In particular, I was intrigued by the Manichaean religion, which I hadn't heard of before. The focus on the struggle between good and evil, light and dark, must have rung particularly true during these times when the Silk Road was full of dangerous groups trying to take control of unguarded areas.
When looking for more information on Mani and his ideas, I stumbled upon this website about the New Manichaean Church:
This group concludes that the origin of evil is not what's taught in today's religious traditions. Instead, "the creator-God is ultimately responsible for the evil and suffering in the world, because that God is itself evil."
"If you use power over another person to convert them, you have not followed the Neo-Manichaean path. 'Power' does not just mean physical force but any unfair influence, such as superior wealth, social pressure, or even taking advantge of a person's loneliness by taking them into the family of the Church."
It's interesting to see a new-age revival of such an ancient tradition (carried by the Sogdians), especially one which traveled thousands of miles, endured relentless persecution, and survived innumerable translations of its texts.
