Saved from our own sins, our own egoism, our own senseless pride, our own evil passions;
in summary, saved from ourselves.
Saved how, and when? Are there specific practices that you do that helps you move beyond the ego, and pride, and desires? Do you have a mediation practice, or does salvation happen behind the scenes without our participation or direct awareness of change? In other words, what is the tangible evidence one can look at themselves and believe they are in fact saved from their egos?
A deep interior change is then necessary for all of us to reach the eternal happiness; we must be sanctified and purified from all our evil and sinful desires. God has the power to change us but He wants to do that with our consent.
This all sounds about right, but again, is this transformation participatory, or is it just something that happens by saying "I agree to it", without us doing anything more than that? What is the evidence of this change, and how does it happen in practical terms?
Man cannot really accept to be changed by God and he cannot be in comunion with God as long as even a shadow of doubt and distrust remains in his heart ( it must be stressed that such a distrust may exist even without the man is aware of it, at the unconscious level).
This does not sound about right. This sound wrong. There is this wise saying that comes out of Zen Buddhism, which I believe applies to the Christian faith, or any faith system whatsoever, whatever that may be:
Great doubt, great awakening
Little doubt, little awakening
No doubt, no awakening.
The reason why doubt is necessary, is because doubt is the servant of faith. Without doubt, you are not open and cannot receive truth and insight, or correction. In other words, without doubt to help break down error, faith is stalled, or halted altogether.
Faith uses doubt to help us to grow. Without growth, there is no transformation. Without transformation, there is no salvation. There is only us, confidently assured that we are right in our beliefs, and that those will save us. And that is itself an error, which doubt hopes to break down in order for truth to enter to us, from above, in this case.
In order to destroy every shadow of doubt and distrust in our heart, God has chosen to give us the greatest proof of love that may exist: Christ's Passion.
I think it is correct to trust in God. I think it is incorrect to not doubt our ideas about God. To do that, is to worship a projection of our own egos upon the face of God. Do you see any room for doubt in your beliefs?
