Star’s Edge International

Basic Attention Management

This second in a series of Avatar mini-courses by Harry
Palmer explores ways in which human attention, the most
valuable of all commodities, can be preserved and even
restored. The course will focus on experiential exercises that
are self-instructive. The entire course can be repeated many
times with a deeper unfolding occurring with each run
through.

© Copyright 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved.

Attention Educators:
Contact Star’s Edge, Inc., 237 N. Westmonte Drive, Altamonte Springs,
Florida, 32714, (407-788-3090) for permission and requirements for
copying these materials.

Avatar®, ReSurfacing®, Thoughtstorm® and Star’s Edge International® are registered service marks of Star’s Edge Inc.
Enlightened Planetary Civilization, EPC, EJP, CHP, and Love Precious Humanity are service marks licensed to Star’s Edge Inc.
SM SM SM SM SM
 Avatar® Basic Attention Management Course
OBJECTIVE:
To increase the students’ control over their own attention.

EXPECTED RESULTS:
An increase in free attention. A recovery of self-determinism.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Complete the checklist below.

1 Read: Introduction p 1 _________

2 Do Exercise 1: Marshalling Your Attention Troops p 1 _________

3 Do Exercise 2: Stick Around p 1 _________

4 Study Assignment: Behavior of Attention pp 2-4 _________

5 Do Exercise 3: Two-way Street p 4 _________

6 Do Exercise 4: Baby Eyes p 5 _________

7 Study Assignment: Contemplation p 5 _________

8 Do Exercise 5: Controlling and Deciding p 6 _________

9 Study Assignment: Worry p 6 _________

10 Do Exercise 6: This Moment Is Different p 6 _________

11 Study Assignment: The Blimp Analogy pp 7-8 _________

12 Study Assignment: Help For A Suffering Planet pp 8-11 _________

13 Do Exercise 7: Getting The Message p 11 _________

14 Read: Afterward p 12 _________

15 Debrief

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved

DEBRIEF

What did you set out to do? __________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

What did you actually do? ___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

What actually happened? ____________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

❑ Mission Accomplished ❑ Mission Incomplete ❑ Actions Inappopriate

Basic Attention Management
avatar mini-course by Harry Palmer

Introduction
Every being is endowed with a certain amount of attention. It appears that this amount
varies from individual to individual and also varies in the same individual according to
time and circumstances. Compare the condition of your attention after you have been up
all night to when you have had a good night’s sleep and feel fresh.

This variation in attention has been observed in religion, philosophy, mental health, and,
of course, self-improvement courses. The concerns are always pretty much the same: How
can someone acquire more free attention or better use what they have. These concerns have
spawned hundreds of mental processes and meditative techniques, but few, if any, have
been as effective as the exercises taught in ReSurfacing, Section I of The Avatar Course.

The word attention is derived from two Latin words, ad meaning toward and tendere
meaning to stretch. When you put your attention on something, you stretch toward it. Once
your curiosity is satisfied, your attention comes off whatever you were looking at, listening
to, touching, tasting, feeling, thinking about, etc., and moves to something else. Or at least it
should. It used to.

Here’s the first exercise. Among other things, it should help you to discover the role that
attention plays in perception.

EXERCISE 1: Marshalling Your Attention Troops

1. Look at the front wall, and find some- 6. Look at the floor, and find something
thing you haven’t noticed before. you haven’t noticed before.
2. Look at the left wall, and find some- 7. Look at the front wall, but place your
thing you haven’t noticed before. attention on the left wall.
3. Look at the right wall, and find some- 8. Look at the left wall, but place your
thing you haven’t noticed before. attention on a sound.
4. Look at the back wall, and find some- 9. Listen to the sound while you wiggle
thing you haven’t noticed before. your toes.
5. Look at the ceiling, and find something
you haven’t noticed before.

Congratulate yourself if you really did do this exercise. If you only read the exercise
and thought about it, you need to intellectualize a bit less and experience a bit more.

EXERCISE 2: Stick Around

1. For several minutes, shift your attention 2. In a safe space, close your eyes and
around the room; notice how it sticks review the events of the last week.
for a few moments here or slides by Notice that your attention still lingers
stuff there. on certain memories while other memo-
ries seem to have been filed away.

