There are no two
— Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Life is incomplete without union with God. It’s quite natural that a matured mind and blossomed heart strives for this union. Since ages, philosophies were born, debates happened, music, art, and literature have sprung up from this need.
The common man wakes up to the pain and suffering in his life and wants to be free from it. He looks for the superpower to free him from the clutches of the world. The more he looks at the misery and shortcomings in his life, the farther away he feels from the Divinity, his very nature. And his heart yearns for some sort of communication from the other side.
There are two ways to do this: one is to elevate mankind towards Divinity — this is called Siddha, one who has attained perfection. And the second is to bring God to the human level — an avatar, one who is not striving for perfection.
In the Puranas, all the devas are depicted with human emotions and tendencies. They went through all the experiences of the human mind just to make you understand that God is not too far away from you, but one among you.
This concept of an avatar is prevalent in the East — India, China, Japan, Korea, Nepal etc. Nripo Narayano Hari — the king is regarded as an avatar of Vishnu; Vaidyo Narayano Hari — the doctor is regarded as an avatar of Vishnu. In the West, the concept is that of messenger, but in the East this concept does not exist as the intimacy between you and God is much more. Like a mother would personally go to her child, God’s love for man is so much, he would prefer to go Himself. The East looks from the value of the heart whereas the intellect has the perspective of a messenger. Your love for God becomes authentic when you are assured of his love for you. That divinity which brings together everything at this very moment, which takes
away the feeling of separation from you and rekindles belongingness in you, is present here
right now. The entire phenomenon of creation is the descent of consciousness in various names and forms. And the whole purpose of an avatar is to make you realise that you are a part of Him.
An avatar is not there to charm you but to calm you, to make you return home. And to make you realise, you are that. Once you recognise this, suddenly the entire creation is filled with ‘that’ and you are that. The descent of God is to make you realise there is no up or down, there is no high or low, there is no ascension or descension. There are no two.