“A link in the chain of evolution
There is a stage in the evolution of man which immediately precedes the goal of human effort, and when this stage is passed, there is nothing more to add to man as such. He became perfect; his human career is over. The great religions give different names to the perfect man, but whatever that name is, behind it lies the same idea - he and Mithra, Krishna, Osiris, Buddha, Christ - but this simply symbolizes a man made perfect. He does not belong to any one religion, nation, human community, he is not limited by the framework of one faith - everywhere this is the most noble, perfect ideal.

Every religion proclaims it, all denominations have their justification in it, it is the ideal to which every faith aspires, and every religion fulfills its mission with the efficiency with which it illuminates this ideal, and with the accuracy with which it points the way to it. achievements. The name of Christ, used for the perfect person in Christianity, is more than the name of a person - it is the name of his condition. “Christ in you is the hope of glory” is the idea of ​​Christian teachers. Man, in the course of a long course of evolution, reaches the state of the Christ, in order to complete his journey, which has lasted for long centuries; he is the one whose name is in Western countries associated with one of the "sons of god" who has achieved the ultimate goal of human existence. The word commonly used for this state is "anointed". Everyone can reach this state: “Look inside yourself, you are a Buddha,” “Until Christ is formed in you.”1

Just as everyone who wants to become a musician must listen to the masterpieces and immerse himself in the melodies of the masters of music, so must we, the children of mankind, raise our eyes and our hearts in ever-renewing contemplation to the heights on which the perfect people of our race dwell. What we are, they were; what they are, we will be. All the sons of men can do what the Son of Man did, and we see in them the guarantee of our own triumph - the development of divinity in us is only a matter of evolution.

Teams: external and internal
I sometimes divided inner evolution to submoral, moral and supermoral - submoral, where the difference between right and wrong is imperceptible and a person follows his desires without doubt, without asking a question; moral, where right and wrong are distinguished, becoming more definite and meaningful, and there is a struggle for the observance of the law; and supermoral, where external law transcended because the divine nature governs its bodies. At the moral stage, the law is cognized as a barrier, a restriction for the good: “Do this”, “Avoid that”; man fights for obedience, there is a constant struggle between the higher and lower natures. In the supermoral state the divine life in man finds its natural expression without external guidance; he loves not because he ought to love, but because he himself is love. Quoting the noble words of a Christian initiate, he acts "not according to the law of carnal impulses, but by the power of eternal life." Morality is transcended when all the forces of man are directed towards God, as a magnetized needle turns to the north, when the divinity in man seeks the best for all. There is no more fighting because victory has been achieved; Christ reached his perfection only when he became the conqueror, the master of life and death.

First initiation
This stage of the life of Christ or the life of Buddha is entered through the first initiation, in which the initiate is a “little child”, sometimes “ Small child, three years". A person must "regain childhood - the state that he lost", "become a small child" in order to "enter the kingdom". Having passed through these gates, he is born into the life of Christ, and passing through the "way of the cross", he passes through following friend after another gate on this path, and at the end of it he is definitely freed from the life of bonds and limitations, dies for a while in order to live forever, and begins to realize himself as life, and not as a form.

There is no doubt that in early Christianity this stage of evolution was definitely recognized as inherent in every individual Christian. Anxiety of St. Paul, that Christ could be born in his converts, may be sufficient evidence of this fact, leaving other sayings which may also be quoted; even this single verse is sufficient to show that in the Christian ideal the “Christ stage” was understood as internal state, the final period of the evolution of every believer3. And it is good that Christians can recognize this, and not attribute the life of a disciple, ending in a perfect man, to an exotic transplanted into Western soil, but native only to Eastern countries. This ideal is part of true and spiritual Christianity, and the birth of Christ in the soul of every Christian is the goal. Christian doctrine. the main objective religion is to bring about this birth, and if this mystical teaching were to fall out of Christianity, this faith could not lift those who practice it to divinity.

