IDEAS

Maniac is derived from Angromania

The word Maniac has its root in Angromania opposite of sepandar mino.

Manichism and later Communism on the other hand are related to Mani.

The article is not complete as it does not go into why Mani had such a success in Iran and outside of Iran.

The Iranian society was a class system and people could not get married into other classes. Taxation and unjust distribution of wealth. Same as today, nothing has changed. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

St Augustine turned into Christianity from Manichism by introducing the idea of grace and free will, which denis the evil nature of man asserted by Mani.
//www.romancatholicism.org/augustine-notes.ht...

Googooli mougouli !

Googooli= ohwell= Fred, if you are so ultra-scholarly (in your dreams) that a scholarly article is not enough for you, why don't you come up with your own article about Mani's ideas in comparison with other religions and ideas so that we can measure your intellectual calibre?

Googoli brained Fred, it's time you show us you really 'know' something rather than boasting and googool bragging for nothing!

I'd read it in Wikipedia...

Thanks. I know the relation with the mental disease...etc.

But in France, we had that argument about the root of this word. Indeed, in French, this word has not so bad meaning as it does in English....It goes more with the word obsession...caring too much...something like taht.

Thanks again

Pop Etymology

Souri khanom, mania is a Greek word meaning madness.

Thanks Mr Sadri for this great ,.....

and insightful essay on Mani.

I have a little question (ou of subject ) don't know if you or Manouchehr or another friend can answer. (maybe Guive, but he rarely reappeare here now):

I've been told that the word "Maniac" has its root in Mani's name.

They say, because Many was very attentive to the details, very perfectionist, either in his writing and/or especially in his painting, to make them get and give the real meaning he had in his mind.

What do you think? Is it possibly true? Have you ever heard anything about that?

Pop Scholarship

Thank you Gougouli for your reminder. Often when someone comes across something that is new to them assumes that it is new to everyone. This phenomenon is the origin of a-little-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing and pop scholarship.

Very educational!

Thank you for well resourced and informative article. You are a great linguist, as well.

Both Saint Augustine & Saint Jerome

were Manichaeians & later converts to Christianity ,

//www.iranianidentity.blogspot.com/

//www.youtube.com/user/samsamsia

Mani's writings

Many Manichaean texts were found in Turfan in Xiniang, the largest collection of his writings ever found, fortuitously by xplorers such as Aurel Stein and others. Many are in Sogdian, but some are in Turkic Uighur (the Uighurs converted massively to Manichaeism until the 845 persecution of foreign religions by the later Tangs of China). They have all been extensively studied by scholars and much written about, though obviously not for quick perusal on sites like iranian.com. As for the Chinese texts, their translation into French with commentaries formed the subject of the thesis of Nahal Tajaddod who has published a book about them.

Evil

There is nothing wrong with ‘matter’ per se, or the material  world (i.e. the Cosmos).  Matter could partake aesthetically harmonized forms (beautiful) or distorted  forms (ugly) or something in between. 

The forms  of the actualization (realization) of matter are realized according to the undergoing Program of Creation. The Software of Existence determines the aesthetic degree of the actualization of matter according to its (current) Program.

Leibniz’s justification of Evil is not enough.  Evil is real and has nothing to do with the perfection of Existence or God. Denying Evil as a reality is nonrealistic and funny. Also, Admitting the reality of evil does not diminish the perfection of Pure Existence.

Evil was existentially unprecedented (unexpected). Pure Existence, being perfect by definition could not entail evil of any sort. Evil did unprecedently originate by supreme existential entities (known as humans) possessing free-intention/will,  in the pre-material phase of Existence. 

Evil is real, persistent  and catastrophic; all historical and individual calamities of the human existence are its by-products.

Theosopher

جهانشاه گرامی؛

با اجازه نویسنده ی این گفتار، شاپورگان کتابیست که مانی بنام شاپور نخست ساسانی کرد که گویا تحت تأثیر اندیشه های او قرار گرفته بود.  همچنانکه نویسنده اشاره فرموده، مانویان بشدت تحت پیگرد قرار گرفتند.  ولی، بقایای اندیشه های ایشان  تا دوران اسلامی ایران هم دوام یافت. 

از شاپورگان اثری به جا نمانده است مگر کاوشهای باستان شناسی از آن پرده بردارند.  کتاب دیگرمانی ارتنگ یا ارژنگ نام دارد حاوی تصاویر بسیار و زیبا.  آن هم از دست رفته است.  نقاشی اهمیت دینی داشته برای مانویان.  برخی سبک نقاشی مینیاتور ایرانی را در آثارمانوی می جویند.   

Not only Mani

The leading culture in antique Rome before Christanity took over was Mitraism which came from old Persia. Basically the old persians were one of the leading cultures in the old world till Islam ripped us in pieces in such way we still have not healed.

Shapourgan

Very interesting. I wonder if Mani's books discovered in China have been translated into English? Is his "Shapourgan" in existence?

Thank you for a very informative piece.

In the sad refrain of the sunshine.

The soft and
gentle melody
of a sunshine appears
in the calm of
a delicate reason,
that mellow aperture
recalling, when
the down-pour
arrives, a tracing
present.

Francesco Sinibaldi

Strictly confidential

Mr. Sadri aziz, you are smart. God knows you're educated. You have imagination and are clearly well read. Why in the world don't you lighten up your prose? It is punishing to read you, in English and in Persian. In Persian you are especially verbose and opaque -- and as for style, I would say a little akhoundi.

I beg of you, work on clarity, brevity, and good taste. Don't learn from Americans. Read the Brits for unaffected style. You owe it to your intelligence and your education.

VERY in teresting!

Thank you for the interesting and informative article. Very enjoyable, thanks.

Fascinating! Thank you!

I heard a little about Mani's views and wanted to know more but I never found anything. Apparently most of his work has been destroyed. But this is really neat. The idea that material desires such as sex, eating, etc has been used to trap spiritual beings has surfaced in a few religions and philosophies, mainly Buddhism. It is worth considering. But I can't agree that the solution would be to withdraw from those pleasures. I think we have to somehow reach a point where we are not trapped in them, otherwise those sensation-type pleasures are not by themselves bad. The point is can we have integrity or do we need to step over integrity for a little pleasure.