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1. Welcome to Issue #137 (June 16, 2004) of MIND CHATTER
Mind Chatter is published once a month, on or about the 16th of each month.
Please send Mind Chatter to a friend, and please send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.
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2. If you would like to unsubscribe, you can manage your account via the links at the beginning and end of the newsletter. (But please don't. We like you and we want you to stay.)
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3. In This Issue
* MindQuotes (scroll to #5)
* A few recommendations that may benefit you (scroll to item #6)
* Why I Do It
or
Thank You Thank You Thank You
by Bill Harris, Director (scroll to item #7)
* Glowing Testimonial of the Month (scroll to #8)
* BOOK REVIEW (scroll to #9)
By Katie Sparks
How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be
by Cheri Huber
* Important Announcements (scroll to #10)
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4. MIND CHATTER contains articles about:
*How you create your life--and how you can stop unconsciously creating experiences and outcomes you do not want, and instead begin to create exactly what you do want
*Personal and spiritual growth in general
*Meditation (high and low-tech)
*Recovery from emotional trauma
*Pretty much any other subject I get excited about and want to write about. After all, it's my company and my newsletter, and I can do whatever I want with it. So there.
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5. Mind Quotes
Evil (ignorance) is like a shadow. It has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or
physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it.
- Shakti Gawain
If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy.
- Anonymous
We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
-Stephen Covey
All consumed are their imperfections,
Doubts are dispelled, their senses mastered,
Their every action is wed to the welfare of their fellow creatures:
Such are the seers who enter Brahman and know Nirvana.
- Bhagavad Gita, chapter 5
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6. Eavesdrop on a special conversation between Ken Wilber and Bill Harris
A few weeks ago, I spent several hours on the phone with noted author and philosopher Ken Wilber, discussing Holosync and how it facilitates personal and spiritual growth and evolution.
It was a fascinating discussion, and the entire conversation was recorded. I'd like you to hear it, at no charge. We've called it "Brainwaves and God" and I know you'll find it to be extremely interesting. The discussion is in three parts,
and Part 1 has been posted on the "Integral Naked" website (see below for how to listen or download it).
You can get a month's membership to the Integral Naked site for free, which will allow you to listen to this conversation at no charge.
Plus, you can listen to many other conversations between Ken and well-known personal growth leaders, including Andrew Cohen, Nathaniel Branden, Larry Dossey, Caroline Myss, Michael Murphy, and Deepak Chopra (plus many more). There are also
discussions with artists, filmmakers, and actors (I believe one has been recorded but not yet posted with George Lucas, for instance), and other notable persons.
If you don't know who Ken Wilber is...well, you should. Ken is one of the most noted philosophers of the last century, and a bestselling author whose 25 books have been translated into 30 languages.
Dr. Roger Walsh, author of Essential Spirituality, called him "one of the greatest philosophers of this century, and arguably the greatest theoretical psychologist of all time." Robert Kegan of the Harvard Graduate School of
Education called him "a national treasure".
Ken's books include A Brief History of Everything and A Theory of Everything. His view of the world and our place in it is known as integral philosophy, where integral means comprehensive, holistic, balanced, and
inclusive--an attempt to include all perspectives in a larger picture.
In our discussion of Holosync and its effects on personal and spiritual growth and evolution, Ken describes the natural stages of consciousness, and notes that as we develop through these stages of consciousness what previously were merely
occasional glimpses of heightened and expanded states of awareness become a permanent part of moment-by-moment living (something those of you in the deeper stages of The Holosync Solution have no doubt experienced).
Ken and I then discuss how Holosync appears to accelerate growth through these various stages of consciousness, and how Holosync is a very useful addition to any integral toolkit for growth and personal evolution. Ken is so enthusiastic
about Holosync that those who attend seminars and trainings at the Integral Institute meditate with Holosync each day during their trainings!