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 1

Basic Attention Management

Behavior Of Attention
Some things have a Velcro quality, while backward from twenty by threes. Have
others have a Teflon quality. Attention you ever heard yourself say, “Don’t bother
sticks to the Velcro and slides off the me right now?” You are giving someone
Teflon. Most people can feel a difference the signal that your allotment of attention
between looking at the floor and looking is occupied.
into a stranger’s eyes, or between personal For purposes of discussion, the allot-
mail and junk mail. If you are in a location ment of attention can be divided into
that is familiar to you, you may find that quantities called attention units. We can
the stickiness or slide-by force is the same classify these attention units into several
for everything. If so, redo the exercise in a categories based on the way they behave.
space that is new to you. You may also At one end of the scale we have attention
discover that there is a difference in the units that are unbiased and that we can
behavior of your attention for different direct (self-directed). At the other end of
emotional states, attitudes, and physical the scale we have attention units that stay
conditions. fixed on something (unconsciously fixed).
Every person has a finite allotment of In between, in descending scale, we have
attention at any given time. This can be biased attention units, other-directed
demonstrated by giving a person more attention units, and disoriented attention
and more tasks until their allotment of units. (See Figure 1) Biased attention units
attention runs out. For example, pat your
head and rub your belly while counting • continues

Figure : Scale of Attention Behavior

Free Biased Other-Directed Disoriented Fixed

Attention Units Attention Units Attention Units Attention Units Attention Units

How they are directed Self-directed May be Follow or Conflicted by Frozen in past
with very little self-directed, but fight another’s contradictory trauma and pain
effort only with effort intention intentions

How they observe Look at what

Observe what Evaluate Mix past and
they’ve been No present time
is without according to present
directed (or directed perception
judgment or bias bias perceptions
not) to look at

How they react

Exhibit Exhibit Exhibit anger, Exhibit fear
Exhibit desire indoctrination and/or grief
unattached confusion, and
and resistance and/or blame (when queried)
interest overwhelm

How they are upgraded Upgraded by

Upgraded by Upgraded by Upgraded by align-
processing and
Self-restorative confession and increasing personal ment with a worth-
effective
compassion responsibility while purpose
therapy

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 2

 Basic Attention Management

Behavior Of Attention continued

have preferences. Other-directed attention impressions from the world. Biased atten-
units follow or rebel against orders. Dis- tion units are opinionated minds that,
oriented attention units are confused. even when directed into the world, tend
Let’s examine the attention units at the to only see what they want to see.
top end of the scale and how they affect Your sensory organs aren’t much good if
your life. Self-directed attention units, you don’t supply them with free attention
units. If your parents or spouse ever tells
you that you aren’t listening, what they
People who misperceive, or who are unfairly are really saying is that you aren’t supply-
critical, are operating through biased ing any free attention units to your ears.
attention units. Your supply of free attention units is
reserved for the stuff you find interesting.
Mental exhaustion, irritation, and over-
which we could also call free attention whelm are feelings that arise when the
units, always obey your conscious will. world demands more free attention from
Biased attention units can be consciously you than you have available.
directed, but they have a mind of their The end result of this mini-course will
own. Minds and attention units behave be an increase in the amount of free atten-
similarly. Self-directed attention units are tion that you have available.
bright little minds that you send out If you send biased attention units to
through your sense organs to collect collect impressions for you, they don’t
Figure :
Attention • continues
Units

Isn’t this Am I right? Just tell me What was Too busy to

interesting? Am I right? what to do. that about? talk right now.

Free Attention Unit Biased Attention Unit Other-Directed Attention Unit Disoriented Attention Unit Fixed Attention Unit
Observes without judgment. Biased attention units Other-directed attention units follow Disoriented attention units Preoccupied, compulsive, stuck in a
Interested without attachment. have preferences. or rebel against orders. are confused. repeating loop.

