Cata grew up near San Francisco,

California. She has lived in Oregon,

Alaska, Hawaii, and Brazil. She

received her degree as an RN at the

University of Hawaii, and served as

Director of Support Groups for the

Center for Attitudinal Healing, ,facili-

tating groups for the dying, and

bereaved. She now lives at Lake Travis

in Austin, Texas, where she runs a

bed and breakfast and delivers Avatar.

Becoming a full-tine Avatar Master

in 1991, she has taught the course in

the U.S. and Mexico. She delivers at

the International Courses, and all

over the Western United States. She

can be reached at 800-375-7529 or

catalow@earthlink.net

AJ. How did you find Avatar?

Cata: When I was a little girl, I

really wanted to grow up and be

like the saints I had read about. I

would love God, and help people,

and be happy. But I quickly got

the message that ordinary people

like me probably weren't going to

become saints. So I decided to be

a nun!

But growing up in the '60s near

San Francisco, these noble inten-

tions went underground as I stunr

bled into the 20th-Century-Magi-

cal-Mystery-Tour world in which I

lived. I bought a ticket to the Car-

nival of Earthly Experience and

went on every scary ride I could

think of.

Finally, the exhilaration turned

to suffering, and I got off the rides,

feeling very sick and looking for

relief.

I began to awaken in the heav-

ily-scented spirituality of Hawaii

in the '70s. My first step was A.A.

Not only did I use drugs and alco-

hol, I was bulimic. I had left no

excess unturned in my exploration

of life.

Then I began to study, study,

study! Gurdjieff school, Ouspen-

sky, Anthony DeMello, Thich Nhat

Hahn, A Course in Miracles, The

Center for Attitudinal Healing,

nursing school, social work... I

worked happily at a low-paying

job in a metaphysical bookstore

for a year just so I could devour

books on Tibetan Buddhism, Yoga,

Sufism, healing, channeling, poets,

Rumi, mystics of all cultures ... you

name it. I could quote the BEST!

But all the words and workshops

and stimulating conversations into

the night with my spiritual friends

still left something unfulfilled. All

teachers and books were pointing

to a door I had not yet opened for

myself.

Then, Avatar, 1991. I had heard

about it for three years but hadn't

paid any attention. One afternoon,

sitting at the kitchen table, I was

feeling my life like too-tight cloth-

ing, and I said out loud to myself,

"How Do I Make My Life Bigger?"

Well, I heard a little word in

my heart quietly say, "Avatar." I

picked up the phone and called

a woman I had met who taught

Avatar. I had admired her and felt

her aliveness, so I just called her

up, and said, "I want to know

about Avatar." She said, "Oh, I

have been waiting for this day!"

Before I was finished with The

Avatar Course, I was signed up

for The Master Course. The door

had opened and I knew it

AJ. How did your life. change

after Avatar?

Cata: It changed profoundly on

the second day of Avatar. I was

looking at a piece of wood in a

garden, and all of a sudden, I

could "see." Tears streamed down

my face, because a veil had lifted,

and I saw a vivid world of "What

Is" after years of "seeing through a

glass darkly." In that moment I

was forever changed.

During the Creation Exercises

in Avatar, I became the eye of the

hurricane. There was an "I" that

was stillness, yet fullness itself, in

the midst of whatever worldly

winds were blowing around me

Then phrases of many texts I

knew kept fluttering around me

like dry leaves. They were the

word lessons activated by the

fullness of this new Knowing.

Now I was feeling what they

had described. My total sense of

who I was changed, so of course,

my whole life changed.

A chronic stomach problem was

the first physical healing of many.

I have deep friendships with peo-

ple all over the world. I am in the

most fulfilling, honest, and com

passionate relationship of my life.

Best of all, I feel a profound sense

of appreciation for Life. I am aware

of the beauty that surrounds me.

Grass moving in patterns with the

wind, each bird has a different

dance when it walks ... the sweet-

ness in people... these things were

lost to me for so long. Now there

is so much richness.

AJ: What do you feel is special

about Avatar?

Cata: That it meets you where

you are. The tools work no matter

what your age, race, culture, sta-

tus, economics, and religion.

I've been on courses with Bud-

dhist monks, prison inmates,

West Texas ranchers, housewives,

CEO's, secretaries, Catholic nuns,

nine-year-olds and a 90-year-old.

The tools are simple and direct

and refer to present time. I call it

"the physics of consciousness."

You don't need gurus or gadgets.

All you need is intention, atten-

tion, and will.

AJ: What is your most interesting

or memorable experience since

delivering Avatar?

Cata: In 11 years of delivering

Avatar, I could write a book!

Once I was with a woman who,

paralyzed on one side, regained

movement in that side when she

changed her state of being with a

belief. Another woman dealt with

her chronic arthritis pain, after

decades. One man, who came with

chronic fatigue and could hardly

walk, was playing tennis after the

course. A friend cried tears of joy

in the water, because she could

swim again after months of debili-

tating sciatica that she handled on

The Avatar Course. Another man,

who lived eight years in depres-

sion and isolation, told me, "If I

died tomorrow, I'd die in apprecia-

tion; I'm so grateful I finally got

to be here!"

But to me, the real miracle

behind these healings is the shift

in the state of mind that precedes

it. I get the honor of being with

people who have the courage to

do that. The highest moments of

my life are when I'm with some-

one in that profound instant while

they realize who they really are.

I live for that.

AJ. What do you feel is your role in

assisting planetary transformation? 

Cata: It's very simple. I had this

realization even more deeply after

September 11. 

I thought to myself, "What are

you really about when you put

your feet on the floor each morn-

ing? What is this day really for?"

And I saw the responsibility that

I hold, that we all hold. Every

unkind, unconscious act adds to

the fear and static in our personal

lives and the world. Each unkind

act or word slows the collective

momentum toward a field of more

trust and cooperation. Both on a

personal and a worldwide scale.

Karma is not just an interesting

idea to me anymore. My every

action adds to more density, fear

and separation, or to more light-

ness, compassion and freedom

in the world.

So when my feet hit the floor;

my intention is to act on the inher-

ent goodness of my human nature.

I'm not Mother Teresa, but I can

play my part in alleviating suffer-

ing. I can smile at the clerk in the

7-11, appreciate my mate, support

my friends with compassion and

integrity, and continue delivering

Avatar. And when I falter, practice

as much self honesty as I can han-

dle, and get up and do it some

more! I feel so fortunate to be

living this path!