THE STUDY OF MAHAYANA PHENOMENON IN KYRGYZSTAN: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

The article is devoted to the issues related to the poorly studied Mahayana phenomenon in the system of philosophy and social culture of Kyrgyzstan. The article attempts to fill this gap using historico-logical philosophical approach and to demonstrate the results through the paradigms of space and time. The Mahayana branches and stages of their manifestation on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, as well as their civilizational reflection in the socio-cultural space are examined through these approaches. The dynamics of Mahayana trends in two paradigms is considered: in the paradigm of space - movement from India, in particular, across the territory of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia; and in the paradigm of time from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. On the basis of the analysis the following conclusions are proposed: firstly, on the territory of Kyrgyzstan the phenomenon of pre-Buddhist worldview emerged in VII–VI centuries BC; secondly, the Buddhist worldview of early Mahayana as a spiritual doctrine returned to the territory of Kyrgyzstan approximately in II–I centuries BC through travelers and merchants; thirdly, in VII–X centuries the Chui valley became “a significant center of Buddhism in Central Asia”; and finally, the Madhyamika and Yogachara schools at different times flexibly adapted to the socio-cultural mentality of the population in the territory of Kyrgyzstan, where Tengrian culture had been developing since the middle of the first millennium BC. The author believes that a reasonable and promising factor is the need to develop not only Buddhology, but also Buddhist or intercultural philosophy for a deep understanding of socio-cultural processes in the territory of Kyrgyzstan from the depth of centuries, whose fate was in one way or another connected with the Mahayana Buddhist worldview.