Kalkin – Messiah, Savior, Buddha Maitreya

So far, out of several thousand prophecies given by Cayce, eight have not come true, including the one concerning the return of the Messiah in a material body. This figure is commonly associated with Jesus. However, Cayce never stated that Jesus would reincarnate again; that interpretation was added centuries earlier by Christian commentators.

It likely concerns someone else, another Soul that became embedded in the material environment and, for our present era, chose long ago the place where its expression in the material world would be fully aligned with the will of God.

The combination of two texts written by authors from such distant traditions stems from the desire to present knowledge to readers raised in various religions—knowledge sometimes rejected or ignored due to upbringing or social conditioning. According to Google analytics, the M.I.N.W. website is visited not only by Polish regression practitioners aware of their previous incarnations, but also by English-speaking Buddhists from Japan and individuals of many other faiths from distant lands.

The selected fragments from Edgar Cayce were taken from a website describing Jesus’s earlier incarnations in the material world. Extracted from context, these statements may today appear chaotic or interwoven with later interpretations from other people. Link.

Below are several translated fragments from Cayce’s readings (automatically translated).

The so-called “second coming of Christ” (which in fact will not be a second but merely one of His many descents into matter). When Cayce delivered his prophecies concerning major geological changes expected to occur around the year 2000 AD, he stated that they would begin sometime between ’58 and ’98, “when His light will be seen in the clouds.” (3976–15).

Christ (the Soul) will be born again as the Messiah foretold by the Hebrew prophets in order to establish the so-called “Throne of David” on Earth.

This reading of Cayce indicates that the Messiah will appear in the heavens (in energy) and return to Earth in a physiological form. Cayce declared that He would reside in the world once again:
“as given, for a thousand years He will walk and talk with people of every zone. At first in groups, later in masses, and they shall reign from the first resurrection for a thousand years; so shall it be when great changes come.” (364–8).

Cayce identified the time of the Messiah’s coming as “by 1998.” (5748–5). He also mentioned that no one knows the exact day of the event, because it cannot be known “to His enemies—until the planet Earth becomes fully subjected to His will, His power.” (5749–1). Cayce suggests as well that the descent of the Messiah will not be a future incarnation of Jesus, because Jesus has already transcended the need to appear again in a physical incarnation.

Complementary to Cayce’s information is an article by Mr. Mohan G.K. The author gathered and interpreted knowledge about the Messiah originating from completely different cultures. The figure of the Messiah exhibits certain common features, and as demonstrated, it may in fact be the same Soul incarnated on Earth, whose coming has been foretold in various countries and religions.

Drawing on access to karmic memory—both my own and that of several other individuals—I wish only to correct a few points mentioned below.

Vishnu was one of the first angels incarnated on Earth who, possessing significant powers of manifestation, redirected human prayers toward himself. In other words, he declared himself a living god.
From the list of Hindu “living gods” mentioned below, none of those who appeared after Vishnu were his incarnations. One may also assume that the Messiah will not be one either.

In the context of knowledge about reincarnation and the manipulations conducted over millennia on spiritual teachings in India, what is partly attributed in the text to the incarnated angel known on Earth as Vishnu (and supposedly his later earthly incarnations) in several aspects touches upon the impersonal God of all Souls, the God who once brought into existence the immortal Souls of angels such as Rama, Shiva, and Vishnu.

Today we shall study the nature of a being who embodies all forms of love and wisdom in the aspect of the direct manifestation of the Creator. The manifestation of the Creator Himself—God known in Sanskrit terminology as Brahma—consists of beings called Celestials, Gods of Heaven, or Sons of Brahma. The embodiment of such a being is known in the East as Vishnu, the preserver, benefactor, defender, and guardian of living creatures.

The celestial being known as Vishnu incarnates in human form in order to save the world from decay. The known earthly forms of the Son of Brahma who have descended to Earth to rescue declining humanity are: Matsya (the Fish), Kurma (the Turtle), Varaha (the Boar), Narasimha (the Man-Lion), Vamana (the Dwarf), Parashurama (Rama with the Axe), Ramachandra (Rama the Splendid), Balarama (Rama the Strong), Krishna, and Buddha. One can observe a continuity from ancient Vedism, through Brahmanism, and into Buddhism. The teaching of Gautama Buddha is simply a continuation of the lineage of the Sons of Brahma.

Both Vishnuite traditions—those of Rama and of Krishna—agree that the next incarnation of Vishnu should descend to Earth when the world is on the brink of collapse. Hindu tradition names this incarnation Kalkin…

Buddhist tradition likewise maintains that when the world is threatened by decline and corruption, another Buddha will come to Earth, known as Maitreya…
According to the Persian Zoroastrian tradition, at the end of time the Prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) will come again as Saoshyant to help defeat all evil.

Thus, three great spiritual traditions agree on the arrival from the heavens of a divine messenger as a Savior. The idea of a son of God/Brahma descending as a Savior in a time of worldly collapse is neither new nor exclusively Christian.

Jews await the Messiah.
Christians await Christ.
Devout Muslims await the Imam Mahdi.
All these terms refer not only to the same idea but also, fundamentally, to the same being whose arrival is universally anticipated.

The idea of Kalkin predates both Judaism and Christianity. Each of these religions found it appropriate to adopt the concept of a coming future Savior.

The end of the world is expected to reach a state of repulsive godlessness. All these traditions agree on this point. Unfortunately, none of them provide an exact date for the Savior’s arrival, though all describe the conditions in which He will appear. It is difficult to determine whether the world is already sufficiently corrupted for the Savior to descend, or whether it is not yet bad enough to require His descent.

Each great religion claims the figure of the Savior as its own. And since each religion foretells His coming, the Savior must be considered a practitioner and embodiment of all these traditions.