The first of the great initiations is the birth of the Christ, or Buddha, in human mind, the transcendence of the consciousness of "I", falling out of the limitations. As is well known to all disciples, there are 4 degrees included in the Christ stage, between the very a good man and triumphant master. Each of these degrees is entered by means of initiation, and during these periods of evolution the consciousness must expand and grow in order to reach the limits of the limitations imposed by human body. In the first of these, the change felt is the awakening of consciousness in spiritual world, in a world where consciousness identifies itself with life and ceases to identify itself with the forms in which life in this moment concluded. Feature this awakening is a feeling of sudden expansion, of expanding beyond the usual limits of life, recognizing Yourself, how divine and powerful life is, not a form, joy, not sadness, a feeling of a delightful world, going through what the world can only dream of. With the transcendence of limitations comes an intensified intensity of life, and when life flows from all sides, rejoicing in the destruction of barriers, the sense of reality is so alive that all life in form seems like death, and earthly light like darkness. This expansion is so amazing in its nature that consciousness feels like it has never known itself before, for all it has understood as consciousness is unconsciousness in the presence of this gushing life. The self-consciousness that begins to emerge in the child - a humanity that has evolved, grown up, expanded beyond the limitations of a form that thinks of itself as a separate, saying "I", "me" and "mine" - this self-consciousness suddenly feels the whole "I" as Himself, all forms as a common property. It sees that limitations were necessary to build a center of selfhood in which self-identification can exist, and at the same time it feels that form is only a tool that it uses, while itself, a living consciousness, is one in everything. living. It knows the full meaning of the frequently used phrase about “the unity of mankind”, and feels what it means to live in everything that lives and moves4, and this consciousness is accompanied by a great feeling of joy, the joy of life, which, even in its weak reflections on earth, is one of the sharpest ecstasy, known to man. Unity is not only seen by the intellect, but it is felt as the satisfaction of the desire for unity, which is familiar to all who have loved; it is a unity felt from within, invisible from without; it's not a concept, but life.

In many ancient pages the idea of ​​the birth of Christ in man is presented in a similar way. But still, these words of the world of forms are not able to show even a fourth part of the world of life!

But the child must grow into a perfect man, and there is much to be done, to face weariness, to endure many sufferings, to fight many battles, to overcome many obstacles, until Christ, who is born weak child, can reach the state of a perfect man. That's life, full work among his brothers - people; it is a meeting with mockery and suspicion; it is the delivery of a message of contempt; it is the pain of abandonment, the passion of the cross and the darkness of the grave. All this lies before him on the path he has entered.

By continuous practice the student must learn to take in the consciousness of others, and to focus his own consciousness in life and not in form; in this way he can leave the "heresy of separation" that makes him perceive others as something different from himself. He should expand his consciousness by daily practice until he normal state what he briefly experienced during his first initiation will not be. To this end, he will try in his Everyday life to identify his consciousness with the consciousness of those with whom he comes into contact day by day; he will try to feel as they feel, think as they think, rejoice as they rejoice, and suffer as they suffer. Gradually he must develop a perfect empathy, a sympathy that can vibrate in harmony with every string of the human lyre. Gradually he must learn to respond to every feeling of the other, whether low or high, as if it were his own. Gradually, by constant practice, he should identify himself with others in all their varied conditions. various lives. He must learn a lesson in joy and a lesson in tears, and this is possible only when he transcends the separate self, when he no longer asks for anything for himself, but understands that he must live alone in life.

His first sharp struggle will be to drop everything that was life, consciousness, reality for him and go forward alone, naked, no longer identifying himself with any form. He must learn the law of life, by which alone can the inner divinity manifest itself, the law which is the antithesis of his past. The law of form takes, the law of life gives. Life grows, pouring out to itself through form, nourished by the inexhaustible source of life at the heart of the universe; and the more life pours outward, the greater the influx from within. At the beginning it seems to the young Christ that all his life is leaving him, as his hands remain empty after pouring out his gifts to an ungrateful world; and only when lower nature definitely sacrificed, eternal life is felt, and what seemed to be the death of a being turns out to be a birth into a fuller life.

Second initiation
Consciousness develops until the first stage of the path has been passed, and the disciple sees before him the second gate of initiation, symbolized in Christian scripture by the baptism of Christ. As he descends into the waters of the world's sorrows, the river in which every savior of men must be baptized, a new stream of divine life flows upon him; his consciousness is aware of himself as the Son, in whom the life of the Father finds a corresponding expression. He feels the life of the Monad, his Heavenly Father, flowing into his consciousness, he realizes that he is one, not only with people, but also with his heavenly Father, and the fact that he lives on earth is only an expression of the will of his Father, his manifested organism. Since then, his service to people is the most obvious fact of his life. He is the Son to whom men must listen, because from him the hidden life flows, and he has become the channel through which this hidden life can reach outside world. He is the priest of the mystical God, who entered in a veil, and comes forth with glory shining from his face, which is the reflection of the light in the sanctuary.

