Liberation: The Unanimous Goal of Faith

Across cultures and doctrines, freedom from suffering emerges as the common thread that binds spiritual traditions

- By DR SOHAM D BHADURI

Spiritual expressions, for how loosely they're thrown around, often suffer little losses in their intended meaning.

There are as many interpretations of the term maya as there are its users. Some employ it to mean frank illusion; some use it to refer to things around us “the way they are”; yet others imply a naive ignorance of life's profound truths. Yet somehow, the import manages to get through to the other side, unscathed and undiluted. It's a similar scenario with the concept of spiritual liberation. You and I can have very different notions about liberation, a common contention being what it is that one must really be liberated from. Yet, we know what to expect and are able to reach a common ground of sorts every time we discuss spiritual liberation, despite any differences of culture, persuasion, or mental or emotional discernment between us.