Avatar! Avatar! I’ll Show You
Some Real Avatars…
Seems people are still heading out in droves to big IMAX theaters to see James Cameron’s epic motion picture with the Hindu title — Avatar.
What’s motivating them? Is it the revolutionary special effects? The Mother Earth overtones? The battle scenes? The overdone eco-green propaganda? The strange merging of Pocahontas and Terminator?
Probably all of the above.
But at a deeper level I can’t help but think it’s the avatar theme, itself. Avatar, as far as my Sanskrit goes, literally means “descent into flesh.” It refers to the concept of consciousness (or a soul) living inside a physical body.
Happens to all of us. Sperm and egg collided and our soul descended. After nine months of darkness, some doctor yanked out our new body, gave it a good slap and here we are.
I think this analogy in the film — at a subconscious level — is very appealing to people. It reminds them that the body they have been living in their whole life is not their real identity.
In defense of REAL avatars… The term, as far as my understanding of Hinduism goes, is actually in reference to souls that consciously choose to take human form — like Jesus, Krishna, the Buddha, Babaji. Those souls who’ve achieved enlightenment and come back to help bumbling humanity.
The rest of us are “unconscious avatars” (there’s an oxymoron).
John C. A. Manley
www.MetaphysicalSF.com
Where Spirituality, Science and Imagination Become One
P.S. See Chapter 33 of Autobiography of a Yogi for more details on avatars: http://www.metaphysicalSF.com/recommends/aoy
P.P.S. For the record I have not seen the Avatar film. We live an hour’s distance from any major city with a theater that would do the film justice. And considering I’m half blind with no depth perception I’m not spending two hours in a car to see a 3Dfilm without the ability to perceive the three dimensions.
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About the Author: John C. A. Manley writes writes spiritual science fiction and fantasy novellas. He's been practicing Kriya Yoga since 1996. For three years he lived in in hindu monastery in the mountains of of Southern California. He currently lives in Stratford, Ontario with his wife Nicole, son Jonah and cat Astral. Click here to read more or click here to subscribe to his MetaphysicalSF email column. |