AVATAR: HEART OF THE BUDDHAby Emma Bragdon, Ph.D. Technically speaking, the Avatar course builds on what Buddhists have known for 2500 years. Namely, it is our compelling infatuation with mental concepts-labels, categories, evaluations, judgments, beliefs, etc.--which is the cause of human suffering. When we detach ourselves from the noisy torrent of these concepts and imbibe the simple experience of life itself, we experience bliss. This bliss not only releases us from suffering but puts us in contact with the heart of compassion, creativity and gratitude for life. I have seen people reach this bliss (still mind) in 3 days on the Avatar course! Once the student has achieved a still mind--which brings ease, bliss, and deep peace--there is much less resistance to having new perceptions of the self, alone or in the company of others. Now, each student is gently led into experiencing him/herself as 'Source," at one with the unified field of consciousness... Source of the cosmic dance... Source of the sacred dance of opposites... Source experiencing and appreciating... Shadows that once seemed dark and forbidding are perceived as masks, entertainment devices, on the face of Source. A new sense of self is accessible, outside the creation of any one identity. This sense of not being identified with any thing, albeit an organization, nation, or even a sense of special self-identity, is what Buddhists hold as their ideal. As a Buddhist, one believes that everything has Buddha nature. This suggests that every human through the ages has been longing for full aliveness in the present moment, a path for peaceful coexistence with different points of view and intimate connection to Source. The Avatar course answers this longing.
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