Editing Mircea Eliade (section)

===Exceptions to the general nature===
[[File:Meister von Torcello 001.jpg|thumb|270px|The [[Last Judgment]] (detail) in the 12th century [[Byzantine art|Byzantine mosaic]] at [[Torcello]]]]
Eliade acknowledges that not all religious behavior has all the attributes described in his theory of sacred time and the eternal return. The [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]], Jewish, Christian, and [[Muslim]] traditions embrace linear, historical time as sacred or capable of sanctification, while some [[Eastern religions|Eastern traditions]] largely reject the notion of sacred time, seeking escape from the [[wheel of time|cycles of time]].

Because they contain rituals, Judaism and Christianity necessarily—Eliade argues—retain a sense of cyclic time:
<blockquote>''by the very fact that it is a religion'', Christianity had to keep at least one mythical aspect—[[Liturgy|liturgical]] Time, that is, the periodic rediscovery of the ''illud tempus'' of the beginnings [and] an ''imitation'' of the Christ as ''exemplary pattern''.<ref>Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', p. 169</ref></blockquote>

However, Judaism and Christianity do not see time as a circle endlessly turning on itself; nor do they see such a cycle as desirable, as a way to participate in the Sacred. Instead, these religions embrace the concept of linear history progressing toward the [[Messianic Age]] or the [[Last Judgment]], thus initiating the idea of "progress" (humans are to work for a Paradise in the future).<ref>Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', pp. 64–65, 169</ref> However, Eliade's understanding of Judaeo-Christian [[eschatology]] can also be understood as cyclical in that the "end of time" is a return to God: "The final catastrophe will put an end to history, hence will restore man to eternity and beatitude."<ref>Eliade, ''The Myth of the Eternal Return'', p. 124</ref>

The pre-[[Islam]]ic [[Persian Empire|Persian]] religion of Zoroastrianism, which made a notable "contribution to the religious formation of the West",<ref name="Eliade v.1 p.302">Eliade, ''A History of Religious Ideas'', vol. 1, p. 302</ref> also has a linear sense of time; although, according to Eliade, the Hebrews' linear sense of time predates their being influenced by Zoroastrianism.<ref name="Eliade v.1 p.302"/> In fact, Eliade identifies the Hebrews, not the Zoroastrians, as the first culture to truly "valorize" historical time, the first to see all major historical events as episodes in a continuous divine revelation.<ref>Eliade, ''A History of Religious Ideas'', vol. 1, p. 356</ref> However, Eliade argues, Judaism elaborated its mythology of linear time by adding elements borrowed from Zoroastrianism—including [[Dualistic cosmology#Moral dualism|ethical dualism]], a savior figure, the future resurrection of the body, and the idea of cosmic progress toward "the final triumph of Good."<ref name="Eliade v.1 p.302"/>

The [[Indian religions]] of the East generally retain a cyclic view of time—for instance, the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] doctrine of ''[[Kalpa (aeon)|kalpas]]''. According to Eliade, most religions that accept the cyclic view of time also embrace it: they see it as a way to return to the sacred time. However, in [[Buddhism]], [[Jainism]], and some forms of Hinduism, the Sacred lies outside the flux of the material world (called ''[[Maya (illusion)|maya]]'', or "illusion"), and one can only reach it by escaping from the cycles of time.<ref>Eliade, ''The Sacred and the Profane'', p. 109</ref> Because the Sacred lies outside cyclic time, which conditions humans, people can only reach the Sacred by escaping the [[human condition]]. According to Eliade, [[Yoga]] techniques aim at escaping the limitations of the body, allowing the soul (''[[Atman (Hinduism)|atman]]'') to rise above ''maya'' and reach the Sacred (''[[nirvana]]'', ''[[moksha]]''). Imagery of "freedom", and of death to one's old body and rebirth with a new body, occur frequently in Yogic texts, representing escape from the bondage of the temporal human condition.<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Rites, Symbols'', Volume 2, pp. 312–314</ref> Eliade discusses these themes in detail in ''Yoga: Immortality and Freedom''.