if we think of god as a principle that underlies everything then how can a principle something
which is abstract come down to earth as an after you see the hindus will attract address this issue
of avatar in two ways you can either think of something great and superior descending to earth
in this form and say the only way this can happen is because if you like the devotion of humanity
is so strong it manages somehow to influence the principles how can that do it can do that it in
a way freezes this principle into a form to come down to earth for the benefit of humanity so when
humanity cries out this grand principle which is a principle abstraction takes on if you like a human
for a limited form to come down to earth now you may surprise you may think where do we hear that
the rig veda the purus is a beautiful place it says look at the power of this teaching
he says god has to give up his godhead or the idea of a principle and take on a limitation to be born
on this earth so he has to give up his godhead he has to in a way sacrifices this is what is he
saying sacrificing the purusa he's sacrificing the god sacrificing this god is a principle and
taking on a limited human form this beautiful infinite principle is prepared to reduce itself
and take on a human form and come and interact with us this is how we define in the right way
that idea of you know purushok's idea of the ultimate reality becoming visible in this
in this in this in in the human form and that is why it is called sacrificing this is interesting
thing that's the word sacrifice is central in the religion god has to give up his godhead to become
an avatar come down and when god comes down his author he takes on human limitation so when ram is
on earth and sita disappears he cries he says how can brahman this principle cry this is terrible
but when he takes on a limitation he pays a prize as well so all the emotion that we
fail he feels too this is one approach this is philosophic the second approach is other way
around he says really god doesn't descend down to earth he never came down to earth anywhere
but some individuals because this idea of the spirit becomes visible in their lives
they in a way lead a life which shows that they are not just human but superhuman so
it is not narayan coming down as a nara but nar discovering his identity as narayana so it's not
that god coming down we become godly and this is the if you like the conclusion he says that
look it is nice to believe in an avatar why don't you become an avatar you say oh this is too much
he said you recognize your own divinity if you realize that you are the spark of the divine
you don't have god coming down it is yourself so you turn into nautar so you see when you see
the film this is what they are doing that's why the film is boring look it has borrowed a lot of
hindus you know that the word is from hinduism so they bordered a lot in fact all the star wars you
know they borrowed stuff from you know the may the force be with you they're talking the mother
goddess you know shakti that's what we're talking about so a lot of these western thinkers using
very innovative styles have already incorporate some of these very powerful ideas of hinduism
in the in the media in the entertainment industry and that's why they catch attention that's why we
love star wars it's really the deeper ideas of spirit that is making them exciting and
kind of accessible to the youth they like this magic and power and strength
so two ways you can think of the principle kind of being kind of pulled down by you may humanity say
come on play with us or the second way is the one i prefer to say that it's really the individual
who reaches godhead because he discovers his identity as spirit as atman and from being an
ordinary person like the rest of us it becomes an avatar in the fact the story of ramayana the
second second story of ramayana the deepers don't know not just the ordinary valmiki rama
tulsi ramayana there's another ramayana called the vashishta ramayana this talks about ram how
ram is in from an ordinary person become this super personality so the teachings of vashishta
rashid was teaching him about the secrets of atman there's no fighting a demon you know
and then killing all these monsters all that he was fighting the inner demons and breaking
free from his own limitation and discovering the atman this is called maharama and in fact adiyat
maramayana and this is the one that it shows the ex not coming good coming down to earth
but human being becoming god so you see this both answers are applicable it's a very good question