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 3

Basic Attention Management

Behavior Of Attention continued

bring back very much data. A biased could suddenly give people a boost of free
attention unit’s capacity to store impres- attention, they would be in utter amaze-
sions is already occupied by its assump- ment at how little they normally observe.
tions, opinions, and preferences. So it col- Wow!
lects only vague, low-resolution Free attention observes and returns
impressions that you have to think about accurate impressions without added emo-
in order for them to make sense. And tion or reaction. (Think of the Spock or
guess what? The world ends up looking Data characters of Star Trek.) Some people,
pretty much the way you thought it especially athletes, describe the experience
would look. of free attention as operating in “the
People who misperceive or who are zone.”
unfairly critical are operating through If you did not experience free attention
biased attention units. There aren’t many in Exercise 1, consider repeating it now.
new discoveries made by biased attention Otherwise, it’s time to go on and explore
units. People end up perceiving what was the power of free attention.
already in their mind. The problem with
this is that it gives them a false sense of
being right about something. If they took
the time to really examine their observa- The value of practice is that it reduces the amount of free
tion, they would discover that they were attention you need to do something. From your own
being righteous rather than accurately experience you can probably think of actions that took
perceiving fact. your full attention the first few times you did them, like
If you send free attention units to collect riding a bicycle or driving a car, but after practicing
impressions for you, they bring back clear, them, you could do them almost without thinking.
useable data. Free attention is rare. If you

EXERCISE 3: Two-way street

So what happened in Exercise 2? Did you pay most attention to reflect what you
your attention reflect the preferences think about most? That’s pretty sensible,
of your mind, your likes but have you ever thought it might be a
and dislikes? That’s what two-way street? If you change what you
most people experience. think about, what you pay attention to
The things that they changes, and if you change what you pay
have strong feeling attention to, what you think about
about, either positive or changes. Could we be on to something
negative, tend to influ- here?
ence the direction of
their attention, while 1. Deliberately force yourself to smile,
the things that they feel bigger and bigger, until you feel happy.
neutral about let their
attention slide by. What 2. Deliberately think to yourself, “I am
could this mean? Could it happy,” until you smile.
mean that the things that

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 4

Basic Attention Management

EXERCISE 4: Baby Eyes

If you have ever had the privilege of Does the view seem a bit more
hanging out with a baby and sharing his panoramic? Is there more appreciation?
or her discovery of the world, you proba- Are you more attracted to motions rather
bly know what we mean by free attention. than to objects? You may not want to look
In the innocent gaze of a child, there is no at the world this way all the time, but it
self-consciousness, no embarrassment, and offers a contrasting view to how you have
no judgment. It is a here-now presence grown to see things.
that has not yet become embroiled in the When you perceive through baby eyes,
concerns or preferences of the world. you see beyond the word labels.
With a little practice, most people can
recreate what it feels like to look at the 2. Pick out something and describe it,
world through baby eyes. without naming it, until another person
knows what you are talking about.
1. Looking through baby eyes, shift your (Example: It walks on all fours, has
attention around the room. Notice how hooves, and goes “oink.”)
your attention behaves.

Contemplation
Contemplate means to study something ing toward a moment of clarity in which
carefully until its subtler qualities are you experience insight and, perhaps, dis-
revealed. You contemplate something by cover that million-dollar idea.
observing or imagining it from different The secret to contemplation is diligent
angles and in ways that other people control of your attention; take one more
might see it. Contemplation works best as look.
a two-step process. First you focus all the If you concentrate your attention on
attention you can muster on the problem, something and keep it there, without the
question, or mystery being contemplated, relax-and-shift step, your attention will
and then you relax and shift your atten- move down the attention unit scale until it
tion to something else. Shift back and eventually becomes fixed, dull to the state
forth as often as you like. Concentrating, of unconsciousness, and you will lose
relaxing, concentrating, relaxing, over and control of it. This is the short explanation
over. Possibilities form and reform, work- of hypnosis.

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 5

Basic Attention Management

EXERCISE 5: Controlling and Deciding

In the following exercises, any time your
attention wanders, bring it back. 3. While looking at the floor, decide in
which direction you are going to look
1. Pick out two stationary objects, and next. When you have decided, look in
direct your attention to one of them. that direction. (Repeat this step until it
Examine it for a minute or two. Then is easy.)
shift your attention to the second object, 4. Close your eyes, and place your atten-
and examine it for a minute or two. tion on a period of your life. With your
Shift back and forth several times using eyes still closed, decide on which
the same two objects. period of your life you are going to
2. Create two mental images in your mind, place your attention next. When you
and direct your attention to the first have decided, shift your attention.
image for a minute or two. Then shift (Repeat this step until you can self-
your attention to the second image for a determinedly shift your attention to any
minute or two. Shift back and forth period of your life.) End each session of
several times using the same two men- this exercise by bringing your attention
tal images. to the present moment and describing
what you are feeling right now.
In the following part of this exercise,
make sure you are deciding before, rather
than after, you shift your attention.

