1. Welcome to Issue #151 (August 16, 2005) of MIND CHATTER, the e-mail newsletter of Centerpointe Research Institute: http://www.centerpointe.com. 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. ................................................................................ 2. If you would like to unsubscribe, you can manage your account via the link at the end of this newsletter. (But please don't. We like you and we want you to stay.) ................................................................................ 3. In This Issue // MindQuotes (scroll to #5) // A few recommendations that may benefit you (scroll to item #6) // Feature Article The Dance of Awareness by Bill Harris, Director (scroll to item #7) // Glowing Testimonial of the Month (scroll to #8) // Letters to Bill (scroll to #9) // BOOK REVIEW (scroll to #10) Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking By Malcolm Gladwell Copyright 2005 Little, Brown & Co. Review by Marc Gilson // Important Announcements (scroll to #11) ................................................................................ 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. ................................................................................ 5. Mind Quotes A goal is a dream with a deadline. -Napoleon Hill Focus on where you want to go, not what you fear. - Anthony Robbins If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself. - Galileo ................................................................................ 6. I want to show you how to create the exact life you want-- inside and out! Here's how to experience a FREE preview... I know that many people may have promised that they can teach you how to create the life you want. I promise you that I really can--and have for thousands of people. I've also arranged for you to be able to experience a sample of how I do it, FREE. So, here's a very special opportunity for you...something that can totally turn your life around. And, it could be worth a considerable amount of money to you, as well. Just for a moment, imagine: WHAT IF you could be IN CHARGE of what happens to you--including your feelings and emotions and other internal states, as well as your external results?... Wouldn't that be a lot better than waiting for life to "just happen," where you sometimes get what you want, and sometimes you get what you don't want? Are you willing to learn exactly HOW you can do this? For the last year and a half, I've been teaching three 12-lesson online courses called the Life Principles Integration Process, or LPIP, that teach you all of this, and more. I've received thousands of emails and letters from the people in these courses telling me how what they've learned has transformed their lives, even saved their lives. (You can see some of the comments people have made below.) So more people could afford the LPIP courses, and as an introductory offer, I'm offering them for an incredibly low $249 per course. And, if you sign up for all three, I'll give you the third course for FREE. This actually made each course $166 each, about $13.83 per lesson. If I taught the LPIP material in seminar form, it would probably take at least ten long intense days to teach each course. And with all the personal follow-up I include I'd have to charge several thousand dollars per course for you to attend. And even at that lofty price, it would be worth it, I promise you. Not only that, there is an iron-clad money back guarantee on these courses. Take the course and do the homework, and if you don't think this is the most transformational experience you've ever had, I'll immediately refund your entire tuition. In other words, you have nothing to lose but whatever ways you have been automatically creating what you don't want in life. I will warn you, though. These LPIP courses are not your typical pablum-filled feel-good seminars where you feel high at the end but realize three weeks later that little if anything really changed. If you take these three courses, EVERYTHING will change--and, for the better. Your life will be transformed. You will have all the tools you need to be in direct control of your life--your feelings, your internal state, your external results, your behavior. And, you will gain a huge insight into who you really are, why you're here, and what life is all about. Plus you'll learn, step-by-step, the exact strategies, internal and external, used by the most successful people in the world to get anything they want. And, I'll show you how to make sure you use them and make them work for you. And, as I said, if you don't get what you want from these courses, for any reason, you can get a refund. I'm taking all the risk, other than your time investment in actually doing the lessons. If you're not serious about changing your life, if you aren't willing to do what it takes to operate at the highest level and really be happy, peaceful, and successful ALL THE TIME, this isn't for you. But if you're serious, if you're sincere, these three courses will utterly and completely change your life. Here's a huge and very unique benefit you'll get from these LPIP online courses: In addition to everything else, all LPIP course participants get unlimited email access to me for any questions they have about course content. I answer every one of these emails personally--no staff members are involved--and some of my answers, when necessary, are sometimes three, five, even seven pages long. I put everything into this course, because I really, sincerely want you to get everything I'm promising. You though, have a part in the success of these courses--in fact, a big part. I don't wave a magic want over you and change you into a happy, peaceful, successful person in complete control of his or her life. If just tell you how to do it, and give you an easy way to make the change. Because I have such a huge personal time investment in answering all your questions, I want to make one thing very clear, though. Please DO NOT take these courses unless you're willing to do your part. I do not have the time to waste on those who aren't sincere and aren't willing to pay the price to create the internal changes they want. But if you ARE sincere, and you really do want to change your life, I want to show you how to do it, and I will take you, step by step, through everything you need to know. You CAN create an entirely new life for yourself, regardless of your past or present circumstances. You can read more about each course and what it includes, and even listen to a free preview lesson, just by clicking below: http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview So please, go listen to the free preview lesson, and if you really are ready to change your life, enroll in this amazing courses risk-free. I look forward to having you in these courses and showing you that the possibilities for what your life can be really are limitless...regardless of your present or past circumstances. Just click here to listen to the free preview lesson and to take advantage of the old low price before we're forced to raise it on March 1st: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Be well. Bill ** "When I actually SAW my brainwaves, I just about fell off my chair!... I recently experienced something so incredible--something that affected me in such an amazing way--that I just had to tell you about it. If you're at all serious about your emotional and spiritual growth, this is going to absolutely blow your mind! Here's what it's all about: I recently had the good fortune to meet an amazing man. Dr. James Hardt is probably the world's greatest expert on human brain waves, their connection to various beneficial states (especially all kinds of spiritual states), and--this is the best part!