Russian mystical philosophy as a global cultural phenomenon

Abstract

It is claimed that the founders of Russian mystical philosophy were Vladimir Solovyov and Yelena Blavatskaya, who contributed to the justification of its theoretical and practical aspects. Solovyov’s "theoretical philosophy" and sophiology, as the basic source of Russian mystical philosophy, were creatively developed in the mystical-philosophical concepts elaborated by the whole galaxy of Russian religious philosophers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, N.O. Los­sky, E.N. Tru­betskoy, S.L. Frank, V.N. Lossky, P.A. Florensky), who were among them who determined the main lines of world philosophy evolution. Russian mysticism, which was developed mainly in the West as a special philosophical, spiritual and civilization phenomenon (the "Other"of the relatively rapidly developing Western esotericism), gave birth to some new mystical-philosophical ideas mainly concentrated in Blavatskaya’s theoretical works. The author of the article stresses that the mystical-philosophical achievements of Pyotr Uspensky who combined theosophical principles with a deep understanding of the spiritual-practical system by Grigory Gurdxhiev have been underestimated to this day. Sofiology and "theoretical philosophy" of Solovyov and theosophy of Blavatskaya were sources for mystical-philosophical ideas of the new generation of Russian thinkers in the beginning of 20th century. Later they developed under the circumstances of "Russian abroad" or at the "crossing" of western, eastern and Russian ethno-cultural fields. They largely determined the work of Russian symbolists, influenced the theory and artistic practice of the Russian avant-garde and the philosophy of Russian cosmism.