It is worth noting that both Christianity and Hindu tradition refer to the figure of the Savior as the Son of God—an embodiment of the Supreme Divinity.

Buddha Maitreya is the embodiment of benevolence, friendship, love, grace, and goodwill. The name derives from maitri, denoting the fundamental quality of Enlightened consciousness. Maitreya is a perfect embodiment of what the Christian Gospels call “love.” This being also embodies mercy and compassion and is even named the merciful bodhisattva (enlightened compassion). His coming is foretold for a time when the world becomes so corrupt that people no longer remember the religious law, when they forget the Dharma (which can be understood as the law of conscience or nature). Maitreya will come to restore the natural order and teach the principles of the universe. This being is to be born as the son of a Brahmin, indicating birth into a priestly family.

The Savior described by Buddhist seers is beautiful and gentle, with a great body of golden hue. His voice is soft, pure, and penetrating. He is dressed in robes and jewels of princely dignity. He is often seen holding a vessel containing the water of life, which serves to cleanse the impurities of those who turn to Him and is also a spiritual remedy. The Savior comes to spread mercy, piety, righteousness, and peace. Maitreya is a model—better yet, an archetype—of the perfect human being of the future. Every Buddha embodies omniscience and supreme wisdom. The future Buddha is envisioned in golden robes. He will appear as soon as the appropriate moment arrives.

One may view it as follows: since the next Vishnu is to appear after Buddha under the name Kalkin, and the next Buddha is to be named Maitreya and come for the same purpose, they must inevitably be the same being. Thus, we can easily see that the expected figure is Kalkin-Maitreya.

The descent of Vishnu under the name Kalkin is foretold in the Hindu tradition for a period in which humans will live short lives—sometimes only fifty years—being frail and weak. Power will lie in the hands of those strong in body but weak in spirit. Even medicines will become ineffective. According to prophecy, subjects will be burdened by excessive taxation. It is worth recalling that ancient principles forbade taxes greater than a tithe—ten percent of income. The poverty of those end times will bring injustice and dishonesty. Physical beauty, hairstyle, clothing, empty speech, and material abundance will be valued above all. People will scarcely be able to recognize that other goals even exist, let alone strive to achieve them.

The world of the end times is one in which spiritual qualities fade; a time when virtue, truth, holiness, forgiveness, and goodness disappear. All ailments, madness, and diseases will afflict societies. Infidelity, homosexuality, bestiality, and deceit in all forms will take precedence. Priests will be distinguishable only by external markings.
In such a time, Kalkin will be born.

The incarnation of Vishnu named Kalkin will decisively end this corruption and restore the ancient spiritual order across the entire planet. The mission of both Maitreya and Kalkin encompasses the whole Earth. Kalkin comes also to save and liberate all those who, despite the surrounding corruption, remain pure. He brings to the righteous freedom from the conditions of earthly existence. Pure human beings will dissolve the remainder of their karma and ascend to the heights of enlightenment, to the realms where God’s saints dwell—they will enter a heavenly state of being. Therefore, Vishnu who is to come is called the Savior or the Liberator. The work of His descent is to cleanse human hearts and minds until the complete, crystalline purity of the human being is restored.

When Kalkin has completed the entire work of purifying humankind, a new phase in the cyclical development of the world will begin, a new era called the Golden Age. Then those in whose hearts God dwells will multiply. First, however, Kalkin will traverse the Earth on a galloping white steed. The decline of the present world was already evident in the time of the Buddha, that is, about two and a half thousand years ago. Jesus too foretold the end of this period of the world’s existence and the coming of the reign of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Apparently, however, the world is not yet in a sufficiently repulsive state for Vishnu’s intervention to be immediately necessary.

The idea of Vishnu (more precisely: Viśnu) is a reflection of the archetype lying deep in every human heart, the archetype of the “desire to fulfill wishes and longings.” The word Viśnu denotes both the one who sustains and the one who fulfills wishes. The root “ISZ” suggests meanings such as desire, wanting, seeking, wishing, and offering good wishes. We also find sustaining, care, and protection as probably the first of wish-impulses that arise. Other spiritual traditions call this primordial wish “divine longing.” The purification of the desiring and passionate nature appears to be the uncovering of the original wish at the core of the human being. Finally, when all the countless wishes, desires, and passions have been laid bare and completely exhausted, what emerges is the very nature of wanting itself, which is referred to as “divine longing” or “fulfillment.” The Savior is the one who helps exhaust all desires and attain their true essence. Vishnu can also be understood as a model of the perfect human being, who is the expression of all divinity on Earth.

Another aspect of this subject is the meaning of the terms Messajah or Mesjeh, which in their etymology point to the Message of God, a Communication from God, from Yahweh. The Messiah is a being who comes bearing God’s Message for humanity. Such a being may be called an Advocate or an Envoy of Heaven, yet the function remains the same. The person foretold as the one who is to come is precisely the Savior, the Messenger, and the Advocate of God on Earth. The common translation of the word Messiah as “the Anointed One” points to a King, Priest, and Prophet united in a single person. The Anointed One is a being anointed by God Himself (Yahweh) to hold this threefold dignity. The essence of the Messiah combines three high offices and honors. The Messiah has the gift of prophecy and is truly a Prophet. He also has ruling authority and is truly the reigning King of the Heavenly Kingdom, which appears on Earth together with Him. The Messiah is also the Priest of God. He is not a priest of any particular religious system, but a priest of God.

A great Spiritual Power accompanies such a holy figure. The word Christ (Christos) also points to a concept such as Charism (Karamat), meaning both great power and spiritual might. The ability to work miracles is a sign of Grace-Charism. The Anointed One is a being who has at His disposal great strength and power. This very kind of power is also an attribute of Vishnu.

