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Mary Boyce in "A Persian Stronghold of Zoroastrianism": Zoroaster's radical dualism means that this earth is seen as a battleground, in which the malignant forces of evil strive ceaselessly to corrupt every good thing; and so his followers are required to be like front-line soldiers, never slackening in either discipline or courage. Zoroastrianism is therefore an exacting faith, whose spiritual rewards are not to be lightly won. Its dualism is of a kind, however, which has been termed 'pro-cosmic', for it lies not between spirit and matter, but between the good creation of Ohrmazd, which embraces both spirit and matter, and the negative, hostile one of Ahriman. There is no reason, therefore, why man should not enjoy to the full the creature pleasures of this material world, all pure joys and delights being in themselves part of the creation of Ohrmazd, just as griefs and pains are assaults against them by his adversary. The Zoroastrian ideal is that of a joyful and upright spirit in a strong, vigorous body; and though excess of any kind is to be deplored, so is deficiency, so that, for instance, to fast is as bad as to over-indulge, since both alike weaken the body and diminish legitimate pleasure. |