It is here that he begins that work of love which is symbolized in his outward service by his desire to heal and alleviate suffering; souls crowd around him, seeking light and life, attracted by his inner strength and the divine life manifested in the empowered Son of the Father. Hungry souls come to him and he gives them bread; souls suffering from the sickness of sin come and he heals them with his living word; souls blinded by ignorance come and he illuminates them with wisdom. It is one of the signs of Christ in his ministry that the outcast and the poor, the desperate and the humiliated come to him without a sense of separation. They feel attracted by sympathy rather than repulsion, for he radiates kindness and understanding love flows from him. Of course, they do not know that he is the evolving Christ, but they feel the power that uplifts, the life that quickens, and in his atmosphere they breathe new strength and new hope.

Third initiation
The third gate is before him, which admits him to the next stage of his progress, and he experiences short moment peace, splendor and radiance, symbolized in Christian writings by the Transfiguration. It is a pause in his life, a brief hiatus from his active service, a journey to the mountain where heavenly rest resides, and here - next to the few who have recognized his evolving divinity - that divinity shines for a brief moment in its transcendental beauty. During this lull in the battle, he sees his future; a series of pictures unfold before his eyes; he watches the suffering that lies before him - the loneliness of the Garden of Gethsemane, the agony of Golgotha. Since that time, his face has been turned towards Jerusalem, towards the darkness into which he must enter for the love of humanity. He understands that in order to reach the perfect awareness of oneness, he must experience the quintessence of loneliness. Formerly the awareness of growing life seemed to come to him from outside, now he must realize that its center is within him; in the loneliness of the heart, he must experience the true unity of the Father and the Son, the inner, and not the outer, unity, the loss even of the face of the father; and that's all external contacts with people, and even with God, must be cut off so that he can find the One within his own Spirit.

Dark night of the soul
As the dark hour approaches, he becomes more and more horrified at the loss of human sympathy on which he could rely during the past years of his life and ministry, and when, at a critical moment of his need, he looks around for comfort and sees his friends immersed in an indifferent slumber, it seems to him that all human ties are severed, that all human love is a mockery, and all human faith is a betrayal; he rushes back to himself to make sure that there is only one connection with the Heavenly Father, that all bodily help is useless. It is said that in this hour of loneliness the soul is filled with bitterness, and that a rare soul crosses this abyss of emptiness without a cry of pain; it is then that an agonizing reproach breaks out: “Couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour?” - but none human hand can't shake another in this Garden of Gethsemane alienation.

When this darkness of human rejection passes, then approaching the cup of anger human nature, comes even deeper darkness of that hour when the chasm opened up between the Father and the Son, between the life enclosed in the body and eternal life. The Father, who was realized in the Garden of Gethsemane, when all human friends were dozing, hides in the passion of the cross. This is the bitterest of all the ordeals of the initiate, when even the consciousness of his life as the Son is lost, and the hour of those who hope, because triumph comes from the deepest shame. He sees his enemies cheering around him; he sees himself abandoned by friends and those who loved him; he feels that the divine support is crumbling under his feet; and he drinks last drop from the bowl of loneliness, isolation, lack of contact with people or God, crossing the void in which his helpless soul hangs. Then, from a heart that feels rejected even by the Father, there is a cry: “My God, my God! Why did you leave me?" Why this last test, the last test, the most cruel of all illusions? Illusion, for the dying Christ, is the closest of all to the divine Heart.

Because the Son must know himself in order to be one with the Father he seeks, he must find God, not merely within himself, but as his innermost being; only when he knows that the Eternal is he and he is the Eternal, then he will not be subject to the feeling of separation. Then, and only then, can he fully help his race and become a conscious part of the rising energy.

glory of perfection
The triumphant Christ, the resurrected and ascended Christ experienced the bitterness of death, recognized all human suffering and rose above them by the power of his own divinity. What can disturb his world now, or keep his outstretched helping hand? During his evolution, he learned to take in the streams of human troubles and send them back with streams of peace and joy. In the cycle of his then activity, it was his job to transmute the forces of dissonance into the forces of harmony. Now he can do it for the world, for the humanity from which he blossomed. The Christs and their disciples, each in the measure of their evolution, thus protect the world and help it, and the struggle would be much bitterer, and the battles of mankind would be more desperate, if there were not among them those whose hands bear the “heavy karma of the world.”

