by Karen Mortensen
“Is there a written guarantee?” demanded the voice at the other end of the line in a somewhat less than friendly tone.
“No,” I laughed. “There is no written guarantee.”
“Well, what can I expect to get from it? Will I be enlightened? Will I be able to manifest a million dollars? I mean, you’re asking me to lay out a pretty good chunk of cash here! I’m not about to do that unless you can promise me results!”
He had a valid point. Unfortunately, his arguments could not be answered in a phone call. Maybe they cannot be answered in words at all. You see, Avatar is experiential. Harry says it is like the difference between eating an apple and studying what an apple tastes like. The man on the telephone wanted me to explain what the apple tasted like.
I explained to him that the results he gets from the course will depend entirely on him and how extensively he uses the tools when the course is finished.
He did not like my answer. “That’s what they all say!” he responded in disgust. “They all want to put the burden on me! The burden should be on you! You’re the teacher!” Wouldn’t it be convenient if this was the way it worked? Go into the personal growth restaurant and order up a hearty serving of enlightenment!
“And bring it to me quickly, waiter!” we could say. “I’m in a hurry!”
My thoughts were interrupted by a new question. “What did the course do for you?”
It’s not uncommon for prospective Avatar students to want to know exactly what will occur before they agree to take the course. And this is perfectly understandable. But an Avatar Master would not be able, even if they wanted to (which they don’t), to explain the course to the degree that this man was demanding. How can you explain an experience? How can you explain what an apple blossom smells like? How can you explain what it’s like to be in love? How can you explain enlightenment?
“Are you enlightened?” asked the voice.
“Well,” I laughed, “I’m much farther along the road than I was before I took Avatar. But I still get my life lessons. Avatar would never presume to take those away.”
What is enlightenment anyway? Is it the deep inner joy I now feel, almost every day of my life? Is it being able to set goals that are perfect for me and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am on the path to to realizing them? Is it feeling in total control of my life’s circumstances? Or is it sitting on the top of a mountain in a white robe, shielded from life’s experiences? And even if I were to decide upon a definition for enlightenment, would anyone else agree with it?
I told my skeptical friend that I had used the Avatar tools to heal a chronic and sometimes excruciating hip pain of 20 years’ duration: a pain that had defied physicians, x-ray analysis, chiropractors, cortisone shots, and exercise. But how can I document that? Can I go back to the doctor who administered the cortisone shot and have him write a note that the pain is gone? How does the doctor know how much pain I was in, unless he believes what I tell him? The pain was an experience. My experience. And so was the healing of it.
My phone buddy then wanted me to describe, in detail, the exercise during which I healed my hip and tell him what it was like to have it cured. He wanted to know if the pain went away before, during, or after the exercise. In short, he wanted the experience of it. In truth, the exercise was the culmination of many experiential exercises that had preceded it. I had practiced them all thoroughly under the guidance of my own experienced Avatar Master. I could not explain it to my questioner even if I wanted to (which I didn’t).
Though I did not voice it to him, I knew at that point that my friend was not ready for Avatar. I would like to encourage him (through these words) and any others who are in a similar frame of mind to go out and try all the other personal development and spiritual growth seminars they can find. Perhaps in this lifetime they are creating a search, not a find. That is a very exciting and challenging thing to create. Or maybe someday they will feel drawn to Avatar. If so, there will be an inner knowingness that they should take the course. And when they do take it, when they do experience and practice the tools, they will know one other thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: Avatar is what they have been looking for all of their lives.Karen Mortensen, New York
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