1. Welcome to Issue #164 (September 2006) 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) // Important Announcements // Feature Article Two Worlds by Bill Harris, Director (scroll to item #7) // Glowing Testimonials of the Month (scroll to #8) // Book Review (scroll to #9) Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh Review by Kate Sparks ................................................................................ 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 Tell me and I forget; show me and I remember; involve me and I understand. --unknown Let him that would move the world first move himself. --Socrates Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men. --Lao Tzu Great necessities call forth great leaders. --Abigail Adams ................................................................................ 6. Live long and prosper! 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 of the elderly found that meditation actually added years to their lives. * The National Institutes of Health reports that regular meditation reduces chronic pain, anxiety, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and cortisol (sometimes called "the stress hormone") production. * A University of Wisconsin-Madison study discovered meditation boosts brain function 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 of 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, simply 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 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ** // ** By Oct. 1, 2006, I'll select no more than 250 people to receive direct, unlimited email access to me... Why am I doing this? So I can teach you everything I've learned about the art and science of creating whatever you want in life--materially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually... If you're one of these fortunate 250, you'll master the same secrets I've used to make my own life wonderfully fulfilling--and, learn how you can do the same... It doesn't matter what you want from life--I'll teach you how to create it. As you read this special letter, please keep in mind that this offer is available to 250 people ONLY. What if you could... * Be 100% financially secure--even rich--and have the ability to help others who are in need... * Work with and have satisfying personal friendships with interesting, important "make-it-happen" people... * Be a central player in whatever field interests you... * Eagerly leap out of bed each day to do something you really love doing... * Create the love relationship of your dreams, or make your current relationship what you've always hoped it could be... * Be happy and peaceful by choice, let go of the emotional problems you suffer from, and feel at home in the universe... * Solve any challenge that comes your way--in fact, turn any challenge you face into an even bigger opportunity... * In general, create whatever you want in life, inside and out... I know, I know--I've just made some pretty bold claims. Despite their boldness, however, I intend to stand by them. Everything I've just promised is possible. I know this is true because though I once was poor, alone, and miserable, I've attained everything on that list. You can, too. There's no doubt about it. The information I want to share with you is truly amazing. And... ...not one in a million people know about it. This stunning information has allowed me to become wealthy enough to have every material thing I want--and still give hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to deserving charities. It has allowed me to be close personal friends with the top leaders in the personal and spiritual growth world--people like Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul fame...noted author, philosopher, and spiritual teacher Ken Wilber...world-famous relationship experts Gay and Katie Hendricks ...Michael Beckwith (star of The Secret and head of Agape International, one of the largest New Thought Churches in the world)... ...and many other remarkable people. Though at one point I was an emotional basket case with no career, no career prospects, and few friends, my use of the secrets I'm going to share with you brought me, among other things... * An invitation to speak at the United Nations... * Ongoing offers to speak at international conferences with other world-renowned attendees and speakers... * A founding membership in the Transformational Leadership Council... * Opportunities to help people all over the world with their personal growth issues and business challenges, or to take part in their (or my own) exciting and fulfilling projects... * A love relationship that amazes me with its depth and intimacy... * A deep spiritual realization of who I really am and how I fit into the universe. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying any of this to brag about myself. This is about you, not me. I'm sharing my story only because I firmly believe that you can do the same in your life... ...if someone shows you how to do it. At one point I had no idea how to do any of this--and it showed. I was lost--a failure. But when certain wonderful teachers--to whom I'll always be tremendously grateful--showed me exactly how I was creating my misery, and how I could create whatever I wanted... ...everything changed. And, in this letter, I'll tell you how everything can change for you, too. Let's get started. A little over three years ago I put these secrets into three powerful online courses, each with twelve audio lessons. As I write this, 3,672 people have benefited from these courses, and I've received (literally) thousands of letters from students raving about how their lives have changed. In a moment I'm going to tell you all about these courses, First, though, I have to share something else--something very important. As powerful as these courses have been for those who've taken them, they have, unfortunately... ...created a huge problem for me. What problem have they created, you ask? While the bulk of the three courses are, as they say, "in the can" (I'll describe in a moment what they consist of) and don't require my attention on an ongoing basis, there is one aspect of teaching them that does