1. Welcome to Issue #156 (January 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 Do You Believe In Magic? by Bill Harris, Director (scroll to item #7) // Glowing Testimonials of the Month (scroll to #8) // Book Review (scroll to #9) The Diamond in Your Pocket by Gangaji Review by Marc Gilson // Important Announcements (scroll to #10) ................................................................................ 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 Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not. - George Bernard Shaw You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however. - Richard Bach The main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand. - Thomas Carlyle The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet. - James Oppenheim ................................................................................ 6. Ancient practice tied to amazing health benefits... Want to live longer? Meditate! Unless you've been living in a cave lately, you must have seen some of the recent news about the health benefits of meditation. It's everywhere... * An article published in the American Heart Association journal, Stroke recently reported that meditation can reduce cholesterol buildup and the associated risk of heart attack and stroke. * And another study found that meditation reduces the death rate among the elderly. * The National Institutes of Health reports that regular meditation reduces chronic pain, anxiety, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and cortisol (sometimes called "stress hormones") production. * A University of Wisconsin-Madison study discovered meditation boosts part of the and the immune system. * A recent issue of the American Journal of Hypertension featured the results of a study showing a significant lowering of blood pressure in a group meditators compared to a control group of people who didn't meditate. The study also reported a 23% decrease in usage of antihypertensive drugs between the group of meditators and the other group. * A Harvard study also concluded that regular meditation can reduce pain, lower blood pressure, and cut production of the stress hormone, cortisol. * The most recent study by The American Heart Association shows heart and artery health improved 69 percent in test groups practicing meditation. And this is just the beginning. Practically every time you turn around there's another study documenting and supporting fantastic health and wellness benefits of meditation. So, what's the quickest way to actually achieve these amazing benefits? If there's a downside to meditation it's this... Traditional meditation can take years, even decades to master. The Holosync Solution changes all that. Holosync uses advanced scientific technology to induce deep states of meditation virtually at the push of a button. Most regular users of Holosync report fabulous results in weeks rather than years. Try Holosync for yourself-for FREE! Click visit http://www.centerpointe.com/demo/ to get a FREE Holosync demo CD so you can see for yourself how this powerful technology can improve your life. Here's an even better idea. Go ahead and order Awakening Prologue (the first level of The Holosync Solution) and get started with the real thing. With our One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can do so with no risk whatsoever. Use Holosync for up to a full year and enjoy all the powerful and lasting benefits this kind of meditation brings you. And if you decide that Holosync isn't everything we promise, simple let us know and you can return it for a full refund. It's just that simple. If you have any interest at all in increased health and vigor, increased longevity, lower blood pressure, peace of mind, and all the other great benefits of meditation, at least give Holosync a try. Remember you can get a FREE demo CD by going to +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://www.centerpointe.com/demo/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ And to learn all about the science behind Holosync, check out our extensive articles section here: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://www.centerpointe.com/about/articles.php ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ** // ** "Moment by moment, you create exactly how you feel, what happens to you, and what you attract into your life... "Unfortunately, you're probably doing all of this on autopilot... 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. I 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 visiting the url 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 visit http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview 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 ** // ** "How the amazing discovery of an aid worker helping starving Vietnamese children can help any business, large or small, dramatically increase sales and profits...by up to twenty times! Here is a ton of free information to help your business grow! In the last Mind Chatter I told you about a free teleseminar I helped create with one of the smartest people I've ever met--Mashall Thurber. I met Marshall through Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books, and... ......boy am I glad we met! Marshall was a colleague of the great genius Buckminster Fuller, and also of J. Edwards Deming, father of the Japanese industrial miracle of the 1980s. Fuller and Deming are considered to be two of the greatest minds of the 20th century. Partly because of his association with them, and partly because he is a genius in his own right, Marshall Thurber is considered to be one of the greatest teachers in the world today. For several decades, Marshall has helped hundreds of thousands of people develop both business greatness--and personal greatness. I've had the great pleasure of becoming Marshall's friend over the last several months. As a result, I've become involved in several projects he's working on. Now, I want to make sure that everyone who subscribes to Mind Chatter has the opportunity