Preparing for the Miraculous

236 eleven talksQuestion: If Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were Avatars,or an Avatar, what or which Avatars or Avatar werethey?1. AvatarSri Aurobindo has given clear definitions of the Avatarand Vibhuti on many occasions. For instance: “There aretwo sides of the phenomenon of Avatarhood, the DivineConsciousness and the instrumental personality. The DivineConsciousness is omnipotent but it has put forth theinstrumental personality in Nature under the conditions ofNature and it uses it according to the rules of the game –though also sometimes to change the rules of the game.” 2“An Avatar, roughly speaking, is one who is consciousof the presence and power of the Divine born in him ordescended into him and governing from within his willand life and action; he feels identified inwardly with thisdivine power and presence. A Vibhuti is supposed to embodysome power of the Divine and is enabled by it to actwith great force in the world, but that is all that is necessaryto make him a Vibhuti: the power may be very great,but the consciousness is not that of an inborn or indwellingDivinity.” 3“In the phenomenon of Avatarhood there is a Consciousnessbehind, at first veiled or sometimes perhaps half-veiled,which is that of the Godhead and a frontal consciousness,human or apparently human or at any rate with all the appearanceof terrestriality, which is the instrumental personality.”42 Sri Aurobindo: Letters on Yoga, p. 408.3 Id., pp. 406-407.4 Id., p. 420.