by Elfreda Pretorius
“You’re tap-dancing!”
Those who know me would be astonished and say. “But you can’t tap dance!”
Well, after reading this, you decide for yourself, because I CAN NOW!
Allow me to share the experience of Avatar with you. Before Avatar, I was quickly becoming a serious contender for “the most disillusioned seeker on this planet.” I was also probably the most experienced nomad the spiritual world has ever seen. Don’t get me wrong, for this doesn’t imply “making” some Honorary Roll. I could quote verbatim the sayings of some great sages of this world—at just the right moment, of course—but it served to impress everyone except myself. Deep within I knew it was only book knowledge.
I was absolutely determined to find enlightenment out there somewhere. During my search, I collected so many road maps to eternity from different groups, religions, teachers, gurus, astrology workshops, psychics and anyone else offering advice, that I could have set up a travel agency of my own—Universal Travel Agency to Confusion.
And still, every time a new “savior” showed up peddling his or her teachings in the marketplace, I would be somewhere in the background doing my comparisons with all the holy scriptures and the “you-name-it-I-have-some-knowledge- of-it,” each time classifying what was said into categories: holy, holier and holiest.
Those closest to me had resigned themselves to my endless quest of finding the truth. They barely raised an eyebrow anymore. They just watched as I followed my paths, some with fanatical dedication and others just comfortably in the slipstream of some guru or enlightened teacher. Now I realize that my motivation was to find a way to escape the ordeals of this world, the sorrows that turn us all into helpless creatures, flung out of control in this universe that appears to function according to laws of He who made it.
Who was He? Where was He?
Reports of others on close encounters of the first kind only depressed me. How could these people know God? None of their reports even corroborated with each other! How many Gods were there? Which is the true God? Why was it so difficult to understand this? The questions just seemed to go on and on, in mindless circles.
The final straw was the actual witnessing of a “living master.” And while the mass consciousness of the some 4,000 people there that day was enthusiastically promoting “Guru! Master!” I kept thinking, “No, person. Just a person.” So I withdrew from it all. Somewhere deep inside of me a knowing started to surface that spirituality should not be such a struggle. I developed an intense dislike for all the preconditions and rules that preceded being granted entrance into any pearly gate and I deliberately ignored any road sign that read, “This way to heaven.”
When finally all the frantic activity had died down, the quiet moments became enjoyable. I started hearing an almost inaudible little voice asking questions such as: “How come every time you return you end up with yourself? And why does that feel so good?” I guess I would say that I became aware, and there is absolutely no substitute for this word. I became aware that amidst all the theories, the knowledgeable claims of others, the wisdom of the ages, the brilliant insights of the seers of this world, there existed a simplicity.
It was at this time that a friend mailed me an Avatar Journal marked on the cover with a yellow sticker that read “The Best!” I reacted understandably with, “Yeah, sure, I’ve heard that one before. What’s the weather like in New York?”
I read the Journal from cover to cover, and I called an Avatar Master at 10 pm that evening. Avatar opened a door into the universe through which I disappeared, because when I turned to look back I was gone. And it didn’t matter at all.
The nine-day course was without a doubt the most profound experience in my entire memory banks. I now know that I am 100% responsible for what I experience in my life—for I created it! What I had been searching for so hard all my life had been with me all the time, silently observing and watching with interest how I managed to complicate the simplicity of it all.
Experiencing Avatar is remembering what we forgot millenniums ago. The liberation of the experience goes beyond the intellect. It defies description and brings such a joy to living that each new day becomes an adventure that I plan myself.
I am tap-dancing through the Universe!
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