to benefit from what Marshall is doing. If you have a business, or want to start one, you will find what Marshall teaches to be... ......VERY exciting. Why? Because it's the super-fast way to success. And, I promise that this isn't the same old information you've heard before about how to create a successful business. Look. I've had a very successful business for over sixteen years now, and many people come to me for business advice. I thought I'd seen and heard just ab out everything about how to create a successful business. But when I attended Marshall's Success Secrets of the 21st Century two-day seminar several months ago I was literally blown away by... ......how profound and cutting edge his ideas are. As I participated, it was as if everything fell into place all at once. It wasn't just because I could see, in a whole new way, WHY Centerpointe has been so successful (without knowing it, I was already doing several of the key things Marshall teaches). It was also because I could now see many new ways Centerpointe could give much greater value--and how we could much more rapidly tap into... ......huge groups of new customers. In fact--assuming that you have something of value to offer--Marshall's methods create such fast success that you'd better be ready, if you implement them, to operate at a very high level right away. And, if what you offer doesn't have what Marshall calls DyVal, or Dynamic Value, he'll show you how to create it or find someone to partner with... ......who does have it. I've never seen such an elegant and foolproof method of creating a successful business, or taking an existing business into the stratosphere. And, you'd better be ready to have fun, because Marshall is NOT a dry business lecturer. He's a master of what some call "superlearning," where the right and left side of the brain are engaged, and real learning happens. His seminars have the entertainment value of a Broadway show, and you leave remembering what Marshall wants you to learn and eager to implement it. The easiest way to learn more about the Success Secrets of the 21st Century live seminar is to listen to go to his website, www.positivedeviantnetwork.com, which is full of fascinating and useful information you can use right how to grow your business, no matter how large or small it is. Then, listen to a free web seminar I created with Marshall and another of his colleages, Dr. Bill Siedman (another genius). All you have to do is click on the link below. Then, you can attend the live two-day event Marshall has created if you find that you're as dazzled by his ideas as I think you will be. The live seminar, by the way, is VERY inexpensive, because Marshall is interested in sharing this information with as many people as possible, especially people who aren't already rich. And, it just might change your life. I know it did mine. And, there's also a free Special Report posted on the web site called "How Network Science Can Speed Up Your Success By 10 to 20 Times." Just click on the link at the very bottom of the page to download it for free. So click below to receive all this powerful information for free, and after you do, if you're as excited about these ideas as I am, then I look forward to seeing you at Marshall's next seminar, because I will be there, too. Here's the link: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http//www.positivedeviantnetwork.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ................................................................................ 7. Feature Article Do You Believe in Magic? by Bill Harris, Director Believing in fairy tales might not be the way to create the life you want Do you believe in magic? A lot of people do, and many of them write to me. Often they write to ask me why their particular form of magic hasnt worked yet. In fact, Id have to say that people who believe in magic are one of the biggest challenges I face in helping Holosync users to create the life they want. Why do I say that? Am I some sort of Scrooge? Whats the matter with you, Bill? Youre against magic?! No. You misunderstand. Im not against having a sense of wonder. Im not against seeing the good in the world. Im not against having what a lot of people might call magical relationships, and Im not against such magical things as seeing the light in a childs eyes. The world IS magical. Personally, Im filled with a sense of wonder that the universe exists at all, that we are here on this beautiful planet, with this amazing variety of plants and animals. I think that humans can create things like music and gourmet cooking and art and airplanes and medicines is, well, magical. This sense of wonder, however, is not what I mean by magic. Let me explain. Believing in magic is thinking that there are magical forces in the world, and that you have to get on the right side of them. If you do, they send you what you want and keep you from harm. If you dont, wellyou dont want to know. People who believe in this sort of magic buy lottery tickets, thinking that they can get rich that way. They think that if they focus strongly enough on having money, or a romantic relationship, or something else, that it will come to them, well as if by magic! I cant tell you how often something I teach is misunderstood to be a form of magic. When I say that focusing on what you want is the key to everything (something I say over and over in my first Life Principles Integration Process online course, The Internal Map of Reality Expander), many people think I mean that you can sit in your house, light some candles, focus on something (which could take the form of praying, meditating, contacting spirit guides, saying affirmations, visualizing it, etc.), and then expect it to happen as if by magic! Though there are hundreds, if not thousands, of books out there claiming that this is precisely the way to get what you want in life it just isnt true. The power of thought and intention definitely does have an effect, but it isnt magic. And, you can focus and pray and think and