R. Amarjargal: Understanding from Dostoyevsky

No matter how much we delve into the inner world of man, we still are not able to uncover the secret of the human being.

Daily newspaper 2021-11-18 N 222 (6844)

The whole world is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821-1881). Let's share some ideas from Dostoyevsky's life and works that have stuck in my mind in order to arouse young people's attention and interest in Dostoyevsky's life and works.

I am an atheist. For me, communication with God does not go beyond saying the six letters of a Buddhist mantra or reading a book during the traditional holiday named “White Moon”. At the time when my worldview was being formed, religion was closed. "Religion is a drug that makes the people ignorant", and the official position of the government was that in more than 800 temples throughout Mongolia, men who should be working and creating were made apprentices and more than half of the productive forces were tamed and degraded. It was dominated and implemented by the foundation, the propaganda and the ideological institution.

Even though Dostoyevsky's novels were taught and read in the original in secondary school, they were "directed" to read them from the point of view of how evil the bourgeois society is and how it leads people to do bad things against their will. That's why I became interested rather late in one of the main themes of Dostoyevsky's writings: God, religion, and faith. As for me, I am very interested in the great German philosopher F. Nietzsche, especially trying to understand his interpretation of "God is dead" in "Zarathustra". F. Nietzsche is a person who greatly respects and appreciates Dostoyevsky and considers his writings to be an influence on him.

There must be a God, you must believe in him and worship him, otherwise, there will be no moral limits, no boundaries, no norms of fear and shame, you will be unable to find your feet, your superiors will have to find their seat, and the lower ones will find their current, and the order will be lost. Dostoyevsky believed that our life in the world would be turned upside down and that time would completely dominate. It is from this point of view that he expressed the benefits of piety (both for the individual and for society). This idea is very clear in the novel, "The Brothers Karamazov". Dostoyevsky warned before F. Nietzsche that "God is dead" and there is nothing to hold you back, so if you are not careful, it is dangerous.

In this novel, he strongly touched on the existence of God. If innocent children may suffer with "lame tears" to accept the existence of God, then we can only say that "there is no God". Who you are will be revealed when you are faced with the choice of leaving your child "lame with tears" to get rid of any unbearable pain and be in the grace of God.

Alesha's role in this novel is very interesting. The younger generation, who rejected the previous generation, spat on their ancestors, chased away their elders, and preferred to live an easy life without any obligations or responsibilities. Think about who is close to your heart and values ​​from the image of young people.

Dostoyevsky touches on the fact that being faithful to one's beliefs and valuing freedom is not as easy as it seems, and takes us to a choice that requires internal conflict and struggle. For example, the legendary "Great Inquisitor" in the above text calls the temple the most humane institution and emphasises that "here a person can relax and get rid of the heavy burden of freedom (constantly making choices) that he carries throughout his life." At the same time as imagining this, the fact that even the arrest and imprisonment of the resurrected Christ was hailed as a humane act for the church is worthless attention.

For some reason, the words "Революция, как бог Сатурн пожирает своих детей-in Russian" which means “Revolution, how the god Saturn devours his children” are vivid in my mind. It's a saying that came out during the great French Revolution. There is one more thing that Pierre Vergno said. It means "Great people feel great because we kneel." God has created us. Following Christ is an invitation to a long journey of spiritual adventure. Dostoyevsky did not say that you should leave your head to someone (in this case, Christ) and be mentally delirious.

The themes of mercy, compassion and love occupy a special place in Dostoyevsky's novels. Good and bad come together to fill the tank. Along with the dream of enlightenment, human beings also possess the most unusual traits. Irrational thoughts and actions, addictions (Dostoyevsky was addicted to gambling), tormenting oneself and others, cruelty, violence, and being driven to anger are all bad; dark and ignorant aspects of human nature. Maybe that's why he said, "I'm a sick person... I'm an evil person."

