by Wendy D. Slotton, Ph.D.
What if you could feel the exhilaration of soaring through the air like a bird, gliding on the wind, and floating past clouds?
With his 72nd birthday soon approaching, my father decided to learn how to fly an airplane. He always wanted to pilot a plane, and he figured there was no better time to learn than the present. And to him it is a present, a precious gift to himself, fulfilling a childhood dream to fly.
With this new goal giving him a renewed zest for life, my dad agreed to attend a ReSurfacing course I was co-facilitating in Mill Valley, California, a beautiful spot overlooking the San Francisco Bay. I had explained to him that the course was a series of exercises for disentangling yourself from old creations and rising up into new awareness. He liked that.
Eighty-five students and fifty Avatar Masters from around the world filled the hotel meeting room to near-bursting capacity. The energy was palpable. Some were there just for the weekend ReSurfacing course. Others would stay through the week for the entire nine-day Avatar course.
“Why are all these people here?” my dad asked.
“Some,” I explained, “want relief from something, some just want to be happier, and some, like you, have come for the adventure, because a friend or relative keeps saying, ‘Try it, you’ll like it!’”
Despite some initial concern, my dad, joined right in and began to digest new and foreign ways of looking at himself and the world around him. He explored the possibility that his beliefs, which he, like most people, had assumed were shaped by his experiences might actually be shaping his experiences. He pondered the idea that even though he’d like to blame someone or something for his problems, it might just be that he was responsible for his own life. And he considered new ways to interact with others: what if rather than being wary and distrustful, he chose to extend compassion and appreciation?
The class crowded up to tables and along with reading and contemplating these issues began doing a variety of exercises. At my dad’s table, along with a few Masters, were a young black man, a Hispanic man in his 40s, and a young Asian woman.
In the past, I remember cringing when I heard my dad make comments that I thought were racist, but this weekend I enjoyed watching him connect deeply to those he had previously considered different. By the end of the weekend, there were hugs all around, and he was sorry to be leaving these warm and wonderful people.
So, what happened to people in those two days?
Well, my dad came in thinking he was there for me, but he left realizing he was there for himself. He arrived with plenty of self-judgment, assuming that he was supposed to be a good guy, that there was one and only one way to be a good guy, and if he didn’t do the right good guy things he felt bad and guilty. He left feeling happy and relaxed, having shed a burden of guilt and self-criticism.
In one weekend he made clear changes. His neighbor later remarked that she had never seen him looking happier or peppier. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him singing and whistling, sounds I’ve rarely heard from him in the decade since my mother had died of cancer.
He also seems more compassionate, more focused. He’s able to shift viewpoints more easily and able to see the relationship between his beliefs and his experiences.
Dad enjoyed the course and will use the ReSurfacing exercises in his life to quiet his mind, focus his attention, and recognize limiting beliefs. He is looking forward to taking the rest of The Avatar Course. And I know he’ll be in for a treat as he fully awakens his senses and learns to change and even suspend judgment. He’ll learn to create new realities without doubt or fear, and to discreate or dissolve unwanted beliefs or experiences.
And my dad was not the only person who left feeling good. A woman at the next table was reviewing the course. She told me, “This is my calling. I want to become a good Avatar Master and teach this material to other people.”
Another woman, who had not been able to sit in a chair for more than a couple hours because of pain, sat for several consecutive hours after using techniques to release the attention previously focused on her pain. She was so enthralled by the material that she didn’t realize how much time had gone by.
For everyone I know who has done this work, it continues to be life-changing and life-enhancing. Prior to taking The Avatar Course in 1996, I had spent most of my adult life studying and teaching psychology, reading books, attending workshops and conferences.
I found The Avatar Course to be completely different and more powerful than anything I’d previously encountered. It’s totally experiential and allows me to focus on what I want to focus on. The lessons I have learned are not just intellectual; they are deeper, genuine insights. They haven’t faded with time.
As I was struggling to convey the essence of Avatar with words, my father came home from his first flying lesson. He summed it all up nicely, “I have some reading to do, but I could read everything ever written about flying and still not be able to fly a plane. The only way to really learn to do something is to get out there and do it!”
Wendy Slotton Ph.D., California
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