moorthy@hctdemo.leis.bellcore.com (Velu Sembugamoorthy) (05/31/91)
Roger Adams replies: What is an avatar? A divine incarnation. In a sense, we are all avatars since the divine is incarnated in all beings - sentient and insentient. An avatar, as it is described in the AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI by Paramahansa Yogananda, is a fully liberated soul, who became liberated in a previous incarnation, and who returns to this physical dimension to help yet unliberated souls to also be free. The AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI describes in detail what an avatar is, what are some of the traits an avatar has, and names some of them including some who were still around at the time of the writing of this book. This seems to indicate to me that there is no such thing as THE AVATAR or THE NEXT AVATAR except in certain sects or religions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for the reference. Let me specify what do I mean by "avatar". This is based on my experience and experience of watching some others. It seems to me that that there are three classes of spiritual evolution. Arthur Powell in " Causal Body" ( one of the theosopical books) talks similar groups. The first class of people depend on a guru. At the end of the first group of evolution, they see God in the form of light or a favorite god or guru and meet a blankness beyond that. Muktananda is an eample of this group. The second class of people, having finished in their past lives of the first kind of evolution, do not feel the necessity of a guru. During their evolution through many incarnations, they become one with what are clled in Hindu philosophy Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma ( the Holy spirit, Son and Father in Christian tradition). Their experiences prove to them they are one with these trinities one after another ( in that order). An example is Jesus Christ. Hardly those in the first category can uderstand their experiences. No wonder Jesus was crucified for saying that he is one with the father. At the end of their journey they "know" that thee are god not in the sense known to those evolving in the first group. Sometimes these people serve as gurus to those in the first group. The third group , having finished with the the trinities, ask how did the trinities came to existence. At the end they realize the history and their relation to the trinities. These people hardly come down to the physical plane to learn. In fact it is too difficult to learn them in the physical plane. By avatar, I mean these people. They guide, not necessarily through physical form, mainly the second group of people. It is very difficult for them to communicate to the first group. It is in this sense perhaps Jesus Christ said that "No one goes to the Father except through me." In Hindu religion, they believe that Krishna is an Avatar and the next one to come is "Kalki". Some Hindus belive that Siddhartha is an Avatar. In theosophical sense, the bodhisatva initiation belongs to the third group I mentioned above. So, Maithreya is an avatar in my sense. So with this long definition of avatars, I would appreciate if you let me know any book which talks about avataras. Thanks./moorthy