What is MANICHEISM in philosophy

In today's class we are going to study what is the Manichaeism in philosophy. A religious doctrine initiated by the Persian leader manes (AD 215-276) C.) during the 3rd century and which had a special incidence in the Middle East (Persia and Egypt) and in part of the Mediterranean (Carthage and Hispania).

This doctrine has as its fundamental principle dualism from gnosticism: Good/Light and Evil/Darkness as regulating and opposing principles of the universe that are in constant struggle until light defeats darkness.

If you want to know more about Manichaeism, keep reading this article by a PROFESSOR. Here we explain it in detail Let's start!

The Manichaeism was born in S.III in Persia (Sassanid Empire) hand in hand with the religious leader and noble Parthian Manes or Mani. Who spent much of his youth in a Judeo-Christian community ecclesiastic (early christianity).

At the age of twenty-five, after having a revelation of the syzygos spirit, began to preach his doctrine in Babylon and, little by little, it spread from the East to

China (through the Silk Road and the Tarim River) and the West/Mediterranean (Alexandria, Carthage and Hispania), entering the heart of the Roman empire.

Its rapid spread was due to the following factors:

• It was a religion open to everyone and had a large following within the nobility.
• The use of trade routes for dissemination.
• The emperor Sapor I was protector and follower of Manes. Just like the king Hormuz I of Armenia and the queen Zenobia of Palmyra.

The growing number of followers and the fact that Manes himself proclaimed himself the last prophet sent by God, caused Manichaeism to begin to be persecuted and Manes to be imprisoned and executed by order of the emperor Bahram I.

Over time, this religion, persecuted by Christianity and Islam, gradually disappeared and only survived in China until the S.XVII.

The main principle of this doctrine is the dualism coming from gnosticism (doctrine developed in the S.I in which elements of the Christian religions and Judaica with the philosophy of Plato), according to which, since the beginning of time, there have always been existed two creative, opposing and regulating principles in constant struggle:

1. The Good or Zurván: Associated with light, it is the moral world, it is the domain of God and it is made up of heaven or luminous earth.
2. Evil or Ahriman: Associated with darkness, it is the world of evil, it is the domain of the "Devil", it has no sky and is underground.

Likewise, the conception of the human being for Manichaeism it is also inserted within this dualism. Thus, the individual is made up of spirit and body or matter: The spirit is light and belongs to God and the body is darkness and belongs to the "Devil". Therefore, in the human being a fight between good and evil is also personified, since the individual must overcome the darkness of the devil and reach for the light following the envoys/prophets of God.

On the other hand, according to Manichaeism the society should be divided into two groups clearly differentiated:

1. The chosen ones: Those who dedicate their lives to prayer are celibate, cannot own property and must respect the lives of all living beings (=vegetarians). Once dead, they are destined to reach the Realm of Light.
2. The listeners: This group is made up of the majority of the followers of this religion, they must serve the chosen ones and their main aspirations are reincarnate as the chosen ones and be able to access the Kingdom of Light once dead, since, if the chosen ones and listeners reach the light, the Good will defeat the Wrong.

Finally, in a PROFESOR we also explain other characteristics of this religious doctrine. Among which stand:

1. It is a universal religion Y syncretic: It is open to everyone and combines the beliefs of Judaism and Christianity with the philosophy of Plato.
2. Between the principles of Good and Evil there is noany, there is no intermediate term and the good and the bad cannot be simultaneous.
3. The main festivity of him is the Bema: It was celebrated annually during the spring equinox and the anniversary of the death of Manes was commemorated with different spiritual readings.
4. Manichaeism only recognizes five prophets: Noah, Abraham, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus and Manes.
5. Manes or Mani is not the personal name of the founder of Manichaeism. Manes is a title and means Spirit of Light or King of Light. His name could have been Shuraik.
6. The five tabernacles or steps is the most important symbol of Manichaeism: They symbolize the five most important principles (intelligence, reason, thought, reflection and will) and the five spiritual attributes/members of the Father or God.
7. The peacock is considered a sacred animal: The chromatic range of its plumage is directly related to the states the body goes through before purifying itself.
8. The king of darkness is not the same as the catholic devil: For Manichaeism, this being is half fish and half bird, it has the head of a lion and four feet.
9. The Mother of Life was the one who created the first man and the first five sons of the first man symbolize the five beneficial forces: air, refreshing wind, light, warm fire and water.
10. Manichaeism had "ten commandments" that prohibited murder, greed, seduction, magic, theft, idolatry or hypocrisy.
11. Prayer was to be performed four times a dayHe prayed facing the sun during the day and facing the moon at night.
12. The human being can find salvation and can free the spirit through ascetic practices (fasting, chastity...) and education/wisdom.