Dharma is called the Son of Brahma (God). The embodiment of Dharma is the figure of Vishnu, who is also the descent of God Himself, an Avatar. The term Dharma means Law or Covenant, as well as cosmic or divine Order and Harmony. The word Rita fully conveys the sense of Dharma. An Avatar brings, within His mission—which is God’s Message—always one and the same essential teaching: Sanathana Dharma. This is the Eternal Law of God. “I have not come to change the Law; I have come to fulfill the Law.” The Avatar always lives in such a way that His life fulfills God’s Law at its highest level. His life is a typical example of conduct in the light and spirit of God.

The Messengers of God who have already been may be called the Messiahs of the Past or the Christs of the Past. The figure who is to come is the Messiah of the Future. However, in the realm of spiritual realities, the very essence or nature of the Messiah exists continually, even when it does not take a particular visible embodiment on Earth. You may call this essence the Spirit of Christ or Sanathana Dharma. Its nature, however, remains unchanged. Maitreya is the Messenger and the Anointed One, the Christ who is to come; for Buddhists He is the future Buddha, and for Hindus He is the future incarnation of Vishnu. The Sufis call the very essence of this figure the Spirit of Guidance. Its embodiment is called Rasul, which means Prophet.

In the text I have made slight abridgements.

s_majda writes:
27/10/2009 at 22:50

Qur’an 10:57 – O people!

There has come to you an admonition
from your Lord,
and a healing for what is in the breasts,
and guidance, and mercy
for the believers.

These magnificent words refer not only to the immediate context in which they were spoken, but also to a situation that may arise at any time.

With such thoughts in mind, the author of this article attempted to present, plainly and clearly, what his soul received as the gift of Truth.

Muslims all over the world believe in the coming of a great leader and guide. They call him Mahdi (the Master). The Prophet Hazrat Muhammad [Mohammed] indicated that Hazrat Mahdi would appear for the good of the Muslims:
4. in the final decades of the fourteenth century after the Hijra [Hegira] (this century has just ended).
5. It will be a period of unrest and materialism. The values contained in the Qur’an and their practice will be ignored, and people’s hearts will turn toward the world and its attractions — toward other gods, using the wording of the Qur’an.

The prophecy continues by stating that Hazrat Mahdi will restore the Truth, and that Islam
6. will become the religion of the entire world.

The signs concerning the time and person of Hazrat Mahdi, numbering more than 150, were transmitted by the Prophet Hazrat Ali, the fourth Caliph and guardian of Sufi secrets. These signs became a carefully guarded treasure of the Imams, the successors of Hazrat Ali, and formed part of the prophetic tradition of Shi‘a Islam. In the 17th century CE, the renowned scholar Md. Baqir bin Md. Taqi al-Majlisi al-Isfahani (1627–1698) compiled them in his extensive work Bihar al-Anwar, written in Arabic. Two Persian translations containing the Prophet’s prophecies about Hazrat Mahdi exist, titled Khas al-Anwar and Bihar al-Anwar (Volume Twelve).

Several selected prophecies of the Prophet of Islam are presented here.

The Master, commonly known as Hazrat Mahdi, will be seen by those who seek him (p. 240; all page references in this article refer to the Persian translation of Bihar al-Anwar). Imam Mohammad Baqir suggests that only those who know the true meaning of “I” will believe in Hazrat Mahdi. The Holy Prophet called him Abu Abdullah (Father of those who seek God). Much is said about the name of the Father of Humanity in Bihar al-Anwar. He is also called: Saheb-e-Asr (Master of the Age), Wali-Allah (Friend of God), Khalifat-ullah (Deputy of God), “for surely he will observe the commandments of Moses, Joseph, Jesus, and Muhammad” (p. 330).

Other signs mentioned by Mohammad Baqir include:
Many followers of Muhammad will, for a long time, be unaware of his coming. This holy Spirit will wear two garments: trousers and an outer robe (239). A robe of orange color will be cut in such a way that the outline of his back will be clearly visible (292, 777). His orange garment will spread light among people (245). His clothing will be made of light (229).

His hair, thick and dark, will reach his shoulders (25). His eyebrows will meet in the middle (242). Other characteristics include: a broad and luminous forehead (263); a straight nose with a slight indentation at its root; a mole on his cheek reminiscent of Hazrat Moses; shining like a star; teeth with a gap between the two front ones (243); black eyes (777); medium height, compared to the average height of Jews (239). His facial complexion is described in various ways: shining like a golden-brown coin; so bright that it is impossible to determine its true color (263–293). The overall impression: full of compassion, dignity, and sublimity (239).

His attitude toward everyone will be brotherly, as if he knew them all well (314).

He will love all Prophets and saints; whatever he wills shall come to pass. He will overcome all adversities (242).

His devotees will find protection (342). People will find in him the embodiment of heavenly bliss (341).

He will be a refuge for the defenseless and the rejected (235).

Morning and evening he will distribute A’b-e-Tuhur Kausar (spirituality; 343).

Divine light will manifest from him (252).

He will not establish a new religion (6).

All knowledge and the essence of all religions will blossom in his heart like a new garden (238).

He will fill the Earth with peace. He will be a friend and counselor (287). He will point out the Straight Path (352).

The state of the world is summarized in many striking images that aptly describe our times. Most of humanity will be like animals—without discernment (349). Evil and bad habits will be commonplace. There will be earthquakes, and people will die without cause. People will treat his coming as sport and gossip, yet it will be the Truth (909 – Hazrat Imam Ghazali).

Hazrat Mahdi will free people from bondage and remove falsehood from their minds (287); he will destroy devils and heal madness (329).

Around the place where he will dwell, signs of abundance and prosperity will be visible in heaven and on Earth (294).

