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Writer's pictureJohn B. Parisutham

Sudarah, the symbol of purity

This class was instructed by Mr Hamid; in this class besides the lecture Mr Hamid shared his experience of traveling many countries in Asia like Japan. The lecture was two sections, eastern ethics and Persian ethics.

Eastern ethics or the Chinese ethical thoughts come back to the time of Confucius (551- 479 BCE). Confucius was a Chinese teacher. His teachings emphasized self-cultivation, emulation of moral exemplars. Confucius’ teachings may be considered as a Chinese example of humanism. As the saying follows ―What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others‖, which has an impact of not harming others, if you do not want to harm yourself.

In China, the normative ethical theory and the ethical practices, such as the self-cultivation were through spiritual exercises. Philosophers tried to solve practical problems in the real world that seemed to be governed by force and violence. Chinese thought themselves as political agents and social reformers. Central problem for the philosophers was: what should be done in order to bring peace order, stability and unity to the chaotic and violent world. The philosophers did not have distinction between ethics and politics.

Confucius are deontologists ‘and they believe that the existence of constrains on the promotion of the good. They claim that rulers who send people to die in aggressive wars or take away peoples’ livelihood through heavy ways. The Confucius believes in virtue politics implies that is crucial that the individuals become virtuous through self-cultivation.

Persian Ethical Thoughts:

A great emphasis on ethics and morals is placed in the Zoroastrian. A Zoroastrian is expected to make a conscious effort every moment of his life, to reject all forms of evil and the lie – in thought, word and deed and endeavor at all times to walk on the path of Asha. Asha is the Law Absolute, the Law Eternal, the Cosmic Law of Order and Harmony on which the entire Universe is based. Good Words, Good Thoughts, Good Deeds are the three ethical principles of the Zarathustra. Zoroaster was born in 1769 BCE and the sacred book is The Avesta.

This religion is a dualistic religion. It consists of two gods: Ahura Mazda , the good and Ahriman the evil. What happen to be new to me about the Zoroatrian religion is that every Zoroastrian wears next to his skin the Sudarah, the shirt of white material, symbol of purity, of a prescribed cut with symbolic mark thereon, and ties the sacred thread, Kusti, made up of seventy-two interwoven filaments, round his waist over that shirt. Each of the seventy-two filaments represents one of the seventy-two parts of the Izashne — the Yagna-Sacrifice ritual.

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