Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions.It was founded by the prophet Zoroaster in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.Zoroastrian beliefs can best be summed up by the maxim:
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds
Zoroastrianism is a home and community oriented religion. There is no tradition of monasticism or celibacy. Zoroaster himself was a family man and most worship happens in the family home. Zoroastrianism is also about action. Zoroastrians work towards improving the local community and society in general. They tend to give generously to charities and are often behind educational and social initiatives. The Parsi community in India is particularly known for its industrious contributions to Indian society.
Unlike some religions where man is God's child or servant, in Zoroastrianism man is considered more as God's helper. Through man's positive choices, evil will be eradicated and God's Paradise on Earth will be established. Men and women, rich and poor, and young and old are all seen as equal. One only surpasses the other through their righteousness.
Dualism in Zoroastrianism is the existence of, yet complete separation of, good and evil. This is recognized in two interconnecting ways:
Cosmic dualism refers to the ongoing battle between Good (Ahura Mazda) and Evil (Angra Manyu) within the universe.
It is important to understand that Angra Manyu is not God's equal opposite, rather that Angra Manyu is the destructive energy that opposes God's creative energy. This creative energy is called Spenta Manyu. God created a pure world through his creative energy, which Angra Manyu continues to attack, making it impure. Aging, sickness, famine, natural disasters, death and so on are attributed to this.
With cosmic dualism we have life and death, day and night, good and evil. One cannot be understood without the other. Life is a mixture of these two opposing forces.
Moral dualism refers to the opposition of good and evil in the mind of mankind. God's gift to man was free will; therefore man has the choice to follow the path of Evil (druj - deceit) or the path of Righteousness (asha - truth). The path of Evil leads to misery and ultimately Hell. The path of Righteousness leads to peace and everlasting happiness in Heaven.
As with cosmic dualism, we have the polarity of happiness and sadness, truth and deception and so on but with an emphasis on choice. This choice is crucial as it determines whether we are the helper of Ahura Mazda or the helper of Angra Manyu. When all of mankind chooses the former over the latter, evil will finally be defeated and Paradise on earth will be realized.
In practice, modern Zoroastrianism has a positive outlook. It teaches that Mankind is ultimately good and that this goodness will finally triumph over evil. This could be seen as a retrenchment from the faith's original purity of dualism.