On Salvation

What is salvation? It means many things to many people, but here is what I have come to understand it as. It is the freedom from the clutches of sin, of a worldly world with it's heaviness, sorrow and tragedy. The seemingly endless knotted rope of karma, of cause and effect, that makes so many lives, if not miserable, at least tinged with this misery. For sin is death and depression- hope, joy, love seemingly blotted out by it's dark and deceptive clutches. Sin can seem pleasurable for someone caught up in it- for many, though, it is a source of obvious, not so hidden, suffering.

So by defining 'sin', we are better able to appreciate the mercy and lovings of God to grant us the path of salvation. Please note- the definition I use is not necessarily the same as that used by most Christians and this is not as such a 'Christian' site. Yet, still, I think we are talking about the same thing from different angles. Salvation is for those with faith, whether or not they are actually Christians. God reaches people in many ways and if at any point the Bible, Gita or Buddhist scriptures seem to suggest otherwise, the fault lies in the interpretation. God's universal way is, in our dimension, 'many ways'- 'many ways' that will be seen to be as one when we are able to see them clearly- all of which is not to suggest that all ways are valid. The one path of truth appears to us in many guises- for the path is of time and space, whilst the truth is eternal and infinite. There are no limits, other than those we impose on ourselves.

So what does it mean to be free of this thing called 'sin', this willful and corrupted state that permits itself to confuse evil with good and promote the former? What will happen when we are no longer dominated by it? Simply, we will see the end of our nebulous, distracting thought-stream that cries out with selfish impulses, destructive intentions and egotistical misunderstandings. We will be free, filled with love, having returned to the great cosmic family from which we came. For there are many more trillions of beings free from 'sin' than those controlled or shall we say, those who have their lives tainted by it. We will no longer worship at the feet of false idols, be they machines, people, doctrines or ideas. Instead, we will commune with God, restoring our rightful inheritance as His children. We will remember that we are of the family of God, playing for now the games of being humans, yet spiritually forever immersed in a greater, brighter, lovelier truth.

We will have clear understanding and vast insight. We will be restored to our true nature, again like trusting children, unstained and innocent, yet still wiser for our awareness of this world, a world which we will realise we are in, but not of. The key point in all of this is not so much what we will be- as it will be our true selves, each of us a shining individual as well as a conscious family member. It is what we will be free of- what we will be saved from. Just as the Israelites were saved from the pursuing Egyptians, or the early Christians from the curse of grinding religious laws that seemingly lead no-where, so will we receive these blessings in our own time. It also stands to reason that this will come, as ever, through no institution or worldly authority. It is the freely-given gift of God, available now as forever. For whilst we change, God- the divine reality in whose image we are made- is eternally dependable.

Amen