Religious syncretism of the ancient world. Religious syncretism at the beginning of the 3rd century n. e Syncretic cults
borrowing by one religion of elements of other religions or a combination of components of different religions in a new religion. system. Borrowings from other cults and doctrinal systems are characteristic of all religions throughout the history of mankind. Mn. modern Researchers consider Christ to be a syncretic religion, a cut formed in the first centuries A.D. NS. in the Roman Empire, combining elements of Egyptian and Greek. mysteries and dialectical Hellenic philosophy in the interpretation of the Alexandrian school of the Neoplatonists, the esoteric teachings of the East, the principles of Jewish Messianic historicism and Jewish apocalypticism in the interpretation of the first Christ. schools of the 1st and 2nd centuries and Christ proper. mythology based on the allegorical interpretation of the Bible by Philo of Alexandria.
In Russia, Christianization has been going on for centuries under the sign of the preservation of elements of folk ("pagan") beliefs, cults and traditions. So, the abilities of Perun were transferred by the popular consciousness to the prophet Elijah, with whom the image of Ilya Muromets later merged; the female deity Makosh began to be called St. Paraskeva while maintaining their purpose; miraculous icons replaced the local patron gods.
Today S. p. in Russia can be divided into: 1) preserved to this day from the past and 2) new, which appeared in the USSR and in the Russian Federation.
1) Certain folk festivals in Russia were renamed to Christ. manners, keeping the previous meaning: "honey spas" (consecration of honey and cereals) has been preserved in its original meaning. Christ was superimposed on the "apple savior" while maintaining the ritual of consecration of apples, which symbolizes the transformation of nature. the image "Transfiguration of the God-Man". The feast of the "Protection of the Mother of God" supplanted the "Protection of the God Kryshen" (the girls sang: "Kryshen, Kryshen, cover the ground with snow, and me with a bridegroom!"), Which was celebrated on that day (October 1 st. Art.) In Russia. The significance of this holiday is associated with the idea of the patronage of Heaven throughout the Russian land. The popular celebration of the winter solstice Maslenitsa also survived without Christ. interpretations (with mummers' festivities and symbols of the sun god).
Attempts are now being made to revive certain syncretic cults and mythical images. So, for example, the image of a warrior slaying a dragon, and ascending to the cult of the Zoroastrian god Mithra, in Russia in the 14th century. was rethought: the image of the martyr George appeared in the arms of Moscow and Russia. Now the authorities are trying to introduce the image of St. George the Victorious into the public consciousness as a symbol of the "new Russia".
2) In the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, new forms of S. p. associated either with the desire of traditional religions to adapt to modern. sociocultural realities, or with the desire of new religions to preserve their influence at the expense of primordial traditions. Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church was forced to agree with the celebration of the New Year, despite the fact that it falls on the Nativity Fast. Under the conditions of the ban on the wide celebration of Easter, the revival of the pre-Christ of the people took place. the practice of “rejoicing” together with ancestors at the graves of relatives, which was strictly forbidden by Orthodoxy. the church (as a "compromise", the church began to celebrate a special holiday with the pagan name "Radonitsa" on the 9th day after Easter).
Syncretism is a very broad concept, the definition of which can be found in various fields of science. In a general sense, syncretism means fusion, confusion, eclecticism. It is better to define this concept in accordance with the specific area in which it is applied. In art, syncretism manifests itself in the fusion of incomparable various images, initial components into some kind of phenomenon.
In philosophy, syncretism means a combination of several dissimilar conflicting theories and principles into one system, but without combining them, this is a kind of eclecticism that ignores differences in heterogeneous principles.
In religion, syncretism is fusion of completely different religious trends, creeds and cult trends.
Syncretism in linguistics denotes the unification in a single form of several designations, distributed between different forms in relation to the earlier stages of the history of the development of the language, these forms are polysemantic, multifunctional. There is also the concept of cumulation of grammatical meanings, which is used in the same sense with the concept of syncretism in linguistics and expresses several grammes of different grammatical categories for one indivisible indicator.
