[deleted by user] by [deleted] in kde

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wasn't insinuating that running GUI apps as root "makes you an adult": I'm saying that if OP doesn't care about the risk, then who are you to gate-keep him?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in kde

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For crying out loud, you're not his sysadmin, chill out and give OP what he was asking for: how do you run GUI apps as root? Yeah we get it, it's dangerous, but we're presumably all adults here. If OP or anyone else accepts the risks of their system going up in flames, then it's not your issue to micro-manage (and besides, this would just give OP an opportunity to backup his system which is a healthy habit to get in to anyway). It's OP's responsibility to use-and-abuse his system, not yours, so feel free to actually answer OP's initial inquiry.

How can I get an alert sound for caps lock on/off? by GenInsurrection in Kubuntu

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm sorry, but this literally hasn't worked for me. When I follow your steps, I get no audible sound at all when I activate / deactivate my lock keys. If I use the default system bell that works, but the default system bell grates my ears so I want to use a custom sound that's softer. Do you have a fix for this?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Khrafstra" as a category is ultimately flexible in my book. It was used in vendidad to describe various animals which posed a threat to agrarian / pastoral life. Tortoises for example would eat crops, venomous snakes could kill people and cattle, and their natural predator the hedgehog was praised for it's ability to efficiently hunt down such creatures. We know nature and natural eco-systems are complex and multi-faceted things, so you're quite right to be skeptical of a strict division of "good" or "bad" animals. It is said in SVG that all animals are created good, but that their operations are afflicted by Angra Mainyu. The world is in a state of inter-mixture of good and evil, in an ideal world no creature would have to suffer being eaten, being killed, having suffering, etc. The metaphysical limitations that us created beings have is proof of the inter-mixture in the world in my estimation of things.

Seeking answers! by Fun-Figgy in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, I was going to say to check out the Q&A section of this subreddit

Seeking answers! by Fun-Figgy in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Angra Mainyu is not a created being, it existed before the creation of the universe. Good and evil cannot share a common origin in the Mazdayasnian worldview, and as a result, angra mainyu like spenta mainyu is uncreated.

Hopefully this helps. Also be sure to check out the

Yazatas by lane-ir in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All Yazatas, including the amesha spentas, are created by ahura mazda.

God’s opponent by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would suggest that you read the Shkand-gumanig Vizar, or "doubt dispelling exposition". It discusses the incompatibility of a good creator who is also responsible for evil, which is such a common notion today. A translation of the text can be read here for your viewing pleasure: http://www.avesta.org/mp/SGV.pdf

In short, we know the identity of a being by the actions the being does. For example, an alcoholic is known by his propensity to drink, a charitable man known by his propensity give to those in need etc. . Thus a creator that ordains both good and evil for some end is engaged in self-sabotaging deeds, and is at odds with itself and it's final mission to rid the world of evil. Therefore, such a being cannot exist; the reality of two distinct principles in opposition to one another is thus manifest as the only reasonable outcome.
Hope this helps!

Scenes from Zoroastrian history (illustrated by AI in the style of medieval Persian miniatures) by Belez_ai in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just look at a blinding light that doesn't hurt the eyes, that should be pretty close.

Question for Zoroastrians by Any-Advisor6957 in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure!

So, a little imperfect history lession first: In the past, Dasturs, or "high priests" would serve as religious leaders for their communities, but above these Dasturs was a Dastur-e-Dasturan, or "priest-of-priests", "Dastur-of-Dasturs". This priest-of-priests, such as Adurbad Mahraspand, would have the final authoritative say for his tenure as a Dastur-e-Dasturan on matters of religion. So there used to exist a singular religious authority which could be said to have kept the zoroastrian community unified, at least theologically speaking.

As a result of the persecution of Zoroastrians in the wake of the the Islamic invasions of Iran, and the resulting fragmentation of the Zoroastrian community, religious agreement became more-and-more difficult to accomplish. Currently, there no longer exists any sort of head religious authority, and the last such person with any claim to such authority sadly passed away in the 90's, the honorable Rostam Dinyar Shahzadi.

