LEV TOLSTOI

(1828-1910)

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born in the manor Yasnaya Polyana (Tula province). In 3 years lost his mother at 9 years old - his father. Receiving a good education at home, he entered the Kazan University, but after three years left him, disappointed in a government study.

Entered military service, went to the Caucasus in the Crimean War took part in the defense of Sevastopol. Sooner felt the calling of the writer, a psychologist and moralist, delving into self-knowledge (novels, Childhood, Adolescence, " Youth "). Since 1856, having gone into retirement, devoted himself entirely to writing. World fame earned him a grand epic "War and Peace", which discusses the laws of historical process, the role of the masses and the individual. It is equally famous for his novel "Anna Karenina". In the art (novels, plays, novels, short stories), and then the journalistic form, it reveals the issues of life and death, faith and unbelief, knowledge and ignorance, love and hate. He was not only a writer but also a courageous thinker.

The spiritual and moral quest led him to his own interpretation of Christianity outside the formal ecclesiastical. This was dedicated to "Confession", "Critique of Dogmatic Theology," "About Life", "What is my faith" in their own translated the Gospel. In his criticism of the official orthodoxy in 1901, was excommunicated from the church, while the atheists criticized him in the search for God. To educate people wrote children′s stories, fairy tales, alphabet. He preached non-resistance to evil by violence, physical labor, education and a simple life without luxury. The autumn of 1910, experiencing an insoluble contradiction between his life and teachings, secretly left home, became ill at the railway station Astapovo (now - Leo Tolstoy), buried in Yasnaya.

Many of the opinions he expressed on behalf of the heroes of his works, going to the end to the direct presentation of their views on life. Already in the first story, he lamented the loss of childhood experiences: "Back there ever is the freshness, the insouciance, the need for love and the power of faith which you possess as a child? What time could be better than that when the two best virtues - innocent gaiety and a boundless need for love - were the only motives of life? "

Subsequent years have been for Tolstoy′s search for a lost paradise. He succumbed to the temptations of life, fell into despair, tried unsuccessfully to re-experience the pure joy of love, but most importantly - I was searching for the meaning of his life and universal.

Photo — «Lev Tolstoi»

Because then, as a child, he felt a keen sense of death. Short existence on earth and - oblivion. Forever? Or immortality? But mind refused to believe in church sermons and biblical miracles, though his soul had dreamed of coming mortem meeting with his father and mother . . .

Almost all people recognize that human life passes vainly, stupid, vile, foolish, that prevail in the society of hypocrisy, injustice, vulgarity, that rulers and politicians are cunning and cowardly, that the rich are greedy, shameless, beset by the lowly thoughts, that scientists have developed a one-sided, and then stupid, that people are humiliated, deceived and robbed, that teachers of life and morality too often immoral false prophets . . . From these assumptions relied Tolstoy. And the question: why is this happening? How do I fix this? How should a reasonable person to live in dignity, and not reasonably cattle?

Answers Tolstoy are predominantly religious and philosophical basis. The most concise and fully presented in the article "What is religion and what is its essence?" She went out first in England, and a Russian version (banned by censorship) is another way: "Thoughts of modern humanity. " It is strange that this story is bypassed his attention almost everyone who wrote about the outlook of Tolstoy. Apparently, too bold, frank, sharp and fairly expressed in this work a great writer. In it, however, as in many of his works, proved himself both a child with a clear unprejudiced eye, like the first time, opening the world around us, the lad who refuse to compromise, a romantic young man, Tesha the hope to change people′s power of words and thoughts, man ready to fight to the death for their beliefs and human dignity, the wise elder, to instruct and admonish those whom he would like to learn to live happily and honorably.

His method of thinking about problems is simple: the reliance on common sense, your own mind, the absence of any guile or omission was, the desire to get to the virtual lack of reference to any authority - scientific, philosophical, religious. The only exception - the authority of Christ as an ideal personality. The most important principles: "The kingdom of God - inside of us", non-resistance to evil, do not do to others what would not want him. Attitude towards them rational: it is the truth that you can prove and verify their own experience, and not the commandments of God.