People will gather where he lives like clouds and will flow there like rain (389).

He will not live in Mecca (240); his rule will begin in the East, and his banner will circle the entire world (306).

Not only humanity but also Angels will be with him (274).

He will possess the collective wisdom of all the Prophets (115).

Later, the Prophet of Islam, addressing an unseen audience from the future, said:

“O Muslims, know that the One whose birth is hidden from you is your Master. HE IS THE MAHDI.” (292)

Taken from Satya Sai Baba.org

s_majda writes:
10/10/2011 at 13:01

The Steps of the Messiah

I received a question: They say that Ari was the Messiah, son of Joseph. What does this mean?
(Fragments from: http://kabbalah.socjum.pl/forum/temat/12/70)

My answer:
The force of correction called “Messiah son of Joseph” (Mashiach ben Yosef) makes preparations before the “coming” (revelation) of the force of correction known as the “Messiah son of David” (Mashiach ben David), because Joseph points to the sefirah Yesod, while David points to Malchut. Yesod prepares its influence upon Malchut in order to correct it.

The Messiah is not a human being. It is not Ari himself, nor his physical body, but his teaching, his method, his force. It is a soul that acted within the collective system of souls in order to pave the way for the Light and, with its help, illuminate all souls.

This soul stands on the path of Light from above downward and connects the higher, corrected souls of past Kabbalists with those souls that have not yet been corrected. It receives the Light in its higher vestment, adapts it to our souls, and then distributes it through the degrees of the upper worlds, bringing the Light closer to our souls.

Therefore, beginning with Ari and onward, the mass correction of souls began.

These stages are called the Steps of the Messiah and signify the development of the method and practice of correction toward its final realization. We are the first to realize the final stage of correction, because we use the force of the Messiah son of Joseph in order to achieve the revelation of the force of the Messiah son of David and to correct Malchut itself—the assembly of all souls—by means of a common screen.

I received another question: Will a person with a special soul appear in our world who will realize the method of correction and be called the Messiah son of David?

My answer:
It is possible that the Messiah son of David is not a specific personality, but our collective desire, which will ultimately realize this action. We are not interested in the individuals who lived in this world—Ari, Baal HaSulam, or even Rashbi—but in their influence within the collective system of souls. It is about a soul that will reveal to us the Light of correction.

We too act in a similar way: together we create a system of souls in order to draw the Light from above and pass it on to all uncorrected souls. We perform an action that already relates to the Malchut of David.

s_majda writes:
21/06/2012 at 11:23

Intentions Concerning the Messiah That Should Be Healed Before Writing

• belief that the Messiah is God, will be God, or will be another who declares himself the son of God
• belief that the Messiah will grant anointing to become God, a Goddess, or a son of God
• searching for the Messiah by oneself or by one’s soul
• one’s own imaginings of the Messiah as a person and of his powers
• contacting the Messiah or his soul
• drawing others toward the Messiah or toward false Messiahs
• yielding to Messiah symbolism and codes
• listening to stories about the Messiah
• telling stories about the Messiah
• speaking of others as if they were the Messiah
• walking the path of the Messiah
• walking the path indicated by the Messiah
• offering help and support to the Messiah
• fleeing from the Messiah
• accepting or receiving help from the Messiah
• using the Messiah instrumentally
• imitating the Messiah
• founding one’s own sect and exploiting the Messiah’s deeds
• practicing idolatry toward the Messiah
• fighting against the Messiah
• fighting for the Messiah and for him personally
• being a member of the Messiah’s immediate family
• being a personal acquaintance of the Messiah
• remaining in the vicinity of the Messiah
• protecting the Messiah
• being a personal enemy or opponent of the Messiah
• gathering armies against the Messiah, preparing for war against him
• cursing the Messiah
• expecting sexual relations with the Messiah
• expecting the Messiah’s blessings and their effects
• expecting an audience with the Messiah
• appropriating Messiah symbols
• wearing Messiah symbols
• impersonating the Messiah

Naturally, all these themes should be healed in a similar way separately in relation to God Himself.

s_majda writes:
01/02/2013 at 22:01

The Hidden Imam
http://www.psz.pl/Koncepcja-dwunastego-imama-szyickiego-w-szyizmie-dwunastkowym

Ryszard Adamowicz

The concept of the Twelfth Shi‘ite Imam, the Mahdi, in Twelver Shi‘ism in Iran and its use in Iran’s domestic and foreign policy;

Transcription: the work uses a simplified transcription for Persian (Farsi) words adapted to Polish. The terms used in the work that come from foreign-language studies remain in the transcription used by their respective authors.

In this paper I will attempt to outline the concept of the Twelfth Shi‘ite Imam, the Mahdi, and show how it influences political life in today’s Iran.

The word imam (Pers. emam) comes from Arabic. In its most common meaning it denotes a person leading a Muslim service. This does not have to be a cleric educated in a religious seminary. It is enough that the participants of the service recognize this person’s leadership and competence.

Further, imam may be used with respect to a person presiding over a given Muslim community. Then such a person becomes a kind of institution: for resolving neighborhood disputes, issuing judgments in contentious matters in accordance with the principles of Islam. The community chooses its imam by consensus, by conventionally recognizing his qualifications.

The earliest use of the word imam refers to a divine authority whose role is to guide humanity. This applies both to persons and to material objects that fulfill such a function: the Qur’an calls Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob imams, and it also refers to the Torah as an imam. In total, the word imam appears in the Qur’an 7 times in the singular and 5 times in the plural. The holy book of Islam itself is referred to in the earliest Muslim legal literature as an imam. There it means, among other things, a sign, a guideline, a model to follow, a leader.

