Avatar, The Way
of Water was such an inspiring, heartfelt and amazing spiritual movie. I loved
so much about it; the action scenes, the music, the underwater visuals and the
great spiritual themes in the story.
Reincarnation
It was
interesting how reincarnation was subtly referenced. Quaritch died in the first
movie, but his memories were implanted in his avatar so in a sense, Quaritch
was reincarnated into an avatar. He watched a video of his human self giving
him instructions and a mission to kill his rival, Jake Sully.
Quaritch
says to Spider, his son while trying to manipulate him to his side, “I’m not
that guy,” implying he sees himself as a better version. While talking to his
crew, Quartich mentions that they had turned into the Na’vi race for their “past
life sins.” One of the interesting scenes was when Quaritch finds his previous
dead body, holding his skull in his hand. Finding out how his previous self
died from Neytiri’s arrows must have been traumatizing and surprising. Then
with a determined look, he crushes the skull in his hand, as if to say, “screw
my past life, I’m a new person out for revenge.” Neytiri, determined to protect
her family says to him, “I’ll kill you as many times as I have to.” Also
interesting is despite their hatred for each other, Spider still saves his
father’s life and Quaritch lets Kiri go after Neytiri threatens to kill Spider
after her first son was killed. Quaritch and Spider still care for each other
enough for survival.
Kiri
I really
resonated with Kiri from the start of the movie. Kiri is Jake and Neytiri’s
adopted daughter. She was born from the avatar of Grace Augustine, a human
biologist. Kiri has no known father and appeared to be conceived by the power
of Eywa, Pandora’s version of Mother Earth. Throughout the movie, Kiri feels
she is different from her siblings and her family. Kiri, her sister Tuk, and
her brothers Lo’ak, and Neteyam are bullied by kids from the Na’vi Sea People
because of their human-Na’vi mixed heritage. But despite the odds and their
differences, they look out for each other; “Sully’s stick together.”
Kiri
displays a strong bond with the various plants and animals in the movie. Kiri meditates
by looking at the sunlight reflected in the water. She rides and bonds with the
water creatures that the Sea People ride. Kiri, Spider, and the clan are upset
that the whale-like creatures are hunted down by the humans for their anti-aging
substance. Kiri uses glowing sea anemones to attack the enemy humans and glowing
sea creatures to help rescue her family trapped in a sunken ship. She also lies
on the grass and claims she can hear Eywa’s heartbeat. Kiri’s connection to
Eywa plus her love of nature from her biological mother Grace gives her a status
akin to a yogi or shaman. Kiri would be very close to enlightenment in the
spiritual community. In a sense, Kiri is Grace reincarnated.
Even though
I’m not as powerful or enlightened like Kiri, my traits and background are
similar. With no father, a lost mother, and an unusual birth, I’ve felt
different all my life. I also feel a strong connection to animals, plants, and
my family and I’m slowly getting closer to understanding God/Mother Earth
energy.
God and
the Akashic Records
Eywa is the
Na’vi version of God or Mother Earth. It is the magical force that keeps
everyone together and controls the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. When the
Na’vi kids learn how to hold their breath underwater from the Sea People, they
mention, “the sea is within you and outside of you,” it “has no beginning and
no end,” and “stays before birth and after death.” Sound familiar? This is a
reference to the energy force we call God, Source, Mother Earth, Great Spirit,
etc. Instead of the sea, the eternal energy that has always existed is within
everything and everyone. Even though most cultures refer to God in a masculine
way (God, Allah, Brahman, Holy Father, etc.) it does make sense that God can
also be seen a feminine “motherly” energy that gives birth to everything…but
has no gender at the same time.
There are
two very deep spiritual scenes in the movie that are unforgettable. Like the
Tree of Souls/Tree of Voices in the first movie, there is an underwater Spirit
Tree where the Na’vi can use their long braids of hair to energetically connect
to their ancestors and clan memories. Kiri uses the tree to connect to her loving
mother Grace before having a seizure due to the intensity of the experience.
This can be equated with having a Near-Death Experience or Astral Travel where
people travel outside their body and often meet their deceased relatives or
God. Since Eywa and the glowing trees contain all knowledge, they can be equated
to the etheric Akashic Records, which show all events in time. The other scene
is at the end of the movie where they hold a funeral for Neteyam. They move a
canoe with his body in it and then lower it into the water. Neteyam sinks into
yellow sea grass which embraces his body with light tendrils. Jake mentions in
narration, “They say that energy is borrowed and at some point, you have to
give it back.” Neytiri adds that Eywa holds all creatures dear in her heart.
This references the fact that essentially our bodies are borrowed from the
force we call God and at death, our energy/souls returns back to the Source. The
universal energy “above” we call “God” and the primordial material energy “below”
we call “Mother Earth” are in fact the same energy in different forms. The
energy in plants, animals, humans, rocks, etc. is God energy condensed in
physical form. If Eywa loves all living things as Herself, why wouldn’t our
God-Source be the same? Those amazing scenes made me cry and they give people
much to think about.
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