cosmic order

A challenge faced by the ancient culture of Mesopotamia was the possibility or impossibility of interaction or communication between natural and supernatural beings. While the present article assumes its possibility based on available evidence, it employs the descriptive-analytic method to identify various forms of revelation within the mythical Mesopotamian culture. The research findings indicate that in Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian myths, revelation manifested as an exchange or spiritual transaction bridging the gap between the natural and supernatural worlds. It served as a conduit for communication and the conveyance of desires, secrets, and news from deities to earthly beings, including both human and nonhuman entities. In this context, revelation often took the form of soliloquy and sometimes that of mutual conversation, presenting itself through experiences such as the soul’s journey, true dreams, auditory perceptions, and prophesies. It appears that the various forms of Mesopotamian revelations gradually influenced Semitic religions, likely influenced by the proximity of the Sumerians. Therefore, an exploration of the revelatory aspects of Mesopotamian myths becomes crucial for a deeper understanding of the nature of revelation in more contemporary religions.

Old civilizations are often characterized by the belief in some sacred cosmic order, which compelled people to adapt their material and spiritual lives to constant eternal principles and laws of a sacred cosmic order. By ‘cosmic order’ we mean an impersonal global order in virtue of which all affairs of the world are organized, including both moral and natural orders. The concern for coming to grip with this order, to understand its nature and its performance, is presented in terms of mythological, religious, and practical explanations. Holy scriptures have sought to respond to this human concern, including Avesta, the script of Zoroastrians, and a papyrus written in hieroglyph characters in Egypt.The doctrine of cosmic order has been a center of attention in ancient eastern cultures. In the Avestan language, such a cosmic order has been called Asha. In Hindu Vedas, the term appears as ṛta, and in ancient Persian epigraphy, it appears as ṛta in proper names (such as “Ṛtaxshaҫa” or Ardashir). In the present study, the significance of cosmic order or Asha comes from characteristics such as justice, moderation, fairness, honesty, and individual rights. It is originally an Ahuric eternal law, encompassing the entire cosmos and morality.Asha literally means “ideal truth” and is indeed the “law of Yazata”. Moreover, Asha has the obligation to manifest this law to maintain justice in the society. Originally, Asha is an eternal cosmic law, which encompasses both cosmos and the individual and social ethics of humans. The term Asha frequently appears both in Gathas and in later Avesta, which is indicative of the significance of this notion in Zoroastrian thoughts. It might be said that the Zoroastrian notion of Asha is not only the apparent order but also a realization of the eternal cosmic order, in light of which the creation has taken place. Asha might be seen as a manifestation of reason and an eternal project of Ahura Mazda for the creation of the world, in which the maintenance of the world is also made possible by Asha. Moreover, the survival of human beings and other entities in the world is also secured by Asha.The term Asha-vahishta (the best truth) also appears in Gathas. In Zoroastrianism, Asha-vahishta was believed to be the second Amesha Spenta after Vohu-manah. In Zoroaster’s psalms, it is explicitly said that Mazda was the Father, which suggests the existential nature of Asha. Since Ahura Mazda was the root or origin of the “truth” and identical with the “absolute truth”, Asha might also be construed as the “truth that appeared in the world”. In this respect, if Vohu-manah is seen as a manifestation of divine reason in the world of appearances and souls, Asha should count as a manifestation of divine order in the universe.In the ancient Egyptian culture, the order was very precious and sacred, such that all members of the society were responsible for the creation and maintenance of order, and order appeared in all subsidiary forms. In the ancient Egyptian civilization, this fundamental global and constant element was called Maʽat, which was of such a high ranking that it presented all physical and spiritual entities. Maʽat was first mentioned in stories of peasants since it enabled villagers to attain justice in their respective circumstances.In Egyptian beliefs, there was a close tie between cosmic events, which revealed the nature of divine life, and the notion of Maʽat. Indeed, the latter was a system that was created by the God of the Sun (Ra) as the creator of the world at the beginning of time and forever. Maʽat was expressive of the truth, honesty, and justice. It was portrayed as a lady whose head was covered by ostrich feathers. It was an inseparable part of Ra and Osiris. Maʽat was a goddess who secured Heaven for Egyptians.In ancient Egyptian mythology, Maʽat was believed to have two dimensions: terrestrial and divine. In the former, Maʽat was a symbol of the global and terrestrial norm- an equilibrium dominating the entire world, a justice that enables honesty, and an order that serves as a criterion for assessment of people’s deeds. In the latter, Maʽat is simultaneously the mother, the daughter, and the wife of Ra. Moreover, it is the spiritual sister of the Pharaoh. It is responsible for maintaining the balance in the cosmos, and it is by its virtue that the world is administered with harmony and coherence.According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the souls of the dead were judged in a great hall belonging to Maʽat. In that hall, gods took out the dead’s heart and put it on a scale pan, behind which the Goddess Maʽat stood. On the other scale pan, there was a feather as a symbol of honesty and justice, that is, a symbol of Maʽat. If the dead’s heart was lighter than the feather, this meant that the dead person had done good deeds in his or her life, and thus, he or she deserved to go to Osiris, but if its heart was heavier than the feather, it meant that the dead person had committed indecent acts in the world of the living beings, and hence, he or she deserved to be punished and destroyed.By and large, the notions or functions of Asha and Maʽat might be said to share the following characteristics: (1) both meant cosmic order, truth, and justice, and were opposed to symbols of disorder, chaos, and falsehoods, (2) both were constant and stable forces in the world and had high rankings in the hierarchy of deities, (3) given the notion of law and order, they both had roles to play in ideal governments or monarchies, and (4) compliance with Asha and Maʽat could lead to salvation at the final judgment or the day of resurrection.Overall, one of the most fundamental shared notions between Mazdaean and ancient Egyptian beliefs was that of Asha and Maʽat. Their wide-ranging meanings notwithstanding, the two notions point to the existence of cosmic order in the whole being. Furthermore, the belief in Asha or Maʽat was first and foremost a belief in there being an eternal order in the being or cosmos, which serves as the exemplar of human life. Asha and Maʽat have pervasive individual and social dimensions, acting upon which seemingly counted as an essence of the entire cosmic order in both Zoroastrian and ancient Egyptian beliefs.