Syncretism in Psychology denotes the indivisibility of mental processes in the early period of the child's development. It is manifested by the tendency of children's thinking to combine various phenomena with each other, without sufficient grounds for this. Many researchers have noted this phenomenon in the psychology of a child, in particular, his perception in the inseparability of the sensory image of an object, without isolating and correlating internal connections and elements. The child, who takes the connection of impressions for the connection of objects, unconsciously transfers the meaning of the word to only externally connected things. By selecting syncretic connections in subsequent practice that will correspond to reality, the child restores the real meaning of words for himself.
Syncretism in cultural studies means the absence of differences in cultural phenomena.
Syncretism of primitive culture characterized by the fusion of art, cognitive activity, magic. Also syncretism in cultural studies is an external mixing of the diversity of cultural components, which is characterized by a high level of eclecticism and manifestation in different planes of culture.
Syncretism of primitive culture is defined in three directions. First, syncretism, as the unity of man and nature. Secondly, it manifests itself as the indivisibility of the spiritual, material and artistic systems of culture. Third, the manifestation of the primitive syncretism of culture is an artistic activity inextricably intertwined with material and production processes.
Syncretism in philosophy
In philosophy, syncretism is an essential characteristic that combines various philosophical trends in one system, but without combining them, and this differs from eclecticism. Although the concept of syncretism is close to it, eclecticism, with the help of criticism, separates the basic principles from different systems and connects them into a single totality.
Syncretism, unlike eclecticism, connects heterogeneous principles, but their true unification never happens, because there is no need to connect them in internal unity with contradictions to each other.
Syncretism was most clearly expressed in Alexandrian philosophy, in particular Philo of the Jews and among other philosophers, no less, who were engaged in trying to connect Greek philosophy and Eastern philosophical trends. The same trend was present in the adherents of Gnosticism.
Religious-philosophical syncretism combines occult, mystical, spiritualistic and other trends that are unlike traditional religious trends. Such concepts combine components arising from different religions along with extra-scientific and scientific knowledge. Such a religious-philosophical syncretism can be observed in such directions as Gnosticism, Alexandrian philosophy, theosophy, in particular Blavatsky's theosophy, the anthroposophy of the Agni-Yoga of the Roerichs or Rudolf Steiner. Based on syncretic religious-philosophical teachings, religious movements began to appear. For example, based on Blavatsky's theosophy, more than a hundred esoteric religious movements have emerged.
Syncretism is a principle by which it is determined how a person relates to the world around him, to himself, how he relates to reproduced activity. It is an essential characteristic of the non-fragmentation of modalities, it lacks an understanding of how the world differs, various phenomena from logical dual-directed oppositions in a simultaneous complete disorder (that is, the absence of logical prohibitions) in defining phenomena, correlating them with some of the opposition poles based on on principle everything and in everything.
At first glance, this idea seems quite absurd. Because, in fact, how can an arbitrary division of the world into categories of good and evil, for example, be possible, and at the same time assume that such a difference is characteristic of the real world? But such nonsense is possible under one circumstance: if, according to such logic, every phenomenon in the world is a werewolf, that is, it is not what it is, it has the ability to turn into something completely different from what it really is.
This phenomenon occurs when a person thinks according to inversion logic. For example, in various cultures there are such interpretations: a stone can be a totem, a bear - a brother, a living wolf can be killed by a person, a parrot - just a person, a worker - a pest, and so you can continue indefinitely.
Philosophical thinking allows people to think so, since there is a difference in culture, as the accumulated experience of mankind, the people and the experience of the personality itself and the visibility of phenomena. This allows each person every day to interpret every phenomenon that is significant for him in the ideas of culture, provided that such a phenomenon lends itself to comparison, correlation with a certain component of this culture, and its meaning is "played" by each pole of the opposition. The meaning of such a phenomenon is constantly twisted in the head, in a person's activities there is a stable constant awareness and rethinking.
If a person did not have this ability, he would not be a person with philosophical thinking.
Syncretism is an essential characteristic of a social, cultural, philosophically filled life, formed by the desire of a person to connect with the natural and social rhythms that are most important for him. It is not independent, separate from the social whole of human responsibility. It is typical for him to analyze each difference through the seriousness of the danger of excommunication, cutting off the connection with the cosmos, the world around him, with himself and his soul.
