After singing HU the other day, I opened the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad and found this passage:

“The way of the old religions always gave man hope that his gods would feed him through the grain in the fields and the flesh of animals in the forest, and secure him a home in some cave. This ideal has never been forgotten by man, for today he is told by the metaphysicians and priests that God will take care of him if only he prays for his requests. It doesn’t particularly mean that he must live in goodness, for God forgives and gives to any who worship It in prayer.”

I want to hone in on that last verse, “It doesn’t particularly mean that he must live in goodness, for God forgives…” This, right here, has been a issue I had when I was in the Christian faith. While forgiveness removes guilt and gives us a guilt free conscious, it lends itself to a path of abuse. Paul the Apostle potentially spotted this problem when he said, “as a dog returns to his vomit, so too does the sinner return to their sin.”

As people in such beliefs don’t generally become better, the idea of perfection being an impossibility, is raised. Even though Jesus said, “be ye perfect as I am perfect,” we find none in the Christian belief that identify with this principal. Putting perfection to the side, we have the options of becoming better. But again this is shot down by Christian theologians who warn, “we are not saved by works alone.”

The upshot is an old faith where people do as they please, seek forgiveness for the remission of sin, and repeat. It doesn’t affect me, accept that it feels pointless. What’s the purpose of life then? Just automate through a reality where I’m constantly praying for forgiveness? Where a person who harmed so many just gets into heaven because in the last breath he prays for forgiveness?

I’m not alone on this question. I just happened to find this lecture by Sri Harold Klemp (the leader of Eckankar up until 10/2025). Around 24 min into the lecture below, he references the meaning of life and starts to analyze the old religions in a similar way to what I’ve written above.

In Eckankar the purpose of life is to be a “Co-worker with God.” In the lecture above, Sri Harold Klemp resonates with my own struggle with the old faith I was raised in. As he puts it, “it’s a misunderstanding of the Divine law that for every action there is an equal opposite reaction, or as it reads, ‘as a man sows so shall he reap.’” In other words, it doesn’t seem spiritual correct to say that a man who was a crook but whispers a prayer for forgiveness all is erased. Similarly, if such a crook dies without forgiveness, it seems a heavy hand to cast them into hell. What seems more correct is a system of return until all karma (cause and effect) is dealt with. The one who steals is stolen from. The cycle repeats until the thief ultimately accepts responsibility and neither hates thieves who steal from them (having compassion on them) and also choosing not to steal — and such a choice likely is through a true spiritual path.

Back to the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad we get more insight, “These statements are lies based upon the clergy desiring to cater to a congregation. No person can have the goodness of God in his life unless he is obedient to the spiritual laws…”