What should be done with that “sick … wicked man”? One answer Dostoyevsky gives is sympathy. There are times when you can't help but sympathise. The legend/myth of the "Great Inquisitor" appears in "The Brothers Karamazov". The character of Alesha, who gives her cheek to kiss her suffering brother, is reminiscent of Christos' actions. Our conversations, persuasions, explanations, and pleadings that try to change the actions of our loved ones to make them understand what they are losing, and explain the nature of the problem, are sometimes completely ineffective. There comes a time when it seems like there is no difference. In this situation, thinking about all the good, right, and bright things of your loved ones, you have no choice but to stay close and with them, or "give them your cheek to kiss" and refuse them. Who is braver in this situation? Is it forgiving? There are many problems surrounding this topic, it is an inexhaustible/unlimited topic for literature.

There will come a time when you will doubt and lose faith in your faith, but that is nothing to be afraid of. Therefore, worshipping and walking in faith is not at all a matter of limiting your mind and thinking. Dostoyevsky said, "I am not someone who blindly believes in Christ like a baby. It is said that "A person has reached this point by going through the pain of doubt". Therefore, a devout person should not be afraid of the difficult and complicated problems that arise in life, rather, such problems and difficult choices will sharpen you and strengthen your faith and belief even more.

The road to hell is paved with the most holy and good intentions. If someone builds the "Ivory" mansion/castle, which is a symbol of sacred deeds, worship, beautiful harmony and progress, then the mute and beggars who are the pawns of the envious will not say "what is this, it is nothing." ignores them, protesting indignantly, saying, "The wicked rich are bragging and bullying us," and then they attack madly. He will be able to relax only by following him, harming him, causing trouble at every step, and eventually demolishing the "Ivory Palace".

"The Ivory Palace is not useful, in other words, you can't take care of the "fire" brought by you like Prometheus, and take care of it, and you should "fill the tank according to its size", Buddha warned people.  People can lead society after they realize that the fire brought by Prometheus is a great technological transfer. The 1990s revolution gave us the right to freely express our opinions, to respect our religion without being afraid of the party, to choose the right people with knowledge, to lead the country, to own property and to multiply it, but, we are unable to take it further; developing and perfecting it. F. Dostoyevsky's writings can be used to find an easy way to make people who are disguised by the populism of hatred, discrimination, and fear become full citizens of a free and independent country.

If F. Nietzsche's "God is dead" is true, various attempts and experiments have been made in many countries to build a society based on a complex new paradigm of development and to form a completely new person or "Soviet people". All failed. The centuries-old debate about whether to create good things by wrong means is still not over. Will a bright future be created with bloody hands, or will a new person be formed by trampling moral standards? After taking the power of the state by dirty means, after taking it, the kings who said, "Now I will rule the country with justice and principles", how were they ruining the country?

Raskolnikov, believing himself to be a superman, rejected the moral and ethical standards of society and said, “The law should not serve me because I am special. I have been given the right to decide the fate of others. But I live empty-headed. "Others (moneylender granny) are to blame for all this," he said, killing people. The hero of the novel falls into a deep depression and finally reveals himself and is imprisoned. But how many people meet the king of men without realizing their sin?

Dostoyevsky wrote that there is a hell, but he did not mean it literally. "Hell is the torment of someone who is incapable of loving others". Will you go to hell in this life anyway, or will you put aside the karma you have planted in this life to enjoy it in the next life? According to Dostoyevsky, hell begins with the mental and emotional torments of this age. More precisely, it is mental punishment.

Priest Zosima says that love is "a very terrible and cruel thing in life." When life is based on love, that love itself is extremely fragile, and in most cases, it fades away after a while and it is a strange phenomenon that manifests itself through cruel acts and turns into hatred in a moment. Why is life based on such strange things? If so, how should we live? Dostoyevsky often asks such questions, which are not easy to answer. So, one of the solutions to all this may be to enjoy the happiness of the world as it should, and not to try to escape from responsibility.

So does Zosima. “Bear the sins of others…you must bear all sins of others and for others. Because it's your fault. By being lazy and helpless, you are serving against God on behalf of him who is a servant of the devil.'' If not on the side of virtue, then on the side of sin, and if not on the side of light, then on the side of darkness, ignorance, and shadow.