Syncretism is revealed as a cause of an uncomfortable feeling of a state, a stimulus for greater activity, focused on initiation and participation, joining a whole. Syncretism does not distinguish between the universal and the individual. A significant single phenomenon is a signal for a person, which evokes in consciousness separate undifferentiated general systems of considerations and ideas. It also understands the gravitation to return, to the past, mainly through the fear of separation from the whole, the orientation towards a return to the totem, the leader, the social order. This is precisely the basis of syncretic humanity, which, if it departed from the philosophy of syncretism, at least did not try, using its foundations, to return to a state based on a priestly-ideological orientation.
Religious syncretism
In religion, this phenomenon means mixing and inorganic combination of heterogeneous religious trends, cult positions and beliefs in the process of interaction of religions in historical development, for example, Shintoism.
Syncretism in religion is a link in combining heterogeneous religious teachings of an anthropological and cosmological nature.
The concept of religious syncretism with its limits of application in religious studies is a subject of discussion. There is a point of view according to which all religions exist as syncretic, because as a result of their development, influences from other religions were revealed. In order to somehow cope with the subject of this discussion, in order to solve it, differentiation is carried out within the concept itself according to various characteristics, taking into account the level of syncretism.
There is also a controversial question as to whether the term "religious syncretism" and the concept of "dual faith" (the combination of basic faith and components from other beliefs) are synonymous. In the modern world, this concept is treated both negatively and positively, depending on the direction in which it is spoken about in the religious or scientific tradition.
Orthodox theologians consider religious syncretism to be an external, artificial and inorganic combination of the unconnected, without a clear and precise description of spiritual grounds, they consider it inconsistent with respect to the content of the fragments involved.
Publicists sometimes use the term "religious syncretism" in the sense of religious omnivorousness.
It is also worth paying attention to the fact that it is necessary to make a distinction between the concept of religious syncretism and religious pluralism, which implies the calm coexistence or separation of areas of influence and influence between some separate confessions or several religions without merging them.
Throughout the long history of religion, there has been such a general cultural phenomenon as religious syncretism. From the most primitive era to the modern modern religious movements. It is expressed in the combination of heterogeneous doctrinal teachings and cult positions from various religious trends, defining the main provisions of the doctrines.
Historically, in the Hellenistic religions, syncretism was very widespread in the Inca state, while the incorporation of the gods in the conquered lands into their own religious worship was supported even at the level of public policy.
During the early Middle Ages, the direction of Manichaeism became widespread, which subsequently exerted an influence on the widespread medieval syncretic heresy.
During the modern era, a mass of different syncretic religious trends began to appear. Of those that recently emerged and became widespread religious trends, which are characterized by religious syncretism.
Chinese religious syncretism has its origins in ancient history. The millennial war between the adherents of Confucianism, religious Taoism and Buddhism demonstrates that none of these teachings are capable of becoming the only one in order to oust the competitive directions from this specific sphere. And none of these currents at the same time were monotheistic directed religions, respectively, this implied the possibility of a compromise.
Thus, Chinese religious syncretism took shape around the end of the Tang era. This is a unique direction that unites all religious teachings, and in which sociology and political morality were proposed for Confucianism, for Taoism - everyday, everyday needs that excite people for Buddhism, which absorbed the heritage and experience from ancient Taoist philosophy, remained the doctrine of the meaning and issues of life, besides this, Buddhism was concerned with consoling the oppressed and justifying the world. Although the jurors of the three philosophical and religious movements continued to quarrel among themselves, in the minds of ordinary believers, all three got along quite freely with their pantheons. The same syncretic system of beliefs developed in other countries with a characteristic Chinese cultural sphere, only Taoism was replaced by local pagan beliefs, for example, in Japan - it was Shintoism.
SYNCRETISM RELIGIOUS - the borrowing by one religion of elements of other religions or a combination of components of different religions in a new religious system. Borrowings from other cults and doctrinal systems are characteristic of all religions throughout the history of mankind. Many modern researchers consider Christianity as a syncretic religion, which was formed in the first centuries of our era in the Roman Empire, combining elements of the Egyptian and Greek mysteries and dialectical Hellenic philosophy in the interpretation of the Alexandrian school of the Neoplatonists, the esoteric teachings of the East, the principles of the Jewish messianic historicism and the Jewish apocalyptic interpretation 1-2 centuries and proper Christian mythology based on an allegorical interpretation of the Bible Philo of Alexandria.
