Re "Gnosticism is probably derived from Mani's dualism. ": Mani (3rd century AD) was too late in the day to be the originator of Gnosticism.
However, the Persian prophet Zoroaster (5th century BC) is the definitive original source of all these dualistic worldviews. Mani had a big influence on Saint Augustine. Though Augustine later turned from Manichaeism to Christianity, one of his bitter theological opponents sneeringly said of him "Once a Manichee always a Manichee." And so Christendom got landed with Augustine's doctrine of original sin which has an unpleasant dualist ring to it. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <punditster@...> wrote : On 12/9/2014 4:29 PM, s3raphita@... mailto:s3raphita@... [FairfieldLife] wrote: > Take the Gnostic element. Where did Gnosticism originate? > Gnosticism is probably derived from Mani's dualism. It should be noted that the first dualist philosophy was the Indian Sankhya (pertaining to number), a Vedic first cousin to the Avestan dualism of the Persian Zoroaster and the Manichean Manes - Sankhya being the basis of all subsequent Asian dualism including Vaishnavism, Tantra, Gnostic dualism and the Chinese Yin-Yang. There are many reason for to identify the Gnostic movement with the the dualism and the rise of Buddhist Mahayana, which is well documented. There are clear links between the radical dualism of the Indian Sage Kapila. According to Campbell: "When we review these in the light of what we now have come to know, both from the Nag-Hamadi trove and from our understanding, recently gained, of the Docetic doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism (the growth and flowering of which exactly coincided with the high period of the Gnostic movement), the implications of their imagery can be judged with enlarged appreciation." Edward Conze noted that "This Buddhism I propose to compare with "Gnosis" rather than "the Gnostics," because the connotation of the latter term is still so uncertain" and remains undefined." Conze's speculations are supported and expanded by Pagels in "The Gnostic Gospels" where she appeals to Buddhist scholars to find evidence for contact between Buddhism and Gnosticism. We find evidence that Buddhist thought had major influence on the teachings of Mani. Barnstone cites many authenticating references proving the centrality of Buddhism in Mani's formulation of Gnosticism. Apparently Buddhist influences were significant in the formation of Mani's religious thought. After Mani's vist to India (Kushan Empire) there were religious paintings in Bamiyan that were attributed to Mani. On the death of Mani: "It was a day of pain and a time of sorrow when the messenger of light entered death when he entered complete Nirvana" Works cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Gnosticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Gnosticism The Masks of God Volume III Occidental; The Illusory Christ by Joseph Campbell Viking, 1964 p. 364 Religions of the Silk Road Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century by Richard Foltz Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <punditster@...> wrote : On 12/9/2014 4:29 PM, s3raphita@... mailto:s3raphita@... [FairfieldLife] wrote: > Take the Gnostic element. Where did Gnosticism originate? > Gnosticism is probably derived from Mani's dualism. It should be noted that the first dualist philosophy was the Indian Sankhya (pertaining to number), a Vedic first cousin to the Avestan dualism of the Persian Zoroaster and the Manichean Manes - Sankhya being the basis of all subsequent Asian dualism including Vaishnavism, Tantra, Gnostic dualism and the Chinese Yin-Yang. There are many reason for to identify the Gnostic movement with the the dualism and the rise of Buddhist Mahayana, which is well documented. There are clear links between the radical dualism of the Indian Sage Kapila. According to Campbell: "When we review these in the light of what we now have come to know, both from the Nag-Hamadi trove and from our understanding, recently gained, of the Docetic doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism (the growth and flowering of which exactly coincided with the high period of the Gnostic movement), the implications of their imagery can be judged with enlarged appreciation." Edward Conze noted that "This Buddhism I propose to compare with "Gnosis" rather than "the Gnostics," because the connotation of the latter term is still so uncertain" and remains undefined." Conze's speculations are supported and expanded by Pagels in "The Gnostic Gospels" where she appeals to Buddhist scholars to find evidence for contact between Buddhism and Gnosticism. We find evidence that Buddhist thought had major influence on the teachings of Mani. Barnstone cites many authenticating references proving the centrality of Buddhism in Mani's formulation of Gnosticism. Apparently Buddhist influences were significant in the formation of Mani's religious thought. After Mani's vist to India (Kushan Empire) there were religious paintings in Bamiyan that were attributed to Mani. On the death of Mani: "It was a day of pain and a time of sorrow when the messenger of light entered death when he entered complete Nirvana" Works cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Gnosticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Gnosticism The Masks of God Volume III Occidental; The Illusory Christ by Joseph Campbell Viking, 1964 p. 364 Religions of the Silk Road Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century by Richard Foltz Palgrave Macmillan, 2010
