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History of world religions. Modern religious movements. Fundamentalism and modernism (lecture notes)

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LECTURE No. 9. Modern religious movements. Fundamentalism and modernism

1. Dominance of official atheism in Soviet Russia

Even in recent times, religious, mystical, esoteric, occult and similar literature was practically unavailable in Russia. Readers were abundantly treated to only one “truth”: “scientific-atheistic” - an ideological surrogate that did not withstand any criticism, even from the point of view of rationalistic science. Nevertheless, every “citizen of the country of the Soviets” was obliged to assimilate this worldview and be guided by it in understanding the world and their place in it. However, under the guise of a “scientific” approach, an actually religious approach was introduced into the mass consciousness: Soviet society remained deeply religious - in style and way of thinking, in the nature of the values ​​underlying the behavior of citizens. The texts of the “classics of Marxism-Leninism” were the ultimate body of truth, a source of wisdom for any occasion. As in the Middle Ages, when the answer to any question was sought in the Bible, in the works of the “Fathers and Teachers of the Church”, in the texts of Aristotle, who became the indisputable authority on ideological issues, so in Russia, to question Marxist dogmas meant “falling into heresy ". The Marxist-Leninist “scientific-atheistic worldview”, in fact, was one of the varieties of “left-hand religions” - the “religion of man-theism” - with its sacred texts, a staff of god-fighting priests, a bloody court of the Inquisition, an essentially satanic cult, inextricably linked with a system of mass bloody human sacrifices unprecedented in history, which were mainly of a ritual nature, that is, they were determined primarily by religious and mystical considerations, and were only superficially, at the political level, connected with the notorious “class struggle.” (On this, see, for example, the book by the greatest esotericist and visionary of our time, Daniil Andreev, “Rose of the World.”).

2. Inner and outer spiritual freedom

Now there is more external freedom. But has there been an increase in inner freedom, freedom in the spiritual world of each of us?! After all, the gap between external and internal freedom is even more dangerous than the relatively high, but more or less coinciding internal and external lack of freedom: if the second situation hinders the development of society, but at the same time there is hope that everything can change for the better, as soon as external restrictions are removed, the first situation is generally capable of blowing up social ties and destroying society itself. True inner freedom is acquired only by constant intense spiritual work.

At the present time, they write a lot that Orthodoxy is being revived, because a stream of new converts has poured into it - people who are now supposedly imbued with religious ideas, spiritually enlightened and come to the realization of God. Based on this external, purely quantitative indicator, it is argued that there are clear signs of the revival of Orthodoxy, and hence the spiritual revival of Russia in general. In fact, it is hardly possible to speak of a genuine revival of Orthodoxy yet. Moreover, at present, in fact, an even deeper crisis is developing than in Soviet times, when Orthodoxy was, as it were, in a "preserved" form. Newly converted, in fact, for the most part do not truly profess Orthodoxy. And it's not even that many of them do not know the basics of Orthodox dogma. To become a truly religious person, it is not enough to declare one's faith in God, it is not even enough to regularly go to church and stand with a candle in front of icons on religious holidays, as many of the current "powers that be" do, paying tribute to "spiritual fashion" . After all, religious faith is the most complex and richest cultural phenomenon, it is shaped by the whole way of life, the whole way of life, the transmission of traditions at the level of patterns of behavior, their reproduction directly in life, in all its spheres, but at the same time by a huge internal work - the work of feelings, mind, the soul of a person, which cannot be replaced by a simple visit to church and even diligent and conscientious performance of all church rites. To gain faith, a person who grew up in an atheistic environment must completely rethink himself and the world around him, and very few are capable of this, even if many strive for this.

In the "Buddhist Catechism" to the question "Are there any dogmas in Buddhism that should be accepted on faith?" The answer is given as follows: “No. We are seriously required not to take anything for granted, whether it is written in books, handed down to us from our ancestors, or taught by sages. Our Lord Buddha said that we should not believe what is said just because that it is said so; nor to traditions, because they have come down to us from antiquity; nor to rumors, as such; nor to the writings of sages, because sages wrote them; nor to fantasies, about which we may think that they were sent to us by the Virgin (i.e. that is, by supposed spiritual inspiration); nor the conclusions drawn from hasty conclusions which we may have drawn; nor what may seem to be a similar necessity; nor the mere naked authority of our masters and teachers. But we must believe when Scripture, doctrine, or what is said is confirmed by our own mind and consciousness. “Therefore,” says the Buddha in conclusion, “I taught you not to believe just because you have heard, but when you believe, based on your consciousness, then act in accordance with it” (Blavatsky E. "The Secret Doctrine"). These words can be fully applied not only to Buddhism, but also to any religion in general: religious faith can only be truly deep among those who have their own spiritual, or, to put it scientifically, “parapsychological” experience, and therefore quite definitely knows that the heavenly world really exists. If, in his spiritual quest, a person has never penetrated beyond the boundaries of the earthly world and does not have his own spiritual experience, then at least he must have a developed religious feeling, the presence of which is the result of a subconscious perception of the heavenly world and the resulting internal conviction of reality his existence.

However, for a person who grew up in an atheistic environment and has never previously tried to seriously think about spiritual topics, all channels of spiritual perception are, as it were, “clogged” tightly and he does not and cannot have any not only conscious spiritual experience, but even a subconscious perception of the heavenly world. principle, and, consequently, there cannot be any internal spiritual basis for genuine religiosity. “Uncorking” the channels of spiritual perception for a person who grew up in an atheistic environment is a very painful process, necessarily associated with very intense daily spiritual work. Many “new converts,” however, do not bother with any spiritual quest and bring with them to church the culture of imitation that they have internalized in society. As a result, the church is undermined from within by a huge number of people who have externally joined it, but have not acquired genuine religious faith, and do not particularly strive to acquire it. And this is very dangerous for our Fatherland: under the guise of “revival” the collapse of the Orthodox religion can occur - Orthodoxy can be vulgarized in the same way as “classical Marxism” was vulgarized in Russia at one time. This, undoubtedly, lurks a huge danger for the fate of Russia.

One can treat religion in general and Orthodoxy in particular differently, but one should not forget that in all modern civilizations it is religions that form the conceptual basis of spiritual life, shape and mediate the basic system of values. Our civilization is no exception, the basic values ​​of which are formulated in the language of Orthodoxy.

