For a human, to be conscious of self and of personal experience is to be grounded in the human community, in the social nature of the human animal. Take for instance Simeon, the ‘righteous and devout’ man of Luke Chapter 2. His identity as a servant of God was, for him, bound up with his mission of ‘looking for the consolation of Israel’ (Luke 2:25). Upon first seeing the child Jesus, Simeon responded as follows:
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
according to thy word;
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to thy people Israel.— Luke 2:29-32 (RSV)
Simeon here takes salvation ‘of all peoples’ as already embodied in Jesus, and thus he is allowed to ‘depart in peace’ like a slave released by his master, as his mission is accomplished. The salvation which he now saw with his own eyes was not a private and personal one that would leave others unsaved. Desire for such a personal salvation is one face of spiritual materialism (Trungpa 1973). To renounce such a desire is to realize nirvana, or salvation, not as a remote goal but as a present reality hidden within the folds of samsara and self-interest.