Selections from My Religion by Leo Tolstoy (vegetarian): Chapter II, Part 1 of 2

“Everyone thinks of changing the world but no one thinks of changing himself.” This insightful saying by Leo Tolstoy is a good reminder for all of us to reflect inward. The renowned 19th-century Russian author suggested that we ask ourselves what God really wants us to do. Yearning for more than success, fame, and wealth, Leo Tolstoy eventually established himself as a moral philosopher and spiritual leader during the last 30 years of his life. In addition to adopting and promoting the vegetarian diet, he became a fervent Christian pacifist through an interpretation of the ethical teachings of Christ. My Religion is a book by Count Leo Tolstoy, completed in 1884. It is the follow up to his book, A Confession. These two volumes show his transition from existential questions about life to a firm belief in God and the spiritual principle of nonviolent resistance as described in the Gospels of the Holy Bible. “When I apprehended clearly the words ‘Resist not evil,’ my conception of the doctrine of Jesus was entirely changed; and I was astounded, not that I had failed to understand it before, but that I had misunderstood it so strangely. I knew, as we all know, that the true significance of the doctrine of Jesus was comprised in the injunction to love one’s neighbor. When we say, ‘Turn the other cheek,’ ‘Love your enemies,’ we express the very essence of Christianity.”