Ethiopian Jewish Ascetic Religious Communities

The Betä Isra'el (Ethiopian Jews) have a unique history and religious tradition, one of the most fascinating aspects of which are the mäloksocc, commonly referred to as monks in scholarly and popular literature. The mäloksocc served as the supreme religious leaders of the Betä Isra'el and were charged with educating and initiating Betä Isra'el priests. They lived in separate compounds and observed severe purity laws prohibiting physical contact with the laity. Thus, they are the only known example in medieval and modern Jewry of ascetic communities withdrawing from the secular world and devoting themselves fully to religious life. This book presents the results of the first comprehensive research ever conducted on the way of life and material culture of the ascetic religious communities of the Betä Isra'el. A major part of this research is an archaeological survey, during which these religious centres were located and documented in detail for the first time.

Mindfulness Through Mantram and Inspired Passage Meditation

Mindfulness is sometimes misunderstood as solely a Buddhist or secular practice. This chapter offers a toolkit for enhanced sensitivity and flexibility toward patients and populations of diverse spiritual and religious orientations and backgrounds. It explains a set of eight interrelated practices known as Passage Meditation (PM), and a subset known as the Mantram Repetition Program (MRP), both derived from Indian-born spiritual teacher Eknath Easwaran (1910-1999). These practices support mindfulness and can be pursued within any major religious tradition or outside all and facilitate drawing on spiritual resources within each tradition. Two empirical research programs based on these practices have generated more than 30 published research studies and seven randomized controlled trials. Each program has documented both enhanced mindfulness and a variety of improved mental health outcomes, often mediated by mindfulness gains. Guidance is provided for implementation, implications for diversity-related ethical obligations, and needed expansion of contemporary mindfulness toolkits.

Indigenous Cosmologies in Light of New Epistemological and Political Trends of the Global South

The essential difference between indigenous religions and world religions is in the understanding of the “man-Nature” relationship. While the former perceive man as an equal actor in the establishment of cosmic harmony, placing him alongside all other living and non-living beings of creation, the latter place him in the centre of the world. The Christian religious tradition on the one side, and the Cartesian ontological dualism and methodological empiricism on the other, have strongly influenced the development of Western scientific thought. Over the past decades, the social sciences and humanities have made a great step forward: contributing to new interpretations of global economic and social laws, as well as of the hybridisation of ethnic identities, and starting to cooperate more closely with empirical sciences. The problem arises when self-indulgent introspection disqualifies any other type of knowledge as “non-scientific,” “local,” “romantic,” imperfect. At the beginning of the 21st century, the indigenous cosmology entered the political discourse and ideology of numerous social movements of the Global South. Based on a comparative analysis of three concrete indigenous cosmological and religious models (man vs. Nature relationship), this article seeks to draw attention to the need for a pluralism of mental concepts and social practices.

Critical Theory of Religion by Erich Fromm: from Messianic Judaism to Radical Humanism

This paper studies Erich Fromm’s critical theory of religion and looks into the evolution of the philosopher’s views. We analyze key concepts of Fromm’s humanistic psychology, including biophilia, rejection of idolatry, X-experience, classification of religions as humanistic or authoritarian, plea for sustainable coexistence with the environment, and some others. The author demonstrates close connection of these concepts with Judaic tradition, especially the messianism and negative theology of Maimonides. The paper is divided into chapters tracing the evolution of Fromm’s views on religion — from Hasidic Judaism, through following Freud and Marx, to the concept of humanistic religion. The analysis shows that starting from his early works and up to the radical, socialistic humanism as the pinnacle of his thought, Fromm as a philosopher and a strong Israelite draws inspiration from the religious tradition. Notably, his PhD thesis was devoted to the sociology of Hebrew diaspora, Der Sabbath, The Dogma of Christ. However, Fromm’s theory of religion, accordant with the Frankfurt School, combines aspects of Hegel, Marx and Freud’s teachings. Fromm’s views on religion are an original, self-consistent synthesis of diverse ideas, and result in the concept of radical humanism. The paper specifically considers Fromm’s view on idolatry as a form of alienation. Fromm urges to fight against idolatry in a bro.ader sense, finding it in various social phenomena, ranging from consumerism to religious fundamentalism. The paper also reviews the concept of X-experience that Fromm gives in You Shall Be as Gods. The X-experience is a special transcendental experience, separated from its multiple theistic or non-theistic conceptualizations. X-experience is psychological in its nature and leads to diminishing or eliminating narcissism. It constitutes a certain opposition to the alienation caused by idolatry. The work also considers Fromm’s idea of humanistic religion as related to his other concepts. The author supposes that the distinction between authoritarian and humanistic religions is tied to the earlier separation into authoritarian and humanistic ethics that Fromm presents in Man for himself. The impact of Marx and Freud on Fromm’s philosophy of religion is highlighted. While drawing from both, Fromm considered Marx’s theory to be deeper and more significant.

