Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00547)

Eldon writes:

>Salvation is attained by one's own efforts, by one's own
>self-initiative, and any religious approach that takes away
>one's confidence in taking charge of his life and attaining
>it stands in opposition to the Good. No one else can save
>one, no external spiritual teacher or deity, despite the
>claims of some religious groups.
>
Eldon,

This is not entirely true, and I don't understand where you are coming from
with the rest of your post either.

Karma can be looked at as one form of salvation. Take my family for
instance. I have an older brother who married right out of high school and
was rather difficult to speak intelligently with. He didn't like
intellectual life. I really didn't think he'd be very successful. Often
times when I was with him, I would be made to feel base and he would easily
ridicule.

When I look back on how we both fared in life, I would say he had a family
and a home while I was still wondering where to turn next. I did sometimes
ask myself why he and others like him were so successful and somebody who
was actively seeking "spiritual truth" so abandoned.

It's very possible that our karma placed us in these positions. My brother
has a religious wife and his children are grown and doing very well with
their lives, too.

When one person does so well with so little, isn't it fair to say there are
other forces at work besides our own self-initiative.

I don't think people are addressing the questions that Daniel raised at all.
I think they're just ranting at him. Why don't you look at the teachings
sometime?

Brenda