DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2017.11.24435

Abstract: The subject of this research is the adopted in the Buddhist philosophy concept of “interceession” – the factors that impede the attainment of Buddhahood, the "negation" of which leads a person to enlightenment through the Buddhist practice. The article explicates the classification of "intersession", accepted in the Mahayana tradition that determines the two main types: "cover of kleshas" and the "cover of the knowable." The innate "cover of the kleshas" is defined as "coming from the eternal" view, recognizing the "truth of self-existence." This is accompanied by a set of kleshas and associated factors generated on its basis, as well as their seeds and the "cover of kleshas" acquired in life – in other words, false representations acquired in life with kleshas and other factors generated by them. "The cover of the knowable" is defined as a complex formation, consisting of the imprints of kleshas, certain types of obscuration and sinfulness. The work analyzes in detail their composition and describes the methods of practice assigned for their elimination.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2019.3.29618

Abstract: This article examines the tradition of temporary abstinence from food – fasting in Judaism. Its establishment relates to the evolution of Ancient Jewish community and the state, which took place over the course of many years. Certain disasters and tragic occurrences in life of the community or an individual served as the circumstances for fasting; there is also a system of permanent fasts for commemorating global scale events. The tradition of temporary abstinence from food in Judaism rarely become an object of research among the modern scholars, except several articles that carry a rather informative character. The article describes the dependence between the emergence of temporary abstinence from food and social, political, historical, and other circumstances. The author determines the role of fasting in life of a religious congregation. The conclusion is made on the objective factors of the appearance of fasting tradition in Judaism. The article can be valuable for further research of food traditions in Judaism, as well as in educational courses on Judaism.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2023.9.43767

EDN: WISYBN

Abstract: The subject of this work is methodological approaches to the study of religiosity in posttraditional conditions. Posttraditionality is a "fluid modernity", an "elusive world" is an era of mobile and indefinite cultural forms. In the conditions of posttraditionality, social reality is filled with a multitude of phenomena of indeterminate religiosity – quasi-religions, pseudo-religions, crypto-religions, etc., which cannot even be uniquely identified as religious within the framework of classical approaches, but to neglect their religious elements would mean incompleteness of their study. The purpose of this study is to propose a methodological approach to the study of religion and religiosity in a post–traditional society, which allows explicating its borderline, hidden and implicit forms. This goal requires and implies the formation of an appropriate understanding of religion and religiosity, this approach is foundational. The study proposes a methodological approach based on the synthesis of phenomenological, structural-analytical, hermeneutic approaches. Its basis is the distinction between religiosity as a function of internal experience and religion as institutionalized practices and ideas. Religiosity is a constant function of a person's connection with the subjective ultimate foundations of his existence, which serves as the foundation of a person's sense-setting and goal-setting, conditioning his self in those components that are connected with reality inaccessible to experience and reason. Religiosity expressed externally of a person collides with the totality of objective and objectified structures of reality, and the intentions of other people. The interaction of specific living conditions of people and their intentions generated by religiosity lead to the construction of practices that, through their habitualization, signification and institutionalization, form religion as a social institution. The intended result of the proposed approach can be described as a project of "cartography" of infinitely diverse phenomena of the religious life of modernity in its hidden, shadow forms – where the religious is implicit, borderline – but at the same time functional from the point of view of ultimate goal-setting.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2018.1.25164

Abstract: The object of this research is the theological-mystical doctrine of Gregory of Sinai, emerged within the centuries-old monastic practice of “mental prayer”. His works made a fundamental contribution into the systematization and conceptual comprehension of this teaching in Byzantium and medieval Rus’, significantly affecting the development of the religious-philosophical culture. The subject of this research is the Gregory’s active efforts on distribution of the revived by him doctrine of silence and sobering as a true meaning of the monastic life far beyond Bizantium, as well as his contribution into the hesychast revival in the XIV century. The main chapters of the indicated teaching are the following: philosophical-anthropological views of Gregory of Sinai; his concepts of astonishment and fervor; analysis of passions from the perspective of Plato’s three parts of the soul; classification of the virtues; representation on the specificity of personality of pedagogue, orator, and philosopher; concept of spiritual feeling; admonition for Hesychius; theological demarcation of the subjects of spiritual contemplation.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2021.6.35276