Religious philosopher VV Zenkovsky argued that Tolstoy created his own system of "mystical immanentism.

Photo — «Lev Tolstoi»

" With this difficult to accept. Tolstoy did not create any system. His views evolved spontaneously, inconsistently, sometimes contradictory. He was a stranger to mysticism, belief in the supernatural, never denied the reality of the world, and tried to recreate it in their minds and their works in all their diversity. Zenkovsky wrote about panmoralizme Tolstoy: "This is not just ethical maximalism, but a kind of self-crucifixion. Tolstoy was a martyr to his own ideas, his conscience tormented, destroying his life . . . "In fact, Tolstoy′s tormented by something much more majestic than personal sins or ideas torments of conscience: the tragedy of the unjust structure of society, religious institutions, research organizations, the culture and, most importantly, shamefully hypocritical respect between people, vulgar conventions of life, the lack of truth.

Finally Zenkovsky felt as though Tolstoy comes to the categorical rejection of the personality - and this is impersonalism Tolstoy foundation of all his teachings. " And it is also very controversial proposition. This can easily be verified by reading the fiction writer, which always reveal feelings, thoughts and actions of specific individuals and is manifested in this sense, the extreme personalism.

"There are two aspects of life in every person - Tolstoy wrote - his individual life, which is the more free the more abstract its interests, and his elemental, beehive, where people will inevitably perform prescribed to him by law.

Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument to achieve the historic, universal aims. "

This is not the rejection of the individual, but an attempt to define its role and importance not only to themselves, but also in connection with the history of mankind. Incidentally, Zenkovsky paid no attention to the fact that if Tolstoy denied identity, how would he at the same time could be a mystic, and even immanentiotom (remember that the "inherent" meaning "characteristic of the internally")?

Astute Zenkovsky for some subjective reasons are not able to, but rather, even did not want to understand something very important in Tolstoy′s philosophy (informal, spontaneous, personal). Perhaps because Tolstoy stood up, in fact, the position of nihilism: get rid of your culture! down with your religion! Down with your company! Down with your morality!

But it was not just a desperate call for the destruction only because reality is not like the fact that it suppresses this person.

Photo — «Lev Tolstoi»

Just Tolstoy himself was among the "elected": the material secured Count, a family man, world-renowned writer. He would live so enjoy! And he, by contrast, called to break and rebuild all in the name of some higher ideals - justice, truth, mercy, kindness. Only in that he saw the truth and beauty. He was in defiance of his own good fortune, tried to break it up (and broke, and then died soon after) for higher education. Here are some of his statements:

- There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.

- Faith is the knowledge of the meaning of human life . . . Faith is the power of life . . . Without faith it is impossible to live.

- People′s lives can change for the better only on their internal mental changes . . .

- The human soul, the bodies are separated from each other and from God, seek to combine . . . In this increasingly connecting with the souls of other people - with love and with God - the consciousness of his divinity - is the meaning and benefit of human life.

- More and more people-reached the liberation of the soul from the fact that hinders love for people and the consciousness of his divinity: sins, ie pandering to the lusts of the body, temptations, ie misconceptions about the good, and superstition, that false teachings that justify the sins and temptations. (Listed sins: gluttony, drunkenness, idleness, selfishness, using the labor of others, envy, fear, condemnation, hostility, anger, temptation: the pride, inequality, forced ustroitelstvo lives of others, punishment, vanity, superstition: belief in the state, church , science. )

- The soul never was and never will, as always in the present. About the same, as will be aware of his soul after the death of the body, not given to know the man, and did not want him.

- True religion is so harmonious with reason and knowledge of rights assigned to them relating to the surrounding infinite life, which connects life with the endless and directs his actions.

The quest for moral ideal and the desire to put it into practice - not so much in their personal, as in the universal human - makes of Tolstoy′s stern accuser and nisprovergatelya existing orders. He, in particular, provides a definition of art ( "What is art?"): "The activities, which consists in the fact that one man consciously known to transmit other signs they experienced feelings and other people get these feelings and experience them. " But he rejects the art, meets only this criterion is delivered only aesthetic pleasure (consumer attitude to art).

