Mani's Guidelines

[QUOTING]

The description Mani (216AD -274 AD) gave of the properties of ‘the Light soul’ and of the ‘physical soul’ is of an ultimate purity of argument, and may in this context form a practical guideline. To Mani, the gnostic, these two were fundamentally different. The Light soul originates from the powers of the Kingdom of the Light and the soul of the body from the same dark matter as that from which the perishable world also originated.

...both souls have the same properties, but how these properties work out in practice differs fundamentally. The properties concerned are: consideration, thought, intellect, intuition, decision. The results demonstrate the fundamental difference between both souls. In the soul of the body, the following properties result: wrath, lack of faith, desire, hatred, stupidity. In the Light soul, they generate: patience, faith, perfection, love, wisdom!

Therefore, as human beings, who want to restore the unity of God with the inner divine element on the basis of thinking, feeling and acting, we can distinguish from which soul we are living and acting. Mani wrote the following about this in one of his hymns.

What should I do, o Light, so that I may truly live?

Give your hands rest, and clothe yourself with the pure Truth.

Give your consciousness love, give your mind faith,

give your thoughts perfection,

give your decision durability,

and your considerations wisdom.

Make room within you for the white-winged dove,

do not place a serpent next to her.

Do not make room for sadness or anger.

Conquer desire,

overcome self-elevation and arrogance,

do not desist in your Love to God.

With perfection, you become perfect.

With patience, you will bear everything.

With the Gnosis, you will understand everything.

Keep to the Inner Law.

Perfect your deeds.

Remain unbreakably faithful to these things, for ever.

And you will live, my soul.

[END QUOTING]