wish and visualize and say affirmations and contact your spirit guides until the cows come home, but if you dont take action--plain old everyday leg-over-leg all the way to Dover action--nothing is going to happen. And, anything that does happen when you do these things, but dont take action, is a coincidence. People who believe in magic love to point out these coincidences as proof that there really IS magic in the world. I was wishing for money the other day, to go on that vacation Ive been dreaming about. I went to the mailbox, and there was a letter from Aunt Minne with a check for $500! It worked! Of course, without all that wishing, Aunt Minnie would not have been hypnotically led to write and mail that check. To give you a better idea of what I mean, let me share a letter I received from a participant in my Internal Map of Reality Expander online course. In defense of the writer of this letter, I dont think that she believes in magic, the way Im defining it. She was asking a question, though, based on information she was receiving that seemed to contradict what I was saying in my course. Her question reminded me of all the people who do believe in magic, and how stuck they are because of that belief. Here is her letter, followed by my answer: Dear Bill, I was reading some of Bob Doyle's materials...[in his] Wealth Beyond Reason course, from a friend of mine who is taking his course. He discusses the now...and that we have everything we want in the now already. [He says to] just raise the vibration by thinking and feeling it has already happened. He says by "wanting it," puts it out there and makes our brain feel we don't have it yet even if we say we "want it." Your program always focuses on "what do you want vs. don't want?" How is your method more effective? Somehow I like your method better (reason I am taking your course) however I am curious...as he is very passionate about his method as though having it already is key and wanting is not beneficial....because he claims the mind thinks "I don't have it yet, even when one says..."I want it," thus his teaching is to believe one has it already. I would think that would create more doubts for the mind at times? Please give me your logic on this...and why you feel your teaching works, vs. this other concept....Your method resonates with me, however I would like to hear your explanation in the comparison here. Thanks. Marilyn Marilyn, Believe me, Bob Doyle's method is NOT what successful people do. My circle of friends includes some of the richest, most successful people in the world and they all "want it." Now, I'm not trying to put Bob Doyle down (I don't even know who he is). I'll tell you, though, that this idea of putting it out to the universe, raising your vibration, blah, blah, blah, does not work. Show me one person who is hugely prosperous through doing what he suggests. You cant, because there arent any. There might be people out there who say these things and also succeed, but they are also doing other things (the things that really matter). They are not succeeding merely by putting things out to the universe. Using the Bob Doyle method will not make you any money. Money is actually very easy to get, however, if you know how money works. Unfortunately, many people suffer from what I call "belief in magic." This is what Doyle is teaching, in fact. People who believe this way think they can ask the universe for wealth, or "put it out to the universe," or think their way to riches, or whatever. Please--if you are--stop believing in magic. There is no magic involved in making money--or, really, in achieving anything. What Doyle may be noticing (though he probably isnt) is that some people, in wanting something, make internal representation of (in other words, think about) not having it, which is exactly what I mean by focusing on what you do not want. When you do this, you set in motion a chain of events, some internal and some external, that end with you getting the very thing you did not want. He may also be talking about being attached to what you want, which means that if you dont get it you cause yourself to suffer. You dont have to be attached to something, however, to want it. The key to anything you want begins with focusing on what you want. And focusing on what you want obviously implies wanting. And though focusing on what you want is essential, there is much more to creating money, or anything else, than just what you do inside your head, as Ill describe in a moment. In fact, the more I think about it, the sillier what Bob Doyle is saying seems to me. He's saying, Now, if you want to create something, don't want it. Or, rather, pretend that you don't want it. In fact, pretend you already have it." Now how can you get something (which you must want, otherwise why would you be looking for a strategy to get it) by pretending you don't want it? Or, by pretending that you already have it? It's ridiculous. Wanting something is normal human behavior. Wanting something gives your brain a message to find a way to create it. If you didn't want a glass of water, you wouldn't get up and get one when you're thirsty. Does pretending you already have a glass of water create it for you? Does it motivate you to do something to get it? Nope. Here's how you make money: To create money, someone else has to want to give it to you. Right? Money doesn't just fall from the sky. People receive money because someone else gives it to them. Now why would someone want to give you money? People give Centerpointe over $1,000,000 a month! Why do they do that? Is it because I "put it out to the universe" or "raised my vibration" or because I pretended I didn't want the money? No, it isn't. Think about it for a moment. Why do you give people money? Isn't it because they have something of value that you would rather have (or that you need to have) more than you want the money? When you pay your electric bill it's because you want the electricity and what it will do for you more than you want the money. When people send Centerpointe