Page "Manichaeism" Paragraph 35

Manichaeism claimed to present the complete version of teachings that were corrupted and misinterpreted by the followers of its predecessors Adam, Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus.

Accordingly, as it spread, it adapted new deities from other religions into forms it could use for its scriptures.

Its original Aramaic texts already contained stories of Jesus.

When they moved eastward and were translated into Iranian languages, the names of the Manichaean deities ( or angels ) were often transformed into the names of Zoroastrian yazatas.

Thus (" The Father of Greatness ", the highest Manichaean deity of Light ), in Middle Persian texts might either be translated literally as pīd ī wuzurgīh, or substituted with the name of the deity Zurwān.

Similarly, the Manichaean primal figure " The Original Man " was rendered " Ohrmazd Bay ", after the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda.

This process continued in Manichaeism's meeting with Chinese Buddhism, where, for example, the original Aramaic karia ( the " call " from the world of Light to those seeking rescue from the world of Darkness ), becomes identified in the Chinese scriptures with Guan Yin ( or Avalokitesvara in Sanskrit, literally, " watching / perceiving sounds the world ", the Chinese Bodhisattva of Compassion ).