Welcome

Welcome to the official web site of the Central Manichaean Temple which primarily represents the Manichaean Faith in Iran. If you have visited the site in previous years, you will have noticed a lot has changed. The site’s main focus is on the Holy Gospel of the Blessed Prophet Mani.

Manichaeans (Aramaic: Maninaye) practice a monotheistic religion revealed to the Holy Prophet Mar Mani in second century Babylonia, emphasizing the spiritual liberation of all humankind. Religious history is viewed by Manichaeans as a perpetual series of revelations to diverse peoples across the world. These revelations coming in the form of Divine Messengers who provide the Pure Teaching, the Divine Knowledge required to liberation souls from the illusion of Matter. These Divine Messengers are all facets of one author who were sent by the Abba d’Rabbuta (the Father of Greatness); Manichaeans look forward to the final and full revelation of the Third Messenger. The Third Messenger, also called “Izgadda”, continually seeks to awaken souls and bring them to the Kingdom of Light, an eternal realm beyond the physical universe.

“During the decline of the Pure Teaching, in the days of darkness, in the days when the corruption of religion becomes a disease in the bones of the religious sects, a man of Truth and Righteousness shall appear being sent down from the Kingdom of Light into the world of Matter. It is He who shall take great concern for the Assembly according to the powers of the Great Spirit within Him and to His capacity as one inhabits a physical body.” (Gospel of Mar Mani 3:1) These revelations manifested either as religions or spiritual traditions that suited the need of the culture, the era and the location of the people. “The Third Messenger is the King of the Border, the God Mithra from the Chariot of the Sun, the bust of the King of Light, the very Lord of all the Counsels King who is in these worlds.” (Gospel of Mar Mani 2:24) The title “Third Messenger” is used to describe the Divine Messenger due to his role of overseeing the dissolution of the Second Creation of this universe (which we are in now), and the formation of a new universe, the Third Creation of this universe.

Each Divine Messenger sent by the Father of Greatness brings the Pure Teaching of the One True God within the culture in which they manifest. The central message is: Worship God who is outside time and creation, cultivate virtue, remove vice and put aside worldly attachments.