Worry
There is a folk story about a psycholo- resolution impressions returned by biased
gist who calculated how many thoughts attention units.
the average person has in a day. It was a Using the psychologist’s calculation, you
huge number, in the tens of thousands. could conclude that 99.9 percent of the
The punch line to the story was the dis- average person’s attention may be made
covery that only about .1 percent of the up of biased attention units. And you
thoughts that a person had were signifi- would probably be right.
cantly different from the thoughts that the There is more than a little truth to the
person had thought the day before. Worry idea that people use only a tiny fraction of
is the repetitive analysis of the vague, low- their potential mental ability.

EXERCISE 6: This Moment is Different

1. Obtain two coins of the same denomina- that you worry about most, and break it
tion. Lay them side by side, and find at down into ten or more doable steps.
least five differences between them. Do 3. Compose a song or a poem about your
the same exercise with two leaves from life’s trials and tribulations. After each
the same tree, two pieces of plain white stanza add the chorus, “Okay, I’m done
paper, and two days in your life. with that now.” (Example: “She broke
2. Make a list of the unfinished projects in my heart and left me flat, stole my
which you currently have invested atten- money and took the cat. Nobody will
tion. Prioritize the projects by the num- give me a break, my bills come to more
ber of times a week that you involuntar- than I make. Okay, I’m done with that
ily think about them. Take the project now.”)

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 6

Basic Attention Management

The Blimp Analogy

Analogies, even silly ones, can some- sage and leave it on the blimp’s disk
times make things easier to understand. drive. Now the blimp can’t load quite as
A free-attention-unit blimp is an imagi- much. It is a diminished capacity blimp.
nary balloon-shaped structure with a suc- Not only does it perceive less, but also
tion cup on the front, satellite antenna on when it transmits back to you, it mixes the
the back, and disk drive in the middle. A old data in its memory banks with new
person remotely steers the free-attention- data that it just acquired. Past and present
unit blimp with intention – to send and mix, and things start looking a little odd,
steer the free-attention-unit, you intend delusional maybe.
the blimp to where you want it to go. The But that’s not the worst situation. The
blimp attaches itself to something, loads worst situation in the free-attention-unit
the impression of what it is attached to blimp world is that the blimp tries to
onto its disk drive, and then transmits the transmit some data that you want nothing
data back to you.
At your end, you analyze the data and
recognize an oak rocking chair, or a friend, It is a thoughtful moment when one considers
or your favorite episode of a TV program. that the chronic pain in his or her knee might
Sometimes there is so much data in the
particular port of call that you intend two really be the transmission of an undelivered
blimps or even a whole fleet of blimps to message from a long-ago abandoned
gather and transmit data back to you to attention unit.
analyze.
Some things are so loaded with interest
and importance that they require every to do with. Maybe it sends some sorrow-
blimp you can send. ful news about a friend, or a special bul-
Finally, assuming that every data stream letin about a personal traumatic event, or
has an end, your interest is satisfied (you some gross-out-horror live shot from an
got the message), and you intend your accident scene. Your reaction to this trans-
free-attention-unit blimps somewhere else. mission is that you ignore (go deliberately
There are a couple of things that can go unaware) the data transmission from the
wrong in free-attention-unit blimp world. blimp. The blimp is forgotten and aban-
First, the incoming data can be more than doned, and you’re not quite as observant
you can analyze, so you ignore the mes-
• continues

Some things are so loaded with interest and importance that they require every blimp you can send.

