I have no personal deities, so I really can't answer the example question in the OP.
My religion/spirituality informs, or more accurately, validates what I am and what this world is. I suppose it could be said that my very being is how I experience it.
This doesn't answer the question. Even if I asked how many instead of which ones, it still doesn't answer the question.
I was looking for specific people.
If you touch a wave, are you not touching the ocean?
These avataras are manifestations of Brahman; they are Saguna Brahman. They're not separate from it.
That's a really good way of measuring what I'm talking about. Thank you for that.
The only alert's I have set up are the DIR I participate in and site management forums.
Variety isn't necessarily a good thing. There has been a sharp decline in topics I take interest in from when I first joined. In my first few years here, I participated in a much higher percentage of topics I do now.
I'm still assessing whether my decreasing participation is due to changes in...
Your hierarchy is incorrect.
The Trimurti you mention isn't lesser than Brahman. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are manifestation of Brahman. They are Saguna Brahman (Brahman with qualities/attributes); they are deities, just as is the God of Abraham (Allah is actually the Arabic translation for...