Order and justice are the most important concepts of thought that are rooted in the worldview and ideology of each nation. Accordingly, the idea of Tensor, the Zoroastrian priest of the Sassanid era, is influenced by the religion of Zoroaster and his mythological view of the universe. In his view, myths direct and regulate the view of the pious and religious man towards himself and nature. A cosmic order in which everything has an end and everyone acts in his own duty under the supervision of Ahura Mazda in the battle of good and evil. The mirror of this upright view on earth becomes the chief-centered system in which the three elements of the ideal king, the universal religion, and the social hierarchy, establish order and justice according to the eternity law called Ashe. Justice is transmitted from the individual to society, and all its details correspond exactly to religion and the cosmic order. The Tensor Letter is one of the classic texts in which the outlines of the political thought of ancient Iran are drawn. Political thought reflected in this text reflects the norms of the political and social environment of this period and the author has theorized in the prevailing religious intellectual space, namely the Zoroastrian worldview. The method used in this article, based on Tensor's letter, is Skinner's text-context-based method. In this article, an attempt was made to represent the role of mythology in the formation of the cosmic order in Tensor's letter.

Undoubtedly a unified order encompasses all the hierarchy of being. This cosmic order, referred to in the Avestan texts as Asha, has theological, anthropological, anthropological and moral dimensions and worship. The great set of being in a continuous and directional motion depicts the cosmic order in all its material and transcendental dimensions. In the above text as well as the link between Asha and ethical norms and religious rituals, it illustrates and examines how Asha can be realized in man and in society. In the ontological realm, Asha is a creature of Ahura Mazda, in other words, a manifestation of Ahura Mazda, with whom she collaborates and mediates the creation of Ahura creatures. From interacting with God and Amish Spaniard to direct and indirect influence on the various moral and worship layers of human life. Thus, the life, viability and consistency of Zoroastrianism may lie in the great meaning of Asha and its adherence. In the individual dimension of human life, it is evident in the form of a complete human being, and the full realization of the social dimension of human life, achieving Mann is a city.

Khosravani Hekmat is Philosophy and mysticism of ancient iran that In this research, the principle of unity of creation is considered as one of its important attributes in the works of Attar. According to the results, The poet was influenced by the principle of the unity of creation, although under the influence of the human being in the wisdom of Khosravani, But, unlike its predecessors, The scientific analogy corresponds to the universe of the universe with the cosmic universe, which is equivalent to the analogy of the integrity of the thirty-sixth with the Simorgh. Particle and universe, ancient secrets, ordering, desirable city, number 30, Mount Ghaf, The victim of the sensual desire, the number seven, the simorgh and the famine are all the manifestations of the unity of creation in Manteqotteir that They originated from the wisdom of Khosravi. The unity of its existence in Manteqotteir is related to the integrity and integrity of the universe, the cosmic order, and the mythology of the perfection of the day. Between the above concepts, the equality ratio is in the quadruple rational ratios.

Desacralizing of knowledge in the modern world and overcoming Cartesian dualism, and as a result, the alienation of man with the cosmos, led to the separation of man from the world. Despite its new name, anthropocosmic vision has a long history in religions and has attracted the attention of thinkers in various fields, including Religious Studies, in recent decades. With the harmony and correspondence between man and the world, or in other words, microcosm and macrocosm as its implications, this essentially mystical vision illuminates many doctrines of religions based on the unity of self-knowledge, cosmology, and theology. This paper, first of all, deals with the anthropocosmic vision, its definition and description, and then with its history expressed in various religious traditions, and then examines it as an approach in academic studies of religion. Achieving to a kind of ontological epistemology can be of its outcomes. Also, one can understand the conformity of the ritualistic order with the cosmic order in the religions.