3. Modern civilizational crisis

Meanwhile, in the conditions of the collapse of the Marxist-Leninist worldview, ideological concepts of various kinds, primarily religious ones, poured into the resulting "empty" spiritual space. Their range is extremely wide - from Catholicism and Protestantism to Scientology and Dianetics. A person inexperienced in worldview is sometimes lost in this abundance of "spiritual food", is unable not only to recognize the "recipes for cooking" various "spiritual dishes", but also to clearly recognize the deep social and cultural differences that exist even between individual Christian denominations, not to mention about the realization of the fact that, despite seemingly insignificant theological differences, the differences between them in the way a person’s spiritual life is arranged are enormous.

When new generations grow up in the bosom of one church or another, the question of worldview choice is resolved, as it were, by itself. Those for whom religiosity becomes the norm of moral life perceive the canons and cults of the religion traditional for a given society, simply under the influence of upbringing and education. Those who are inherent in non-religious morality, not accepting the relevant canons and cults, nevertheless, by the system of education and upbringing, are usually attached to those moral feelings, concepts and values ​​that are inherent in the culture of a given society and are expressed in a specific religious form for it. When there are several religions in a society, as, for example, in China (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism), or in Russia (Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism), and then the interaction of the respective religions also creates a certain moral atmosphere, which is perceived by the non-religious part of the population included in thus into the integral cultural context of a given country, group of countries, civilization.

The peculiarity of the current historical conditions is such that everyone faces a fairly wide range of different possibilities, and any choice is his and only his right. Everyone is free to make his own spiritual choice, but everyone must fully realize the significance and responsibility of this choice. And, realizing his choice, a person cannot help but think about himself - "Who am I?! On what land did I grow up?! What does this oblige me for ?!"

However, the choice facing today not an individual, but the whole of humanity, is essentially different - after all, the crisis experienced by our country is only a concentrated expression of a global, general civilizational crisis. And this crisis, in turn, is the result of the crisis of the leading Western civilization in the modern world. Perhaps the most striking example of the awareness of this crisis was the materials and decisions of the UN World Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. This summit was an unprecedented event, it brought together more heads of government than any other meeting in history. In the most important document adopted by this Conference - "Agenda for the 30st Century", it was stated that world social development cannot continue in the same direction, since in this case, irreversible catastrophic changes on the scale of the entire planet will occur in a maximum of 50-XNUMX years and the complete and final destruction of all mankind will only be a matter of time. Meanwhile, the values ​​that led to this result are the values ​​of Western civilization based on the notorious "Protestant ethic" that is now being so aggressively imposed on the Russian people.

4. Search for ways to overcome the crisis of modern civilization

Anxiety for the future has forced Western humanists to put forward a number of concepts that quickly replace each other - from the idea of ​​"zero growth", "catch-up development" and further, up to the current benchmark - "sustainable development". However, the fundamental principle of the concept of "sustainable development" - limiting consumption in the name of stability in society - is hardly realizable. To limit consumption "seriously and for a long time", it is necessary either to change the needs, or to use force. Conscious self-restraint in the name of the common good, as historical experience shows, cannot be widespread - the same Christianity has been preaching it for two millennia, and has not achieved any serious success, even under fear of eternal punishment from the other world. At the same time, development, indeed, cannot stop, if traditionalism over the past centuries has not withstood the pressure of the West and humanity has shifted from the point of equilibrium existence. Attempts to extend the past into the future are untenable, neither in the form of religious fundamentalism, which opposes the West, nor in the form of Western fundamentalism, which is now acting as the idea of ​​a "golden billion." If, for example, the United States succeeded in destroying the Indians for the sake of prosperity, then destroying four-fifths of humanity in the name of the prosperity of the Western "golden billion" of the so-called "civilized peoples" is already a reactionary utopia, the path to the death of all mankind. XNUMXth century truly became a time of global crisis of traditional religions, especially Western Christianity. There are many reasons for this. Here both the archaism of cults and the archaism of dogma. But the main thing, perhaps, is the increasingly obvious inability of religion to resolve the accumulated civilizational problems, to help Western society take the path of renewal.

Awareness of the dead-end nature of Western civilization began in the 20th century. the leitmotif of European social thought - from Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of Europe" to the works of the Club of Rome and a number of other areas related to the analysis of global problems. Major philosophers such as Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Roszak, many existentialists, not to mention famous esotericists such as traditionalist thinkers Rene Guenon, Julius Evola, Alexander Dugin convincingly revealed the internal inconsistency and deep depravity of Western civilization. The newest stage of its development - “post-industrial society” - brought developed countries a higher level of material consumption, but only aggravated spiritual problems. A growing sense of loneliness, alienation, uncertainty about the future... But the Western way of life is based on values ​​formulated in the language of religion - Catholicism and, above all, Protestantism.

Disappointment in traditional religious values ​​gave rise to a search for non-traditional forms of religiosity, largely built on borrowing the ideas and motives of Eastern religions, as well as on the transformation of Christianity itself. And, finally, the role of spiritual and practical forms, which can be called para-religious, is growing. They do not have a church, in the usual sense of the word, they do not have cults, again - in the usual sense, although there are numerous adherents, they have their own forms of organization. This includes all kinds of occult teachings, both Western and Eastern, as well as the occult societies based on them, both open - exoteric, and closed - esoteric.

However, all these religious-spiritual and organizational-practical forms did not help to achieve prosperity for all those societies that were guided by them and based on them. First of all, it concerns the now leading Western civilization. Moreover, its internal contradictions, as well as contradictions with other civilizational currents, have led to the fact that, despite its relative success in material, purely material prosperity, a number of spiritual and so-called global problems have arisen that threaten the very existence of mankind. These problems in their totality cannot be solved on the basis of the old systems of values ​​and the types of worldview expressing these values.