Abstract: This article analyzes the works of A. V. Kartashev not as a historian, but as a Christian theologian. In the attempt to determine the sources of theological views of A. V. Kartashev on the Chalcedonian Definition, the author established his ideological connection with V. S. Solovyov. The analysis of general religious ideas of V. S. Solovyov and A. V. Kartashev underlines particular importance of the idea of divine-humanity for the latter. Analyzing Kartashev's reflections on the Chalcedonian Definition, the author distinguishes the three theological directions in his interpretation: doctrine of the Church, doctrine of Ecumenical Councils, and doctrine of Biblical Revelation. The heritage of the prominent A. V. Kartashev, namely his works on the history of the Church, currently enjoy great popularity.  However, there are yet no critical studies on most of the theological views of A. V. Kartashev, as well as the research of the origin of these ideas. A detailed analysis of each vector of comprehending divine-humanity in the texts of the theologian reveals contradiction of the views of A. V. Kartashev to the patristic Orthodox theology. It is demonstrated that leaning on the interpretation of the Chalcedonian Definition of V. S. Solovyov, A. V. Kartashev developed the ideas that contradict the doctrine of the Orthodox Church. In his works, the author introduced and proliferated the new Christian theology, which replaced previous traditional foundations of the Orthodox theology. The acquired results contribute to further critical studies of the works of A. V. Kartashev.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2019.12.30236

Abstract: Currently in society do not subside the questions related to the problematic of state-confessional relations. In this dialogue, the religious groups are guided by the sacred texts, among which is the literature of apocalyptic genre. The presents in such literature political discourse has a potential for impacting political theology of the separate religious groups and development of state-confessional relations. The object of this research is the Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic literature. The subject is the political discourse in Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic literature viewed in the context of historical circumstances of its emergence. For achieving the set goal and formulation of arguments, the author examines the meaning of the term “apocalyptic literature” and briefly presents the thesis on its genesis, analyzes the political discourse in Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic literature along with its capacity to influence the state-confessional relations. The article demonstrators that apocalyptic literature appeared as a response to social injustice and imperfection of political institutions of ancient times, and thus, contains the political discourse. It is noted that in the examined apocalyptic texts the political discourse is not homogenous, so the people’s behavior as a response to sociopolitical injustice is defined by such sources that affect the formulation of political theology of this group. Therefore, the analysis of apocalyptic texts, magisterial for a particular religious group, allows seeing the political discourse of this group, as well as forecasting its responses upon political injustice, oppression, impairment of rights and freedoms.  

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2020.6.33116

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the phenomenon of prediction of time of Messiah’s arrival in Islam. This phenomenon led to a range of consequences in the Islamic societies, which can be divided into several categories of sociopolitical and religious nature. The goal of this research consists in examination and analysis of religious consequences caused by prediction of the date of arrival of the Savior in Islam. The relevance of this work is substantiated by the fact that the theme of belief in the Savior has always been of utmost importance and dynamically present in the Islamic tradition; currently it stirs even greater interest. The scientific novelty consists in making emphasis on the consequences of prediction of time of the arrival of Mahdi, as well as comprehensive inductive conclusion and application of historical approach to the topic. The research results demonstrate that prediction of the date of Savior’s arrival in Islam had such consequences, as appearance of false messiahs, establishment of new religious sects, theological disputes, spread of despair among those who expect arrival of the Savior. It cannot be regarded that predictions equally contributed to the emergence of each of the aforementioned consequences, but their role is reflected in a range of the key, favorable or complementing factors. However, the fact of their impact is beyond the question.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2022.4.37800

