One of the most intriguing concepts in religion is that of the avatar or Incarnation of God. It is a perplexing idea, difficult to understand or accept. A large number of truly spiritual persons do not believe in a personal God, let alone accepting an Incarnation. Some minds will never accept that God could become human. Sri Ramakrishna said, ‘Hazra says well that Divine Incarnation is only for the bhakta, and not for the jnani, because the jnani is quite contented with his ideal, “I am He”. So even amongst the religious we find some who believe in the doctrine of avatara, some who don’t believe, and some who may be called semi-believers, who swing between belief and doubt.
When it comes to practical life, the true believers are the
truly fortunate, because they have experienced Reality directly. Their
world-view has been changed forever. Nothing in the universe can shake them or
their faith. Nor are they worried about the technicalities of religion, which
whirl in the minds of semi-believers.
The non-believers in God or Incarnation are also fortunate,
in a sense, because they don’t worry
about His existence at all. They simply live their lives, never agonizing over
questions of the Spirit.
The semi-believers are delicately placed. There are some fortunate
semi-believers who have an intellectual, or intuitive, or devotional acceptance
of Reality. They are short just one step from realizing the truth; this makes
them the crown-jewels among humanity. They are the great sadhakas, the great aspirants.
Their conviction is powerful enough to save them from inner conflict.