Even those who are in the early stages of the path become uplifting forces of evolution, as indeed are all who work selflessly for others, although they work more slowly and gradually. But Christ the triumphant does finally what others do at various stages of imperfection, and therefore he is called the Savior, and this characteristic is perfect in him. He saves, not replacing us, but sharing his life with us. He is wise, and all people become wiser from his wisdom, because his life flows into the veins of all people, into all human hearts. He is not bound by form, and is not separated from any. He is the perfect man, the perfect man; every human being is a cell of his body, and every cell feeds on his life.

Of course, it would not be worth suffering on the cross and walking the path that leads to it, just to buy time and hasten your own liberation a little. The price would be too high for such an acquisition, the struggle too hard for such a reward. But no, through his victory, mankind has risen, and the path that his feet have set on has become a little shorter. The evolution of the entire race accelerated and the pilgrimage of each became not so long. It was the thought that inspired him in the onslaught of battle, that sustained his strength and softened the pain of loss. There is no such being, even weak, even humiliated, even indifferent, even sinful, who would not become a little closer to the light when the Son of the Most High finished his journey. How will evolution accelerate as more and more of these Sons rise up victorious and enter into the consciousness of eternal life! How fast will the wheel that lifts man into divinity turn when everything more people become consciously divine!

inspirational ideal
This is the incentive for each of us, who in the most noble moments felt the attraction of life, which flows for the love of people. Let's think about the suffering of a world that doesn't know why it suffers; about the need, grief and despair of people who do not know why they live and why they die; who, day after day, year after year, see the suffering that falls on them and on others, and do not understand what is the cause of it; who fight with desperate courage or rage fiercely against conditions they cannot understand and explain. Let's think of the pain born of blindness, of the darkness in which they grope, without hope, without aspiration, without knowledge. real life and the beauty behind the veil. Let's think of our millions of brothers in darkness, and then of the rising energies born from our suffering, our battles and our sacrifices. We can take them one step towards the light, ease their pains, lessen their ignorance, shorten their journey to the knowledge that is light and life. Who among us, who knows even a little, does not give himself up for those who know nothing?

We know by the unchangeable Law, the Unchanging Truth, eternal life and God, that all divinity is within us, and although it is now only slightly developed, all is available for an infinite capacity open to uplift the world. After all, there is definitely more than one who is able to feel the pulsation of Divine Life, and who has not yet been attracted by hope to help and blessing. And if this life is felt, let it be weak, let it be a short time, then this is because the first trembling began in the heart, which will unfold as the life of Christ, for the time of the birth of the Christ child is approaching, because in it humanity seeks to blossom.

______________________________
1. It is easy to see that the concept presented here is radically at odds with the understanding of Christ in Orthodoxy as the only Son of God. The following words of St. Paul, however, testify in her support. Why did another concept prevail in late Christianity? Just because people are very flattered to hear that God himself came to save them, and it is not at all flattering to hear that while they indulged in sin, one of them rose to God. (Here and below - approx. per.)

2. Sin must not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. (Letter to the Romans, 6.14)

3. For whom He foreknew He also predestined to be similar to the image His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Ibid., 8.29)

And if Christ is in you, then the body is dead to sin, but the spirit is alive to righteousness. (Ibid., 8.10)

4. For more on this state see: C. Leadbeater, "Buddhi Consciousness".

5. For because he died, he died once to sin; and what lives, lives for God. (Ibid., 6.10)

(Annie Besant " perfect man”)

No tags
Recording: perfect man
posted on November 29, 2011 at 5:49 and is located in |
Copying allowed ONLY WITH ACTIVE LINK:

Hnational ideal of man

§ 1. The perfect man as the goal of public education

The popular ideal of a perfect man should be regarded as a total, synthetic idea of ​​the goals of popular education. The goal, in turn, is a concentrated, concrete expression of one of the aspects of education. The ideal is a universal, broader phenomenon that expresses the most general task of the entire process of personality formation. Ideally, the ultimate goal of education and self-education of a person is shown, the highest model is given, to which he should strive.

