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1. Welcome to Issue #138 (July 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)
* Ken Wilber update (scroll to item #7)
* How to Put the Universe in Your Debt
by Bill Harris, Director (scroll to item #8)
* Glowing Testimonial of the Month (scroll to #9)
* BOOK REVIEW (scroll to #10)
by Katie Sparks
The Power of Intention
by Wayne Dyer
* Important Announcements (scroll to #11)
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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
It's bad luck to be superstitious.
- Bill Blackman
The best way to predict your future is to create it.
- unknown
And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
- Abraham Lincoln
The secret to happiness is not in doing what one likes to do, but in liking what one has to do.
- unknown
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6. Spiritual Cinema Circle
What if you could see the best of the spiritually-oriented, uplifting, and heart-filled movies and short-subjects made each year, in the privacy of your own home--personally chosen for you by noted Hollywood film producer Steven Simon from
the top movies, shown at top film festivals?
Steven Simon knows movies. Some of his work as a Hollywood producer includes Somewhere in Time starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, and What Dreams May Come starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding.
Steven, though, left Hollywood a couple of years ago to pursue his dream of spreading uplifting, spiritual entertainment--movies that rarely make it to theaters, and often don't even make it to the rental market--yet are uplifting,
thought-provoking, heart-opening movies. To bring these movies to people who will really appreciate them, such as you and me, Steven has started The Spiritual Cinema Circle.
Here's what Steven told me: "Before now, hardly anybody got to see the best movies made each year. Now, with The Circle, you can enjoy heartful, soulful movies ... without leaving home."
Here's how the Spiritual Cinema Circle works:
* Each month you receive 3-5 features and shorts on DVD. The movies are personally selected by Steven Simon and his team. These movies represent the best of spiritual cinema and art.
* The movies are new films you're unlikely to see anywhere else.
* The DVDs are yours to keep. You don't have to return them. In fact, you're encouraged to share them with friends and family, in order to broaden the worldwide Spiritual Cinema community.
* The cost of the service is kept deliberately low, so the maximum number of people can participate. If you join now, you become a Charter Member of The CIRCLE. Charter members pay only $24 per month instead of the regular $29 fee (plus
$1.95 shipping and handling; outside USA $5.95).
* There's no risk - you may cancel your membership at any time. And remember, you never have to return any of your DVDs, even if you decide to cancel your membership.
I'm sending this email because I've enjoyed these movies so much I just new I had to share this resource with all of you--and also because I just learned they're going to raise the price after the first of the month. I wanted you to be
able to join as a Charter Member right now, if you're interested, at the lower price.
Go check out their web page for descriptions of the movies you'll see, comments from other members, and other details. I know you'll be inspired to join, and if you don't like it for some reason (which I doubt), you can always un-join at
any time.
http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com/default.asp?afID=SCC020
Be well.
Bill
*
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 arranged 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. A few reactions to my conversation with Ken Wilber on
IntegralNaked.org:
this is great news and i do know about ken wilber. the last paragraph of the book "theory of everything" belongs in the canon of spiritual texts. for you to connect with ken wilber is proof to me of centerpointe's arrival as namebrand
instead of alternative. bill you project yourself so down to earth and as a regular guy it is hard to think of you on a pedestal or high and mighty in any way. nevertheless you are a genius and a form of vishnu. from my hillbilly
conditioning comes my greatest verbal conduit of good karma, GOD BLESS YOU BILL. wes h.
*
I am already a member of the Integral institute. I haven't checked in recently but will now.
I am very excited by news of your discussions with Ken. Ken Wilber is one of the great philosophers of this era, and one that I have spent significant time studying.
Mark L.
*
In April I was in enough pain to reach out to the "Universe" and ask for help and a mentor. I ran acrossed a holosync ad on a webpage and thought, what the heck...let's give it a try. Almost simultaneously I ordered Ken Wilber's new 10
CD set on Integral Conciousnesss through Sounds True. There seemed to be a resonance in what you have been creating and offering and what he has been studying and teaching. So I've been using holosync and the integral profile hand in
hand instinctively in response to a seeming direction from the Powers That Be. What a stunner to find you two have been actually hooking up at the same time!
I have been using Holosync only since May. I am convinced enough to be refinancing my house in part to pay for the whole enchilada before the end of your latest special. Having Ken Wilbur validate the program removes any doubts that I'm
doing the right thing. It is just too sycrynistic!
