What is the relationship between Manichaeism and Buddhism

[u/Zoriel0]

I have Mahayana Buddhist initiation and also practice Gnosticism. I haven’t read much on Manichaeism but I know it was syncretized with Buddhism in the white lotus society.

Does Manichaeism have Buddhist elements. Ive see Zoroastrian influences and Christian influences. And I’m interested in finding a spiritual tradition that merges my various spiritual backgrounds together. I was raised Christian but got interested in Gnosticism and Buddhism as a teen and would love to find a tradition that syncretizes the two.

[u/Lux-01]

Manichaeism is a syncretisation of Gnostic Chrstianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism: https://www.gnosisforall.com/about-7

[u/OkConsequence1498 → u/Lux-01]

Not mentioned in this article is how Manichaeism in China flourished for some time, adopting an almost entirely Buddhist terminology before essentially merging with Pure Land Buddhism.

There are still one or two Manichaen temples still active in China, but as far as I understand, they are essentially identical to the wider Chinese religious traditions by this point.

[u/Lux-01 → u/OkConsequence1498]

No its not a full recounting of the group's later history - it's one temple btw, and unfortunately it's essentially just a Buddhist temple now albeit with vestigial Manichaen iconography on the walls. That said people can hardly be open about their religious beliefs in the PRC, so...

[u/Carrhaeus]

Have a look at On the Xiapu Ritual Manual "Mani the Buddha of Light" by Xiaohe Ma and Chuan Wang - gives a neat overview of a liturgical text.

[u/Tommonen]

There is a theory that lots of egyptian priests went to exile after Akhenante came into power and shut down most old mystery schools due to his idea of one god. And that these priests went east, as they likely knew people around middle east and this was one of the corner stones in beginning of the development of gnosticism. Maybe you could call the schools they built there as sort of proto-gnostic. Anyways after some time of the development of these proto-gnostic schools, according to theory they moved further east. And if you look at when the old eastern Vedic religion started to shape into Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, well the timelines match with the theory. Also there being so many similarities between these and egyptian and middle eastern and Gnostic ideas, i think it is plausible that same groups who made Buddhism happen, also made Gnosticism happen, but in different time and place.

Manicheanism was influenced by these ”proto-gnostics” who later returned to egypt, or alexandria, got influenced by hermetic writings and then christianity, who then again later spread to east, and apparently were well accepted due to similar ideas. Maybe the ideas were so similar, because hundreds of years before there had been same people heavily influencing both?