Grigory Skovoroda

“Gather your thoughts inside yourself and look for real good in yourself. Dig inside yourself a well for the water that irrigates both your housing and the neighbor.”

GREGORY SKOVORODA – ukrainian thinker, poet, fabulist and teacher, wandering philosopher of the 18th century. (1722-1794)

According to the teachings of Gregory Skovoroda, the world consists of three levels: large one (space) is nature; small one (microcosm) is a man and symbolic one is the Bible. In each world there are two beginnings – the God or eternity and the matter or temporal. In nature spirit dominates matter. The philosopher’s God, the eternal principle, is elusive and invisible. The theme of “cognate labor,” that is, fulfilling one’s purpose through labor, is one of the most important themes of the thinker’s world outlook and determines not only human happiness, but also the purpose of human existence.

The philosophical heritage of Skovoroda covers science, religion, culture, art. All faces are based on a common central core – the problem of human nature and its purpose. Gregory Skovoroda is considered the finisher of the Cossack Baroque epoch and the ancestor of Russian religious philosophy. WORKS “Askhan”, “The Narcissus”, “A friendly conversation about the spiritual world”, “The Entrance Door to Christian Integrity”, “The Garden of Divine Songs”