Although eastern and western religions are different in many aspects, both belief systems share a common essence hidden in the symbolism contained in their sacred books. The story of enlightened beings that guide humanity and spread teachings of love and forgiveness is older than Christianity and is present in nearly all religions of the world. This articles draws a parallel between the Christian idea of the saviour (or messiah) and the eastern concept of an avatar, showing that behind different names and shapes, there's a common message.
Eastern Religions – What is an Avatar?
Eastern Religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism believe that humanity has many cycles of ascension and decline, so when the world is going through rough times, an avatar incarnates on Earth in order to help humanity evolve.
Since Hindus and Buddhists believe in reincarnation, the process in which the soul is reborn many times in different bodies, they believe that an avatar is a being that evolved through many incarnations until he became morally perfect (from the human standpoint) and therefore, he is reborn again to guide people towards the best possibility as humans and reach the perfection as well. So, an avatar is a model of morality and wisdom for people, but he reached this condition after a long process of evolution and reincarnations – a process that every person without exception goes through. What makes an avatar different from other people, is simply the fact that an avatar has already reached the destination of the soul for that cycle, while the rest of humanity hasn't.
It is believed that there are three kinds of avatar – Mahachohan, Bodhisattva and Manu . Each of them has specific tasks to perform. The Bodhisattva is a kind of avatar who is reborn to guide people through a religion, so Jesus, Buddha, Krishna and Zoroaster are said to be Bodhisattvas.
So it is important to point out that eastern religions consider that there is no avatar better than the other, they are all in the same level of evolution and Jesus is just one among many avatars that have helped humanity. Another avatar is expected to incarnate on Earth soon, which can be compared to the Christian idea that Jesus will return for the final judgement.
The Second Coming of Jesus
Eastern religions believe that each time humanity changes cycles, natural catastrophes happen indicating that a new era is beginning. Then, an avatar is reborn around this time to help in the transition. This is consistent with the Christian idea of the return of Jesus and the catastrophes described in the revelation of John regarding the apocalypse.
Also, members of the LDS Church wait for an event called the "rapture" in which they believe that Jesus will return to take them to heaven and so they stock food and beverages in order to survive during the catastrophic period. Mormons believe that Jesus is a being from another planet and that his task was to guide God's spirit children through their human experience on Earth, as they claim that the human bodies are given to God's children so that they can learn good from evil and return to heaven to live as gods when this mission is accomplished.
Despite the fact that most Christians reject the New Age beliefs for their pagan origins, the idea of a being from other planet who comes to save his followers so that they can become gods themselves in a higher realm is prior to Christianity and has its roots in Paganism. The foundations of this philosophy date back to thousands of years before the Bible.
Is it possible that all religions are talking about the same thing in different forms? Read Comparative Religion – the Apocalypse along with Heaven and Hell According to Different Religions to find out more about the common essence of all belief systems. Readers might also want to read An Introduction to Philosophy of Religion and The Book of Dzyan – the Source of the Secret Doctrine
Sources:
H.P.B, The Secret Doctrine, Theosophical University Press, 1888.
Joseph Smith and the Plurality of Worlds Idea
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