Among the numerous treasures of folk pedagogical wisdom, one of the main places is occupied by the idea of ​​the perfection of the human personality, its ideal, which is a role model. This idea originally - in its most primitive form - arose in ancient times, although, of course, the "perfect man" in ideal and reality is much younger than the "reasonable man" (the first arises in the depths of the second and is part of it). Education in a truly human sense became possible only with the emergence of self-education. From the simplest, isolated, random "pedagogical" actions, a person went to an increasingly complex pedagogical activity. According to Engels, even at the dawn of the emergence of mankind, “people have acquired the ability to perform increasingly complex operations, set yourself higher goals (highlighted by me. - G.V.) and reach them. Labor itself became from generation to generation more diverse, more perfect, more versatile. Progress in work entailed progress in education, which is unthinkable without self-education: setting goals for oneself is its concrete manifestation. And as for the goals of "increasingly higher", they testify to the birth of the idea of ​​perfection in the depths of still primitive forms of education. The diversity, perfection and versatility of labor, about which F. Engels wrote, demanded, on the one hand, human perfection, and on the other hand, contributed to this perfection.

The formation of a perfect person is the leitmotif of public education. The most convincing and most striking evidence that man is “the highest, most perfect and most excellent creation” is his constant and irresistible striving for perfection. The ability for self-improvement is the highest value of human nature, the highest dignity, the whole meaning of the so-called self-realization lies precisely in this ability.

The very concept of perfection has undergone historical evolution along with the progress of mankind. The first glimpses of the consciousness of human ancestors are associated with the instinct of self-preservation; from this instinct subsequently grew a conscious concern for strengthening health and physical improvement (according to Comenius - about harmony in relation to the body). Labor created man. The desire to improve the tools of labor awakened an internal desire for self-improvement. Already in the most primitive tools of labor, elements of symmetry begin to appear, generated not only by the desire for convenience, but also for beauty. In the struggle for existence, the ancestors of man met with the need to coordinate their actions and provide - albeit at first and unconsciously - help to each other. The very eternal harmony of nature and the activity of man's relationship with it made natural the improvement of individual qualities of the human personality. The idea of ​​the harmonic perfection of the personality was embedded in the very nature of man and in the nature of his activity. At the same time, the most primitive tools of labor were already carriers of the emerging primitive spiritual culture: they stimulated the first glimpses of consciousness, causing tension in the twilight mind of the primordial man; not only did the hands distinguish between the convenience and inconvenience of a stone tool, but the eyes also began to notice the attractiveness of the convenient, and this selectivity was the beginning of a primitive sense of beauty.

The improvement of the individual turned out to be due to the two greatest acquisitions of the human race - heredity and culture (material and spiritual). In turn, the progress of mankind would be impossible without the striving of people for perfection. This perfection itself, generated by labor activity, went in parallel in the sphere of material and spiritual culture, went on in man and outside him, in human communication.

§ 2. Ethnic character of the perfect man

In the oral art of all peoples, heroes are characterized by many features that testify to the richness of human nature. Even if only one or two words are spoken about this or that positive character, these words turn out to be so capacious that they reflect the whole range of personality characteristics. Traditional Russian characteristics of a person (for example, "clever and beautiful", "beautiful girl" and " good fellow”, “small and remote”), emphasizing its main features, do not reduce complex nature of a person exclusively to the named only qualities. So, the leading quality of the Russian beauty is the mind, and the mind, in turn, also implies the presence of many skills and dexterity in work. The highly poetic characteristic "clever and beautiful" is both a high assessment of the girl's personal qualities and the ideal image of a woman as a specific goal of education, brought by folk pedagogy to the level of a personality formation program. In the same direction, the virtues of the Russian “good fellow” are concretized in fairy tales and songs: he is smart, and handsome, and hardworking, and honest, and modest.

The ideas of each people about the perfect personality developed under the influence of historical conditions. The peculiarity of the living conditions of the people is reflected in its national ideal. So, for example, the "real horseman" of the Bashkirs, Tatars, peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia has some differences from the Russian "good fellow" by the nature of his activity, code of decency and good manners etc. In the basic human qualities, the ideals of a perfect personality are still very close to each other. All peoples appreciate intelligence, health, diligence, love for the Motherland, honesty, courage, generosity, kindness, modesty, etc. In the personal ideal of all peoples, the main thing is not nationality, but universal principles.