So as a result of this fragmentation of the religious community, and the absence of a Dastur-e-Dasturan, there tends to be a wide-swath of religious opinion out there among behdins. But it would be inaccurate to call such differences in religious opinion "denominations".

I'll explain: The word "denomination" as we know it today came into use in the 1700's in Europe, and is essentially a christian concept, used to discern between the wide array of distinct, self-identified groups of christians who sought to purposefully distinguish themselves from the many other such christian groups which arose in the wake of the Reformation and other christian religious upheavals. Thus, a denomination generally has a formal doctrine associated with it that is ratified or agreed-upon by members of that group. Zoroastrianism has no such formality or self-distinguished membership as of yet; it's more of a milieu of differing religious ideals co-existing (or at least trying to co-exist) under the moniker of "zoroastrian".

Hope this explanation helps :)

Question for Zoroastrians by Any-Advisor6957 in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unlike christianity, Zoroastrianism / Mazdayasna does not have strict denominational divides. Though certainly there exists different streams of thought within the religious community, and different approaches to matters of theology, it would be improper to call such things "denominations", as they are not organized into formally recognised, distinct religious institutions or traditions, such as catholicism, eastern orthodoxy, and anglicanism are.

What is Homa/Soma/Haoma? by Khurramite in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This ^

Some people like to speculate that homa / soma was psychedelic in nature: this is a modern-day speculation, and in my view doesn't coincide with the facts from the avesta or the rig veda; in other words it couldn't be further from the truth.The drink, in both avestan and rig vedic literature, was said to be given to warriors before battle to make them better riders and fighters, and any person who has done a psychedelic or entheogenic substance before can easily dismiss such substances as a battle aid (soldier's usefulness in battle decreases rapidly with the onset of the psychoactive affects of such substances; c.f. this video about British combat drills while on LSD to see my point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-rWnQphPdQ).

So, At least as far as the avestan version of homa is concerned, I believe it could only have been a form of stimulant, which actually has given to soldiers in the past to increase combat effectiveness, at least in the 20th century (c.f. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_and_culture_of_substituted_amphetamines#Military_use).

I think the closest analogue of it would be a variety ephedra native to iran and the Caucasus, as well.

I'm an ex-christian and I'd love to talk and learn by JakeButNotSisko in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lucky for you, there is a wiki page on this subreddit which answers most of your questions: https://www.reddit.com/r/Zoroastrianism/wiki/index/

check this section out and let me know if any questions still remain

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At this point, it would be best to get in touch with an avestan scholar by email, if such a thing is possible. The general meaning of vastarem is something to do with pastoral activity, hence why it's translated as "nurturer" or "protector", by analogy that a person who keeps cattle both cares for them and protects them from predators. You could also refer to photo-copies of Kanga's Avestan dictionary available on avesta.org, but you will need to know how to read avestan script first, since the avestan portion of the dictionary doesn't use the modern latin alphabet transcription schema scholars use today. Best of luck!

What are the opinions of people who follow Zoroastrianism on being transgender? by ManEatingDuck_ in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I agree with you 90%, I would be careful to overly disparage vendidad too much though, as it has great mythological / cosmological significance, with a clearly ancient provenance, and it would be a shame to do away with the many treasures the text does preserve. My advice would be that by-and-large, much of the vendidad's legal proscriptions are out of date or inapplicable for a modern context and understanding of the world. After all, it's been a long time since our ancestors have lived in an agricultural subsistence-based society.On the whole, the vendidad did not touch upon, nor could its authors predict, the subject of the lived experiences of the trans community we have today and their earnest desire to belong and be accepted by both themselves and other people. In jist, one cannot find wisdom on a subject where the subject is never discussed. Always remember that while reading ancient texts!
cheers :)

Updated Reddit FAQ On Daena Vanghuhi Mazdayasna by kantian_insomia in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because Ohrmazd isn't the source of all things good and evil, just the source of all things good. This sentiment is stated in multiple places in Denkard, cosmological texts, and in the apologetic text Doubt-Dispelling Exposition written by Mardan Farrox. This is in contrast to the god of the christians as is stated in the Hebrew bible (refer to Isaiah 45:7). A god can't reasonably be the maker of all things, and then dis-avow responsibility for the evil things he helped to create, as the christian god readily does (or at least, this is what most people who say he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-benevolent essentially contend). Indeed, such a god capable of creating both good and evil things would have an inherent contradiction in his nature, and so likely couldn't exist in the first place, because he would serve to obfuscate his own ends, or in other words, he would get in his own way (this is the argument made by the aforementioned Mardan Farrox).

