Being Total: considering the end of man in Zoroastrian perception
Abstract
Man is a dual being, consisting of body and soul, and therefore the end includes man as psycho-somatic being, as total man. The final goal of religious life in Zoroastrianism, as in all philosophical systems from the ancient Greece to the major world religions, is salvation, both for the soul and the body. The cosmic act of ethics, that is a religious ethics par excellence, based on the messages given by the revealed Zoroastrian texts, is centered on man. We find in the unity of man, as encountered and understood in all traditions, the basis of an anthropological principle, which is of a special importance in the dialectics of interreligious dialogue. The challenge of this article is to show this feature within the context of the personal Endzeit.