When Zoroaster was of the age thirty years, Bahman the angel appeared to him and asked him to shut the eyes. When he opened them he found himself in a paradisiacal place. The angels gave him greetings. He conversed with the Supreme Lord. The Lord Almighty showed him Ahriman, the Devil. Since the day of his return from the court of the Supreme Lord, Zoroaster was constantly in contact with six Amesha Spentas (the superior angels) for ten years. Bahman told him to look after the quadrupeds, Ordibahesht asked him to keep the fire burning, Shahrivar suggested him to preserve the metals, Isfandarmoz handed over to him the care of the earth, Khorbad gave water into his charge, Amordad advised him to nourish the vegetation. In the hymns of Zoroaster, they are the symbols of excellent thinking, virtue, rulership, tranquility, expressiveness and eternity. The talks of Ahura Mazda with Jam, the instructions of the Amesha Spentas to Gashtasp, the accounts of the holy scriptures of Zoroastrianism, Zoroaster’s spiritual ascension to heaven, his upward movement beyond this material world, are stress that Divine Knowledge should be based on strong arguments, i.e. witnessing the divine world and state of illumination, so that all the human beings and wise men may perceive the true religion and become free from all doubts. The perceptions of this spiritual ascension have been recorded in the book, Ardaviraf-Nameh. Ardaviraf was the most celebrated Zoroastrian priest who lived during the reign of Ardashir. He was highly learned, he was excellent in his ideas, speech and conduct. One day, he determined to make a spiritual voyage. For this purpose he bathed, dressed in white, applied perfume on his body, sat before the holy fire and apologised for his sins. A platform was set in the fire temple, Ardaviraf sat on it, and covered his face with the mask which is used at the time of prayer. He took one goblet of wine to concentrate on his virtuous ideas, the second goblet he took to recite hymns and the third one for his pious conduct. Then, Ardaviraf slept there on that platform. In his sleep, in the state of ecstasy, he saw that the messenger angel had come to him. He invited his soul to ascend to the spiritual world. He took his first step upward with the help of his pious ideas. He took his second step with the help of excellent speech and the third with the support of his virtuous deeds. There he saw the bridge on the path to paradise. In this way, a man who was most celebrated for his piety, honesty and enlightenment among all his contemporaries made his spiritual voyage so that God Almighty could reveal to him the mysteries of the divine world, so that he could teach them to others and remove whatever doubts about Ahura Mazda and Zoroaster that they had in their minds. At his return from his holy journey, Ardaviraf called a wise scribe and narrated to him what he had observed about hell and the paradise. He did it with the purpose that the people could know the worth of pious deeds and avoid crimes and sin. (Courtesy Iran Culture House)
