From Avatāra to Prophet

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Two Mirrors of Human Evolution

Humanity's story has often been told in two great idioms - the Dharmic story coming out of the Indian sub-continent and the Abrahamic story from the eastern reaches of the Mediterranean. These idioms have been commonly taken to mean something less - merely incarnations of divinity or prophetic appointments by divinity. When examined closely, they tell a deeper story of human evolution.

In the Dharmic view, the ten incarnations of Vishnu, the Daśāvatāra, depict the gradual evolution of human life - from water to land, from beast to human, from ignorance to awakening.

• Matsya - fish (aquatic) 
• Kūrma - turtle (amphibious) 
• Varāha - boar (mammalian) 
• Narasiṃha - lion-man (half-beast) 
• Vāmana - dwarf (early human)
• Paraśurāma - primitive warrior 
• Rāma - civilized man
• Kṛṣṇa - embodiment of love 
• Buddha - awakened soul
• Kalki - redeemer? 

The Kalki Avatār remains a mystery. Perhaps we will find out in our lifetime.

This pattern is a symbolic chronicle of physical and psychological evolution - how consciousness finds expression through form.

In the Abrahamic line, the prophets mark another progression - not of form, but of spirit. Each prophet carries the flame of awakening a little higher - from the first awareness of self in Adam through moral clarity in Moses to compassion in Jesus and finally, to self-knowing in the Praised State (Muhammadin). Where the Daśāvatāra traces the evolution of the body and mind, the prophetic chain traces the evolution of the heart and soul.

• Adam - Sentience
• Noah - Purification and renewal
• Abraham - Faith and surrender to the unseen.
• Moses - Discipline, law, and moral order
• David/Solomon - Wisdom and sovereignty
• Jesus -  Compassion, forgiveness, transcendence of ego
• Muhammad (the Praised One) - Integration and realization

Where the popular translations depict Muhammad as the person who received and transmitted the Qur'an, the alternative viewpoint which fits this evolutionary model suggests that Muhammad is any person who succeeds in reading his own embedded script (al Kitab) and becomes Praiseworthy.

In this synthesis, the two traditions meet like the outer and inner arcs of one great circle - matter becoming aware of spirit, and spirit realizing its own embodiment. 

The ten avatars and the chain of prophets thus mirror each other: one describes the unfolding of creation, the other the awakening within creation. Together, they chart the complete journey of humankind - from primal emergence to conscious divinity.

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