Buddhist Idea of “Gradual Path” in the Context of Traditional Religious Beliefs of Kalmyks

Purpose of the article is to estimate the idea of “gradual path” (“lamrim”) as a theoretical basis of Buddhist culture of the Kamyks in the context of their religious beliefs. Substantive analysis of Buddhist texts showed that the idea of “gradual path” includes theory and practical recommendations for gradual personal improvement. Beginning with thoughts of impermanence and karma, person must learn to control his behavior, then through realizing inevitability of suff ering in samsara, he must renounce the worldly way of life for the sake of personal salvation, and then give priority to universal salvation, based on compassion and understanding of interdependence. The last stage is considered difficult, since person is required to transform his consciousness to show altruism automatically. Combined with wisdom of realizing emptiness, this attitude should ultimately lead to liberation from ignorance that causes clinging to selfhood and selfi shness. The idea of “gradual path” is found in the Kalmyk Buddhist literature as monks translated and composed texts of “lamrim” genre. Phenomenological and hermeneutic analysis revealed that monks encouraged the Kalmyks to gradual self-improvement through observance of morality and development of altruism.