Buddhism and Medieval Iranian Culture

While Zoroastrianism was receiving state patronage in Sasa­nid Persia, another great religion was developing on its ter­ritory. Mani­chaeism grew and was much influ­enced by Mith­raism, Zoroastrian­ism and early Buddhism. It was spread by Sogdian merchants through­out vast areas of Central Asia, as well as China. It was the state religion of the Uighur Empire of Mon­go­lia and was known in Tibet when Buddhism first arri­ved. These develop­ments will be discussed below.

Manich­aeism was founded by Mani (216–274 CE), a Persian from sou­thern Babyl­onia. A voice told him as a child to ab­stain from sex, meat and wine, and he started a new reli­gion emphasizing purif­ication. He regarded himself as last in a line of proph­ets from Adam, which included Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus. He com­bined aspects from each of these reli­gions and preached mostly in Sasanid Persia. He was jailed and exe­cuted for his unorthodox beliefs.

According to this religion, there is a basic dualism be­tween Light, which is God and goodness, and Darkness, which is evil. This point is similar to Zoroastrianism, Mithraism and Gnostic Chris­tianity. Everyone has a por­tion of light from God as their soul, but it is imprisoned in matter, namely the body, which is evil. It is necessary to free the soul from the body and have it return to God. This is done by extreme puri­fication to separate the soul from the flesh and by con­tem­plation to gain awareness of the r­elation between one’s soul and God.

The contamination of the soul by the body is a theme found in Mithraism. But it is found in Indian religions as well. Jainism, for instance, speaks of the life monad needing to be freed from the defilements of karma and the body.

There is a system of “elect,” who abstain from sex, meat, alcohol, work, agriculture and so on, who are striving for this goal. They pray seven times a day, facing the sun or the moon. They teach and are supported by the “hearers,” lay­people who take continued rebirth due to involvement with and contam­ination by the body and sex. By supporting the “elect,” a “hearer” could evolve with a better rebirth to become an “elect.”

The idea of a celibate monastic community supported by a lay community, as well as the concept of rebirth, undoub­tedly are the Buddhist contribution to this eclectic religion. The main disciples of the Hinayana teachings are also called “hearers” (Skt. śrāvaka).

There is emphasis on fasting, ritual confession, baptism by oil and the copying of scriptures, most of which were in Middle Persian languages such as Sogdian. There is an apocalypse predicted, when there will be a final judgment, the world will burn, light will return to God, and there will be a final separation of Light from Darkness as there was at the beginning. This description of an apocalyptic war is reminiscent of Zoroas­trianism and has as­pects found in Christianity.

Manichaeism was extremely missionary-oriented and shifted from Persia to the Samarkand region of Sogdia, in present-day Uzbekistan. It appeared in western China in 675 CE, where it mixed with Daoist ideas as well. Mani­chaean texts were trans­lated from Iranian languages into Chinese by borrowing many terms from Buddhist texts. Mani, Buddha and the Daoist teach­er, Laozi, were identi­fied with each other, and two Manichae­an texts are found in the Daoist Canon. Mani was even called in Chinese the “Bud­dha of Light,” and Manichaean deities were often depicted seat­ed cross-legged on a lotu­s. 

There was much criticism of Manichaeism for posing as Bud­dhism, and its practice in China was legally restricted in 732 to the Sogdian merchant community. In the early eighth cen­tury, its practice was curtailed in West Turkistan with the Islamification of that area.

The Sogdians introduced Manichaeism to the Uighur Dynasty that ruled Mongolia. It was adopted as the Uighur state reli­gion from 762 until the fall of this dynasty in 840. It was known in Tibet from Sogdian merchants but rejected at the end of the eighth century when Indian Buddhism was formally adop­ted. In the end, Mani­chae­ism was totally prohibited in China in 843, when there was a major suppression of both this reli­gion and Bud­dhism throughout China by the Daoist Emperor. This year roughly corresponds to the per­secu­tion of Buddhism in Tibet by King Langdarma.