--how, using a very sophisticated form of brain wave biofeedback tested over 30 years, you can learn to create states of happiness,joy, feelings of connection and love, and many other beneficial mental, emotional, and spiritual states, at will. A couple of months ago, I traveled to San Jose, California to attend one of Dr. Hardt's alpha brain wave trainings. The purpose of the training is to use feedback from your own brain to learn how to intentionally make lots and lots of alpha waves, associated with... ...meditation, creativity, emotional healing, incredible joyfulness, and a lot more! The first morning, electrodes were gently attached to certain key locations on my head. I entered a sound-proof booth and sank into a comfortable chair. Speakers on either side of my head played back special tones, one for each electrode location. These tones, and the music they created, came from alpha waves? ...created by my own brain! When I made more alpha waves, the tones became louder. When I created less alpha, the tones became quieter. Over the seven days of the training, this feedback allowed me to create more and more alpha waves, and as I did so... ...I began to feel more and more joy...more inner peace...and more and more connection to the universe! It was amazing. All the training participants had profound meditative and spiritual experiences, which Dr. Hardt helped us understand. Emotional and spiritual issues needing resolution came to the surface, and Dr. Hardt showed us how to resolve them (which is much easier when you're making a lot of alpha waves). As issues were resolved, we were able to make more and more alpha, and our experience of joy and connection... ...increased and increased and increased! By the end of the week, everyone was transformed (more about that below). Dr. Hardt, over 30 years, has trained Zen masters (who told him his training was better than Zen because, unlike with a Zen master, your brain can give you feedback every second!) and other advanced spiritual seekers. He's also trained high-level Special Forces troops...business and artistic geniuses...and people like you and me who are interested in rapid spiritual and emotional growth. Dr. Hardt has published his findings in peer-review journals and is considered to be the world's most respected authority on brain wave biofeedback training. As you know, I already know a lot about brain waves and spiritual states, but Dr. Hardt had a lot to teach even me! Here's something that I found to be particularly amazing: The Alpha I brain wave training I attended teaches you how to make the same brain waves made by those who have practiced Zen meditation (or something comparable) for 21 to 40 years or more--but it does so in just seven days! Dr. Hardt's brainwave training is a huge shortcut! Sounds good, but do the changes last, you ask? Yes, they do. Studies show that those who have taken this training are making even more alpha waves a year later! Just as with Holosync, this training creates a momentum for growth that continues long after you stop. The trainings are small, with lots of personal attention--a maximum of 5 students per training. Two people in my training arrived depressed and confused about their lives, and with a significant amount of emotional baggage (in one case, quite severe emotional baggage). At the end of seven days, though, these two looked and behaved like the long-time Holosync users I see at Centerpointe retreats. They were happy, bubbly, focused, joyful, and radiant. They smiled. Their posture was more confident and their attitude upbeat. They looked you in the eye when they talked to you, whereas before the training... ...they could not do so. I've kept in touch with both of these people, and the positive changes they experienced have definitely lasted--even accelerated--in the couple of months since the training. Would you like to know what happened for me? I thought you would! When I arrived at the training, I was coming out of a period where I had been working 16-hour-days (working on the lessons for my three online courses) for over a year and a half. I was, quite frankly, pretty wiped out. I handle stress very well, but even so, I was pretty worn down. I left the training renewed and uplifted, and with even more awareness about how I create certain parts of my life. As you may know, I already have a very high awareness of these things, but this training accentuated that awareness--a lot. In a word, it was remarkable. But something even more amazing happened for me at the training. Check this out: On Day 5 of the training, I began making huge amounts of a very unique type of brain waves Dr. Hardt identified as those signifying... ...huge amounts of kundalini energy! You may know that in traditional yoga and meditation schools, kundalini is the spiritual energy lying dormant (in most people) at the base of the spine, and a "kundalini awakening" is an incredible spiritual event. When awakened by spiritual practices such as meditation, this energy travels up the spine, moving through and awakening each of the chakras--awakening various spiritual energies and abilities. Based on Dr. Hardt's 30 years of research, it turns out that kundalini energy has a very specific brain wave signature! And, on Day 5, I began to make LOTS of it! (I was supposed to be making alpha waves, but who cares!) As I experienced the brain waves of kundalini, I also experienced incredible bliss! Dr. Hardt also told me that the small number of people he has studied who were able to create such kundalini brain waves all seen to have the ability... ...to manifest anything they want in life! If you'd like to see what the brain waves of kundalini energy looks like, click here to view a portion of my EEG record from Day 5: http://www.centerpointe.com/kundalini All spiritual states have brain wave signatures! In fact, Dr. Hardt has identified the brain wave signatures corresponding to many spiritual states and stages of increasingly advanced meditation, including states of egolessness, out of body experiences, profound visionary experiences, and even the brain wave signature of the ability to make halos! But that not all! It's what Dr. Hardt has done with these "spiritual brain wave signatures" that really has me excited! Here's what he did: Once Dr. Hardt observed certain high spiritual states in the brain waves of Zen masters and other advanced meditators, he was then able to design specific biofeedback training programs to teach others how to create these same states--often in as little as seven days! (It often takes several decades to learn to experience these high states!) Once you complete the Alpha I training I attended, you can take Dr. Hardt's Alpha II training. In this more advanced training you gain the ability to exercise even more control over which part of the brain is generating alpha (yes, it makes a difference), while also further increasing your ability to create more. After Alpha II, you can take Dr. Hardt's Theta I training where you learn to make what he calls mystical theta (very different from sleep theta). I'm told that in the Theta training trainees experience some very profound spiritual states. Then, you can take the more advanced Theta II training. There are also Delta brain wave trainings (this is where you get into learning how to make the kundalini brain waves I was making) and Dr. Hardt even has trainings where... ...you and a partner learn to make brain waves together (what Dr. Hardt calls Shared Feedback)! As you can probably tell,I'm very excited about all of this. In fact, along