In most Western university studies, Greek philosophy is considered the
most ancient kind of wisdom, but the Zoroastrian way of life can be
traced back to the second millennium BC. The Gathas, hymns or songs
attributed to Zarathustra, hold an existential and practical philosophy
avant la lettre. It is based on mental exercises and on rituals that
have survived thanks to the Zoroastrian religious communities. Not only
does the Persian thinker unveil a mental wisdom for us; he also
introduces us to an ecological concern and a social practice. There is a
cosmopolite dimension to Zarathustra's proto-philosophy that we can all
apply in a personal way.