Figure :
Free
Attention
Unit Blimp

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 7

 BasicAttention
Basic AttentionManagement
Management

Blimp Analogy continued

as you used to be – your blimp fleet is repeatedly transmitting their disregarded
diminished. messages.
When all your blimps are lost, you will Perhaps more relevant, a growing body
have to rely on the relay of post-analyzed of evidence suggests that people maintain
data from associates who still have an a subconscious connection with their
operational blimp or two. “Tell me what abandoned attention units, and the mes-
you see.” This is the beginning of indoctri- sage that their consciousness refuses to
nation. hear is broadcast over and over on sub-
How many abandoned attention blimps conscious wavelengths.
are out there? Some quantum theorists It is a thoughtful moment when one
would speculate, in effect, that the whole considers that the chronic pain in his or
physical universe is nothing more than the her knee might really be the transmission
garbled transmission of an astronomical of an undelivered message from a long-
number of abandoned attention blimps ago abandoned attention unit.

Help for a Suffering Planet

The following article first appeared in until he felt some relief. I asked permis-
Inside Avatar. It describes an application sion to take research notes for an article
of the next exercise in the Basic Attention and assured him that his name wouldn’t
Management Course. be used. He agreed.

One of the positive effects of Avatar is • • • •

that it awakens in a person a disposition
to relieve the distress of fellow creatures. We settle into lounge chairs on a
Let me reconstruct a session that I ran screened porch for the session. We start
for a man who knew nothing about with attention on the knee. He moves it
Avatar. It is a good illustration of why around a little, grimaces and says, “That’s
CHP fails as an emergency assist, but it. It hurts that way most of the time.
Releasing Fixed Attention, from the ReSur- Especially at night. Sort of a shooting pain
facing book works. that starts here,” pointing at the inside of
He was happy to let me help him, but the knee, “and goes down the leg. Some-
was skeptical. His right knee hurt so badly times I can feel it all the way to the ankle,
that he couldn’t sleep, yet his doctor could and it makes my right foot ache. It’s hard
find no obvious fault with the knee. to describe.”
Exploratory surgery had been suggested. I “Okay,” I say and point to the bird
suspected, rightly as it turned out, that it feeder in the yard. “Look at that.” One
was a persistent mass. squirrel has climbed into the bird feeder
I explained that I was going to have him and is throwing out sunflower seeds to a
focus attention on the knee and then on squirrel on the ground.
something else and that we were going to “She looks pregnant,” he says. “I won-
go back and forth at least ten times or der if that’s her mate in the feeder.” And
then after another minute of watching, he
says, “It’s sure easier than gathering
CHP: Creation Handling Procedure, an advanced exercise acorns.”
from The Avatar Materials that deliberately parallels the “How’s the knee?”
operation of awareness in the universe “Oh, it hurts like always.” He takes a
persistent mass: any belief that you feel you have no control few seconds to focus on the knee and
over such as an obsession, a neurosis, a pain, or a fixed moves it several times. “If I move it just
condition right, it hurts.” He tries to show me.
• continues

