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'''Mani''' (c. 216–276) was a Persian visionary who claimed apostleship under [[Jesus]] and believed himself to be the instrument of the promised Paraclete and messenger of the Holy Spirit in the line of succession of prophets or messengers of God, chief among them [[Zoroaster]], [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]], and [[Jesus Christ|Christ]]. He preached a synthesis of several major religions including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity. | '''Mani''' (c. 216–276) was a Persian visionary who claimed apostleship under [[Jesus]] and believed himself to be the instrument of the promised Paraclete and messenger of the Holy Spirit in the line of succession of prophets or messengers of God, chief among them [[Zoroaster]], [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]], and [[Jesus Christ|Christ]]. He preached a synthesis of several major religions including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity. | ||
A contemporary of [[Origen of Alexandria]], Mani was born in Babylonia to a family of Jewish Christian Baptists. After about thirty-six years of preaching, he was executed and his head was impaled over the Babylonian city gates. His followers carried his beliefs east to China and west into the Roman Empire. | A contemporary of [[Origen of Alexandria]], Mani was born in Babylonia to a family of Jewish-Christian Baptists. After about thirty-six years of preaching, he was executed and his head was impaled over the Babylonian city gates. His followers carried his beliefs east to China and west into the Roman Empire. | ||
Mani’s followers were vegetarians, believed in reincarnation, and followed a ritual of prayer several times a day. Their religious practices also included frequent fasting, almsgiving, and confession. Mani’s syncretistic movement was an early rival of the Christian church, which treated his doctrine as heresy. He was persecuted by orthodox Zoroastrians as well and was martyred in Persia by Zoroastrian priests. Manichaeism spread west through Egypt, North Africa, and the Roman Empire—disappearing in the sixth century after fierce persecution—and penetrated eastward as far as Chinese Turkestan, where it lasted until about the tenth century. | Mani’s followers were vegetarians, believed in reincarnation, and followed a ritual of prayer several times a day. Their religious practices also included frequent fasting, almsgiving, and confession. Mani’s syncretistic movement was an early rival of the Christian church, which treated his doctrine as heresy. He was persecuted by orthodox Zoroastrians as well and was martyred in Persia by Zoroastrian priests. Manichaeism spread west through Egypt, North Africa, and the Roman Empire—disappearing in the sixth century after fierce persecution—and penetrated eastward as far as Chinese Turkestan, where it lasted until about the tenth century. | ||
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Mani’s aim was to unite the various creeds of his time into a single worldwide faith that shared the noblest elements found in each. These elements included the pre-existence of the soul in the Light-Realm before it was sent to earth to redeem the Light from the Darkness, the reincarnation of the soul that it may purify itself from the dark elements of Evil until it ascended back to the Realm of Light, wearing its Robe of Light, and the eventual extraction of all particles of Light from the Darkness. | Mani’s aim was to unite the various creeds of his time into a single worldwide faith that shared the noblest elements found in each. These elements included the pre-existence of the soul in the Light-Realm before it was sent to earth to redeem the Light from the Darkness, the reincarnation of the soul that it may purify itself from the dark elements of Evil until it ascended back to the Realm of Light, wearing its Robe of Light, and the eventual extraction of all particles of Light from the Darkness. | ||
Mani’s version of the creation story was similar to that of the Orphics and [[Gnostics]]. He described a war between Light and Darkness or Good and Evil. Duncan Greenless explains | Mani’s version of the creation story was similar to that of the Orphics and [[Gnostics]]. He described a war between Light and Darkness or Good and Evil. Duncan Greenless explains that in Mani’s teaching, Light and Darkness “were mingled together when the ambition of Evil to possess the Light had to be countered by God sending a Light-Spark from Himself, the conscious Soul, down into Matter to uplift and purify the Light therein entangled everywhere.... God’s ‘Living Spirit’ fashioned the universe as a means to separate gradually these primal Sources. This story of the One Soul is repeated by every individual Soul aspiring to return to its lost Kingdom of the Light.”<ref>Duncan Greenlees, ''The Gospel of the Prophet Mani'' (Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1956), pp. vii, viii.</ref> | ||
