Learned helplessness (Why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer)
by Bill HarrisAugust 27th, 2008
First of all, I want to apologize for the long time between posts. I’ve been incredibly busy with various deadlines, traveling in and out of town speaking and presenting in various places, and so forth. Finally I’ve come up for air, so here are my latest thoughts.
Before I get to one of the most fascinating topics I’ve written about so far–how (and why) resources automatically flow to those who already have them, and away from those who do not, and how you can get on the receiving side of this equation–I want to make a few brief introductory remarks about Holosync.
I find it interesting when I consider the different reasons why people use Holosync. Some are drawn to Holosync because it creates a remarkable acceleration in meditation and spiritual growth. Holosync meditators, I’ve noticed, seem to progress somewhere from four to ten times faster than traditional meditators in terms of experiencing improvements in well-being, inner peace, a surrendering to what is, a lessening of self-created suffering, an ability to experience life from the transcendent, and an ability to become incredibly aware (more about this below).
One huge change I see in long-time Holosync users is a growing desire and ability to drop what I call the Game of Black and White. This is the game we unwittingly teach all new humans because we learned it when we were small, and it’s all that we know. In this game we artificially and arbitrarily divide the world into separate things and events (a dividing that happens in the mind, but not in reality, though we forget that and live as if these divisions were real rather than mental). We then place these supposedly separate things and events into two piles, the Appropriate Pile and the Inappropriate Pile. The main rule of the game is that White Must Win. In other words, we try to make whatever we’ve placed in the appropriate pile ”win” over whatever we’ve assigned to the inappropriate pile. Good must win over bad. Life must win over death. Having must win over not having. I must win over the environment. And so forth.
The problem with this game is that good and bad, life and death, having and not having, and all the other pairs of opposites, go together. Each side of the polarity is defined in terms of the other, and in fact only makes sense in relation to the other. We know good only because there is bad. We know life only because there is death. We know having only because there is not having. And, because all these supposedly separate things are actually one thing, and go together, one side can’t really win over the other.
This makes the Game of Black and White an unwinnable game, yet nearly all people spend their entire life playing it as hard as they can.
The unwinnability of this game makes it the main source of human suffering, and dropping it leads to freedom, inner peace, and happiness. Dropping the Game of Black and White also makes it easier to experience who you really are–the entire going on of it all. One of the most amazing things about Holosync is that it seems to relax our need to play this ridiculous game, or at least to allow us to play a lighter version (you have to play at least a little bit to be here).
Other people use Holosync because they’ve been traumatized and are suffering from various emotional dysfunctions. They’ve heard that Holosync dramatically shifts one’s relationship to fear, anger, anxiety, depression, addiction, and other types of emotional suffering. Many people on medication for anxiety or depression, for instance, are able to stop the medication after 10-12 months of Holosync use (never do this, of course, without consulting your doctor).
Such emotional problems are, of course, symptoms of the Game of Black and White, and since Holosync allows you to see the futility of this game and helps you to stop playing such a hard version of it, the related symptoms calm down and, for the most part, disappear. My friend John Dupuy, in conjunction with Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute, has pioneered an approach to drug and alcohol addiction recovery called Integral Recovery. He has used Holosync with tremendous success in addiction recovery, in getting people to stop using addictive behavior to try to hold off the intensely negative feelings created by a super-hard version of the Game of Black and White (if you’re interested in knowing more, you can read a paper John has written about Integral Recovery at www.integralrecovery.com/library.)
Other Holosync users are mind and consciousness explorers. They find that Holosync expands their mental capacity and their ability to be aware, since Holosync increases connections between the left and right brain hemispheres, leading to what scientists call whole-brain functioning), and increases the level of awareness-enhancing brain chemicals.
Holosync also seems to accelerate the development of an increasingly larger and more expanded perspective–what we use to navigate through life and make sense of what it means to be human (part of what I mean when I use the word awareness). This ongoing expansion of perspective-making is in large part what I was describing in my series about human development earlier on this blog (check the archives if you haven’t read these posts).
Ken Wilber, one of the world’s top experts on human development, has said that Holosync seems to accelerate our ability to move through these different developmental stages more quickly and easily–in other words, to adopt increasingly expanded perspectives about what it means to be a human being. I agree, as I clearly see this happening with anyone who has used Holosync for any reasonable length of time.
There are also tremendous health benefits to Holosync use. Considerable research has been done on the health benefits of traditional meditation. Significant positive effects on cardivascular health, brain health and functioning, immune function, hormone regulation, and many other positive health benefits, have been demonstrated. In addition, Holosync has huge stress-relief benefits, and since many mental, emotional, and physical health problems are either created by stress or made worse by it, Holosync use can dramatically improve quality of life.
And though this is anecdotal (no studies have been done–yet), for years we’ve heard from parents of children with ADD or ADHD about the huge positive effect Holosync has had on that condition. Many parents with autistic children (and a few people who work with autistic children) have told us that Holosync has a positive effect on their ability to more easily make contact with these kids.
In general, those who use Holosync are looking for ways to improve the quality of their lives, and Holosync seems to do that in quite dramatic ways–mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
In this post I want to examine one nuance of this yearning for a better quality of life, something that has fascinated me for a number of years. You could call this, “Why the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Poorer,” or “Learned Helplessness.” Let me explain what I mean.
A significant amount of research has come to light lately about what most people would see as a grim fact of life (all life, not just human life): the fact that resources flow more easily to those who are already successful, and away from those who are unsuccessful. “To he who hath it shall be given; from he who hath not even what he hath shall be taken away.”
This law applies to bacterial colonies, human beings, and everything in between. Though this law of nature seems cruel in terms of the individual, it is a powerful and positive survival mechanism when looked at from the point of view of the whole. So let’s look at this more closely, as it has a significant bearing on your ability to create a happy, fulfilling life. And, if you happen to be stuck on the wrong side of this law of nature, understanding it just might help you to reverse that trend (yes, there is a way to reverse it).
One of the simplest examples of this law is the workings of a bacterial colony. Amazingly, bacteria have sophisticated ways of communicating. One of these is through chemical attraction and repulsion cues, which are very useful to the colony.
As long as bacteria are in an area rich in food, they chow down and multiply like, well, like bacteria. Once the available food is gone, however, the colony sends out bands of scouts to look for new sources of groceries. Not all of them succeed, however. Some bands end up in the bacterial equivalent of a desert, while others may find a new bacterial food court. Those who end up stranded in the desert send out chemical messages that say, in effect, “avoid me.” In this way, resources aren’t wasted on expeditions to the same desert area.
If a band ends up in food heaven, however, it sends out chemical messages equivalent to those ten-foot signs on the roofs of diners saying “EAT!” As a result, the other bacteria come running (or oozing, or whatever bacteria do to get around.)
In other words, resources are withdrawn from the failures, and made available to the successful.
This same mechanism happens in all living systems. Those who are successful attract resources, and those who fail actually repel them. The obvious message is that you want to be in the successful group. If you are, more of whatever you want and need comes to you. A great deal of what I teach at Centerpointe is my attempt to show you how to be in this group. For reasons I’ll explain in a moment, I also believe–quite strongly–that Holosync use increases your ability to be in this resource-attracting group. Let’s look at a few more examples so you can more clearly see how this principle works.
All living systems have a built-in self-destruct mechanism that, as I said above, withdraws resources from the unsuccessful and diverts them to the successful. Robert Sapoloski discovered how wild baboons at the lower end of the baboon pecking order actually create large amounts of hormonal poisons that kill brain cells, causing their hair to fall out, wiping out their immune function, and leading to chronic illness. This, of course, further decreases their power and status with their baboon peers.
On the other hand, those at the top of the pecking order make more of the hormones and brain chemicals that cause well-being, self-confidence, and better health. And, in addition to better chemistry, these winners also end up with better food, the best living areas, and the most desirable sexual partners.
Researcher Marvin Zuckerman found that depressed hospital patients–those who actually needed the most care–were least likely to attract the compassionate attention of their caregivers. Their complaints, anger, body language, facial expressions, and other negative behaviors actually drive away those who might give them the care and nurturing they need.
On the other hand, those patients who are cheerful in the face of terrible illness or even impending death attract better care, more nurturing, and many friends. The nurses and doctors flock to them with sympathy.
It has long been known that individual cells have a self-destruct mechanism called apoptosis that rids the organism of unneeded, unwanted, or otherwise malfunctioning cells. Unsuccessful organisms (including human beings) have similar self-destruct programming that kicks in when that organism is no longer useful to the larger community.
