The trans-cultural geometry of liberation: convergent topologies across independent soteriological traditions Article I of III: the comparative anatomy of liberation structures.

Abstract

This article demonstrates that diverse soteriological traditions across six civilisational contexts (Hindu, Buddhist, Christian mystical, Islamic Sufi, Kabbalistic Jewish, and Graeco-Roman philosophical) instantiate a shared structural grammar of liberation despite having developed their models within substantially different philosophical, linguistic, and institutional contexts. A five-element template is identified: a conditioned principle (current self), an unconditioned principle (ultimate ground), a perceived gap between them (the structural definition of bondage), a method of resolution (path), and a final stabilised state (liberation). This template resolves into exactly three topological types: closed identity (gap recognised as illusory, endpoint: stillness), open-relational (gap refined and preserved, endpoint: sustained intensity), and disentanglement (gap recognised as natural original condition, endpoint: witness-detachment). The convergence of these three types across traditions constitutes the primary evidence presented. A critical methodological finding is introduced: the Invariance Test, which demonstrates that liberation is characterised not by observable transformation but by its absence: the liberated person continues with their work as before, neither celebrating, advertising, nor restructuring identity around the event. The article refrains from offering a causal hypothesis for the convergence, reserving that analysis for Article III in this series.