Consequently, the creation of a new type of worldview and its dissemination in the minds of millions of people become a necessary prerequisite and means for the survival of mankind itself. It is impossible to continue living in the old way: either a global catastrophe, or a new quality of the development of society, and in order to achieve this new quality, a new quality of consciousness is also needed. What previously acted as a search for an ideal, due to the intolerance of the present, now acts as an imperative, due to the impossibility of the future. To follow this imperative it is necessary to realize it. And then, even more difficult spiritual work: to find, acquire, suffer through a new system of values, fully understand it and, finally, formulate it in a form acceptable enough for contemporaries, taking into account two main points - renewal and continuity. Since, on the one hand, we are talking about a new quality of social life and a corresponding qualitatively new type of worldview, and on the other hand, the transition to this "new" is simply impossible without an organic connection between the new and the old: the future is possible only when it is natural- historically grows out of the past and the present.

In this regard, attention should be paid to the fact of erasing the boundaries between the mystical and natural scientific understanding of the Universe, noted by many natural scientists. This is especially evident in modern physics, which has influenced almost all aspects of social life. Physics is the basis for all natural sciences, and the union of natural and technical sciences has fundamentally changed the conditions of our life on the planet, which has led to both positive and negative consequences. Today, one can hardly find an industry that does not use the achievements of atomic physics, and there is no need to talk about the enormous influence of the latter on politics. However, the influence of modern physics affects not only the field of production. It also affects the entire culture in general and the way of thinking in particular, and is expressed in the revision of our views on the Universe and our relationship to it. The study of the atom and the subatomic world unexpectedly limited the scope of the ideas of classical mechanics and necessitated a radical revision of many of our basic concepts. The concept of matter, for example, in subatomic physics is absolutely unlike the traditional ideas about material substance in classical physics. The same can be said about the concepts of space, time, cause and effect. However, these concepts underlie our worldview, and in the event of their radical revision, the whole picture of the world changes. These changes brought about by modern physics have been widely discussed by physicists and philosophers over the past decades, with increasing attention paid to the fact that these changes bring us closer to the perception of the world, similar to the picture of the world of the mystics of the East. It has been noted that the two cornerstones of modern physics - quantum theory and the theory of relativity - underlie a worldview very similar to that of Hinduism, Buddhism, or Taoism, especially if we look at recent attempts to combine these two theories in order to describe the phenomena of the microscopic world: properties and interactions of elementary particles that make up all matter in the Universe. Here, the parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism almost reach the point of complete coincidence, and very often there are such statements, regarding which it is almost impossible to say who they were made by - a physicist, or an Eastern mystic. One of the greatest physicists of our time, the “father” of nuclear weapons, Robert Oppenheimer, wrote about this: “The general laws of human knowledge, manifested in the discoveries of atomic physics, are not something unprecedented and absolutely new. They also existed in our culture, while occupying a much more significant and important place in Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. What is happening now is the confirmation, continuation and renewal of ancient wisdom." (Capra F. "Tao of Physics", St. Petersburg "ORIS", 1994. C. 13). Thus, modern physics, which is at the forefront of the natural sciences and determines the entire scientific worldview as a whole, more and more in the understanding of the Universe merges with the mysticism of the East - the scientific and mystical pictures of the world become more and more indistinguishable with each new scientific discovery. However, this is quite natural: the East is the metaphysical center of mankind - it is here that the centuries-old worldview wisdom is accumulated and what modern science began to approach only in the XNUMXth century was the sacred truth in the East millennia ago.

5. Features of Russian spirituality

A special role in the development of the worldview of the new era belongs to Russia - due to its special metaphysical status. The point of view has already been expressed more than once that Russia, they say, is a kind of bridge between East and West and has features of both East and West. However, in our opinion, those authors who claim that Russia has its own deepest essence, which distinguishes it both from the East and, in particular, from the West, are much closer to the truth. In this regard, we should especially note the greatest modern esotericist and writer-metaphysician Yuri Mamleev, who convincingly showed in his works that Russia forms its own metaphysical reality, so to speak, a "third reality" that does not depend on either the East or the West. At the same time, undoubtedly, Russia has both some Western and Eastern features, the latter, of course, to a greater extent. There is no need to talk about the closeness of Orthodoxy, with its principles of mystical contemplation, to Eastern doctrines. This closeness has already been investigated more than once, and it is all the more significant as it concerns mainly spiritual practice, and not just dogmas, although in the theory of deification and in the theory of dogmatic restraint Orthodoxy obviously approaches Eastern teachings.

If we talk about Russian spirituality in general, then quite deep areas of intersection with the Eastern approach are clearly visible here. This is, first of all, the problem of the inner "I" of a person - Russian tradition, as you know, is inherent in the search for "I" - the abyss and secrets of the human soul. The fact that the problem of the true "I" is at the center of the Eastern tradition is also well known. Of course, the tendencies of this search in Russia differ in many respects from those that take place in India, especially since the Russian search is still completely unfinished, while in India everything that is within its metaphysical limits is already almost completed. However, this search for the true inner "I" of a person has a number of common features with the Eastern approach, which can easily be identified by examples from the history of Russian culture. In the subtext of classical Russian literature lies the deepest metaphysics and philosophy, which are encrypted in the form of the thinnest stream of images - an artistic image is deeper than an abstract idea, and it is the image that can best express all the mysterious subtext of metaphysics. Russian literature is rightfully considered the most philosophical literature in the world. It is no coincidence that Friedrich Nietzsche considered F. M. Dostoevsky the greatest connoisseur of the human soul and considered acquaintance with his works one of the greatest successes of his life. Russia, while remaining an Orthodox country, has absorbed and can still absorb, both on the esoteric and exoteric levels, the deepest features of the thinking of the East, especially India. These features, these features of thinking and spirit, which go deep into the spiritual relationship between Russia and India, can become and are becoming part of modern Russian culture. Without a doubt, this "Easternness" is refracted and processed in a peculiar way in accordance with Russian spiritual experience. But its depth, given the spiritual kinship of Russian and Indian cultures, can give a completely new and unexpected color to the future Russian thinking and culture and help their original development.

However, despite its deep inner closeness to the East, Russia is not spiritually separated by the "Chinese wall" from the West - if only because it has been a Christian country for a thousand years and the "collective unconscious", that is, the "soul" of the Russian people, was formed under the decisive influence of the Christian religion in its most authentic - Orthodox form.

