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Mani: Difference between revisions
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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 that 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 personification. | 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. | ||
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>Duncan Greenlees, ''The Gospel of the Prophet Mani'' | 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>Duncan Greenlees, ''The Gospel of the Prophet Mani'' , pp. 221, 225.</ref> | ||
Mani had taught that the pre-existent souls who came to redeem the world from Darkness became tainted with the lust of the evil archons and thus had fallen into bodies. The Church Fathers refused to recognize or believe that angels who had fallen had taken on physical bodies. Mani’s exposure of the forces of darkness present and embodied in the world (fallen angels, archons, Watchers, giants) precipitated an intense persecution of this universal church and religion from those very forces themselves. | Mani had taught that the pre-existent souls who came to redeem the world from Darkness became tainted with the lust of the evil archons and thus had fallen into bodies. The Church Fathers refused to recognize or believe that angels who had fallen had taken on physical bodies. Mani’s exposure of the forces of darkness present and embodied in the world (fallen angels, archons, Watchers, giants) precipitated an intense persecution of this universal church and religion from those very forces themselves. | ||
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== Good and Evil == | == Good and Evil == | ||
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. | |||
In their complicated 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.” | In their complicated 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.” | ||
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 rigid 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 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 rigid 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. | ||
== Influence on Augustine == | == Influence on Augustine == | ||