with Holosync, I consider Dr. Hardt's work to be perhaps the most ground-breaking work in spiritual growth on this planet. Here's why biofeedback is so powerful: From the time you were an infant, everything you've learned has involved your ability to receive feedback about your progress. When you first learned to walk, or pick up an object with your hand, you could see and feel what was going on. This feedback allowed you to refine your technique until you could do the task perfectly. Can you guess which part of you does NOT receive feedback about how it is doing? That's right. It's your brain wave activity. But what if you could receive feedback about your brain wave activity? What if you could receive direct feedback telling you when you were making the beginnings of high spiritual states, happiness, joy, heightened creativity--or any other state? With that feedback, you could also quickly master these abilities, too. And that's exactly what happens in these trainings. In fact, Dr. Hardt is fond of saying, "The introduction of feedback to any system will elevate that system to a higher level of functioning." Do you see how exciting this is? Dr. Hardt has spent the last 30 years creating the most sophisticated technological methods for giving the brain direct and accurate feedback about its electrical activity. Since that electrical activity is directly related to your happiness, the amount of joy you experience, and the level of spiritual connection you feel in any given moment... ...Dr. Hardt's trainings will dramatically accelerate your ability to create all of these things, and a lot more! And, in my opinion, when used in conjunction with Holosync, these trainings are even more powerful! If you aren't super-excited about this by now, you probably just don't care that much about your spiritual growth. But if you are excited--as I certainly am--you'll want to check out Dr. Hardt's website and then give him a call to find out when his next training will be. When you visit his website (www.biocybernaut.com) be sure to read his description of his own first experience with biofeedback, where he had an incredibly profound spiritual experience. This description is called A Tale of Self-Discovery, you can find it through the Site Map link on his site--and, I guarantee you... ...it will blow your mind. There is one drawback to these trainings (other than having to deal with the fact that your life will change dramatically in just seven days). First, because the trainings involve incredibly expensive and proprietary computer and equipment systems developed by Dr. Hardt and his colleagues over 30 years of research, and because Dr. Hardt can train only five people at one time, the costs of delivering these trainings are unfortunately fairly high. On the other hand, what price can you place on the ability to learn, in just seven days, how to make the same brain waves as a Zen master--and to deeply feel the happiness and joy I believe are your birthright as a human being? Not to worry, though, because I figured out a way for you to save 20% on your tuition. Here's how: Dr. Hardt would pay me a 20% affiliate fee for each person who takes his Alpha I training because of my recommendation. However, to help you take advantage of this incredible training and everything it will do for your happiness and your spiritual growth, I'm going to give you the 20% fee if you take Dr. Hardt's Alpha I training during July, August, or September of this year. That means you get 20% off the regular tuition. Please, right now, visit Dr. Hardt's website (www.biocybernaut.com). There's a ton of fascinating information about biofeedback, brain waves and how they relate to spiritual states, and a lot more. After you educate yourself, give Dr. Hardt a call (use the Training Center phone number listed in the "Contact" section) with any questions and to find out about training dates (the phone number is on his website). When you call, be sure to tell him you are from Centerpointe and that I sent you, as this will save you a significant amount of money. (I want to be clear that I'm taking no money for recommending this--I'm doing it solely because I strongly believe in it.) Here's another way to make it financially easier to participate: Dr. Hardt has arranged a special program with Wells Fargo Bank, specifically created for those who attend his trainings. This program will allow you to finance the entire amount of the training at very reasonable terms. You can ask Dr. Hardt about this program when you speak to him. Or, try the 2-Day Sample... Finally, if you're not sure about the 7-day training, and want a "taste" before you decide, there is also a 2-day "sample" you can take at a much-reduced cost. And, at the conclusion of these two days, you can opt to continue with the full training if you want to and apply the entire 2-day fee to the full training. Finally, Dr. Hardt fully guarantees the 7-day training. If, at the end of the 7th day you don't think it delivered everything you were promised, and a lot more, just tell Dr. Hardt before you leave the training facility, and he'll give you a full refund. Even if you're unsure, please visit www.biocybernaut.com. At the very least, I want you to have the education you'll get from this website. When you get there, I suggest that you read the whole site (though there's a lot to read). I did. At least be sure to read A Tale of Self-Discovery, Dr. Hardt's description of his first experience with brain wave biofeedback. Then, call Dr. Hardt (again, use the Training Center phone number listed in the "Contact" section of the website) with any questions. Be sure to tell him you heard about this from Bill Harris and Centerpointe. If you're at all interested, please move quickly, though. Because the trainings are small, and because many spots in upcoming trainings are already taken--and because I'm telling a LOT of people about this--act now before the trainings are booked up beyond the three months during which you can receive the 20% discount. And finally, after you take the training, please write to Centerpointe and tell us about your experience at the training! So, go visit www.biocybernaut.com right now, while you're thinking about it! Be well. Bill Harris PS: Don't forget, I believe in this so much I've arranged to give you a 20% scholarship if you decide to take Dr. Hardt's Alpha I training during July, August, or September of this year. Don't wait. Go check out www.biocybernaut.com right now, and when you call be sure to tell him that you heard about it from me, so you can get your scholarship. ................................................................................ 