At the same time, peoples evaluated many things from the point of view of their own standards. So, for example, the Chuvash still have the expression “perfect Chuvash”, which is used to characterize a person of any nationality, corresponding to their idea of ​​a good person, i.e. the word "Chuvash" in this case is identical to the word "man". “A perfect (good, real) Chuvash” is a Russian, Tatar, Mordvin, Mari, Udmurt, these are people with whom the Chuvash communicated and who fully corresponded to his ideas of good. Among the Circassians, love for the Motherland is one of the decisive features of a perfect personality, always manifested itself along with a sense of tribal and national dignity. Even in the most difficult conditions the Adyghe was required to preserve the good and honest name of his family, clan, tribe and people. “Do not bring shame to your father and mother”, “Look, try not to take off the Adyghe face”, i.e. do not dishonor the honor and dignity of the Adyghe.

The folk ideal is presented in fairy tales

As long as there is a person, so many disputes continue about what constitutes human life, what it should be. According to philosophers, psychologists, culturologists, and simply not indifferent people, life is more than just eating food, going to bed on time, washing Marya Ivanovna's bones from accounting or switching to new level even in the most addictive computer game.

Rise above everyday life, make your life active, bright, rich interesting events you can, if you understand and imagine what you live for, adhere to certain values. What exactly to focus on in life, everyone decides for himself. Life ideals different people may differ. At the same time, there are human values(truth, goodness, beauty, love of neighbor), to which everyone should be involved.

Throughout history, people have developed different ideas about what ideals are and what an ideal person should be like.

The ideal of man in culture

Ideas about the essence of man are not the same in cultures of different historical eras.

Ancient world

For the first time they began to think about a person in time immemorial. Thus, the ancient Greek philosophers considered the concept of kalokogaty, the essence of which was self-knowledge and perfection. Aristotle drew Special attention the fact that a perfect person adheres to moral standards, does not allow himself to commit evil deeds and strives for beauty for the sake of beauty.

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, the ideal of man was considered in the context of serving God. It was believed that perfection is achieved through discipline, meekness, obedience, asceticism. This ideal of education was preached by the ministers of the church. However, at this time there were also natural Sciences, education gradually acquired a secular character, and accordingly, ideas about a person and his capabilities also changed. It was believed that a person can master the secrets of nature and acquire new knowledge through experience.

Another ideal of a person in this period was a noble and valiant knight. Knights united in orders, created their own codes of honor, and organized tournaments. Each knight had his own Beautiful lady”(real or imaginary), to which victories on the lists and accomplished feats were dedicated.

Renaissance

Ideas about the omnipotence of man were developed in the Renaissance (Renaissance). At the forefront is a person from the point of view of his nature and capabilities. But people still realized that not everything depends on them, and this contributed to the emergence of ideas about freedom and necessity. Similar views existed in the era of Antiquity, but now they are being actively rethought and put into practice.

During this period, the relationship between man and God is explained differently. It is still believed that God created man, but man from birth is endowed with activity, the desire to transform the world and himself, therefore, he can and should become the master of his life. At the same time, initial ideas about the differences between people are formed.

new time

In the Age of Enlightenment, German classical philosophy contributed to the formation of ideas about the ideal of man. So, Immanuel Kant wrote that the main thing in life is to be able to use your mind. The ideal of that time was a reasonable person, arranged according to the laws of logic and capable of changing the world in accordance with reason. The people of this era still believe in God, but ideas of freethinking appear in the minds of some of them.

With the development of capitalism, a working man becomes ideal, and true values ​​- labor discipline, diligence, professionalism and relatively healthy competition.

Ideal Soviet man- is a hero. During those years, actively promoted utopian idea construction of communism, and for this construction it was necessary to be "always ready", that is, to fight, to go forward to the detriment of own desires, needs or even at the cost of their lives. A similar view of reality was demonstrated by the example of pioneer heroes, leaders in production and other individuals who were able to sacrifice themselves to achieve a common goal.

However, such ideas about the ideal person were rather official. In reality, conscience was the ideal, when it is much more important to "be" than "to have." People helped each other, shared the last piece of bread, empathized not only with relatives and friends. However, life in conditions of fear, repression, restrictions on freedoms was also a kind of heroism.

