THE BUDDHIST RELIGIOUS VALUES IN THE BURYAT DIDACTIC LITERATURE: “A MIRROR OF WISDOM” BY E.-H. GALSHIEV

Abstract

The article tells about an issue of reflection of the Buddhist religious values in the novel from the Buryat didactic literature “A Mirror of Wisdom” (1915) by E.-Y. Galshiev, written in the genre of “subhashita”. The author reveals spiritual maturity, being one of the first in the Buryat didactic literature, he gave a detailed and deep commentaries upon Buddha’s philosophy: “4 Noble virtues”, unveiled the notion of “karma”, “the eightfold path”, “conscious creation of virtue”. The author enriched the worldview of lay people with complex philosophical knowledge and norms of behavior from Buddhist ethics. The authors identified and analyzed certain thematic groups of 1000 subhashits of the complex philosophical work “A Mirror of Wisdom”, which reveal the concepts of good, evil, vices, karma, virtue and compassion. The authors conclude that E.H. Galshiev, by the power of words, reveals one of the central problems of the Buddhist doctrine of 4 noble truths: liberation from suffering, which includes such concepts as the vices of everyday life prevention of (sin of speech, body, thought), also bad rebirths, the danger of sin in real life and in subsequent rebirths, deliverance from hell. Speaking of good deeds, the author raises the problem of virtuous behavior, the manifestation of wisdom and calmness in the Buryat didactic literature. Merit of E.H. Galshiev is that through the genre of subhashita Buryat didactic literature shows that a person is a developing phenomenon, and in his life he must inevitably go through all the stages to a self-sufficient, self-valuable life and avoid “hanging” on one of them.