Abstract: The subject of the study is the historical grounds for the use of instrumental music in Christian worship, acting as arguments in favor of the permissibility of the presence of modern worship music in liturgical practice, taking into account its inherent genre and style features. Modern worship music is performed as part of the divine service by the so-called "glorification group", whose composition is formed like a secular pop or rock band and in the vast majority of cases includes performers on electronic and percussion instruments. According to supporters of the inclusion of genetically secular music in the composition of worship, a number of testimonies (primarily sacred texts) indicate that there is no prohibition on the use of some special style of music, musical instruments, as well as dance movements within the framework of worship. The novelty of the research lies in a comprehensive analysis of the studies of musicologists and the evidence of sacred texts, which allowed us to substantiate the conclusion about the nature of the liturgical music of the temple and synagogue period. As a result of the study, the predominant role of monotony, improvisational and instrumental accompaniment in temple worship was established. At the same time, a gap in the continuity in the use of instrumental music between the temple worship and the liturgy of the early Christians was revealed – not a single confirmation of the use of instrumental music in the synagogue liturgical tradition was recorded. The provisions set out in the article are intended to lay the theoretical foundations for further study of the musical tradition of early Christianity as a necessary condition for understanding the diverse trends in modern liturgical music.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2019.1.27212

Abstract: This article examines the specificity of the religious form of social consciousness from the historical and meta-historical perspectives. It is defined by the distinctive features of Modern Time, which in one way or another are continued with the postmodern period. The enlightenment of Marxist criticism of religion is fair but incomplete, as it considers only sociopolitical factors of existence and functions of the religious form of activity and consciousness. A question is raised on the meta-historical content of religion that consists in the inherent to it experience of preconceptual cognition of the world. It carries a status of the ontologically established moral attitude, which in the abstract-unexpanded form underlies the establishment of the historically given sociality. The key method and principle of research is the logical-dialectic examination, unfolded historically and specified in essential regard. The main conclusions of the conducted research consist in reasoning on the marginalization taking place in the conditions of postmodernism of the enlightenment cultural-historical paradigm, reactualization of the rudiment naturalistic religious ideas, the historical role of religion as the prime genesis of supernatural cosmos of human existence, the need for re-structuralizing the glossary of theological discourse and conceptual revelation of the proto-experience of religious consciousness.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2020.4.32578

Abstract: The subject of this research is the analysis of critical approach of the Ottoman scholar Ahmed Efendi Hayati towards attempts to determine precise time of the arrival of Messiah (Mahdi) based on the material of a brief treatise “Mistakes of the Predictors Mahdi’s Arrival”. The object of this research is the concept of “determination of time” commonly used in Islamic philosophical-theological literature for localization of time of arrival of the Messiah. The author demonstrates that the relevance of this topic is substantiated by the fact that it remains extremely important in the Sunnism and Shisim doctrines. The article examines such aspects of the topic as the appearance of signs of Mahdi’s arrival and the Second Coming of Jesus, the Last Judgment, and sources commonly referred to in Islamic tradition for determining the signs of arrival the Second Coming. The following conclusions were made: Islamic theologians determined the time of this event leaning on the doctrinal positions of Sunnism and Shiism; Hayati assumed that time of appearance of the evidence of the Last Judgment and day of arrival of the Messiah is impossible to predict by divination, astrology and horoscope, and that the absence of records of precise time of the event in the Muslim tradition is another proof of failure of the attempts to determine the time of the Second Coming. The novelty consists in the fact that the author is first to analyze the views of Ahmed Efendi Hayati upon the problem of determination of time of Messiah’s arrival.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2019.6.30234

Abstract: The subject of this research is the Indo-Tibetan tradition of Buddhist meditation, viewed in the context of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist texts, as well as Tibetan oral tradition of Dharma transmission, realized in the past by Je Tsongkhapa, and currently by the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and other Tibetan lamas. The goal lies in preliminary consideration of Buddhist mediation as a phenomenon of the Buddhist spiritual practice, an important element of practical functioning of the Teaching of Buddha, determination of the place of mediation in the Noble Eightfold Path, characteristics of its concept and types. The author uses hermeneutic approach that leans on the systemic view of the functional aspect of the Teaching of Buddha, as well as hermeneutic understanding of meditation phenomenon, etymological and contextual analysis of meditation in functional relation with Buddhist ethics and philosophy. The main conclusion consists in the thesis that meditation in Buddhism is one of the three basis practices (morality, focus, and wisdom), as well as an essential technique in exercising and developing higher wisdom, and therefore a quintessential means for realization of Dharma. The Tibetan tradition practices two types of meditation – analytical meditation with such its variety as reflective meditation; as well as unidirectional focus.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2023.2.39749