Man in the culture of different peoples

Ideas about the ideal of a person depend on the living conditions of a particular people and are reflected in the works of folklore: fairy tales, legends, traditions, epics, songs. So, a Russian girl is certainly a beauty, for the Circassians (and not only for them), the main thing in a person is his honor and dignity. The peoples of the Caucasus are famous for their hospitality, and the Chukchi for their ability to hunt. But, whatever the differences, all peoples agree on one thing: the ideal of man is national hero, possessing good health, fortitude, intelligence, diligence, and responsiveness.

The ideal of man in art

Historically established ideas about the ideal of man are reflected in works of art.

Antiquity

The ideas of this period about the perfect man are embodied in the statues of gods, heroes and winners. Olympic Games. In fact, the ancient Greek gods were ideal people, and people were likened to gods. The statue of Myron "Discobolus" is widely known. The prototype of the sculpture is real person, strong, healthy and self-confident, as a true citizen of Hellas should be.

The unlimited possibilities of man were sung by Sophocles, Homer and other poets. The image of a beautiful hero, carrier moral ideals, was also shown in the ancient Greek theater.

Art of the Middle Ages

As mentioned above, the life of people in the Middle Ages big influence provided by the church. Therefore, in contrast to the ancient tradition, a person was understood as a blade of grass, a grain of sand, a small particle of the Universe, subject to the will of God. Similar views are also reflected in works of art: it is not the man himself that rises, but the spiritual power that makes him related to God. A striking example ideal of man in the art of the Middle Ages - the iconographic image of Job - a sick biblical character who meekly accepts the will of God.

Somewhat later, ideas about a person became more optimistic. Gradually, in the minds of people, the image of a worker, a creator, a creator begins to form. Labor is no longer perceived as a punishment for sins, but as the main duty of a person. These views are reflected in the images of Christ the Martyr, the description of his life on Earth. Jesus Christ on the canvases of the painters of those years personifies a humiliated, suffering, but inherently divine person.

The Man in Renaissance Art

During the Renaissance, artists were no longer interested in the divine, but in the earthly essence of people. Art is gradually becoming secular, and the ways of creating portraits and works visual arts other genres are substantiated scientifically. This leads to the fact that a person on the canvases of masters becomes natural. The viewer can determine the character and mood of the hero of the picture. An example of this is the world-famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

Despite the development of the ideas of humanism, the masters of the Renaissance continued to use religious themes, but the images of Christ, the apostles and the Virgin Mary were more reminiscent of real people. Probably, this was done in order to show a person his essence through well-known plots. So, Raphael in the form of the Sistine Madonna embodied beautiful woman who loves her son and worries about him.

Man of the New Age

Realistic art continued to develop during the Age of Enlightenment. Change feudal system capitalist, the development of industry contributes to the emergence of the so-called new breed of people. A person becomes more down to earth, preoccupied with his own problems, but at the same time, educated, trying to use life tasks own mind. This is how it is shown in pictures and in literary works. An example is the canvases of J.B. Chardin, W. Hogarth, A. Watteau, treatises by Diderot, Rousseau, novels by J.S. Turgenev, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, etc.

The image of a person in socialist realism

AT Soviet times from pictures, campaign posters and TV screens were watched by shock workers, advanced collective farmers, noble milkmaids, caring mothers of families. Representatives of the authorities positioned the USSR as a country in which there is no exploitation of man by man, and people show heroism exclusively voluntarily, guided by the desire to build a brighter future as soon as possible. Therefore, in the art of socialist realism, the worker became the ideal. In addition, a Soviet person must have wealthy family, good TRP performance, as well as excellent combat and political training.

All of the above is reflected in the paintings of P. Smurkovich "On Skis", V. Kutilin "First Field", T. Yablonskaya "Bread", poems by V. Mayakovsky, A. Tvardovsky, K. Simonov, prose by M. Gorky, M. Sholokhov, A. Fadeev, songs to the words of V. Lebedev-Kumach, etc.

The ideal of man in religion

In addition to culture, art, the ideal of man is represented in all religions of the world. Common to religious teachings is love for one's neighbor, the victory of good over evil, truth over falsehood, and light over darkness. These values ​​must be professed by a person. But each religion has its own ideas about the ideal. Let's dwell on this in more detail.

