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Avatars have brought successive revelations to humanity throughout history. Each Avatar brings some teaching which, correctly apprehended and gradually applied by humanity, expands our understanding and is the next step forward in our development.
The successive revelation to humanity of new aspects of reality has taken place throughout history and continues to do so, as the emergence of Maitreya, the Christ, demonstrates. In the West our knowledge is more or less confined to Christianity, but buried in most ancient myths and legends, and then later in holy scriptures, there are preserved records of the lives, presence and teachings of other, earlier teachers or Avatars.
Our focus on the achievements of Jesus in Palestine frequently blinds us to, or at least dims our appreciation of, the contribution of other Avatars and other faiths. This blinkered view of the unfoldment of humanity's evolution makes the acceptance of the appearance of yet another teacher difficult for many Westerners. Each Avatar has brought some teaching which, correctly apprehended and gradually applied by humanity, expands our understanding and is the next step forward in our development.
Hercules
One of the first such teachers appeared so far back in time that it is impossible to say when he lived, but ancient legend carries the memory of His achievements: Hercules, a hero-teacher, portrayed "through the form of a pictorial and world drama (symbolic in nature) the concept oaf great objective, only to be reached as the result of struggle and difficulty." The Reappearance of the Christ by Alice A. Bailey, Lucis Publishing Co. He presented to humanity the concept of tests and trials on the path back to the Father, the journey of evolution itself, epitomized and preserved in the Twelve Labors of Hercules. These are the tests all are subjected to prior to each initiation.
Vyasa
Vyasa was another great Avatar who brought to humanity the message that death is not the end. The impact of such an apparently simple concept was enormous, since it meant that the possibility now existed for identification with a higher immortal self rather than with the physical-plane life only.
The Buddha
There were many other lesser teachers between the time of Vyasa and the Buddha, but the Buddha was a major teacher who came to the East bringing enlightenment, the answers to the many questions which plague and puzzle humanity about its own existence. He came "to lay the foundation for a more enlightened approach to life, giving the teaching which would open the door to the work of the Christ who would, He knew, follow in His steps." (Alice Bailey, The Reappearance of the Christ)
By giving out the Four Noble Truths, He answered man's question: why? He taught that man's suffering was of his own making, and that the focusing of desire on the material and the ephemeral caused all despair, hatred and competition, and was why "man found himself living in the realm of death -- the realm of physical living . . . " His life, example and teachings prepared the way for the Christ. Coming approximately 500 years before the Christ, the Buddha was a manifestation of the Wisdom aspect of God, just as the Christ is the embodiment of the Love aspect. These two great Avatars continue to work together, the Buddha aiding and supporting Maitreya, the Christ, in His present mission to the world.
It is interesting to note that He who is known as the Buddha worked through His disciple, the Prince Gautama, in a way similar to that in which Maitreya, holder of the office of the Christ, overshadowed the disciple Jesus, who acted as His vehicle in Palestine. The Master Djwhal Khul says (in The Reappearance of the Christ) that, around about the time of the Christ's return, the Buddha will send two trained disciples to reform Buddhism -- this at a time when the Master Jesus will be taking certain initial steps towards reassuming control of His church. Buddhism, along with other religions, awaits the coming of another great teacher. He is known as Maitreya Buddha, the Fifth Buddha in the continuing line of divine revelation.
Krishna and Sankaracharya
Sri Krishna and Sankaracharya, two great Avatars, were both previous incarnations of Maitreya. Krishna appeared around 3000 BC, and Sankaracharya lived in about 800 BC. Sankaracharya gave "deep instruction upon the nature of the Self," while Sri Krishna, by demonstrating the need to control the astral, emotional nature, opened the door to the second initiation. In Palestine, working through the disciple Jesus, Maitreya the Christ completed the work of the Buddha by manifesting the Love aspect of deity.
A comparison of all religions shows their common elements. "Eventually a new world religion will be inaugurated which will be a fusion and synthesis of the approaches of East and West. The Christ will bring together not simply Christianity and Buddhism, but the concept of God transcendent, outside His creation, and also the concept of God immanent in all creation." Both approaches will come together in a new religion based on the Mysteries of Initiation and an informed knowledge of the Science of Invocation of Deity.
Felicity Elliot
First printed in Share International magazine.