Who is an Avatar? And how do we recognise Him?

An Avatar is generally regarded as an Incarnation of God on earth, in a physical body. He usually comes to the earth with a Message of Salvation and brings healing to those people who are suffering.

The Hindu god, Vishnu, is believed to have a number of such incarnations. Krishna and Rama are said to be two key incarnations of Vishnu. Some also believe Buddha is another incarnation of Vishnu. Today, a number of swamis and gurus are also believed to be modern Avatars and lay claim to quite a number of abilities that are denied the common man. Thus, many personality cults have arisen around these individuals.

However, the main problem in all such cases, is that focus is always shifted to the personalities themselves, instead of weighing and examining their teachings, in order to determine whether these teachings are of the Light or the Darkness. If they are of the Light, then they are of the Truth for Light and Truth are synonymous.

Consequently, it is possible that the bringer of such teachings is an Avatar. However, this is not necessarily so, because the bringer of these teachings could also be an ordinary human being, who is not a Part of God. It is probably quite understandable to think that the Teachings of a true Avatar are far more comprehensive than those of an ordinary human being, even if both come from the Light. This lies in the nature of the different "species" concerned.

Nevertheless, if the teaching is aimed at drawing only more followers, if the bearer of the teaching uses claims of being a miracle-worker of some kind, then it is clear that his teaching, even if beautiful and awe-inspiring, cannot be of the Light and of the Truth.

In the final analysis, each person has to make up his own mind as to whether a particular teaching is given by an Avatar. A true Avatar has no intention of letting His personality play the focal point in His Mission on earth. Instead, He will allow His Teaching, the Word of God, to permeate the spirit of each individual person for the necessary reformation. The Word Itself will be objective and will bring much enlightenment to all people in every sphere. No movement or organisation can be built around Himself in any way, for that only leads to personality cults, which are out of the question where it is a matter of serious searching for the Truth.