King Cyrus, a Zoroastrian, freed the Jews in the old testament and was called "Anoited of the Lord." After he freed them he gave them money to rebuild their temple.

The religion stresses clear thinking, education, and using your mind to make good decisions. The main tenets are "good thoughts, good words, good deeds". One should strive to be happy and to spread happiness to others. (The traditional greetingis "Ushta Te", or "radiant happiness be unto you"). Life is made to be enjoyed fully, but not to excess, and suffering and monasticism are seen as bad for people and to be avoided. God is your friend and always on your side... he would never do anything to hurt you or send you to Hell.

Zoroastrians respect other faiths and never waged a war of conquest, unlike Christians or Muslims. Traditional Zoroastrians believe religion is by birth- if you are born a Muslim, Christian, Hindu, etc, that is because that is what God wants for you and you should follow that faith the best you can. They do not accept converts. Some Zoroastrians, especially in Iran and some groups in North America, do accept converts.

Traditional Zoroastrians (a small number living almost exclusively in India) have very interesting funeral rites that date back thousands of years. Zoroastrians believe in caring for the Earth (the first environmentalists) so they will not bury bodies, as it pollutes the Earth. They will not dump them in the ocean because it would pollute the water. They won't burn them, because they believe fire is a symbol of God.

Their environmentally-friendly solution is called a "dahkma" or, in English, "Tower of Silence". Three days after death special corpse bearers (Nassalars) take the body to the open-topped tower where it is laid in one of three circles going around the edge of the tower. Then vultures come in and strip the corpse bare... usually the body is stripped clean within two hours. After a few weeks the bones are dried and placed into a pit in the center of the tower, where rainwated continually wears it down. There is charcoal and sand filtration at the bottom and the system is so efficient that even after hundreds of years, there is only a few feet of buildup on the bottom of the pit. There are still dakhmas in India today, but the loss of vulture population has made it a less common choice for Zoroastrians living there.

Zoroastrians also place a very high premium on honesty and a lie is one of the biggest sins one can make. Perhaps they should hire a few at Mazda.

I have been reading the RX-7 and the RX-8 book given to owners. There is a section that decribes them taking the name from ahura mazda - taking the part of the name meaning wisdom. It said that the entire name meant light and wisdom.

Originally posted by RodsterinFL
I have been reading the RX-7 and the RX-8 book given to owners. There is a section that decribes them taking the name from ahura mazda - taking the part of the name meaning wisdom. It said that the entire name meant light and wisdom.

Ah hah! I knew there was something to this. I shoulda read the book (I only looked at the pictures.) ;) This is so much more poetic than saying "We called it Mazda because Matsuda was too hard for Americans to pronounce." After all, we got over "Isuzu" didn't we?