You have been used to give us all an incredible gift. Thanks for being curious enough to put it all together.
Estelle H.
You can still go to
http://www.integralnaked.org and listen to Part I of my conversation with Ken Wilber, called "Brainwaves and God".
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8. Feature Article
How To Put the Universe in Your Debt
by Bill Harris, Director
I'm about to begin the third online course of my Life Principles Integration Process series, The Success Solution. In this third course we'll deal with applying what I've covered in the first two courses to achieving what you want in
life--how to set goals, create a plan, gather the recourse you need, remain motivated, make decisions, deal with setbacks, and all the other nuts and bolts practical aspects of making what you want happen in the world.
This is where I began in personal growth--teaching success and success principles, so it's a topic dear to my heart. And, because I'm getting ready to begin this twelve-lesson course, I'm thinking a lot about what I want to say and how I
want to say it. Part of the challenge is to present the information in a way that causes students to really get it and apply it on a practical level. Theoretical success isn't worth much. Practical success is what's important.
Along with all the nuts and bolts I'll teach--the "how to"--there are also a number of fundamental principles all successful people follow. Without these fundamental principles, the nuts and bolts are pretty much useless. If, however, you
really embrace these fundamental principles, the nuts and bolts become easy to implement. The nuts and bolts almost become an afterthought, a process of filling in the blanks.
I want to share one of these principles with you today. This principle is truly magic, and if you can integrate it into your life, it will improve everything.
This is the principle of Going the Extra Mile.
Now before you start groaning about how sappy this is getting, or that you tried this and it doesn't work, I want you to remember that I can't stand sappiness, either, and I'm not interested in anything that doesn't work. I'm interested in
results. Period.
I've found that when something "doesn't work" it's usually because some essential element is being left out.
Going the extra mile means rendering more service and better service than what is expected in whatever you do.
Sometimes when you go the extra mile you aren't compensated for what you do--right away. But the reason this principle works is that the universe's books are always balanced (also known as "what goes around comes around"). There is no way
you can render any kind of service to others (or, for that matter, do something nasty to someone) without eventually being compensated.
And, the longer you wait to be "paid", the more interest you accrue, so it doesn't matter how long it takes to get paid.
Most people take the opposite view. "Why should I work so hard, they say, if what I do isn't being appreciated, or I'm not being fairly or fully compensated? I want what's fair, and I want it now, or forget it." They feel taken advantage
of if they aren't compensated, fully and immediately.
This attitude is the result of focusing your mind on NOT being taken advantage of, or focusing your mind on NOT wanting to put out any extra effort without an immediate reward. Since to think this way you have to create internal pictures
of what you don't want, two things (as always) happen: 1) you get what you focus on, even though it's what you don't want, and 2) you feel bad.
When you go the extra mile, you put the universe in your debt. Besides the big picture karmic aspect I've already mentioned, this works in some very practical ways. If you are working for someone and you go the extra mile, and they don't
notice or don't care, and as a result don't compensate you, someone else will notice, and eventually your reward will come. Someone else will offer you a job, or some other opportunity. Sometimes the way this reward comes to you is
mysterious, and seems unconnected to the effort you've put out. But it eventually comes, nonetheless.
If you're in a relationship and you go the extra mile for your partner and they don't appreciate it, someone else will see it, and eventually you will be paid, or in some other way you will be compensated. It might take time, but it will
happen, and the longer you wait, the more interest you've banked.
Going the extra mile takes advantage of the most important keys to creating what you want in the world: focusing on what you want, and taking action. To give more than what is required to any situation, you have to focus on what you want.
Focusing on what you want (as opposed to focusing on what you don't want or are afraid of) is the key to getting what you want in life.
And, you can't go the extra mile without taking action, which is the second key.
Since almost no one goes the extra mile, when you do go the extra mile you'll really stand out. People will notice, and you will eventually be rewarded.
People who work for me sometimes come to me and want more money. They want a raise. I pay very generously already (in other words, I go the extra mile in paying my employees). I'm actually paying for their extra effort BEFORE they do the
work, which in one way or another, puts the universe in my debt. When someone wants a raise, here's what I do: I look at whether or not they are already going the extra mile. If they are, they deserve a raise, since by going the extra mile
they are doing more than they are being paid to do already.