The term imam takes on decidedly more meanings in Shi‘ism. As Składankowa says: in Shi‘ite Iran the word imam, in addition to those already mentioned, has an extra meaning and carries a whole range of associations with the most important religious concepts. Shi‘ites call imams not only those who lead prayers in mosques, but also, and above all, those successors of the Prophet Muhammad whom they consider the rightful inheritors of his mission.

There were twelve such successors. The first of them was Ali, the cousin, son-in-law, and companion of Muhammad. After Muhammad’s death, Ali gathered around himself supporters of the view that authority over the Muslim community should remain within Muhammad’s family. Shi‘ites also believed it should be transferred by inheritance by divine appointment. In Arabic, this community is called Shi‘a (the Party of Ali). The center of the proto-Shi‘ites at that time was the city of Kufa.

Each subsequent Shi‘ite imam was the son of the previous one. They provided spiritual leadership for the Shi‘ite community, which then stood in opposition to the more numerous Sunnis, who supported the system of the caliphate, that is, taking power over the umma through election.

Shi‘ite imams are surrounded by extraordinary veneration bordering on divinity. As Składankowa writes, imams who rise above ordinary human measure are praised in sermons, religious treatises, and narratives about the first centuries of Islam. Listening to them, one has the impression that the several centuries that have passed since the imams’ deaths are for listeners a very short period, that everything happened not so long ago, while at the same time the content of these accounts resembles old legends, much older than Islam.

The twelve holy imams are attributed superhuman traits and attributes. According to tradition, the imams are infallible intermediaries between God and people.

The imams are perfect in every respect. They were created from pure brightness, from the pre-eternal farr. After Muhammad they are the most perfect of people and surpass in dignity not only other prophets but even angels. None of them committed even the smallest sin in his life, stained himself with any wrongdoing. They were always pure; even, preachers maintain, they were born already circumcised.

As Kulayni wrote in the collection Usul al-Kafi, they are also the proof, the testimony of God (hujja), which the world cannot be deprived of at any moment, and as God’s testimony they are the light of God (nur), His witnesses (shahada), the gate to God (bab), and signs (alamat). They have close connections with angels, were endowed with the Holy Spirit, and above all are the most knowledgeable. They know not only the apparent but also the true meaning of the Qur’an, and they know the hundredth, the most magnificent Name of God.

As Arjomand writes: in the closing paragraph of Jafri’s work, he states: the imam is free from sin and error. The imams are those whom God has purified from all impurity and made absolutely pure [Qur’an 33:33], and they are a protection for people, as the stars protect the inhabitants of heaven. In this community they may be compared to Noah’s Ark: whoever boards it receives salvation and reaches the gates of humility.

The birth of each imam was accompanied by miraculous, extraordinary events, and the death of each of them was martyrdom, heroic, and is to this day mourned in Shi‘ism.

According to Shi‘ite tradition, one of the imams always remains on Earth as God’s testimony. In our times, this is to be the twelfth of them, the Mahdi.

The epithet Mahdi means “instructed, inspired, taught, enlightened, chosen” (Eng. the guided one). He is also called “the awaited” (al-Muntazar), “the proof, testimony (of God)” (al-Hujja, hojjat Allah), “the one who will return” or “the one who will set things right” (qa’im), “the master of time” (saheb-e zaman / emam-e zaman), “the absent, hidden” (gha’ib), “a member of the Household of God” (Ahl al-Bayt Allah).

According to the definition given by Yves Thoraval in the Dictionary…, Mahdi literally means “well guided (by God).”

Information that the last of the twelve imams would be precisely the Mahdi appeared long before him. The Qur’an does not mention the Mahdi. All the knowledge we possess comes from the hadiths. In Muslim tradition we can find 657 hadiths about the Mahdi. Already the first of the imams foretold his coming. He is described there as follows:

– He will be a member of the Household of the Prophet (389 hadiths)
– He will be a descendant of Imam Ali (214 hadiths)
– He will be a descendant of Fatima al-Zahra (192 hadiths)
– He will be born in the ninth generation after Imam Husayn (147 hadiths)
– He will be a descendant of Imam Zayn al-Abidin (185 hadiths)
– He will be a descendant of Imam Hasan al-Askari (146 hadiths)
– He will be the twelfth among the imams called ahl al-bayt (136 hadiths)
– Transmissions will speak of him (214 hadiths)
– His life will be prolonged (318 hadiths)
– His concealment will be prolonged (91 hadiths)
– With his appearance Islam will prevail (27 hadiths)
– He will fill the world with justice and righteousness (132 hadiths)

Muhammad al-Mahdi (Abu’l Qasim … ibn Hasan ibn Ali; or: Abu’l-Qasem Muhammad b. Hasan al-Askari) was born in the middle of the month of Sha‘ban, in AD 868, in Samarra.

As researchers claim, the mother of Imam Mahdi was a dark-skinned Nubian slave. The names attributed to her are Nargis, Rayhana, Sawsan, and Maryam. The first three names are also names of plants and flowers. Such names were given to slave women, which seems to confirm the information stated at the beginning of the paragraph.

Legendary and hagiographic accounts say that she was the granddaughter of a Byzantine emperor who was a disciple of the apostle Simon. According to these sources, Nargis was captured by Muslims and sold in Baghdad to a man who belonged to the entourage of the tenth imam, Ali al-Naqi. In Samarra, Ali al-Naqi, in a clairvoyant trance, recognized in her the future mother of the Mahdi and gave her in marriage to his son Hasan, the future eleventh imam.

Nargis herself is said to have experienced, even before she was captured, visions in which both Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, asked her to allow herself to be captured by Muslim troops and to convert to Islam, because she had been chosen to live an extraordinary life.

