Self and the Supreme
Question
Is the Self the Supreme Absolute? ANd the concept of the Avatar means what exactly? WHy some individuals like Krishna were considered Avatar and other enlightened beings no, was he higher in enlightnement?
Answer
1. Who is asking this question about the self and the Supreme? To whom does this doubt persist? When the one doing so is gone forever, then THAT alone remains. Then there is no one to call it self, Supreme or something else. THAT is...is. Silence.
2. In an Avatar, consciousness always resides in the self, as the self, right from birth (in the physical form), though externally displaying various emotions. The Supreme cosmic being manifests as an Avatar for certain reasons, at certain times.
3. Lord Krishna was an Avatar (therefore Enlightened right from birth) and therefore the Supreme in blood and flesh, with full awareness of the same. A non-avatar is born unenlightened and later attains to enlightenment. This is the difference.
When the pot is broken, the air in the pot merges with the air outside. Can the pot-air partially merge with the atmospheric air after the pot is shattered? There is nothing of the sort. Similarly with Enlightenment, there is Enlightenment; no partial, higher or lower Enlightenment. Then THAT alone exists.
ॐ तत् सत्
(That Supreme being is the absolute truth)