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that they should be paid more first, and then they'll do more. It might happen that way in life sometimes--someone wants more from you, so they offer you more--but that puts the ball in their
court. In such a case, you have to wait until someone else takes the initiative to offer you more. The great thing about going the extra mile is that you don't have to ask anyone's permission to do it, and everyone loves it when you do. So
going the extra mile is a way you can take the initiative to become worth more so someone else, whether it's as an employee, a business associate, a friend, or a romantic partner. And if that someone else doesn't notice--or even if they
take advantage of you, which sometimes happens--you still have added a credit to your balance sheet that WILL be repaid, one way or another.
One major point I'm making to the people in the Success Solution online course--and have made a few times in Mind Chatter over the years--is that whatever you want in life, there is a price to pay. There is no such thing as something for
nothing. Those times where you seem to get something for nothing, you still end up paying the price. You just pay it after you get the reward, and in such cases the price is always greater. The best policy is to go the extra mile in the
first place, to do everything you can to pay the price IN ADVANCE for everything, and even to over-pay.
I've framed this mostly in terms of work, but this principle applies to everything: romantic relationships, goal achievement, friendships, business, or anything else. To get anything in life, there is a price to pay, and you pay the lowest
price when you pay in advance and in full. Going the extra mile is a way of paying in advance--and, in addition, paying without any thought of being paid back. The principle doesn't work if done for selfish reasons.
If your outlook is instant gratification--get it now and pay later--this isn't for you. But I'll tell you something about those who pay after the fact: they pay more for everything. This isn't just a karmic/metaphysical principle. It shows
up in the world in a very practical way, such as when you buy something on credit instead of saving up for it. When you do this, you pay interest on your purchase. If you buy something for $500, for instance, and pay 15% interest on your
credit card and take a year to pay it off, you pay at least 10% more for what you bought, possibly more.
Can you become prosperous by paying 10% more than those who pay in full when they get the item?
No, you can't. Prosperous people earn interest. Those who live month to month and paycheck to paycheck pay interest. You can have things now, by going into debt, or you can wait until you can pay and save a lot of money. Or, you can pay in
advance and build up wealth--whether it's financial wealth or some other kind. In other words, you want to be someone who earns interest, not someone who pays it, whether you're talking about money, relationships, or any other aspect of
life. Getting something in advance, before you've paid the price, puts you in debt. You want the universe to be in debt to you, not the other way around, and the way to do that is to pay in advance.
Here's a real world example: we offer people the option of paying in advance for two levels of The Holosync Solution program, or three levels, or all twelve deeper levels, by giving a huge discount. We're saying, "pay the price in advance
and the price will be less than what everyone else pays." This is the principle of going the extra mile applied to a commercial transaction, but it works this way in everything. Pay in advance, and you pay less. If you pay in advance and
don't get paid right away, you earn interest. If you get the reward before you pay, you pay more.
Applying the principle of going the extra mile takes faith--faith that the universe's books really are always balanced. The simple way to develop this faith is to focus your mind on what you want. If you focus on what you don't want ("I
don't want to be taken advantage of," for instance, or "I don't want to do more than I have to") you will short circuit your ability to have this faith, you won't go the extra mile, and you won't get the rewards of doing so. Instead,
you'll get the very thing you focused on: you'll end up at least feeling taken advantage of and at least feeling that you have done more than you had to.
Every successful person I've ever met goes the extra mile in everything they do. Those who are in my online courses can see very directly that I do this in the way I answer their email questions (online course participants get unlimited
email access to me). I hope all of you can see that I do this in everything I do at Centerpointe, by adding additional bonuses and giving additional services you didn't pay for and didn't expect.
I long ago gave up keeping score of what I have done and what I have received. I just know I am blessed to receive everything I need, and more, and because I go the extra mile I'm fortunate enough to have enough left over to help many
other people. The more I give, the more I seem to have to continue giving, as in the fairy tale about the magic sack that every time a penny was taken from it, another appeared in its place.
The world can be your magic sack--if you develop the habit of always giving more service and making sure your giving is of the highest quality, by making sure that you do this with a positive attitude, and by making sure that you do this
without having your hand out to see what will come back.
Believe me, it will come back to you many times over.
Be well.
Bill
PS: Be sure to read Katie Sparks' book review below!
