  We report branches of explicit expressions for nonlinear modes in parity-time
(PT) symmetric potentials of several types. For the single-well and double-well
potentials the found solutions are two-parametric and appear to be stable even
when the PT-symmetry of respective underlying linear models is broken. Based on
the examples of these solutions we describe an algorithm of excitation of a
stable nonlinear mode in a model, whose linear limit is unstable. The method is
based on the adiabatic change of the control parameter driving the mode along a
branch bifurcating from a stable linear mode. The suggested algorithm is
confirmed by extensive numerical simulations.