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 8

Basic Attention Management

Almost immediately he has his

first realization. “Funny thing is,
it’s not always the same move-
ment that causes it to hurt.”
“That’s interesting,” I say, and
he has another realization.
“Yes, it seems like it is caused by
something other than movement.
Movement just seems to aggravate
it.”
“Can you describe what that
something is?”
Several minutes pass before he
answers. “Boy, I just don’t know.”
I figure it’s time to draw his attention connected with that knee. How would you
out. “Where did the squirrels go?” I ask. describe them?”
He opens his eyes. “I don’t know. I “Oh God. I just can’t. It hurts so much.
guess maybe they saw a hawk.” It’s bigger than me. There’s nothing I can
“Do the hawks bother them?” do about it. I’ve tried. I’ve really tried. It
“No, I think they’re just being cautious. has brought me to my knees.” His mood
Mostly the hawk eats lizards. There’s one suddenly shifts. “That’s funny. It’s
hawk that comes sometimes and sits on brought me to my knees.” He’s laughing
the bird bath. I’ve actually seen the squir- and crying at the same time. I wait for the
rels chase him away. I guess if he found a emotion to work itself out.
young squirrel, and found him alone, he’d Finally, looking back at the bird feeder, I
probably be dinner.” ask, “Do you ever see any cardinals?”
“How’s the knee doing?” “Oh, yes. There’s a whole family that
“Oh, it hurts. You know what’s funny?”
“What?”
“It hurts worse when I try to take my
I explained that I was going to have him focus
attention off of it than it does when I put attention on the knee and then on something else
my attention on it.” He rubs his knee and that we were going to go back and forth at
thoughtfully. “I guess it wants attention
and doesn’t like it when it doesn’t get it.” least ten times or until he felt some relief.
He closes his eyes and seems to drift off.
“What are you thinking about?” comes around 4 o’clock. It’s still a little too
“Oh, just thinking about how kids some- early for them. There’s also a little brown
times hurt themselves to get attention. I bird that has a top knot on its head like a
was wondering if that’s why my knee cardinal. I don’t know the name. They’re
hurts.” real tame. Sometimes they sit on the win-
“How does it feel?” dow sill.”
“Oh, it still hurts. It depresses me.” “How’s the knee doing?”
“How so?” “You know, it’s better. It feels like it had
“Oh, it just makes me feel bad. I can’t a workout. I think it was the idea of being
find a reason for it, and nothing seems to brought to my knees that made it feel
work. I just feel...helpless. I feel like some better. I think I really fight the idea of
old beggar on a crutch. I hate it. I really being brought to my knees. I don’t know
hate it. I try not to let it get me down, but I who it was, maybe my dad, used to say,
really hate it.” His voice is getting shaky. ‘Get off your knees.’”
“Sometimes I think it must be some kind As if on cue, a bright red cardinal
of punishment.” His face is contorted appears at the bird feeder. “There he is.
behind his hands. He tries to hide that he You can tell by his color, he’s a male. The
is crying. “Sorry.” He shakes it off. “I can’t females are more washed out.”
go on with this. It’s not going anywhere.”
“Feels like there’s some strong emotions • continues

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 9

 Basic Attention Management
Help for a Suffering Planet continued
We both watch the cardinal for a minute. at that. There’s a red patch right here just
“What’s the knee doing?” I ask. the size of bullet. Or a tooth.”
“Not much. It actually feels pretty good “A tooth?”
right now. But it does go away sometimes “Yeah, I was just imagining why my
and then comes back.” knee might hurt, and I thought about how
“When did it do that?” much it hurts when something bites you
“I don’t remember. I really only think and a tooth strikes bone. That makes my
about it when it’s hurting. If I’ve had a knee hurt just to think about it. Makes me
real hard day, it hurts all night. But then want to get away. That’s the fear again. Do
some nights – not many – I don’t notice it you think pain and fear always go
at all. It reminds me of farmers that were together?”
suppose to predict the weather by the pain “I don’t know.”
in their joints.” He drifts off again. “I think they do. That’s that something
“What are you thinking?” that I couldn’t see before. It’s something
“My grandfather had a big outdoor scary. Boy, I can feel it. Look.” He shows
thermometer and just for the hell of it, I me he has given himself goose bumps on
threw a stone at it, and it smashed all to the arm.
“How’s the knee?”
“So far so good. This really tires you
The truth that an Avatar Master teaches does out, doesn’t it? I feel ready for a nap.”
not require a name for it does not pass “Is the tired feeling coming from your
knee?”
|through the world, but is the loving model of “I don’t know.”
willingness to share consciousness.
• continues

pieces. Little shards of glass everywhere.

Sometime my knee joint feels like it’s
filled with those shards of glass.”
“What did your grandfather do?”
“I don’t think he did anything, but I
remember being real scared that he
might.”
“There’s the little brown bird,” I say
pointing.
“That’s him. See how he’s got a thing on
his head? He moves differently though, a
lot quicker than the cardinals.”
We watch for awhile, and then his atten-
tion drifts back to his knee. “There’s still
something there,” he says.
“What’s it feel like?”
“Well, it feels like I got shot in the knee.
I imagine this picture of a civil war soldier
charging across a field and getting hit in
the knee. Boy, with one of those old mus-
ket balls that must have really hurt. That
would get your attention. Maybe my knee
still hurts from a past life or something.
Do you believe in that?”
“Yes, sometimes.”
“I’ll tell you, if you got hit in the knee
with one of them musket balls, it would
hurt bad enough that you wouldn’t ever
forget it.” He’s examining his knee. “Look