In Russia, Christianization has been going on for centuries under the sign of the preservation of elements of folk ("pagan") beliefs, cults and traditions. So, the abilities of Perun were transferred by the popular consciousness to the prophet Elijah, with whom the image of Ilya Muromets later merged; the female deity Makosh began to be called St. Paraskeva while maintaining their purpose; miraculous icons replaced the local patron gods.
Today, religious syncretism in Russia can be divided into: 1) preserved to this day from the past and 2) new, which appeared in the USSR and the Russian Federation.
1) Some folk festivals in Russia were renamed in the Christian manner, retaining the previous meaning: "honey spas" (consecration of honey and cereals) has been preserved in its original meaning. The "apple saved", while maintaining the ritual of consecration of apples, symbolizing the transformation of nature, was superimposed on the Christian image - "The Transfiguration of the God-Man." The feast of the "Protection of the Virgin" supplanted the "Protection of the God Kryshen", celebrated on this day (October 1, old style) in Russia (the girls sang: "Kryshen, Kryshen, cover the earth with snow, and me with a bridegroom!"). The significance of this holiday is associated with the idea of the patronage of Heaven throughout the Russian land. The popular celebration of the winter solstice - Maslenitsa - has also survived without a Christian interpretation (with mummers' festivities and symbols of the sun god).
Attempts are now being made to revive some syncretic cults and mythical images. So, for example, the image of a warrior slaying a dragon, and dating back to the cult of the Zoroastrian god Mithra, was rethought in Russia in the 14th century: the image of the martyr George appeared in the arms of Moscow and Russia. Now the authorities are trying to introduce the image of St. George the Victorious into the public consciousness as a symbol of the "new Russia".
2) In the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, new forms of religious syncretism are associated either with the desire of traditional religions to adapt to modern socio-cultural realities, or with the desire of new religions to preserve their influence at the expense of primordial traditions. Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church was forced to agree with the celebration of the New Year, despite the fact that it falls on the Nativity Fast. With a ban on widespread celebration there was a revival of the popular pre-Christian practice of "rejoicing" together with the ancestors - on the graves of relatives, which was strictly forbidden by Orthodoxy. the church (as a "compromise" the church began to celebrate a special holiday with the pagan name "Radonitsa" on the 9th day after Easter).
In the doctrinal sphere, ecumenism can be attributed to the manifestations of religious syncretism (see. in Russia) and joint ecumenical prayers and rituals, in which all Christian denominations participate in one way or another, as well as some other innovations.
V. S. Polosin
Quoted here from the edition: Religions of the peoples of modern Russia. Dictionary. / editorial board: Mchedlov M.P., Averyanov Yu.I., Basilov V.N. and others - M., 1999, p. 472-474.
Theosophical literature is full of terms belonging to various religions. This is a direct result of the development of the idea of religious syncretism (the unification of religions), which Theosophy seeks to implement. She states: “The root of all religions, including Judaism and Christianity, must be found in a few primitive truths, and none of them can be explained separately from all others, since each constitutes a certain detail in relation to the totality of all the others .. . "
The result of such constructions should be "... the creation of the" One Universal Church "in which Buddhism, Christianity, Mohammedanism ..." and "all other sects are only its component parts ..." At the same time, according to A. Besant, The Theosophical Society must be recognized as "the center from which all religions proceed." Thus, Theosophy strives to become a kind of common and universal denominator for all religions.
It is clear that such a task is impracticable, since the living religious feeling and the inner experience of people of different faiths cannot be compatible. Truth is always different from delusion. But on an intellectual level, when there is no living faith, it can be tempting to follow this path. In the absence of faith, in the denial of the highest virtue and holiness, one cannot speak of a person's striving for God and living communication with Him.
