Comparison Of Manichaeism And Scientology

Comparison of Scientologists and Manichaeans A constant through much of the known history of human civilization has been the attempt to understand and explain the unknown. This ranges from what lies underground to the vastness of the universe that lies behind the sky and even explores how the world came to be as well as what happens after a person dies. A common explanation for these questions have been rooted in different religions throughout time and different regions of the world. Typically, there is an orthodox belief system, or a proto-orthodox one that will become common practice, but still there are exceptions to this. Whether the religion is one of common practice or belief or not, the objective remains the same, to answer questions …show more content…
Mani, the founder of Manichaeism lived around 216-277 CE and operated in Iran but his religion migrated throughout many areas over the Roman Empire and in to Asia. His father was a member of the Elcasaites, a Jewish- Christian group in which he grew up in. Mani received visions from a paraclete which told him to leave the Elcasaites and preach his revelations about the natural world and its relationship with life and living the way life was intended to be. This shows the first similarity between Manichaeism and Scientology with the similarities between Mani and LRH, beginning with the enlightenment of both. LRH was enlightened with the knowledge of dianetics through years of research and a heightened level of understanding while Mani was enlightened by his “heavenly twin” about a similar separation of the soul and the body, a relationship with the earth and the necessity of preaching his message. The similarities continue with how both leaders shared their message with the masses. LRH wrote many books about dianetics, scientology and other topics related to his message of self-improvement, which Mani did much of the same. While none of Mani’s writings have survived completely, he authored multiple different writings including the Shapuragan, which outlined his religion to Shapur a Persian King. Along with a handful of other books and letters, Mani …show more content…
However a true comparison may never be possible between these two religions for fault of both religions. Manichaeism has not been practiced for hundreds of years, with much of the remainder of this religion being damaged by time. While it is possible to study the basics of scientology, it is not possible to escape the fact that the only true experts on scientology are scientologists themselves. This monopoly of knowledge related to scientology has created the severe inability of academic study. The comparison of these religions come from what is left of Manichaeism and what is available of Scientology. While the basics are available for comparison. A complete comparison of these religions is lost with the ability to completely understand