The path to salvation in our religion is goodness and virtue alone. And this goodness and virtue has three stages that a Pakdin (follower of the pure religion) ascends like angels going up the ladder to heaven ([Genesis 28:12]). Now we describe these stages and their manners, considerations and occasions.
In the first stage, the Pakdin develops virtues and morality within himself individually. Like a gardener that plants an ivy and it grows and covers everywhere, so he plants ethics, good behavior and character in his soul, and they grow and reach to all aspects of life.
In this stage, he learns about morality, about virtues, what constitutes good and what constitutes evil, and their varied forms and fashions. Then based on this knowledge, he changes behavior in daily life: he becomes a more polite person, treats others more respectfully, does not play loud music in a public picnic area lest it disturbs others time of peace, does not shout, does not cry, holds anger and instead talks softly and firmly to express concerns, develops manner, charisma, and character. These opulences surround the Pakdin like an aura of excellence, like the rob of the angle of goodness in the ancient myth which was adorn with many gems each being one of the virtues. On attaining to this stage, the practitioner receives the title of Asho or righteous.
Asho does not mean perfection, does not mean having all the virtues to their fullest. But an agreeable degree of virtues, a degree that one can be conventionally considered righteous, a degree that one behaves gracefully in typical daily life situations, and his morals and manners stands by a fair margin above an ordinary and untrained man. This much is enough for the title Asho.
For Asho is a person who is standing at the intersection of two paths, the ancient paths of goodness and evil, and he is directing his face to the path of righteousness. He hasn't trodden the path to the end yet, but just commenced his walk in that direction. It means Asho is the one who's life direction is goodness, but there is still way to go and rooms for improvement.
Asho-hood and righteousness is not the end of our path. Asho is goodness at individual level, and after that it is time for the social level. One single righteous person is not enough, we want an ocean of pearls. In the next stage, one should teach this pure religion to others. One becomes a teacher, a role model, a helper for younger people, for enthusiasts and the lost. He embarks on spreading the knowledge.
One righteous person is no righteous. For righteousness cannot even exist in a non-righteous and vulgar society, and honesty cannot exist in a corrupted society and charity cannot exist in a hedonic society. How can I live a righteous life when the way to make money is greed and the way to success is bribe and the way to gratification is deceit? Even if a man is righteous and endeavors hard, he will be pulled into corruption and vices by the force and mandate of community. Thus, teaching and spreading the pure religion is higher than individual virtue and self-righteousness, and for this reason it is the next stage after the stage of Asho-hood.
The first stage, the stage of Asho-hood, also includes a degree of teaching and transmitting the pure religion. This is because our behavior in society can inspire others: When an angry person insults me in a public area but I treat him with respect and dignity, this conduct, this uncommon and unexpected response, can shock the violent man and send a signal to the depth of his soul. It can make him reflect and reevaluate. Other bystanders who witness our excellent behavior will be edified too as if seated in an ethics class. In particular, children and young people are more intensely influenced by our respectful behavior. The memory of this incident and our role model remains in their minds. It might not change them right away but it will at some point.
It is not that our actions in society are unimportant, every action remains in someone's memory, and will affect his or her life at some point. A forgiveness I do today might change someone's life tomorrow and a kind and wise word I say today will be remembered next year and become a factor in someone's spiritual transformation.
Thus, teaching is not limited to a school building and formal classroom setting, but the whole society is the domain. The moment you step out of your private room you will be in the school. When you go to your neighbor to apologize for parking your car in a way that made him angry, or offer to trim the yard of a incapable old man for free, that is the school, that is the teaching, that is the mustard seed in gospel [Matthew 13:31] whose branched shoot to the sky and birds perch and nest on them. In this parable, the mustard tree is the good actions and character, and birds are people who have observed them and became attracted to them.
Thus, the stage of Asho-hood encases a sort of teaching and transmitting the religion. It is in a passive and indirect way. Yet it is more powerful and more pervasive than what most people envision. It causes the religion to spread organically, like a scent that spreads everywhere so should our religion spread in the world by the good manners of the followers. And indeed that's how a true religion should propagate.
