Rozin,V. M. From the History of Creation of Esoteric Teachings

Abstract: The article is devoted to the history of Sufism and Hesychasm that are interpreted by the author of the article as esoteric teachings. First of all, the author offers his definition of what the term ‘esoteric teaching’ means to him. According to the author, an important prerequisite for esotericism being formed is a personality of a man who discovers the true reality in accordance with his own dreams and supreme values. The researcher explains the difference between religious and esoteric concepts and ways of salvation and describes a very important esoteric teaching which views God as the true reality. Another esoteric teaching is mysticism when a person seeking salvation tries to contact or to meet God. Development of these esoteric teachings has the three basic stages: the stage of creation when the main ideas are being formulated and realized by followers, the stage of popularization when some kind of a sacral technology is being created, and, finally, the stage of confluence with the initial ‘mother’ religion (Islam or Orthodoxy). Carrying out his historical research, the author of the article applies the methodology of the cultural and historical re-enactment which includes, among other research methods, the method of problematization and the method of comparative analysis. The results of the historical research allow to describe special features of the development of esoteric opinions, to understand the difference between esotericism and religion, to show the role of personality in the development of early esotericism and to describe the three basic stages in the development of esoteric opinions as well as to show that esoteric opinions are still related to their mother religions and therefore both esoteric and religious teachings change as a result of their development.

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