The first thing that come to mind when connecting Avatar and
LDS doctrine is definitely the tree that is so important to the Navi people. People
gravitated towards it and believed that it connected them to their Goddess Eywa.
This reminded me of the tree of life in the Book of Mormon and the significance
it has to out doctrine as a metaphor of God’s love. When Jake finds his way to
the tree and has sort of a “first prayer” moment I saw so much similarity between
that and Joseph Smith’s prayer when Jake can feel Eywa’s presence and almost
confirms his belief in her.
Burton’s essay got me thinking about “things as they really
are” and thinking about what it means to be able to experience certain things because
of the body we have been given. Jake’s avatar is just a means to an end for him
to learn and grow and develop. The same goes for us. Our bodies here on earth
are for us to use to learn and grow and develop. The experience that we gain
here is all for us to use after this life and to be tested. The same can be said
for Jake. He was tested as an avatar, and now after his journey ends he has acquired
skills and knowledge to benefit him later on down the road.
I never even thought about the tree of life/Na'vi tree, but it's totally there to make the connectino. I also like that you pointed how the Eywa has a definite connection to the Holy Spirit.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think about the tree in this way but you're totally right. The tree of life is what I think of. Their sacred tree connected them to their ancestors as the spirits dwelt and so does the tree of life. There are many of the people before us who have partaken of the sweet fruit of that tree. The sweetness of their tree is in the feeling of their ancestors. Really interesting.
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