7. Feature Article The Dance of Awareness by Bill Harris, Director, Centerpointe Research Institute My friend Ken Wilber likes to say, "Awareness, in and of itself, is transformative." What does this mean, though? And what is awareness? I have found that most people don't really know what spiritual teachers mean by "awareness", and this term is thrown around without any clear definition. Awareness is more than just "knowing" something. You might, for instance, know that from time to time you have certain dysfunctional emotional reactions that keep you from being happy, peaceful, and successful in the way you would like. This knowledge, however, does not keep you from repeating these emotional reactions. Biting into the strawberry of awareness... In fact, most people involved in personal and spiritual growth have read so many books, been to so many seminars, and have had so many hours of therapy that they could write a Masters thesis about their "stuff". However (as you probably know) this knowledge rarely creates positive change, which many people find to be very frustrating. Since this type of cognitive knowing is not transformative, it can't be the awareness spiritual teachers talk about. In fact, you will not recognize the type of spiritual awareness I'm talking about until you have it, just as you couldn't know how a strawberry tastes until you actually bite into one. The awareness spiritual teachers talk about involves seeing how everything goes together to create you, what happens to you, how you behave, what you feel inside, everything else that is going on around you, and how you affect the rest of the universe. It involves seeing all the interrelationships that make up the universe and how they interact in an infinitely complex matrix of cause and effect. When you can see all of this with awareness, you see the consequences of each possible action you might take, and in this way you'll know just what to do in each moment to create what you want. You become like a chess master who looks fifteen moves ahead, except you're playing multi-dimensional chess. After The Holosync Solution, Centerpointe's most popular course is The Internal Map of Reality Expander, the first of three online courses in my Life Principles Integration Process series (see http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview for a free preview lesson). In The Internal Map of Reality Expander, I describe the complex internal processes you use to create your internal and external reality, and show you how to master them so you can ultimately create anything you want, inside and out. The 4 stages of awareness In teaching this class, where students have unlimited email access to me, I've learned a lot about how people absorb this material. In doing so, I have noticed some very interesting things about the development of conscious awareness, including the realization that awareness comes in several distinct stages. Ken Wilber divides this development of awareness into nine "fulcrums", but I'm going to describe the process by dividing it into four stages. In the first stage, a person creates their reality entirely unconsciously. They do so by internally processing what comes in through their senses in a way that creates how they feel (plus other internal states, such as motivation), how they behave, and who and what they attract into their life. Because in stage one this processing system--what I call the Internal Map of Reality--operates unconsciously, outside a person's conscious awareness, such a person is aware of what stimulates them (what they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch) and they are aware of the end result (what they ultimately feel inside and what people and situations "happen" to them). It isn't "out there" This inability to see anything other than the initial stimuli and the end result (but not the intervening internal processing) gives the illusion that the stimuli "out there" create their internal states and feelings and the various happening of life. When seen this way, it seems as if life just "happens". One seems to have some influence over what happens, but it is limited. Often, such people experience feelings and situations that they do not prefer. In no way do they suspect that they are creating their experience of life through what they do inside. Why would they? What they do inside is invisible to them. "Most people are running on autopilot..." Such people are little more than automatic response mechanisms. Their Internal Map of Reality is running on autopilot. If such a person had kind and loving parents who nurtured them, provided positive mentoring, and instilled resourceful beliefs, values, and ways of dealing with life, they may have an Internal Map of Reality that allows them to create a lot of what they want. If, however, they had neglectful or even abusive parents who offered little in the way of support and mentoring, and who caused them to experience a lot of fear about life, their Internal Map of Reality may create a lot of unpleasant and unwanted experiences, both internally and externally. Of course, this is a spectrum. I have described the two extremes, and there is a lot of room in the middle. Though the results of these two extremes are quite different, these people have one thing in common: their Internal Map of Reality is running on autopilot. Such people are unaware of the creative part of themselves, and as a result they are not directing their Internal Map of Reality. Waking up... Some people, however, begin to wake up. Someone teaches them that they are creating their reality, or they discover it on their own. If they have taken my Internal Map of Reality Expander online course, they discover that what they do with what comes in through their senses powerfully creates every feeling, every internal state, and every behavior, as well as who and what they attract and are attracted to. They learn how their beliefs become reality. They learn that their mind is a powerful goal-seeking mechanism that creates or attracts whatever it is focused on. They learn that everyone has the ability to create whatever they focus on, but that they have been doing all their focusing unconsciously and unintentionally. Students of this course also learn that they cannot focus on something unless they value it. They also learn that if they value something in order to avoid what they do not want (for instance, if they value relationships because they don't want to be alone, or value wealth because they don't want to be poor) they are actually focusing on what they do not want. And, because the mind creates whatever is focused on, the person who focuses on what they do not want ends up getting it. Students also learn that the mind filters out most of what comes in through the senses. They learn that what is filtered out determines what is left to focus on, providing the raw material for what you create in reality. If you filter out the possibilities, for instance, it seems as if there are none. If you filter out all the kind people, you don't see any. And so on. How a person filters what comes in through their senses has a huge effect on their life. Above all, they learn that inside their head a very elegant creative process is going on, moment by moment, and that with some work and practice it is possible to consciously and intentionally direct this process. There is, however, one important prerequisite: you must develop the awareness to observe this Internal Map of Reality at work. At Centerpointe, we use two tools to help you develop this awareness. The first is Holosync. Holosync, by creating super-deep meditation, rapidly develops increased conscious awareness. As this awareness grows, you begin to see your own internal processes and how they create your experience of life. As you see this, it becomes more and more difficult to create outcomes you don't want. The power to create anything you want With several years of work you can master your Internal Map of Reality. With this mastery comes the ability to be in charge of your emotions and your other internal states, your behavior, and who and what you attract into your life. Yes, there is some room for random acts and events, but you find that your Internal Map of Reality, once mastered, is so powerful that random events generally have but a small affect. This ability to see and direct your internal processes, and therefore to create your life as you want it is really the same ability developed by yogis. These abilities are referred to as siddhis, or powers, in mystical literature. You develop what others see as a tremendous power to manifest what you want, both internally and