EDN: DWNGOU

Abstract: The subject of the research is the approach of analytical psychology to understanding the content and meaning of mystical experience represented by religious and esoteric traditions. The purpose of the presented article is to reveal the content, directions and results of the conceptualization of religious-mystical experience within the framework of the psychological theory of religion characteristic of analytical psychology, as well as the justification of the universalist paradigm as the basis of this conceptualization. The authors consider in detail the mystical aspects of both analytical psychology itself and the psychological theory of religion formulated within its framework. Special attention is paid to the role of individual mystical and religious experiences of C.G. Jung himself as the empirical basis of this theory. The main conclusions are the theoretical provisions that, unlike religious studies, analytical psychology, involving theology and new religious movements in dialogue, aims to solve the practical problem of resolving the spiritual crisis of modernity on the basis of a new interpretation of mental health achieved with the help of appropriate psychoanalytic practices leading a person to revive his mystical experience, which has a syncretic and trans-confessional nature. A special contribution of the research is the substantiation of the position that the approach of analytical psychology to the phenomenon of religious-mystical experience correlates with the universalist paradigm in religious studies, according to which all mystical traditions, both religious and non-religious, contain certain invariants. A generalization is formulated according to which the result of the implementation of this kind of universalism on the part of analytical psychology was the erosion of the classical Christian mystical tradition, at least its Western Christian version, which led to the replacement of the latter with new mystical practices in line with new religious movements.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-8728.2017.3.21975

Abstract: The object of the research in this article is Sufism as Muslim mystical tradition. The Research is carried out in the context of comparative analysis of the philosophical and religious traditions of the world according to the three essential attitudes: 1) the substance of the Absolute; 2) the intersubordination of ideal and phenomenal beings; 3) the methods of mystic phychopractice. Sufism is complicated and contradictory philosophical and religious world view. Antinomical mystics of Islam is characterized as balancing between the immanent and transcendent poles in the perception of Absolute reality, a mixed solution of the issue of intersubordination of ideal and phenomenal beings, variety of mystical phychopractices.Methodology of the study: comparative philosophical religious analysis. The main method of the study: comparative analytical. General scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, generalization, individualization, historical narrative.The most influential mystical tradition of Islam is transcendental immanent (antinomical) Sufism aimed at “union” with the Absolute (tawhid). “The Doctrine of Love" contributed to the formation of the integrative mystical tradition. The methods of Sufism phychopractice are love-trust to the Absolute (dhikr, tawakkul), meditative contemplation of the Absolute (fikr), disciplinary asceticism (halva), psychosomatic exercise (sama). The result of mystical practice is transfiguration of the person, who is endowed with moral qualities of the Absolute.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2018.12.28510

Abstract: The article is devoted to the coverage of the education system in the Gyuto tantric monastery, the introduction into scientific circulation of a complete list of subjects and names of texts, with their identification by the collected works of Indian and Tibetan authors. The fundamental sources and commentatorial literature are identified. The history of the monastery is presented. On the basis of textual analysis, the fundamental role of the texts of Zhe Tsongkhapa in the formation of the formation of this monastery is revealed. It is established that in order to understand the subjects studied in the monastery, they rely on the training manuals compiled by Gyuchen Kunga Dondrub, the founder of the monastery. When working with the materials, a combination of a classical textual approach and contextual analysis was used, taking into account the Buddhist commentary tradition. Methods of analytical comparison, structural and substantive classification were also used. Textual methods of accurate description of the structure of education are used to solve the tasks. The novelty of the article is due to the introduction into scientific circulation of a previously unexplored education system and its training manuals for obtaining Buddhist degrees in Tantra "Kyerimpa" and "Nagrampa". This will make it possible, when working with Tibetan-language texts stored at the Center for Oriental Manuscripts and Woodcuts (CVRK) and the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (IWRS RAS), to identify and put into circulation, both directly sources under these names, and the literature commenting on them, created in Tibet and, possibly, in Buryatia. The study is of particular importance for determining the training program at Tantric faculties in the datsans of Buryatia, about which almost nothing is known, except that they belong to the program of the Gyuto and Gyume monasteries of Tibet.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2022.2.36748