I know that at least one Holosync user has already listened to this discussion, since I received this email, even before I found out that Ken had posted the recording of our conversation:
"I just listened to your talk with Ken Wilber on Integral Naked, and I just want to say how excited I am to hear you guys in dialogue. I am huge fans of both of your work, and I think you have a heckuva lot to offer each other. "
I hope you will take the opportunity to go to the Integral Naked site (link below) and sign up as a member. The first month is free. After the first free month, the monthly charge is $10, but you can cancel at any time (including at the
end of the free month).
I'm told this offer will be available for a limited time, so please sign up right away in case they discontinue the free month at some point.
After you click on the link below, click on the blue icon to the right of my picture which says "The First Month is Free," which will take you to a sign up page. After you sign up and go to the actual page where you can listen to my
discussion with Ken, you'll be able to choose several ways to listen online, or you can download an MP3 version you can listen to later or burn onto a CD.
I'm not sure when they will post parts 2 and 3, but I will let you know when it happens.
I know you'll find this discussion of Holosync and personal and spiritual evolution to be very interesting. Please let me know how you liked it.
Here's the link:
http://integralnaked.org/whatsnew.aspx
Be well.
Bill Harris
*
Something important for everyone who wants a close, loving, conscious relationship...
You can still participate in a relationship tele-seminar by internationally known relationship experts Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks.
This telephone seminar does not cost anything.
Gay and Kathlyn and I have become very good friends over the last year, and because their new book, Lasting Love (Rodale Publishers), hit the bookstores a few months ago, I convinced Gay and Katie to do a free tele-seminar for Mind
Chatter subscribers about the new information they've discovered about how to create close, loving relationships that really work. (Yes, it is possible.)
Two kinds of people will greatly benefit from this free seminar:
1) Those who want to make their current relationship into a GREAT relationship...
2) Those who aren't in a relationship right now--or even those who may have "given up" on relationships--but really would like to find Mr. or Ms. Right and create a relationship that really does have all the love, intimacy, and
companionship you've always wanted.
This is practical, cutting edge information that the Hendricks have successfully taught to thousands of singles and couples who wanted to stop the merry-go-round of conflict, fighting, and lack of closeness, and create relationships the
way you really want them to be.
Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks have appeared on Oprah twice, they've been on Good Morning America, Larry King, and many other television and radio programs, and they've published many best-selling books, including the
classic, Conscious Loving.
Gay and Kathlyn are super teachers, and in this seminar they will explain some key concepts that really will make a huge difference in your current relationship (even if you're the only one in the relationship who uses them).
Again, this seminar is 100% "no charge" to you, so there's no reason to not participate if you're even remotely interested in creating a close, loving relationship.
Here's how to participate:
1. Go to
http://www.therelationshipsolution.com/teleseminar
2. Type in your name and email address.
3. Click "submit."
You'll then receive the telephone number to call, along with the passcode to key in once you're connected to the call, by email.
Then, all you have to do is call in about 2 minutes before the seminar and enjoy listening to two of the world's top relationship experts in a private, no-cost seminar I've arrange for them to teach, especially for you.
There is a limit the number of people who can participate, so please register right away.
Here's the link again to sign up:
http://www.therelationshipsolution.com/teleseminar
Remember, this great seminar by Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks is my gift to you. Enjoy! And please feel free to send the link to all your friends.
**
Is it really possible to create the exact life you want--inside and out?
Yes, it is.
Unless you're new to Mind Chatter, you know that close to a year ago I started a series of teleconference lessons--three courses, of 12 calls each--collectively called The Life Principles Integration Process. Now over 2300 people are
participating in these courses, and people in these courses are experiencing huge positive changes.
These courses are now available in a very inexpensive and very easy to use on-line form.
Here's the idea: Whether you know it or not, you are creating your internal and external reality (if that doesn't seem to be true, it's because you're doing it, for the most part, unconsciously and automatically, outside your awareness).
When you live this way, part of the time you will get what you want and part of the time you won't--but it's not always clear why.
If, however, you can learn to operate the part of you that creates your internal and external results, and do so consciously and intentionally, you really can create whatever you want.
