About Shahriar

Born in 1963, Shahriar Shahriari grew up across three continents and was educated in England and Canada as a Mechanical Engineer. After nearly a decade in technical and entrepreneurial ventures, he made a deliberate leap of faith in 1994 — stepping away from that world entirely without a clear destination in mind. A 40-day journey along the West Coast of the United States and Canada inspired and guided his direction. In 1995 he founded Transformations Unlimited and spent the following years speaking, leading seminars, and working as a transformational coach in cities across North America and beyond.

In 1999, life brought him to Los Angeles, where upon meeting his now wife, he changed his career to become a database developer and consultant — work that has continued to the present day. He married Mahboobeh in 2000, and their son Soroush was born in 2002.

He speaks two languages fluently, has traveled in more than twenty-five countries, and has lived lives ranging from the primitive to the modern. He believes that breadth of experience is among the most irreplaceable forms of education.

Spiritual

Born into a Zoroastrian family, Shahriar had no interest in spiritual philosophy for over two decades — until, as he puts it, "life had different plans for me and brought me into the necessary circumstances to become interested in the bigger questions of life."

His study path led from Zoroastrian philosophy into the Human Potential Movement, psychology, mythology, quantum physics and systems theory, the major world religions, Sufism, and mysticism.

His spiritual experiences include meditation, numinous dreams, firewalking, native Indian practices such as the medicine wheel and sweat lodges, energy work, archetypal visions, and what he calls "a semi-mystical experience of how the universe works and how it all makes sense."

He believes the objective of life is not to attain a continuous nirvana but to live as fully as possible — "participation, not separation, is the key to life."

In 1995, following his father's sudden death, he wrote Thus Spake the Real Zarathushtra, summarizing his spiritual beliefs through the teachings of Zarathushtra. In 1998 he completed The Void, described as "the outpouring of my soul," circulated privately.

He sees the world facing "a crisis of perception" and believes the coming together of science, arts, and spirituality will broaden human outlook and resolve it. At the root of the world's problems — from war and famine to domestic violence and greed — lies, in his view, "our stubbornness to stick to our Creation Myths."

Personal Mission Statement

Praise

• Educational, humorous, and uplifting.

  John Randolph Price — Bestselling author of The Superbeings

• Inspirational!

  Rohinton Rivetna — Founding Trustee, Council for the Parliament of World Religions

• Shahriar amalgamates a special blend of sciences, the arts and spirituality into his work, teaching people to utilize their creativity to better their personal and professional lives.

  Dawn — The largest English daily newspaper in Pakistan

• Inimitable and enthralling!

  FEZANA Journal — Chicago, USA

• Thus Spake the Real Zarathushtra makes it evident that Zoroastrianism contains the seeds of the 'new paradigm' more clearly than any of the Western religions. It's a gem!

  Dr. Willis W. Harman — President, Institute of Noetic Sciences

• This book is to Zoroastrianism as A Course in Miracles is to Christianity.

  Meher D. Amalsad — Speaker and Author

• You present some valuable insights not grasped, nor even sought, by standard expositions of Zarathushtra. The varied perspectives you introduce make this book valuable to the novice as well as those familiar with Zarathushtra's thought; they certainly provide fresh aspects for reflection. Indeed there are places where I feel you have contacted some of the deeper aspects of Zarathushtra's thought.

  Prof. Kaikhosrov D. Irani — Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, City University of New York

A Few Favorites

His mother, Firouzeh, on the subject: "Shahriar is my favorite son." She has one daughter and one son.