The father of the twelfth imam, Hasan (al-Hadi, al-Naqi), was born in 846 in Medina. Two years later he moved to Samarra. He married Nargis at the age of 22. As the eleventh imam he struggled with persecution by the caliph al-Mu‘tamid, living confined by the caliph in a military camp. Hence he is also called al-Askari (Arab. “of the barracks”). He is said to have been poisoned in Samarra in 874.

Probably due to persecution by Abbasid caliphs, Nargis’s pregnancy and the birth of Muhammad al-Mahdi were shrouded in secrecy. The father showed him only to his forty closest disciples, then hid him. In addition, to protect Muhammad’s life, he spread the report that his servant Saqil was pregnant by him. The caliph carefully monitored, through his emissaries, Hasan al-Hadi’s every move. When the eleventh imam died, al-Mu‘tamid seized al-Hadi’s servant. For the next year there were no signs of pregnancy. The servant Saqil was released. According to Shi‘ite doctrine, in this way the twelfth imam was hidden from the world, and the caliph and most of society at the time were convinced that the eleventh imam had died without offspring. The Shi‘ites, however, believed that he had not died childless.

According to Shi‘ites, at the moment of his father’s death the twelfth imam Mahdi entered the period of the Lesser Occultation (Arab. al-ghaybat al-sughra), also called absence (Pers. ghaybat), which lasted the next 70 lunar years, until 940. This term denotes the period in which the Hidden Imam was to contact the world and guide the Shi‘ite community through his four representatives or deputies (Pers. wakil), who served as intermediaries between the Shi‘ite community and the Mahdi and were also responsible for administrative matters of the umma such as collecting donations; they also performed miracles to prove to those not fully convinced of the Mahdi’s existence that they were mistaken.

The last of these intermediaries was Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri. According to the tenth-century theologian Ibn Babويه, in 940, six days before al-Samarri’s death, he conveyed the last message from the Hidden Imam, in which the Imam asked that Samarri appoint no successor, because for Shi‘ism the period of the Greater Occultation (Arab. al-ghaybat al-kubra, or al-ghaybat al-tamma “complete occultation”) had just begun, and from that moment there would be no communication with the Mahdi until God so decreed.

Shi‘ite tradition gives four reasons why it was necessary for Imam Mahdi to pass into the state of Complete Occultation. They fit perfectly into the then almost conspiratorial climate of Shi‘ism. The Mahdi might never have existed, but that is precisely what constituted the uniqueness of Shi‘ism: the existence of a “holy mist of mystery” accessible only to the chosen. From today’s Eurocentric point of view, one may discern in these reasons an excellent manipulation.

According to Shi‘ite doctrine, Imam Mahdi was completely hidden from people in order to:

– protect the Mahdi’s life,
– gain independence from unjust earthly authorities,
– subject the Shi‘ites’ faith to a test,
– and a secret, final reason will not be revealed until the end of Time.

The period of the Greater Occultation is also called the Greater Absence and is to last to this day. According to Twelver Shi‘ism, the Hidden Imam lives among people, shares their joys and sorrows, observes events on Earth, and is also present each year in Mecca during the Hajj pilgrimage. During this period there is no direct way to contact the Imam.

It seems that the Shi‘ite community accepted, almost without debate, the validity and legitimacy of this state of affairs, simply believing.

Nevertheless, some claim that the Mahdi contacts them in dreams and visions. Formerly it was said that he lived in the distant city of Jabulsa or Jabulqa, and moreover that there were people who managed to reach it. As it turned out (with the development of geography), such cities do not exist.

Today the cult of the Mahdi in Twelver Shi‘ism is still visible. Under the mosque in Samarra there is a cave. In one of the rooms there are doors separating part of the space from the rest. These doors are called Bab al-Ghayba (the Gate of Absence). They were installed by order of the caliph al-Nasir in 1209. The space behind them is called the Grotto of Concealment (Pers. sardab). In its corner there is a well called the Well of Concealment. It is said that Muhammad al-Mahdi went into occultation through this very well. The faithful gather there and pray for his return.

According to tradition, this will not occur at the wish of believers, but by God’s command. Only He knows the date when the Mahdi will appear again on Earth. The coming of the Master of Time will be dictated by the emergence of specific circumstances and announced by specific signs.

Researchers and scholars of Islam are divided on this. In studies on the Mahdi’s coming we find very long lists of conditions that must be met for the twelfth imam to return, and even longer lists of signs that are to announce the event. Some are necessary; others do not necessarily have to occur. Since this is not the main subject of this paper, I will cite here only certain points on which scholars agree.

First, experts in Muslim eschatology agree that before the Mahdi’s coming the world will experience a convergence of circumstances in which it is not difficult to see ancient, pre-Islamic dualistic motifs present in the territory of today’s Iran:

evil will prevail over good,
the world will be filled with injustice, tyranny, harm, and suffering,
living according to Qur’anic principles will be a source of shame,
truthful people will be perceived as liars, while liars will be regarded as truthful,
Islam will be an unwanted religion,
falsehood will be above truth,
Muslims will be divided,
the general situation in the world will be so bad that a person would not want to be born at all, and on seeing someone dying would wish to take their place and die.

Further, studies contain long lists of signs, concrete events that are to announce the imam’s coming and the Day of Judgment. Some sources do not describe certain signs at all, while others appear more frequently.

On one point all sources agree: all these events must occur simultaneously so that Muslims have no doubt that “the time has come.”

Another shared element among scholars’ views is the existence of five main, the most important signs that are to announce the Mahdi. What is intriguing, however, is that while the number five is common, different scholars designate different sets of five as the most important.

Thus, the portal inter-islam.org does not distinguish signs from circumstances in which they are to appear and writes: Signs that will announce Imam Mahdi:

The main sign
There are many signs that will announce him; a general and very important sign is that he will come at a time of great disputes, intense arguments, and violent deaths, when people are afflicted by upheavals and feel great fear. Disasters will fall upon people in such number that a person will not be able to find shelter to hide. Before his coming there will be battles and wars. When one ends, another will begin, spread, and intensify. People will be so affected that they will wish to die. It is then that Imam Mahdi will be sent.

