Manichaeism associates good with light and evil with darkness.
Manichaeism is a religion established by Manes (also known as Mani ) in Persia . This religious leader, who presented himself as a prophet sent by God , promoted Manichaeism in the 3rd century , postulating that evil and good were opposite principles that were constantly in conflict.
Syncretic religion
It is a syncretic religion that set out to transcend the rest of the beliefs, being persecuted by Christianity and Islam . Over time, Manichaeism ceased to exist, although some movements and sects continue to define themselves as Manichaean.
For Manichaeism, good is associated with Light , while evil is linked to Darkness . In the human being, the Light is the spirit that is imprisoned in the body , belonging to the Darkness. The way to start the process to free the spirit is through asceticism .
Chosen and listeners
It is important to note that Manichaeism divided the community into two groups: the elect and the hearers . The elect were vegetarians and celibate and dedicated their lives to prayer , while the listeners were in charge of serving the elect. The chosen ones, when they died, arrived at the Kingdom of Light ; In the case of the listeners, they aspired to be reincarnated as chosen ones.
Because, for Manichaeism, Darkness was never going to disappear, the purpose of humanity was for all individuals to become chosen to reach the Kingdom of Light, thus distancing themselves from evil.
Origins of Manichaeism
The emergence of this religion took place in the 3rd century, and began in the ancient city of Babylon but over time reached many other parts of the world, including the Roman Empire and China. It can be said that it falls into the group of universalist religions , because it was open to anyone, beyond their ethnicity, nation, culture or political ideas.
Although its expansion relied on the network of trade routes by land and sea that interconnected almost all the territories of Asia with parts of Europe and Africa, the aforementioned persecution by Christianity meant that it could last mainly in East Asia. .
The Bema
The festival that Manichaeism celebrated once a year is known by the name of Bema . In its origins, this term designated a seat in the Syriac Christian churches that was located in the middle of the space reserved for the bishop, where they also read passages from the Gospel. For the Manichaeans, it was a throne with five steps that was covered with luxurious fabrics.
The five steps were a symbol of the hierarchical scales of the Manichean religion. Its highest part was never occupied by anyone, since it was reserved for Mani, the only one worthy of such a position. The Bema was celebrated on the spring equinox and was anticipated with a fast to symbolize the Passion and death of Mani, in a very similar way to the Christian Easter.
Given Christian persecution, Manichaeism proliferated especially in the East.
Regarding the upper part of the Bema, according to certain scriptures it was not always left empty, but sometimes a copy of the book entitled Arzhang was placed, illustrated by Mani himself and written to relate the origin of the Universe.
Outside of religion
Today, the idea of Manichaeism goes beyond religion. The concept is used pejoratively to refer to the position that tends to reduce reality , sharply opposing the bad to the good. Manichaeism, therefore, implies classifying things as black or white, without nuances.