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 10

Basic Attention Management

Help for a Suffering Planet continued

“What’s it feel like?” “You know what this is?” he asks point-
“It feels like I just want to lay here and ing at the knee. And then answers his own
not move.” He’s slumped down in the question. “Have you ever heard of a phan-
lounge chair and is lying completely tom-limb pain?”
motionless. His eyes are open. “What’s that?”
“What are you thinking?” “It’s when an amputee has a pain in a
“I picture myself on that civil war battle- limb that isn’t there anymore. Like he can
field again. And I’m just laying there – still feel his hand, but his whole arm is
wait, that’s not quite right. I’m laying out- gone. He’s remembering. That’s what this
side a field hospital, and they’ve cut my is like. It’s a phantom knee pain.”
leg off. They’ve cut my damn leg off! Oh, We sit quietly while the idea sinks in. It
Jesus, help me. I just want to go to sleep. I feels like something has changed.
don’t want to think about anything. I just “Well,” he says, “I said I was never
want to sleep. This is a very familiar feel- going to forget it and I didn’t. You know, I
ing.” feel fantastic. What did you do to me?”
After a couple of minutes of silence, he “Look, the squirrels are back.”
thinks of something and starts laughing
and shaking his head. “You want to know (A follow-up a week later confirmed the knee
what I told the doctor the other day? I said was continuing to improve, and there was a
if he couldn’t do anything for the knee, he strong interest in doing Avatar.)
ought to saw the leg off.”
“That is funny.” We laugh together.

EXERCISE 7: Getting the Message

The following exercise is from the work- • discharge of a past trauma
book ReSurfacing, page 70. It makes use of • a change in viewpoint (a reordering of
much of what you have learned in the importance)
exercises 1-6.

Releasing Fixed Attention 1. Pick any sensitive area from your life.
Alternate between the following: a)
Repeatedly extending attention into and describe the area in detail until your
retracting attention from an area where attention is focused on it, then b)
attention is fixed will eventually recover describe something in your surround-
the fixed attention from that area. Usually ings in detail until your attention is off
the recovery happens abruptly and is the area. Repeat this process back and
accompanied by one or more of the fol- forth until one or more of the above
lowing results: results occurs.

• a sudden insight into the area Note: Be prepared to run this process for
• the appearance of a solution extended lengths of time. It can open old
• the disappearance of the area altogether wounds and should not be abandoned just
• relief from pain because the going gets tough. You are
• discharge of an upset or an emotional tougher. See it through to conclusion.
release
Some areas may be so fixed or emotionally charged that you cannot
immediately extend attention to them (unconscious memories) or
retract attention from them (danger). These situations are addressed
and remedied in the creation exercises of Section II Avatar materials.

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 11

 Basic Attention Management

Afterword
A reality paradigm is a set of assump- certain methodologies and are ready for
tions, concepts, values, and practices that more advanced ones.
constitutes a way of viewing reality for the There are more advanced attention
community that shares it. One of the posi- behavior paradigms employed in The
tive values of having a reality paradigm is Avatar Course, even more advanced in
that it allows the creation of methods The Avatar Wizard Course, and probably
even more advanced in reality paradigms
yet to be constructed. If, in working with
One of the positive values of having a reality this course, you sense a stable opening
paradigm is that it allows the creation of methods into one of these higher attention behavior
whereby the existing reality may be changed. paradigms, conclude your use of the
methods presented here and move on. The
goal of Avatar training is to assist you in
whereby the existing reality may be traversing reality paradigms rather than
changed. This is what you have been any final settlement into, or assertion of,
doing in the Basic Attention Management this is how it is.
Course, which is built upon a For a fuller understanding of how atten-
conventional attention behavior paradigm. tion functions, your next step is to enroll
At some limit of mind changing, your on a weekend ReSurfacing Course.
reality may actually reconstruct itself into If you have any suggestions or com-
a new reality paradigm that will require ments about this, or any other Avatar
the creation of new methods to continue mini-course, I would like to hear them.
your exploration. Some call this the path Love, Harry Palmer, 2003
of spiritual maturation; we grow out of

Ten Hints For Creating Free Attention

1. Clean out your closet. 7. Throw away a broken appliance
you were going to fix.
2. Put appointments/bills due on
a calendar. 8. Organize the garage/kitchen
cabinets/closet/desk drawer/
3. Forgive someone. old files.
4. Confess a transgression. 9. Make a “to do” list.
5. Break down a big project into 10. Decide to put something troubling
smaller steps. behind you (for help with this, see
exercise 6, step 3).
6. Divide a long-term goal into
smaller goals.

