СОЦИАЛЬНО-ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЕ ВЛИЯНИЕ НА ТРАНСФОРМАЦИЮ ОБРАЗА БУДДИЗМА В МАССОВОМ СОЗНАНИИ РУССКИХ ЗАБАЙКАЛЬЯ

Abstract

The article is devoted to the topical problem of interaction between mass consciousness of Russians and Buddhism in Transbaikalia. The object of the study is the spread of Buddhism in Transbaikalia. The subject of the study is the transformation of Buddhist images in the mass consciousness of the Russian population of Transbaikalia. The aim of the study is to find patterns in the process of interaction between Buddhism and the mass consciousness of the Russians. The theoretical background of the research is provided by the conceptual positions of M. Weber's [9] and E. Durgheim's [11] theory of the social nature of religious consciousness, M. Buber's [7], V. S. Bibler's [6] and M. M. Bakhtin's [5] theory of the dialog of cultures, N. I. Konrad's [15] theory of Buddhist reception in non-Buddhist societies, and E. S. Safronova [20]. Research methodology is presented by comparative, dialectical, and complex approaches that allow tracing the stages of Buddhism transformation in the consciousness of the Russians in Transbaikalia. The following research methods have been used by the authors: typology, reconstruction, observation, description, as well as phenomenological method, allowing to conceptualize the Buddhist images in the consciousness of Russians. The authors present substantiation of socio-political influence on transformation of the image of Buddhism from "alien" to "traditional" religion. The novelty of the study presented by the authors is associated with the disclosure of the stages of the process of Buddhism images transformation in the consciousness of the Russian population of Transbaikalia. In the process of the analysis, carried out with methods of comparative, dialectical and phenomenological analysis, the authors reveal patterns of Buddhism image transformation in Russian mass consciousness. The result is the proof of the position that the transformation of the image of Buddhism in the mass consciousness of the Russian population of Transbaikalia represents a process of gradual transition from the perception of Buddhism as an "Alien" religion, embodying the inertia of the population of colonized territories, to the image of "Useful" Buryat religion, helping in difficult life situations any converted, and finally to the image of "Our" Russian religion, which is a stronghold of traditional values and culture