Have you ever thought that "I am not the reason for the things that are happening around me?" How many of us are waking up to the realisation that society has become so dirty as a result of my helplessness, which is the result of the Burmese being unable to be strict and make peace, being silent, hiding themselves, and always finding fault with others.

Thinking about it, I want to live for the benefit of all creatures. A few thousand years ago, you and I were tiny in the animal kingdom. Like a "rabbit hiding in the bush", he was afraid of everything and lived his life hiding. At that time, all living things were "brothers" governed by the strict laws of nature and evolution. Today, however, humans have become a kind of animal that has become unrecognisable to all other animals and has taken over the earth and even the vastness of space. The ANTHROPOCENE period has begun. However, how far are we from our "brothers"? The truth is, it's not very far. We (human beings) have been born with the understanding that we can be self-conceited, brag about our "minor achievements" and ignore our "brothers". Unfortunately, it was all a mistake. Therefore, I understand that Dostoyevsky told us through Zosima that we should respect our environment; all animals, and live in harmony with our healthy world.

But how much is thinking and understanding all this? What exactly did the people who gathered at SOR 26 decide to make the best decision about climate change?

According to Dostoyevsky, "If a person is a genius and has a warm heart, he suffers the most." Great people such as Buddha and Christ have experienced the injustices, relationships, and sins committed by others and have experienced them personally; suffering, and leading them on the right path. Generally, the greatest people in any society suffer the most. He has been proposing and explaining ways to save others from suffering in his own way. Dostoyevsky also expressed his solution in the novel,  "Crazy" with the formula "Красота спасет мир-Russian" which means beauty will save the world. This formula is very thought-provoking. In fact, in today's society, it is not easy to recognise and understand who is telling the truth and which is the right policy to follow. In this situation, the beauty of the world, or  what is in your soul and inner world, is what anyone sees and accepts and rejoices in following. Even beauty is a relative concept. At this very moment, a poem by the poet D. Nyamsuren comes to mind.

It's nice to get some rain from time to time

It's nice to see water dripping from a hanging coat

It's nice to see the sun coming out of the clouds

A person who felt the beauty of larks flying through the door

My motherland is beautiful like a poem

My country is as beautiful as a song

It's good to be alive for all seasons

Except to say that it's nice to see rain in “Ereentsav”.

Where there is beauty, there is truth and good things. I think everyone has the ability to be curious, to enjoy something, no matter how small, and to find satisfaction. But, it is difficult to discover and learn how to fully use that ability. Although it is difficult, it is necessary to remember and think about it.

D. Rumsfeld said that the sign of a smart person is "knowing what you don't know." Dostoyevsky wrote down a simple explanation of these words. He said, "The smartest person is the one who admits his stupidity at least once a month." A person who scolds as if he knows the answer to all questions and thinks he is smarter than others falls. About the ability to be humble and listen to others with respect, about the fact that death is not far away and always follows you, about the bitter truth that you are "invited" to this world for a few decades, but you can't act like forever and live generously, how is every moment of life Dostoyevsky realized that he was waiting to be executed (he was sentenced to death and later pardoned and exiled) about the importance of not wasting such valuable time. He expressed this very clearly in his novel "Crazy".

"Is it a world that realises too late how valuable it is to find a human body, to live and to live meaningfully? What exactly is a person? If I can solve this mystery, I will become a man myself," wrote 18-year-old Fyodor Dostoyevsky to his brother. "The Red Line" of his work is just that. Human nature, the good and evil contained in it, bravery and mortal weakness, fearful cowardice, open and generous love and malice, the conflict of jealousy and the struggle of opposites are the general lines of his art. No matter how much we delve into the inner world of man, we still are not able to uncover the secret of the human being. Therefore, young generations should think about every issue and topic touched by the great writer F. Dostoyevsky and embark on a great journey to unravel the "mystery" of man, which is his dream.