Thus, the Russian people spiritually reworked and, as it were, fused within themselves into a single organic whole, both East and West, while retaining all their spiritual identity and not belonging to either one or the other. It is natural, therefore, that the most significant attempts at a global worldview synthesis of East and West, as well as religion, philosophy, science and creation on this basis, meeting the needs of the time of the worldview of the new era, were made, first of all, by thinkers who were formed in the bosom of Russian culture. .

6. Russian spiritual renaissance of the late XNUMXth - early XNUMXth centuries and its significance for overcoming the modern spiritual crisis

A wide range of ideas subject to spiritual synthesis was intensively discussed by the majority of representatives of the Russian spiritual renaissance of the late XNUMXth and early XNUMXth centuries, in one or another combination, with various shades. - an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of world philosophy, when in a matter of years an immense amount of religious and philosophical works, numbering in hundreds of volumes, was created, in many respects anticipating the further development of world philosophical thought. Many years later, the largest Russian philosopher, Nobel laureate Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948) wrote about this: “Now it is difficult to imagine the atmosphere of that time. Much of the creative upsurge of that time was included in the further development of Russian culture and is now the property of all Russian cultural people. But then there was intoxication with creative upsurge, novelty, tension, struggle, challenge. In those years, many gifts were sent to Russia. It was the era of the awakening of independent philosophical thought in Russia, the flowering of poetry and the sharpening of aesthetic sensitivity, religious anxiety and quest, interest in mysticism and the occult... they saw new dawns, combined the feeling of decline and death with the feeling sunrise and with hope for the transformation of life." (Berdyaev N.A. “Self-knowledge (the experience of philosophical autobiography)”. M.: “Kniga”, 1991. P. 139-140).

Vladimir Solovyov. At the origins of the Russian spiritual renaissance stood Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) - the largest Russian religious philosopher and mystic, who undertook the most grandiose attempt in the history of world religious philosophy to combine Christian Platonism, German classical idealism (mainly Schelling) and scientific empiricism in the "great synthesis". It is symptomatic that the first significant work of V. Solovyov is a master's thesis, successfully defended by him in 1874 BC - called "The Crisis of Western Philosophy (against the Positivists)." The main work of Vladimir Solovyov is “The Justification of Good.” According to the fair remark of E. L. Radlov, “the reader is best acquainted with the characteristic features of Vl. Solovyov’s thinking, with his subtle analysis, in “The Justification of Good,” in which all the various threads are woven into one artistic whole.” (Radlov E.L. “Vladimir Solovyov. Life and Learning.” St. Petersburg, 1913. P. 129). From an esoteric point of view, of particular interest is the last one, written shortly before his death, marked with the stamp of mysticism, in a certain sense - the final work of V. Solovyov “Three Conversations about War, Progress and the End of World History” and the author appended to this work “A Brief Tale of Antichrist." (We note in this regard that the best esoteric narrative about the Antichrist was given by one of the greatest mystics and visionary poets in human history, Daniil Andreev, in his famous book “Rose of the World”. This is the chapter “The Dark Shepherd” - a mystical biography of Stalin, whose reincarnation, according to according to Daniil Andreev, should become the Antichrist in the XXIII or XXIV century, and the chapter “Prince of Darkness” is a mystical biography of the Antichrist himself). The best work about V. Solovyov and his worldview is the last work of the greatest Russian philosopher A.F. Losev, “Vladimir Solovyov and His Time.”

Pavel Florensky. But the most ambitious figure among all thinkers of the 20th century. is Pavel Florensky (1882-1937). Only with him all three elements of the triangle “esotericism - religion - philosophy” are in organic synthesis. His works, at least the main ones, must be known to everyone who wants to deeply understand the essence of esotericism, religion and philosophy, their internal unity and external differences. The main work of P. Florensky is “The Pillar and Statement of Truth.” It should, however, be emphasized that this book by no means exhausts even the most important topics that interested Florensky and were deeply developed by him. Florensky divided the tasks of religious thought into two stages: the first - the substantiation of faith and churchliness, mastery of their foundations, the acquisition of the Pillar and the affirmation of the Truth. (This is what the Apostle Paul calls the Church in his First Epistle to Timothy: “I write these things to you, hoping to come to you soon, so that if I delay, you will know how you ought to act in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And unquestioningly - the great mystery of piety: God appeared in the flesh, justified Himself in the Spirit, showed Himself to the angels, preached to the nations, was accepted by faith in the world, ascended in glory." - I Tim., 3, 14-16); the second stage is based on what was acquired at the first stage - the development of the doctrine of the World (Macrocosm) and Man (Microcosm). P. Florensky called the first stage theodicy (resolution of the contradiction between the unlimited power of the all-good God and the existence of evil in the world), the second - anthropodicy (resolution of the contradiction between man’s godlikeness and his sinfulness). “The Pillar and Establishment of Truth,” as can already be seen from the subtitle of this work - “The Experience of Orthodox Theodicy in Twelve Letters of the Priest Pavel Florensky” - is entirely limited to the first stage. The study of anthropodicy is the next stage of Florensky’s work. His results formed a coherent philosophical doctrine, which he called “concrete metaphysics.” The main works of this stage are “Macrocosm and Microcosm”, “Watersheds of Soap”, “Iconostasis”, “Analysis of spatiality in artistic and visual works”, “Names”, “Essay on the philosophy of cult”.

However, despite the undoubted achievements of Russian religious philosophy in the implementation of worldview synthesis, the most significant success in developing the worldview of the new era was achieved not by religious philosophers, but by Russian esotericists. Here, first of all, we should recall the names of the founder of theosophy, Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) and the founders of Agni Yoga, Nicholas (1874-1947) and Helena Roerich (1869-1955).

Helena Blavatsky. The main work of H. P. Blavatsky "The Secret Doctrine" has a subtitle - "Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy" and really is a grandiose synthesis, which is designed to cover not only all religious and mystical traditions, both East and West, but also to assimilate in this system of views also science and philosophy. E. Blavatsky became the founder of the worldview tradition, which received in the XNUMXth century. a huge flowering, let's name for brevity only one name - Teilhard de Chardin, who also made one of the most famous attempts at such a synthesis, albeit from other than theosophists, actually religious positions. However, despite numerous attempts at a global worldview synthesis, theosophy still remains the most grandiose syncretic worldview system, increasingly gaining recognition as the philosophical and methodological basis of various para-religious forms.