I can teach you how to do this. In fact, I GUARANTEE that I can teach you how to do it--if you're willing to learn.
This is NOT the same old stuff you've read about in all those books about "manifesting your dreams" and so on and so forth. I promise that if you take these courses, you will have a huge "ah-ha" about your life and how to create what you
want, both inside and out.
You can take the courses on your computer, either by audio-streaming, or by downloading the calls to listen to later or to burn onto a CD.
In addition, I am making myself personally available, by email, to answer any and all questions you have about anything during the course. This means unlimited email access to me for any questions you have.
You do not need to be a participant in The Holosync Solution to take these courses, by the way.
I've made these courses VERY inexpensive. If I had to teach this in person, in a seminar or retreat, it would cost a few thousand dollars. Instead, the cost is a small fraction of that.
What's more, I've created a free preview lesson, so you can find out what it's about with no risk.
Here are a few emails I've received from people in the course:
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! The first lesson was worth the price of this course, and more. I have heard and read similar material before, but somehow you manage to present it so that it gets through in a
powerful way. I simply can't tell you how grateful I am to you-and you're plenty funny!
--Jean M.
*
Wow, you are not kidding when you say you really want to help. I knew that already though. Thank you so much. You, your program, and your teachings have changed my life completely - much needed.
--Lee
*
You really know your stuff! Razor sharp.
--Andrew
*
Wow! I'm impressed by all the time and energy you are putting into this course. Thank you!
--Ellen
*
I absolutely love your impeccable program. You've summed up just about everything that I've heard from many other tapes and books, but they did not hand you the formula for the answers the way in which you did. I feel that there are many
thousands of beings who are truly grateful for all that you have gone through to bring about such change for so many. May we all find the joy and blessings that you have come to live. Bright Blessings,
--Janet G.
*
So please go listen to the FREE preview lesson, which is available now for you to listen to online. This free lesson contains some great stuff, so please go listen to it.
For more information about the course and to actually listen to a FREE preview lesson, click here:
http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview
I'd love to get an email from you in a few weeks telling me how much YOU have benefited!
Be well.
Bill
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7. Feature Article
Why I Do It
or
Thank You Thank You Thank You
by Bill Harris, Director
Though we now offer many other programs and products at Centerpointe, most people associate us with Holosync--and rightly so. From my kitchen table back in 1989, where I recorded Holosync soundtracks with borrowed recording equipment, to
today, fifteen years and seven months later, close to 160,000 people have used Holosync to improve their lives. In that time, Centerpointe has grown from one employee (me) in a single ten-by-twelve foot room to over twenty-five full-time
employees in a 8500 square-foot building,
No one is more amazed by all of this than I.
You would think with all the employees that I wouldn't have to work very hard anymore, but I love what I do, and I still work a lot of hours each week. In fact, I'm often the last one to leave at the end of the day. People ask me why I do
it, and I thought you might like to know.
First, a little personal history.
When I first started experimenting with what became Holosync, I was thirty-five, and miserable. I was angry most of the time, and very insensitive and unaware of how I affected others. When I wasn't angry, I was depressed. I couldn't stay
in a relationship with a woman for any reasonable length of time, and my life seemed to be one emotional drama after another. I had no career, I made very little money, and I had no ideas or prospects for making a career. I spent most of
my time practicing the saxophone, playing jazz in smoky bars, and writing music.
Sometimes I wondered how I had made it to thirty-five without much to show for it.
Though you wouldn't know it by looking at my life, I had been meditating, at that point, for sixteen years. I had also read almost every personal, spiritual, and how-to-be-successful book ever written, and had been to all the personal
growth seminars making the rounds in those days (the seventies were the hey-day of all kinds of personal growth trainings). I hate to think what I would have been like had I not done all these things, because even after all of the books
and seminars and mediation, I was still a mess. At this point I was also not very optimistic about ever experiencing any significant improvement in my life.
