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The term Śaktyāveśa Avatāra is a concept in Hinduism, particularly within the Vaishnava tradition. It refers to a specific type of incarnation or manifestation of the divine where a jīva (individual soul) or being is specially empowered by God (usually Vishnu or Krishna) with a particular aspect of divine energy (śakti) to fulfill a specific purpose.
Key Features of Śaktyāveśa Avatāra:
Empowerment, Not Direct Descent:
- Unlike other types of avatāras, such as puruṣāvatāras (direct descents of the Supreme Being), a Śaktyāveśa Avatāra is not the Supreme Lord Himself but a jīva endowed with extraordinary divine power.
Specific Mission:
- This empowerment is for accomplishing a specific task, such as spreading spiritual knowledge, protecting dharma (cosmic order), or creating great works that benefit humanity.
Types of Śakti:
- Different Śaktyāveśa Avatāras are empowered with different kinds of śakti:
- Jñāna-śakti: Empowerment with knowledge, e.g., Vyasa, who compiled the Vedas and authored the Mahabharata.
- Kriyā-śakti: Empowerment with the ability to perform divine actions, e.g., Parashurama, who restored dharma through his deeds.
- Bhakti-śakti: Empowerment to inspire devotion, e.g., Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (in some interpretations).
Examples of Śaktyāveśa Avatāras:
- Narada Muni: Empowered to spread spiritual wisdom and devotion.
- Vyasa: Empowered to organize and compile the Vedic scriptures.
- Parashurama: Empowered to protect dharma by eliminating oppressive rulers.
Distinct from Other Avatāras:
- Śaktyāveśa Avatāras are not considered identical to God in essence (as in the case of Svayam Bhagavan, the original form of God like Krishna).
- They are extraordinary beings who act as instruments of divine will.
Philosophical Significance:
The concept of Śaktyāveśa Avatāra illustrates the interplay between the divine and the individual. It emphasizes that even finite beings, when empowered by God, can perform miraculous and transformative acts for the benefit of the world. This empowerment highlights the compassionate nature of the divine, working through intermediaries to maintain dharma and uplift humanity.
If you're exploring this idea from a specific theological or scriptural perspective, feel free to ask for more details!
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NORMALCY BIAS
Normalcy bias can be scaled up to larger
events as well. Global climate change, peak
oil, obesity epidemics, and stock market
crashes are good examples of larger, more
complex events in which people fail to act
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because it is difficult to imagine just how abnormal life could become if the predictions
are true.
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The Availability Heuristic
THE MISCONCEPTION: With the advent of mass media, you understand
how the world works based on statistics and facts culled from many
examples.
THE TRUTH: You are far more likely
to believe something is commonplace
if you can find just one example of it,
and you are far less likely to believe
in something you’ve never seen or
heard of before.
U BELV U WILL GET THE LOTTERY
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The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World is a groundbreaking book by psychiatrist and philosopher Iain McGilchrist, first published in 2009. It explores how the structure and functions of the brain, particularly its two hemispheres, influence human culture, thought, and behavior.
Key Themes and Ideas:
1. The Metaphor of the Master and the Emissary
- McGilchrist uses a metaphor from an old parable:
- A wise master governs a domain harmoniously.
- He appoints an emissary to act on his behalf.
- Over time, the emissary grows arrogant, believing himself superior, and undermines the master, leading to the domain's decline.
- In McGilchrist's analysis:
- The Master represents the right hemisphere of the brain.
- The Emissary represents the left hemisphere of the brain.
- The left hemisphere, initially a servant of the right, has come to dominate human thought and culture, with detrimental consequences.
2. The Roles of the Brain's Hemispheres
- Right Hemisphere (The Master):
- Holistic, intuitive, and context-aware.
- Attuned to the living world, relationships, and complexity.
- Enables a sense of connection and empathy.
- Left Hemisphere (The Emissary):
- Analytical, linear, and detail-oriented.
- Focused on categorization, abstraction, and control.
- Often narrow in focus, reducing the world to fragments.
3. Cultural Consequences
- McGilchrist argues that Western culture has become overly dominated by the left hemisphere's mode of thinking:
- Overemphasis on reason, logic, and mechanistic views of the world.
- Neglect of creativity, intuition, and the interconnectedness of life.
- Fragmentation of knowledge and loss of a sense of meaning.
- He traces this imbalance through history, from the Enlightenment to the modern era, showing how it influences art, science, philosophy, and social structures.
4. The Need for Balance
- McGilchrist emphasizes the importance of reintegrating the right hemisphere's perspective to restore balance.
- He suggests that humanity's current crises—ecological, psychological, and social—stem from this imbalance and require a shift toward a more holistic, interconnected way of understanding the world.
Why It Matters
- The book offers profound insights into how the brain's structure affects not just individual thought but entire cultures and civilizations.
- It invites readers to reconsider the way they think, perceive, and engage with the world, advocating for a return to more integrated, holistic perspectives.
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GET MORE INTUITIVE
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RT BRAIN- NON DUAL EXPERIENCE
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