The Concept of an Islamic Reformation

The first chapter defines reformation and examines what it means in a specifically Shi‘i context. It compares reformation in Islam and Christianity and argues that an Islamic reformation has to be an indigenous exercise, one that does not have to capitulate to the demands of a secular or exogenous religious tradition. The chapter considers why reformation in Shi‘ism started much later than it did in Sunnism. The chapter also examines juristic pluralism and the concept of hermeneutics and its effects on the reading of sacred texts. It argues that a hermeneutical approach is important to a discussion of Islamic reformation because of its insistence that the meaning of a text depends on various textual, contextual, and intertextual factors. The chapter demonstrates that a text requires multiple and continuous interpretations if it is to remain valid and able to respond to contemporary challenges.

Study of religious traditions as a factor in ensuring the secular nature of culture and education

This paper examines the dialogue and mutual influence of secular and religious culture in the system of secular education from two points of view: firstly, the influence of teaching knowledge about religion on the implementation of the secular nature of education and, secondly, the impact of the need to comply with state educational standards on the form of presentation of religious culture. The study assumes that religious thinking, culture, lifestyle are not something contrary to everyday rational thinking and scientific character, being in their high forms the carriers of self-discipline and ordering of human life. The long history of the dialogue between religion and science has led to the fact that today religion speaks with science in the same language of scientific concepts, and often religious organizations, paying attention to certain scientific and technical achievements, are a factor in increasing interest in science in the whole society. The processes of the expulsion of religious discourse from the public sphere that took place in the past led to the replacement of the authentic religious tradition, tuned in to dialogue with science, with forms of “low” religiosity, often of an obscurantist, fundamentalist and anti-scientific nature. And the forcible imposition of the «only true» secular ideology ultimately negatively affects the pace of scientific development.

PREPARATION OF TEACHERS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SUBJECT AREA “FOUNDATIONS OF SPIRITUAL AND MORAL CULTURE OF THE PEOPLES OF RUSSIA”: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Рассмотрены проблемы подготовки учителя к преподаванию предмета «Основы религиозных культур и светской этики»: выделение ценностных основ, управление подготовкой педагогов на региональном и местном уровнях, осмысление эффективных вариантов решения острых вопросов в его реализации. Выявлена ключевая проблема неготовности педагогов к эффективной деятельности в данной области, связанная с недостаточностью научного осмысления традиционных российских духовных ценностей, лежащих в ядре культуры каждого народа, для освоения которых необходимо теологическое знание, не изучаемое в процессе базовой профессиональной подготовки. Сделаны выводы о том, что эту функцию сегодня принимает система повышения квалификации. Установлено, что под теологическим знанием понимается результат процесса познания и личностного осмысления религиозной традиции и его аутентичное отражение в сознании педагога на культурологической основе в виде понятий и ценностно-смысловых жизненных ориентиров. The purpose of the study is to consider the problems of teacher preparation for teaching the subject “Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics”: highlighting the value foundations, managing teacher training at the regional and local levels, comprehending effective options for solving acute issues in its implementation. The key problem of the teachers’ unpreparedness for effective activity in this area is revealed, connected with the lack of scientific understanding of traditional Russian spiritual values that lie at the core of the culture of each nation, for the development of which theological knowledge is necessary that is not studied in the process of basic professional training. Conclusions are made that this function is now accepted by the system of advanced training. It has been established that theological knowledge is understood as the result of the process of cognition and personal understanding of the religious tradition and its authentic reflection in the mind of the teacher on a cultural basis in the form of concepts and value-semantic life guidelines. An analysis of scientific sources and practice of spiritual and moral education of the younger generations gives grounds to assert that in modern Russian society, the cultural role of traditional Russian spiritual values is beginning to be more deeply understood, by which we mean the primordial, chosen by distant ancestors, axiological guidelines – peacefulness, sympathy, acceptance of the other, empathy and others that form the spiritual world of a growing person through an appeal to the deep foundations of the national mentality, which have passed a long way of approbation from generation to generation. However, when conducting advanced training courses for teachers in this area, one should choose an extremely correct position, focusing on cultural meanings, and not on religious dogma.

