Abstract: The present article is devoted to one of the most mysterious concepts in Eastern history and philosophy -  the concept of Shambhala. Is it just a myth or is Shambhala not only a myth but also a hidden historical reality? In the XIX-XX centuries that ancient Indian concept was reinterpreted in the teachings of Theosophy and Agni Yoga by E. Blavatsky and the Roerich family. There have been debates regarding philosophical ideas that were introduced to the world culture by Blavatsky and the Roerich. The present article provides a comprehensive analysis of the facts relating to the legendary spiritual abode of the East; the facts demonstrate that the allegations of the real existence of Shambhala could be a reality.

Keywords: Shambhala, theosophy, Agni Yoga, Blavatsky, the Roerich, the Mahatma, oriental studies, mythology, philosophy, esoterics

Abstract: The article studies the Russian toponymy, which reflected the memory of the heroes and events of the War of 1812. Toponymy is considered as intangible heritage, which forms the historical and cultural space of Russia. The authors analyze the factors and features of the propagation of names associated with the war of 1812, identifies periods and the wave of renaming, the patterns of territorial concentration of names. The list and define a kind of "rating" of the characters and events of the war mentioned in Russian toponymy. The patterns are reflected in the tables, charts and maps.

Keywords: toponymy, heritage, historical and cultural space, historical and geographical patterns, names rating, events rating

Abstract: Based on the materials of Tambov Region the author identifies the key areas of political and educational work of the provincial Komsomol Organizations in 1953-1957 and their contradictory impact on the public consciousness. The author evaluates the practical implementation of the current policy groups, groups by industry membership. It is shown that the political and educational activities of the Komsomol were romanticized and was built on the principle of the unity of education in the revolutionary traditions of the past, the heroics perception of the present and of the communist ideals of the future. Debunking the Stalin personality cult, which included the condemnation of the old methods of ideological and education activities, included calls for an end of embellishing present time involved a new turn in social strengthening of the cult of Lenin. Many of the noble appeals turned out to be propaganda and had little to do with reality. The realities of the mid-1950s have proved once again that the Soviet ideology, which by chance is sometimes identified with the Soviet religion, was constantly build on the cult of a leader. According to the authors, the system of political education still does not so much test the political beliefs but copies normative samples of politicized behavior.

Keywords: Lenin, cult, Political enlightenment, Political education, youth, Komsomol, Stalin, memoriazation, glorification, thaw

Abstract: The article presents a research on the deviant behavior of Russian peasants in the era of modernization of Russia in the late XIX - early XX century. The author studies the problem of suicide among the peasants and the attitude of rural population to the facts of euthanasia. On the basis of archival materials author analyzes the dynamics of rural suicide, describes methods and motives of farmers’ suicide. The article clarifies the attitude of the rural population towards alcohol and determines the cause and extent of alcoholism in the village environment. Mental illnesses in a Russian village were not common, mental disorder was seen as a phenomenon that violates the usual rules and can potentially be dangerous. The article determines the level of spread of such crimes as infanticide and abortion in the Russian village, discloses its causes, nature and motives. The article brings the analysis of deviant behavior of Russian peasants in intimacies, disclosure the patterns of premarital and marital behavior and the attitude of the villagers to the deordination of the rules of marriage. The author describes reasons and forms of rural prostitution as well as the attitude of Russian villagers to fornication and adultery. The article shows different types of sexual crimes among Russian peasants, the motives and the extent of their expansion. The author describes the criminal laws of the Russian Empire and the legal views of rural residents in respect of such crimes. The article shows the examples of sexual inversions among the peasants and the reaction to it by the local population. As the result of this study the author finds deviant behavior of Russian peasants to be a result of the modernization processes in the country in the late XIX - early XX century. With the influence of the city, migratory fisheries, social mobility of residents of the village the accustomed relations, community and family foundations and patriarchal customs were destroyed and therefore the various forms of peasant deviance reinforced.

Keywords: Russian village, peasantry, deviant behavior, modernization, suicide, drunkenness, abortion, prostitution, rape, incest

Abstract: The purpose of the article is to compare and analyze the Muslim concepts of modernism and Salafi Islam. This study is based on a civilizational approach. In this article the author analyzes both contemporary concepts of Islam (al-Afghani, Abduh, Gasprinsky, etc.), and Salafist doctrine (al-Wahhab, Sayyid Qutb). The scope of this work includes oriental studies, political science, religious studies. The main conclusion of the article: the modernist and the Salafi approach to Islamic traditions define the basic discourse of Muslim culture XVIII – XXI centuries.

Keywords: Sunna, Koran, Jadids, Pan-Islamism, Salafiya, modernisation, fiqh, sharia, Islam, Sunnis

Abstract: On the basis of the Western cultural history the article examines the process of monasteries and monasticism turning into a social institution. The author analyzes the social and cultural preconditions, the actual process of monasticism becoming a social institution, the rise and fall of this institution. The article presents the main hypothesis of monasticism – a special kind of mundane esoterism and a hypothesis of monasticism development – from the secular esoterism to the secularization of monasticism. The article characterizes the specifics of monasticism as a social institution.

Keywords: institute, organization, schemes, belief, personality, esotericism, monastery, the formation, monasticism, secularization