In 1986, a teacher named Harry Palmer created The Avatar Course. That same year he founded Star’s Edge International, the seminar management corporation that supervises the delivery of the Avatar Materials. Harry’s writings are a profound contribution to the growing body of knowledge, exercises, and processes directed to self-improvement. Many individuals and companies in the personal-development industry have adopted his ideas.
Harry Palmer dresses simply, lives simply, and remembers to open the door for the ladies. He looks at you steadily when you talk, and you get the feeling that he is interested in what you have to say; he is. In sharp contrast, he is also the CEO of a rapidly growing international corporation and the unexpected inheritor of a prestige that once belonged only to prominent spiritual leaders. This simple man’s writings are creating a movement that is sweeping the planet.
His bestselling book, LIVING DELIBERATELY (currently available in 20 languages) describes his personal path to enlightenment, and the subsequent insights that were to become the foundation of the three-section, nine-day Avatar Course. (A prominent liberal arts professor described the Avatar Course as: “… an elegant blend of oriental philosophy and western cognitive psychology that provides a fast, experiential route to restoring self-determinism.”)
Harry’s lofty aim is to contribute to the creation of an enlightened planetary civilization. This goal has been embraced by thousands of Avatar graduates from 71 countries.
The Mission of Avatar
The mission of Avatar in the world is to catalyze the integration of belief systems. When we perceive that the only difference between us is our beliefs, and that beliefs can be created or discreated with ease, the right and wrong game will wind down, a co-create game will unfold, and world peace will ensue.
Avatar is spearheading the most important campaign ever undertaken by humanity: the creation of an enlightened planetary civilization.
Is this an impossible utopian dream? One more grandiose idea?
“Delusions of grandeur,” says Harry Palmer in LIVING DELIBERATELY, “are delusory only as long as they remain unaccomplished. Otherwise they are great and noble deeds.”
The Strategy
In a private interview, Harry Palmer spoke about his strategy for contributing to an enlightened planetary civilization.
Q. The first question is why?
“I’ve worked a lot of jobs in my life, and I’ve been successful at most of them. But the job that really excites me, the one that makes me feel good in my soul, is contributing to the creation of an enlightened planetary civilization. It is a motivation that comes from something deeper and purer than service to self.”
Q. How would you describe yourself?
“I wouldn’t…(laughs) Okay, I will. Hardcore visionary! The visionary part is because of my belief in an enlightened planetary civilization. I believe it will happen. The hardcore part is because I am actively committed to it, and I don’t give up on things I believe in.”
Q. How do you plan to succeed when others have failed?
“My plan is simple: help the people next to you wake up beyond their Darwinic mind dream. And after they realize who they really are, where they are, and what is happening, show them how to pass the lessons on. Of course, if you want their best, full-time efforts, there are economic and social realities that need to be considered and addressed. People like to help each other, but they also like to live comfortably and feel safe with friends. So the lessons must be valuable enough to the people who receive them that they are happy to pay a fair price.
One of the things that I have learned from life is that service to others, if it is done well and within a viable economic context, is contagious. Help someone; show kindness, and the next thing you know they are figuring out how to pass it on to someone else. That’s my strategy for contributing to an enlightened planetary civilization. I intend to create, within a viable economic context, an epidemic of compassion.”
What is the Role of Star’s Edge International?
Star’s Edge International, the for-profit corporation that Harry founded in 1986, was created to manage and present personal-development programs that exceeded people’s expectations.
Today, the Star’s Edge Florida Headquarters manages over ten thousand licensed Avatar teachers (Masters) in 71 countries. Supervising this network are a staff of administrators and a team of experienced trainers from Australia, Germany, Holland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, USA, and Venezuela.
Star’s Edge also hosts advanced courses in Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Europe, and United States.
The Solution to All Human Problems
In a graduation commencement address given on April 28, 1990, in Nice, France, Palmer made it clear what he expects from Avatar Masters.
“Anyone can decide that his or her beliefs are righteous. Any belief can be dressed up to look righteous. Righteous beliefs are inscribed upon parchment and in holy books. Eventually they become slogans on battle flags and are used to justify insensitive acts for which no sane individual would ever assume personal responsibility… people die violently by the thousands with righteous beliefs on all sides.
Because of this, it is better that you denounce Avatar a thousand times than use it even once as a righteous belief to justify your actions. Your job is to help people become source over their beliefs, not to persuade them to accept your beliefs. Champion no cause above personal responsibility.
When enough people are able to see that the only real difference between any of us are the ideas and beliefs that we create, there will be a spontaneous worldwide awakening to the fact that beyond our individual viewpoints, everyone on this planet shares a common destiny. We will learn to live together, or we will continue to kill together.
As Avatar Masters, remember who you are and what you are not. Remember you are not things. Remember you are not any of the ideas of sects, or nationalism, or race that humans have ignorantly fought over. You are not bodies, you are not minds, and you are not identities; you are the source of these things, and you can create better.
Together we can work to feed the hungry, protect the environment, and speak for peace — these are the efforts that buy us the time needed to expand the Avatar Network into an Enlightened Planetary Civilization. Ultimately, the solution to all human problems lies in recovering conscious control of our hearts and minds.”
How Does Avatar Work?
“Discreate means to halt the production of a mental event; to turn it off; to cease creating it, to let go of it. It is a halt to an existing flow of energy rather than a new or opposing flow of energy. (From Avatar Section III) “It’s yours and you’re creating it, and then you decide you’re not going to create it anymore and it is gone.”
Doing the exercises of the Avatar Course produces a gradual increase in self-awareness. A natural outcome of this increased self-awareness is recognition of the reactive and unconscious factors that are negatively affecting your abilities, your relationships, your health, and your spiritual wellbeing. These factors can be identified and discreated. The result is a recovery of an ability to live deliberately―meaning the ability to determine your own beliefs and mental attitudes without being swayed by hidden influences.
Discreation is more than a concept; it is a third level Avatar ability that functions flawlessly when certain other first and second level abilities are understood and practiced.”
Copyright 2008 Star’s Edge International.
Permission to reprint this article in its entirety is granted.