Abstract: The article is devoted to a little–studied topic in Russian humanities – the issue of "changing the image" [1] of gods, religion and theology in the works of the German writer and thinker Ernst Junger (1895 - 1998). In Russia, this author is better known as one of the ideologists of the conservative revolution. However, in the post-war years, E. Junger began to pay considerable attention to issues of religion and the church. And this is not by chance. E. Junger believed that in a new technologized society, the essence of a person is suppressed, he ceases to feel the true values of life, transferring them to external ones. According to the writer, it is possible to find a way out of this situation only by relying on the help of three great forces: art, philosophy and theology. However, by assigning such an important mission to them, E. Junger makes a fundamental reservation – the old religions and churches based on faith can only fight the consequences of the Enlightenment project today. The struggle against the "chimeras" and Leviathans of modernity is only possible for new forms of spiritual life and new spiritual practices that bring a person closer to himself, and which we define as transcendence. Starting with "Going into the Forest", through "Heliopolis" and "Eumeswil", E. Junger gradually finds their "image". According to the writer, he and, consequently, the "image" of the new world will depend entirely on the quality of human freedom. Then the "divine, desiring to appear in the highest degree of spirituality" will no longer need masks of animals and people. The new theology will be distinguished by a new quality of language in which a person can talk about the gods – poetry is such for E. Junger. In this sense, the work of the "last knight" is characterized by the highest humanistic pathos, and he himself is undoubtedly the "prophet" of another Reformation.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2017.8.23683

Abstract: On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the question of God and the essence of faith is not removed from the agenda. Luther, who initiated a debate with the Roman Church on indulgence and repentance, was not going to enter into battle with her, but it happened and has lasted all these centuries. The current celebration of this anniversary takes place in the context of a search for dialogue between churches. This is a new ecumenism, the ecumenism of personalities, ready to borrow each other's experience. The Russian Orthodox Church remained aloof from this confrontation, but traveled along its twisty path in the twentieth century from being subject to persecution to entering a time of a pro-Orthodox consensus: the majority of the population consider Orthodoxy an important element of Russian identity. But this consensus exists in the conditions of pluralism of ideologies and creeds. There is complexity in relation to confessional norms within the ROC. We still do not have a single Old Believer identity. Different understandings mutually deny the Orthodox for each other. The ideal of normality is treated differently by representatives of theology, philosophy and religious studies. Also, the question of the possibility of synthesizing science and faith, which is especially acute in the era of the "knowledge society", is also ambiguously interpreted. How is the problem of this kind being discussed by the Europeans? As the main source, the author uses the discussion between the Protestant theologian R. Bultman and the existential philosopher K. Jaspers who caused public resonance.R. Bultmann proposed to update the approach to the interpretation of Christian dogma, calling it the concept of demythologization based on the fundamental ontology of M. Heidegger. It received an ambiguous evaluation from contemporaries and prompted discussion from K. Jaspers. These materials have been published. They represent the main source of this article. The author relies on the methodological principles of historical and philosophical research, the methodology of sociology of religion and philosophical religious studies, hermeneutic analysis. The discussion touches on questions of faith and Revelation, faith and language, faith and truth, scientific and existential understanding of history. Attention is drawn to the qualitative level of this polemic, demonstrating the profound meaningfulness of the discussion and the very dialogic truth that M. Bakhtin, M. Buber, N. Lossky, E. Levinas, and K. Levi-Strauss proclaimed and the will to communicate.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-8728.2016.1.17759

