Well, to some, yes it is true. To others, no it is not. Is Christ an incarnation of God? Is Krsna an incarnation of God? Becuase Visnu is God, so obviously this is not going to have a yes or no answer. It is a matter of belief. -
When waves appear on the ocean, there is no questioning that they all are born from the same water. Waves may have individual identities, but their source is always the same. x
Personally I think the idea that Buddha was an incarnation of Vishnu is probably not very accurate. It is probably the result of some Hindu philosopher trying to fit everything into their own system. If Buddha was an incarnation of Vishnu, then why did he reject the Vedas? There is also the famous saying of the Buddha: When asked "are you a god" he replied "no". "Are you a saint"? "No". "Who are you then?" "I am awake".
isn't everyone an incarnation of vishnu, really? i know what you mean, but, still... the buddha was not an avatar like, say, caitanya mahaprabhu, or brahma, because he was not born the buddha and was not born enlightened. but everyone is an incarnation/expansion of vishnu, all we have to do is wake up to the fact. buddha could reject the vedas and still be an incarnation of vishnu; in the bhagavad gita krishna says give up all forms of religion and just surrender to him. surrendering to him doesn't neccessarily mean practicing any kind of yoga, in fact, in the end we even give that up. this is only my own feeling, but i feel that eventually we embrace all forms as equally a part of vishnu/krishna and so give up surrender to any particular form... which could be called nirvana? surrender is surrender. the buddha was an example of Surrender without the process of Surrendering. but that's just my opinion, so, there it is. sorry it's kind of jumbled, i haven't slept.
i'm not even sure if caitanya or brahma didn't have to *become enlightened* before knowing themselves as expansions of vishnu... ...?
Hello Rebelfight 420 - What I can reply on this is what Meher Baba related about it. He said that Buddha absolutely was the Avatar (an incarnation of Vishnu). He listed the Avataric incarnations known to recorded history as Zoroaster, Buddha, Ram, Krishna, Jesus, and Mohammed. The Avatar is the descent of Divinity into Illusion rather than the attainment of Divinity by those bound in Illusion. He said the Avatar is always one and the same because God is always one and the same and that God's message and the form of that message - while ageless - is tailored to suit the need of the times. The following text from TREASURES is Meher Baba's description of the Avataric quality of adjusting the eternal, Divine message to the needs of the time. QUOTE The exterior way of living of the Avatar is regulated by the habits and customs of the times, and He adopts that attitude which is most suited to serve as an example to His contemporaries. But in essence all the Avatars incarnate the same ideal of life. At the epoch of Mohammed the Arabs were very sensuous and it was not considered bad or illegal to live with several wives. If, like Jesus, He had not married and had advocated celibacy, or if He had imposed absolute continency, it would have produced dangerous and inevitable reactions. Few people would have followed His teaching and fewer still would have been attracted toward such an ideal. Mohammed had nine wives but He had no physical contact with them; it was legal to have several wives. At the time of Krishna the Hindus were fighting among themselves. Envy and greed were predominant; the real conception of spiritual life and love was unknown to them. Krishna based His teachings on the laws of love and pure and innocent merriment. Human beings were directed joyfully towards a disinterested ideal of love. At the time of Zoroaster humanity was hesitant and lacked equilibrium. They were neither complete materialists nor really attracted towards the spiritual light. He taught them to be good householders, to marry and to abstain from desiring the wife of another, and to worship God. His own life was based on this principle: good thoughts, good words, good actions. Zoroaster was married. At the time of Buddha, humanity was deep in materialism. In order to demonstrate that their conception of values was wrong and that they were victims of the goddess Illusion, or Maya, Buddha renounced his wife, his family, the riches of the world in order to establish His teachings on sanyas, or renouncement. At the time of Jesus, arrogance, imperiousness, pride and cruelty were the characteristics of the people. Nevertheless they possessed a conception of justice regarding women and marriage; and it was not necessary, as it was in Arabia, to make marriage an example. Jesus lived the life of humanity, simplicity and poverty; and He endured suffering in order to direct humanity towards the purest ideal — God. All the prophets were the incarnation of God; therefore they stand beyond desire and temptations; they were the manifestation of the same Divine element. END QUOTE
we are nothing more than puppets in this great game of maya. the intelligence that drives us puppets is not known by us until we wake up to reality. Is buddha really an incarnation of Vishnu? If so, then who is Vishnu? You treat Vishnu like a limited sentient being, but you don't even know who Vishnu really is.
