Avatar^® and Cults

From time to time people tell me, "Someone I know thinks Avatar is a cult. How do I respond?" I ask, "What is their definition of a cult?" No one has had an answer. It seems the word, "cult", creates a great deal of reactivity. ../images of mass suicides at Jonestown and Waco, Texas spring to mind. Yet few stop to define, "What is a cult?"

"A group which is a vehicle for healthy human development assists individuals to become open and flexible, more able to manage the uncertainties of life. The group training supports being consistently open to transformation and change, continually seeking a deep core of ethics, and the ability to laugh at oneself. Democratic process and open forums for working out differences are preferred over authoritarian organizational structures. There is freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The group's boundaries are permeable membranes through which people come and go relatively unimpeded."

Rarely would one group fulfill a definition above completely because groups, like people, are always growing and changing. Thus, it is wise to see the definitions as opposite ends of a spectrum in motion. On one end there is a group which is a vehicle for healthy human growth and on the other end there is a highly authoritarian cult. The extreme behaviors of Daniel Koresh in Waco, Texas, or Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana, leading to mass suicide of men, women and children, would exemplify the highly authoritarian cult. But, that does not mean that every group which joins to support human development is a cult. It only indicates that there are extremes which can lay waste to potential good...An active alcoholic on a binge can make alcohol look like poison so we forget that wine is used in sacred communion. One Koresh can make group activity look like living Hell so we forget there are other groups which are benign or truly helpful.

1. A scale which starts with encouraging personal freedoms: diverse social contacts, freedom of speech and freedom of expression and ends in discouraging these freedoms and giving totalitarian authority to the leader.
2. Another scale which starts with a democratic organization built on honesty and clear agendas and ends with a totalitarian organization built on a double standard which fosters hidden agendas and manipulation.
3. Another scale which measures facility integrating with and appreciating the outside world versus increased hostility with those outside the group.

Harry Palmer, who originated the Avatar Courses, is not asking people to follow a set of beliefs, nor expecting them to donate their lives, money or possessions to his organization. The theme of his courses is: Notice how your thoughts and attitude effect your life. You can change your thoughts and attitude. You can create positive change in your life depending on where you place your attention. The experiential exercises of Avatar will teach you how to become masterful with the use of your attention. Palmer, current CEO of Star's Edge, Inc., is rarely seen at courses and prefers to remain in the background, in the role of author, not teacher. The course materials, the experiential exercises themselves, give each person their own authority.

The organization supporting the network of Avatars, the qualification of teachers, and the refinement of course materials is Star's Edge International, Inc.. The message from this organization is: 'You are free to come and go as you wish. You are responsible for your own life. If you want to connect up with other Avatar students we will help you do that.' Star's Edge does ask that you do not teach the Avatar course unless you have been trained and qualified to deliver it. They are a "for-profit organization". You pay for a course, you take the course. It's simply a value for value exchange. Outside of that, students owe nothing to the leaders or the organization and are not expected to enroll new students. Star's Edge is not a membership organization nor does it ask for any dues. It has no community living situation, only a computerized network maintaining phone and mail, newsletter and journal for graduates and prospective students. A democratic structure is planned which will allow for the rotation of authority in managing Star's Edge. The ever- present goal is to assist in the integration of beliefs, ideas, groups and even nations that were previously hostile or antithetical to each other. Most importantly, the intention is to do this in a speedily effective, stable, non- violent process.

A student in my last course said it succinctly, "Avatar is the most effective course available to de-program yourself completely ( from any indoctrination you would prefer not to have)." After de-programming, you truly have the freedom and clarity of mind to design the life you prefer. Thus, It would be therapeutic and empowering for anyone wanting to disengage from a cult to take Avatar.

Above all, Avatar is a course for anyone who wants to cultivate health and wholeness. It benefits oneself, one's family, and one's community. It increases your ability to be at peace, to be real, to communicate your truth, to act effectively and with compassion in all domains of life. Avatar may well give us a model for creating a planetary civilization which not only resolves conflicts in an enlightened manner but subsists on appreciation of diversity.

Emma Bragdon, Ph.D. has been facilitating Avatar ® internationally since 1990.

She can be contacted through her home office in Vermont: 1-802-457-4915 or by email: ebragdon@aol.com