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This is a national German television news segment done a few years ago on the Scientology off-shoot 'Avatar', run by the American company Star's Edge, a for-profit company owned by self-proclaimed educational psychologist Harry Palmer. {English transcript translated by German native speaker Eberhard Braun}
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCUqXxn8m8E
Ruth Koerner had nobody who would help her to get through the trauma she was experiencing. If doctors, caregivers, and victims would know more about depression, maybe Ruth Koerner would still be alive.
Research is confirming that not only in older generations the number of mentally ill people is on the rise. Beside depression, there are eating disorders, panic conditions and deep depressions. The reasons for this are multifold. Reality phobia, lack of close-knit families, the daily, hectic lifestyles (for example, the Internet), and the loss of religious meaning. And unfortunately, there are business people without scruples who will find such unstable people as victims.
They are promising new Self Confidence, Power and Wealth.
For example, the new psycho culture organization: AVATAR. The founder, Harry Palmer, has in 60 Countries over 100,000 paying followers recruited, to whom he sells expensive seminars. How this works, Palmer knows from his own experience. He is a former Scientologist.
Reporting are Andrea Motschelin and Kathrin Wuerba:
Isolated from the surrounding world, floating inside a tank filled with Epsom salt liquid, falling into a subconscious state, this is what the "Samadhi tank" promises.
The average person will last no longer than 2 hours inside this tank. Harry Palmer, Ex-Scientologist, founder of AVATAR, a Psycho Cult, has supposedly spent 8 weeks inside this tank and received a divine insight. Result, the Course: AVATAR.
Its content: Create your own reality; eliminate tough burdens and great pains in a short time, with the aim for leadership and a planetary civilization.
Markus Bauer lost his girlfriend to AVATAR. For her, Harry Palmer's lessons became Law: Create your own reality as you wish! At the end, she wanted to forget about her old world, left her companion and friends. The result of 3 AVATAR Lessons: Total loss of reality.
Markus Bauer is saying:
There were countless unpaid bills, troubles with the Law, the collection agency, troubles with the bank, and with all these problems, which truly are threatening a normal existence, she stood there, smiling. Even though, in the middle of all this-chaos. She wrote notes: "I am fine", "I haven't got any problems", "everything is all right", "I have got a grasp on everything."
The AVATAR lessons are packaged as a Personal Development course. In 66 counties, Harry Palmer sells this mixture of Hinduism, methods of Scientology, and positive thinking, very profitably.
The starter course, "Resurfacing," is relatively reasonable-the next lesson costs 2300 Euros. For the Master course, the charge is 3000 Euros, and the Wizard course will offer enlightenment in 13 Days for 7500 Euros. The contents of the courses have to be kept secret, but Harry Palmer finds out everything about his students and his "Masters". According to critics, AVATAR has fascistic traces.
Udo Schuster:
'I feel the structure is totalitarian since one is not allowed to ask fundamental questions. Also, I see this as a so-called "snow ball" system through connecting one lesson after the other. And thirdly, judging by the contents, I feel that it is totally one-sided, since only the ones who believe in this and are able to create their own desired 'truth' are accepted and thought to be good.'
On the Island of Bali, AVATAR offers Self experience underneath Palm Trees. A vacationing Woman ended up in the fangs of this Psycho Cult. She felt pressured by AVATAR followers.
"Right from the beginning, I told them that I won't go along with this silliness, because I suspect that you are a Cult. At first they laughed and ridiculed my statements but gradually they became more and more aggressive against me. Soon they wanted me to leave and forbid me to spend my vacation at the resort. They threatened to remove me forcefully."
Dangers about AVATAR are not only the financial, but the mental dependence. Subconsciously, the participants are being instructed that everything-all former thoughts and rules-are worthless and that their souls are deformed. AVATAR is now the solution on the search for the new self. With Harry Palmer, a big part of this brainwashing is according to the old, proven recipe.
Colin Goldner:
When you take a closer look at AVATAR, you can see from the structure that its contents show similarities to Scientology. Harry Palmer, the Founder of AVATAR training, is also known to have been a higher member of the church of Scientology and has copied many things from them. For one thing, it is the methods of recruiting members by AVATAR; for the other, are the contents of the teachings-both show close similarities and receive criticism, which is also given to Scientology.
Basically, Harry Palmer is the only one who really profits from AVATAR. Through a franchise system, the masters are forced to pay a license fee to Palmer's firm, named "Stars Edge International," located in Florida. A training license is issued only for one year. The trainers have to submit monthly reports and all documents have to be forwarded to Palmer. Also they have to swear secrecy. Estimations are that Palmer earned about 35,000,000 Euros (35 Million) in the past 15 Years.
"The Psychic manipulation was so terrible, that when I left (the course), I felt like I was up in heaven, rejoicing. I was flying-I was really flying. I thought I was God and that lasted for weeks. But after that, I fell down, the first time in my life I fell into such deep depression. I learned what depression means and I felt how difficult it is, how terrible it can be to be depressed ... I was very, very close to committing suicide."
A very similar experience confirms a former Master and Wizard from Israel. She writes:
"AVATAR is a mental drug. I experienced two instances when people, after completing an AVATAR Course, ended up in a Psychiatric Clinic."
In the mean time, AVATAR Courses are trying to establish themselves in community schools and adult education programs. There were introductions in at least 3 schools in Bavaria, where they ingeniously sell them as courses for "Personal Development".
Mechthild Kaufmann Ott:
"I had no Idea that AVATAR is so closely related to Scientology-otherwise this course would have never found its way into our program".
An English-speaking web page from AVATAR suggests ways how to make it attractive for children and youths. Just recently, there was a course from AVATAR at a hotel in the Sauerland region. The masters, as well as Harry Palmer, refused any comments in front of a camera.
To work on souls of People and in the market of Psychology, under present Laws, there are no proof of study or any experience required. A comprehensive Law for professional psychological help and to protect Consumers was denied by Congress.