The great chain of being in most pre-modern civilizations indicates that the downward trend from top to base is the creator of an immaterial and material world. This trend gradually turns sheer delicacy into impurity, sheer unity into multiplicity, non-determination to determination in, absolute into relative and the realm of manifestation into a realm of latency. Using a theoretical- analytical approach and examining the viewpoint of oriental religions and schools of thought in this regard, this study reviews and criticizes the position and relationship between the components and levels of beings in the expositions of the Great chain of being, and then presents a clear picture of the ontology of cosmological order in Daoism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Enki, later known as Ea in Babylonian-Akkadian mythology, is a Sumerian word for the god of fresh waters in Mesopotamian mythology. Given the effective and functional role of water in the livelihood of ancient people and its symbolization in mythology, Enki seems to have had particular importance and presence in Mesopotamian mythology. He is characterized with various functions as vivification, fertility, purgation, cure, sorcery, wisdom and intelligence. They are all particularly in line with the cosmic order. Apparently, the gods of ancient Mesopotamia can often be considered as "the gods of order" or at least "the gods affected by natural order". Compared to other gods, Enki plays an outstanding role in establishment and retention of this natural order of things, for which he exhibits a dual image and acts for and against the man. Moreover, Enki's immanence in various myths is justified by the significance of water in all aspects of human life such as agriculture. Enki's monologues and his disclosure of god's commands and secrets to man can be considered as the early forms of Revelation. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, the present study attempts to explain the philosophy of Enki's behavioral contradiction and his dual image in Mesopotamian mythology

The cosmic order has always been one of the most important phenomena drawing the attention of the scholars of all religions. Cosmic order organizes the Cosmos and governs all the events in Nature enveloped within Earth’s environment. It seems that cosmic order has received a special attention in Zoroastrianism and Taoism since the nature is to some extent a holy notion as a result of the expression of the cosmic order. In the ancient Iran cosmic order equals Āshā, enjoying an extensive range of meaning, as a principle foundation of Zoroastrianism. The term Āshā means the Truth but terminologically it denotes an eternal spiritual and ethical law established by Ahura Mazda. Based on Āshā, any action in the realm of human behavior and morality is followed by a reaction and any good or bad deed has its own specific reward. Similarly in the realm of natural rules the expression of Āshā is the order and balance of nature which is the cause of its permanence. The term denoting cosmic order in Taoism is Tao, including the natural ordering and moral order as the comprehensive rule of life. Tao is a permanent law based on which the nature moves forward and the balance dominating the world is the result of such a movement. According to Tao Te Ching, human, Tao and nature are the heads of the triangle of being and their harmony is secured by some other factors such as Yin-Yang, the two active and receiving principles of being, and the Five Elements (Wu Xing)

This essay is to discover the political thoughts of Sassanid era, based on the Letter of Tensar. This letter has important contents in explaining thoughts and workings of Ardashir Babakan and followed by it, the prevalent dialoques of Sassanid era. In this letter, Tensar draws his boundaries with two patterns, Manaviah which is set in the frame of "manner based" discourse and Mazdakiah in the frame of "Justice Based" discourse, in this essay. With these two patterns Tensar proceeds with interpretation and explaining of his thoughts. Religion is the central signifier of "manner based" discourse; but in the divergence shaped by this discourse which in the continuation is called "justice based" discourse, religion becomes a floating signifier that diminishes from the center and is replaced by another central signifier named justice and equality of social classes and in this condition religion becomes a second class signifier. In "order based" discourse, the order inspired by Cosmic order is considered the central signifier and in this essay, the framework of this discourse is explained in details, bit by bit.The main content of Tensar letter is "order based" Idea that leads to a pattern of governing named "Kingship" (Imperial). "King" (Shah) is the axis of all political, social, cultural and economical structures in the government and all of these structures have been designed and prepared for it. Yet, the formidability, consolidation and durability of these structures are inspired by "cosmic order" (Universal Order). The method used in this essay is discourse analysis and with the use of that has proceeded with the theoretical analysis inserted in the letter.

Among all questions which are asked about the nature of existence, after asking about the creation, the question about the order and permanence of the universe is the most essential question. A common answer to this question is that there is a Cosmic Order or Cosmic Law which protects the universe from disorder. This Cosmic Order was called rta in ancient India, and aša in the ancient Iran. It personifies the cosmic, social, ritual, and moral order. Rta and aša are synonyms and from the etymological point of view, were derived from a common root. Rta (or aša) is under the protection of gods; therefore, if someone transgresses its bounds, she/he will be punished. So all devotees and even gods should harmonize themselves with rta (or aša) and behave in accordance with its principles. If they act so, they will be qualified for the title of rtavan (those who possess rta) or ašavan (those who uphold aša) and will enjoy the everlasting bliss and prosperity.

Any discussion about Iranian Identity takes us to field such as political thought. If we take identitiy as process of "Meaning construction and self-consciousness", a process that roots in Iranian cultural characteristic, requires discussion about myth and epic,as two foundations of Iranian Identity. This essay deals with basic question: Why and how myth and epic, took part in development of Iranian Identity? The hypothesis that has been reviewed in this essay, is that, myth and epic as the first and oldest origin of Iranian thinking concern with political and social function with this idea in their structure that ideal political order requires a conformity between the order of society And order of univers as a whole. Shared effect of these two Iranian heritage, has been protecting unity and integration of Iranian people.