The Doctrine of Metempsychosis in Manichaeism

THE FACT THAT Manl taught the doctrine of metempsychosis, ini one form or another, is clear from the old non-Manichaean writings that relate to his religion and from the actual Manichaean documents discovered in recent years. Mdnl's own animistic conception oi the particles of light as diffused through all sentient nature in his dualistic scheme of the universe, and as requiring to be restored to their original celestial abode, would of itself favor the supposition of some such progressive process and purgation by which this liberation was gradually to be accomplished. We are well acquainted in Mdnl's, eschatological system with the final stages of the revolving course which, by way of the Column of Praise (Milky Way) and the circle of the Zodiac, brought the light elements of the purified soul to the Moon and the Sun, whence they were ultimately delivered into the domain of the Supreme Light. Evidence enough is at hand concerning all this, including the role played by the Elect in releasing particles of light contained in the food which they ate.' The implication throughout is that of an evolving and involved process. But the preliminary stages, as affecting the soul, need to be re-examined in view of the new material now available.2 Mdn's long sojourn in the East through exile would have predisposed his mind to some form of the metempsychosis idea in case he did not have a notion of it before. The Indian tincture in his belief, like Gnosticism, led him to look upon the body as a place of imprisonment for the spirit; nevertheless the body might serve also as a medium through which, in passing, the temporarily incarcerated light could eventually find its way to freedom. Now, while it seems clear that Mdni's conception of the subject allowed for an

Doctrine · Theology · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

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