But this passive form is not enough in itself to complete the mission and convert the world. A direct and active form of teaching is also needed. And this forms the next stage, the stage after Asho-hood, where the Aref teaches this pure religion. He teaches in the form of school and lectures, with pen and papers, with students sitting around or in front of him. There should be schools where those who reached the stage of Asho-hood teach younger people and others about the pure religion.
The main focus and subject of all these teachings is morality, is good behavior and examples of them. For the way to salvation is through good work alone, and the science of good work is not trivia, but tricky and complex. Students should learn about principal virtues: charity, forgiveness, dignity, character and others. They should learn about principal vices: greed, jealousy, indolence, and others. Then comes the science of how these virtues or vices are inter-connected and how one leads to the other and which vices opposes which virtue and such. Then comes the knowledge of how these virtues and vices manifested in the society, and how all the problems in the world are rooted in one or more principal vices, and how the solution to all the problems is in developing virtues and spreading the true religion. And many other topics that are tied and twisted together like knitting yarn and one needs training to find the direction. This knowledge is no less trivia than mathematics and physics they teach today but more important.
At this stage the aspirant obtains the title and degree of Pir, which is the one who transfers and teaches spirituality to others. The word "Pir" means "old", but in our path "old" does not refer to biological age, rather it refers to spiritual maturity. It is the adulthood of the soul and its fatherhood to younger and immature souls. A man can be Pir if his age is thirty or fourty. Pir also means white-haired, and this is a symbol too. White is the color of primal light in the original creation of God. White has all other colors in it, and is a symbol of a Divine and all-encompassing wisdom. Hair becoming white in old age is a physical manifestation of the man being wise now, or better to say he is supposed to be wise now after living for more than half a century and experiencing all aspects of life. But passage of time is not the only way to become wise. One can obtain such a state early in life. The mythical figure Zal was born with white hair, which was the symbol of having a special Divine wisdom and freedom at birth. The angel of wisdom is also described as having white hair but her face is young and beautiful.
These two stages, Asho-hood and Pir, are achievable by many. But beyond these stages there is yet a third stage that is achievable by few. It is not for everyone, and not required for everyone. The two stages are enough to obtain salvation. This third stage is by choice and option, and is the unknown path to the mystical mount Ghaf from which there is no return.
This is the path of sacrificing one-self for the sake of goodness and righteousness. This is the path that one puts himself in a situation of loss or danger and takes action to establish justice. This is the path that one loses job because of standing against the brutality of the employee, and one goes to prison for fighting an unjust government, and higher than all, one is killed in the fight against oppression.
And in this killing he became alive to a new existence that we cannot comprehend now. For this is the highest spiritual state, the abode of Ahura Mazda (The Great God) . Those who went that way never returned back to narrate to us how it was and what was there. This is the top of mount Ghaf. This is the meaning of the Gospel saying: "whoever loses his life will find it" (Mark 8:35). And this is indeed the meaning of the true cross where "you" sacrifice for God not God for you.
For true spiritual peace and highest perfection does not come by studying books, meditation, or cross, but by sacrificing oneself for the sake of justice and righteousness. Such a person becomes holy, such a person does not need to do any separate worship, but every breath he takes is worship and a step towards Divinity. He already reached the Divine the moment he resolved to put his life and interest at stake for the sake of righteousness. He already reached the Divine and the rest is just the progress of the show.
At this stage, one obtains the title and emblem of Javanmard, which means chivalry. One becomes a knight in the temple of God and for God. The word javamard consists of two parts: "javan" which means young and "mard" which means "man". So the term means "the young man". This is in contrast to the previous stage that was called Pir (old). And it is also in an unusual order, for in this way we first become old and then young. How is that possible? This is because in the previous stage, one's soul becomes mature and old, and in that maturity it takes the final step to perfection and sacrifices itself in the flames of Divinity. This kills the soul and it is reborn again as a child and young soul. It is now called Javanmard. But this youth is not associated with inexperience and crudity, but is a new transcendental existence. The birth of the mythical Zal as a white haired infant presents symbols explaining the mystery of the path for those who are already inspired, and for the rest it is a ladder to stars.
Thus, the stages and constitutes of Chivalry and the path to stars is explained, and this is indeed the law of our religion. All other spiritual practices, meditation, mantra, temple rituals and others are just aids and supplements to it.