A similar mechanism, in fact, appears on every level of life. The human body, for instance, contains millions of different types of antibodies. Just as in the examples above, resources flow to those antibodies that successfully find and deal with invaders, and away from those who either cannot find invaders that match their particular weapons, or aren’t able to defeat the invaders they encounter. Those that are successful attract resources and increase their numbers at an incredible speed, while those that fail are robbed of food and the ability to multiply.
There is, then, competition for resources at all levels in all living systems, including human and animal communities. Built into each system, fairly or unfairly, is a mechanism by which the group automatically withholds or withdraws resources from individuals who “fail.” What is more, unsuccessful individuals–through internal, built-in, automatic self-destruct mechanisms–withhold resources (positive, life-giving neurochemicals and hormones, for instance, that would cause them to feel and function better) from themselves!
The resulting condition is sometimes referred to as “learned helplessness.” When humans (or animals) are able to solve a problem they not only overcome the problem, they also thrive in other ways (some internal and some external) as a result of having encountered and successfully dealt with that problem. On the other hand, those who cannot solve a problem activate their own internal self-destruct mechanisms, which can be mental, attitudinal, emotional, hormonal, or neurochemical. These then create external social cues that cause their social group to further withhold resources.
In one study, rats were wired to receive painful electric shocks. Some of the rats had access to a button that, when pushed, would stop the shock, not only for the button-pusher, but also for other rats subjected to the same shock. Once the control buttons were discovered by certain of the rats, these luckier rodents would instantly lunge for the button whenever the experimenters turned on the juice, ending their own pain and that of their fellow rats.
The rats who never discovered the “off” button had no means of controlling their situation, and eventually gave up and passively resigned themselves to the painful shocks that came out of nowhere. These rats, even though they received the same number of shocks, and for the same duration, as the button-pushing rats, became physical wrecks. Their hair fell out. They developed ulcers. They lost weight.
The rat button-pushers, on the other hand, remained reasonably plump and fit. The rats without control buttons were sabotaged by their own built-in self-destruct mechanisms. They were poisoned by their own stress hormones. Their immune systems failed. Their reflexes atrophied. If given a way to escape, they were too confused to notice it or too infirm to take advantage of it. (This reminds me of some people who attend very expertly-taught self-help seminars, but somehow are unable to take advantage of what has been tremendously helpful to most other people.)
Similar experiments have been repeated in many different animal populations, including humans. In each case, individuals who fail tend to develop this same sort of learned helplessness which causes external resources to stop flowing to them and also causes their own body to shut down internal resources. As a result, they give up.
On the other hand, those who succeed–and particularly those who find a way to exert a certain amount of control over the situations in which they find themselves–end up with greater dominance within their group, more and better food, better lodgings or living situations, and more sexual privileges. Their internal chemical factories churn out what they need in order to be healthy, clear-minded, and vital. Truly, the rich do get richer while the poor get poorer.
Is this a no-win situation? Once you’re on the downward spiral, are you screwed? This would be the case–if you had no power to consciously and intentionally do things in a different way. The new and growing field of neuroplasticity indicates that you can change your internal processes and learn new ways of living and dealing with the world.
When you practice doing anything, including thinking about yourself in a new way, your brain devotes more brain real estate to that function, and you get better at it. The existence of brain plasticity means that it is not inevitable that if you are moving in an unsuccessful direction you have to continue moving in the same groove until you circle the drain. You do have the power to step out of a negative, self-destructive spiral.
Once resources begin flowing either to you or away from you they tend to keep flowing in that same direction. Usually, in fact, the flow increases as time goes on. Your job, then, is to get on the right side of this flow of resources. It’s true that if resources tend to flow away from you, there will be a momentum to overcome if you’re going to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and move to the resource-attracting side of the equation.
It can, however, be done. I’ve done it. Up until the mid-1980s, I was depressed, anxious, difficult to get along with, had few friends, and was scraping by on a very small income. I was definitely on the wrong side of the flow of resources, internally and externally.
Two things, I believe, shifted me from the self-destruct mode to the success mode, and I’ve found that these two methods work for anyone who uses them (though I will admit that the deeper you are in the self-destructive, learned-helplessness mode, the tougher it is, at least in the beginning).
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that the first method is Holosync. Holosync increases awareness, which is one of the keys to this process. Why? Because increased awareness allows you to see HOW you’ve been unconsciously sabotaging yourself. Even more important, Holosync stimulates the production of the very same neurochemicals and hormones made in abundance by those who are successful. These feel-good neurochemicals and hormones are a large part of what makes life easy for the successful top-of-the-pecking-order types. Holosync’s ability to stimulate the production of these ”success neurochemicals” makes it easier to overcome the negative, self-destructive, learned helplessness momentum.
The second method is to use the resulting awareness to look inside your own mind and observe the internal processes that directly generate how you feel in each moment, how you behave, what and whom you attract or become attracted to, and what meanings you place on the events of your life.
Winners–those to whom resources flow–feel different than losers. Their unconscious internal processes more often generate pleasurable and resourceful emotions, along with their characteristic neurochemicals. Because behavior is generated to a great extent by your internal state (which, in addition to feelings also includes such things as courage, persistence, confidence, enthusiasm, and so forth), winners also behave in a different way.
Again, the internal processes of winners motivate them to act in more resourceful ways. And, the resulting successful outcomes generated by these internal states and external behaviors tend to build on each other because they generate more feel-good brain chemistry, more self-confidence, and more positive beliefs, more possibility thinking, more resourceful meanings, and so on, making each success easier than the last.
Such people also begin to attract resources and the help of other people–as, for instance, with the hospital patients described above who received more care and nurturing. These winners also find themselves almost magnetically attracted to better, more resourceful situations, and to kinder, more loving, more helpful people–whereas those on the other side of the equation (including me, twenty years ago) tend to attract or be attracted to people who actually help them fail in various ways and help them feel worse about themselves. And, finally, the winners’ interpretations of what is happening around them–in other words, what the events of their life seem to mean (including what failure and setbacks “mean”)–is different.
Understanding how this mechanism of learned helplessness (or learned success) works led me to formulate what, if I do say so myself, is one of the most profound statement you’ll ever hear about how to get what you want from life:
For any outcome you want, there is a certain way of thinking and acting that will get it for you. You just have to find that way of thinking and acting, and then be willing to adopt it.
When I say “a certain way of thinking” I’m referring in large part to those internal processes. If you adopt the particular internal processes that will generate a certain outcome (which you can discover from those who have already done what you want to achieve), certain actions will follow, and from those actions the desired result will follow. If random events beyond your control interfere (which they will), these same internal processes will help you discover the opportunity in what has happened, and though success might be delayed, it will eventually come. In fact, as I noted above, encountering a challenge and overcoming it actually increases your ability to be successful–another example of the rich becoming richer.
All of this means that in addition to jump-starting your internal “success chemicals” you must: 1) find out how your internal processes generate different feelings, meanings, and behaviors, and how they cause you to attract certain people and situations into your life (while avoiding, overlooking, or repelling others), and 2) find out how to intentionally operate those internal processes so as to create the outcomes you want.
The key to all of this is awareness. What you are unaware of controls you. What you are aware of, you gain control of and have choice over. As long as your internal processes are unconscious, they will continue to create the same outcomes, and the downward spiral (if that is what is happening) will continue. The two keys, then, to stepping out of learned helplessness are 1) making more of the body’s success chemicals (a process beautifully jump-started by Holosync), and 2) learning to operate your internal processes consciously, rather than allowing them to operate automatically.
Interestingly, even the internal processes of most successful people are running on automatic. It’s just that their automatic functioning is set up in a more resourceful way. They very likely grew up with supportive parents, good mentoring, perhaps even good genetics, which gave them an advantage (though sometimes a negative childhood causes such people to vow that come hell or high water they WILL succeed, and this motivation turns them toward the positive side of things). But whether your internal processes are driving you toward success or failure, if you can learn to operate them consciously and intentionally, your ability to be a successful, resource-attractor increases exponentially–even beyond that of the ”automatically” successful person.
In an ironic way, starting in the self-destruct mode, if it motivates you to learn to operate your internal processes consciously and intentionally, ultimately makes you more powerful, more successful, and more able to create what you want in life. Without the inspirational dissatisfaction that leads you to do something about your sorry state you might never delve into and master the internal processes that create your life.
I believe this is what happened for me. The situation in my childhood led me toward the self-destructive mode, and a lack of success. I dealt with my unhappiness by taking drugs (not recommended). As I approached the age of forty I thought, “What the hell happened? Is this my life?”
