THE AVATARA

From time to time, when imbalances occur, then a great force descends to earth to bring about a balance. That is what the Bhagavad-Gita says. The Avatara is forever the eternal wanderer. He might live his life here on Earth, but in the concept of time, he lives but a moment here and does what has to be done. Great teachers have come to Earth to give their teachings to suit the times. And those teachings, in fact, are really eternal.

But, with the passage of time, our time, the teachings get eroded. They lose the force. So many misinterpretations take place. For people with their organisational needs — and this has happened in Buddhism, Christianity and in Hinduism – the true teachings have been distorted.

This happens with teachings. They get watered down, and the original essence is lost. So, that is why the eternal wanderer, the incarnation, has to come again and again to revive the original teachings of love and faith and peace.

So, his ever-readiness and the magnetic pull from the Earth are the two factors that bring the incarnation, such as Krishna, Buddha, Christ, Mahavir, Moses, down to Earth. And his primary purpose is to awaken people’s hearts, to show them the way home. Therefore, Christ so rightly said that “I am the way; I am the life,” and that is the truth.

If you study the lives of these great men, these incarnations, their lives have been so simple, so beautiful, so ordinary. Man must become more ordinary than ordinary in order to be extraordinary, and this you will find portrayed in the lives of these great incarnations. Buddha, Christ, Krishna, they never cared for pedestals, all the show and sham. The true incarnation, he doesn’t care what people think, because to him respect or disrespect is immaterial. It is all the same because he has risen above it.

……… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1979 – 07