Then, I began listening to what later became Holosync. Four years later, I looked around and everything was different. My anger was gone. So was my depression. I had a new sense of who I was. Now I seemed to attract people, where before I
had trouble getting along with everyone. I kept waiting for the anger, the depression, and the "bad luck" to return, as it always had before, but instead things just kept getting better. It took a few years before I really trusted that my
new sense of self wasn't going to go away.
I began to tell everyone I knew that they just had to try Holosync. I was one of those annoying "true believers" who couldn't shut up about something they were very excited about. I felt like someone who had seen a really cool movie, and I
wanted everyone I knew to see it, too.
A lot of my friends did try Holosync, and they loved it. Pretty soon I had groups of people gathering in my home to meditate several nights a week. Then their friends--even friends from other cities and states--started asking me for
Holosync soundtracks.
Eventually someone said, "You know, you really should create a structured way to use this, and start a little business."
What I knew about business would have fit in a thimble, but I did know that I had something that really appeared to help people, and it felt good to make it available. So, in October of 1989, I started Centerpointe.
The first thing I did was create an advertisement I ran in New Age Journal, now called Body and Spirit. People saw that ad and joined the program, so I ran another ad in Psychology Today, and then in Omni
Magazine and several others.
The second thing I did was write the Support Letters everyone receives while they use Awakening Prologue, the initial level of the program, because I knew that using Holosync created some incredible changes, and that sometimes these
changes came fast and furious. I wanted people to understand what was happening, why it was happening, and what to do about it (all that meditating, reading, and seminar attending began to come in handy). And, to give people in the program
even more information, I offered to make myself available by phone to anyone who wanted to talk about their experience.
Everyone told me I was nuts to send the Support Letters and to make myself available by phone ("Too expensive...too time consuming," they said), but I was convinced that people who joined the program really needed to understand the change
process they were undertaking, and I couldn't think of a better way to create that understanding.
Today we have ten full-time support coaches who give superb service to those who call to discuss their experience with the program. I'm proud to say that these people know as much about the kind of technology we use than any group of
people in the world.
Over the years, as thousands and then tens of thousands of people began to use Holosync and look to me and my staff for help, the amount of information we make available to you about the personal and spiritual growth process has grown
larger and larger.
During the last fifteen years, I've written two books, quite a few Special Reports, and nearly 140 articles about meditation and other personal growth subjects. I've also led over twenty-five retreats in order to give people the
information they needed to deal with the huge positive changes they were making in their lives as they used Holosync. I've also been fortunate enough to meet many other prominent personal growth teachers, including Jack Canfield, Gay
Hendricks, Ken Wilber, and many others--all of whom have taught me a lot, and hopefully a few of whom learned a little from me.
And last year, I started the Life Principles Integration Process online courses, where I could really stretch out and teach what I've learned over the last thirty-five years of helping people with their growth. The response to these
courses has been phenomenal, and I'm very gratified that people are benefiting from the information.
So, why do I do it? Long ago I passed the point where I needed the money. In fact, I now give large amounts to charities, especially to Self Enhancement, Inc., an organization on whose Board of Directors I serve that helps inner city kids.
SEI's motto is "Life has options," and I encourage you to visit www.lef.org and to consider donating, even if you can only give $10. So I guess this is one reason why I continue to work so hard, so I can pass the money on to others who
need it.
But here's the real reason I do it: I remember what it was like to be unhappy, to be confused, to be struggling, to be searching. I remember what it was like to feel lost, to be lonely, and to constantly sabotage myself. I remember what it
was like to not have the confidence to see and take advantage of opportunities that I now see all around me (and which had always been there, had I not been too blind to see them).
As I read and answer emails from those taking the LPIP on-line courses, I remember my own growth process, and how much I could have used the advice of someone who had been there. I remember what it was like to not yet understand that I was
creating all the bad feelings I had, and all the bad outcomes I experienced. I remember what it felt like to be stuck and hopeless.