money it's because they want the value they get from Holosync, and the other programs and products we provide, more than they want the money. So, to make money you have to have something of value that people want enough to trade money for it. It could be a product, it could be a service, it could be your labor, it could be your ideas, but in some way you have to have something that someone else wants enough to trade money for it. For magic believers, this is a stunning idea, and hearing this idea could be, for those who are paying attention, a turning point. You can have potfuls of magic, barrels of magic, mountains of magic, but if what you have is not of value to someone else, they will not give you any money for it. Let me make this perfectly clear: There is no other way to get money unless you have something of value to trade for the money. The only exception to this would be when your mother gives you money because she loves you! Next, you have to have some way of letting people know that you have something of value (also called marketing), and you have to have a way of convincing people that your value really is worth what they will pay for it. Then you have to have a way of making the exchange that is convenient and safe for you and your customer. Finally, you have to have a way to make sure the customer really gets the promised value so they will come back again to trade more money for what you have. The sad truth is that most people who have no money offer no value! And then, all too often, they place their hopes on magic, which doesnt solve the lack-of-value problem. That's why they have no money. Some people, though, do have something of value to offer, but don't know how to make sure people know they have it, or how to make sure people believe that what they have really is valuable. Other people might have no way of making the value/money exchange. And others fall down by not delivering on the value, so people don't come back as repeat customers. The mental side of making money IS important, though. When you focus on what you want (in this case, making money), it helps you either to create or find value that you can then offer to others. It also helps you find the resources (internal and external) you need to make your offering to those who might pay for it. It helps you do all the things I listed. And, it creates the motivation to take action. Ultimately, taking action is the key--and this is what most magic believers leave out. They dont take action that delivers actual value to others. If, on the other hand, you focus on what you don't want (what you are afraid of, what you want to avoid, what you are worried about, etc.) you lose the motivation to take action, and you find ways to sabotage yourself (ie, you bring about the outcome you are focusing on--what you don't want). Whatever you focus on, whether its what you want or what you dont want, it gives your brain an instruction to figure out how to make it happen. Still, though, you have to act, and you have to deliver some sort of value. There is no other way to make money or, for that matter, to achieve anything. I hate to be the one to break it to all of you who believe in magic, but I cant lie to you. In fact, there is only one way to get anything in life, and that is to adopt the ways of thinking and acting of those who are already getting it. If you want a magic formula, here it is: For any outcome you want, there is a certain way of thinking and acting that will get it for you. You have to find that way of thinking and acting, and you have to be willing to adopt it. There is no other way. Now, if you don't have something of value, or if the value you have isnt very big, what can you do? You could work on finding or creating something of value that you could offer to others, You could increase your value as an employee, for instance, by getting some additional education. Or you could think of or create a new product or service that has value. Another method would be to find someone else who has something of value, and partner with them. In other words, you could align with someone else's value. Of course, even in this case you have to bring something of value to the table. For instance, perhaps youre willing to do some of the hard work, or maybe you know how to let people know that you and your partner have something of value (i.e., you know something about marketing). Perhaps you know a way to help people make the exchange of value for money (as the founders of Ebay did). In some way, however, you have to do something that makes the person with the value want to include you as a partner. When someone goes to McDonald's for a job they are offering their value as a worker to McDonald's in exchange for money. Because that kind of work can be done by almost anyone, it isn't of very high value, so it doesn't pay much. If someone goes to McDonald's, though, and convinces them that they know a way to double profits, that would be of tremendous value, and that person would be able to charge a lot for their knowledge. But any way you slice it, someone decides to give someone else money in exchange for value. And all the wishing or vibration raising in the world will not causes someone (other than your mother) to give you money. I know that its more fun to believe in magic. Really, I do understand. The idea that there is some positive force out there that likes you and wants you to have what you want is very compelling. Unfortunately, it just isnt true. If you want something, you have to give something in return for it (something of value). This is the real Law of Attraction. One of the toughest things for me in teaching these courses is dealing with this belief in magic that many people have. If they would just look around they would see that NO ONE who is really making a lot of money buys into these silly ideas. The only people who believe this nonsense are those who are struggling to make ends meet. This should tell you something. I've gone on about this at some length because the Bob Doyle