“The only difference between us is our beliefs and beliefs can be created and discreated with ease.” Harry Palmer – Author of the Avatar Materials

Recently I was introduced to a course known as Avatar. Having no prior exposure to it, but being curious, I read all the material I could find, and the more I read, the more intrigued I became. Here was a process that seemed to deliver rapid clearing of personal issues and past traumas and life changing release from stagnant belief systems and societal conditioning, all in a remarkably short time – 9 days to be exact for the whole course. Add to that the fact that it is now practiced in 75 countries world wide and has been translated into 19 languages including Braille (for the blind), deaf people do the Course, tens of thousands of graduates have completed Avatar , all in a space of fifteen years. Wanting to know more, I interviewed Nura Hoffmann of the Avatar Institute in Fremantle/Perth. Nura’s personal and spiritual journey has unfolded over the past 23 years, and she has become very involved in healing herself and others in that time. She realized that by changing beliefs about our physical, mental and spiritual conditions, those conditions could be resolved or completely handled. Disease removed from the body, mental conditioning and emotional issues resolved. She has been teaching Avatar for the past ten years here in Perth and WA, Sydney, Melbourne, the U.S and Germany. She is one of the “first Pioneers” who helped Avatar to grow roots here in Perth…

Why Avatar?

Thank you Nura for speaking to me about Avatar. My first question is probably the most obvious and most often asked. Many people are curious about the name. Why is it called ‘Avatar’? Why use that particular word?

Nura: Avatar comes from the oldest language in the World, Sanskrit. Harry Palmer, the Founder of the materials choose it, it seemed very aligned with his vision of what the message of the course is. His book is called “Living Deliberately”. Avatar comes from two words, ava – to come down, and tara – living, your life. So Avatar means to come down for your life, to live deliberately.

Would you call it a ‘process’?

N: It is an Essence Course. Avatar teaches that “Everything I believe is what I will eventually experience. It gives very practical, usable tools that you can use to manage your life as you choose. Avatar is not a belief system. You can keep any beliefs that you prefer and eliminate any that you do not wish to experience. YOU decide what is right for YOU, people from all walks of life have done the training across the board - because it’s not contradicting the work you’ve already done(it’s not yet another belief system), it is empowering!

By ‘essence’ I assume you mean that it works at the core of our selves?

N: Yes, it touches your most intimate connection with yourself, It goes far beyond words right into your centre, and works there in a very safe space on anything that you want to overcome. The truth and unique insights that you discover, is YOUR truth, and from that place changes happen easily.

How long does it take to complete the course, or to learn or reach the understanding?

N: You can complete the journey in 9 days, Or experience it doing first section One Resurfacing® and decide. From there you can go on to do section two and three, in your own timing, however, often people get so inspired, and they feel intuitively to follow their insights NOW.

Only 9 days? That’s a lot quicker than other courses I’ve found.

N: Yes, I felt exactly the same. Most of us are Buddha’s fallen asleep; Avatar has been and still is my “Wake up Call”. Consciousness has evolved a long way since Buddha walked the planet 2,500 years ago, we fly quite comfortably to the moon and back, and the good news is, that we don’t have to sit under a Bodhi tree for thirty years, to find self-realization!

Origins

How did Avatar come to be? What is the history of it?

N: Harry Palmer is an educational psychologist, who then spent years studying consciousness. He came up with an interesting piece of logic: I experience what I believe, unless I believe I won’t in which case I don’t, which means I did! Once he saw this, he wanted to understand the mechanics of beliefs, where do they come from, how long do they last, how does a person come to believe something? So he bought himself a sensory deprivation tank. His wife came home one day to find the tank set up where the dining table had been. “What’s that, a coffin?” she asked. The tank was hardened polystyrene, about eight feet long and four feet wide. Inside was 800 pound of Epson salts dissolved in water, heated to skin temperature. There would be no sensation of hot or cold, his body would float effortlessly, So there’d be no sense of weight, inside the tank would be so dark that Harry wouldn’t be able to tell if his eyes were open or closed, and the tank was also soundproof. A great place to explore beliefs! Harry spent the next eight weeks in the tank, with occasional visits to the bathroom and the refrigerator. He wrote his insights on an old typewriter. In that time, Harry began to wake up to who he was beyond the thinking mind and from there he discovered the secrets of consciousness and how it works.