Now it's true that people come to Centerpointe for a variety of reasons. Some come, as I just described, because they are unhappy and their life isn't working. But others come because they've heard how powerfully Holosync creates extremely
deep meditation and dramatically accelerates the whole process of meditation. Some people come to us because they want the increased mental abilities and heightened personal performance those who use Holosync attain. Still others come to
us because they are personal explorers who want to be on the cutting edge of the newest ways to explore their inner nature and discover who they really are.
I've actually become teary at Centerpointe retreats as people stood in front of me and described how much Holosync and Centerpointe written materials have changed their lives--in much the same way Holosync had changed mine. When I was in
the depths of my own personal despair, I never in a million years would have thought I would someday be in the position of helping people improve their lives.
I include letters I receive from Holosync users in the "Glowing Testimonial of the Month" section of Mind Chatter, but these are just a tiny fraction of the letters we receive in which people tell us the remarkable changes they've
experienced, whether it is an ending of their depression, anxiety, or fear, a new perspective on their career or relationships, greater success in the world, heightened awareness of their connectedness with the rest of the universe, or
just an increased well-being and enjoyment of being alive.
Recently I received a letter from someone going through something that may be the biggest challenge we all face--dying--and how Holosync and The Life Principles Integration Process online courses have changed that experience for her. I'd
like to share a few parts of that letter with you.
Dear Bill: I just finished listening to lesson 6 [of the second online course, The Accelerated Change Maximizer] and I really do think I am getting it.
First, let me say that I am getting ready to start Awakening Level 2 of Holosync. I have been noticing all this year that I am able to handle all matter of problems in a calm and detached manner. At the same time I have been noticing
that my mother and my friends become so 'freaked out' over so many things and I am wondering why this is so, not in a judgmental way but in a kind of curious, scientific manner.
After listening to lesson 6, it occurs to me that what has been happening is my threshold has been getting higher and higher as a result of doing Holosync. I have already written you regarding my situation which is that I have a 'terminal
disease'.
Lately, my body has become weaker and it is obvious that it is breaking down. A number of symptoms are occurring in relation to this. But guess what, I was determined to let whatever happens be okay. I noticed that with the advent of
each new symptom, I was panicking; I guess you could say the chaos was building and I was approaching my threshold. The way I was dealing with this was I was becoming depressed. However, I do believe, that the new system has been
organized and at a higher level.
My friend recently asked me was I sad, did I have pain? And you know what, I realized that yes I do but that there is a big part of me that is watching the sadness, watching the pain. Suddenly, the advent of new symptoms have no effect,
the resistance to the whole 'dying process' is completely gone and I find I am at peace.
So you see Bill, I really do think I got it. I now know, I am not my body, I am not feelings, I am not my mind so I know that even if my body dies, the "I" that is me will go on. I want to say Thank you Bill for giving me these
unbelievable tools that came at just the right time, as things usually do.
Sincerely, Linda M.
Receiving comments like this from people in the program warms my heart and keeps me going through all the day-to-day problems that come with running a company of this size (and believe me, there are many).
So, I want to take this opportunity to offer a very sincere thank you to all of you for being a part of Centerpointe and for allowing me in some small way to help improve your life.
I feel very grateful to be in the position I'm in. Quite frankly, I was pretty much a jerk for the first 35 years of my life. Now, and for the last fifteen years, I've had the opportunity to make up for "the sins of my youth" by being of
service to people like you. I appreciate your willingness to allow me to serve you, and I appreciate that you have on degree or another placed your trust in me--whether as a Holosync Solution or online course participant, or simply as a
reader of Mind Chatter still deciding whether or not to become more involved.
I'm always eager to hear from any of you, so please do let me know your ideas regarding how this eager group of people at Centerpointe can better serve you in helping you get to the point where you really are happy and peaceful inside, and
outwardly successful in what you do in the world.
No matter what your past or present circumstances, these things are possible, and we want to show you how you can have them.
So once again, thank you.
Be well.
Bill
[If you found this article helpful, please send a copy of this issue to a friend!]
