Tolstoy's secrets to happiness

zenguitar

He was not a Buddhist, of course, but all this sounds quite Buddhist-like:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30536963

Happy New Year!

federica

@zenguitar said:
He was not a Buddhist, of course, but all this sounds quite Buddhist-like:

Hmmmm...Really?

When he was engaged in intensive research on Buddhism

in 1884, he wrote in his diary: “Read about Buddhism—its teaching.
Wonderful.”
>

He remarked that it is completely the same teaching as his.

He went on to write that it is wonderful that in Buddhism no answer is
offered in response to the question about that which is eternal. He mentioned a Buddhist parable about a person wounded by an arrow who
refused treatment until he discovered the identity of the person who
caused his wound.
>

His empathy with Buddhism can be seen in this example. When he

mentions “completely the same teaching,”
>

From here.

Tosh

I listened to Tolstoy's What I Believe on audio. I can't find the link to the mp3 download, but it's here in full on youtube:

It's interesting, but unless you've several hours to kill, I wouldn't really recommend it. I'm a tradesman and can listen to this stuff while I work.

zenguitar

@federica said:
From here.

Cool! I didn't know that.

federica

That's why we recommend plenty of personal research....

genkaku

I was once a Tolstoy fan and think I read everything he ever wrote. It was impossible not to notice the moral/religious component of his works and yet, of all those works, the one I found least compelling (in fact, annoying as hell) was the one in which he focused most directly on religion ... I think it was called "Resurrection."

This is a problem -- a direct focus -- that I think all writers, whether of fiction or non-fiction face ... the light gets dimmer where the focus is most intense.

zenguitar

@genkaku said:
I was once a Tolstoy fan

Just curious...does this imply that you are no longer a Tolstoy fan?

Hamsaka

Buddhism influences many, many people and their works. Buddhism itself is hardly mentioned as a 'thing' or 'my religion' in many who've been heavily influenced, or inspired. A person can hardly NOT be inspired.

Buddhism seems to become a kind of 'lens' to see life through, while preserving the brilliance and genius of the individual. I've seen it done very well with Christianity and Judaism as well in other writers, artists and creative types in general.

I suspect a lot more individuals 'get' Buddhism and become 'Buddhist', descriptively, while never calling themselves such a thing, never 'meditating' or doing pujas or attending temple teachings. The message is just so applicable and 'obvious' at a certain point in human development that perhaps it is inevitable?

genkaku

@zenguiter wrote: Just curious...does this imply that you are no longer a Tolstoy fan?

It has been so long since I dove in like a heroin addict. Tolstoy seems to have an iconic place in my mind, but I am not entirely sure why any longer. I do know I like his outlook better than Dostoevsky's. To me, Tolstoy always belonged to a personal story-telling preference that I summed up almost mathematically as good+bad = good.

Maybe I'll go back and drown in "Anna Karenina" again ... who knows.

Buddhadragon

Poet Rainer Maria Rilke, was a great admirer of Tolstoy's work and has often described himself as a Buddhist.

Buddhadragon

In 1908, Rainer Maria Rilke wrote a poem called "Buddha in Glory."
He was working as secretary to French sculptor Auguste Rodin, and it is said the poem came as an inspiration as he sat in meditation in Rodin's garden.

Center of all centers, core of cores,
almond self-enclosed, and growing sweet--
all this universe, to the furthest stars
all beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.

Now you feel how nothing clings to you;
your vast shell reaches into endless space,
and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.
Illuminated in your infinite peace,

a billion stars go spinning through the night,
blazing high above your head.
But in you is the presence that
will be, when all the stars are dead.