Falgun Shuddha Trutiya/Chaturthi
By Rajan Zed
Supporting the concern of Hindus regarding the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar”, Nevada Clergy Association (NCA) has urged its famed director James Cameron to put a disclaimer in the beginning of the movie explaining that it has no relationship with Hinduism or its concepts/terminology.
Bishop Gene Savoy Jr., NCA president, in a release in Nevada (USA) today, said that the concerns of Hindu brothers were very genuine and filmmakers should be very careful when handling religious concepts and terminology. We were just asking for more sensitivity towards faith traditions, Savoy said and added that If Cameron needed any expertise on Hinduism related issues, he could contact acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed and he would gladly provide the resources.
Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in the recent past, had said that “avatar” was one of the central themes of Hinduism and insensitive handling of faith traditions sometimes resulted in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols and hurting the devotees.
Zed explains that “avatar”, a Sanskrit term, means descent or incarnation. Hinduism is shaped by its traditional belief in the incarnation of Vishnu (the Preserver in Hindu trinity) into ten forms to establish dharma (divine law), which include Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki (believed to come at the end of present Kaliyuga). Hindus believe that without such intervention, the entire created universe would have gone into decline. Many devotees also regard their respective Gurus as incarnations of the Divine.
In chapter four of ancient Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), Lord Krishna explains the reasons for God’s descent: “Whenever dharma declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth”. Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly, Rajan Zed points out.
Budgeted up to $300 million, futuristic “Avatar”, an upcoming digital 3-D science fiction feature film currently under production, is directed and written by Canada born three Oscars winning Cameron of highest-grossing and 11 Oscars carrying “Titanic” fame. In it, a band of humans, two centuries in the future, are pitted in a heroic battle against a distant planet’s indigenous population. It is due to be released in France and Belgium on December 16 and USA on December 18 next.
Nevada Clergy Association is composed of priests/pastors/ministers/etc. of Christian (various denominations), Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Bahai, Native American, etc., religions in Nevada state of United States of America.