externally. You are harnessing the creative power of themind, a power that was always there and already operating in every person. The only difference is that now you are operating this power consciously and intentionally instead of allowing it to run on automatic. To some, these powers are the supreme attainment. However, this is only the second of four stages. Some people, when they master the ability to create what they want, have the realization that if I can create reality this way or that way or any way I want, then it couldn't be THE reality. If reality is that relative, that bendable, could it really be THE reality? Behind the curtain This realization gives you a peek behind the curtain, so to speak. It begins to dawn on you that there is a more fundamental background reality out of which all mind-creative realities spring. This background reality is a bit like the blank page that underlies the printed words you read. It has no content, but without it there could be no written message. Or, you could say, it is like the empty space necessary for the existence of solid objects. It is the nothingness out of which somethingness arises. The Buddhists call this nothingness, this background, the Void. Some people call it God, or the Undifferntiated Aesthetic Continuum, or the Ground of Being. Whatever you call it, it is the reality underlying all the conceptual realities created by the mind. In fact, mystics have known for years that this background, this Void, is the source of everything. In fact, it IS everything. And, what's more, it is who you really are. You may create a conceptualization of who you are, an mental identity, a persona, an ego, a Map of Reality, but who you really are is this nothingness that underlies and connects everything else. And, in fact, according to the mystics, this nothingness is aware of itself, it is conscious. And, being conscious of itself being everything, everywhere, forever, it is happy. It has nowhere to go, nothing to fear, and nothing to get. As a result, it is happy, peaceful, content, blissful. The BIG question When a mystic points out that you are this one infinite energy of all and everything, you may be moved to remind them that you certainly aren't experiencing it that way. Why, you ask, do I feel so bad so often if I am this blissful and conscious energy out of which everything arises? The answer is actually very simple. When you create a reality with your mind (as all humans do), you obscure this background reality, just as you miss the page when your attention is on the writing. But quiet the mind, and remove your attention from the "reality" it creates, and this more fundamental background reality--the "real" reality--appears. The Hindus use to analogy of a mirror to explain this. The mirror, when covered with dust, cannot reflect who you are. But when the dust (the creations of the mind) is wiped away, the reflection comes of itself. The first stage of awakening to who you really are, then, is one in which your mind unconsciously and unintentionally creates your life, depending on how your Internal Map of Reality was constructed. The second stage is mastery of this mental creative process, which allows you to intentionally create your life in any way you want. The third stage is the realization of the Supreme Reality beyond the mind, the source of all Love and Peace and Bliss. The shift from stage one to stage two, and then to stage three, requires increased conscious awareness. Some of this awareness comes from meditation, hopefully with Holosync, which dramatically accelerates the process. And, some of it comes from your desire to look inside to watch carefully and discover how you create your reality, to watch with curiosity to see how the mind creates the illusion of the separate self. This direct perception of reality without the filter of the mind is variously called self realization, enlightenment, satori, moksha, nirvana, Christ Consciousness, and by many other names. To some, this is the supreme attainment. But there is one more stage. Stepping out of the world of the mind In the third stage, you have stepped out of the world of the mind. To see the reality behind that created by the mind, you have to take your attention off the things of the mind: the desires, the aversions, your various roles and identities, and the ways the mind splits reality into different bits, categories, events, and things. You discover that theses distinctions happen only in the mind, but never in reality. All such distinctions (handy as they might be) are arbitrary and conceptual. Just as the number 3 cannot do anything, just as the border between Oregon and California is nothing but an imaginary line, just as you cannot hand me a basket of "up", concepts cannot do anything. They are real only to the mind. When you leave them behind, when you take your attention away from them, then and only then will you see the underlying oneness of everything. However, as long as desires, aversions, and the idea separate things and events (including the idea of a separate you) attract the mind, you will stay in the world created by the mind. Once you remove your attention from such things, the underlying reality beyond all such things is revealed. As I said, there is a stage beyond this. In this fourth stage, you go back into the world of the mind. This time, however, you do it knowing full well that what the mind creates is an illusion, in much the same way you know that a movie or a play is an illusion. Because illusions can be fun, you step back into the game, but this time you know it's just a game. For that reason you can enjoy your part, regardless of what it is. It's okay to play Hamlet, but you don't have to be Hamlet If you are playing Hamlet, but you don't know it's just a play, it really is a tragedy, because everyone dies in the end. But if you know you're just playing Hamlet, you can have lots of fun no matter how the plot unfolds. When the play ends, you will stop being Hamlet and go back to who you really are, the actor. In the same way, in stage four you can play your part, no matter what it is, because you know that behind it all you are that one energy of everything, that background void, and that ultimately you are beyond all beginnings and beyond all endings. In Buddhist teaching, this is the stage of the Bodhisatva, the being who, instead of dissolving back into the Void when he or she attains enlightenment, stays to help other beings wake up to who they really are. The Bodhisatva plays the cosmic game of the mind because he or she knows that it really is just a game, and because he or she looks on all those still caught in the game with compassion, nudging them in various ways to wake up to who they really are. Is there a reason for all of this? Some say there isn't, and perhaps there doesn't need to be a reason. Reasons, after all, are part of the world of the mind. A very famous enlightened teacher, Swami Muktananda, once said: "Life is a meaningless energy going nowhere, for no reason." This doesn't mean life isn't significant, but rather that no reason is necessary. Life happens for the fun of it. It dances along, going wherever it goes. When you dance, there is no goal other than the dancing itself. No reason is necessary. I invite you to increase your awareness of who you really are, and to join in the dance. Be well. ................................................................................ 