Salvation - Indian Religions

Indian Religions

In the Indian religions, salvation is called mukti or moksha which may be translated respectively as release or liberation. This is obtained through either of four paths or methods (yoga): karma yoga (acting rightly through selfless service), bhakti yoga (devoting one's self and love to a deity), raja yoga (cultivating the mind through meditation) and jnana yoga (obtaining knowledge of the absolute). That which one is released or liberated from is suffering, sensory desires and a process of eternal transmigration through a round of successive lives. At liberation the illusions and delusions (based on a false identification with matter) which have driven the process of successive reincarnations are seen for what they are, as maya. Beings which are subject to eternal transmutation (the endless process of birth, aging and death) cannot be said to truly exist - their apparent reality is only an illusion based on a relative (Pali: sammuti sacca) understanding of the bigger picture. Only that which is not subject to eternal transmutation can be said to have true identity (Skt: sat). Since only God (as the unmanifested originator of phenomena) possesses this quality it is necessary for a human being to disentangle themself from identification with matter to restore their primordial identity with their creator. Indian religion asserts that mind and consciousness are higher order realities to which matter is subject (in contrast to modern western science which asserts that mind and consciousness are by-products of physical processes, see epiphenomenalism) Therefore, mind and consciousness are the engine of continued physical manifestation. The contents of the mind and consciousness which are causing future manifestation and obscuring clear vision are called samskaras (Sanskrit) or sankharas (Pali). The saint (a person who has attained liberation) has completely purified the mind of its conditioning and experiences pure consciousness (Skt: cit or turiya). This ultimate release from matter gives rise to a feeling of infinite freedom and bliss (Skt: ananda). Immutable existence (sat), pure consciousness (cit) and bliss (ananda) are considered characteristics of ultimate reality (Brahman) as experienced by the saint. Buddhism and Jainism place no emphasis on a creator-God but share the general philosophy of purification as a necessary prerequisite for liberation and the identification of the samskaras as the cause of incarnation.

Jainism and Buddhism are emphatic that liberation can only be achieved by personal efforts and invariably involves a significant degree of self-discipline and asceticism. The Buddha taught that in this quest one can rely on no one and on nothing but oneself: neither gods nor priests, neither church nor sacraments, nor faith nor works are of any avail. Other disciplines are not so desolate, and "each Buddha and Bodhisattwa is a redeemer", assisting the Buddhist in seeking to achieve the redemptive state. The assistance rendered is a form of self-sacrifice on the part of the teachers, who would presumably be able to achieve total detachment from worldly concerns, but have instead chosen to remain engaged in the material world to the degree that this is necessary to assist others in achieving such detachment.