Abstract
The article is devoted to the development of an algorithm for analyzing and interpreting Buddhist symbolism in Vsevolod Ivanov‘s novella The Return of Buddha. The study aims to show how Buddhist images (Buddha, the path, silence, and sacrifice, return) structure the conceptual and artistic integrity of the text and how they serve as a framework for systematic analysis conducted by students. The material for the research includes the novella itself and a corpus of critical works on it; the methodological basis combines an interdisciplinary approach with techniques of structural-semiotic and contextual analysis, as well as strategies of critical thinking. The study demonstrates that Buddhist images shape the protagonist‘s value orientation, clarifying the logic of the denouement and his final choice. The statue of Buddha in the novella functions as a measure of moral responsibility. The proposed algorithm for analyzing Buddhist symbolism opens up a new research perspective: it combines structural and value-based reading of the text with the description of specific classroom techniques (pre-text assignments, associative mapping, debates, case studies, comparative tables, assessment criteria). This format links symbolic analysis with teaching practice, offering clear stages of discussion and measurable outcomes. The result of the study is a development of a seminar plan that can be directly applied in university courses on twentieth-century Russian literature and Russian-language literature of Kazakhstan.