Ode to the Grand Spirit: A Dialogue
with Chingiz Aitmatov
 |
Pub. Year
2009
Publisher
I.B. Tauris
(*Acquired by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2018)
ISBN
978-1-84511-987-4
|
Chingiz Aitmatov (1928-2008) and Daisaku Ikeda describe their work, Ode to the Grand Spirit, as a "fireside dialogue" between two weary travelers who have journeyed from afar over very different paths in life. "Thirst and an intolerable hunger torment" them, acknowledges Aitmatov. "I am talking, not about physical hunger, which is easily appeased, but spiritual hunger—the trials of attempting to comprehend existence."
Thus begins their quest for life's higher truths, taking them from the roots and reasons that led to the demise of the former Soviet Union, to the fruits and flaws of literature, religion and culture. Together, they explore the ageless struggle between good and evil, both in terms of our inhumane treatment of each other as well as our insatiable drive to subjugate nature, and share an extraordinary breadth of insights on truth, happiness, death and divinity.
Ultimately, inexorably, they are drawn inward, to the human spirit. "For modern humanity to discover the meaning of life and the way to live better," asserts Ikeda, "we must delve into the eternal aspects of universal life deep within the phenomena of individual existence."
Drawing on a panoply of anecdotes and thought from the East and West, Aitmatov and Ikeda offer life-enriching perspectives that are as eloquent as they are informative for both the well-read and casual reader.
A celebrated novelist who wrote both in Russian and in his native Kyrgyz, Aitmatov also served as ambassador to the European Union, NATO and UNESCO. He first met Ikeda in 1988 whilst visiting Japan as an ardent advocate and agent for perestroika. "I do not recall how our conversation started," writes Aitmatov, "perhaps it did not start at all but only continued because we had already been talking to each other even before we met."
Ode to the Grand Spirit is also available in Japanese, German and Russian.
CONTENTS
Preface by Chingiz Aitmatov
- Three Days that Shook the World
Victory Over the Self: The Supreme Victory
Hope and Friendship: The Wise Man's Orders of Merit
- War, Literature, Youth
First Books
Spiritual Support in Troubled Times
Expectations of Youth
Justice
The Cultural Agora
Culture in the Country
Learning is Light; Ignorance, Darkness
The Highest Responsibility
Reviving Words
Lest They be Forever Forgotten
- Perspectives on Perestroika
Standing Up for Human Dignity
The Role of the People
Literature Worthy of its High Destiny
Distrust of Words is Distrust of Humanity
People Power
Global Union Through Dialogue
In the Interest of All Humanity
Planned History and Sullied Knights
- A New Way of Thinking
All in the Same Basket
Belief in Bellona
We Must All Live Together
All Children of Humanity
From Isolation to Unity
- Literature in Life
Russian Literature: Tradition and Traits
The Mutable and Immutable in Religion
Myths and Folk Tales
The Bitter Companion of Happiness
Evolution instead of Revolution
Two Letters:
Transcending ‘isms' Non-violently
From Chingiz Aitmatov to Daisaku Ikeda
Reviving Spirituality
From Daisaku Ikeda to Chingiz Aitmatov
Observations on Non-violence, Daisaku Ikeda
The Summing Up
The Truth about Ourselves
The People
Their Most Brilliant Attribute
The Humanity of Children
- The Long Journey Inward
Dostoyevsky's Religious Views
The Divinity Within
Restoring Religion on its Rightful Place
Alienation and its Causes
Verbally Explicit and Implicit
Humanity and Non-human Nature
The Nine Stages of Consciousness
The Lotus Sutra -- Drama of Life
A Second Axial Period
A Parable for Mikhail Gorbachev
by Chingiz Aitmatov
Epilogue
by Daisaku Ikeda
The End of One Age, the Beginning of Another
Notes
Index