require my ongoing time and attention. In order to make these courses as effective as possible (and they are, I promise you, powerfully effective), each student receives... ...unlimited personal email access to me. In fact, I've received thousands of emailed questions from students, each of which I've personally and painstakingly answered. Some of the answers are quite detailed, taking several pages. Thus far, all questions and answers (with a few exceptions for reasons of privacy) have been posted on the course web site. This huge library of questions and answers is a veritable treasure-trove of information to which all students have access (many hundreds of pages). I've received many letters of thanks for providing these questions and answers. And, in answering thousands of questions over the last three years, I have to confess that I've learned fully as much as the students, and... ...this contact has been very fulfilling for me. However, these courses have become so popular, with so many students, that the number of emails I receive and answer has become, well...unmanageable. If I'm going to do the other things I need to do to manage Centerpointe--create new programs and products that will benefit you, write new books and articles, continue my speaking schedule, make sure the support continues to be world-class, and once in a while have a bit of R&R--I just can't continue to personally answer quite so many letters. I wish it wasn't so, because I love the contact I have with students. After thinking about this challenge for several months, I still haven't come up with the exact solution.. However, I've decided that beginning October 1, 2006, I have to do something to reduce my workload. Quite frankly, I'd like to see ten or twenty times more students in these online courses, but I know I can't handle that many more questions (I can barely handle the amount I get now). At any rate, I have to do something. Here are some of the potential choices: * I could delegate some or all of the questions to a staff member, with students continuing to have access to the huge archive of questions I've already answered. * I could continue to provide email access, but just to those select who really want it and need it. Those people would pay an extra fee for unlimited email access to me, limiting the number of questions I'd have to answer. * Each student could ask a set number of questions, after which they would have the option of paying for the privilege of asking more questions. * I could charge a renewable monthly fee for questions. I want to emphasize that I'm not doing this to make extra money. I'm doing it solely to make it possible for me to continue... ...offering any kind of email access at all. At any rate, beginning October 1, 2006, one way or another, things will have to change. I have to do something, and those who register on or after October 1st (or when we reach 250 more enrollements, whichever comes first) will do so under a new set of rules, yet to be decided. I'll do everything I can to make sure new students get all the benefits other students have received, but one way or another it will have to involve less of my time. Without making some sort of change, I'll have to discontinue the question and answer aspect of the courses altogether, which... ...would be a shame. None of this need affect you, however! Why? Because all existing students--including you--if you're one of the first 250 who enroll before October 1, 2006--will get unlimited email access to me... ...no matter what changes I make after October 1st. So, if you think you might want to master this incredible information and take charge of your life, and you want the same direct access and special attention I've given to the 3,672 students who've already taken these courses, then you should consider enrolling right now, before... ...this window of opportunity slams shut forever. Allowing 250 more enrollments under the original terms means it will be a while before my work load calms down, but I thought it was only fair to give you one last chance to sign up under the old rules and.. ...still receive unlimited email access without any additional conditions. And remember, once you enroll, you can re-take these courses as many times as you want and ask me questions about them for as long as you want. Okay, I had to get that off my chest. Now, let me tell you about the courses and why they truly will change your life, no matter what your present circumstances. These three 12-lesson online courses are collectively called the Life Principles Integration Process, or LPIP. As I said above, I'm going to teach you exactly how you create everything that happens to you, inside and out. Then I'm going to show you how, once you take charge of that process... ...you will be able to create anything you want. Let's remember that your mind, and what you do with it, is the starting point of everything you experience in your life. If you master your mind, you master your ability to create what you want. There are two aspects to doing this. Let's look at them. The first is awareness. You must become aware of what is going on inside your head--aware of the internal processing system you use to create how you feel, how you behave, and what you attract into your life or are attracted to. Meditating with Holosync creates this awareness, and it does so... ...more rapidly than any method I've ever seen. But even with the enhanced awareness Holosync creates, you still have to know what it is you're becoming aware of. There are patterns and other aspects of your internal processes that, even with the heightened awareness created by Holosync, could take you years to sort out and understand. These courses, however, show you the internal map you've been using to create your reality. This means that once you have the awareness to see that internal map, you instantly recognize it, and you... ...already know what to do with it. The truth is, there are thousands--perhaps millions--of choices you don't see, and therefore you can't take advantage of them! This course will show you: 1) what you're doing, right now, to create your present reality, 2) all the other available choices, and 3) how to