ou will find that every Christian tells
you that the one divine incarnation acknowledged in Christianity--for in
Christianity they believe in one special incarnation only--you will find
in the Christian nomenclature the divine incarnation or Avatara is that
of the second person of the Trinity. No Christian will tell you that
there has ever been an incarnation of God the Father, the primeval
Source of life. They will never tell you that there has been an
incarnation of the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of Wisdom, of creative Intelligence, who built up the
world-materials. But they will always say that it was the second Person,
the Son, who took human form, who appeared under the likeness of
humanity, who was manifested as man for helping the salvation of the
world. And if you analyse what is meant by that phrase, what, to the
mind of the Christian, is conveyed by the thought of the second Person
of the Trinity--for remember in dealing with a religion that is not
yours you should seek for the thought not the form, you should look at
the idea not at the label, for the thoughts are universal while the
forms divide, the ideas are identical while the labels are marks of
separation--if you seek for the underlying thought you will find it is
this: the sign of the second Person of the Trinity is duality; also, He
is the underlying life of the world; by His power the worlds were made,
and are sustained, supported, and protected. You will find that while
the Spirit of Wisdom is spoken of as bringing order out of disorder,
kosmos out of chaos, that it is by the manifested Word of God, or the
second Person of the Trinity, it is by Him that all forms are builded up
in this world, and it is specially in His image that man is made. So
also when we turn to what will be more familiar to the vast majority of
you, the symbology of Hinduism, you will find that all Avataras have
their source in Vishnu, in Him who pervades the universe, as the
very name Vishnu implies, who is the Supporter, the Protector, the
pervading, all-permeating Life by which the universe is held together,
and by which it is sustained. Taking the names of the Trimurti so
familiar to us all--not the philosophical names Sat, Chit, A'nanda,
those names which in philosophy show the attributes of the Supreme
Brahman--taking the concrete idea, we have Mahadeva or Shiva,
Vishnu, and Brahma: three names, just as in the other religion we
have three name