Tatyana Platonova. Of the major new works on theosophy published by Russian authors, from our point of view, the book by Tatyana Platonova "The Secret Doctrine of Hermes Trismegistus" is of the greatest interest. This work, like the "Secret Doctrine" of E. Blavatsky, is also given, as stated in the preface, "on behalf of the White Brotherhood and the Lodge of Great Teachers." Its connection with the work of H. Blavatsky is defined as follows: "To the question of whether this work is a continuation of the Secret Doctrine, I will answer the following: the secret Knowledge promulgated by H. P. Blavatsky was the first and initial attempt to enlighten humanity. We did not pursue the goal to give Knowledge as such, but only tried to show you that there is a different and different idea of ​​the world from your understanding.We had to argue, convince and prove, therefore the Secret Doctrine is replete with a huge number of citations and references to sources familiar to you, as well as unfamiliar to show the various aspects, points of view, narrowness and breadth of thinking of our opponents who claim to Truth.We believe that in general we have succeeded in convincing humanity of its limited view of the world, and it has realized that there is something that does not fit into the categories of your world This something lies beyond consciousness and is now designated by you as unknown, invisible, but, nevertheless, existing. We are not on the majority, but on some critical mass of advanced consciousness, and now it has become absolutely obvious the predominance of new thinking over dogmatic, the desire to break the crystallized and compressed forms and allow the mind to soar freely in a space hitherto unknown to it. So, we give the New. This is the third part of the old, but the first part of the New Teaching of true Knowledge. The snake always bites its tail, and whether this is a symbol of a circle, or perpetual motion, or a spiral, or eternal ascent, is probably not so important, although there are those who will break their spears for a long time about a form that is not the one that was even a minute ago "(Platonova T. Yu. "The Secret Doctrine of Hermes Trismegistus". M .: "White Ashram", 2000. S. 5-6).

But theosophy has an "elitist" character, since it is mainly accessible to people who already have a relatively high level of spiritual development, who are well acquainted with the religious-mystical and occult teachings of the East and West and who have a fairly high general educational level.

The same can be said about anthroposophy, which was formed within the framework of theosophy and then separated into an independent doctrine. The famous Russian poet Andrei Bely, who was at the origins of the popularization of this doctrine in Russia, was personally well acquainted with the founder of anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner. At present, anthroposophy has received a certain distribution in Russia, especially among the creative intelligentsia.

Elena и Nicholas Roerich. The Roerichs' teaching - "Agni Yoga" or "Living Ethics" - continues the theosophical tradition (Helena Roerich even translated the first two volumes of H. Blavatsky's "Secret Doctrine" into Russian) and, on the one hand, develops and deepens H. Blavatsky's system of views , on the other hand, sets out the deepest ideological problems not in the form of a grandiose syncretic system, but in a bright, living, aphoristic form of “applied ethics”. Using the example of the Roerichs’ Teachings, the principle of the “spiral” construction of esoteric concepts is especially clearly visible, when the initial turn of the spiral of knowledge is designed for people starting their spiritual ascent almost from the zero level, and gradually, as they grow spiritually, mastering more and more turns of the spiral of knowledge , and so on - almost ad infinitum. That is why Agni Yoga can be of keen interest to people with very different levels of education and spiritual development. Currently, this is one of the most theoretically developed and most practically effective universal esoteric systems.

Alexander Klizovsky. The first experience of large-scale understanding of the cosmic evolution of humanity and the unified laws of life based on the teachings of Agni Yoga and Theosophy is given in a thorough work Alexander Klizovsky (1874-1942) "Fundamentals of the New Epoch World View", personally edited by Helena Roerich. This work is of undoubted interest as a popular, public introduction to the worldview of the new era.

Tatyana Basova. One of the most striking examples of the creative development and effective practical application of Agni Yoga is the activity of the Saratov esoteric society "Lyceum of Enlightenment", working under the leadership of T. A. Basova with 1990 BC Here they are successfully engaged in spiritual realization, creatively combining the achievements of Eastern and Russian (primarily Orthodox) esoteric thought. The experience of successful spiritual realization without leaving the "worldly life", accumulated in the "Lyceum of Enlightenment", is summarized in the book by T. A. Basova and V. V. Basov "The Yoga of Enlightenment (meditation practice based on the synthesis of science, philosophy and esoteric thought) ". This book is one of the best manuals in modern esoteric literature on the practical application of the Teaching of Living Ethics.

Sergey Lazarev. A clear example of the very effective use of Agni Yoga in everyday life is the medical and educational activities of Sergei Lazarev. His work “Diagnostics of Karma”, which has already been published in several editions, is widely known in Russia and, in fact, is a visual guide to the study and practical application of the Teaching of Living Ethics, compiled on the basis of vivid, living examples. The Teaching of the Roerichs in Russia has already acquired a very significant influence in the mass consciousness and, undoubtedly, its influence will continue to increase: there are quite deep reasons for this, among which the high degree of compliance of this Teaching with the basic values ​​of Russian civilization should be especially noted.

Vladimir Shmakov. Among the works of Russian esotericists, which are syncretic in nature and have become world classics, we note the one created at the beginning of the 20th century. a huge three-volume encyclopedic work by Vladimir Shmakov - “The Great Arcana of the Tarot”, “Fundamentals of Pneumatology”, “The Law of Synarchy”. However, this work, due to its purely “professional” nature, is not accessible to a wide range of readers.

Grigory Mebes. AT in the same row is the fundamental "Course of the encyclopedia of the occult", compiled at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. based on lectures given in St. Petersburg by one of the most prominent Rosicrucians of pre-revolutionary Russia, Grigory Mebes. This work, among other things, is the initiatory alphabet of the Rosicrucians, which makes it possible, with a sufficient level of spiritual development, independently, in the order of self-initiation, to go through the steps of the initial - physical cycle of the Rosicrucian Initiation, followed by establishing constant contact with the Rosicrucian egregor; "astral baptism" - the implementation of a conscious projection of the astral body and further ascent along the steps of the astral cycle of Initiation, up to the "mental baptism" - the implementation of a conscious mental projection and the famous Rosicrucian Reintegration and passage through the steps of the higher - the mental cycle of Initiation.

