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Inactivity and Harmlessness of Manichaean Monks |
Cross
of Light Labors
Inactivity and Harmlessness
of Manichaean Monks
Scholars and herisiologists sometimes stress
the fact that the ancient Manichaean Electi, the monastics, were forbidden
to personally cultivate or harvest food out of fear of harming this Light
Cross. Manichaeans, however, devoted great effort to growing their own
food and the Electi were intricately involved in this process via their
Hearers whom they were karmically connected with. It was once the duty
of the more numerous "hearers" to do the actual farm labour, while the
Electi were called to concentrate on the production of scriptures and sermons.
This arrangement allowed the few Electi more time to produce more written
copies of sacred scripture. One scholar has said:
"The high quality of execution of
both the miniatures and the calligraphy of the Manichaean texts attests
to an active scribal tradition in Turfan and this finds expression in what
can only be termed a group-self-portrait of Manichaean Electi performing
scribal duties. Seated in two rows in front of two Trees of Life, they
are shown to be engaged in their craft with intense expressions. Two of
the figures hold a pen in each hand - one perhaps for copying in black
ink and the other for red as many of the extant Manichaean text fragments
are two-toned. As Manichaeism was a religion of the book, the Manichaeans
took their scribal duties very seriously. A monk is required in a Sogdian
confessional to ask for forgiveness for having neglected his calligraphy,
for hating or despising it and for having damaged or injured a brush, a
writing board, a piece of silk or' paper." - Manichaeism
In Central Asia and China by Samuel Lieu
We know the Manichaean electi of the Manichaean
monasteries were directly responsible for the creation of many scrolls
and indirectly responsible for the production of much produce. (One letter
from Central Asia even mentions a Manichaean Electi Nun digging
the earth with a mattock, as well as plucking herbs and chopping wood.)
An ancient Manichaean text tells us that in the Uighur Kingdom the
Electi derived regular supplies of vegan food from their monasteries
lands. From the lands to the south of the city alone it is recorded
that they derived each month as barter:
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10,666 lbs of wheat
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933 lbs of sesame
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266 lbs of beans
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400 lbs millet
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1800 melons were divided equally between the main
monastery and the chapter house from the monastery lands of “the three
Odos”.
Due to the efficiency of modern printing techniques,
modern Manichaean Electi are not needed as full time scribes for sacred
scripture. This allows them time to also nurture, like the ancient Hearers,
the Crux Luminis (Cross of Light) through organic gardening and
horticulture. (The modern Manichaean Orthodox Church teaches that some
of the restrictions placed on ancient Manichaean Electi of old were specific
to the astrological age of Pisces. In the newly dawning aeon of the Waterman
different requirements and restrictions apply, such as the allowance of
limited farming by monastics. Our rational for this can be gleaned from
the following articles)
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