ideas struck a chord with me. As I said, I hear this nonsense a lot, and I always hear it from people who are struggling. I'll bet that Bob Doyle, whoever he is, is sincere and believes what he is teaching. But I seriously doubt he is making very much money. And, if by some miracle he is making money, I doubt that its from following his own advice, since you cannot use "not wanting" or raising your vibration to get something. If you don't want things, why would you need a strategy to get them? Obviously he DOES want things, since he is selling information on how to get things. At any rate, I've gone on about this not because I think you are buying into his ideas (though you did ask), but because many people read these questions and answers [in this case, these Mind Chatter articles] and I want all the people out there who are believing in such silliness to give it up and learn how to do what really works. It isnt difficult to make money, but it is difficult to make money by believing in magic. And, by the way, the third of these courses, The Success Solution, is all about the details of how to be successful, including making money. [You can listen to a free preview lesson for these Life Principles Integration Process online courses by going to www.centerpointe.com/life/preview.] Hope this helps. Be well. Bill --- There is much more I could say about this belief in magic, including describing where this type of belief comes from in a developmental sense (which I may write about in a future article), but the essential point is this: nothing happens in life just by wishing, praying, hoping, wanting (or pretending not to want), or by raising your vibration (whatever that is supposed to mean). Aside from a certain amount of random happenings, which are part of every persons life, things happen because you decide you want them to happen, you focus your mind on how to make them happen, and you take action to make them happen. If you want something from another person, unless they love you unconditionally and want to spoil you, you are going to have to give something of value in return. Even someone who loves you probably expects love from you, or appreciation, or something like it. I know that what Ive written here is in your face for a lot of people. I want you to know that Im writing this out of compassion for all the people who are struggling. If your method for getting what you want is flawed, youll never get it, and believing in magic is flawed. I want you to have everything you want in life. I teach very clear guidelines on how to do that, and these guidelines are based on what the most successful, make-it-happen, prosperous people in the world do. So please, if you are sitting around trying to wish your way to success, or in some other way have been believing in magic, give it up and get to work doing what works. Be well. Bill Harris, Director ................................................................................ 8. Glowing Testimonials and Letters I want to tell you how much I appreciate what you've done for me with Holosync Audio Technology. It's increased my sociability by leaps and bounds, and inspired me to leave the Catholic Church and pursue my real love: Yoga! I'm now an Iyengar-style Yoga student at the YMCA, and intend to practice everyday for 300 weeks to attain mastery. I also am in a peer-counseling class to learn the art of counseling others with metal disabilities; in large part due to the confidence listening to Holosync gave me. Love, Bruce ** I'm on my third week into the program and so far its the best money I've ever spent on myself, and I've spent alot over the years. I've tried all different things that appealed to me. Some worked alot, some worked a little - but this is what I've been looking for..I wish I would have found this 10 years ago or whenever it started. My mind was always too busy to meditate even though I knew that would be very good for me to try. Now I can daydream or figgit and the sound waves are working for me as if I was a great meditator! (Actually my figiting stopped about 95% already after about 8 days in to the program - that in itself is a miracle!) I love it! Thanks so far Bill, Erika ** Just wanted to be one more of the many believers in your program. I have been using level one for three and a 1/2 months. I am moving up to the next levels and very excited about it. In the past months I have had many changes, but because they were so effortless I almost forget they were an issue. Addiction to cannabis, caffeine, fear of flying, excessive sleeping have all gone by the wayside. I have taken your mantra "let whatever happens be okay" to guide my through all my reactions to the program, as well as life, and cannot thank you enough for your unselfish nature in providing this technology to all who are willing to grow. I look forward to much more. -Deborah ................................................................................ 9. Book Review The Diamond in Your Pocket Discovering Your True Radiance By Gangaji Foreword by Eckhart Tolle 2005 Gangaji, Sounds True ***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/159179272X/centerpointer-20 Seekers sometimes define themselves by their search. For many, that search the search for peace, self-realization, healing, enlightenment seems never-ending. We look for more insight, more information, more experience. And in the end, we find ourselves back where we started, sitting with ourselves, still looking outward and elsewhere for value, wholeness, and meaning. Whats the universe trying to tell us? If youre a Centerpointe Participant, youll find this quote in your introductory materials: What we call the beginning is often the end, And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from... And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. T.S. Elliot In The Diamond in Your Pocket, Gangaji has composed a lyrical, uncomplicated, and reflective book illustrating perfectly the spirit of Elliots poem. For Gangaji, peace and self-awareness do not come as