Symbolism of the Arabic alphabet and fundamentals of the religious tradition in the romantic poetry of Aşıq Ümer

The subject of this research is the peculiarities of representation of the symbolism of Arabic alphabet and fundamentals of the religious tradition in the lyrics of the prominent representative of Ashik poetry, of the XVII century – Aşıq Ümer. The object of is the poetry of Aşıq Ümer. The works of Aşıq Ümer are particularly relevant these days due to diversity and vividness of symbolism of his poetic system. The purpose of this article lies in the analysis of the symbols of Arabic alphabet and fundamentals of the religious tradition, as well as in determination of their role in the lyrics of Aşıq Ümer. The symbolism of Arabic alphabet in his poetry is examines in the following descriptive aspects: external description of the beauty of the beloved; description of the external characteristics and sufferings of the one in love. The research methodology employs the method of hermeneutics, descriptive method, and semiotic  text analysis. The relevance of this research is substantiated by popularity and important semantic load of Arabic letters, symbols, and fundamentals of the religious tradition in the images of romantic poetry of Aşıq Ümer – the beloved and the one in love. The scientific novelty lies the analysis of the symbols of Arabic graphemes and fundamentals of the religious tradition in the lyrics of Aşıq Ümer, which reveals the role of these symbols in his poetry. The author concludes that the study and analysis of the symbolism of Arabic alphabet and religious components in the lyrics of Aşıq Ümer make it comprehensible to common audience. The sacred meaning of the Arabic alphabet and religious metaphors enriches the lyrics of the poet, as well as demonstrates his unshakable faith and living within the framework of Islam.

On the meanings of the terms dhāraṇī and mantra in the Buddhist written tradition

The article comprises an analysis of some of the most important terms in the Buddhist religious tradition – dhāraṇī and mantra. It is based upon research of the Buddhist canonical and post-canonical texts. Among others, the article sets to clarify whether it is possible to identify the terms of dhāraṇī and mantra also as ‘spells’, ‘incantations’ or ‘invocations’. Special attention is paid to the study of the semantic areas of the terms in question. This aims to clarify whether the dhāraṇī and mantra can be considered synonyms. The article also examines the approaches of Russian and foreign scholarly traditions, which interpreted the meaning of these terms. On a parallel basis, it analyzes the meaning of the term dhāraṇī recorded in Buddhist canonical and post-canonical texts. Additionally, the article comprises a research of the technical terms, which are synonymous for dhāraṇī and mantra, however, used in both authentic (Indian) and non-endemic zones and the relevant traditions, where the Buddhist teaching was also popular, i.e. in Tibet, China and Japan. As a result, the author concludes as follows. On the ‘popular level’ of the functioning of Buddhist doctrine (protection from illnesses, robbers, bites of poisonous snakes and insects, etc.) both terms dhāraṇī and mantra can be certainly bear the meaning as ‘spells’, ‘incantations’ or ‘invocations’. On the level of the meditative practice of the consciousness transformation, which aims to the final liberation from affects, both dhāraṇī and mantra function as a ‘mental construct’. On the one hand, they protect the ascetic consciousness they protect the ascetic consciosness (manas-tra) from afflictions, on the other, they provide the mental comprehension ‘grasping’ and firm holding (dhāraṇa) in memory of the aspects of religious doctrine, that, ultimately, leads to the Nirvāṇa obtaining. In both cases, dhāraṇī and mantra function as synonyms, with the only difference that dhāraṇī is a product of Buddhist ideologists who sought to identify a break from the previous religious tradition – Brahmanism.