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8. Glowing Testimonials and Letters
From a P.S. added to a question sent by one of the participants in my Life Principles Integration Process online courses:
Holosync is changing my life dramatically for the better. I seem more spontaneous,
far less stressy, happier, always laughing and making everyone else laugh, less self
conscious, less anxious and more easy going, less inhibited and so much happier all
round. I am far less grumpy around the house when things are in a mess, more tolerant
and always more relaxed. I have been searching for better well-being for nearly 20
years and can't believe the change this makes in only 9 months!! Words cannot say
how I much I appreciate what you have done and are doing for me every day. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**
Just a short note to let you know about getting back on track!
My names Simon, i'm 29yo, married with two beautiful daughters2,5.I work as a Paramedic in Sydney.
About 3 years ago i was involved in a serious car accident which involved head injuries. i had to spend a year going through court to try and determine what happened. the court had to dismiss the case as there was no evidence or witnesses
(hence no closure). also recovering and seeing specialist to get my body back working.
While this was going on we were blessed with our second daughter and at 9 days old my daughter went into cardiac arrest, and after 3 weeks in intensive care my daughter was found to have an arterial venous malfunction in her brain. (she is
100% ok now)
to add to the challenges this year my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, my sister with chronic fatigue syndrome with severe depression. this is apart from all the financial expenses of hospital and the mountains of study to do with
my work.
At the end of this year while weening myself from survival mode, my coping mechanism were wearing thin. i fell into severe depression suffering with panic attacks. and those wonderful thing that i enjoy in life seemed to be vanishing. with
the wonderful support from my family and psychologist i manage to slowly pull myself out of the black hole. while doing the soul searching bit after losing alot of my dreams and goals down the black hole i stumble across your wonderful
meditation CD's, i have only been using them for about 6 months (i'm onto the second level) but i am now able to live and enjoy my life the way i used to as a child. there seems to be endless amounts of hours and energy in the day. i can
cope 1000x better with trauma and dealings involved in being a paramedic (including sleepless nights of shift work).
I'd like to thank you so much for the benefits and life changes that you have made to me and my family. and if your ever down under my house is your house drop in!
Simon B.
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9. Book Review
By Katie Sparks
How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be, by Cheri Huber, copyright 2000
***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561707155/centerpointer-20
Ah...the allure of gain, of growth, of "going somewhere". The title of this simple, practical Zen guidebook is deceptive--and it may just alter your definition of personal growth.
In this book, Zen teacher Cheri Huber presents a process for getting what you want in your life, based on the practice of Zen. The paradoxical reality of Zen, Huber tells us, is that just as soon as you accept everything as it is,
everything will have changed.
So, yes, we all want change and many of us know that awareness work is the key. This book points out how concepts like projection, subpersonalities, and emotion can be used to gain awareness. Huber does an excellent job of explaining how
social conditioning works and why it is so difficult for the ego to let go in order for us to change. Most important, the book is a bedside reminder of the details of how to use these tools in our daily lives.
If you've read Cheri Huber before, you are familiar with her Keep it Simple book series. All are handwritten with pictures and are intended for the child-like mind, rather than the analytical, linear processor to which we often default.
This book, on the other hand, is a little longer, with a more traditional format. It is frank, humorous, and easy to identify with, as Huber adds personal details of the beginning of her own Zen awareness practice more than 25 years ago.
If you haven't come across Huber yet, be prepared to be, well...enlightened.
Huber discovered Zen after she attempting to kill herself with a rifle. Her surgeon told her to find the reason she was still alive. Huber turned to philosophy and religion with little satisfaction, and finally came across a little book
on Zen by D.T. Suzuki.
"I had read references to this practice and had a sense of its mystery," she says, "but I had never encountered it directly. When I picked up that book and read the first paragraph, my breath quickened. As I began reading the second
paragraph, I realized that I had stopped breathing; I was holding my breath. My heart was beating fast - I was excited, thrilled, high! It dawned on me that I had no idea what the author was talking about! But I knew he knew what he was
talking about, and I knew he knew what I wanted to know."