But through a series of events I won’t go into here I ended up experimenting with what became Holosync, and over a few years my emotional problems miraculously began to clear up. Later I became interested in cognitive psychology and the investigation of the internal processes that were generating my experience of life. Throw in some wisdom from Eastern philosophy, and my life began to shift to the more successful side of the equation.
Holosync use, I’m convinced, is a powerful tool in making this sort of change. Why? Successful resource-attractors make lots of feel-good chemicals. This is a built-in biological system that rewards us when we succeed by pumping out serotonin, endorphins, and other positive neurochemicals. In many ways this is what keeps winners going through good and bad times.
Since Holosync helps you make more of these same hormones and neurochemicals without your necessarily having to actually do something successful, and because it begins to change the brain so that it “learns” to make more of these positive brain chemicals, more easily, you can use Holosync to jump-start yourself into the success camp.
Then, because Holosync also greatly increases your ability to be aware, you can then begin the second step, where you begin to notice your internal processes and learn to operate them more consciously and intentionally. I explain these internal processes and how they work to some degree in the support material, and go very deeply into them in the first of my Life Principles Integration Process online courses (www.centerpointe.com/life).
Though it’s certainly possible to master your internal processes without Holosync, the increased awareness created by Holosync makes it MUCH easier. This is because you cannot continue to do something that does not serve you (i.e., do those things that continue the self-destructive spiral) if you do them with awareness. If you do something that is not resourceful with full awareness, you just can’t keep doing it, and it falls away of its own accord.
When I say watch with awareness I do not mean that you merely know you’re doing something. Most people already know that they’re experiencing the same undesirable outcomes over and over (becoming involved with the wrong romantic partner, investing in losing business propositions, becoming excited about something and then quitting before finishing it, procrastinating, addictive behaviors, etc.). Yet they continue to create the same negative outcomes, over and over, often for an entire lifetime. I certainly did this, well into my 40s. Knowing on a cognitive level is the booby prize in this process, and isn’t the same as actually watching your internal processes generate the different outcomes in your life.
To watch these processes (and therefore gain a degree of control over them) you need 1) awareness, which is created by Holosync (there are other ways, but none I have found that are as easy, fast, or reliable), 2) motivation, created by the feel-good brain chemicals Holosync stimulates, 3) an understanding of your internal processes and how they work, and 4) practice in watching them.
Awareness and intentional control of your internal processes is the modern version of “yogic powers” or the attentional abilities Tibetan monks have demonstrated to modern researchers in recent years. This isn’t magic, but rather the result of a level of awareness few attain. Getting there takes work, and persistence. But because you are discovering exactly how YOU are creating your experience of life, playing with your internal processes can be fascinating. And, the result–getting on the success side of life–is worth the time you spend playing with it.
Once you see–experientially–the plasticity of reality, that you really are creating the reality you live in, you begin to realize that what you always assumed was “reality” isn’t THE reality. What is reality, you begin to wonder? This wondering, and the investigation that follows, is the beginning of true spiritual awakening. It leads to the discovery that you are IT, the entire going on of it all, “the Which of which there is no Whicher,” as I have described in previous posts.
The dirty little secret is that you are already creating (in relationship with everything else) your reality. It isn’t so much that you learn to create your reality as it is that you learn to intentionally create it. Many people say they aren’t good at “manifesting.” This just isn’t true, though. You’re already expertly manifesting everything. You’re just doing it unconsciously. You can, however, learn to do it intentionally. To do so, however, you have to see exactly how the creative process works, which involves awareness, and then learn to exercise control over the aspects of the process over which you actually do have some choice.
So, here’s what we know. There is a built-in mechanism in humans that causes resources–the goodies of life–to flow to those who already have them, and to be withdrawn from those who already have less. It’s really true that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. The way I see it, my job is to show you how to change the direction of that flow, or how to enhance it if it’s already flowing in the desired direction.
Resources–including your own internal resources–can flow away from you only if you live without awareness.
What, then, is awareness? It’s the ability to observe what you previously were caught in, and therefore could not see. It’s the enlarging of your perspective in order to see what you previously were immersed in and therefore could not see. Once you see how you’ve been unconsciously creating a certain outcome–unpleasant relationships, low motivation, bad decisions, or whatever–that awareness allows you to intentionally do something different, something more resourceful.
What’s so amazing about awareness–about the ability to observe in this way, about what we sometimes call witnessing–is that when you watch in this way you don’t even need to know what is or isn’t resourceful. All you need to do is be aware and what is or isn’t resourceful sorts itself out, all by itself. There is some intuitive part of us that knows what is resourceful, and sorting that out doesn’t involve thinking about it or analyzing it. When you watch with awareness, what is resourceful floats to the top every time. This makes everything easier. Life flows when you are aware.
I hasten to add, however, that awareness doesn’t mean that everything will always be the way you want it to be. The world is full of random events, including other people who have an agenda different from yours, so sometimes things don’t turn out the way you hoped. Two things happen when you are aware that help you deal with this problem, however. The first is that aware people learn how to deal with each new and unexpected bend in the road by remaining aware, which allows them to work with whatever happens and turn it to their advantage, whether it is what they wanted or what they didn’t want.
Second, aware people, instead of fighting what they cannot control, surrender to it. They do what they can, and then they let go of needing the outcome to be a certain way. And, just as you don’t have to figure out what is resourceful and what isn’t, the aware person doesn’t have to decide to surrender. If you are aware, surrender happens. Why? Because not surrendering–in other words, resisting what is–isn’t resourceful, and awareness allows you to automatically act in a resourceful manner.
Holosync can play a powerful role in helping people make this shift–this shift to greater awareness, a wider and more inclusive perspective. I suspect that this is partly because Holosync changes one’s brain chemistry and hormonal make-up to one more like that of a winner, and partly because Holosync, for some wonderful reason, allows one’s perspective to grow, to expand, to include more. It allows you to see what you previously had been immersed in, unconscious of, blind to. (Then, of course, you become immersed in something new, about which you eventually also become aware, followed by something else, and then something else. The journey of increasing awareness never ends.)
Once the momentum change happens, once you begin to move in the direction of increased awareness (and begin creating the winner’s brain chemistry) the chances of continuing in this new and more resourceful direction are very high. If you use the awareness Holosync creates to find out who you really are and how you are creating your reality, you become unstoppable. Even more important, you attain a freedom that allows you to truly be a human being, by choice.
I hope you’ll join me in this journey down the winner path.
Be well.
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August 27th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
This explains why I keep at the Holosync meditation (coming up on 4 years now) day in and day out. I must be getting all of those good chemicals.
Rich
August 27th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Great post, Bill. Holosync has improved my emotional health and I do notice having more awareness. I’ll catch myself going towards anger or depression and redirect my energies to go towards calmness, love, or whatever I need at the moment. I have further to go, though, as there are times where I’ll get caught up and the emotion and have difficulty getting out. I’ve got old issues coming up and I am noticing that I am playing the game of Black and White - it’s time to stop playing.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Absolutely amazing! You put this all so eloquently that it is hard to dispute the fact that we can think ourselves into success or think ourselves into failure. I grew up hearing the lament that “money goes to money”, but luckily I read enough and listened enough to understand why that was true and how I could take advantage of it. After reading this post I am reminded why I was attracted to Holosync originally I am I recommitted to having it as an important part of my day. I recently shared my experiences so far with Holosync on my blog:
http://melissathinksoutloud.com/2008/08/21/come-meditate-with-me-on-rainbows/
Thank you making this technology and your support available to the world!!! May you always be blessed.
August 27th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Hi Bill,
My God what an enlightening post, a marvelous blend of science and self-transcendence / spiritual development.
One thing I constantly notice after almost 9 years of holosyncing pretty much every day is that no matter how “bad”, uncomfortable or screwed up my life can look at times, awareness or the “just watching” that you mentioned almost always points out for me how I am creating it.
Ultimately the feeling of separation of everything that is is created by a certain resistance or lack of “watching” of that core mystery of life.
Once that separation feeling is looked and thus integrated but not negated everything becomes possible, it becomes so obvious that a way of being (thinking+acting+a lot more) creates every outcome, so life is no longer a challenge but a constant flow of resources to materialize our hearts desires.
Thanks all of the wonderful and insightful sharings,
much love,
blessings and success to all.
