«The way of life» by L.N. Tolstoy: the algorithm of self-development

Sat Nadessa Darymaevna

Many works of researchers are devoted to the spiritual heritage of Leo Tolstoy, however, most of them are tendentious interpretations of a critical nature. Religious and philosophical criticism of the turn of the XIX - XX centuries and the atheistic ideology of the XX century rejected the metaphysical aspect of the doctrine of Tolstoy, interpreting it exclusively as a set of ethical rules. Meanwhile, the doctrine of Tolstoy finally took shape in the later years of the writer to a greater extent under the influence of active perception of the ethical and metaphysical content of Vedic spirituality: the ancient Indian classics (Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavadgita, the Upanishads), Indian philosophy (Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Bharati, Abhedananda), yogic teachings (Yama, Niyama, Para-bhakti, Karma Yoga). In this article an attempt is made to reconstruct the basic tenets of Tolstoy's doctrine in the context of Vedic spirituality on the basis of the late work by the writer «The Way of Life» (1910).

Keywords:spiritually-practical system of self-development, God's truth, God-loving, self-consciousness, spiritualization of the soul, the true reality, the good of life, universal prosperity.