An analysis of the concept of an Avatar as seen in the latest novel by Stan I.S. Law's, The Avatar Syndrome.

There was a time when but few men, the avatars, claimed to have the "Word of God", the indelible truth, that would guide us on our way back home. Guide us on our way to return to Eden, to Paradise. All we had to do was to listen to them. Alas, all too soon superstructures have been created, dozens for each religion, who claimed supremacy if not infallibility in the interpretation of a particular Avatar’s teaching. Since, for thousands of years sacerdotal fraternity: priests, imams, rabbis, swamis, gurus told us what to do, how and when to do it. Whatever it was.

These days, the Internet has taken over. The TV evangelists catered to hundreds of thousands, the web caters to hundreds of millions. While in the temples of worship sermonizers preach to empty pews, the web is filled with countless self-appointed gurus. All but few of them insist on telling us how to think, how to behave, eat, sleep, even dream. They are bent on changing our way of life, our comfort zone, the way we work, rest, behave. They seem quite unaware that the symbol of the Age of Aquarius is a Water Bearer, a man watering his own garden. His own state of consciousness.

For the most part, we seem committed to let others do the thinking for us. They, the proselytizers, deny this, of course. They insist that they only guide us to give us freedom. To rid us of our limitations. Not so. This had been advocated 2000 years ago. "Heaven is within you," said a very wise man. We continue to rely on others, on the self appointed experts, to lead us towards that elusive freedom which always seems to remain just beyond the horizon.

"Be an expert!" I have been told on many occasions. "No, thank you," I replied, "an expert is a person who knows almost everything about almost nothing." Too limiting. We need experts to deal with things. But their expertise should be tempered by the words of Democritus, a Greek philosopher, born ca. 460 BC: "Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion." At the time, atoms were deemed the smallest, indivisible particles of matter. Today, even that turned out to be an opinion…

Hence my book, "The Avatar Syndrome." I refuse to tell you what to think. I also refuse to give you glib answers. What I do is to raise questions. You must provide answers yourself. Or not. No one will judge you.

My novel, "The Avatar Syndrome, follows Anne from childhood, to womanhood; from a troubled, taciturn youth, to a world-renowned violinist; from misunderstood recluse, to messiah of a higher truth and beauty." (From a review by Bryn Symonds). No one ever told her what to do.

Those of us, who tend to exert our efforts towards more material aspects of life, associate the concept of an Avatar with very advanced spiritual beings, of the stature of Buddha, Jesus or the presently living Sai Baba. While Sanskrit meaning of Avatar is less imposing (ava - down and tarati - he goes, passes beyond) in Hindu religion the term tends to be assigned to a man who is the incarnation of God and comes down to earth, usually to show us the error of our ways.

According to "The Avatar Syndrome", this is a much too limiting a definition. In my novel I purport, if surreptitiously, that we are all Avatars. Men and women. We are all incarnations of God, even if, the vast majority of us, are completely unaware of this fact. It is the degree of this awareness, or lack of it that sets us apart. Jesus claimed that he and the Father (God) are one. Buddha stated that every man is Buddha, though not as yet awakened. What "The Avatar Syndrome" does is to examine some of the degrees by which our awareness brings us closer to the true reality.

I dedicated my book to the relatively unknown "Messengers of God". I refuse to identify us, in as many words, with divine incarnation. I leave it to you, the reader, to draw your own conclusions. What I do claim is that all who are creative, who contribute to the beauty of the Universe, are, to a greater or lesser degree, Messengers of God. We are, Avatars, or embodiments of the Divine, send down to earth, to create or manifest a better reality. "For no other reason were we born, for no other reason shall we die" assures us Sai Baba. It seems to me that beauty is a natural progression of order and harmony, which is inherent and a necessary prerequisite of evolution. Only when a conscious effort enters the new equation do we rise on the scale of self-realization. As for order and harmony, they are the necessary and inevitable components of art, or music, or scientific progress, which advance our perception of the world we live in.

While I’d chosen to describe the incredible talent of a beautiful young girl who swept the world with her magic bow, we would do well to note that the whirlwind world tour of the triumphant virtuoso takes up but a dozen pages in a 364-page novel. The rest, well, the rest you must read for yourself. You might find your own freedom. One reader wrote: "Through your book, you were able to awaken in me my true nature." I didn’t ask what is her nature. Who knows, perhaps your nature awaits to be awakened, too.

On Wednesday, September 5th, for only $15.27 you can get a copy of my book THE AVATAR SYNDROME and receive over 30 bonus gifts of great value… and not just financial.