Luis Felipe
August 27th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
You have to be kidding me. The tie in with holosync is complete garbage
August 27th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I am unable to read more of this article regard the law of nature.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I love reading that sort of stuff. Very interesting and helpful.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Great reading and content to think about. I actually used a lot of information provided by the articles to present a speech at uni, addressing the statement “All of your life is pre-determined and you have no real freedom of will or choice”. It was part of the subject ‘ideas and thoughts’ where we are looking at philosophy, and you can read what I wrote and my perception on the matter by clicking on my name. Hope you enjoy it, and continue with the great work as I am enjoying Holosync and thankyou for this great program.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Aloha Bill!
What a fabulous post. I will be adding a link to it on my blog tonight( http://www.starlightlife.wordpress.com ). Working with eating disordered clients I am sure Holosync could be a huge help. Black and white thinking is prevalent in this population.
Big Mahalo for having the lights go off in my own mind….I’ve not to this point shared the Holosync with my clients….what was I thinking???? Well now I have a beautiful new tool to bring awareness to the people I work with.
Aloha!
Gina
August 27th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Woohoo, the hiatus is over and here comes a new post!
Once again, very insightful and wise words.
The power of neuroplasticity in its ability to change a person’s life direction (whether currently positive or negative) is truly amazing, because we choose to relinquish our current paradigms if they are not resourceful.
Something that I think is critical, however, is that it is not enough to merely be a winner in life, although certainly that is what I’m sure all of us want! I believe it is even more important to go beyond our personal victories and contribute in some way to society at large. With the awareness that we develop (whether with Holosync - the fastest way, traditional meditation, or whatever), we’re in a more powerful position to positively influence others to harbor more awareness, and thus the rippling effect continues perpetually.
This is some very breakthrough stuff, Bill! Keep it up.
Cheers!
Draco
UCLA Office of Residential Life
FROM BILL: You are absolutely right. And, what you are describing is developmental. Until one’s own needs are net, a person is less likely to devote a lot of time or other resources to helping others. Once our own needs are met, however (and IF we have developed to a more world-centric level), we will begin to see helping others as a higher priority. At this point in my life I have attracted so many resources that I can’t possibly use them all. Some I have set aside for my children and for my wife (should I die first). Some I do spend on my own life, of course.
I also give a huge amount to various charities, mostly those helping children. I also serve on boards of charitable organizations, and help many other people in the spiritual and personal growth community (Ken Wilber, Genpo Roshi, Diane Hamilton, Jack Canfield, and many others) with their businesses. One of the great things about attracting a lot of resources is that it allows you to do these sorts of things, which I find very fulfilling. It also allows me to even more selflessly help Centerpointe people, without particular thought to what’s in it for me (yes, I know that the cynical among you can’t imagine that anyone really operates this way).
August 27th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
[…] “Learned helplessness” (”Why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”) […]
August 27th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Awesome post Bill! :O) Fantastic as always… I have been using holosync pretty much every day for the last five years, and am at the end of Awakening Level 2, I know I could have moved faster but hey, I have a budget to think about! haha I still feel great when listening to the current level and will move on as soon as I can clearly afford it. I worked out that 5 years of holosync every day is equal to seven thousand hours of traditional meditation! Wow! Now I know why there have been so many massive positive changes throughout my life. Thanks so much for the contribution you have made to my quality of life and in helping me become more of a winner :O)
You are the man,
David :O)
August 27th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Bill, thank you for writing such a helpful, interesting and informative article! I highly enjoyed reading it as it has clarified my perspective on attraction and repulsion as it relates to human behavior. The study that shows how the “high-spirited” patients receive better care and support from others is incredibly motivating; positive attitude and increased awareness are so incredibly important in mitigating suffering and increasing peace.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
This would have been a really interesting and helpful posting, if it had not just been an extended advert for Holosync. If Holosync is that good and that successful you do not need to mention it in every other sentence. There has been some truly wonderful blogs you have posted. This one was so disappointing and hard to read because it was mainly about how great your process is. We have had that. You don’t need to do that.
FROM BILL: I have been asked to write about Holosync. I am doing that. People want to know how Holosync works, why it works, and what it does. What I’m curious about is how you got this shadow about promoting something. Why play the Game of Black and White around the fact that I promote Holosync? What did you think I was here for? I promote Holosync in order to get people to use it. When that happens, they are helped (tremendously). Everyone ends up happier. If I was lying about Holosync you might have a point, but that isn’t what is happening, is it?
August 27th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
It’s always a pleasure to read your work. It seems that the further along I come in Holosync (Awakening Level 1) the more I’m aware of how fortunate I am to be a part of your program. It’s changing my life and my possibilities for the future.
Question: For the traumatized person who is becoming more aware through Holosync…. Is he/she starting to experience life the way a ‘healthy’ person has always experienced life, or, is his/her improving awareness, in some way, even different from a ‘very healthy person’ who has never meditated or used Holosync?
August 27th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Thank you, I’ve read similar thoughts before but adding the example with the baboons clearly illustrated this for me. I intend to share this blog with a lot of people. Thank you again, your writing on these subjects is always right on. I read this one after my Holosync session. The writer who is offended by your suggesting using Holosync is missing it.
I have found Holosync to be an incredible tool, I’ve been using it for 2 years and my thinking is clearer and I am more aware, especially in my personal relationships where I can improve or where I need to just sit back and observe. I am becoming the witness more and more (and I understand what that means). Thank you again, Kathleen
August 27th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Please ! Please! release an Audio download Bill , I love jamming your blogs on my ipod - I enter a new space at the click of a button… Thanks Mac
August 27th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Another great post Bill,
I have a question about holocync. Even though you didnot mention it here in the support materials you say that holocync brings to the surface a lot of shadow material to be release.
In your course about the power of now you said that the pain body was the same as the shadow and that holocync actually help a lot with your shadow issues.
On the other hand Ken Wilber said ( and you agree with him) that meditation does NOT touch the shadow, that is why he ( and you too) recommend other methods like 123 etc.
So I would like to be clear about your perspective on how holocync helps with the shadow if it does .
Carlos
August 28th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Thanks Bill, it was a great post.
I’m aware of this and need to extradite myself presently, from a not so resourceful situation, and once again reinvent myself. However, the what, where, when, and how hasn’t quite manifested itself yet; although the desire to do so is very strong.
Patiently watching with awareness.
I would like very much to join you in the journey down the winners path.
All the Best,
Stephen
August 28th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Thanks Bill,
This is one of the few posts I can understand and relate to.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Brilliant post Bill, as always, but spoiled (for my British taste) by repetitive plugging of Holosync (and I’m a dedicated user).
The subject is absolutely fascinating though. If you should ever write a version without the commercial elements (or at least with a more balanced inclusion) I’d forward it to everyone I know.
John
August 28th, 2008 at 1:48 am
Bill,
I found your post very interesting. Particularly, since it refers to many of topics, subjects and indeed research that I have been involved with over the past year or so. I’ve read Martin Seligman’s book Learned Optimism in which he goes into great detail the about learned helplessness, pessimism and depression. His approach is more like CBT in that he asks us to become aware of out thoughts and then refute them using an ABCD model. He says that pessimists generally see negative outcomes/events as permanent, pervasive and personal whilst optimists see the opposite- neg events as temporary, specific and universal (non personal). He also goes into the benefits of how optimists are generally much happier, more resilient, healthier and live much longer (the famous nun study). Like you, he shows the reader how to become more optimistic and hence create more of what we want- health, happiness,etc
I’ve just begun the LPIP course, lesson 2. (And have being H/Sing for 1 year). I’m interested in how witnessing differs from taking a more cognitive refutation approach to changing our thoughts. Can you enlighten me on the difference, and indeed are they complementary? Also, any chance that you might get involved with one of the Happiness and It’s causes symposiums?
By the way I love LPIP course so far. And H/s has really deepened my meditation practice.
Thanks and warmest regards
Gerry
FROM BILL: The “cognitive refutation approach” involves witnessing, doesn’t it? To do it, you have to become aware of what you are doing. The Tibetan Buddhists have practices very much like what you describe. It’s all about becoming aware of what you were previously unaware of (and were therefore caught in).
August 28th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Given you purport to be part of a “research institute”, what peer-reviewed research is there to support your assertions in this article for holosync? (Not research about meditation generally, but specific research on holosync.)
August 28th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Thanks Bill,
What I particularly like about your explanations is the scientific explanations of why these things occur. They then have a rationale in nature. I must also say that your Life Principles Integration Process course has helped me to become more conscious of how I have been creating my own reality.
Thanks,
Tim
August 28th, 2008 at 3:19 am
Dear friends, Bill,
Bill mentions in this most comprehensive blog post, his Life Principles Integration Process - on line courses.
