Through
a beautiful Persian
legend,
[handed down through the ages as the tales of the 10th.century
Persian poet Firdausi]the
ancient Art of Asha is linked with what we know as chess today, referred to
throughout history as "the game of kings and the king of games." But
while today's chess is only a game, the ancient Art of Asha is not a game; it
is a profoundly complex and intricately-woven microcosm within the macrocosm
of Life- a complete universe within itself.
The
word chess derives from the Persian "Shah," meaning King, which
originally was "Asha," the Cosmic Order. The legend survives that
King Vishtaspa of Persia became extremely bored with life, for he had
accomplished everything he wished: he was satiated with triumphs in war,
tired of hunting, surfeited with the intrigues and pleasures of his court. The
King suffered from ennui and finally offered an unlimited reward to the man
who could give him some interest in life. No one was successful until
Zarathustra appeared with tile original, undistorted form of today's chess:
the Art of Asha. He taught the King the rules and how to enact it, and through
it demonstrated to the King all the laws of the universe and life. He
interpreted them as he alone could do, as no present day chess player would
think to do, and the King was extremely satisfied and his interest in life was
renewed. He thereupon told Zarathustra to ask for whatever he might want and
said it should be given him. Zarathustra wished to give the King a lesson
which would teach him not to be so megalomanic as to think he could give
anyone everything he wanted. So Zarathustra told the king he wanted only a
very simple and modest thing: one grain of wheat on the first square of the
chess board, two on the second square, the square of two on the third
square, the square of that on the fourth square, and so on until all
sixty-four squares were filled with the square of the amount on the previous
square. The King laughed and said he would send Zarathustra the wheat in a few
days, thinking what a fool he was to ask only for a few grains of wheat when
he could have had gold and fine treasure.
He
told his men to calculate the amount of wheat and send it to Zarathustra. He
was surprised when, after several weeks, they came to him and told him the
quantity ofwheat which he should deliver to Zarathustra was more than that in
the whole kingdom. Even if he gathered together all the wheat in the empire,
it would not be one-thousandth of one-thousandth of the amount he had promised
to Zarathustra. The King was very shocked to learn this and to know that he
could not fulfill his promise. He sent for Zarathustra and told him how
ashamed he was. Zarathustra answered that he did not want the wheat; he only
wanted to teach the King a lesson, and he thereupon retired to his forest.
This is the ancient legend about the origin ofchess-the Art of Asha-which
traces chess back to ancient Persia. Unfortunately, chess today is only a
pastime, a faint echo of the original Art of Asha, although it partially
observes the ancient Sumerian symbology.
Though
archeological proofs of the origin of chess may be lacking, there is no doubt
that chess had its beginning in the east many thousands of years ago. The
original chess was the Art of Asha, and its function was to symbolize and
exemplify the natural and cosmic laws represented by the Ahuras (cosmic
forces), the Fravashis (natural forces), and their shadows. In the Art of Asha
is found a microcosmos:
each
enactment represents in miniature the eternal cosmic battle between good and
evil, light and darkness.
The
Art of Asha represents a vital bridge of understanding between the universal,
all-encompassing world-conception of Zarathustra and his practical, daily
application of the Ashaic system of self-analysis. To enact the Art of Asha is
to bring into focus the vast universal conception of Zarathustra and to apply
its rules to daily life. The more one takes part in the Art of Asha, the more
one comprehends the unique role of Man, the center figure on the chessboard,
the most important of the Fravashis, partner of the Creator and the one who
must carry on the work of Creation on earth.
As
the rules of ASHA are learned, it is fascinating to observe how the movements
of the various figures assume a far more vast and universal meaning as we
replace the modern chess names with the ancient, original ones. For example,
Power and Peace, at each end in the first rank, move vertically
and horizontally, indicating
sweeping motions of infinite strength. They are second in importance only to
the Preserver in assuring the triumph of Light over Darkness. Love and Work,
like the Knight in chess, move in ingenious patterns, and are the only figures
which may jump over any other figure. Thus, obstacles which may exist for
other forces do not exist for them, recalling to mind the words of the Bible,
"Love is stronger than death," and the ancient Roman proverb,
"Work overcomes all evil." The Creator is able to move only one
square at a time in any direction, while the Preserver has great versatility
and may move any distance in any direction. This symbolizes that while
the creation of the universe may have taken place in a moment of time, the
rest of eternity is given to the Preserver to make eternal that which has been
created. What the King's Pawn is to modern chess, in the Art of Asha, is Man.
The words of Protagoras come to mind: "Man is the measure of all
things." Man occupies the most glorious place on the board: directly in
front of the Creator, symbolizing his eternal unity with the Law of Laws and
his unique role of representative of the Creator on earth.
