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The research aims to identify typological points of intersection between the fictional universe of Maxim Gorky’s novel “The Life of Klim Samgin” and the fundamental concepts of Buddhist philosophy. Utilizing comparative-typological and hermeneutic methods, the article analyzes how key tenets of Buddhist thought – the Four Noble Truths, the doctrine of suffering (dukkha), the nature of the “Self” (anatman), emptiness (shunyata), and the samsaric cycle of existence – find implicit expression in the psychological portraits of the protagonist and other characters. Special focus is placed on the phenomenon of Klim Samgin’s “absenteeism” as a form of distancing from the world of passions, as well as the implementation of the concept of emptiness within his polyphonic consciousness. The study further examines the universal nature of suffering, the cessation of desire (the Third Truth), fragmentary manifestations of the Eightfold Path, and the episode involving Hieronymus Bosch’s painting as a moment of the hero’s insight into the samsaric nature of reality. The scientific originality of the study lies in its being the first work to conceptualize the artistic structure of “The Life of Klim Samgin” as an implicit reproduction of fundamental Buddhist concepts. The study proposes an interpretation of the protagonist’s absenteeism not merely as a social or psychological trait, but as a form of ontological alienation typologically close to the Buddhist understanding of personality. The study concludes that, despite not being a conscious follower of Buddhism, Gorky created a work that exhibits a profound typological kinship with Eastern philosophy. It is revealed that Samgin’s realization of emptiness does not lead to liberation (unlike the Buddhist tradition) but instead exposes the tragic gap between the intolerability of suffering and the impossibility of its transcendence within European existential discourse. This analytical lens allows for interpreting the novel as a philosophical exploration of the crisis of the individual in a world that has lost its metaphysical foundations.