DIVINE BEINGS
AVATARS, BODHISATTVAS & DEITIES
THIS PAGE IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION
(AREN'T WE ALL....)
Introduction
We are all Divine; but because of our karma we experience separation consciousness. This separation consciousness forms what we can call the karmic body. We have many levels or bodies to our system, with the physical body being just one of them. Various traditions and teachers will use different names but we use the term karmic body to refer to that part of our system that keeps us in separation.
A Divine Being is one who has no separation from the Divine. They are not bound to Samsara; the circle of birth, death, rebirth. If they choose to incarnate they do so without a karmic body. They are simply an aspect of the Divine.
An example of a Divine being would be an Avatar. Avatars are born already fully enlightened. They have no karmic purpose for incarnating; instead they are here to help relieve suffering. An example of an Avatar would be Ammachi who is an incarnation of the Divine Mother. Other avatars include Mother Meera, Karunamaya, Babaji, Mehindra/Merlin and many consider Jesus to be an Avatar.
Bodhisattvas are ones that achieve Enlightenment but decide to defer Nirvana in exchange for incarnating to help lead human kind out of suffering. Avaloketivsrara is the Bodhisattva of Compassion and mercy with the H.H. Dalai Lama being one of the incarnations. The Bodhisattva represents a continuum of levels of enlightenment. At the ultimate level it is called Mahasattva which translates to Transcendental Bodhisattva.
Angels can also be included with Divine Beings as they don't have a karmic cycle. They are not human nor were they ever human, even though they can take on human form for a specific purpose. This human form might be temporary to offer assistance, or it might be the angel incarnates into human form to experience separation. Generally in the past, angels were not considered to be enlightened as they never felt separation in the first place. There has been a shift in the angelic realms in the past couple of years and angels are now experiencing Awakening. It is interesting to note that when angels incarnate, they do so without a karmic body and often experience fairly horrific lives to help them understand suffering.
There are many world and realms where life exists aside from our own. Some of these worlds contain enlightened beings, some do not. Technological advancement, psychic ability, or ability to transcend a physical body are not indicators of Awakening. In fact these very factors can stand in the way of Awakening. Consider how psychic ability can delude the practitioner into believing they are better or more evolved than everyone else...look what I can do and you can't....I have the ear of God...and so forth. All of these are nothing more than manifestations of the Ego. Remember that Awakening is the biggest disappointment the Ego can experience.