8. Glowing Testimonials and Letters I've always been interested in meditation, but the few times I tried, it was way too difficult for me (my mind would just not settle down). I did not have the time and patience to wait for years and years to see the results and it was just not enjoyable or relaxing. In our opinion the Holosync Technology is ideal! We get to relax for an hour a day, knowing that whether we actually feel relaxed during that hour, or even if we don't--if he falls asleep, or if I can't stop my thoughts or whatever? IT'S STILL WORKING! The science behind the Centerpointe Program is what got us interested and also what will keep us going. To think that this technology gets the brainwaves to do what they are supposed to--as opposed to us trying to get them there, and to know that it causes whole brain functioning--to us is totally amazing. We're both 40-somethings, and though I wish that this had been available when we were in our 20's--it's OK--considering how long people live now and how people our age are "younger" than they used to be. We feel thankful that this technology is at least available while we're still young enough to experience it and enjoy the benefits and changes that we know will come with time. So far, it's been a very enjoyable hour a day, and though we've bothexperienced some overwhelm (mine is anxiety, I tend to be wired and I found myself a little worse than normal; my husband's is anger/agitation, expecially at work or driving, and he found that he was "losing it" a little more than normal), it seems to be subsiding now for both of us. We're looking forward to the next months and years and hope to go through the entire program. I think it's best if people "let happen what will happen" instead of expecting this or that outcome. I believe that we're all at different evolutionary levels anyway, so it's obvious that something this powerful is going to affect everyone differently and in a different time frame. WE INTEND TO ENJOY THE RIDE! Cheers, J and S ** Just thought I'd give you guys an update. So far it's been a little less than 2 weeks using your demo. I've listened to it once a day and every other day I listen to it twice, once while I'm focused on other things like work. Those first few days were great with Holosync, I had some things on top of my mind I just couldn't kick and Holosync made them go away...and it felt great...the relief just poured in. Everything now has evened out...my anxiety in almost all areas has vanished or almost gone already. When something happens in my life that challenges my cope with stress and stressful things it's becoming more and more of a breeze to handle things. It's still getting easier and easier to be myself around people I know and strangers. My mind chatter is now under control and I am starting to feel alive again. My interests from the years before depression, sadness, anxiety etc etc etc are coming back. I can handle my life now in a great way. For me, it is pretty easy to see my improvements as if they were on some sort of gage. Before Holosync, I was nervous around everybody and extremely anxious...just in a very terrible state of mind. Then that started to disappear to the point where I was simply relaxed around everybody and my mind wasn't going off the walls with crazy thoughts or things to make me feel out of place. From there I am almost always relaxed and am able to joke around with people, and have an absolute blast around people I know and don't know...and no worries :-) This is barely edging 2 weeks with the demo for crying out loud...I can't imagine what the next step is going to be like, but you can bet I'll find out! :-) BP ................................................................................ 9. Letters to Bill I received the following letter from a Holosync user recently. The same letter was also sent to Paul Scheele of Learning Strategies Corporation, to Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books and The Success Principles, to Hale Dwoskin of Sedona Training Associates, and to a few other teachers. Here is the letter, and my answer. To You, My Teachers. It is with great frustration and lots of humility that I am writing to you today to ask for help. I have been a student of yours for a long time and, as a group, I believe you folks are some of the best, most motivating and helpful people on the planet at this time. So it pains me to admit that, after studying for so very long and trying multiple techniques, I still find myself stuck, broke, and unable to move forward as I should. I have done all the things I know how to do now, and have finally come to the place that I just have to admit I don't know where to go from here. I need help. In my own defense, I have to say that I am not a lazy person, nor am I a stupid person. It's true that I came from a really bad home and I guess some would say I was pretty damaged, but I have been seeking a better life since I first found a copy of Psycho-Cybernetics at age 17. Now, at age 44, I am so disappointed in my own inability to move past whatever is blocking me and be prosperous. The situation is really quite bad. I am the sole support of my family, including a special needs child. I own my own business, which I created so that I could stay home with him and give him what he needs when he needs it. My business should provide me with plenty of income. In fact it should be able to pay me at least 6 figures without a lot of trouble. But last year I barely made $20K, and this year is even worse. Either I can't get any business, or the business I do get goes south while in process. My credit has gone down the tubes, I can't pay my bills, and my friends have loaned me money to the point that I don't even want to look them in the eye as I don't know when I can pay them. The investments I have made are not paying me either, and the last house that I rehabbed just wouldn't sell, went into foreclosure and I lost all of my investment money. At this time, I am literally surviving on child support and food stamps, have no medical coverage, no money in the bank. It really is pathetic. There are so many programs that say they can teach me how to reprogram myself to overcome my limitations and become financially independent. Right now, at t his point in time, I would settle for just having enough money to pay my bills on time and pay back the loans I've taken. The biggest disappointment for me is that my youngest son, who has autism, needs alternative treatments if he is to improve, and I have not been able to pay for anything like this for well over a year now. The dreams that I have (starting a comprehensive alternative program for children with autism and brain injury) are sitting idle--who can focus on such a lofty goal when they can't even pay for shoes or clothes? I am discouraged and feel that I have let myself and my children down. I have used many of the programs that you as a group have made available. I have been doing Centerpointe's "The End" program for several years now. I am an advanced level Yuen Energetics / Chinese Energetic Medicine practitioner, and have used this to assist many people and animals. I have studied Sedona and the Release Technique, and used it personally as well as teaching it to my son Bradley. I have done lots of Paraliminal tapes, especially "Prosperity" religiously, as well as the Personal Celebration series. I have also used the "Abundance for Life" program, and even came to Minnesota over Halloween to study further. After that training, I took Pauls advice and learned EFT, and I have been tapping on these things as well (another technique that I have used to help others but which isn't getting through for myself). All this, yet I am still so blocked. I am crying while I write this to you as I feel that I am at my wits end and simply do not know what to do next. It feels like nothing works for me, and that