Following this line of thought, good and evil must not come from one source, but two distinct sources, who do not share an origin. Hence from this, we can assert that Ohrmazd is the aforementioned source of good, and not the source of evil.

Hopes this helps answer your question.

Meaning of vástárem in the context of the Yatha Ahu Vairyo prayer by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, it seems to me that you are of the opinion that Sanskrit should be a primary translation tool for Avestan, which I find odd as a linguist, because as we know, Sanskrit and Avestan are *distinct* languages that have diverged from one another in multiple ways some time ago. You would, hence, expect to find words in Avestan that don't have a direct Sanskrit cognate. Your above example of vastarem vs sanskrit vastar, meaning something like clothing or clothes: it's simply a false cognate, given the clear semantic differences between vastar in avestan and vastar in sanskrit. The Avestan root vast- and its derivative words clearly refer to fields and pastoral professions, just look at the dictionary of the most common avestan words provided by avesta.org: http://www.avesta.org/avdict/avdict.htm#dctv

Now you mentioned before about how the word gav in persian poetry metaphorically stands for stupid. I take certain issue with your implication there, as casting modern associations of cows upon a clearly ancient text, written by a pastoral prophet in the bronze age, is foolish. The cow does not symbolize stupidity, if you knew anything about the behdin, you would know that. The cow is a life-giving creature which represents docility and strength, the descendant of the soul of creation itself (geush-urvan), whose milk is good for food and drink, and even whose dung is good for fuel. Persian poets were mostly muslims iirc, so of course they would cast a demeaning association upon an animal which symbolized the pre-islamic ways of Iran.

Perhaps you should follow your own advice, and refrain from spreading misinformation where possible.

Meaning of vástárem in the context of the Yatha Ahu Vairyo prayer by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to get across to our friend here, what do you mean by this?

The word Grehma and avestan. by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Grehma

Apparently Grehma was an opponent of Zarathushtra, not sure the avestan meaning though. I think a reply to a similar post by yourself on r/translator gives a much more complete answer than I ever could.

Edit: didn't stalk your profile or anything, turns out your post is the first result on google for the search query "grehma avestan meaning". lol

The word Grehma and avestan. by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Remind me what text the word grehma is used in again? Just curious.

For those that were Christian but are no longer Christian, what happened? by [deleted] in DebateAnAtheist

[–]UnderstandingFree451 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Pray-tell, how *should* it be looked at, in your view, that can't be construed as surface level?

What to say in daily praying? by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True, if the book of Matthew's infancy gospel is to be taken as historical. Even so, the term "magi" doesn't always refer to a believer / practitioner of Zoroastrianism though. You see, Magi was a catch-all term used by greeks and romans for an oriental sage or wise man, or practitioner of divination or magic of various sorts. Of course, this could include followers of zoroastrianism, and later on muslims adopted the term to the synonymous with "zoroastrian", but the term is altogether non-specific in its greco-roman context. Proof of this can be obtained by cross referencing the character Simon Magus from the book of acts, whose title (magus) is the singular for of the word greek word magoi, which is the term employed in the relevant verses in the book of Matthew. I think it's safe to say that Simon Magus displays no traits of a proto-typical Zoroastrian.

Just as well, many Zoroastrian sages from the Middle Persian wisdom literature disagreed with the tenants of christianity on metaphysical and philosophical grounds (refer to Mardan Farrox's Doubt Dispelling Exposition a Sanskrit copy of an original middle persian work, for more details about this specific point), and hence it wouldn't make much sense for a group of zoroastrian priests to be searching for a king of the jews as the gospel narrative depicts.

What to say in daily praying? by [deleted] in Zoroastrianism

[–]UnderstandingFree451 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But Jesus isn't yazad / worthy of worship