The article is devoted to the analysis of the missionary activity of Priest John Sirotov in the Astrakhan diocese at the beginning of the 20th century against the background of the confessional policy of the Russian Empire. Special attention is paid to the materials of the Astrakhan Diocesan Gazette, which serve as a valuable source for studying the ideological and practical aspects of the Orthodox mission among Muslims. The periodical served not only an informative, but also a propaganda function, forming the image of an “alien” Muslim environment and justifying the need for its Christianization. Through Sirotov’s publications, a system of arguments against Islam, calls for the creation of schools, mission stations, as well as rhetoric of the superiority of Orthodoxy can be traced. The texts record the facts of baptism, descriptions of the difficulties of the mission, measures to disseminate religious literature and the organization of educational initiatives. The materials of the diocesan press make it possible to reconstruct not only the activities of a particular missionary, but also the official strategy of the church for the integration of «foreigners» into the imperial Orthodox model. The analysis of these publications reveals not only the rhetoric of missionary work, but also the role of the printed word as an instrument of ideological influence and cultural integration in the multinational space of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century.

The sociopolitical transformations in Russia following the 1917 Revolution radically altered the system of state-confessional relations, ushering in a large-scale attack on religious institutions. This study analyzes the causes and specifics of the party-state attack on Buddhist institutions in Kalmykia between 1917 and 1924. The paper examines the overall policy of the Soviet government toward religion, aimed at its complete elimination and reflected in early Soviet legislation. Particular attention is paid to the motives and nature of the accelerated resolution of the “religious question” by local party-state structures in Kalmykia, where the Buddhist clergy and khuruls (monasteries) became the primary targets of repressive policies.
The paper provides a detailed analysis of the content of anti-Buddhist measures, which often conflicted with official declarations by the central government. A key aspect of the study is the campaign to confiscate church valuables, which is examined dialectically: as an attempt by religious institutions to provide selfless aid to the starving people of the Volga region and as a cynical act by authorities exploiting the humanitarian catastrophe to disguise the plunder of a Buddhist church. The conclusion is that religious policy in the region during this period was distinctly repressive and often uncoordinated, foreshadowing the more brutal persecutions of subsequent years.

This article examines previously unpublished folklore materials recorded by the renowned Don Kalmyk (Buzava) storyteller Sanji Manzhikov (1881–1965). The study focuses on a manuscript containing 67 texts of Kalmyk drawn-out songs and five good wishes, recorded and transcribed by the renowned linguist Ts.-D. Nominhanov, Doctor of Philology, in 1962 and stored in the scientific archive of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The bulk of the corpus consists of ancient drawn-out songs, variants of which are known from 19th-century manuscripts. Of particular interest are local love and military marching songs, common exclusively among the Buzava, as well as a fragment of praise to the Dzhangar palace. Sanji Manzhikov’s five good wishes (“Good wishes for tea,” “...milk vodka,” “...meat,” “...for a girl getting married,” and “...for a bride”) relate to wedding ceremonies and are distinguished by their archaic content, imagery, and considerable length. The study utilizes descriptive and comparative methods. The results of the study confirm that Sanji Manzhikov’s folklore legacy is multifaceted and represents significant value for the study of the traditional culture of the Don Kalmyks. Despite the storyteller’s passing, his creative legacy, as an integral part of the culture of the Don Kalmyks (Buzavas), survives and continues to be an important source for scholarly research.

A biography is a Tibetan spiritual literary genre that tells about progress on the path of Dharma (teaching). It is a spiritual biography or hagiography, and is an abbreviation of nam par thar pa (Tib: རྣམ་ པར་ ཐར་ པ་ rnam par thar pa), which literally means ‘complete liberation’. One of the writers who made a significant contribution to the development of Tibetan literature among the Mongolians was Dagvajantsan (1855-1927), a lama of Bayan Ovoo Monastery in the Gobi Munban Wang district of the Tusheet Khan aimag of Khalkha, popularly known as Shar Tsorj. There seems to be no independent biography of Shar Tsorji. Although we have not yet found any ritual literature written by him, it is clear that he wrote the 9 biographies of the 8 Mongolian bogdos in verse in Tibetan, the soldev, and the suleg maani composed by Shudarga Dulgun Khan in Mongolian. The importance of the research topic is due to the need to study the biography of Dagvajantsang, who left his mark on the history of Mongolian Buddhism. Solving this problem is important for understanding religious and historical processes in Mongolia.

