1. Zoroaster (Zarathustra): An Iranian prophet in the 6th Century BC (contemporary with Sakyamuni Buddha and Confucius), founder of Zoroastrian religions, he was stabbed in front of the altar during a battle with the tribe of infidels (http://www.answers.com/topic/zoroaster). It is also said that Ashu Zoroaster was killed at the age of 77 in a fire temple by an enemy commander.

2. Socrates: A Greek philosopher and deeply religious person, he thought of himself as having the mission of educating the people, after hearing about a Delphi Oracle that he was the wisest of men. He was charged of impiety and with corrupting the youth of the city and sentenced to die by poison.

3. Sakyamuni Buddha: One of the wisest of men and an enlightened person with the best oratorical skills, his teachings were the foundation of Buddhism. However, the Hindus threw stones at him. The Sakyamuni clan of 500 people was killed by a tribal King at that time.

4. Jesus Christ: A common killer Barnabas was spared by the people of Jerusalem while they insisted that the person who preached “God is love” be crucified. 11 of 12 disciples of Jesus were subsequently killed and the last one was exiled. The list of Christian martyrs contains innumerable names.

5. Mohammed: Founder of Islam, he was rejected by his own tribe. As people tried to assassinate him, he had to flee from his hometown. Many attempts to poison him had severely damaged his stomach and he lived the last 7 years of his life in utter sufferings.

6. Mansur al-Hallaj (hay Mansoor): A Sufi mystic in 9th Century (some say 10th), he was crucified by the authorities because he claimed to be, “I am The Truth!” He was tortured; his body was cut into pieces. He smiled till he died.

7. Bab (which means the “Gate”): A religious leader of Babi religion (precursor of Bahai faith), he claimed that all the patriarchs in the past were manifestations of God himself. The king of Persia (now Iran) executed him in 1850.

The Koan to be solved:

The atrocious destiny of the above religious leaders revered today as enlightened beings who brought light and salvation to humanity has raised much doubts and questions in one’s mind: If they are truly wise and virtuous, why their contemporary men did not respect them? Why were they tortured and even killed? Why their destiny is so inferior to that of a common man? If they really are sages, or divine representatives of Heaven, teaching humanity in God’s name, why don’t they have any blessings or protection from angels and saints, why do Heaven and Earth mistreat them so? Can we accept such contradiction and irrationality?

Should we follow their examples, walk in their footsteps and suffer the same lot as theirs? And is it wise to do so? Religious study requires insight. We must learn from the good and avoid the bad. We must tread the path carefully to avoid pitfalls and not repeating other’s mistakes. We must investigate all religious matters thoroughly with a scientific spirit, using logic and reasoning instead of accepting the traditional explanations that don’t make sense to us and explanations that are mostly based on superstition and prejudices from different faith leaders. We must dig deeper to find the true answer to analyze the right and wrong of those religious leaders’ life and to see if it is compatible with the secular laws and celestial, metaphysical laws.

We encourage every one to voice his/her opinions to discuss the matter without fear of being wrong. All opinions will be posted and from them we may derive a common answer for this Koan. In doing so, we may achieve a little knowledge of the law of heaven, earth and human.