Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Published: 2019-09-17
Total Pages: 26
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There is a mysterious principle in Nature called Maha-Vishnu, which is not the God of that name, but a principle which contains Bija, the seed of Avatarism, i.e., the potency and cause of such divine incarnations. All the World-Saviours, the Bodhisattvas and the Avataras, are the trees of salvation grown out from the one seed. Whether it be called Adi-Buddha or Maha-Vishnu, it is all the same. In this profound esoteric sense, Lord Buddha is an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu. The Avatara is an appearance, one which may be termed a special illusion within the natural illusion that reigns on the planes under the sway of Maya; he is reborn consciously, at his will and pleasure; the units of the common herd unconsciously follow the great law of dual evolution. Thus all Avataras are one and the same: Sons of their Father, in a direct descent and line — the Father, one of Seven Flames, becomes the Son. Father and Son are One, in Eternity. The illusive avataric form having neither past nor future, because it had neither previous incarnation nor will it have subsequent rebirths, has naught to do with Karma, which has therefore no hold on it. Gautama Buddha is more than an Avatara. Though an Avatara in one sense, Gautama is a true human Jivanmukta, owing his position to his outstanding personal merit. His case is an exceptional one, and stems from the occult powers of the High Initiate who, before entering into the state of Nirvana, can cause his “remains” to stay on earth. Buddha and Jesus tower like giants in the history of mankind, in the realm of the spiritual. It is in their image that some enlightened men are born (when a specific humanitarian object is in view) and hypostatically animated by their divine prototypes, are reproduced again and again by the mysterious Powers that control and guide the destinies of our world. Not only does this statement apply to prominent characters in history, in general, but also to men of genius, to every remarkable man of the age, who soars beyond the common herd with some abnormally developed special capacity in him, leading to the progress and good of mankind. Since then the “Man of Sorrows” has returned more than once, unknown to, and undiscovered by, his blind followers. Since then, the “Son of God” has been most cruelly crucified, daily and hourly, by the Churches founded in his name. Even the Apostles, only half-initiated, failed to tarry for their Master and, not recognizing him, spurned him every time he returned. Special cases conferring permanent Theophania, i.e., the presence of God in man, a divine incarnation. A person of a sufficiently clean vessel might be selected for special purposes by his personal God, the Fountainhead of his Monad, who thus becomes his in-dweller. Such persons remain in our sphere and within human attraction and reach; and thus it is that not only a Buddha, a Shankacharya, or a Jesus that animate several persons at one and the same time, but even the principles of a high Adept may be animating the outward tabernacles of worthy mortals.