Although there was a large borrowing from Buddhism into Mani­chaeism, an influence working the other way round is not so obvi­ous. The Kalachakra literature again is the main candidate for investigation. It appeared in India in the late tenth or early eleventh centuries, transmitted from Shambhala, some­where to the north. In the geographical sections of the Kālacakra Tantra, six lands are mentioned as lying progressively further north: India, Tibet, Khotan, China, Shambhala and a Land of Snows. China held Kucha on the northern rim of the Tarim Basin, north of Khotan, at the end of the eighth cen­tury, but not later. Baghdad is also men­tioned in the geogra­phy. It was built as the capital of the Abba­sid Empire in 763. The Abbasid Empire ruled over Iran and much of West Turkistan. This would indicate the emergence of at least some Kalachakra elements by the end of the eighth century, which is when Mani­chaeism was flouri­s­hing in Mongolia and Central Asia. 

Mani is found in the list of eight bar­barian tea­ch­ers presented in the Kālacakra Tantra. The word for barbari­an is mleccha in Sanskrit, which originally meant anyone not speaking the San­skrit language. It was used, for instance, for the Greeks. In this list, Mani is refer­red to as the “One with White Clo­th­ing,” which corres­ponds to the Syriac writers’ epithet for the Mani­chaeans, “Those with White Gowns.” 

The line of barbarian teachers is usually reconstructed from the Sanskrit as Adam, Enoch, Abra­ham, Moses, Jesus, Mani and Mohammed. It will end with Mahdi, the future messiah of Islam. This list, howe­ver, is different from the Muslim line of seven pro­phets: Adam, Abra­ham, Isaac, Jo­seph, Moses, Jesus and Mohamme­d. It is also different from Mani’s own listing of his lineage of prop­hets, which in­cluded Buddha and Zoroaster, as well as Adam and Je­sus. 

The presence of Enoch in the Kalachakra list may seem odd. Enoc­h, howe­ver, was greatly revered by Manichae­ism. He was the seventh patria­rch in Genesis and, in the Hellenistic Peri­od of Judais­m, at the time just before Mani, was discussed in the Biblical litera­ture as the recipient of secret know­ledge from God. Parts of the Book of Enoch deal with astronomy and astro­log­ical cal­culations, one of the major focuses in the Kala­chakra litera­ture. The Book of Enoch also discusses the coming of a messiah.

An alternative reconstruction to Enoch is Noah. This per­haps makes more sense, since often the Muslims place Noah after Adam in their list of prophets. 

At the minimum, then, one can say that the Kālacakra Tantra shows a knowledge of the existence of Manichaeism, Chris­tiani­ty and Islam, and of the geography of Central Asia at the end of the eighth century.

The form of Christianity that Buddhism would have been in contact with was the Nestorian sect. It appeared during the Persian Sasanid per­iod in the fifth cen­tury CE. This sect was named after Nes­torius, a Syrian ec­clesiastic who was Patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431. It was a form of the Syrian Orthodox Church that flour­ished first in Syria and Persia, though was banned in Rome. It em­phasized the human side of Jesus, separa­ting this from his divine aspect. It also did not refer to Mary as the Mother of God. These were not exactly the teach­ings of Nes­torius him­self but were as­serted by his fol­lowers.

After the Arab inva­si­on and Islami­fication of Persia in the mid-seventh cen­tury, Nestorian Christianity survived for five cen­turies more in this area, being one of the few foreign religi­ons tol­erated by the Mus­lims. It was very missio­nary orien­ted and was spread among the Turkic peoples of West Tur­ki­stan and Dzungaria. It was found in Kashgar and Turfan in East Turki­stan and was introduced into China in 635. It was pre­sent in the Tibetan-held areas of Gilgit and Ladakh at the end of the eighth century. One Turkic king, together with many people of his kingdom, converted to Nestor­ianism in 781. It was found in Mongolia under the Ui­ghurs at roughly the same time, and even in the thirteenth century it was at the Mon­golian court of one of the grand­sons of Genghis Khan. In 1274, Marco Polo reported seeing many Chris­tian chur­ches along his travels in Central Asia.

Nestorian texts in Chinese and Syriac do not mention the crucifixion in their life account of Jesus. This accords with the Muslim view of Jesus. In Islam, Jesus was born of Virgin Mary but not as the Son of God. He performed great miracles, was a prophet but was not crucified. He was taken away by God, who left a shadow in his place. The Jesuits as well de-em­phasized the crucifi­xion in their missionary acti­vities in China and Cen­tral Asia.

