Human Choice
Each person must choose between truth and lie, good and evil.
The cosmic struggle between good and evil plays out in every human heart. Each person has free will to choose the path of Asha (truth) or Druj (lie). This choice determines one's destiny.
Hear with your ears the best things; decide with clear mind, each person for themselves.
Human freedom and responsibility are central to Zoroastrian ethics.
Avesta
Written about in
- What Zoroastrianism says about good and evil
The cosmic argument is repeated inside every person, and each one decides for themselves. The instruction is to hear clearly first and then choose.
- What Zoroastrianism says about truth and lying
Zarathustra's instruction is to hear with your own ears and decide with a clear mind, each person for themselves; the choice between truth and lie is not inherited or assigned. This is why the tradition holds you responsible for a lie even when everyone around you is telling it.