As a 2-yrs old Holosyncer and LPIP presently-student, the only thing I can advise you all readers to do, is :
TAKE LPIP on-line courses !! It is the most efficient investment you will make for yourselves - at least it is for me !!
If you really care for yourselves and for your improve knowledge of cognitive psychology, then you have to do these courses.
Believe me, you WILL experiences there so many AHA-sss !!!
You will just be amased !
Best to you, Bill, and thanks,
Emilia
August 28th, 2008 at 4:22 am
Hi Bill,
Amazing! You have an incredible art of simply explaining what I already know deep inside but cannot articulate. I love Holosync because it is doing for me exactly what you say it will and more. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
August 28th, 2008 at 5:07 am
Well, Bill, you just told me something what I have expirienced in my life the last 2-3 years. In summer 2006 I got my awakening prologue. At the same time I had very painfully divorce and I lost all my property then too. I also was sure that Im going to loose my children, job and everything else too.
Nowadays, I got 500000 euros (900000 dollars?) worth real-estate, steady good job and my lovely children lives with me also, every second week.
And now Im going with awakwening level 4, disc 2, firs week;-)….
August 28th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Well, I will not say this ,ugh, ‘method’ doesn’t work but…For seven thousand years we’ve been building th illusion [s] that somebody ‘knows’ the answer. Horse puckey!
The key is and has always been ‘locked’ up in the attic of every person’s own mind since the dawn of time.
That’s the G-d’s own truth in a nutshell.
If anyone, psyco or psyco-ologists… has a need to help someone…unlock the door to their mind! Tis veewy, veewy simple, ya’ll.
Now please send me five trillion dollars for the correct answer, sir.
“If you seek me…lift up a stone and there the heck I am.”
good-day.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:15 am
“A significant amount of research has come to light lately about what most people would see as a grim fact of life…”
This is very interesting. Would it be possible for links or references to the “research” to be given for those who would like to read more about it? Thanks.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Really terrific post, Bill. You have a genius for explaining very complicated things in a way that’s clear and simple. I’ve told you this before, but let me say again: I want to be able to write like you when I grow up!
August 28th, 2008 at 7:03 am
I love your posts Bill, you explain things with such clarity and focus, it all unfolds and makes sense easily and beautifully. Thanks so much for your continuing support and contribution.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:14 am
great post Bill,
I’ve been using holosync for about 6 years now and I must say that it keeps getting better and better. When I look back now at how I used to be, I can see that I am now a completely different person(and that’s a good thing!) Lately I’ve been having kind of a wierd experience after meditating with holosync, I can only describe it as being immersed into some kind of “cartoon land” inside my head. After the meditation is completed I see all these brilliant landscapes and shapes. I know I’m not dreaming because I’m completely aware and watching the display. It is very beautiful and creates a feeling of extacy within. Anyone else have this experience?
Dave McG
August 28th, 2008 at 7:27 am
I have been using Holosync for about 10 months and it has noticeably improved my ability to rein in overeating and drinking too much. My weight has begun to drop as a result. This must be due to the brain chemicals being produced which increase my overall sense of well-being and therefore decrease my need to compensate with food and drink.
On another note, I was struck by how the evolutionary model that Bill speaks of, where those who do not prosper unconsciously undermine themselves and further weaken their position, points up the seeming advantages of the so-called “free market economy”. That is precisely what the Adam Smith model of economy is designed to do. This of course creates gross inequities which seem unfair to those on the losing end, so they may try to forcibly correct the inequities by various methods, both reasonable (limited redistribution through taxation) and unreasonable (confiscation and nationalization). But this is exactly the wrong way to go about correcting the problem, and it is little wonder that socialist and communist economies end up with even worse inequities and with a general impoverishment of society. The poor need to be helped by discovering their true potential and changing their habitual thinking. Of course, this is not an argument for a totally unrestricted free market; some redistribution is needed just to give those on the losing end of the equation some hope. It is interesting, however, that Bill’s paradigm of evolutionary development, when applied to economics, appears to validate the very economic model that is otherwise derided by liberal-minded, altruistic people who are the ones who would be most likely to take up Holosync.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Amazing post, this is somethign I really needed to read. HM. Thank you.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I have been using Holosync for about 7 months now. I have been very pleased with the results including a sense of witnessing in almost all of my life situations. I have actually found that even when I lose this awareness I am able to see myself losing it and say mmmm what’s up with that. It has been a very fun exploration into my own consciousness and process in life. I am very aware that I am on the cusp of discovering why I have planted myself in certain situations that have been less than beneficial to my well being…ie. financial health etc.. I feel ready to be aware of the source of this behavior and ready to make the necessary changes OR not…which ever may be the case. But, however long this may take, I am enjoying the life I am in, from moment to moment, all of the time now. I have been exploring my awareness or lack there of most of my life since about 17 (about to turn 60) in various ways and am amazed that “all of a sudden” I seem to be “getting it”. I attribute a good portion of this to your Holosync program and will be with you most likely for as long as I am on the planet. Blessings to you and Thank You Bill.
Sincerely,
Linda Lander
August 28th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Absolutely pure!!!!clear as a deep blue sky.
Thanks Bill
What am I doing ?I’M HOLOSYNCING Every single day.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Beautifully said. It makes so much sense. Thank you for your continuing insights and support.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Bill,
I just want to thank you for the work you are doing and for the Holosync program. I am a long time practitioner of Zen, and Holosync has really charged up my practice. Also, as a hypnotherapist/NLP practitioner, the value of Holosync is going to be amazing!!!
Are you aware of HeartMath? I have been using their product as well, and it has some wonderful benefits as well.
Blessings,
Randy Clere
August 28th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Whose defintion of winner and loser are we using here? This should be questioned and seen within the context of our social conditiong. Personally, I’ve seen people doing great things who may not fit the socio-economic model of “success”, but who have much inner wealth and wisdom. Lets not equate happiness and contentment mainly with having external resources and social status. There is a connection no doubt-we all need a certain quality of life, good healthy food, clothing and shelter and self respect but how much is enough and who is defining that for us? If all our respect is gained through our standing in society, good luck in ever being truly happy. Being mentally strong, having compassion and respect for others and learning how to endure the ups and downs is a lot more important than where you are in the “pecking order”. If you’re really poor and you want more money go for it. If you’re really unhappy though, look at all the issues. You may end up rich but still unhappy. All of us want more-this is a major cause of suffering. This lack we all feel is a universal complaint. Sometimes it really is just material, but I think most of it is all in our heads. Personally, I’m not ready to buy into the dominant culture’s view of what “success” is. Every day I catch myself wanting more stuff but I remind myself that it isn’t the ultimate goal.
FROM BILL: I don’t see that I am equating success with extrenal resources and social status, though both of these ARE part of what the rest of the humans on this planet think of as success. Are you saying that you want less status and fewer resources? I doubt it.
I’m also talking about internal resources, such as your immune system working properly, or your internal reward system working to make you feel good.
You’re confusing the word “success” with “okayness,” I’m not saying that a person who is failing to attract the resources we all want isn’t okay, or that they are a bad person. That’s YOUR projection. I’m saying that people want to feel better, they want to have friends and positive strokes, and they want to have enough to eat, a comfortable place to live, and so forth. Some people, though, do things to actually drive these things away, and then they suffer. To such people I am offering a solution.
First, I’m explaining the mechanism at work, so they can see why things have been going the way they’ve been going. Second, I’m showing them what needs to happen to change that situation, and how to do it. Any judgement about such people is coming from your mind, not from me. I care about such people, which is why my life is all about helping them. I have not said anything negative about such people. That is your imagination. Nor have I said that anyone should define success in any particular way–though I doubt you will find anyone who doesn’t want the things I listed in the paragraph above. All I have said is that people who drive away resoureces, both internal and external, don’t like being that way (which is what they tell me), and that there is a way out.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Good post Bill,
As usual. I’ll see you on Saturday, heading over to Portland.
Cheers!
- Julius from Toronto.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Thank you Bill for making this amazing technology available to everyone. I’ve been using Holosync for about a year now and have noticed an increased ability to not let little things (for the most part) bother me anymore. I am definately happy most of the time and it’s only been a year! I can’t wait to see what comes next. I am trying to get my wife to give Holosync a try and she has promised to do so. I think this is exactly what she needs right now.
Thanks again Bill.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I am so blessed to be part of an amazing group of people. Holosync really has saved my life and has confirmed that there is so much more that I need to learn. I am so glad that I started at only 29 yrs of age, I can’t wait to see how I change the world!
Thank you Bill– I can’t wait to meet you in vegas next month.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Very interesting post Bill.