there is no way for me to get beyond this and truly become prosperous. Recently I listened to a motivational talk by Jack Canfield, where he said "Ask, ask, ask!" So I am asking. I am open to trying anything that will really help, although I have to be clear that I do not have money to buy another program. I feel that it would benefit more then just me when I am able to put this behind me. I am a very generous person who cares a great deal and I help anyone who asks. It's funny that I have been able to help others move past their blockages. Why isn't this happening for me? This is a heartfelt request. I believe I have it in me to be prosperous and do the things I was destined to do. But I'll admit that I am really discouraged and my belief is not very strong. Can you help me please? Sincerely- Virginia M. Dunn ** Virginia, Over the years I have found that all the people who say that nothing works for them have one thing in common. This commonality turns out to be the key to everything, so without it, nothing works. What is it, you ask? I have found that those who say that nothing works for them have not bought into the basic premise that they are creating their reality. Many of them give lip service to this idea, but really don't believe it. You ARE creating every feeling you have, every internal state you have, every behavior, and even the people and situations you attract into your life. You may not know how you are creating all of this, because the creative process may be out of your awareness, but nonetheless, you are creating your life--all of it. Until you take 100% responsibility (not blame, but responsibilit--the ability to respond), nothing will work, because you've put the cause outside of yourself. I realize you may, on a theoretical level, believe that you create your reality, but when the chips are down, you don't act as if you really believe it. You have to look inside and find out what you do to create those things in your life that do not serve you. Holosync will give you greater awareness, which will allow you to better see your internal processes, and my online Life Principles Integration Process courses (click here) will show you what you do inside to create your reality. But if you do not buy into the idea that you create it all, Holosync probably won't help, and neither will all the other things you're doing. The second thing you are doing--and doing very powerfully, I'm afraid--is focusing your attention on what you do not want, what you are afraid of, what you are worried about, what you want to avoid. Everything you create flows from what you put your attention on, what you focus on. You are unconsciously and unintentionally focusing most of your attention on what you do not want. When you do this, your brain thinks you want it, since it takes whatever you focus on as AN INSTRUCTION to go get it for you or make it happen. Your ability to manifest in reality what you focus on is VERY POWERFUL. Your problem is that your focusing is running on automatic, unconsciously. To make any change, you must learn to focus your mind consciously and intentionally. Once you learn to focus on what you want, you will immediately change your experience of life. Two things happen when you focus on what you want to avoid: you get it, and you instantly feel bad. The reason you focus on what you don't want is that sometime in the past you were traumatized in some way. This caused you to believe that the world is a dangerous place, or at least a potentially dangerous place. To avoid this danger, you assume that you must watch out for it, and to watch out for it you have to focus on it. When you do that, as I said, you get it and you feel bad. Can you see how you are doing this, and how powerfully it is working? You can do all the personal growth programs in the universe, but if you do not buy into the idea that whatever is happening, you are creating it (and then look very carefully inside until you figure out how you are doing it), and realize that the way you are creating it is by how you focus your mind, nothing will work and nothing will change. Look at your letter, below, once again. Notice all the times you describe what you do not want. This is your constant focus. It seems reasonable to focus on this, I know, but it is a very bad strategy. You must decide exactly what you want, in each key area of life, and then focus your mind on it, asking questions such as "How can I get ___?" Ask over and over, think about it all the time, and take action. For any outcome you want, there is a certain way of thinking and acting that will get it for you. You have to find it and then be flexible enough to adopt it. Find those people who are getting the outcomes you want and adopt their way of thinking and acting. Right now, you are thinking and acting in the way that people who have a life like your think and act. That is why your life is the way it is. There is no other way to be happy and successful than to adopt the ways of thinking and acting that correspond to the outcomes you want. There are many ways you can find this information, but two ways I know of would be to buy Jack Canfield's book, The Success Principles, and to take my online courses. You can listen to a free preview lesson at http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview. And, of course, continue using Holosync, which will help create the increased conscious awareness that will allow you to increasingly see how YOU are creating your life. You can do this. You must take control of your focus, instead of automatically allowing it to continually go to what you do not want. There is no other way. Good luck to you. Be well. ................................................................................ 10. Book Review Book Review By Marc Gilson Blink The Power of Thinking Without Thinking By Malcolm Gladwell Copyright 2005 Little, Brown & Co. ***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316172324/centerpointer-20 Don't think--blink! Your brain is built to make decisions and solve problems. That's what we do with our conscious brain power all day long. But what about our unconscious ability to make decisions and solve problems? Most of us believe that good decisions are made with a great deal of effort, taking time, strategizing, weighing-out all the options, factoring in the variables. If we just spend enough time thinking things through, we're more likely to end up with an accurate, effective result. In other words, conventional wisdom says that it takes time and concentration to make good decisions. Malcolm Gladwell doesn't think so. In Blink, he's compiled some compelling evidence that the brain is quite capable of making some astoundingly accurate decisions in, well, a blink. Most of us know that intuitive wisdom can be amazingly reliable, yet impossible to explain in terms of just how it works. Our brains make lightning fast judgements and assessments second by second. We find ourselves compelled to make "snap decisions" about things. And while we often override these decisions in favor of a more laborious problem-solving effort, Malcolm Gladwell's book makes a convincing argument that we might just benefit by paying closer attention to some of those "snap decisions." Sometimes, for apparently unknown reasons, they're dead on. Case in point, Gladwell tells the story of the J. Paul Getty museum's efforts to obtain a kouros statue. Kouroi are exceedingly rare, ancient Greek statues depicting youthful figures in a standing position. Immensely valuable, they are highly sought-after by the elite art museums and collectors of the world. When a kouros was presented to the Getty museum in 