Photo — «Lev Tolstoi»

Tolstoy is based on the goal - to help improve people′s lives, purification of the human mind. Those same requirements it imposes on the Church of religion, to the theoretical science.

According to Tolstoy′s faith, life of a person and not an end in itself, finding meaning in the lives of others and, moreover, in the life of the universal and eternal - in God.

What prevents this? First of all the lies and hypocrisy of people. All the structure of society, government and religious institutions are intended to befuddle (hypnotize like Tolstoy) identity, from childhood so distort the consciousness that some feel worthy of a parasitic life, while others become reconciled to his humble, servile status. Yes what is the rational and moral society can be arranged from such people? - Asks Tolstoy. - As of rotten and crooked logs, no matter how shifting them, can not build houses because of these people can not arrange a reasonable and moral society. Of these people can be formed only a herd of animals, managed cries and whips shepherds. So it is. "

Arguing about the activities of people he calls the three motives: the sense, reason and suggestion. Taking this position, made a series of trivial thoughts: "What is religion and what is its essence. " His conclusion: religion in society is doing evolution, initially responding to feelings, and then to comprehend the mind, but in the end, even at the stage of aging and decline, is drawn to suggestion, hypnosis, blind the human mind by various miracles, verbal spells manipulations. This takes a special caste of the clergy, had assumed the number of privileges, among them - in truth, closeness to God, holiness, spiritual power.

Tolstoy notes these three stages, not only in Christianity, but in Brahmanism, Judaism, Buddhism, taosieme (Taoism), Islam. He names three ways perversion of religion: priesthood, miracles, and the infallibility of Scripture, adding to this the belief in the sanctity of the church as an organization. In fact, he rejects the hypocrisy and superstition in the name of the true faith in God (love, truth, goodness). It is not the case is dead and is expressed in deeds, lifestyle, man, and not in the manipulation of words and gestures.

It is no accident Tolstoy wanted to call the article with thoughts of modern humanity. After three motives - a sense, reason, suggestion - typical of any civilization. (Each of us is the original sense of considering and, if adopted, it considers the truth, as psychologists say - the installation.

Photo — «Lev Tolstoi»

)

In public life the suggestion (and self-hypnosis), installation (and self-installation) play a huge role. Very few manage to get out of their subtle but powerful influence, especially as it is mostly reflected in the subconscious, and subordinating the mind, taking root in the field of emotions.

Now the use of electronic means of mass suggestion, anesthesia awareness is formed narkotsivilizatsiya. It is anticipated Tolstoy. He did his best to frustrate the veil of superstition, prejudice, hypocrisy, suggestion. He did this painful procedure on himself and if he were blinded by the light of truth revealed to him, was struck by the fact that many, many people with humility, and even with pleasure, if not remain in darkness, in the gray twilight.

According to Tolstoy, is a question for the philosophy: what should I do? But philosophers have avoided discussing it. The first step of the degradation of thought, in his opinion, - Hegel′s recognition of the existing reasonable and, therefore, need to adapt to it. The second stage of degradation - the recognition and humans struggle for existence. The third stage of degradation - the manifestation of the principle of life "for his own pleasure, not paying attention to the lives of others.

Tolstoy was stung by these successive stages of decline and perversion of thought, belief, morality. He was tormented consciousness that went down the steps of degradation, people are confident, though stride forward and above the path of progress. Writer-thinker revealed that has not yet been fully realized, not only writers, but even professional scientists and philosophers.

Retain the relevance of his words: "No doubt that was never in the history of such a materially successful, ie mastering the forces of nature . . . But there is no doubt in the fact that never in history has there been examples of such immoral life, free from any constraints animals aspirations of man power as the one who lives, becoming more and more oskotinivayas, our Christian humanity. Success materially, which reached up to people, really great, but this success has bought and bought such a disregard for the most basic requirements of morality, to which has never reached humanity, even in times of Genghis Khan, Attila, or Nero.