A close friend of mine, Dr. George Tsipralis, is the director of the Bio-Chemistry dept. at the University of Arizona here in Tucson.
He and his team were part of the space shuttle experiment last year where they were studying the effects of zero gravity on bacteria.
So they trained and fitted a bunch of bacteria in little space suits and launched them into space. (That part I made up :o)
To make a long study short: they learned that the “literal” metaphase frequencies (the vibratory bifurcation point of a spliting cell), of these bacteria actually changes to adapt to it’s new zero gravity environment while in space.
Read that again: that the genetic frequency born into these bacteria on earth literally shifts and changes to a new frequency to adapt to it’s new environment when in outer space–so that it can go into metaphase–so that the bacteria can grow onward or upward or whatever is up or down in space.
What that means to me is that all this stuff we’re talking about in terms of attraction is relative to our environment, and even relative to gravity.
So the idea that bacteria and all resonating objects (everything in the causal universe) emits and receives signals that can determine the life path of that entity, and how we gravitate to certain people, places, events, based on our own resonating frequencies we’re emitting as we think our thoughts walking down the street, go to a new job interview, approach a pretty girl, etc. isn’t far fetched at all.
Even a woman’s ovaries emits an electro-magnetic/bio-chemical signal which is partly why all we males go “huh, what?” when they walk by.
As a matter of fact, it is more the “norm” than most people would care to admit or even ponder. We are hard-wired into this place for now, and our thoughts relative to our bio-chemical processes determine the resonance at which we interact with the causal world around us.
So we all better get with the idea of resonant frequencies and how Bill and others like myself are learning to literally “tap into” what these frequencies are.
What I’ve noticed about Holosync relative to other forms of neurotechnology I’ve researched and used, is the actual frequencies used.
In my opinion, the idea of lower carrier frequencies is significant in that, a lot of engineers are creating binaural beat frequencies that are too high in frequency to offer that extra “umph” that Holosync does to stimulate the brain and to get it “resonating” with the lower bio-chemical processes of my brain/body/mind, and my individual resonating frequencies.
The key is more closely tapping into those resonant frequencies and the effects specific frequencies and brain wave signatures have on the human brain/body.
When reading this article I must admit that the idea of being part of the loser’s camp, or the winner’s camp in and of itself can trigger a hard version of the game of black and white. It soon becomes clear that all one need to do is shift their thoughts to ones that resonate with the desired outcome, and simply let gravity and the other natural laws of our causal world take their natural course.
We really don’t have control over the causal world, only what we consciously or unconsciously choose to do in it.
How can one change that course to one that is more conducive to a desired outcome?
By becoming aware of the new direction, giving conscious attention to the details of how to get there, taking inspired action to get there, and allowing whatever comes your way to do what it’s going to do because it’s on it’s own orbit relative to yours. Then, use whatever resources you need to accomplish your goal, and let the rest flow on into the recesses of space…
“Cosmic dude!”
Your friend,
Lewi
Excerpt from Stephen Mitchell’s ‘Tao Te Ching’ Chapter 20:
“Stop thinking, and end your problems.
What difference between yes and no?
What difference between success and failure?
Must you have what others value, avoid what others avoid?
How ridiculous!” - Lao Tsu
August 28th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Hi Bill,
You’re blog establishes early on that it’s better to be a winner, rich and attract resources than it is to be a loser, poor and repel resources. You use a convenient but terribly naive, flatland example of two hospital patients receiving opposing care as an example of resource-flow. If I may be forgiven to use a slightly less myopic account: if the cheerful patient happens to be debt-ridden and considering bankruptcy, yet the depressed one had his chauffeur drive him to the hospital in his Rolls Royce, who then is the winner?
You also say that Holosync and other (weaker) practices increase positive brain neuro-chemistry, levels of awareness and an ever-widening perspective. At a certain level of mastery, you suggest that someone’s advanced awareness stops analyzing what constitutes desirable resources from undesirable ones, and that the appropriate resources “float to the top” spontaneously; where first you suggest that it is possible to conciously create a desired outcome via controlled intentionality, you later accurately suggest that by surrendering any outcome (at a sufficiently advanced level of awareness,) controlled intentionality naturally becomes moot…
You also suggest that a loser can reverse their journey down the descending spiral through the concious development of their level of awareness. The inference here is that “winners” are therefore more aware and perspectively developed than “losers,” that the ever-richer are rich because they are more aware than the ever-poorer; speaking strictly from an economic perspective now: all the poor need to do to reverse their downward spiral is to become more aware, perhaps via the purchase of Holosync, which they can’t afford.
This blog offers from a marketing perspective that the “getting” of rich (winner) is better that the “getting” of poor (loser,) then confuses the issue (in wonderful Alan Watts fashion) by pointing out that the Game of Black and White can’t be won, and finally (perhaps belatedly) concludes that the “getting” of awareness trumps any other getting.
I do not feel that the marketing of Holosync as a solution to someone’s unwanted or undesirable psycho-socio-economic circumstances is appropriate. I do feel that offering your product as a means to increase a person’s level of awareness and developmental perspective, as well as it’s proven psychological and physiological benefits should permanently replace offering it as a directed solution to the “getting” (attracting) of better-perceived resources.
Peace and equanimity, Benham
FROM BILL: Perhaps next time you could read more carefully, as nothing you attrbute to me is even close to what I actually said.
First, if a financially well-off person is in the hospital and drives away his care-givers, repelling the resources he needs in that situation, IN THAT SITUATION he is a acting as a loser, and making his medical situation worse. Perhaps in his business affairs he acts as a winner. I don’t see how this example fails to be a good example of what I am talking about just because there could be another area of life where he is more successful. I don’t believe I said that if you are unsuccessful in one area you necessarily have to be unsuccessful in every area. A great example of nit-picking, though.
You also seem to have missed the point regarding what I said about analyzing. Analyzing is a linear-mind process that has some uses. However, since the universe isn’t a linear, one-thing-at-a-time phenomenon, but rather one where an infinite number of things happen all at once (in other words, a multi-dimensional universe), linear thinking is a weak and ineffective way to navigate (or describe) life. As a person becomes more aware they are able to access another part of the mind that can take into account a huge number of variables all at once, in each moment, and determine what the most resourceful response might be. And, whether you agree or not, as people gain this level of awareness, any ways they have been thinking and acting that are not resourceful do fall away.
You have also misinterpreted what I said about surrendering. There are random events in the universe. You don’t always get what you want. Sometimes you get what you don’t want. And even when you get what you want, it exists in time and ultimately passes away. If, as a result of these laws of nature, you cannot solve a problem or meet a challenge, you have a choice. You can resist it, which just creates suffering, or you can surrender to it. The greater a person’s awareness, the more likely they are to surrender in those situations. The aware person realizes that there is some suffering inherent in being a human being, even though the aware person may avoid a great deal of it that the unaware person inadvertently creates. When such suffering happens, the aware, awakened person surrenders to it.
Am I saying that attracting resources is “better” than not attracting them? Are you saying that you don’t prefer attracting the resources you want, or that the people you know want less resources? I doubt it. Of course people want their needs to be met. And, yes, being attached to things be a certain way (playing the Game of Black and White) causes suffering. Still, humans prefer to be on the winner’s side in terms of attracting resources. What I am suggesting is that if you play the Game of Black and White unconsciously, you create tons of unnecessary suffering. Since you have to play to be here, the way to play is to consciously CHOOSE how and when you play. I am more attached to my house, or my daughter, or my bank account, than someone else’s. That is a choice, though, and I accept the consequences.
Without being attached, life is dry and without passion, and there is no reason to be here. Being unconsciously attached, however, creates all kinds of pain. The solution is to CHOOSE when to be attached–in other words, once again, to live with awareness–and to accept the consequences. You’re trying to say that being in favor of wanting resources to flow to you and at the same time pointing out that playing the Game of Black and White causes suffering are contradictory. Well, life is contradictory. To be human is to be attached, to play the Game of Black and White. If you don’t play, you are in denial of the entire relative world. You can, though, play with awareness, which few people do.
I did not say that winners are more aware. In fact, I said (if you’ll go back and carefully read what I’ve written) that almost all winners are operating unconsciously, too, but that their unconscious processes were set up in a more resourceful way. If, however, a winner, a resource-attractor, learns to be aware, his or her ability to be effective, even though it is already good, becomes much better.
You think Holosync is expensive? You can use Awakening Prologue for six months for less than a dollar a day. Cut out one coffee drink a week and you can afford it. Along with Awakening Prologue you get all kinds of support, lots of additional stuff, and several free services such as this blog, and a lot of value (a life-changing lot of value) for your $1 a day.