[If you found this article helpful, please send a copy of this issue to a friend!]
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9. Glowing Testimonials and Letters
When I was in my early 20s, and just out of the Marine Corps, I remember feeling really happy one evening. Then I had this thought, "You don't deserve to be happy, push the happiness out, and let the depression back in." It was a
shocking thought. It caused me to start wondering why I didn't think I deserved to be happy. Well, I couldn't find a reason to be unhappy. This led to spiritual practice.
I meditated for 20-years. I have had profound and deep experiences of transcendence. Moments of happiness and joy and as the Buddhist call it, "The direct experience of emptiness."
But for years, somewhere deep inside of me, there was this heavy feeling, where the unspoken context of everything was observed through a filter that included sadness. I didn't know where it came from. And, there was no way I could find
to make it go away. So, I just observed that it was there. Sort of like an open wound, painful, and wondering what the balm is that will heal it. Surrendering to it over and over again. Blasting past it to emptiness, but never healing
it.
Then I found Holosync. I was surprised and elated from the moment I starting using this technology as part of my practice. As time has gone on I have realized many benefits and have faced several challenges. All rewarding. I have also
realized that the old feeling of sadness that I described above, no longer exists. It is not that it is replaced with a different filter per se. Sadness just melted away one day. There is just an observer observing whatever arises.
And, this has given rise to a tremendous amount of personal peace, compassion and caring about the welfare of others, and the on-going and deepening realization that the observer observing is part of some incomprehensible and beautiful
wholeness that cannot be described. It is pretty cool.
This has led to tremendous success in my personal life. I finally live in the place I have wanted to live my entire life. Alaska.
My career - something I had learned to dread - has been reinvigorated. I look forward to working each day. I see it as a service that I provide. My peers, my subordinates, my customers, and my managers treat me with great respect, my
ideas are taken seriously and I am able to implement them. And, my office looks out over the Chugach mountains and the beautiful Alaska sky. I literally work in paradise every day.
My home life has become good again. My wife and I have a wonderful and honest relationship and have gotten beyond some of the rocky times endemic to marriage. My children like to hang out with me and do things, and they are all doing
well in school and in their endeavors.
My spiritual practice is re-invigorated and some of the cynicism that I had developed from previous experiences is melting like the sadness and other hardships described.
I experience from moment to moment the effects of past actions, and I see that I am responsible for everything in my life. Not as some theoretical mental construct, but as a living breathing experience. It is like being awake in the
dream and knowing that I control the horizontal and I control the vertical. I feel like the captain of a ship that suddenly realized (while heading toward the shoals) that I am the one in control of the rudder, and therefore, in control
of the direction of the ship. I have steer a course for open waters and all-embracing adventure.
Mark L.
**
I've e-mailed you before on my progress but I wanted to add something else. I wanted you, personally, to know this about me, and how this technology has remarkably helped me.
I doubt there are many of me in the Centerpointe program. Part of the reason I came was to rid my self of clinically diagnosed psychotic beliefs. It started with one, which was easily managed, ten years ago. But then in recent years the
number of beliefs multiplied like crazy, growing daily, until I could not handle it. I was sent to the hospital because of suicidal thoughts due to paranoia.
For the time I had these beliefs, I truly believed, as my doctor implied, that these were going to be with me for a long time, if not indefinitely. But that has changed since, one by one, they are disappearing into thin air. I believe that
everybody is "psychotic" in some sense, since they all distort reality with their beliefs. But I truly sympathize with the people
that have a rotten experience in their interaction with other people, since I was like them, and also because it really doesn't seem fair in this world for people to have rotten experiences all because their beliefs are not "resourceful"
(In my case, my beliefs were not only not resourceful, they
were near fatal!)
I was different from the typical unhappy person though, in that I labeled my beliefs as "psychotic" and not normal. In some ways, I am so glad that I labeled them this way since I knew I had something I needed to fix. In my case, I tried
not to act like a "jerk" even when people were "rude to me all the time" (one of my beliefs) or when people reacted negatively to my
thoughts (I believed that people could read my mind) since once I got emotional about it, it would just come back ten times stronger, so I had to censor the thoughts and feelings I had, literally for years, every single day. I know -- it
sucked to be me! But I really did hold on to your very words given in one of your talks, that even psychotic beliefs are beliefs
that can be changed.
