Manichaeism, founded in 3rd Century (C.E.) Persia, was long considered "Christian heresy" prior to being recognized as its own religion. It was established by Mani, who was known as the "Apostle of Light". At the age of 24, Mani received orders from heaven to proclaim his doctrines and spread his message, thus forming his own religion. He viewed himself as the last in a long line of prophets; Zoroaster, Buddha, and Jesus, among others. Mani's religion, from the beginning, sought universality, and one of the main goals of the Manichaean Church was converting others through extensive missionary work. Churches were established in Gaul, Spain, Egypt, Persia, and Northern Africa. Manichaens were persecuted by both the Roman Empire and the Christian Church, and the religion soon disappeared from Western Europe. Persecution also remained prevalent in Persia, until the center of Manichaen religion was shifted to modern Uzbekistan during the 10th century.
The ideology of Manichaeism is similar to that of any dualistic religion; it taught that worldly life is painful and evil, and that salvation is available through self-actualization and special knowledge of spiritual truth. Manichaean works center around a large body of mythology - all stories that feature a fallen soul tangled with evil matter that becomes liberated by the spirit (spirit was associated with knowledge, and matter was its opposite, similarly to the teachings of the Buddha). The soul of a righteous person would return to Paradise after death, while the soul of a person who "persisted in things of the flesh" would continue to be reborn (again, very similar to Buddhist ideology).
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