Nestor­ian Chris­tianity was des­troyed in Syria, Persia and West Tur­ki­stan by Hulegu Khan, who sacked Baghdad in 1258. The final blow to it in East Turk­is­tan and Dzungaria was dealt by Timur (Tame­rlane) at the end of the fourteenth cen­tury.

Islam was founded by Mohammed and is dated from his flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. There have been successive revelations of the will of God through prophets, such as Adam, Noah, Moses and Jesus, but humankind has repeatedly trans­gressed them. Muslims accept the Old Testament, but the Pro­phet Mohammed brought the ultimate word of God with the reve­la­tions compiled in the Quran. When the earth turns away from the teachings of Islam, the world will end. The word “Islam” means submission to God.

There are five duties of every Muslim:

1. To accept fully that there is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet
2. To pray five times a day facing Mecca
3. To pay a tax for the poor
4. To fast during the holy month of Ramadan, not eating or drinking duri­ng the day
5. To make a pil­grimage to Mecca once during one’s life if at all possible.

All Muslims are considered equal, and during this pilgrimage everyone must dress simply and alike. Anyone who dies fighting for the faith goes direc­tly to paradise. As in Judaism, there is a strict empha­sis on religious law, circumcision, cleanli­ness, dietary re­strictions and the ritual slaughtering of animals for eat­ing. The custom of women wearing veils and living in seclusion was introduced in Iran, where it original­ly was a sign of aristocracy.

There are two major sects: Sunni and Shia. The Sunnis are the majority and accept the succession from Mohammed through a line of elected caliphs. They emphasize predetermi­nation, and that actions only become good or evil in accor­dance with the will of God. Sunnis assert the consensus of majority opinion as bind­ing, unquestionable authority. 

The Shiites are found primari­ly in Iran. They follow a line of succession from Ali, the son-in-law and cous­in of Mohammed, and assert that his succes­sors, the imams, are in­fallible. The twelve imams of this line are considered the manifes­tations of God, the bestowers of true knowledge to humankind. Shiites assert free will and the capacity of human reason to know good and evil. Self-flagel­lation and ritual weeping are common in remem­brance of the suffering of martyrs, particular­ly of Ali’s son, Hu­sayn. 

Mahdi, as the future messiah, is not mentioned in the Quran. His coming is questioned among the Sunnis but is a fundamental belief of the Shia sect. It was first asserted in 686 in connection with the promise of one of Ali’s sons to return in the future. When Mahdi comes, he will fill the earth with jus­tice and restore the true reli­gion. This will usher in a brief golden age that will last either seven, eight or nine years, after which the world will end. Both Shiites and Sun­nis believe that at the end of the world, the dead will arise for a final judgment. 

Among the Shiites, Mahdi has been identified as various great religious figures who will return to the earth, not only Ali’s son but also Jesus and the Twelfth Imam. For instance, the Ismailis, some of whom are led by the Aga Khan, accept Ismail, a different Seventh Imam from the other Shi­ites. He is the last of the imams and will return in the fu­ture. 

The Iran­ian Mirza Ali Mohammed, the founder of the Baha’i tradi­tion, declar­ed himself to be the Mahdi in 1844 on the one thousandth anniver­sary of the disappearance of the Twelfth Imam. The Druze sect, found at present in Lebanon, regard the Egyptian caliph al-Haki­m, who ruled 996–1021, as the last prophet, and believe he will return as Mahdi after a thou­sand years. 

The number 1,000 perhaps has connection with the millenary views in Christianity. However, in Chris­tianity, this is the length of the period of the kingdom of heaven on earth after the second coming of Christ, rather than the period between the first and second comings.

The Sufis began in the twelfth century as a mass movement within Islam. They emphasize the ecstatic religious experience of union with God. Such union is couched in the poetic terms of the union of a lover with his beloved, most often depicted as a beautiful youth. They assert the unity of everything in the oneness of God. The ultimate anni­hila­tion of the individu­al in God is poetically described as intoxication. It is li­kened to the submersion of a drop in the ocean, an image found also in Brahmanism.

The Sufis have monasteries and emphasize the teacher-disci­ple relationship. The spiritual path involves repentance, ab­stinence, poverty, fasting and voluntary suffering. There is no interest in anything but God. One must have constant remem­brance of God, most often through unceasing repetition of God’s names and religious formulas. In some sects, there is ecstatic dancing, such as with the whirling dervishes.