The book is structured as a guidebook of sorts. Huber asks you to pick an issue that you've had for awhile, a behavior that is not leading anywhere, an orientation in life that is getting in your way. And through this issue she presents
Zen and what it means to practice awareness. Chapters such as "iIllusion," "Awareness," "Subpersonalities," "Projection," and "Disidentification" prompt you to challenge your conditioning through questions and breathing exercises. Huber
includes examples from the experiences of couples and individuals she's worked with.
Anyone who's done any amount of awareness work knows how challenging it can be. Just when you become aware of that one thing you've been looking for, conditioning -- or ego -- tries to use it against you.
And just when you've had enough of the exercises because you're realizing how mean and terrible you've always been to yourself, Huber reminds you to be kind. After each exercise is a reminder. "Remember: You are eliciting these responses
to better see the ways in which you have been conditioned. Your conditioning is not who you truly are. Please do not allow conditioning to use your awareness against you."
In How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be, Huber says that in awareness work, the question is not what, but how. If we continue looking at the what, we see all the various outcomes and they seem unrelated.
But when we look at how we're doing (or not doing) something, we begin to catch on to our own conditioning. How do I overeat when I know it is not healthy for my body? How do I become explosively angry despite my
attempts to stay calm?
And that process is essentially the same for all of us. According to Zen philosophy, we are born into a world of social conditioning and illusion. All of our beliefs, the concepts and meanings we are taught, are illusions. When we are
fully conditioned by the age of 7 or 8, she says, "we have learned to refer to the world of social rules for information rather than referring to ourselves in the unconditioned reality of the present moment."
By the way, some of this will sound familiar to many of you, especially if, as with many participants, listening to Holosync has increased your awareness of this conditioning.
For example, there is the illusion that we should or do have control over life. This is based on three assumptions -- that we need to control life, that we should control it, and that we can control it. "The illusion of control is the
largest element of social conditioning designed to keep the individual in line," Huber notes. This can be used to help us remember that there really is nothing wrong with us, there never was. It is the process we must see through.
Huber goes into detail on the entire process of social conditioning, how it's maintained, and how to see past it.
Notice how easy it is to believe we are in control. Huber asks us to notice our belief that when good things happen to us, it's because we did something to deserve it. Which of course sets us up for the other side of that coin -- that
when bad things happen we did something bad, or, even worse, we are bad. Or, when someone gets sick, how often do we instantly think of what they might have done to deserve the illness?
The good news is that by ceasing to identify with ego, through acceptance and learning to come back to our center time and time again, Huber shows the possibility of peace. As the saying goes, as long as you are improving yourself, you
will always have a self to improve.
She presents two worlds we can choose to live in when we get in this place of being uncomfortable. One is the conditioned world of egocentricity and suffering, and the other is a world free of suffering -- the experience of center.
In the first, she says, "we are identified with fear, loss, deprivation, a feeling/belief that there is something wrong, resistance, urgency, defensiveness, isolation, loneliness, judgment of others, self-judgment, beliefs and opinions,
being right, criticism of others, self-criticism, punishment, worry, anxiety, greed, delusion, insecurity, superiority, inferiority, tension, boredom, indulgence, resentment, discomfort, shame, the illusion of control, guilt, blame,
unworthiness, and confusion."
I included this entire list -- although it does remind me of a side effect warning on one of those pharmaceutical ads -- because it perfectly depicts the full range of what we each go through during this process of becoming aware. And
while we all manifest this resistance in a thousand different ways, these are the side effects of being a human and living in a world of social conditioning, where we are learning to look past the meanings and illusion to find reality.
"In the second case," she continues, "there is ease, well-being, sufficiency, openness, acceptance, expansiveness, compassion, and even joy in experiencing the nonseparateness of being present, here and now."
And in this second case, we have all we need. We are enough. We are everything.
***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561707155/centerpointer-20
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10. Announcements
A. We'd like to welcome three new Centerpointe Support Team Members to our growing family: Pam Laulainen, Jeff Brown, and Rory Lee. All bring a wealth of knowledge, insight, and compassion to their work here at Centerpointe, and we're very
happy to have them as part of the team.