Valentin Tomberg. A world-famous fundamental work is also dedicated to the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus Valentina Tomberga (1900-1973) "Meditations on the Tarot", which differs from well-known works on the occult sciences, first of all, by the novelty of execution: the author made an attempt to rethink in the context of modernity the very foundations of Hermeticism - the Great Arcana of the Tarot. The peculiarity of these "letters to an unknown friend", that is, to a like-minded reader, which shows the deep connection of esoteric knowledge embodied in the Bible, Upanishads, Kabbalah, is that the author used "esoteric Christianity" as the basis of his "Meditations", which underlined by the subtitle of the book: "Journey to the Origins of Christian Hermeticism". In his interpretation, "Christian Hermeticism" is the esoteric teaching of the Christian (Catholic) Church, which is the key to understanding the whole path of mankind and solving the problems facing it.

George Gurdjieff и Peter Uspensky. Of undoubted interest is also the widely known Teaching George Gurdjieff (1873-1949), which found its theoretical generalization in works well known in Russia Peter Uspensky (1878-1947).

Boris Muravyov (1890-1966). The three-volume work of Boris Muravyov, “Gnosis. An Experience of a Commentary on the Esoteric Teaching of the Eastern Church,” one of the closest friends and associates of G. Gurdjieff and P. Uspensky, is dedicated to the esoteric teaching of the Eastern Church. Thanks to the amazing depth and exhaustive clarity of the presentation of the metaphysical, psychological and practical foundations of the “Secret Tradition” - “esoteric Christianity” - this three-volume study has no equal in modern church literature, as a truly esoteric universal key to the knowledge of “God, Man, the Universe”.

The first volume - "The Exoteric Cycle" - outlines in detail the general picture of the Universe in the strictest interdependence of its laws, the unity of its constituent and penetrating aspects, plans, stages of manifestation - from the Absolute to the atomic, from the mineral to the historical, from the cellular to the spiritual. The second volume - "Mesoteric Cycle" - is devoted to the middle stage of mastering the Tradition of Esoteric Christianity. The fundamental ideas and practical observations that made up the content of the first volume are further developed here. The third volume - "Esoteric Cycle", is devoted to the presentation of the final truths underlying the grandiose world order and Providence itself, the comprehension of which constitutes the final, proper esoteric stage in the assimilation of the Tradition.

Mitrofan Lodyzhensky. In Russia, even high-ranking government officials were no strangers to the worldview search. Let us note in this regard, although of a compilative nature, but in its own way interesting, thorough three-volume work of the Tsar’s vice-governor Mitrofan Lodyzhensky (1852-1917) "Mystical Trilogy".

Intensive ideological search in Russia was not interrupted even in the darkest period - in the era of Stalinism: at this time, the three largest mystics of our time created their systems - Porfiry Ivanov (1898-1983), Daniil Andreev (1906- 1959) и Bidiya Dandaron (1914-1974).

The mystical teaching of Porfiry Ivanov has a pronounced applied orientation, representing a kind of "Russian yoga", however - absolutely original, both in form and in content. This Teaching arose not as a result of mystical insight, but in the process of accumulation of spiritual experience by its founder. At first it was a special workout for the body - walking barefoot in any weather, swimming in icy water, jogging in the steppe in just shorts in the bitter cold. However, behind this hardening, already in the early years, a deep philosophical idea was traced that a person should not “conquer” Nature as something hostile to him, but live in complete harmony with it, since he himself is an integral part of it. This can be achieved through complete "immersion" in the essence of the basic elements: earth, water, air, fire. Porfiry Ivanov was sure that such an "immersion" would give an ordinary person superhuman physical and spiritual strength, which he could then use for the benefit of all mankind. And the fact that this is true - he clearly demonstrated by his own example. During his life, he healed and taught a harmonious life in Nature many seriously ill people: paralyzed, bedridden for years, blind and deaf from birth, cancer, tuberculosis, lepers, suffering from other severe ailments - rejected by official medicine and doomed to a painful death. He searched for them himself. He appeared in the village, found out if there were such patients, came to them (but only if they asked for it - "may everyone be rewarded according to his faith"!), Laid on his hands, poured cold water over him, and people recovered completely. But before that, he seemed to be asking Nature: "Am I going the right way"? And Nature, through the healing of these patients, seemed to answer - "Correct!" He never took any material reward for healing, but only strongly recommended living in harmony with Nature in order to forever forget about all diseases, both bodily and mental. Naturally, after such a miraculous healing, his recommendations were perceived as a divine revelation.

In the last years of his life, he began to talk about the fact that a person can and must achieve physical immortality: there are forces in Nature, thanks to which a person can exist indefinitely. You just need to be able to master these forces - first you need to learn how to maintain your health, then expand your consciousness, and then reach that level of physical and spiritual development, at which death will no longer have power over us. About the form in which immortality will be realized, Ivanov said the following: "A person will become light, he will lift himself into the air with his light umbrella, he will not speak, he will not be visible and will be everywhere."

At the end of his life, he almost did not belong to the earthly "dense" world. He was seen in different parts of the globe - either by Lake Baikal, then in Moscow, then in California, while he did not even leave his house. In the last years of his life, the popularity of his Teachings has increased incredibly, and at present it has become an integral part of the spiritual life of Russia.

The life and work of this great mystic, like his Teaching, is an example of a rare combination of extreme simplicity with amazing spiritual achievements; he, as it were, accumulated in his personality the best spiritual qualities of the Russian people. His spiritual achievements are all the more striking because they were carried out under the conditions of the absolute domination of the theomachic regime, which is extremely hostile to any spiritual search for a bright direction, as a result, spiritual searches cost Porfiry Ivanov a total of more than 12 years in prisons and psychiatric hospitals.

The mystical teaching of Porfiry Ivanov is characterized in the international encyclopedia "Mystics of the 1996th century" as "one of the most effective teachings of the 105th century." (Vanderhill E. "Mystics of the XX century", encyclopedia. M .: "Myth" - "Lokid", XNUMX. S. XNUMX).