1983, the museum's curators immediately set about the arduous task of determining the authenticity of the statue. At an asking price of 10 million dollars, the risk of purchasing a forgery was not one the Getty was willing to take. So an army of experts examined the statue before the purchase. A high-resolution stereo microscope was used to verify the origin of the statue. Core samples were taken and tested. Documents describing where and how the statue was found were authenticated. It was determined that the statue was very old; its marble having originated in an ancient quarry known to have been the source of other koroi. It definitely matched the style of other such works of art. Everything checked out, the museum agreed to purchase the statue, and in 1986 it was proudly added to the exhibit. However, soon thereafter, questions began to arise about the authenticity of the kouros. Not from the scientific experts that had painstakingly examined the statue, but first by one of the museum's board of trustees. And then, by Evelyn Harrison, one of the world's foremost experts on Greek sculpture. When she took one look at the statue, she knew something was amiss. She could not explain it precisely, but her instincts and training were giving her a "red flag" in spite of the credentials bestowed on the statue by the experts. Later, Thomas Hoving of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was shown the statue. As Gladwell explains: "Hoving always makes a note of the first word that goes through his head when he sees something new, and he'll never forget what that word was when he first saw the kouros. "'It was - 'fresh',"' Hoving recalls. And 'fresh' was not the right reaction to have to a two-thousand-year-old statue." Others also raised voices of concern, in spite of the convincing evidence that the statue was a genuine ancient korous. As you can guess, the statue did indeed turn out to be a forgery. Upon more investigative work, the museum discovered that the statue was anything but ancient, having come from a forger's workshop in the early 1980s. Somehow, without the benefit of any scientific equipment or detailed analysis, Evelyn Harrison and others spotted the fake. What happened here? How did a handful of experts correctly identify the statue as a fake without more than a moment's first impression, when the deeper, more intensive analysis insisted on its validity? Gladwell's answer is that these individuals were tapping into the "adaptive unconscious," that part of our minds that make split-second assessments. And in the end, their immediate esthetic judgements proved more accurate than the scientific evidence. In "Blink" Malcolm Gladwell (The New Yorker, Washington Post), shows that this method of thinking is not just an interesting by-product of the unconscious brain, but is a method of using our brains that can be cultivated and refined, and ultimately used in a range of practical applications. On the surface, some of the possibilities are downright hard to believe. For example, Gladwell tells of John Gottman, a University of Washington psychologist who, since the 1980s, has been developing a rather amazing system to determine the odds of a marriage surviving fifteen years or more based a concept Gladwell calls "thin-slicing." Amazingly, Gottman has accurately predicted marriage success up to 95% of the time. The data he collects is simple: a video taped conversation between husband and wife. But by carefully analyzing a range of variables - such as a slight rolling of the eyes, subtle shifting in their seat - Gottman develops a picture of the couple's inner perceptions of one another, and ultimately predicts the likelihood of long-term compatibility. Powerful information gleaned in a series of "blinks" within the everyday interaction between two people. But as Gladwell reminds us, this rapid-fire perception does not always work to our advantage. In a chapter entitled "The Warren Harding Error," Gladwell illustrates what can happen when our immediate impressions lead us to incorrect conclusions. Most historians view Harding as one of the worst presidents in US history. Yet because of the powerful first impression he made, he evoked in people the sense that he was "presidential." "Many people who looked at Warren Harding saw how extraordinarily handsome and distinguished-looking he was and jumped to the immediate - and entirely unwarrented - conclusion that he was a man of courage and intelligence and integrity. They didn't dig beneath the surface. The way he looked carried so many powerful connotations that it stopped the normal process of thinking dead in its tracks. The Warren Harding Error is the dark side of rapid cognition." Gladwell successfully distills a considerable amount of research on his subject, while managing to entertain and enlighten. The ideas presented here are subtle, not earth-shattering. While some readers might find a certain redundancy in the repeating examples of "thin-slicing," the insights are thought-provoking and will fascinate those interested in this intriguing aspect of brain function. Perhaps most relevant to the meditator is Gladwell's theory that by conditioning our minds to focus on the relevant aspects of decision-making (filtering-out biases, and other extraneous data) we can become adept at making excellent decisions in a rapid, accurate manner. (This is the result of practiced witnessing, for those of you familiar with the Centerpointe coaching and support materials.) Everyone can benefit by making better decisions in life. "Blink" give us a glimpse into some of the more remarkable aspects of this process, and serves to remind us of the amazing powers of the human mind. ***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316172324/centerpointer-20 ................................................................................ 11. Announcements Centerpointe's First-Ever East-coast Retreat! For the first time, we will hold a retreat in the eastern part of the U.S., at the Bryn Mawr Mountain Conference Center in Honesdale, Pennsylvania! The dates are September 16th through 22nd, 2005. We promise six months of growth in 5 days, but most people claim they received MORE than six months of growth. We're down to five spaces, so call today to reserve your place. Here are comments from a few retreat participants: "The greatest benefit I got from the retreat was a tremendous sense of peace from the meditations, that may have released the helpless sense of 'what difference do I make?' -Heather "I came away from this retreat with an even deeper closeness to my husband, a greater sense of compassion for my fellow man, more willingness to look someone in the eyes and touch their heart, even if just for a second. Be prepared to look at some real issues in your life and be open to change to get the most out of it." -Tonye-Marie "This is a top course in the industry of self-improvement, fulfilling a broad range of expectations. Bill Harris is a genius in meeting the needs of participants who are genuinely committed to shifting their understanding of what it possible for human development." -John "This is a marvelous way to interact with gentle, caring, like-minded people and to release your excess baggage." -Ann "The greatest benefit I got from the retreat was a release from illusions. I gained the knowledge/insight of what is happening subconsciously, tools to deal with it, and the opportunity to act." -Sallie If you would like a huge breakthrough in your life, please come to the next Centerpointe retreat. For more information, please call Katie Sparks at 503-906-6027 or visit http://www.centerpointe.com/ and click on "retreats."