Theosophists understood this and the question of knowledge of God, without directly denying it, replaced it with another, "related" question - about the knowledge of the invisible world. They identified it with the knowledge of the secrets of nature and, in order for this process to proceed more successfully, they recommend artificially strengthening the capabilities of the mind - the intellect, which is considered a tool in the knowledge of God ... And here it is already possible to make a substitution of concepts - so that a person can accept , which is contrary to the Truth. Any religious manifestation of conscience that can save a person from such a mistake is fettered by the doctrine of reincarnation, in which moral life, turned into a natural chain of causes and effects, perishes.
"Proclaiming the unity of religions and their origin from a common Divine Primary Source, theosophy refers to the following proofs: the identity of 1) religious teachings, 2) ethical teachings, 3) the history of teachers, 4) symbols." “When we hear that the Hindu temples contain the same symbols that we find in the excavations of antiquities in the West, when we learn that identical stone carvings, identical numbers and symbols were found in Egypt, Peru, Mexico ... : wasn’t all these symbols based on the same idea among different peoples ... ”. Such a comparative study should lead to the recognition that at all times humanity has been led by Superhumanity. That is why the forms of religious teachings are different, but the essence is always the same.
The purpose of this comparative study is to find common concepts and symbols in various religions. A little reasoning ... and the hammer of Thor from the Scandinavian epic turns into a Cross. Moreover, “pagan theosophy is nothing more than pre-Christian Christianity” (9, 66). So, under the guise of light, Theosophy calls into the darkness of the ages, where everything has the same truth and value. And this can only lead to the destruction of moral principles. To implement the idea of creating a single religion, theosophists call for liberation from authorities, arguing that "... Christianity only partially hints at absolute truth" and even if it sometimes touches it, it is only "unconsciously and solely because in every delusion there is a grain of truth "(10, 564). In order to find it and "peel" out of the crust of prejudice, "you need to become a theosophist, you need to learn freedom from all binding authorities" (10, 564).
For a Christian, this can mean only one thing - freedom from God and the Church, a departure from the “pillar and confirmation of Truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).
So, the task of theosophical religious syncretism is to foster indifference to religion, "freedom", the fruits of which are apostasy and anti-Christianity.
Destruction of Christian concepts.
Abundantly using Christian concepts in its creations, Theosophy transforms them into something that has nothing to do with Christianity.
The Christian concept of the One and Personal God, the Creator of heaven and earth, in Theosophy is replaced by a certain principle. E. Blavatsky writes: “We reject the idea of a personal God. We believe in the universal Divine principle, the root of everything, from which everything proceeds and in which everything will be absorbed at the end of the great cycle of creation ”(1, 50). G. Olcott adds: “Personal God is nothing but an immeasurable shadow cast over the emptiness of space by the imagination of ignorant people ...” (1, 50). The same is stated by A. Besant: “Theosophy, from the side of theology, is pantheism, God is everything, and everything is God” (1, 50). Theosophy even reaches the point of complete denial of God: "There is no God, both personal and impersonal" (E. Blavatsky - 7, 44). In the canonical book of Theosophy "Esoteric Buddhism" Sinnett writes: "... so everything is matter, and outside of it there is nothing" (7, 45). Thus, from pantheism to complete atheism - such is the spectrum of ideas that Theosophy puts into the concept of God.
Even more absurd are her ideas about Jesus Christ. In order to lull the vigilance of Christians, Theosophists often refer to Jesus Christ as the "teacher of teachers." According to A. Besant, a disciple of the mystical school of the East, “disciple Jesus”, whose body had been prepared for this purpose for centuries, received Christ into himself (1, 54). Theosophists recognize him as the founder of the Christian religion. For the successful fulfillment of this mission, they consider Jesus not a disciple, but a teacher, one of the mahatmas living in the Himalayas and governing mankind. According to another version of the same A. Besant, "Jesus Christ was brought up by the Essenes: traveling through Egypt, he enters the esoteric lodge, which gave mankind all the founders of religions ... During baptism, the Great Mahatma descended into the body of Jesus" (1, 56).