Don’t forget, too, that it costs us money to provide Holosync. I have to pay for the materials, the office space, the utilities, the telephone, wages, medical, retirement, social security, medicare, computers, internet access, and MANY other things too numerous to list. The fact that something costs money is a fact of life. If we didn’t charge money, we couldn’t provide Holosync. What’s more, Awakening Prologue has gone up just $30 in 18 years. Adjusted for inflation and the rising cost of everything else, Awakening Prologue should cost more than $250. As Centerpointe has grown, however, I have kept the price as low as possible, counting on higher volume to make it possible to keep the price low.
You don’t think marketing Holosync as a solution to people’s socio-economic problems is appropriate? I guess that would be true if I was lying about the fact that Hololsync does what I described in this post. What I said, however, is true, and I’m not the only one who has noticed this.
You sound pretty bitter, Benham. I’m sorry about that.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Dear Bill
I have read through your article from start to finish. All I can say is that is one of the most evolutionary pieces of work I have ever come across . You are brilliant.
What you have written will help people who are ready to give themselves that push which will move them into believing they really can do things differently. Just because things haven’t been so great in the past or in the present does not mean it will always be that way. Believing you can change things gives you that initial spark. I know it is possible to manifest things for yourself. I cannot do it myself but a very good friend of mine is an expert on manifesting exactly what she wants in small ways. It’s sheer genius. I personally can manifest a happy and life with the way I think or I can easily create lots of sadness, anxiety etc. but it is important for me to know that I alone am responsible for everything I think, everything I say and everything I do.
One of the most important lessons I have learned is that how I perceive what goes on all around me can make the difference to me being happy and successful or depressed and feeling like a loser. Often I can turn my sad thoughts around although it still takes time but I can do it and even whilst I am sifting through the rubbish I know I am moving myself on.
Where I need the most help I think is in finishing off the projects I have begun and have then left unfinished. Writing a book, thinking it is great and then changing it over and over and then I think it is rubbish and leave it for another day that doesn’t seem to come. I need motivation in that way and I am going to look further into Holosync and perhaps I will become one of your students.
Thank you for sending me your CD for free, about 18 months ago I think, along with all the information that went with it. I didn’t expect all that for nothing and I must admit that when I first received it I only listened to it a few times. Now I am coming to realise the importance of meditation alone, brainwave entrainment, balancing the right and left sides of the brain and working with the energies and Holosync is coming pretty much to the top of my list.
Thank you so much for sending this information and being so committed to this work.
Love Maureen
August 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I am thoroughly enjoying your posts! I started backward in the archive, and am only about to Jan 08, but I did take the time to read this post and am glad that I did. Talking about life systems and such, it also explains why our immune systems get stronger after an illness. I can totally see how becoming successful may start with small consistent successes, or even acknowleding successes that have been denied! I am a Holosync user now for a week and you can bet that I will continue to return here to read your posts!
August 28th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Bill, thank you for another “ah-hah” inspiring post.
Would it be possible for you to comment on self-esteem and worthiness issues as related to motivation toward accomplishment? I’ve personally found it mind-bogglingly easy to ‘manifest’ anything I put my mind to, and quickly, but finally noticed that some things that I’m struggling with have to do with self-esteem issues that I haven’t gotten to the bottom of. Thinking on that, it appears to be a huge factor in generating motivation…which is fuel to making dreams come true. Surely you are intimately familiar with this part of equation; or it would seem so based on the things you have told about your past. How did you really get that deep convincing feeling that you were worthy, and that people wanted to be in your company, initially?
Thank you so much - my world is so much better because of your efforts and brilliance!
Eileen
August 28th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
My father, who was born in 1914, thought the best job a person could have was a job that lasted from the beginning to the end of the person’s working life. My brother has had more success in life than my father did but he took those words to heart. He has only changed jobs once in the last 20 years.
His oldest son 17 will (hopefully) be starting junior collage next year. He has quite a good voice and sings with a local band but wants to be a writer.
He told me not long ago that his father wants him to apply for work at Safeway because, “It’s a job for life.”
I was driving him somewhere at the time and I remember as he said this our heads turned slightly towards each other and his gaze briefly met mine before we looked back at the road before us.
I get along very well with my brother as a rule but at that moment I honestly could have taken after him with a stick. The expression I had seen in my nephew’s eyes said, “Is that all my father thinks I am capeable of doing with my life?”
I told him that it would certainly be something to learn, and perhaps fall back on in hard times, tho I didn’t think his father had considered the advent of those insidious automatic checking machines. I recomended he learn to be a waiter as a fallback career because he could make over a hundred a night in a good place. He brightened a little, perhaps because of the $ and perhaps more so because I seemed to regard both Safeway and the food sevice industy as fallbacks.
I wonder how many generations this sort of learned helplessness has been passed on in my family?
Hopefully my nephew will not accept this script. It helps that he has taken the personality test and found he is an Idealist Counselor which makes writing a perfect career choice for him.
I am also an Idealist Counselor and finding that out has had a huge impact on my life.
I mention this because I learned of the personality test here and taking it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. Friends and family who have taken the test at my urging are also delighted to find answers to many questions they have had about themselves. One woman said it’s worth years of therepy and sends her thanks to you, Bill, for letting us know about it.
Thank you for your wonderful posts that help us break the chains that bind us. (Or at least hand us a file so we can get to work on those @$#* chains.)
Gina
August 28th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
No download capability this time?
FROM BILL: Coming soon. My audio guy is on vacation this week!
August 28th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I’d like to thank you for this wonderful post, as it seems to come at the perfect time for me (funny how this seems to happen) regarding the changes which have been happening lately. I’ve been noticing lots of changes for the better–law of attraction etc–which I attribute to what I call “cosmic habbit force” beginning to work for me in my life. I’ve been studying success principles and law of attraction for about a year now, and have at times been frustrated with my seemingly slow progress on the path, however now it seems as if things are starting to speed up a bit. I’m taking more action on ideas I have, such as noticing when my feelings get jumbled up so that I “can’t” understand them with a compassionate witnessing perspective rather than a judgemental “have to figure this out or else…” perspective, and I’m noticing the cumulative effect of this manifest in my life. There are also seeming coincidences which happen more and more often, such as people who can help me showing up in the right place or time etc, and it also seems that I can much more easily find the internal resources I need and that “figuring” out how to find such resources is readily accessable to me now. I still have quite a ways to go to get to where I want to be, however now I see this as a result of my expanded vision of where I’m heading rather than an obsticle to be overcome or somehow gotten out of the way.
I would also like to comment that this is my favorite post so far. I’ve liked the others for a number of reasons, especially the ones where we go into the levels of our development with the audio descriptions of how this process might unfold, but this one really resonated with me for some reason. It feels like there’s a lot of things in common with what I’m going through here, because things are starting to turn for the better for me and I’m now experiencing things which before I wouldn’t even have considered possible, and you’re openness regarding our experience and what we go through really helps me to see how far I’ve come. You really help to reflect the great example of what we all can attain in this world by the compassionate way you describe the human experience… I could go on here, but I’ve rambled long enough for sure?
August 28th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Hi Bill,
This post is one of your best ever and I’ve read just about everything you’ve written, including your book, course, newsletters and blog.
Your desire to help others is very clear. Holosync flat out works, folks. If you think you don’t have time, think again. One hour of Holosync is worth two hours sleep - probably more. In fact an hour of Holosync makes the other 23 hours just work better. If you are pushed for time, listen at bedtime and listen again if you wake up in the middle of the night.
This really bears repeating:
“There are also tremendous health benefits to Holosync use. Considerable research has been done on the health benefits of traditional meditation. Significant positive effects on cardivascular health, brain health and functioning, immune function, hormone regulation, and many other positive health benefits, have been demonstrated. In addition, Holosync has huge stress-relief benefits, and since many mental, emotional, and physical health problems are either created by stress or made worse by it, Holosync use can dramatically improve quality of life.”
“In general, those who use Holosync are looking for ways to improve the quality of their lives, and Holosync seems to do that in quite dramatic ways – mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.”
I am witness to a dramatic change in moving from habitual failure to attracting more and more happiness and success into my life. Very much enjoying the Flowering level
Thanks Bill, for leading the way and inventing Holosync!
Cheers, Merrill
August 28th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Another great post Bill:
Holosync has been a great addition to my life and has helped me make some monumental changes.
However I have also learned a great deal from you about working in the world of commerce with the intent of purpose and spirit.
It would be interesting to get your thoughts on aligning a spiritual practise with a global business vision (which appears to be working for you)!