The full title of this book is “meditating the teacher yesong-the son of the Shid creation San,” and the short title is “Guru Yego, or meditating the teacher”. The text has not been translated into Mongolian before, and for the first time it has been translated from Tibetan into Mongolian as a special article and is presented in this article. The text is a book on the divine cultivation of the teacher, which has a very complex Buddhist meaning, and it expresses the meaning that by the divine cultivation of the teacher, the knowledge and knowledge of all the gods will be absorbed.

Since the 16th century, the dge-lugs-pa (Gelug sect) of Tibetan Buddhism has been spread widely in Mongolian regions, gradually permeating the ideological and social lives of the Mongolian people. This has imbued Mongolian people’s politics, economy, culture and art with profound Tibetan Buddhist characteristics. Meanwhile, due to specific reasons such as the different history of inheritance, the different language and culture of the believers, and the different degrees of social development in the regions where Mongolian are located, after hundreds of years of localization, Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolian regions also has strong Mongolian characteristics, which significantly differentiate it from Tibetan Buddhism in Tibetan areas. Therefore, if we want to understand the inheritance and development of Tibetan Buddhism, we should also pay attention to the current situation and development trends of Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia. Although the belief in Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia has evidently weakened compared to its prosperous dissemination over the past few centuries, it still occupies a main position among religious beliefs in the region. As the primary religious faith of Mongolians in Inner Mongolia, Tibetan Buddhism continues to play a role in preserving and inheriting traditional culture, while offering unique functions and contemporary values in constructing Mongolian identity and imparting ethical and moral education. Currently, in the process of development of Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia, there are many problems, such as the low level of ability among monastic talents, the lack of unity and harmony within monk team, the inadequate standardized management of monks, and the inaccurate dissemination and promotion of Buddhist teachings. This paper analyzes the manifestations and causes of these issues, and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions to solve these problems, so as to provide intellectual support for the healthy development of Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia.

The article presents the results of the study of personal names of deities in the context of the Buddhist tradition. In the process of working on the etymological dictionary of Buddhist vocabulary, an urgent need arose to study the origin of the names of deities in the Mongolian languages. Theonyms are of great interest from the point of view of their representation in the languages ​ serving the Buddhist culture (Kalmyk and Mongolian). In the development and enrichment of the vocabulary of the Mongolian languages, an important place is given to borrowings, a large layer of which is Buddhist vocabulary. Buddhist terms came into the Mongolian languages ​ through Uyghur from Sogdian, Sanskrit, and then directly from the Tibetan language due to the translations of Buddhist works into the old written Mongolian and Oirat languages. This article is devoted to the etymology, structure and semantics of borrowed foreign-language Buddhist terms, taking into account their textual functioning. The example of the corpus of prayerful, artistic and epic texts (the epic “Dzhangar”) reveals key theonyms that occupy a special place in the onomastic space of Mongolian languages. It is shown that this class of onymic vocabulary deserves a systematic description taking into account Sanskrit-Tibetan parallels. In terms of structure, the author identifies three groups of Buddhist theonyms: the first consists of single-base lexemes, the second — complex theonyms (two-component composites), the third — compound nominations consisting of two or more words. The study includes a brief description and classification of the Buddhist pantheon of deities, as well as a linguocultural description of some of the most significant Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

This article examines the role of Buddhism in the development of interfaith dialogue and its potential for achieving harmony in a religiously diverse world. It analyzes the theoretical foundations of the Buddhist approach to interfaith interaction, including the principles of compassion, nonviolence, interdependence, and the Middle Way. It examines the historical experience of Buddhist participation in interfaith dialogue from ancient times to the present day, including interactions with Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Christianity. This article explores contemporary forms and methods of Buddhist interreligious interaction, including international conferences, academic symposia, practical cooperation, and the use of information technology. It identifies key challenges and obstacles to the development of Buddhist interfaith dialogue and identifies promising areas for its development. Practical recommendations are formulated for increasing the effectiveness of Buddhist participation in interreligious interaction.