R. Steiner's performances are even more fantastic. According to them, two babies lived at the same time: in one of them the physical and etheric bodies are being prepared, and in the other
astral, but then both of them become one - in the 12th year of life, through the transfer of the personality of Zarathustra, etc. Archpriest Sergiy Bulgakov writes that “even the complex and confusing Gnostic constructions, about which history has preserved our memory, are far from these occult dreams, clothed forcibly and blasphemously - in the images of the Gospel” (4, 59).
All these terminological manipulations were necessary in order to hide the main thing in their fog: that neither theosophists nor anthroposophists know and do not recognize Jesus Christ as the God-man. At best, they consider Him to be among the most prominent religious figures.
E. Blavatsky asserts: "Jesus Christ is a Bodhisattva who had the spirit of Buddha, and He is also one of the reincarnations of Shakyamuni, Sri Shankaracharya, Apollonius of Tyana, Tsong-Ha-Cha - a reformer of Tibetan Buddhism" (1, 56). But even such reasoning is only a concession for the "profane". In a letter dated March 24, 1884, she writes: “You ask whether we, Theosophists, believe in Christ. In the impersonal Christ, yes. Krishna or Buddha is the same Christ ... but not in Jesus of Nazareth ... "
R. Steiner writes: "Jesus Christ is a complex being, uniting in himself, through reincarnation and co-incarnations, Buddha, Zoroaster and the Solar Spirit!" Jesus Christ is characterized by the astral body of Buddha, the etheric body of Zoroaster, as well as the I of the latter, which was replaced by the Solar Logos "Agura Mazda" ...
Jesus Christ is not in the Theosophical Dictionary either. The word "Christ" is understood as "initiated", that is, a nominal name "assigned in ancient times to all persons who reached a certain degree of initiation in the pagan mysteries." Thus, Christ for theosophists is a certain state of mind, an abstract idea, an abstract image ...
Denying a Personal God, denying the God-manhood of Jesus Christ, Theosophy must also reject prayer. “Do not pray ... The darkness will not give an answer. Do not ask the Silence for anything, because it cannot speak. Do not bother your souls ... with pious trials ... do not ask for anything from the powerless gods, either in jimns or in sacrifices. One must seek liberation only in oneself ”(1, 63). Instead of prayer, prayer meditation is recommended - meditation. Denying prayer, Theosophy denies that which was given to the apostles by God Himself and that there is a path to union with Christ. Theosophy replaces hope in God with faith in the possibilities of man: "Man must rely only on himself in order to become perfect" (1, 71). However, at the same time, the whole structure of a person's inner life changes. All Christian ascetics are characterized by the consciousness of their own powerlessness - humility; pride, as the antipode of humility, has always been considered the most terrible sin that led to the fall of Dennitsa (who became Satan). Theosophy is silent about pride, hiding the true essence of its "spirituality."
One of the leaders of the Theosophical Society in Russia, A. Kamenskaya, to a comment about this in M. Lodyzhensky's book "Superconsciousness" replied that in Theosophy nothing is said about the danger of pride, that this sin is considered too elementary. Having legalized in man such passions as pride (and hence selfishness, envy), Theosophy does not at all strive to eradicate all the main sources of passions in man. She regards passion and vice not from the Christian point of view, but from the everyday, from the applied, simply as something that weakens a person's strength.
Thus, hiding behind the name of Christianity, Theosophy tries only to have its appearance, to appropriate an attractive guise in order to win over people seeking God ... All Christian concepts that Theosophy touches are subjected to its destructive influence. And in this sense, it is precisely anti-Christianity. How does it manifest itself?
Anti-Christianity.
Christianity is based on faith in a Personal God, the Creator of heaven and earth, which He created from nothing ... The "God" of Theosophy has nothing to do with Christian God, being, rather, his antagonist, that is, Satan.
The universal principle of evolution adopted by Theosophy, which is designed to make everyone superman (divine), destroys the world-redemptive Sacrifice of Christ: everyone can accomplish his own salvation, regardless of the historical incarnation of Christ the Savior. For a person for whom "... all that Being, Bliss and Wisdom is I ...", for whom "... Life, Love and Light are I" (11, 740), there is no need for the Church. Therefore, theosophy also lacks the concept of the Church. And E. Blavatsky expressed her attitude to the Christian Church (in one of her letters) as follows: “We have members: Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Brahmins, Darwinists, scientists, agnostics and free-thinkers, but there are no materialists ... In our language” materialist "is not what is on yours. You call “materialists” those who do not believe in the afterlife and in nothing but matter. We are all believers in church dogmas and teachings ... ”(1, 61).