Thank God that I had enough faith in this technology, to help me through this. I know nothing else could have. THANK YOU!!!
Ganesh A.
**
I just wanted to drop you a line thanking you for your product. I have just turned 44 years old and the holosync program (I'm on the second disc on the second level) has literally transformed my life within the last year. I had no idea
that life could be this good. Before holosync, I was a very angry, depressed person. While I am still healing in those areas, the underlying causes for most of my anger and depression have disappeared. I am still dealing with (though
this is a good thing!) being more popular, as I am more likeable now. I enjoy people's company more and am filled with confidence and hope.
I have started a new business recently and have every reason to believe that it will be successful. Plus, it has made other programs even more effective! I have been using the Tony Robbins "Personal Power" tapes recently (it just seemed to
be a good idea to dig them out again) with great success. These tapes had always been of some help before in my goals, but I believe that the holosync tapes have made them truly effective for me. The main reason being that, because of
holosync, my brain is actually better able to benefit from the ideas presented by Mr. Robbins. Or, at least, that's my guess. I can not truly explain everything that has happened, but I can tell you that I am excited about the
possibilities of my future now. I still have a ways to go, but I am really enjoying the trip!
My initial catharsis was quite intense, with a lot of resistance on my part, but I have really begun practising "witnessing" and this has made the whole process a lot less turbulent for me. I have found myself drinking a lot less without
any concious effort on my part, my brain seems to keep coming up with endless new ideas, and I look and feel five years younger than I did before I began holosync. Thank you very much! I feel as if I have my life back, and am more alive
than I have ever been.
My temper has gone from a near constant, just under the surface, rage, to something else entirely different. It's as if I don't get angry anymore, because nothing happens that can trigger that anger. It is like being released from prison.
Most of these changes happened during the floating period for me, while I was asleep, so I have no memory of the actual catharsis, but I would wake up and life would be different somehow.
I am a physically powerful person, and my rage frightened me, as I did not want to hurt anyone, so releasing all that rage has freed me from a lot of my fears of doing just that. Not to mention all the positive benefits associated with
just feeling good about myself. My anger is gone, my brain seems to come up with more and more things every day, my energy levels are increasing along with my general good health.
There are not enough good things I can say about your program. Please keep it up! I will be ordering my next level soon, and I just wanted you to know how much, and why, I look forward to each session!
Gratefully, Jim
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10. Book Review
By Katie Sparks
The Power of Intention
By Wayne Dyer, Ph.D.
***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401902154/centerpointer-20
Wayne Dyer knows a bit about intention. From an alcoholic family and growing up in foster homes, he has become a renowned author and teacher in the field of self-development. The Power of Intention reveals Dyer's shifting attitude
on success from the grab-the-bull-by-the-horns type of intention led by ego and willfulness, to something much different.
Intention as Dyer uses the word is not something you do, but rather a force that exists in the universe as an invisible field of energy. This field is "the infinite potential that flows invisibly beyond the reach of our normal, everyday
habitual patterns." It is invisible, formless, and it manages everything for us. It digests our food and beats our hearts. It is "a placeless place that is just there, always" and it can't be described with words. It is Spirit, Source,
God.
Often it takes the courageous truth of another to inspire us to action. This is Dyer's skill. Dyer describes with eloquence and honesty his experience of learning to continually return to spirit and overcome the ego's hold. He is a great
teacher and uses every opportunity to break down his ideas into steps and give the reader tips on how to implement these ideas into one's life.
According to Dyer, intention is a force that we can never walk outside of. We may not realize it's there and we don't always walk with it, but we can access it at any moment. And the more we do this, the easier it becomes. Intention, he
says, can't be found in our conscious mind. We must feel, know and trust. It is a silent knowing.
My overwhelming response to the book was motivation and a longing to reconnect to a deep faith in this power. I found myself incredibly compelled to surrender to that force bigger than myself. The book essentially seeks to define the many
facets of faith and of spirit. For me, it defined the place of grace and the absence of will, of ego, of control.
I had a strong desire to become more like what Dyer calls a connector. This is a person who is constantly connecting to the source of intention. Dyer spends the final chapter painting a portrait of how such a person would live.