Mani did not teach the concept of an eternal hell. Evil is ultimately contained, densified and rendered inactive. All souls are possessed of a Light-Mind of which Jesus is the | Mani did not teach the concept of an eternal hell. Evil is ultimately contained, densified and rendered inactive. All souls are possessed of a Light-Mind of which Jesus is the personification—a concept parallel to the ascended masters’ teaching on the Holy Christ Self. | ||
An excerpt from the Manichaean scriptures describes the soul saying: “O Light-Mind, the Sun of my heart that gives my Soul the things of the Light, thou art my witness, that I have no comfort save in thee.” To which Jesus answers: “I am thy Higher Self, a security and seal; thou art my body, a garment I have put on in order to terrify the Powers, while I (myself) am thy Light, the original Effulgence!”<ref>Ibid., pp. 221, 225.</ref> | An excerpt from the Manichaean scriptures describes the soul saying: “O Light-Mind, the Sun of my heart that gives my Soul the things of the Light, thou art my witness, that I have no comfort save in thee.” To which Jesus answers: “I am thy Higher Self, a security and seal; thou art my body, a garment I have put on in order to terrify the Powers, while I (myself) am thy Light, the original Effulgence!”<ref>Ibid., pp. 221, 225.</ref> | ||
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Mani taught that God created the world as a place for separating the principles of Good and Evil. Souls are meant to return to their original condition of complete Good by separating themselves from the body and the “material soul,” which are melted to the true soul like copper amalgamated with silver.<rev>Klimkeit, ''Gnosis on the Silk Road'', p. 252.</ref> | Mani taught that God created the world as a place for separating the principles of Good and Evil. Souls are meant to return to their original condition of complete Good by separating themselves from the body and the “material soul,” which are melted to the true soul like copper amalgamated with silver.<rev>Klimkeit, ''Gnosis on the Silk Road'', p. 252.</ref> | ||
In their complex myth of the creation of man, the Manichaeans believed that some of God’s light had been trapped in the bodies of demon-animals. This light was passed on to Adam and Eve, tainted by the passions of the demon-animals. And thus, according to scholar Hans-Joachim Klimkeit, it also passed on “greed, the lust for procreation, envy, hate, and other evil qualities.... These negative aspects together form what is called the ‘dark’ or ‘material soul,’” which overlays the true soul. The soul itself, of divine origin, is destined to shake off these evil qualities and “be restored to its pristine beauty, purity, and integrity.”<rev>Ibid., p. 15.</ref> | In their complex myth of the creation of man, the Manichaeans believed that some of God’s light had been trapped in the bodies of demon-animals. This light was passed on to [[Adam and Eve]], tainted by the passions of the demon-animals. And thus, according to scholar Hans-Joachim Klimkeit, it also passed on “greed, the lust for procreation, envy, hate, and other evil qualities.... These negative aspects together form what is called the ‘dark’ or ‘material soul,’” which overlays the true soul. The soul itself, of divine origin, is destined to shake off these evil qualities and “be restored to its pristine beauty, purity, and integrity.”<rev>Ibid., p. 15.</ref> | ||
The Manichaean system of salvation includes reincarnation. The Manichaeans taught that the elect were capable of returning to God in their current life. They were required to follow a strict code as they struggled to separate all elements of the demon passions. The other group, the hearers, were given less strict commandments and could expect to be reborn as elect. Thus the hearers could expect a second chance at salvation since they were not destined to make it in this life. The elect were vegetarians and, like Hindu ascetics, were forbidden meat, alcohol or sexual activity. | The Manichaean system of salvation includes reincarnation. The Manichaeans taught that the elect were capable of returning to God in their current life. They were required to follow a strict code as they struggled to separate all elements of the demon passions. The other group, the hearers, were given less strict commandments and could expect to be reborn as elect. Thus the hearers could expect a second chance at salvation since they were not destined to make it in this life. The elect were vegetarians and, like Hindu ascetics, were forbidden meat, alcohol or sexual activity. | ||