Continued success and thank you.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I don’t need to be convinced that “learned helplessness” exists because I have experienced it myself many, many times, more so in my youth than now. While many people seem to believe that they have no control over specific situations and/or that they deserve what they are experiencing, once I realized that I had developed traits of learned helplessness, however mild, in response to a specific experience involving a situation, an individual or what have you, I changed the situation.
Whether I ended a relationship, sold a property, moved, quit a job, went back to school, began challenging myself to save a specific amount of money per week/month (even if it was no more than $10), etc., the only way to alter the feeling that I might become a victim was to force myself to make sudden, sometimes extreme and not always positive or healthy, changes. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and while I believed, adamantly, that each change I made was for the better, healthy, positive and would benefit me and bring me much more than I already had, this wasn’t always the case.
So while I have the utmost belief that one can manifest whatever one chooses and/or desires, and I am successful in manifesting what I want for myself most of the time, when what I desire is connected to certain people, most specifically people who seem unhappy with themselves, who use words that others perceive as critical and/or negative, whose actions and behavior could be described as selfish and inconsiderate, the result doesn’t always possess the qualities on which I concentrate: Lightness, love, encouragement, care, consideration, sharing, security, safety, abundance, goodness, positiveness, optimism.
If only everyone were a Holosync user … imagine what a wonderful, peaceful, healthy planet we would enjoy!
Thank you.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Sorry for the other comment, but I’m wondering if you might do an audio version of this? It helps me out a lot to get information that way, and I imagine that others will be positively impacted as well; I think it tends to ring truer for people when spoken for some reason, but perhaps this is just me. Thanks, and be well.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I am so damn depressed right now. I want to watch but I’m afraid to because I might do something that is wrong, even though I know that there is no wrong. When I read your posts I get happy at some points and then I get unhappy at other points because I connect them to things in my life trying to decide what to do. I really am confused right now, I’ve been doing Holosync for 7 months now and I thought I would be cool with most things but the same things are bothering me, I hate it. I will continue with Holosync though, it seems like it is my escape from my crappy life, so thanks for that Bill, I truly love ya - Gary
August 28th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
What a great post - on a day that I need that kick in the seat! I haven’t been faithfully listening to my CDs - it’s been about a year since I did my daily listening.
Today I was let go from my job of 17 years because I was letting my frustrations with my job interfere with my relationships with my co-workers (aka I was grumpy & some co-workers had been complaining). While I was conscious of what I was doing, I couldn’t break out of it due to depression from the job. I tried to let go of negative feelings I’d have from the stress, the little annoying things I’d see, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I coped much better when I listened to the CDs.
I’m feeling relieved that I’m finally out of this job (although I would have preferred to tell them I was leaving rather than have them tell me I was leaving). But it’s time to get back to daily use of Holosync - attract my next job with positive vibrations, not negative.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Hey Bill and other readers
Interesting read… keep them coming!
I have a question regarding Holosync used for meditation purposes.
In one of his latest books Integral Spirituality, Wilber writes about “state-stage experiences” as unfolding in a set way in most meditative traditions
such as Zen:
“gross phenomena (”I see rocks”) to subtle phenomena (”I see light and bliss, I feel expansive love”), to Causal phenomena (”There
is only vast emptiness)…Non Dual phenomena” etc (p 76)
So, my thoughts after reading this was, does Holosync meditation act as a meditation tradition in this way.. or does progression through these state-stages
require certain practices (and many more years) offered in more traditional forms of meditation (mantras, breath counting).
Also, Wilber seems to think that these experiences help to lubricate growth. THis makes sense if you look at the Non-dual state -
)
called Big Mind by Genpo Roshi… which Genpo uses voice dialogue to get people to experience -and he has said to hopefully live a better life after
experiencing the nondual state. (unfortunately I have never been to a Bigmind course that you two run as I am living in Australia and am a poor student
Also, does anyone know what the deal is with these new Digital Drugs (supposed to immulate altered states like “drunk” and “really happy” by means of binaural beats)? Sounds dodgy to me… and they claim that if they dont work the listener is immune to the binaural beats… something i have never heard of!
Keep up the great work
FROM BILL: The “digital drug” thing is pure BS. If anything, they are noticing that binaural beats causes you to make more of certain neurochemicals that cause you to feel high. It isn’t the same at all as being drunk. These are people who have found a way to use binaurla beats to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Disregard.
As for the Ken Wilber stuff, yes, Holosync does act as a “meditation tradition.” First, just like traditional meditation (but a lot faster) it does increase your ability to access the “state-stages” Ken talks about (waking, or gross body; dreaming, or subtle body; sleeping,or causal body; turya, or non-dual). The first three are readily available to everyone, though accessing them with awareness, as in meditation, is different than just having a dream or being in deep sleep. Usually these state stages are spoken of as being trainable, because there are certain injunction (instructions for accessing them) that if followed lead you to the ability to access them intentionally. I find that without question Holosync accelerates your ability to experience these states.
Ken and I have also noticed that Holosync accelerates a person’s ability to develop through what he calls the “structure stages,” which are what I was writing about in my series (see earlier blog posts) about human development. At any particular time, a person is experiencing one of the state stages, interpreted or view from the perspective of one of the structure stages. I should probably write something about this, as this model is an important breakthrough in understanding enlightenment (and, really, all human experience.)
Regarding Big Mind and Genpo Roshi, though it is better to do this in person with us, you can also do it along with the DVDs. Go to http://www.bigmind.org and get the Big MInd Big Heart Revealed DVD set as a start.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:34 am
Bill,
Truly a great post.. the length of that post tells me that you didn’t have to think about this, it just flowed. Clearly you “received” this information for a reason and felt compelled to share it for the same reason.
And now I finally understand that initially I have to PUSH myself to use the resources available to me. (I was one of those rats that didn’t push the button, even when the resource was available!) Then after the initial effort on my part to use resources (everyone can try for a short while..even me!) the Holosync, book, cd, meditation, etc. will begin to “kick in” and it will address and clear the subconcious blocks and it will become a natural, almost effortless process to help myself, without all the subconcious resistance. Kind of like someone teaching you to ride a bike. You’re sure you can’t do it, you’re afraid of falling. Then the person teaching you to ride gives you that initial “hidden push” from behind the bike and you get the impression YOU are succeeding, (while they are yelling “yes yes yes..go go go!” and before you know it, you’re on your own and riding away! What a revelation! Thank you thank you! All day today I was asking myself what was stopping me in life. I have excellent books, meditation cds, neuro programs, etc. But no matter how much I download or purchase, it just doesn’t work– when I don’t use it (go figure). Your blog came at the PERFECT moment. I’d say” what a coincidence!”, but we all know that everything that happens is the result of intent
THANK YOU!
August 29th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Right on Bill!
On Flowering level 2 cd1, and everything you say is dead on. It’s been around 10 years with a lot of introspection, but everything in life is just fine. You’re 100% right about Holosync creating this massive awareness. And your teachings let you play with this awareness in the most creative ways.
I can’t thank you enough. I’m only 25 and have a whole life ahead of me.
Thanks Bill,
Kevin
August 29th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Sounds to me like some sort of attempt to give a cosmic patina to social darwinism. In this country, the gap between rich and poor has never been wider–but that’s OK, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. The destruction of the middle class is cosmically mandated. Heck if we do it right, we can be like Mexico. We wouldn’t want to be like any of those dreaded socialist countries where they actually help the downtrodden like Norway or Denmark. If you don’t feel like helping the poor, don’t worry–they don’t want to be helped–they’re all undoing themselves by their unexamined assumptions.
This runs counter to the teachings of the sages of all the great religions, but what do they know?
I love your product, but your philosophy is corrupt.
FROM BILL: No, your interpretation of my philosophy is corrupt. You are attributing to me something I have not said and then complaining about it. I am not using this data to suggest that the suffering of the world is “as it should be.” The fact that resources are naturally withdrawn from those who “fail” and directed toward those who “succeed” is, however, the way it is. If you had read a little more carefully, and weren’t so wrapped up in your bitter outlook, you would have noticed that my entire career is about showing people how to move to the success side of the street. Not only is this not “as it should be,” it’s also not they way things need to be, either. You, however, may have to actually DO something to change your situation.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Your topic of why the richer get richer and utilizing the bacteria example was a great way to present this to us, beyond saying that like attracts like. Showing these real examples from nature, cemented these ideas to my brain.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Hi Bill!
Do you plan to write any article regarding shadow, therapy and how witness perspective fits into it all?? I think a lot of us would be d