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Intro Prophets- Yeshu, Miryai, Mani.... Prayers- 4 times daily Scriptures- Thomas,Philip, Secret Teachings, Kephalaia, Pistis Sophia Principles- Vegan, permaculture, ahimsa Practices - Meditation, Devotions, Puja, Study, Fasting, Teaching, Service. Rituals - Gnostic Baptism & Mass Teachings - The Mythos Organization - Structure, Levels Members- Cybercommunity & Ashram Calendar - Liturgical lunar calendar History- Ancient Gnostic Streams Links-Commonalities & Critiques of Other Religions Mani site - Site dedicated to Mani Forum- Nazorean Forum
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 "The Nasaraeans (Nazoreans) - they were Jews (Judaeans) by nationality - originally from Gileaditis (N.W. Jordan), Bashanitis (Golan Heights, Syria) and the Transjordon (W. Jordan) * . . . They acknowledged Moses and believed that he had received laws - not this law, however, but some other. And so, they were Jews (Judaeans) who kept all the Jewish observances (purity laws), but they would not offer sacrifice or eat meat. They considered it unlawful to eat meat or make sacrifices with it. They claim that these (Bible) Books are fictions, and that none of these (Biblical) customs were instituted by the fathers. This was the difference between the Nasaraeans and the others. . . (Epiphanius, Panarion 1:18)Nazoreans have a rich and unusual collection of sacred writings that are used in both public readings and private study. These include a unique Gnostic Old Testament totally different than the one used by either Jews or Christians, as well as a unique New Testament not based on the gospels or books of the Christian Bible. Sacred writings of the east are also used, but again, these are not standard Buddhist or Zoroastrian texts. In the links below you will find introductions to these various collections, as well as access to the scrolls themselves. There are also links to various PDF files useful to historians and scholars and students of the early gnosis or its modern derivatives. NAZOREAN LECTIONARY The Nazorean Lectionary is a collection of sacred texts used by the Order on a yearly basis. Its original name, in Nazoraic, is "Qaryana" which means "that which is recited aloud". One chapter of this Qaryana is read each day for an entire year before begining the cycle again. There are 343 chapters of the Qaryana composing this Primary "Bible" or Sacred Scrolls of the Order of Nazorean Essenes, one for each day of the liturgical "luni-solar" year. The sacred scrolls used by the Order are read aloud or studied in private each and every illuminated day within Nazorean Communities. Those living in the world can also benefit from the daily lectionary cycle by committing themselves to privately studying the days scripture before their busy day begins. The Qaryana contains a list of the daily readings arranged according to the yearly calendar. These Sacred Scrolls of the Order of Nazorean Essenes consist of edited Aramaic writings of the early vegetarian Nazoreans (preserved by the Mandaeans), the Coptic scrolls of the Nag Hammadhi Library (hidden in antiquity by persecuted Gnostics), and the recovered writings of the vegan Manichaean sect (rediscovered in Medinat Madi Egypt, Turfan, & China). Here is a link to the Nazorean Lectionary:
"But they (Nazoreans) hold that the scriptures
of the Pentateuch were not written by Moses, and maintain that they have
others...
The Nazorean "Old Testament" is found in the first portion of the Qaryana and is composed of various chapters from the Ginza Rba and a few from the Secret Teachings. These passages are those that contain events and saying before the ministry of Yeshu (Jesus) began - from Adam to John the Baptist. Nazoreans never use the Jewish Christian Bible as an authoritative source since Gnostics "claim that these (Bible) Books are fictions, and that none of these customs were instituted by the fathers." The 3 works composing the Nazorean Old Testament were different than the books composing the Jewish and Christian Old Testaments, and are called:
The main Yeshu branch, of which the Order of Nazorean Essenes is affiliated, continued to add to the Nazorean canon as well as to qualify some of the Old Testament laws by decrees made by the two heads of the ages (Rish Daria) - Yeshu and Mani. Yeshu began by nullifying some of the outdated and gender biased purity laws contained in the Nazorean Old Testament. (This action was falsely reinterpreted by the Pauline branch of Christianity as applying to a nullification of the Jewish Old Testament Laws. Yeshu, however, never nullified the Jewish Law since he never thought it valid to begin with. He only nullified some of the purity laws taught within the Nazorean Old Testament taught in the Ginza.) These valid innovations were passed on by James, Miryai, and Elxai. Mar Mani, when he assumed leadership of the Nazoreans as a new Head of an Age (Rish Dara) also decreed some innovations to the purity laws that had again become encumbered by his time. This caused conflict with the old school of Elchasaites where he had been living, even as Yeshu's innovations caused consternation for the old school of John the Baptist in his day. All Nazorean Old Testament (Mandaean) Texts, common to both the Yeshu and Dosithian branches of Nazoreanism, take one to the season of Yalda in the liturgical calendar of the Order of Nazorean Essenes, 1 chapter/section per day. The remaining two 49 day seasons of the liturgical calendar are composed of public texts produced by the Yeshu-Miryai-Mani lineage after the split and are unrecognized by Mandaean remnants of the Dostai branch but greatly appreciated by the followers of Yeshu (Jesus) and Mani (Manes). (see the Qaryana, Qyamta thru Soubra seasons) NAZOREAN NEW TESTAMENT
49 DARIA ESOTERIC SCROLLS The Nazorean School of the Prophets and Prophetesses also studies various "esoteric" or priestly scrolls too complex and mystical to be read aloud in public meetings. These entail not only secret scrolls from the pre and post Yeshu era, but also various texts from other spiritual paths. Most of the Nag Hamadhi Library texts and other popular "gnostic" writings fall under this section. The 343 chapters of the texts of the Qaryana are supplemented by these other inspired, or partially inspired, Secret, Secondary and Tertiary texts which are are studied within the School of the Prophetesses during the 49 Liturgical weeks of the Nazorean Year. Included in this program are the esoteric secret priestly commentaries and scrolls never meant to be read in public meetings PDF BOOKS
Online PDF Books: Students of the gnosis might benefit from various pdf books written or collected by the Order.
Nasaraeans*, meaning, "rebels," who forbid all flesh-eating, and do not eat living things at all. They have the holy names of patriarchs which are in the Pentateuch, up through Moses and Joshua the son of Nun, and they believe in them - I mean Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the earliest ones, and Moses himself, and Aaron, and Joshua. But they hold that the scriptures of the Pentateuch were not written by Moses, and maintain that they have others. (Epiphanius, Panarion 1:19)*Nasaraeans does not mean rebel, but Truth Keepers. "A thousand books will he preserved.. . they will come into the hands of the just and the faithful: [the] Gospel and the Treasury of Life, the Pragmateia and the Book of Mysteries, the Book of Giants and the Epistles, the Psalms and [the] Prayers of my lord, his Icon and his Revelations, his Parables and his Mysteries... How many will be lost? How many will be destroyed? A thousand lost, another thousand recovered; for they will find them at the end. They will kiss them and say: "O Wisdom of Greatness, O Armor of the Apostle of Light! When you were lost... where did they find you?"... And you shall find them reading them aloud, uttering the name [of each book] among them: the name of its lord... and the name of those who gave all [for it to be written], and the name of the scribe who wrote it. . . and of the one who punctuated it..."(Mani, Homilies 24.13 25.19) |
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