Daniil Andreev in the encyclopedia "Mystics of the XX century" is devoted to a whole section, with the characteristic title "Research of the Beyond". The first publication in 1991 by the Moscow publishing house "Prometheus" of the main work of Daniil Andreev - "Rose of the World", was recognized by critics of various trends as the main event of the year. And, indeed, Daniil Andreev became the creator of a unique syncretic worldview system, created on the basis of his own visionary experience, deeply Orthodox in its essence, and at the same time, absorbing the achievements of Eastern metaphysics and fully corresponding to the spiritual demands of the modern era. "The Rose of the World" is a grandiose treatise on the secret structure of the Universe, on the mystical background of the entire history of earthly civilization and on the future destinies of mankind. At present, this is one of the most ambitious attempts in world mysticism to give an exposition of the deepest esoteric truths in the form of a universal exoteric religious-mystical teaching. The "Rose of the World" analyzes in detail the system of parallel worlds (Daniil Andreev has 242 of them) of Shadanakara - the bramfature of the Earth, that is, our planetary cosmos. And in this respect, the "Rose of the World" by Daniil Andreev is on a par with the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri, in which a panorama of the parallel worlds of our planet is also given in poetic form. Daniil Andreev, like Porfiry Ivanov, paid for his spiritual quest with more than ten years in prisons and camps.

Bidiya Dandaron never cared about presenting Buddhist philosophy in a public form, he devoted a lot of time to traditional church activities and the study of Buddhist classics. He did not leave his homeland at a time when Buddhism was subjected to the most severe persecution, and until his death he fought for the preservation and dissemination of the tradition of Tantric Buddhism in Russia. AT 1937 BC B. Dandaron was convicted on false charges of anti-Soviet activities, received 25 years of hard labor and was finally released and fully rehabilitated only in 1956 BC In the early 1940s B. Dandaron, together with other Buryat lamas, wrote a letter to Stalin, petitioning for the restoration of Buddhist monasteries in Buryatia. Surprisingly, this petition did not go unanswered: soon the Buryat Buddhists were allowed to open two monasteries.

B. Dandaron managed to accomplish a lot. He systematized and described a huge number of original Tibetan manuscripts; created a short Tibetan-Russian dictionary; translated and published "The Source of Wisdom" - a dictionary of terminology of Mahayana Buddhism, created in XVIII in. In parallel with his scientific activities, he was engaged in organizational work on the restoration of the Buddhist church in Buryatia. Buddhists of Central Asia have long been divided into many sects or schools, often at war with each other. Studying authentic sources, B. Dandaron was able to prove that all their contradictions are of a formal nature, and create his own synthetic teaching, combining several different traditions. B. Dandaron was undoubtedly that enlightened Teacher who could convey the light of the Buddha's Teaching not only to his compatriots, but also to people brought up in a completely different cultural tradition. Beginning in the mid-1960s, students from European Russia came to him. He taught them not only tantric practice, but also the basics of Buddhist philosophy. It must be admitted that modern lamas take into account the peculiarities of the perception of their European students and, despite the theoretical denial of personality by Buddhism, they recommend that they preserve and strengthen their personal core as an important tool for liberation. Buddhism can serve as a powerful tool for theoretical psychology, and lamas often switch to its language, familiar to Westerners. In addition, for "missionary" purposes, they often freely operate with European scientific theories about space, time and fundamental interactions (see the books of Dandaron, Tartang Tulku, Trungpa). For example, in the "neo-Buddhism" of Dandaron, an attempt is made to synthesize classical Buddhism with Western philosophy and science. In a letter from B. Dandaron dated March 14, 1957 the following point of view is expressed on parapsychology - an emasculated scientific form of occultism: “It is quite clear to me that modern parapsychologists do the same thing that yogis did, but they go the other way. And they will never, apparently, achieve what yoga achieves because yogis reveal all the hidden energy inherent in a person through the loss of nisvanis (clouded emotions) and the acquisition of divine joy (compassion).Intuitively, I feel the following.

1. Parapsychology, based on moral philosophy, can mitigate the horrors of Christian civilization, about which Leo Tolstoy writes so sadly.

2. Parapsychology can finally solve the problem of human free will, which is the basic and necessary condition of human life.

3. It can finally resolve and reveal the contents of a person's soul.

4. It can pave the way for the development of a new worldwide religious doctrine, the metaphysics of which will be based on the achievements of human science.

5. She can provide a scientific basis for Buddhism...

If this happens, then there will be an end to atheism (godlessness) - the moral fall of man. If so, it is more striking in its significance than the discovery of the mysteries of the atom."

Thanks to B. Dandaron, Buddhist communities arose in Moscow, Leningrad, Tallinn, Riga and other cities of the USSR. All this led to the 1972 BC the authorities inspired a lawsuit against B. Dandaron and his students on charges of sextant activity. B. Dandaron was sentenced to five years of hard labor, and soon he died in one of the camps on the southern shore of Lake Baikal.

Buddhists believe that the enlightened Tibetan lama Gumbum Jayagsy Gegen was reborn in the guise of B. Dandaron. The legend tells that soon after his birth, a delegation of Tibetan lamas arrived in Buryatia with a request to send the boy to be raised in Tibet. However, Lubsan Sandan, the spiritual leader of the Buryat Buddhists, told them: "He is needed here." The teachings of B. Dandaron can be found in his books "Thoughts of a Buddhist. Black Notebook". St. Petersburg, 1997; "Letters on Buddhist Ethics". St. Petersburg, 1997.

Of modern Russian mystics and metaphysicians, of particular interest, in the current conditions, are the works of Alexander Dugin, who outlined the "Pentateuch" - "The Ways of the Absolute", "Mysteries of Eurasia", "Hyperborean Theory", "Conspirology", " Conservative Revolution" - the principles of Integral Traditionalism. These five books cover the spectrum of problems that is most relevant in the dramatic and eschatological situation in which Russia as a whole and the Russian people in particular find themselves at present.

A. Dugin is also the largest geopolitician of the Eurasian orientation. His fundamental work "Fundamentals of Geopolitics" has become a classic of geopolitical thought. A. Dugin actively uses the Internet to popularize his work and the views of authors close to him in spirit. So almost all the works of A. Dugin and his like-minded people can be found on the relevant Internet sites.