B. The Spring Centerpointe Retreat at Glen Ivy Hot Springs, in Corona, California, is over. It was a fantastic retreat, where a lot of very deep change took place.
(See some of the comments I received by email below)
If you have a big issue you'd like to resolve, if you're in a transition period in your life and you just can't seem to complete it, or if you just want to takes things to a higher level--one where you understand more completely how you're
creating your life--please, do yourself a favor and come to our next retreat at The Inn At Spanish Head, beginning September 27, 2004.
I promise that you'll have an incredible experience you'll never forget.
I tell people they'll receive six months of growth in just 5 days at these retreats, but they keep improving every time, and people now tell me they've received much more than that.
And, this time, I'll be sharing some new information I've never shared at any retreat.
This is your chance to make a big change, and to work with me personally.
So click on this link for more information, and then sign up. If you sign up now, you save $100.00!
http://www.centerpointe.com/index.php?page=retreats
And, I guarantee results! Attend the entire retreat. If by the end of the retreat you don't think it was the most incredible growth experience you've ever had, just see me before you leave, and I'll refund your tuition.
You do not need to be a program participant to attend (though most people who attend are). (And if you're not a program participant, why the heck aren't you? Quit procrastinating and join.)
Click here for more information
http://www.centerpointe.com/index.php?page=retreats
Or, call us between 9:30 and 5:00 Pacific time, M-F, at 1-800-945-2741 or 503-672-7117.
Here's what some of the participants in our last retreat said:
I really appreciate your dedication to helping others (including me) achieve personal growth in their lives. You do so out of a passion and true interest in helping others; it is your calling. Having met you, I experienced a truly
multifaceted (point of consciousness) - music, flying, intellectual, fun & love. It is my pleasure and benefit to meet you personally. I hope that we connect again soon. Many Thanks,
John
**
Yes I did find the seminar a peak experience, saw many things in a new and different way and have started to make some noticeable changes. Thanks again for the work that you do and the lives that you touch.
Ethel
**
Since the retreat, my life has been filled with moments of deep joy I had not previously experienced. These moments happen frequently and leave me with an outward smile and a profound peace. I feel as if I am glowing and radiant inside
with joy.
I'm not sure exactly what happened to me at the retreat, but I know my life is different. Something is healed and life is joyful. Thank you for providing the environment, the people and the teachings for this to take place. And thank you
for taking me on this wonderful journey of a life of delicious surprises.
Take care-
Anne
**
I did have a very positive experience at the retreat and plan to return next year, hopefully with my husband. As I mentioned in the closing remarks, I laughed a lot, and I felt joy and a real connection to others despite only knowing them
a little or not at all. I was able to drop the separateness (being different, better, or worst, or just separate) that I usually identify with/carry around. How liberating!
I really appreciate, as I dive more deeply into the Life Principles Integration Process how much you've integrated and explained in these lessons with such clarity and depth. It's taken me years of practice (~18 years) and a lifetime of
dharma talks to have a basic understanding of some of these principles. You clarified so much in just a few lessons.
Colette
**
Thank you from my heart for your words of wisdom and mostly for your kindness and love. Thanks for the chance to open my heart wider and feel love flowing from almost 60 hearts during our retreat! We call this retreat "Circle of LOVE"!
I was in blessing condition after the Retreat, than in chaos state (with pleasure!), now I am feeling growing process and enjoying that! Thanks for my jump!
You are doing amazing job, Bill! I am sure this is REAL help for people! I am ready to send information about Centerpointe to everyone in my mailing list. It will be nice to get from you idea how to do it the best.
I would like to send my daughter to next retreat! It will be my birthday gift for her!
Love-
Alla (from Russia)
**
I will just say that I appreciate you VERY much and that the fact that I have access to one such as you and your work and staff is the best indicator of where my life is and is going. I cannot wait to see what happens next! Thank you very
much Bill.
Dave
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