|
MANICHEISM,
BUDDHIST
ELEMENTS
IN.
Mani,
who
came
to
be
considered
himself
to
be
the
seal
of
the
prophets,
named
Buddha,
Zarathustra
and
Jesus
as
his
forerunnersò.
His
knowledge
of
Buddhism
has
long
been
debated,
but
most
scholars
seem
to
agree
that
Christianity,
Gnosticism
and
Zoroastrianism
played
more
dominant
parts
in
the
early
history
of
Manicheism
than
did
Buddhism
[There
can
be
no
doubt,
however,
that
Mani
had
ample
opportunity
to
become
familiar
with
Buddhist
doctrines.
The
Parthians
had
close
geographical
and
cultural
ties
with
the
Kushans,
among
whom
Buddhism
was
well
established,
and
certain
Manichean
texts
reflect
the
adoption
of
Indian
vocabulary
into
eastern
Parthia,
indicating
that
Buddhism
could
have
infiltrated
into
the
eastern
part
of
the
Arsacid
Empire
(Sims-Williams,
1983,
p.
132).
Moreover,
Mani's
own
journey
to
India
in
240-242
CE
would
have
enhanced
this
opportunity
(Sundermann,
p.
11).
By
far
the
most
discussed
Buddhist
element
in
Manicheism
is
metempsychosis,
or
the
transmigration
of
the
soul.
The
concept
is
present
in
both
Western
and
Eastern
Manichean
sources
as
well
as
in
Arabic
texts
dealing
with
Mani
and
his
followers.
It
is
described
as
the
souls
appearing
before
the
Judge
of
Truth.
From
this
point
there
are
three
roads,
one
leading
to
Death,
one
to
Life
and
one
to
Mixture.
Death
means
eternal
condemnation
while
Life
is
the
final
goal,
salvation.
Mixture
means
rebirth,
i.e..
Another
chance
to
liberation
(Kephalaia,
p.
83,
5-8;
ˆa@buhraga@n,
pp.
504-509,
45-130;
Ebn
al-Nadim,
ed.
Flügel,
pp.
335,
27-29.
Cf.
Olsson).
Earlier
scholars,
such
as
de
Beausobre
and
F.
C.
Baur
concluded
that
the
metempsychosis
was
borrowed
from
Buddhism,
and
later
studies
have
in
the
main
followed
their
line
of
thinking,
but
alternative
explanations
which
derive
the
concept
from
Greek
theology
and
the
philosophy
of
the
Orphisms
in
the
teaching
of
Pythagoras
and
Plato
have
also
been
suggested
([please
provide
author's
name],
p.
38).
The
monastic
life
of
the
Manicheans
also
leads
one's
thoughts
to
Buddhism.
The
division
of
the
Manichean
community
into
the
Elect
and
Hearers
resembles
the
division
of
the
san‚gha
into
the
monks
and
laymen.
Furthermore,
the
commandments
of
the
Elect,
among
which
abstinence
from
sexual
activities,
meat
and
wine
is
found,
resembles
the
commandments
for
monks
in
Buddhism.
The
similarity
has
been
denied
by
N.
Sims-Williams
(1985,
p.
572
with
n.
2),
however,
who
points
out
that
while
Buddhism
enjoins
ten
commandments
for
the
monks,
only
five
of
which
are
usually
obligatory
for
laymen,
Manicheans
laid
down
five
commandments
for
the
Elect
and
ten
for
the
Hearers.
A
noteworthy
difference
between
the
two
systems
is
that
unlike
Buddhist
monks,
the
Manichean
Elect
did
not
go
out
alms
seeking,
and
the
Hearers
brought
them
their
meals.
The
origins
and
function
of
the
monasteries
in
the
two
systems
are
also
controversial.
Some
(e.g.
Asmussen,
pp.
254,
260-61)
maintain
that
the
Manichean
monasteries,
in
Central
Asia
often
called
ma@nista@na@n,
were
created
in
imitation
of
Buddhist
monasteries.
Others
see
them
as
Mani's
own
establishment
(for
literature
see
Lieu;
Utas,
p.
655).
As
pointed
out
by
Bo
Utas
(pp.
663-64),
it
seems
likely
that
the
original
meaning
of
ma@nista@n
was
'dwelling
place'
and
that
from
the
beginning
they
functioned
as
temporary
lodgings
for
the
believers
of
the
faith.