And your personal experience of Avatar?

N: The tools Avatar has given me, are invisible tools, but they’re with me all the time. It’s the most practical course I’ve ever done. It was and still is the greatest gift that I have ever given to myself. Before Avatar I found it hard to replace limiting habits with the reality I prefer. I have often looked outward into my environment, Family, community, the government and saw how THEY could change themselves. Avatar very practically has shown me the truth that to change anything, we must first change our self. There is a fun slogan among us Avatars that says: After Avatar, who are you going to blame? For me that was the ultimate moment….FREEDOM.

Avatar in Perth

Please tell me about Avatar here in Perth.

N: At present, there are a number of Masters in the Perth area and WA , but not all of them are teaching. The Master level can be taken on without needing to be actively teaching. There are three Masters actively teaching at the moment. Each Master has their own license and can work independently if they want to, but here at the Institute, we find that to work as a team brings new rewards and helps us to create the quality of friendship and Cooperation, a quality that is much needed if you look at the state of Planet Earth. We feel much aligned with Harry Palmer’s Vision to create an EPC which stands for Enlightened Planetary Civilization. I would like to quote Harry Palmer here:

“What is the real work to be done on this Planet? It’s to make ourselves more aware, to remind ourselves that our essential nature is nonviolent, and to increase the amount of compassion and cooperation on the planet.”It is wonderful to see how easy it can be, and how it shift yourself out of your own limited often separate universe, and what joy to dance and combine your creative energies with other divine sparks and create a much bigger presence that serves a larger field out there in our community.

Training

Please give me a brief run down of what happens in the course.

N: Section ONE - ReSurfacing® In the two day Resurfacing Playshop most of us have done enough WORK-shops) you explore the relationship between your beliefs and the reality you experience as your life. You will discover the power of your attention and its ability to create calmness, focus, and satisfaction. You’ll begin to unlock the power of your will and recognize it as a tool to direct life and handle any tasks with confidence. Section one also allows you to explore whether the advanced sections are right for you.

Section TWO - Creation Exercises: These experiential experiences open a perception channel beyond the customary function of thinking. You learn how easy it is to perceive directly without judgment, thought or interpretation. This is a very powerful ability that quiets the mind. An inner peace will become the foundation of your life.You will also restore your ability to create new preferred realities at will, while removing limiting and self- sabotaging attitudes. Stress is replaced by a relaxed awareness. Joy and laughter begin to surface as you realize that your life is completely in your own hands.

Section THREE – Discreating At the beginning of section three you are introduced to the simple yet very powerful discreation technique, a method for handling beliefs that no longer serve you. This technique incorporates all of the previously learned tools and it enables you to dissolve personal limitations, old problems, and lifelong patterns. You become totally confident at applying this new skill on the Avatar Rundowns. Each rundown addresses an area of experiences, beliefs, or attitudes that may be interfering with your appreciation of life. You can easily use the process to improve your health, self- confidence, relationships, and career, or to handle difficulties with compulsion, addictions, pains, and interpersonal communications.Three Sections- An Integrate Whole. Each of the three sections builds on the skills you have already gained, plus your own unique revelations. As you move through the course, you will have a sense of your own self-motivated transformations and how far you want to go. The training is always an individual integration process rather than a group experience. You begin to view yourself and your world from a place of calm presence and serene power.From this viewpoint everything is possible. Anything can be accomplished.

Interview by Suzanne Den Hoedt – First Published PASHAA Magazine