The Sufi movement has been very missionary oriented, and from the early thirteenth century was widespread in India and Central Asia. It took on customs of the lands to which it spread. Thus, perhaps from Buddhist or Hindu influence, there is meditation with breathing prac­tices and concentration on various spots within the body. 

Although the Kalachakra literature only makes brief mention of Christian and Manichaean prophets, it demonstrates a de­tailed ac­quain­tance with Islam. It is interesting to note which points about Islam receive the most attention in Kala­chakra. It indicates the focus of the Buddhist method of teaching with skillful means.

The Kālacakra Tantra de­scribes Islam as a reli­gion in which everyone is of one caste and which teaches not to steal, lie or commit adul­tery. It has ascetic practices and teaches cleanliness. One must wash and prostrate five times a day in the direction of the holy land, taking single re­fuge in God. Its women must wear veils. The causes for a re­birth in its heaven are given as being circum­cised, eating only at the end of the day during the month of fasting and not eating the flesh of cattle that have died a natural death. One may only eat cattle that have been slaughtered by having their throats slit while the mantra of Bismillah is recited. It is this last point that receives the most attention in Kalachakra.

Mohammed is introduced as the incarnation of Rahmana, the Sanskrit equivalent of al-Rahman, the Merciful, an epithet of Allah. The Muslims in general, however, are said to be lack­ing in unive­rsal kind­ness towards all living beings. Mohammed comes from the land of Mecca, but his city of birth is given as Baghdad. Mohammed, however, lived in Arabia in the first half of the seventh century, whereas Baghdad was built as the new capital of the Abbasid Caliphate at the end of the eighth century. For Cen­tral Asia under this caliphate, Baghdad was the center of the Islamic world.

The Kālacakra Tantra even describes the Muslims’ diet. They slaughter camels, horses, cattle and chickens, and cook their flesh together with their blood, or eat them almost raw. They also cook beef with embryonic fluid, water, butter and salt, mixed with fruit and leaves, and eat it with nuts. They drink eggs that are beaten and only slightly cooked, but still li­quid. Some of these dishes are reminiscent of Iranian cui­sine, such as chelo kebab and stuffed grape leaves. 

The main reason for mentioning Muslim customs and beliefs, however, is not for indicating their deeper, Buddhist mean­ings. Although lessons could be learned by anyone, the audien­ce for the social teachings in the Kālacakra Tantra is pri­mar­ily Hindus facing the threat of a Muslim invasion. 

Buddhism has always argued against animal sacrifice. The text points out that Muslims slaughter cattle while reciting the mantra of Bismillah, while Hindus offer animal sacrifices in Vedic ritu­als with their own mantras. The tantra warns the Hindus that if they see such practices as valid within their own religion, then when their descendants en­counter similar ritu­al slaughters in the future invaders’ religion, they will read­ily embrace this custom. Their descendants will see no differ­ence between their ancestors’ and the invaders’ religi­ons. There­fore, the Hindus must examine to see if animal sacri­fice is really the intention of the Vedas. 

An alternative, hidden inter­pretation is offered that slaugh­tering cattle means to kill the energy-winds of the senses by causing them to enter the central channel of the body’s subtle energy system. This will allow access to the subtlest level of consciousness, which is most efficient for the non-conceptual realization of void­ness. Not slaughtering cattle and not offer­ing blood sacrifices, particularly to one’s ancestors, are among the twenty-five modes of ethical behavior that one vows to uphold in the Kala­chakra practice. 

Although the Muslims are singled out as the threatening invaders of India during the tenth and eleventh cen­turies when the Kālacakra Tantra appeared in that land, the tant­ra does not iden­tify the barbaric invading forces of the future as always being Muslim. The early Indian commentaries speak of the barbarian forces of Tazig. “Tazig” is the Tibetanized form of the Persian word tazi, meaning “Arab.” Tibetan commentar­ies of the thirteenth and fourteenth centur­ies talk of the Mongol barbarians. In modern times, lamas have spoken of the barbaric Commun­ist forces of Russia and China. A barbaric force is one that counters the ethical practice of positive, constructive actions as outlined in the Buddha’s teachings. Even the pre­dicted future war heralding the Golden Age will not be the last occasion of a barbarian en­counter. The Kalachakra ad­vice for facing the threat of invasion is perennial, adap­table and valid for all cultures and all times.