Moreover,
the
meaning
of
ma@nista@n
changed
as
time
passed,
and
it
may
have
acquired
different
connotations
in
different
areas
where
Manicheism
prevailed.
(For
a
description
of
the
only
remaining
Manichean
monastery
situated
in
South
China,
see
Bryder).
The
Manichean
'confession
of
sins',
as
described
in
the
Turkish
Xua@stva@n^ft,
has
long
been
considered
to
be
borrowed
from
Buddhism,
but
recently
an
opposite
direction
has
been
urged
(Klimkeit;
Nattier).
When
Mani
claimed,
as
documented
in
some
Central
Asian
texts,
that
he
was
Maitreya,
the
future
Buddha
to
come,
this
cannot
be
explained
as
due
to
later
Buddhist
influence.
Already
in
the
texts
concerning
Mani's
travel
to
India,
Mani
is
described
as
a
Buddha
(=Maitreya?).
This
may
be
interpreted
as
a
Manichean
missionary
convention,
but
it
may
also
be
taken
as
a
genuine
Manichean
idea,
which
could
not
easily
be
explained
in
a
Western
cultural
environment
and
was
therefore
omitted.
A
number
of
other
elements,
such
as
'the
three
worlds'
and
'the
three
seals',
have
also
been
claimed
to
be
of
Buddhist
origin,
but
these
and
other
presumed
influences
need
further
investigation.
One
hindrance
to
such
studies
is
the
fact
that
the
Pre-Islamic
Central
Asia
was
a
melting
pot
in
which
religious
interactions
afforded
multiple
reversible
influences.
Bibliography:
Jes
P.
Asmussen,
Xua@stva@n^ft,
Studies
in
Manichaeism,
Copenhagen,
1965.
F.C.
Baur,
Das
manichäische
Religionssystem,
nach
den
Quellen
neu
untersucht
und
entwikelt,
Göttingen,
1831.
I.
de
Beausobre,
Histoire
critique
de
Maniche‚e
et
du
Maniche‚isme,
2
vols,
Amsterdam,
1734-1739.
A.
Böhlig
ed.,
Die
Gnosis,
III,
Zürich,
1980.
P.
Bryder,
"...Where
the
faint
traces
of
Manichaeism
disappear,"
AoF
15,
1988,
pp.
201-8.
Kephalaia,
Manichäische
Handschriften
der
Staatlichen
Mussen,
Berlin,
Bd.
1:1,
ed.
H.J.
Polotsky
and
A.
Böhlig,
Stuttgart
1934-1940;
Bd.
1:2,
ed.
A.
Böhlig,
Stuttgart,
1966.
H.-J.
Klimkeit,
"Manichäische
und
buddhistiche
Beichtformeln
aus
Turfan.
Beobachtungen
zur
Beziehing
zwischen
Gnosis
und
Maha@ya@na,"
Zeitschrift
für
Religions-und
Geistesgeschichte,
29,
1977,
pp.
193-228.
S.
N.
C.
Lieu
"Precept
and
Practice
in
Manichaean
monasticism,"
Journal
of
Theological
Studies,
N.S.,
32,
1981,
pp.
153-73.
J.
Nattier,
"Buddhist-Manichaean
Encounters
in
Central
Asia:
A
New
Look
at
the
Confession
Fragments
from
Turfan,"
Paper
read
at
American
Academy
of
Religion
meeting,
Anaheim
Calif.,
30
November
20
1989.
T.
Olsson
"The
Manichaean
Background
of
Eschatology
in
the
Koran,"
Manichaean
studies,
ed.
P.
Bryder,
Lund,
1988,
pp.
273-82.
ˆa@buhraga@n:
D.
N.
MacKenzie,
"Mani's
ˆa@buhraga@n,"
BSOAS,
42,
1979,
pp.
500-534
and
43,
1980,
pp.
288-310.
N.
Sims-Williams,
"
Indian
Elements
in
Parthian
and
Sogdian,"
Sprachen
des
Buddhismus
in
Zentralasien,
Veröffentlichungen
der
Societas
Uralo-Altaic,
Bd.
16,
Wiesbaden,
1983,
pp.
132-41.
Idem,
"The
Manichaean
Commandments:
A
Survey
of
the
Sources,"
Papers
in
honour
of
Professor
Mary
Boyce,
II,
Acta
Iranica
25,
Leiden,
1985,
pp.
573-82.
(P.
BRYDER)
February
17,
2005 |