Christianity

An ideal person in this religion corresponds to the image of Jesus Christ. The virtues of a Christian are kindness, meekness, humility. He who professes the Christian faith strives for God, and therefore fulfills his will, tries to keep peace in his soul, build benevolent relations with relatives and friends, and do no harm to anyone.

Islam

According to Muslim ideas, an ideal person should drive away sinful thoughts from himself, commit good deeds, strive for knowledge, be kind, modest, patient and clean. Also, a true believer does not smoke, drink alcohol or gamble.

Buddhism

Here, the Buddha, who was originally ordinary person, but was able to achieve enlightenment (Nirvana). Followers of Buddhism believe that you can get closer to this state if you engage in spiritual practices and do good deeds. In Islam and Christianity, the ideal of man is unattainable.

Hinduism

The followers of this doctrine believe that the ideal being can be achieved only by being freed from karma - the cycle of events, births and deaths in which a person is. Once free, the soul reunites with one of the deities or remains on its own. Yoga helps to achieve liberation faster. Only the chosen ones are capable of true freedom. It remains for mere mortals to purify karma (prayers, good deeds) in order to next life be born more fortunate than in this one.

The ideal of modern man

Define the ideal modern man does not seem possible. Our time is quite complex and contradictory in terms of values, moral norms, permissions and prohibitions.

Today it is "not fashionable" to be highly moral, to build one's life in accordance with spiritual values ​​and lofty ideals. Pragmatism, the thirst for consumption, the desire to have fun and not make efforts come to the fore.

Modern society presents high requirements to a person. Today you just need to look latest fashion, have a super prestigious job, succeed in business. Anyone who does not try to reach career heights causes misunderstanding.

At the same time, it is still impossible to call all those living on Earth inveterate pragmatists. A significant number of people read fiction, visits temples, does charity work, practices downshifting. It seems that the ideal of modern man has not yet been formed, but I want to believe that this will happen in the near future.

Co-Perfection Sketches

Tatyana Ginzburg

Who is the Perfect Man?

Does it exist or is it just a myth?

The myth of a Hero or a Demigod?

Where is the pinnacle of human development?

These rare questions may arise in people's minds, but as a rule, if this topic was dropped in philosophy classes at some university, this topic is too complicated and far from ordinary.

If you still think about it, then the answers to these questions rest on the answer to the question of the purpose and meaning of human being. Why is a person born in this world? What is its mission? What is the meaning of his life? And what is meaning in general in this context - is it something that each individual can come up with for himself, or is there some kind of “general, ideal” meaning of a person’s life that each of us can strive for?

If we consider that a person is an accidental product of nature, and his psyche is only “the highest nervous activity”, then it turns out that Perfection, as a quality of a person, is impossible, since the lack of meaning in life also gives rise to the absence of an idea about the Top human life. Of course, some people find gaps in this worldview, and accomplish feats in science, or in culture.

And maybe this is a sign that mental world A person still has an idea of ​​both the Summit and the Meaning of being, and even recognizing the primacy of matter and the randomness of his existence with his mind, a person holistically transcends this limitation and seeks ways to reach the Summit of Being.

Let's try to consider the theistic version of human life. Man is a product of God, His son. From here - the concept of perfection flows easily - to realize the Creator's plan means to achieve Perfection. And in the mythology of mankind there are stories about such people, for example, Jesus Christ.

But, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we live in a more complex era than our ancestors lived in, say, the Middle Ages, or even under communism. And now, with that flow of information, including about the spiritual and esoteric traditions of the world, about the Universe, about big bang, to believe in the situation of the creation of man by God is becoming increasingly difficult. Laplace also said about God - "Sir, I did not need this hypothesis." And to return to it in our era is to show weakness.

What then remains?

I, as a person, suddenly find myself existing in this world. The world around is very complex, and constantly distracts, takes my attention. And if suddenly by chance, I still turn to the question "Who am I" - then, as a rule, it is impossible to find an answer to this question ...

Or because it simply does not exist (see the previous reasoning and be content with an ersatz).

Or is it necessary for this - skills, concentration, real intention, favorable external conditions and maybe something else.

And, perhaps, such a state of a human being, in which he can find answers to questions about the meaning of his life, and about the meaning of being and realize them, is the TOP.

And a person who has reached this Peak is Perfect.