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MYSTICS AND MYSTICISM

speaking, he has no independent existence, for he is not an entity, and is simply the negation of existence.[1] The aggregate of bodily passions and sensual appetites is symbolically termed Ahriman, named from the originator of evil,[2] and Ahriman's predominance in the world is to exist only for a limited time while the tumult of youth in man and the bodily passions in man are in the ascendency and until they are ultimately curbed and eradicated.[3] Again, the sacred books speak of Ahriman as the creator of serpents and scorpions. But these noxious creatures, according to this treatise, are nothing but allegorical expressions for the vices and passions that haunt the human mind.[4] All such persons as stick to the exoteric interpretation of the scriptures believe that Zohak actually carried two serpents on his shoulders, but the adept understands the statement as applying to the venomous tyranny and sensuality of the wicked usurper.[5] The legend of the flight of King Kaus to the heavens, his fall, and the subsequent restoration of this lost monarch to his kingdom by Rustam, has likewise an esoteric interpretation. The four eagles that carried the misguided king high up in the air, along with his throne, signify the four elements. The throne, explains the author, stands for the predominant bodily passions, the ascent means that a devotee can rise to a higher plane of existence by a life of abstinence and austerity, the fall denotes the revolt of the passions owing to some neglect in the observance of the ascetic practices, while Rustam's achievement, in finally bringing Kaus back from the forest, indicates the flash of proper knowledge that reclaims the erring aspirant from fatal mishap.[6] Thus the esoteric writings veil the truth from the gaze of the vulgar. The real and deep meaning is hidden within the outer husks; and only he who grasps this inner meaning can attain to insight into the secret doctrine. This in fact is a summary of the mystic teachings of the Parsi ascetics in the Dabistan, based evidently upon the earlier doctrines of Sufism and developed under Hindu mystic influences in India.

Ascetic practices of the Parsi mystics. The hermits practised celibacy.[7] They abstained from animal food,[8] and reduced the quantity of their daily food, until many of them could live on

  1. ↑ Ib., 360
  2. ↑ Ib., 360, 361.
  3. ↑ Ib., 357, 359.
  4. ↑ Ib., 360.
  5. ↑ Ib., 55
  6. ↑ Ib., 56, 57
  7. ↑ Ib., 113.
  8. ↑ Ib., vol. 1, 95, 96, 113, 118; vol. 3, 205, 206.
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