a result of endless, relentless searching and grasping, but rather by stopping dead still and becoming present to yourself and the moment. There is nothing to find or fix. Just stop, and be present. Self-inquiry is not a path that leads you somewhere. It is the path that stops you in your tracks so that you can discover, directly, who you are. Born Toni Roberson, Gangaji was brought up in a small Mississippi town with all the freedom and privilege of a white child of the middle class Yet she was plagued by the constant feeling that some force of darkness was surrounding me on all sides. So, like many of us, she embarked on the journey of personal discovery. In spite of the moments of joy and peace she occasionally experienced, she continued to feel as though a thread of suffering ran through it all. I had tried many avenues to alleviate this sense of suffering psychotherapy, affirmations, meditation, various workshops, channelers, astrology, visualization, automatic writing, dancing, psychotropic substances, acting out all my desires, and repressing all my desires. I had tried loving myself, and I had tried hating myself. Ultimately, she would find that the answers were not in what she was doing but in the person who was doing it. She would also find her teacher, H.W.L. Poonja, on the banks of Indias Ganges River. Papaji, as he was known to his devotees, was a huge influence on Tonis life, but not because he divulged the ultimate answers to all her questions. Rather, told her, Do nothing, your whole problem is that you continue doing. Stop all your doing. Truth, for Gangaji, comes in stillness. Happiness comes when we slow down, stop, and tune into our true nature. Its not something you go out and get, but rather something you find you have had all the time, like a diamond in your own pocket. Gangaji says: To stop is to stop searching for yourself in thoughts, emotions, circumstances, or bodily images. It is that simple. The search is over when you realize that the true and lasting fulfillment you have been searching for is found to be nowhere other than right where you are. It is here. This idea may remind some of you of another highly influential individual named Eckhart Tolle. Appropriately, Tolle wrote the Foreword to The Diamond in Your Pocket, and its easy to see why these two individuals have so much respect for one another. They both share an obvious appreciation for calm, direct, and open communication combined with a gift for seeing the more profound truths revealed in the simplest of ideas. One of the most appealing aspects of Gangjis approach as a teacher is that, ironically, she insists she is not on a crusade or mission, nor does she have all the answers. As she has said elsewhere, I truly have nothing to teach you. There have been many teachers who have taught exquisite and useful codes of conduct, methods of meditation, ways of living and manifesting in the world. I am simply pointing to the stillness that is alive in the core of your being and inviting you to turn your attention to That, to let That live your life. This attitude of pointing to the stillness is wonderfully reflected throughout the book. Gangajis words cut through so much of the self-delusion prevalent in the personal growth movement today, to illuminate the power of ultimate surrender to the truth of who we are, and that we are. Gangaji is well-known for her ability to convey tremendously potent spiritual concepts in an unpreachy, unpretentious manner. Hers is a calm, wise, and prudent voice. She has no otherworldly expectations of her readers. She demands no unrealistic steps away from the demands and duties of our lives in order to see and experience her truths. She simply invites us to be still and open to ourselves. She points the way. And she describes exactly what it feels like to experience this still openness: There are exquisite moments when the usual meditation stops moments of being absorbed in a lovers embrace, in the sound of beautiful music, or in the colors of a sunrise. There are moments where there is no you being practiced, there is simply beingness. And in this simple beingness there are peace, insight, clarity, and naturalness, an effortless grace and ease of being. The Diamond in Your Pocket is a gem of a book, one that deserves the attention of every true seeker. But its especially relevant to those who sometimes wonder just how long they must run and chase after experiences of wholeness, value, and meaning when, all the time, the value is in the person reading these words, the wholeness in the stopping, and the meaning in this very moment. ***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/159179272X/centerpointer-20 ................................................................................ 10. Announcements 1. Austin's Omega Institute site for Spring retreat The dates for Centerpointe's spring retreat, at The Omega Institute at the Crossings in Austin, Texas, are April 9-15, 2006. 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 spend a week with me at The Omega Institute. 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. I tailor each retreat to the needs of the specific people who attend (which means YOU). My goal is to help you see the ways you may be unconsciously and unintentionally creating your internal and external reality, and how easy it actually is to consciously and intentionally create the life you want, both inside and out. This is your chance to make a big change, and to work with me personally. So click on this link for more information: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ www.centerpointe.com/retreats +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ And, I guarantee results! Here's the guarantee: 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: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ www.centerpointe.com/retreats +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Or, you can call retreat coordinator Katie Sparks at 503-906-6027 to learn more about Centerpointe's retreats. =//=