Written by An Institutional Document of the Authority of Zoroastrian Integrity, Instruction & Enlightenment
Preamble
This document is the formal statement of the spiritual posture of the Authority of Zoroastrian Integrity, Instruction & Enlightenment. It is the shortest of the Authority’s institutional documents and the one to which all the others ultimately answer.
The other documents set forth what AZIIE does. This document sets forth what AZIIE is.
I. The Dedication
The Authority of Zoroastrian Integrity, Instruction & Enlightenment is a body dedicated to Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, source of all truth and all right order.
The Authority recognizes no human institution as its superior. The Authority recognizes no government, no council, no academic body, no ecclesiastical hierarchy, and no external authority as holding standing above the standing the Authority holds before Ahura Mazda alone.
This is not a claim of supremacy. It is the opposite. It is a claim of submission — the recognition that the Authority answers, in the final accounting, to the Wise Lord and to no other.
II. The Standard to Which the Authority Is Bound
The Authority’s only authority is Ahura Mazda. The standard by which the Authority is bound is Asha — truth, righteousness, cosmic order.
Where the Authority’s work aligns with Asha, the work stands. Where it would cease to align, the work would cease. The Authority does not claim a license to act outside this measure. The Authority claims only the obligation to act within it.
This binding is irrevocable. No decree, no recognition, no authorization issued under AZIIE’s seal may stand if it is found to be untrue. The Authority does not protect its own decisions against the standard. The standard protects itself, and the Authority is one of its servants.
III. The Tradition the Authority Serves
The Authority serves the tradition revealed by Zarathustra, transmitted through the Gathas and the broader Avesta, preserved across three and a half millennia by the living Zoroastrian community — the Parsi communities of India, the Iranian Zoroastrian community, and the global diaspora.
The Authority does not stand above this tradition. The Authority stands within it. The fire that has burned at Iranshah for more than a thousand years is older than AZIIE will ever be. The hereditary priesthoods that have preserved the liturgy are deeper than AZIIE’s institutional reach. The communities that have maintained the tradition through exile, persecution, and dispersal hold a continuity AZIIE inherits but does not originate.
The Authority’s dedication is to the tradition as the tradition has been carried — by Ahura Mazda’s wisdom, through Zarathustra’s revelation, in the keeping of those who came before, and toward those who will come after.
IV. The Posture of the Authority
In recognition of this dedication, the Authority adopts the following posture:
The Authority does not glorify itself. Where AZIIE’s work bears the Authority’s seal, the seal indicates that the work meets the standard — not that the work is the Authority’s own production. The seal is a measure of integrity, not a mark of ownership.
The Authority does not exalt itself above the tradition’s established servants. The Mobeds, the Dasturs, the Anjumans, the regional councils, the geographic temples — these served the tradition before AZIIE existed and will continue to serve it. The Authority’s distinction is functional, not hierarchical.
The Authority does not seek the validation of human powers. Recognition by academic institutions, governmental bodies, or other external authorities is welcomed where offered, but is not sought, and does not constitute the foundation of the Authority’s standing. The Authority’s foundation is Ahura Mazda.
The Authority does not fear correction. Where the Authority has erred, the correction is welcomed — because the standard is more important than the Authority, and the truth is more important than the Authority’s appearance. Asha is the measure. The Authority submits to the measure.
V. The Three Commitments
The Authority commits, in the formal terms of the Zoroastrian tradition, to the three principles that constitute right conduct:
Humata — Good Thoughts. The Authority will hold its deliberations to the standard of truthful reasoning. No conclusion entertained in private will be different from what the Authority would willingly affirm in public. Right thought precedes right action.
Hūxta — Good Words. The Authority will speak in public only what it would defend in private. No document issued under the Authority’s seal will assert what cannot be defended. No claim will be made that the evidence cannot bear. Right speech is the measure of the institution.
Huvarshta — Good Deeds. The Authority will act in alignment with what it has thought and what it has spoken. The work conducted under AZIIE’s seal will reflect the standards the Authority has set. The Authority is judged by what it does — and accepts that judgment.
These are not aspirations. They are the binding terms of the dedication.
VI. The Closing Statement
The Authority of Zoroastrian Integrity, Instruction & Enlightenment is a body dedicated to Ahura Mazda. The Authority’s only authority is the Wise Lord. The Authority’s only standard is Asha. The Authority’s only ambition is the faithful service of the tradition that Zarathustra revealed.
Where the Authority remains dedicated, the Authority stands.
Where it would cease to be dedicated, it would cease to be the Authority — and would deserve to.
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Humata, Hūxta, Huvarshta.
— Good Thoughts. Good Words. Good Deeds.
Asha vahishta.
— Truth is best.
Yatha Ahu Vairyo.
— As the Lord is to be chosen, so is the Judge by reason of right order.
Issued under the seal of the Authority of Zoroastrian Integrity, Instruction & Enlightenment.
Dedicated to Ahura Mazda. Bound to Asha. In service to the tradition.