What happened to all the people who lived before Jesus? What happened to all the people who'd never even heard of Jesus because of geography or culture (no fault of their own)?
Damned forever? I don't think so. Jesus was one of many people who attained a very high level of realization, perhaps even the highest level of realization, who knows. His teachings are about finding God within. That is, dropping the egoic identity so that we realize our true nature. In that sense, there's no relationship with God because God is what we are. We never left the fold - it's only in appearance that we seem to be separate. Life as a human is a kind of dream created by the ego. It's real enough whilst we live as an ego, but ultimately illusory.