So, according to the founders of the Theosophical Society themselves, a believer who lives a church life in the Sacraments cannot be a Theosophist. He needs to renounce Christ in order to recognize Theosophy as the center of the religion of the whole world - "... a religion in which Buddhism, Christianity, Mohammedanism and all other sects are only its constituent parts ..." (1, 25). But even this attitude towards Christianity is a lie, a concession for those who are not yet ready to accept the doctrine of Theosophy. For Theosophy, Christianity is only a sect that stands in the way of "true spirituality", hence the corresponding attitude towards Christianity. E. Blavatsky wrote: "Our goal is not to restore Hinduism, but to sweep Christianity off the face of the Earth." For A. Besant, "being converted to Christianity is worse than being a skeptic and materialist."
Ancient seduction.
At present, a lot of Theosophical literature is being published and reprinted, which many read and study. Through its societies and circles, Theosophy gains more and more followers. What is its appeal?
By creating a purely human, earthly religion, Theosophy quite simply gives satisfaction to the religious feeling of man.
So, if conscience, our faithful witness, an unerring mentor and infallible judge, prevents a person from fulfilling bad desires and inclinations, then Theosophy seeks to deceive the religious manifestation of conscience and, instead of revitalizing faith in the Living God, offers us soporific atheism.
By its teaching on reincarnation, Theosophy seeks to rid man of the fear of death, although it is precisely this good fear that is capable of awakening and elevating the soul of man. According to the testimony of St. Basil the Great, "the fear of death is a saving fear, the fear that brings holiness ..." This saving fear is associated with the responsibility of man for his immortal soul: "... What ransom will a man give for his soul?" (Matthew 16, 26. Mark 8:37). In reincarnation, however, there is no responsibility, since for the negligent, a "re-examination" in another life is possible. And this means: "Rest, eat, drink, be merry ..." (Luke 12, 19).
Theosophy seeks to rid a person of everything that can remind him of his responsibility, of the answer that he will inevitably have to give before the Face of the Righteous Judge. Through her teaching, she leads a person away from God, deprives him of his grace-filled help, subordinates him to the "cosmic hierarchy." In Theosophy, everything is adapted to the psychology of the "children of wrath." It creates a morality that consoles a fallen man, proceeding from his attachment to this earthly life. And in such a state of spiritual and moral relaxation ("spiritual comfort"), which creates only the appearance of an active spiritual life, people are told (like an ancient snake when tempted by Eve): "You will be like gods" (Gen. 3, 5), - through reincarnation will be Buddha and Christ! For many, this is the result of the spiritual search: “You have become a Teacher, you yourself have become Light” (1, 59).
And what happens? Man aspired to God, aspired to really know Him, and in the end he only learned that he is the very “God”. I was looking for God, but I found myself. How many experienced aspirations to God, how many reflections on various manifestations of the Logos, and as a result, instead of the Living and Personal God, Almighty and Creator of the Universe, - an insignificant, perishable, passionate, sinful being - a man-self-god! .. And even less - only material for the formation of a deity. "Decent" result! ..
The path to doctrine.
Theosophy places a person in the realm of religious concepts, not connected and not supported by his religious life. Performing certain operations on concepts, it creates a special system that can be called "theology of chaos." Using familiar Christian words - God, Christ, the Son of God ... - she puts a completely different content into them. It is easy for a person who is unfamiliar with theosophical methods and accustomed to combine with the usual terms the usual - Christian - content, it is easy to fall into the mistake of believing that everything in Theosophy agrees with Christianity. At the same time, a person with an unclean heart, who is in "spiritual comfort", has the illusion of knowledge, the availability of many complex and high spiritual concepts. Here the inalienable moral law is violated, according to which a person is only able to perceive an object on his own experience (15, 10). Abba Evagrius says: “God reveals Himself not to the acuteness of the mind, but to the purity of heart: blessed be a pure heart, for they will see God (Matt. 5, 8). In the spiritual life, labor is necessary to acquire true knowledge, and Theosophy relieves one of this. But after all, “a blind man, with all his intelligence, does not see, but only speculates about the light; so no effort of the mind can a person see the spiritual ... ”(16, 35). In Theosophy there is no painful, tense and responsible choice "Who is Truth?" - she proclaims a lie: "Everything is Truth!" In the Theosophical Society everyone is looking, everyone understands the Truth in their own way, everyone is right from their point of view, and this is the whole life!