"To connectors, it all seems so simple. Keep your thoughts on what you intend to create. Stay consistently matched up with the field of intention, and then watch for the clues that what you're summoning from the all-creative Source is
arriving in your life...Connectors appreciate the world and everything in it. The same connection that they experience with nature they feel toward all beings, including those who lived before and those who have yet to arrive. They have a
consciousness of the oneness...Connectors don't brag about their good fortune, but are in a perpetual state of gratitude and radical humility...Connectors tell you without hesitation that they choose to feel good regardless of what's going
on around them or how others might judge them. They know feeling bad is a choice, and that it isn't useful for correcting unpleasant situations in the world."
With ideas and quotes from mystics, philosophers, and the the new physics, Dyer describes how to connect to intention, what stands in our way (ego, of course...) and our impact on others when we connect to intention. In this way, Dyer
makes it clear that when we connect to this field of energy we meet with success.
Dyer does a very good job of distinguishing between ego and the spirit of intention. He makes it clear that when we see our ego's functioning and elect to move into the space of intention, we get to where we want to go very easily.
Dyer urges us to consider that we are not separate from the things we want in life, that we are not separate from what we think is missing. This was a new perspective for me. I'd considered that I'm not really separate from other people or
nature or the desk I work at, but to consider that those experiences currently missing in my life are also already a part of me was a huge leap.
The one thing that bothered me about the book was its reliance on using human judgements to define this spirit. He starts out with a great perspective on God as the source of potential, imagination and mystery and then makes the leap to
define this Godly power with such human qualities as kindness, beauty and love. Granted, this is a common way to define God in the western spirtitual tradition. But the definition Dyer began with -- the one where God is simply an undefined
spirit -- is, to me, incongruent with the definitions he uses.
For example, he makes statements such as "God is Good," "all things God created are good," "the source of all creation is kindness" and "when you're unkind you are moving away from the power of intention, " and "if we could see the field
of intention we'd see creativity and kindness in an endless field of love."
Would we though? Are these meanings really part of the universe, or is he adding them? Is everything in God's creation good or is it simply existing? Perhaps if we could see the universe as it is we would see that it creates and destroys
and continues on and on again for eternity. To me, we do not live in a universe that is anything other than simply there, being, flowing. Such a universe is magnificent enough, without adding these extra meanings.
The problem in assigning human characteristics and good and bad distinctions is that they are human judgments. The universe really is neither good nor bad and for us to subscribe to this thinking lays the groundwork for suffering when
circumstance are other than we think they should be.
For example, if you feel hurt by someone and subsequently are unkind to that person, Dyer might say you aren't aligned with the source of creation. But to say that you should be kind because "it's the right way " or "it's the way of God"
sets you up for suffering by causing you to think you "should" be a certain way. This "should" thinking puts you in the position of doing something "you're supposed to" but which is actually only valuable if done spontaneously. It's also
living your life wanting everything to always be up, or good, or positive, when, for better or worse, that's not the universe we live in.
On the other hand, there is legitimate and real value in these qualities and in coming from a place of kindness, love and abundance. They are tools to yield more of what you want in the world. By focusing on being happy and loving and
kind, you are focusing your energy on what you want instead of what you don't want.
The universe is a flow of energy that continually moves between up and down, on and off, black and white, and being attached to one of these two poles over the other just causes suffering. In the context of getting what you want, focusing
on forgiveness, kindness, love and abundance does bring us to a peaceful starting point. Being attached to them, however, creates suffering.
Dyer's descriptions work well if you take them from the point of view that it's a game we play without assigning certain characteristics, such as love and happiness, to the universal energy. When we come from such a perspective, we are
more powerful, and, yes, more aligned with the power of intention.
If you can realize that Dyer's concepts have no innate meanings and needn't become a "new rule" about how to be in the world, the book is helpful in moving away from a reliance on ego to faith and trust in spirit. Overall, the book is an
excellent reminder that when we place our intention on manifesting what we want and have faith, this greater spirit will provide what we need. Dyer posts this message on his kitchen wall:
Good Morning,
This is God.
I will be handling
All of your
Problems today.
I will not need
Your help, so have
A miraculous day!
It can be that easy.
***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401902154/centerpointer-20
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11. Announcements
A. Our Fall Retreat at The Inn at Spanish Head, on the beautiful Oregon Coast, is getting pretty close to being full, but there are a few spots still open.
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 take 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're 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 to sign up.
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
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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