– A double eclipse in Ramadan (also mentioned elsewhere as a simultaneous eclipse of the Sun and the Moon – R.A.)
– A battle in Mina
– The Euphrates River will reveal a mountain of gold
– The uprising of Sufyani

Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, in his article for the Encyclopaedia Iranica, writes:

According to reports, the Mahdi is to return accompanied by many eminent figures. Above all, in Shi‘ite tradition one of the main companions of the Mahdi is Imam Husayn and his 72 soldiers from Karbala. Another dignitary is Jesus (which is also recorded in Sunni traditions about the Mahdi). Also to return will be the 313 soldiers who fought at the side of the Prophet Muhammad at Badr, and 313 accompanying angels. Together they will fight once again the battle of Badr. It is foretold that all 11 imams and prophets from ancient times will return, including Muhammad.

A very important point appears to be the formation, for the time of the final struggle against injustice and evil, of an army of volunteers composed of the wronged and the embodied (jay…). At its head, besides the Mahdi, will march a heavenly figure named Fear, who will terrify the enemies.

As scholars of Islam write, the imam’s forces are to fight several battles with the forces of evil. In this way God will take revenge on the wicked. Injustice and ignorance will be destroyed once and for all, and the world will be filled with respect, justice, and wisdom. All religions will unite into one: Islam. In this way the world will be renewed and prepared for the Day of Judgment.

As mentioned, there are many narratives about the circumstances and signs of the end of the world and, before it, the Mahdi, and they are often contradictory. History also knows a large number of false Mahdis, people who claimed to be the Hidden Imam. For Polish readers, the best-known of them is probably Muhammad Ahmad Ibn Abd Allah, the nineteenth-century leader of the Sudanese uprising, immortalized by Sienkiewicz in In Desert and Wilderness.

It can be stated that Mahdism, that is, the cult of Imam Mahdi and the eschatology connected with his return to Earth, is present in contemporary Iranian politics and plays a significant role, already at the level of the dogmas of the political system.

There are few unambiguous and impartial scientific analyses of this issue, and even fewer confirmed proofs that Iran’s authorities are guided by the Mahdi cult in their political decisions. Far more can be found in the form of commentary and suppositions concerning the role the Mahdi concept plays in Iran’s politics.

This is a difficult and delicate subject. Nevertheless, I will try to show in the further part of the study what opinions the academic and political-science community expresses on this topic and what suppositions exist (which must remain suppositions due to the characteristic ambiguity of views on the Iranian political scene among various persons and circles).

In 1953 an organization called anjaman-e emam-e zaman (Pers. Organization of the Imam of Time) was founded in Iran, later called anjaman-e hojjatie mahdavie (Organization of the Testimony of Mahdism). This organization based its foundations on the theory that it is possible to accelerate the Mahdi’s appearance on Earth, and thus bring peace and justice, by human actions themselves, which contradicts orthodox Shi‘ite Islam, which holds that people are not capable of doing this.

A dangerous theory is the claim that for Imam Mahdi to bring peace and justice to the world, complete chaos must first prevail, and that Hojjatie should increase that chaos.

Under the Pahlavi dynasty, Hojjatie persecuted Baha’is and communists as the main enemies of Islam. In cooperation with the Shah’s political police, SAVAK, regular round-ups of Baha’is were organized and Baha’i centers were destroyed. Soon the Baha’i faith was banned.

After the 1979 revolution, when the Pahlavis were overthrown, Khomeini created the first “government of God” on Earth, and parliamentarians were to render their service to the “Lord of Time,” that is, to the Mahdi. Nevertheless, Hojjatie, representing a non-orthodox approach to Shi‘ite Islam, did not accept the system of velayat-e faqih, that is, rule by a single Shi‘ite cleric over the whole society, arguing that Khomeini had no right to claim the privilege given to the Mahdi, and that such a system of power in Iran would slow the coming of the Master of Time. Probably after Khomeini’s speech on 12 August 1983, Hojjatie was dissolved.

Since 2005, voices have increasingly been heard that Hojjatie has rebuilt its position in Iran. One of the first Iranian intellectuals to warn about this was Ahmad Tavassoli, a former collaborator of Khomeini. He said that circles of the highest authorities in Tehran’s corridors had been “kidnapped” by Hojjatie. Former President Khatami, in a speech in September 2005, referring indirectly to people connected with Hojjatie ideology, called them shallow-thinking traditionalists with Stone Age backwardness. A week before the presidential elections in 2009, Hadi Khamenei, brother of the former president, said that unfortunately most media in Iran are in the hands of people connected with Hojjatie, who use so-called “soft war” to propagate their ideas.

One person allegedly closely linked with Hojjatie is Iran’s then-current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who often referred to the Mahdi in his speeches and actions, but never admitted membership in the organization.

In September 2005, Ahmadinejad sponsored the first annual International Conference on the Doctrine of Mahdism in Tehran. The conference presented Mahdism as an ideology that can form a basis for peace and unity among religions. In his opening remarks at the conference, Ahmadinejad said that the Islamic Republic and the system of velayat-e faqih are tasked with preparing for the rule of a world government, because the Imam (Mahdi) governs the universe.

A year later, at another Mahdism conference, Ahmadinejad said that “the idea and viewpoint of Mahdism are ideal for managing and guiding the world,” while other participants at the 2006 conference described Mahdism as an exact plan and strategic policy, a “political system and worldview.”

