Mani and His Gardens of Perpetual Light

It is rather interesting how Manichaeism was persecuted and eradicated so completely in both the Roman and Persian empires. This religion of light, love and compassion which began along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia, in what is now Iraq was seen as a great threat to both the bishops of Roman Christianity and the organized Magi of the Zoroastrian religion of Persia in days when religion ruled and political power was blessed by those who were protected by the kings and emperors who sought divine status among men. The world's truly first universal faith, Mani acknowledged Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus as bearers of light and taught that universal truth was to be found in all the religious scriptures of the world's religions. His vision was realized in his lifetime, which is a rarity among those who inspire a religious path. Manichaeism was practiced on the shores of the Pacific ocean in China, through the Middle East and Northern Africa into France and Britain on the Atlantic. Whenever the teachings of Mani were reborn like a phoenix rising from the ashes, organized religion  found it necessary to attack it and erase it from memory. There truly must be something to Mani's faith in that it threatens the very central dogmas of established world religions which themselves were the cornerstones of empires. While the world knows well of the persecution of Christians and their martyrdom under Roman tyranny, seldom are we informed of the many tens of thousands who were imprisoned, tortured or killed by the newly converted Christian Roman empire who insisted on it's citizens following the dogma of the council of Nicaea. Manichaeism would not be allowed to spread it's wings as it was seen as a threat to the unity of a newly Christianized Rome and the findings of the established and accepted religious council narratives, just as Mani was seen as dangerous to the corrupt Magi priests of Persia in much the same manner as Jesus was viewed by the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor of his day. Political power and corrupt religious authority sought to silence those who truly loved humanity and the God who inspired them to do good works, perform deeds of compassion and teach others to imitate and do the same by loving even their enemies. Though virtually unknown and forgotten, Mani remains one of the greatest teachers of spiritual knowledge who ever lived, as well as one of the most influential- Saint Augustine, believed to have been a Manichaean himself, introduced the concept of the struggle of light and dark, good and evil to what we know of as Christianity and it's doctrine. Some 400 hundred years later, Mohammed and the words of the Quran would echo Mani and proclaim that universal truth would be found in the essence of earlier religious scriptures, as Islam would acknowledge those who followed such a scripture as 'people of the book'. However, despite the adoption of the inclusivisity of these teachings, these organized and formulated religions would persecute those who were deemed heretical, just as Mani predicted, and Manichaeism would dissappear from history due to persecution and oppression by the religious authorities of these Abrahamic faiths. Mani Hayy, a greeting used by followers after Mani's subsequent execution and death, comes from the Aramaic meaning "Mani lives"...and is what the Greek term Manichaean comes from. Indeed his religion lives on in subtle forms found here and there in the narratives of many faiths.

Amin Maalouf writes in the epilogue of his novel about the life of Mani, 'Gardens of Light'...

Nothing remains of his books, of his works of art and of his fervor, nothing of his generous faith, his passionate quest, his message of harmony between men, nature and the deity. Of his religion of beauty, his subtle religion of Darkness and Light we have retained only the words Manichaean and Manichaeism, which have become insults on our lips. Because all the inquisitors of Rome and Persia conspired together to disfigure Mani and wipe out his name and memory. In what way was he so dangerous that it was necessary to even drive him out of our memories?

Amin Maalouf continues:

"I came from Babel" he said "to make a cry resound throughout the world. For a thousand years his cry was heard. In Egypt he was called 'The Apostle of Jesus'; in China, he was known as 'The Buddha of Light'; his hope flourished right to the shores of the three oceans. But soon it became hatred, relentless fury. The princes of this earth cursed him. For them he was the lying demon, the vessel overflowing with evil and, in their anger, the maniac. His voice, treacherous with witchcraft, his message unspeakable superstition and pestilential heresy. The stakes did their work, consuming in one dark fire his writings, his icons, the most perfect of his disciples and those haughty women who refused to spit on his name.