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{{GZ|Manes is that high individuality, embodied over and over again on earth, who is the guiding spirit of those who are there for the conversion of evil.|104|162ff}}
{{GZ|Manes is that high individuality, embodied over and over again on earth, who is the guiding spirit of those who are there for the conversion of evil.|104|162ff}}
== The earthly incarnations of Manes ==
According to [[Rudolf Steiner]], Mani was incarnated during Christ's lifetime as the [[youth at Nain]], the [[widow's son]], and before that as the [[youth at Sais]]. His [[raising from the dead]] was an [[initiation]], but unlike [[Lazarus]], it only took effect in the next [[incarnation]]:
{{GZ|Another kind of initiation, however, can take place in such a way that at first only the germ is sunk into the soul concerned, so that it then has to wait for one more incarnation; then this germ emerges, and then in the later incarnation the person concerned becomes an initiate in the explicit sense.
Such an initiation was accomplished with the youth at Nain. At that time his soul was transformed in the event of Palestine; at that time it did not yet have the consciousness of having ascended into the higher worlds. Only in the next incarnation did the powers sprout which had been placed in this soul at that time. - In an exoteric lecture we cannot mention the names which came into consideration at that time, but we can only point out that later, in a mighty teacher of religion, that individuality awoke which the Christ Jesus had raised in the youth at Nain, and that in this way, in later times, a new teacher of Christianity could arise with the powers which had been sunk into his soul at that time.
In this way, the Christ ensured that an individuality could appear at a later time to further Christianity. And this individuality, which was awakened in the young man at Nain, was called upon later to penetrate Christianity more and more with the teachings of reincarnation and karma, to connect those teachings with Christianity which at that time, when the Christ himself walked on earth, could not yet be expressly proclaimed as teachings of wisdom, because at that time they had first to be transplanted emotionally into the souls of men.|114|205ff}}
Later Mani was reborn as [[Parzival]]:
{{GZ|This soul, which previously lived in the youth at Nain and was initiated by the Christ in this way for later times, when that which was contained in Manichaeism and which has not yet fully developed will rise for the salvation of the peoples of the ancient Orient, has prepared this soul in its incarnation as Manes for its actual later mission: to bring about the true harmony of all religions.
In order to be able to do this, it had to be reborn as that soul which stands in a very special relationship to the Christ Impulse. Everything that had come up from this soul in that incarnation as Manes, old and new knowledge, had to be submerged once more, as it were. As the "pure fool" he had to face the outer knowledge of the world and the working of the Christ impulse in the depths of his soul. He is reborn as Parzival, the son of Herzeleide, the tragic figure abandoned by her husband. As the son of this widow, he now also leaves his mother. He goes out into the world. After many a wandering journey, he is chosen to be the guardian of the Holy Grail. And the continuation of the Parzival saga tells us how he again goes to the Orient, how he finds his brothers in the members of the dark races, and how the blessings of the Holy Grail will one day come to them too. Thus in his life as Parzival he prepared himself to become later a new teacher of Christianity, whose task it will be to permeate Christianity more and more with the teachings of karma and reincarnation when the time will be ripe for it.|264|230}}


== Literature ==
== Literature ==

Revision as of 12:50, 6 August 2021

Mani (Persian مانی Mānī [mɔːˈniː]; Greek: Μανιχαῖος Manichaios; Latin: Manes or Manichaeus) (* 14 April 216 probably at Seleucia-Ctesiphon; † 26 February 277 or on 14. February 276 in Gundishapur) is the founder of the historical religion of Manichaeism and was, according to Rudolf Steiner, an incarnation of the high initiate Manes, who had also been the teacher of the Buddha, Zarathustra and Scythianos and later (1459) the initiator of Christian Rosenkreutz.

„Manes is that high individuality, embodied over and over again on earth, who is the guiding spirit of those who are there for the conversion of evil.“ (Lit.:GA 104, p. 162ff)

The earthly incarnations of Manes

According to Rudolf Steiner, Mani was incarnated during Christ's lifetime as the youth at Nain, the widow's son, and before that as the youth at Sais. His raising from the dead was an initiation, but unlike Lazarus, it only took effect in the next incarnation:

„Another kind of initiation, however, can take place in such a way that at first only the germ is sunk into the soul concerned, so that it then has to wait for one more incarnation; then this germ emerges, and then in the later incarnation the person concerned becomes an initiate in the explicit sense.

Such an initiation was accomplished with the youth at Nain. At that time his soul was transformed in the event of Palestine; at that time it did not yet have the consciousness of having ascended into the higher worlds. Only in the next incarnation did the powers sprout which had been placed in this soul at that time. - In an exoteric lecture we cannot mention the names which came into consideration at that time, but we can only point out that later, in a mighty teacher of religion, that individuality awoke which the Christ Jesus had raised in the youth at Nain, and that in this way, in later times, a new teacher of Christianity could arise with the powers which had been sunk into his soul at that time.

In this way, the Christ ensured that an individuality could appear at a later time to further Christianity. And this individuality, which was awakened in the young man at Nain, was called upon later to penetrate Christianity more and more with the teachings of reincarnation and karma, to connect those teachings with Christianity which at that time, when the Christ himself walked on earth, could not yet be expressly proclaimed as teachings of wisdom, because at that time they had first to be transplanted emotionally into the souls of men.“ (Lit.:GA 114, p. 205ff)

Later Mani was reborn as Parzival:

„This soul, which previously lived in the youth at Nain and was initiated by the Christ in this way for later times, when that which was contained in Manichaeism and which has not yet fully developed will rise for the salvation of the peoples of the ancient Orient, has prepared this soul in its incarnation as Manes for its actual later mission: to bring about the true harmony of all religions.

In order to be able to do this, it had to be reborn as that soul which stands in a very special relationship to the Christ Impulse. Everything that had come up from this soul in that incarnation as Manes, old and new knowledge, had to be submerged once more, as it were. As the "pure fool" he had to face the outer knowledge of the world and the working of the Christ impulse in the depths of his soul. He is reborn as Parzival, the son of Herzeleide, the tragic figure abandoned by her husband. As the son of this widow, he now also leaves his mother. He goes out into the world. After many a wandering journey, he is chosen to be the guardian of the Holy Grail. And the continuation of the Parzival saga tells us how he again goes to the Orient, how he finds his brothers in the members of the dark races, and how the blessings of the Holy Grail will one day come to them too. Thus in his life as Parzival he prepared himself to become later a new teacher of Christianity, whose task it will be to permeate Christianity more and more with the teachings of karma and reincarnation when the time will be ripe for it.“ (Lit.:GA 264, p. 230)

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
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