New religious movements in Tomsk

In the article the author characterizedreligious organizations, which have officially been registered at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st centuries and arerelated to new religious movements (NRM): the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Tomsk region, the Diamond WayBuddhist centre of the Karma Kagyu School in Tomsk and Tomsk community of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.According to one of the classifications, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints belongs to neo-Christian trends, and the othertwo organizations belong to the oriental ones. In the article the foundation history of these organizations in Tomsk is described, as wellas the organizational structures of the communities, the platform for religious beliefs and cultural practices. Various ways are depictedof how the organizations participate in the cultural life of the city. The information is given about the social programs which are first ofall realized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and by Tomsk community of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.While preparing the article, various materials were used, which the author collected by interviewing the leaders and otherrepresentatives of the communities while visiting different events they organized. Characterization of the Buddhist centre of the KarmaKagyu School in Tomsk and Tomsk community of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is based on a questionnaire filledin by their members. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Tomsk community of the International Society for KrishnaConsciousness were founded in 1998 and 2000 accordingly as a result of missionary activities. The Diamond Way Buddhist Centre ofthe Karma Kagyu School was founded by Tomsk citizens who became interested in studying this religious tradition in 1999. The basisfor the religious teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the belief in the divine nature of Jesus and an originalteaching about an ancient nation who lived in America and preserved the purity of Christs Commandments. Cult practices of the churchinclude baptizing, confirmation, Communion, monthly Fast, baptizing for the dead. The Church community has a certain organizationalstructure: the division is based on gender and age. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness which includes the Tomskcommunity worshiping vayshnavism, a monotheistic religious doctrine, based on the cult of God Krishna, as the most worshipped incarnationof Vishnu (the Highest). The basis for the cult practice is individual mediation and collective singing of sacred hymns. Tomskcommunity consists of cells (nama-hattas) which are lead by spiritual leaders. The majority of members are students and people withhigher education. The Buddhist trend which the Diamond way Buddhist Centre of the Karma Kagyu School in Tomsk follows is definedby Vajrayana (Mahayana), which suggests reaching the state of Buddha during one life. The main form of practice is individual andcollective meditations. The majority of members are senior university students and people with higher education.

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