Ilm-e-Khshnoom[pronunciation?] ('science of ecstasy', or 'science of bliss') is a school ofZoroastrian thought, practiced by a very small minority of theIndian Zoroastrians (Parsis/Iranis), based on a mystic and esoteric, rather than literal, interpretation of religious texts.
At the core of the philosophy is the belief that faith facilitates a connection to a consciousness that transcends normal experience or critical analysis, and that the prayers of theAvesta, which are to a degreemetrical, are a means to achieve that consciousness.[citation needed] In contrast with mainstream Zoroastrianism, the beliefs inreincarnation, vegetarianism, spiritual vibrations, and the like are unique to the movement and are heavily influenced byTheosophy.[citation needed]
In 1875, an eighteen-year-old Parsi named Behramshah Nowroji Shroff leftSurat (Gujarat,India) forPeshawar (now inPakistan) in search of employment. According to followers of the mystic philosophy, on Shroff's way there, he met a caravan led by members of theSaheb-e-Dilan ("Masters of the Heart"), who persuaded him to accompany them to their home in the mountains. TheSaheb-e-Dilan, according to Shroff, were a group of about 2000 individuals led by 72 Mahgav (Magi) priests, called theAbed Saheb-e-Dilan, who lived in isolation in the recesses ofCaucasus Mountains (alternatively, in theAlborz range, aroundMount Damavand). Having accompanied the caravan, say his followers, Behramshah Shroff lived with theSaheb-e-Dilan for three years, and so obtained an intimate knowledge of their religious practices and traditions which followed a mystic aspect of the teachings ofZarathushtra (Zoroaster).[citation needed]
Upon his return toIndia, Shroff gathered a following from among theParsi community, who in due course began calling themselves 'Khshnoomists' after 'Khshnoom', or spiritual ecstasy, that they believed were embodied in their prayers and ceremonies.[citation needed]
Around 1909, Behramshah Nowroji Shroff met the Parsi priest and Zoroastrian scholar Phiroze Masani, who, influenced by thetemperance movement of the United States, had establishedThe Parsi Vegetarian & Temperance Society inBombay two years earlier.[citation needed] The philosophy of theIlm-e-Kshnoom had a deep influence on Masani, who in turn began publishing Shroff's teachings inFrashogard ('renewal'), the society's Gujarati quarterly.[citation needed]
In 1917, the society, together with its sister organization, theZoroastrian Radih Society, bought a large tract of land in Bombay with the intention of establishing aFire temple and a Zoroastrian residential complex there. The foundations were laid in 1923 by Behramshah Shroffhimself, but it was not until 2001 that the Fire-Temple, now known as the "Behramshah Nowroji Shroff Daremeher", could be consecrated. The residential complex, now known as "Behram Baug", grew up around it.[citation needed]
Behramshah Nowroji Shroff died in 1927.
Phiroze Masani continued to publish theFrashogard until his death in 1943. In 1947, Jehangir Chiniwalla, the younger brother of Framroze Chiniwalla, one of the more prolific authors of articles in theFrashogard, began publishing the weekly newspaper "Parsi Avaz".[citation needed]
TheParsi Avaz, which remained in print for 27 years, was followed by theDini Avaz in Bombay in 1976, and the "Mazdayasni Connection" in the United States in 1983. TheParsi Pukar, founded inBombay in 1995, is today the primary publication of followers of theIlm-e-Kshnoom.[citation needed]