Of undoubted interest is also the work of a representative of domestic Islam Heydar Jemal "Orientation-North" is a philosophical, metaphysical and mythological compendium of extraordinary revelations of transcendental knowledge.

Of particular importance for overcoming the current global spiritual crisis are the works of the largest Russian mystic and metaphysical writer Yuri Mamleev. The publication in the journal "Questions of Philosophy" of an interview with him - "The Fate of Being" (No. 9, 1992), and then of his work of the same name (No. 10,11, 1993) gave a powerful impetus to the deepening of esoteric knowledge, generally raised modern esotericism to a fundamentally different level of development.

Yuri Mamleev made a grandiose attempt in his works to go beyond the world spiritual tradition, which is the basis of all religions and metaphysics. His "Last Doctrine", substantiated conceptually in the work "The Fate of Being", and also presented in artistic form in many of his literary works created by the "method of metaphysical realism", is one of the most original and profound metaphysical concepts in the history of not only Russian, but also world mysticism. The "last doctrine" is the doctrine of what lies beyond the Absolute, that which is transcendent in relation to the Absolute, to Reality and to the higher Self (however, this doctrine has nothing in common with the well-known doctrine of Nirvana, the Divine Nothing, Holy Darkness of the Absolute, etc.). This is the Teaching that God is only the "body" of the truly Transcendent (speaking by analogy), and not the essence of the Transcendent; the latter is, as it were, the true Darkness, the true Ocean, which "surrounds" Reality. In relation to God, this Darkness (of course, we are talking about the true Transcendental Darkness, which has nothing to do with the demonic darkness associated with the world of Being and included in the system of the Absolute) is the same as the Spirit in relation to the Body (of course, taking Note that this analogy is purely external).

Since this doctrine teaches that which goes beyond the Absolute, it really deserves the name "Last Doctrine", for it is impossible to go "beyond" this (however, this is its exoteric name, esoterically it is called differently).

"The Fate of Being" by Yuri Mamleev rightfully became the main work of the Moscow esoteric collection "Unio Mistica", published in 1997 BC in the publishing house "Terra" and became a notable phenomenon in the history of the latest domestic esotericism. This book begins a series of publications on modern Russian metaphysics that has no analogues in modern culture. The task of the compilers of this series is to present the entire spectrum of esoteric searches and discoveries of the Eurasian continent, in which Russia plays the role of a spiritual pinnacle and stronghold of the future.

Book of Veles. The “Book of Veles” - the Holy Scripture of the Slavs - is of great importance for the revival of Russian spirituality, and therefore spirituality throughout the modern world. It opens up to us the spiritual Universe of the ancient Russians. The canonical edition of this book was published in translation and with explanations by the famous Slavic scholar A.I. Asov. ("The Book of Veles". St. Petersburg, "Polytechnic", 2000). This book was carved on beech tablets by Novgorod priests in the XNUMXth century. n. e. "The Book of Veles" describes the history of the Slavs and many other peoples of Eurasia from the time of the Ancestors (XX century BC), up to the XNUMXth century. n. e. It has absorbed the experience of many millennia of spiritual quest, struggle, victories and defeats of many peoples inhabiting Eurasia. “The Book of Veles” is the only sacred scripture of Europe that has survived to this day. Little remains of the sacred books of the ancient Greeks and Romans: the Rhapsodic Theogony of Orpheus, the writings of Musaeus, and the Book of the Sibylline. We know ancient myths and sacred history not from primary sources (holy books), but from transcriptions of ancient authors. The Scandinavian epic, collected in XIII c., songs of the skalds: “Elder Edda” and “Younger Edda”. From the sacred books of the Druids, only the later Irish tales and the “Book of Ferillt” remained, on the basis of which Douglas Monroe published books on Druidic magic: “21 Lessons of Merlin” and “The Lost Books of Merlin”, published in Russian by the Sophia Publishing House. In this series, the “Book of Veles” occupies a special place, since it is a priestly book, therefore, its text is the most ancient Tradition of Europe. And not only Europe. (Let us emphasize once again that she begins her narrative from the 2000th century BC). Stories about the Ancestral Home of the “Book of Veles” are related to stories from the ancient Indian Vedas and ancient Iranian Avestan literature. The tales of the “Book of Veles” about the Ancestors are also similar to the biblical legends about the patriarchs. This book provides an opportunity to study the foundations of the ancient Slavic Vedic era and feel the spirit of ancient Slavic culture. A.I. Asov quite reasonably expresses confidence that “the phenomenon of the “Book of Veles” speaks of the beginning of the era of the Russian Renaissance” (“The Book of Veles”, St. Petersburg, “Polytechnika”, 220. P. XNUMX).

Ancient Slavic spirituality. As for ancient Slavic spirituality, the Slavic-Aryan Vedas, which expound the ancient faith of the Slavic and Aryan peoples, are also of unconditional interest here (these books are published by the Arkor publishing house"). In the same series are books such as “Love of the Family,” “Book of the Family Light,” “Drinking from the River of Life,” dedicated to the revival of ancient Slavic paganism. So, for example, in “Rodolyubiya” the following is said about the revival of Slavic paganism: “We are Russians! We have an ancient and glorious history, an enchantingly beautiful and rich Earth, a wise and strong religion - the Holy Faith of our great Ancestors, the ancient Rus-Aryans. Our Faith is not based on ethereal fantasies and empty conjectures, but on direct Knowledge-Knowledge, preserved by the sacred Vedic Tradition, coming from the very Family of the Almighty, the Ancestor of our Ancestors, and confirmed by the direct personal experience of those who inherit Him... And it is not good for us, not only Russians by the fact of birth, but also by Spirit, not to care about the Native Shrines. Forgetting your Source is the same as getting lost in the thicket without a path and hope of return. Losing our Native Faith, are we not losing ourselves in madness?... "("Rodolovie". M., 1999. P. 5-6).

A return to spiritual sources, to the Sacred Tradition and the formation on this basis of a worldview of a new era that fully meets the needs of the time is now a necessary condition for the survival of not only the peoples of Russia, but of all mankind.

Author: Pankin S.F.

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Nathan Tandon and his colleagues were able to control the willpower of the patient with the help of electrodes implanted in the brain
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