So, hiding behind Christianity, Theosophy imperceptibly leads people to fall away from Christianity. She is like a "Trojan horse" that a person accepts into his consciousness through idle, vain curiosity. But, as the Rev. Isidore Pelusiot says, "the curious one floats on the ship of pride." It is no coincidence that Theosophy does not recognize pride in sin ... Theosophical ideas that have taken possession of man lead him to ruin: they distort reason, make him indifferent to true spiritual life, but at the same time fully capable of accepting the unnatural doctrine of Theosophy that contradicts Truth.
At the end of the 5th - beginning of the 6th century. in Central Japan, the struggle between clans for supremacy in a common tribal association intensified. In their quest for power, the Soga clan used a foreign religion - Buddhism, the first mention of which dates back to 538, when the embassy of the Korean kingdom of Baekje arrived in Yamato with Buddhist sutras and a statue of Shakya Muni.
Confucianism also penetrated the Japanese islands. Confucian ideas met the needs of the royal elite and their aristocratic entourage. Their desire for power was consistent with an ethical program with a clear social division of society, where the place and responsibilities of each were determined. Confucian ethics, with its principle of filial piety and duty, prescribed strict observance of the cult of ancestors to all, and to the lower strata also unquestioning submission to the "divine" dynasty of rulers.
Nevertheless, Buddhism turned out to be a priority for the Soga clan in the struggle for power. After the victory of Soga, Buddhism began to spread widely, accompanied by the construction of Buddhist monasteries and temples and the provision of vast lands to them.
A new religion with a pantheon of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas has taken a firm place in the life of the Japanese. She was not perceived as something alien and opposed to ancestral cults. Rather, on the contrary, they expected the same protective functions and various help from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They began to be endowed with the same magical properties as the kami - they were addressed with specific requests - protection from diseases, sending a rich harvest, protection from evil, etc. The Japanese became convinced that the new gods were undoubtedly more powerful. Huge, richly decorated temple buildings, gleaming interiors and many hours of solemn services supported this impression.
Buddhas and bodhisattvas naturally entered the vast pantheon of Shinto as new gods. However, in the early period of the spread of Buddhism, the functions of the temple deities and even their hierarchy were not important and decisive for the local population. They developed their own attitude towards each of the deities, and, therefore, developed their own, a kind of hierarchy, which, as before, as in cults, was based on the idea of the possibility of receiving help from gods who could influence the life of an individual or the whole communities.
At the same time, Buddhism also brought something new. Shinto arose as a religious practice of an agricultural community and was a reflection of collective views and requests, while Buddhism paid attention to the individual, appealed directly to the individual.
Local cults and Buddhism divided among themselves the functions associated with special moments in the life of a Japanese: bright, joyful events - birth, marriage - remained in the jurisdiction of the ancestral gods, headed by the "solar" goddess Amaterasu. Death, interpreted by Shinto as filth, was taken under the protection of Buddhism, providing the concept of liberation through the practice of honoring the Buddha.
This is how the syncretism of the two religions developed - in Japanese terminology ryobusinto – the path of Buddhism and Shinto. It was of great importance that the process of uniting the two religions developed with broad government support. For example, according to a government decree, a combination of Shinto and Buddhist rituals takes place even in such a main and secret ceremony as "the emperor's eating of rice of a new harvest": Buddhist monks are invited to it.
The highest form of religious syncretism was the concept honji suijaku, according to which the deities of the Shinto pantheon can be considered as the temporary embodiment of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Thus, the "solar" goddess Amaterasu became the embodiment of the "Diamond Light" Buddha Vairochana.