Mana (Mandaeism)
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The Mandaic word mana (ࡌࡀࡍࡀ) is a term that is roughly equivalent to the philosophical concept of nous. It has been variously translated as "mind", "soul", "treasure",[1] "Garment", "Intelligence", "Heart", "Spirit", "Being"; or alternatively as "nous",[2] "consciousness", or "vessel".[3]
Theodor Nöldeke argued that the word is of Iranian origin.[4]
Meaning
In Mandaean scriptures
All of the hymns in Book 2 of the Left Ginza, in which the mana laments that it has been cast into the physical world, begin with the following refrain:[3][6]
I am a mana of the Great Life (mana ana ḏ-hiia rbia)
I am a mana of the Mighty Life (mana ana ḏ-hiia rurbia)
I am a mana of the Great Life (mana ana ḏ-hiia rbia)
"I am a mana of the Great Life" (mana ana ḏ-hiia rbia) is also frequently used in the Mandaean Book of John.[7] In Psalm 5 of the Manichaean Psalms of Thomas, the phrase "treasure of life" is derived from the aforementioned Mandaean formula according to Torgny Säve-Söderbergh.[8] This phrase has also been borrowed by the Valentinian Gnostics from Mandaeism.[9]: 28
The Book 3 of the Right Ginza, the "mana within the mana" and the "fruit (pira) within the fruit" existed before even the spiritual universe (the World of Light) with its uthras and emanations came into being.[3]
In Book 5, Chapter 1 of the Right Ginza (also known as the "Book of the Underworld"), Hag and Mag, two inhabitants of the World of Darkness, are described as the two manas of darkness.[3]
On the origin of mana (reason or mind) in mankind, Book 10 of the Right Ginza states:[3]: 272
Thus when Ptahil went to his father Abatur, he took (away) a hidden Mana (mana kasia), which had been given to them from the house of the Life. And he brought it (back) and cast it into Adam and his wife Hawa.
As names of Hayyi Rabbi
According to
See also
- Nous
- Neoplatonism § Nous
- Anima mundi
- Universal mind
- Panpsychism
- Noosphere
- Simat Hayyi
- Barbelo
- Nishimta, the soul in Mandaeism
References
- OCLC 65198443.
- ^ Drower, E. S. (1960). The Secret Adam: The Study of Nasoraean Gnosis (PDF). London: Oxford University Press. p. 46.
- ^ ISBN 9780958034630.
- doi:10.7282/T3C53J6P
- ^ a b Drower, E. S. (1960). The secret Adam: a study of Nasoraean gnosis. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- ISBN 9780648795407.
- OCLC 1129155601.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - OCLC 5687415.
- .
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. p. 35, translator's footnote #1.
- ^ "Book Three, 1st Glorification: The Creation". Ginza Rabba. Vol. Right Volume. Translated by Al-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. 2019. pp. 27–57.