PYTHAGORAS SCHOOL
"Pythagoras . . . had himself initiated
into the rites and mysteries not only of Greece, but also of foreign countries
. . . he learned Egyptian . . . journeyed among the Chaldeans and the Magi''
(Diogenes
Laertius, Life of Pythagoras, I, 1).
Nazorean Gnosticism recognized Pythagoras as a
true prophet and Herald of that Good Realm. Nazoreans also appreciate the
philosophy, mystical mathmatiks, astrology, and metaphysics taught in the
Orphic,
Pythagorean, Platonic, and Neo-Plantonic Mystery
schools of antiquity. We are told that Pythagoras
was accepted as a true prophet by the great Apostle Mani:
"And if they (Bardaisan and Mani)
should say .... that there were some of old time Teachers of the Truth,—for
they (Bardaisan and Mani) say about Hermes in Egypt, and about Plato
among the Greeks, and about Jesus who appeared in Judaea, that 'they are
Heralds of that Good One to the world,'
Another Discourse Against Mani:. Ephraim's Anti-Nazorean Propaganda!
We are also told that Pythagoras:
"distributed his pupils into two orders,
and called the one esoteric, but the other exoteric. And to the former
he confided more advanced doctrines.... Whenever anyone repaired to him
with a view of becoming his follower, the candidate-disciple was compelled
to sell his possessions, and lodge the money with Pythagoras, and he continued
in silence to undergo instruction, sometimes for three, but sometimes for
five years. And on being accepted, he was permitted to associate with the
rest; and remained as a disciple, and took his meals along with them [this
is identical with the corporate structure of the Essene community and brotherhood].
If otherwise, however, he received back his property, and was rejected.
These persons, then, were styled Esoteric Pythagoristae (Hippolytus,
Refutation, I, ii).
Origen tells us that "the Pythagoreans used to erect a cenotaph to those
who had apostatized from their system of philosophy, treating them as dead"
(Contra Celsum, III, ii). Diogenes Laertius declares that the Pythagoreans
practiced baptismal purification constantly to renew and maintain their
sanctity, a ceremonial which the Jewish Essenes adopted from them (Diogenes
Laertius, Life of Pythagoras).
Pythagoras(c.580/570-c.500
B.C.E.) and Theano founded
a philosophical and religious school in Croton (now Crotone, on the east
of the heal of southern Italy) that had many followers. He was considered
one of the Heralds of Light (Apostle or Prophet) by the ancient Manichaeans
and other Gnostics. Pythagoras was the head of the society with an inner
circle of followers known as mathematikoi. The mathematikoi lived permanently
with the Society, had no personal possessions and were vegetarians. They
were taught by Pythagoras himself and obeyed strict rules. Both men and
women were permitted to become members of the layered and vegetarian Pythagorean
Society, in fact several later women Pythagoreans became famous philosophers.
The outer circle of the Society were known as the akousmatics and they
lived in their own houses, only coming to the Society during the day. They
were allowed their own possessions and were not required to be vegetarians.
Some beliefs that vegetarian Pythagorians held were:
-
(1) that at
its deepest level, reality is mathematical in nature,
-
(2) that philosophy
can be used for spiritual purification,
-
(3) that the
soul can rise to union with the divine,
-
(4) that certain
symbols have a mystical significance,
-
(5) that all
sisters & brothers of the order should observe strict loyalty, diets,
and secrecy, and
-
(6) Initiation
is accomplished through seasonal Mystery Plays and rites.
Clement of Alexandria declares that Pythagoras
was a pupil of Zoroaster and a disciple of the Brahmanas [India] (Clement
of Alexandria, Misc., I, xv).v
Essentially, Pythagoras was a reformer
of the religion of Orphism, as Orpheus was a reformer of the religion of
Dionysus. Porphyry (233-309) tells us that Pythagoras was taught by Zaratas,
a disciple of Zoroaster, and initiated into the highest esoteric mysteries
of the Zoroastrians. Aristoxenus, friend and pupil of Aristotle, who came
originally from Pythagorean circles, had also maintained that Pythagoras
had been a student of Zaratas. According to F. M. Cornford, in "From Religion
to Philosophy", "whether or not we accept the hypothesis of direct influence
from Persia on the Ionian Greeks in the sixth century, any student of Orphic
and Pythagorean thought cannot fail to see that the similarities between
it and Persian religion are so close as to warrant our regarding them as
expressions of the same view of life, and using the one system to interpret
the other."
"Magi known to the Greek and Roman world, were not the same as the
official priests of the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, said to be
founded by Zoroaster. For, when we compare the ideas that were
attributed to the Magi by ancient writers, we find that they differed
widely from what we know of the mainstream version of the religion, as
found in its sacred scriptures, the Avesta. Rather, it would appear
that the Greeks had come into contact, not with priests of
Zoroastrianism, but the notorious Magussaeans of Asia Minor, in what is
now Turkey. These Magussaeans were Persian emigres that found their way
to the region after it had come under Persian domination. Speaking the
language of Aramaic, rather than Palahvi...Judging by the fourth
century BC accounts of Eudemus of Rhodes, a pupil of Aristotle, and
Greek historian Theopompus, these Magussaeans were adherents of the
Zurvanite heresy....Bardasenes, a Syrian Christian of the late first
and early second century AD, the Magussaeans, wherever they were found,
observed "the laws of their forefathers, and the initiatory rites of
their mysteries." "from target="_blank">http://www.thedyinggod.com/chaldeanmagi/index.html[/size]
|