As Mohebat Ahdiyyih writes, the conference context implied not only that the Mahdi’s return is inevitable, but also that it can be accelerated by human actions. As an example of applying Mahdism, speakers cited the Iran-Iraq war, when combatants were motivated by love for the Mahdi’s representative, Khomeini, to give their lives.

President Ahmadinejad publicly prayed for the Mahdi’s swift coming both during his first speech at the UN and at the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Doha in December 2007, and Ayatollah Jannati, a member of the Guardian Council, spoke of Iran’s president as if he were inspired by God.

Some commentators warn against implementing Hojjatie’s assumptions by the current establishment in Tehran, indicating that Iran’s nuclear program (or rather the atmosphere around its alleged development), as well as the Tehran–Tel Aviv dispute, or actions by Iranian special services to “cause turmoil” in the region (supplying weapons to the Taliban, supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, or the regime in Syria), of which they are accused, may be precisely the pursuit of those initial goals, that is, deliberately increasing chaos in the world in order to accelerate the Mahdi’s coming.

Not only Western commentators are concerned about this. A well-known fact is the dispute between Ahmadinejad and the Shi‘ite clergy, which until Ahmadinejad and his circle came to power had much more to say in Iran. It is even suggested that Ahmadinejad might be capable of a coup and of overthrowing the Islamic Republic of Iran because it is not necessary for the Mahdi’s return and only stands in the way. Ahdiyyih, senior Iran analyst at the Open Source Center, one of US government agencies, believes that Ahmadinejad’s messianism should be treated and observed with the utmost seriousness.

Log in to reply

s_majda writes:
23/01/2016 at 08:33

Chakravartin is a Tibetan universal ruler whose reign is to inaugurate a Golden Age lasting a thousand years.

s_majda writes:
14/09/2016 at 21:51

Astrology and Messianism. An interesting lecture: “The Sky Map and the Age of Aquarius.” For two thousand years, proclaiming the second coming of the Messiah concerned the arrangements of stars and constellations in the Heavens, not the birth of a person in the physical sense.
The movement of the equinox points is a way of reckoning time used in Judaism, in Anglo-Israelism, and also by Rastafarians.

Log in to reply

s_majda writes:
04/06/2018 at 21:59

Based on biblical descriptions and Talmudic stories, Mark Podwal developed a “Jewish Bestiary.” I found in it several references to the Messiah of the end of the world, juxtaposed with the animals discussed in the book. Namely:

• The Sacrificial Ram vividly resembles the ram worshiped by the Egyptians, whose karma brought it under the butcher’s knife. “As for the horns: the left one sounded on Mount Sinai. The other will announce the coming of Mashiach.”
• Balaam’s donkey, which also brought Moses’s wife out of Egypt. It will serve Mashiach, who, according to the prophet, will arrive riding on a donkey.
• When the Temple was destroyed, the snail-like Shamir disappeared. Only Mashiach knows its hiding place.

Tradition holds that Moses himself will serve Ziz at the messianic feast. It is also widely known that when Mashiach comes, a new Torah will be given, which will abolish the current dietary restrictions.

Log in to reply

s_majda writes:
15/07/2018 at 14:07

In the Library of Alexandria, all writings found on ships and among merchants were copied. In this way, a likeness of the Messiah, Kalkin, together with an informational note written by some clairvoyant looking far into the future, came to be stored there. Such a figure once aroused the interest of people of many religions. The image would have been valuable for searching for a person in a specific time-period and place. Yet there are likely drawbacks to publishing such information:

1. Safety.
2. Misidentification with a figure for whom some have waited a long time. An example is the many men in the twentieth century who believed they themselves were the Savior, especially while visiting the Holy Land. Being an amateur Messiah affected several Jews, and on the basis of their actions a sect of Hasidim arose.
3. A shift in the Messiah’s Soul’s orientation, which may choose a different form, with different physical traits, or even a different gender than that indicated by the image. If the image depicts a Semitic man with a beard, millions such men live in the Middle East; but what if he were beardless? And what about the variant of a dark-skinned Hindu?

Log in to reply

s_majda writes:
28/07/2018 at 22:05

Jesus’s Parousia arouses fears, as does Muhammad’s announcement of the coming of the Mahdi. For a long time, Souls of the Islamic world have feared various new restrictions the Mahdi may impose. For example, women’s souls worry whether chadors (Link), promoted after Muhammad’s death, will not become their only affliction. Others worry who compiled and promoted the Qur’an according to their own ideas rather than according to Muhammad’s words.

The announced next earthly incarnation of Jesus, the so-called Parousia, may confuse women’s minds. For example, in Poland up to 2018 bishops “married” the deceased Jesus to 300 women (Link). Thus Jesus has here an exceptionally large harem, in which one wife falls, on average, per county. The same bishops, together with Mr. Duda, made that same Jesus the King of Poland, therefore in each county there now lives some contemporary queen of ours. After Jesus is born again…, please complete the thought yourself.

s_majda writes:
26/08/2018 at 22:57

But there are also men with such enormous obesity—how does that relate to Pachamama then?… Maybe men want to have those qualities of the Buddha and think he was fat like those figurines?
— Małgorzata Krata

You are writing about Buddha Maitreya, the one who is to come.
— S. Majda

Małgorzata: Ahh hehe, that he will be obese.

S. Majda: Maitreya’s obesity is similar to those people in the USA who have 100–200–300 kg of excess body weight. Such individuals have problems with the endocrine glands and a lack of sexual life. This is not a straightforward path to God.

Log in to reply

Małgorzata Krata writes:
17/11/2019 at 22:09

“To find the Creator and Father of the entire Universe is a great undertaking.
But once He has been discovered, it is impossible to reveal Him to everyone.”

— Plato

Opublikowano: 13/12/2025
Autor: Sławomir Majda
Kateogrie: Jewish and other messiahs

Comments