The early work of the Russian Buddhologist 0.0. Rosenberg (1888-1919), a disciple and follower of Academician F. I. Shcherbatsky, was written in 1915 on the basis of observations of the religious life of Japan in the 10s of the XX century. The scientist's religious intuitions recorded in it allow us to better understand the process of forming his innovative Buddhist concept. O. O. Rosenberg was in Japan on a research trip from 1912 to 1916, and perhaps this work reflected the direct observations of the young scientist. The consideration of Buddhism in the context of the diverse religious life of Japan, which O. O. Rosenberg had the opportunity to observe for four years, is also presented in his later works, in particular in a lecture at the First Buddhist Exhibition in Petrograd in 1919: "I speak about Japanese Buddhism not only on the basis of Japanese works I read, but also on the basis of based on their own observations, personal experiences in Japan, in the Japanese environment"**. The article "Religion and Philosophy" is of research interest, mainly due to the fact that the author acts in it not so much as a Buddhist scholar, but as a general religious scholar who considers religion as a social institution on the example of the status of Shinto in Japan in the 10s of the XX century. It is also of undoubted interest that Sri-to, as a historically formed national closed ideological basis, is compared with the legitimized imperial power, with Buddhism as a world religion. O. O. Rosenberg apparently considered the ideas expressed in this work to be fundamental for his concept. Thus, the scientist later used several pages of the article in the section "Religious and philosophical systems in Japan and Buddhism"of his monograph "Problems of Buddhist Philosophy". Thus, the analysis of the content of the article-essay allows us to trace the process of forming the religious views of one of the most prominent representatives of the St. Petersburg school of Buddhology. The ... Read more