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.

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 12

 Your Next Step
Read Living Deliberately and ReSurfacing® by Harry Palmer
When you are ready to explore the inner workings of your own consciousness and become familiar with
the creation that you regard as self, we recommend reading the books Living Deliberately and
ReSurfacing® as the first step.
Living Deliberately is about the discovery and development of the
Avatar® materials. Avatar is a powerful and effective self-evolve-
ment, self-development, self-empowerment course that is delivered
in 66 countries and has been translated into 19 languages.

ReSurfacing® refers to the action of disentangling yourself from old

creations and rising back into awareness. The ReSurfacing workbook
is an Avatar guide for exploring the inner workings of your own con-
sciousness.

Introductory Special for new readers: For a limited time, you can buy the
$25.00USD book Living Deliberately, its companion workbook, ReSurfacing®, the Ten Actions
booklet, a full-year subscription to the Avatar Journal, and the audiotape How To Create
Magic In Your Life – a $55.00USD value – for only $25.00USD.

If you are not completely satisfied, you may return the two books for a full refund and keep the rest as our gift to you.

To order the Avatar Power Package, please contact any Avatar Master or call the Star’s Edge 24-hour order
line at 800-589-3767. Be sure to leave your name, address, telephone number, and credit card information.

You can also purchase these items from the Star’s Edge online bookstore at:
www.AvatarEPC.com/html/bookstore.html

Get a Free Issue of the Avatar Journal

Receive a free Avatar Journal by visiting online at: www.AvatarEPC.com/html/freejournal.html or you can
contact Star’s Edge International.

Contact an Avatar Master

Avatar Masters will answer any questions or concerns you may have, including when and where you can
take The Avatar Course. There are a number of ways to contact an Avatar Master.

• For a current schedule and contact information about the International Avatar Courses, please visit the
online Avatar Course schedule page at: www.AvatarEPC.com/html/avatarschedule.html

• To locate an Avatar Master near you, please visit the online Find a Local Master page at:
www.AvatarEPC.com/html/localmaster.html

• Or look through the directory listing and ads in the Avatar Journal. Receive a free Avatar Journal
by visiting online at: www.AvatarEPC.com/html/freejournal.html

• Contact Star’s Edge International.

Register for The Avatar Course

Complete and return the registration form for the course of your choice. Your Avatar Master will provide
you with the necessary form and information.

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 13

Who is Harry Palmer?
Writer, teacher, lecturer, scientist, pro- Today, few who fair-mindedly study
grammer, environmentalist, businessman, Harry Palmer’s work can doubt the
spiritual leader, explorer – Harry Palmer is profound effect that his writings are
truly a Renaissance man. For more than 30 having on the collective consciousness
years, Harry has played a prominent role of the world.
in the consciousness-evolvement field. His
bestseller, Living Deliberately (currently
available in 19 languages), describing his
personal discovery of enlightenment,
launched the highly regarded worldwide
workshop called The Avatar Course. His
lofty aim, to contribute to the creation of
an enlightened planetary civilization, has
been adopted by tens of thousands.
Palmer’s underlying purpose is to teach
people effective techniques for improving
their lives according to their own self-
generated blueprint.

Alignment
Would you like to be free of old restraints that make you unhappy?

Would you like to align your beliefs with the goals you want to accomplish?

Would you like to feel more secure about your ability to conduct your own life?

Would you like to experience a higher, wiser, more peaceful expression of self?

Would you like to be able to rise above the sorrows and struggles of the world and
see them for what they really are?

Would you like to experience the state of consciousness traditionally described as

enlightenment?

Avatar is for you.

If you feel an alignment toward the goal of creating an

enlightened planetary civilization and would like to have
an Avatar Master contact you, send your name, address,
and telephone number to:

Avatar Network Consultant

Star’s Edge International
237 North Westmonte Drive
Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714
USA

tel: 407-788-3090 or 800-589-3767

fax: 407-788-1052
e-mail: avatar@avatarhq.com
website: www.AvatarEPC.com

© 2003 by Harry Palmer. All rights reserved 14