Abstract: The article deals with the problem of Orthodox fundamentalism. Despite the importance of this topic, it was not given due consideration within Russian sociology. That brings to life numerous myths, stereotypes and media clichés. For this reason the article is primarily focused on the issues of theory and methods. It raises the issue of defining and modifying of religious fundamentalism discusses the relation between religious fundamentalism and orthodoxy, the correlation between religious fundamentalism and religious renovation, shows the sources and ideological basis of the Orthodox pseudo-fundamentalism.In order to meet these challenges it was necessary to address modern scientific concepts of fundamentalism and the spiritual heritage of Russian religious and philosophical thought of the 20th century. Work was conducted in parallel with this on the conceptualization of religious fundamentalism as an ambivalent phenomenon that does not exclude religious modernism and other opposite religious ideologies and world-views. On the basis of this the following conclusions were made:1) Orthodox fundamentalism is a complex multilevel and multifaceted phenomenon. Its phenomenology, structural and functional features and manifestations depend not only on the specific character of Orthodoxy as an original trend in Christianity but also on the social and cultural context in which fundamentalism appeared, on the nature of values and aims which are characteristic for the given period. 2) The domination of social and political agenda in the Orthodox fundamentalism in combination with under-development or ignoring of theological issues gave rise to the emergence of such a phenomenon as Orthodox pseudo-fundamentalism which makes religion an instrument of social and political activity with unchristian aims and means. 3) Orthodox fundamentalism is ambivalent and oriented not only towards archaization and conservation but also to a creative renovation of religion and society. It looks to the future, offers new guidelines, social and political models, which will have an objective impact on searching further ways of development.

Abstract: The topic of the research is the guiltiness (or personal guilt) as a cultural phenomenon. The subject is the relation between guilt and punishment/forgiveness. The purpose of the research is to define the opposite notions covered by the guilt concept, how these notions are conditioned by cultural environment and in what way they are related to forgiveness and punishment. Theoretical grounds for this study include Ernst Cassirer's symbolic interpretation of culture, Jung's and Horney's psychoanalysis and A. Dugin's syntagma. For us, guilt is often the problem of self-understanding and existential self-identity, therefore overcoming the feeling of guilt involves either being responsible and taking the blame upon oneself or being repressive and transfering the guilt on someone else. The authors of the article suggest their own definition of guilt and ambivalency where guilt, first of all, is a life vital phenomenon, an existential addressed directly to human existence while ambivalency is a category describing the essence of human existence in culture, especially in Art Nouveau. From the existential point of view, the feeling of guilt means self-accusation, self-condemnation or conscience. This idea of guilt is expressed only in symbolic context and this is why we can speak of a special role of the religious, philosophical and psychoanalytical vocabulary in modern culture. These are the concepts which allow human to keep the connection with the transcendental and life vital questioning and aiming at a higher moral principle, on one hand, and a constructive feeling of the 'dark' side of our own self, on the other hand. Neorotic guilt is opposed to the existential definition of guilt. Its main feature is a projective and vengeful nature, in other words, it is often transferred to other people. Neurotic guilt is typical for a person who hasn't experienced the feeling of guilt in a symbolic environment. Modern cultural environment represents the situation that contributes to the semiotic interpretation of culture, so self-accusation becomes quite an issue. 

Abstract: Today the Russian State exist in conditions of unstable, complicated and contradictory world, dynamic and multivariate patterns of the course of events and challenging international relations that are made even worse by the crisis. Analysis of the confessional situation allows to define tendencies typical for processes inside religious organizations, arising in connection with them as well as with the state relations and influencing  not only confessional and inter-confessional but also political and ecoomic relations in the world. 

DOI: 10.7256/2306-0174.2013.7.650

Abstract: The lack of the operational typology of the archaic conscience and archaic religiosity actualizes the topic of the present article. There are numerous typologies of religions, but as a rule all these typologies do not touch deep unconscious (i. e. anthropological) grounds that can serve as a basis for a typology. They usually are eurocentric and confessiocentric. But it is the human unconscious of both, primitive and modern man, that contains different types of psychic reactions on the environmental chal-lenges. These psychic reactions are genetically fixed, and they influence the choosing of the communicative religious reality if we study the human religiosity in the communicative aspect. The analysis of the mythological conscience shows that it is not homogenous and can be divided into two types. Therefore, in the article the author actualizes the problem of division of the ar-chaic religious conscience into two types: primordial, natural or physiogenous and sociogenous. The main differences between these two types of archaic religious conciseness are also presented in this article.