Xuastvanift

Xuastvanift is a manichaean text written in the Uyghur language containing a prayer of repentance. The text is important for understanding the lives of Manichaean communities in the East and confirms many concepts found in other Manichaean, Christian, and Muslim writings. The name Xuastvanift comes from Uyghur and means "confession" or "repentance". This text was widely used by Uyghur Manichaeans and has been preserved in many manuscripts and fragments.

It was translated to English by Jes Peter Asmussen in 1965

It had a possible influence on Buddhist texts of the time.

Content
The text has 15 parts and an ending. Each part has a confession of a sin and a plea for forgiveness.


 * 1) The text opens with a cosmogonic battle between good and evil forces. Qormusta Tengri, along with his five sons, led the forces of light against Ahriman, who represented darkness. Due to the mixing of light and darkness, people forgot the difference between them and started believing that God gives both life and death or that Qormusta Tengri and Ahriman are brothers, which is not true. This is the first sin confessed in the text.
 * 2) The second sin is disrespect towards the Sun and the Moon, also known as the "Two Palaces of Light". Specifically it focuses on people viewing them as being simply parts of the material world rather than divine entities.
 * 3) The third wrongdoing confessed is harming the fivefold god. There are two fivefold gods. The first being ones linked to the material world and the second being ones linked to light and the spirit. By harming living beings, the earth and plants you are harming the deities.
 * 4) The fourth sin is about going against the Buddhas or prophets, also including the heads of the Manichaean church. The confession also includes a sin against the "Elects", who were the clergy took special vows. This sin is about not believing, rejecting, contradicting, or withholding their preaching.
 * 5) The fifth sin is about harming living beings. This is distinct from the third sin which is about harming the gods through harming beings. This is a repentance for directly harming living beings. It lists many harms and introduces a concept of being indebted to those you harm.
 * 6) The sixth sin has a large list of negative human actions including lying, slandering, and witchcraft.
 * 7) The seventh sin is falling for false teachings. This leads to worshipping demons that pretend to be deities. It specifically mentions animal sacrifice as a sin.
 * 8) The eighth sin is a departure from the qualities of a devoted Manichean. It lists specific virtues and their corresponding deities: love is the sign of the god Zurvan, faith is the sign of the Sun and Moon, fear is the sign of the fivefold god, wisdom is the sign of the Buddhas.
 * 9) The ninth sin is the breaking of the ten commandments that the regular Manichaean hearers followed.
 * 10) The tenth sin involves the Manichaean prayer. Mani instructed his followers to pray to God four times a day. It covers two elements: forgetting to pray which represented negligence, and having an impure heart while praying.
 * 11) The eleventh sin in the text about not giving correctly to the Manichaean church. It presents a spiritual dimension to the internal experience of giving. Followers should give a "sevenfold present" to show their commitment to their faith. Xuastvanift talks about angels gathering the light of gods, like Xroshtag and Padvaxtag. This light needs to be used right in religious practices. Using donations wrongly, like for personal gain, giving to the wrong people, or for bad purposes, is like stealing divine light. This confession includes asking for forgiveness from God, showing how important this act is in Manichaean beliefs.
 * 12) The twelfth sin is when a Manichaean breaks the fasts called vusanti. These fasts occur for 50 days every year and were mandatory for Manichaean hearers. However it acknowledges that there are valid reasons for breaking the fast such as needing to maintain property or personal needs.
 * 13) The thirteenth sin involves failing to participate in the Manichaean confession held in the community every Monday.
 * 14) The fourteenth sin was about Manichaeans not participating in the celebration of the "Yimki" festivals in honor of the seven heads of the Manichaean church, as well as the main Manichaean holiday called "čaydanta" or "Bema" in Greek.
 * 15) The fifteenth sin was committing actions, words, or thoughts that pleased the demons. These sinful deeds caused the "light" of the Manichaean teachings to flow from the believer to the evil spirits. Confession was necessary for this sin.

Lines 143 to 160 contain a short list of sins and a request for forgiveness.

Other websites

 * Scroll from the British Library at the International Dunhuang Project