Besides inventing and/or populariazing the Pythagorean Theorum, Pythagoras was also known as a great spiritual leader of his day
What we learn in school about Pythagoras is that he was a brilliant mathematician. What we don’t learn (as often) is that he was also quite spiritual.
Pythagoras was born in 570BCE on the island of Samos. His mother was from Samos and his father was Phoenician. After leaving Samos, his travels took him to Southern Italy, Egypt and Babylon.
Pythagoras as religious leader
Although no writings attributed to Pythagoras still exist, it is known that the religion he founded believed in metempsychosis as a principal tenent. Metempsychosis is transmigration of the soul, or reincarnation. Greeks did not believe as a whole in reincarnation, so he must have learned it on his travels. Supposedly, Pythagoras himself recalled several of his own past lives.
Another principle was that the soul was immortal (supposedly a fallen piece of the divine which was trapped in a human body – this belief was also held by the Gnostics). Once the soul became purified, it no longer needed to come back. He also held that there was a universal life form inhabiting all animals and humans.
A contemporary of Buddha
Pythagoras’s followers, called Pythagoreans called life after life the “wheel of birth” which closely ties to the Buddhist term “samsara” or cyclic existence. Buddha Shakyamuni and Pythagoras were contemporaries. Because his followers believed in reincarnation, they also treated slaves fairly and saw equality between men and women because you never knew if in your next life you were to be born a slave or a member of the opposite sex.
Pythagoras' followers
His religion had many followers, both men and women, who set up their community in Croton. There were two groups – an outer group and an inner group. The inner group was taught the secret teachings and was expected to divest themselves of all their worldly possessions and maintain a vegetarian diet. Supposedly, Pythagoras was an advocate of a vegetarian diet not only because it was wrong to kill another being, but because he believed eating meat disturbed the humors inside the body. (Even as late as the 1700’s a Pythagorean was another name for a vegetarian). It is also said that his followers were pacifists. And all his followers were admonished to remain silent unless it was necessary to speak.
Pythagoras and mathematics
Of course Pythagoras also put great belief in numbers; teaching that all things could be broken down into numbers and their relationships. This was the key to understanding the world. He also applied numbers to musical intervals and music.
Pythagoras and wisdom
Pythagoras was, it is said, the first person to use the word “philosopher”; in referring to himself and anyone else who loves wisdom. Great thinkers like Plato were influenced by him and Plato, himself also believed in reincarnation.
The death of Pythagoras
History tells us that Pythagoras and his followers were thrown out of Croton by a rival group and in one of the fights, Pythagoras, himself was killed. Pythagoras’s wife and daughters assumed the responsibility for teaching the inner circle of his followers after his death.
References:
Reincarnation: A Study of Forgotten Truth - By E. D. Walker; Published by The Theosophical Society - 1904
www.bookrags.com/biography/pythagoras
