I never really understood Christian salvation until seeing it from the Eastern perspective. Christianity is a dualism religion, with one end of the duo being God, the other carnal desires, represented by the devil. When we love another "person" as God loves, we are spiritually loving the divinity inside of them AND our flesh becomes attached to their flesh. Christ explained how fleshly desires and earthly riches do not provide a spiritual connection to God. Its letting go of our attachment to physical outcomes which allows us to relenquish that devilish need for control inside of us. It's when we realize that our loved one was not his fleshly shell, that we can separate our love for the person away from our physical, hormonal attachment to his body. Christ let his body be taken away as a show of his priorities. His temporary earthly shell was never meant to last very long. Compared to the eternal collective spirit, life is a short diversion into a physical, time sensitive realm. The flesh never was us and only deserves respect on a carnal level, not from a spiritual vantage. Except! Part of our spiritual service to others is serving their carnal needs. We feed and shelter people because of our respect for the devine soul within. The two parts are related and connected. It isn't ok to let someone's carnal needs go unmet, just because life is temporary anyway, because that person has a soul and it matters how you treat someone. |