choose the most resourceful choice, depending on what you want to accomplish. Once you know this, you'll be one of the few people on this green earth with... ...tremendous creative power. You can use this power to help yourself, other people, and the rest of the world. Let's look at each course, so you'll know exactly how you'll benefit. The first course is called The Internal Map of Reality Expander. As I said above, you have an Internal Map of Reality that takes what comes in through your senses--in other words, the experiences you have--and from that "raw material" creates... * What you feel in each moment * How you behave in each moment * Who and what you attract * Who and what you are attracted to These four things determine everything that happens in your life--and it all begins inside your head. Right now, you're probably generating these four things unconsciously and unintentionally--what I call... ...running on autopilot. You can learn to operate this Internal Map of Reality consciously and intentionally, but to do so there are several things you must find out about yourself. In the course we go over every aspect of your Internal Map of Reality, so you can see exactly how each part directly affects what you create in your life. Then, we look at all the other choices you have, but aren't taking advantage of--and show you... ...how you can take advantage of them. Once you see how all of this works, you will be astounded--and probably (at least initially) dismayed at all the time you've wasted running on automatic, sometimes getting what you want and... quite often, getting what you don't want. But knowing that you can be in charge of your life will also create tremendous excitement. You'll learn so much about yourself in this first course that it will, quite literally, blow your mind. You'll clearly see how and why certain things have been happening in your life... ...sometimes over and over. You'll learn why you often have certain unpleasant feelings, or why it's been difficult to create wealth, or friends, or the job you want--or any of the other things you've wanted in your life. More important, you'll learn exactly how--consciously and intentionally--you can create your life... ...exactly the way you want to. I won't kid you though. There is a price to pay to master this ability. This course is not feel-good fluff. You're going to have to examine, very carefully, exactly how you're creating your life right now, and be willing to adopt a new and better way of doing things. I'm assuming you are willing to do this. And, I've made this price very easy to pay. Okay, let's move on to the second course, The Accelerated Change Maximizer. This course is about spiritual growth, enlightenment, metaphysics, meditation, how to be happy and peaceful and blissfully connected to the rest of the universe. When you get right down to it, it's about... ...finding out who you really are. We'll look at the whole idea of "oneness" and why being "one with everything" is much more than just a nice-sounding idea. We'll look at what it means in terms of your day-to-day life. We'll investigate how it feels. We'll look at what keeps you from experiencing it in each moment, and we'll discuss... ...why you'd even want to. We'll also look at why you suffer--and how to stop. And finally, we'll look at the Reality behind the "reality" created by your mind. We'll also look, in detail, at my now-famous Nine Principles for Conscious Living--what author Joe Vitale, star of The Secret, described as nothing less than... ..."the Secrets of the Universe." At the end of this course, you'll have more personal and practical understanding of spiritual matters than most people who've studied Zen Buddhism and other similar approaches... ...for decades. And all that intellectual information you have about spiritual matters, from all those books you've read? It will move from your head (where it doesn't do you much good) to your heart, and then to your guts (where you can really use it). All this information will finally be yours on an experiential level. Based on what I've seen with the thousands of people who have already experienced it, The Accelerated Change Maximizer--even more than the first course--will blow you away. Finally, in the third course, The Success Solution, I put it all together for you. In this final course you take everything you've learned about creating your own reality, and everything you've learned about the Supreme Reality behind what you create with your mind, and use it to... ...go back into the world and make a difference. The Success Solution is about how to make things happen in the world. This includes how to create wealth, if that's what you want...how to create great relationships...how to be a leader, at home, at work, or your community--or in any other context...how to make a difference for yourself, your family, your community, your country, or the world...and, in short, how to... ...make your dreams into reality. People who make things happen in the world think and act in a certain special way. This course shows you the nuts and bolts, the inside secrets, of that special way of thinking and acting. The Success Solution will show you... * How to find out what you want in life (too many people never start because they never figure out what they want)... * How to figure out the "how to" of making your dream happen (this stops most people dead in their tracks--but it won't stop you)... * An easy to follow road map for what to do first, second, and third--and how to evaluate what you learn from each step before taking the next one (this is a key secret few people know about or understand)... * How to create a goal statement that will program your mind for success (this is how the most powerful and successful people in the world operate, and once you know how to do it, you'll have the same power to create your life that they use to create theirs)... * How to get other people to gladly help you achieve your goals (how easy would it be if you had all the help you need?)... * The incredible power of Going the Extra Mile and taking personal initiative (few do this, but those who do zoom to the top of the heap)... * How to turn any adversity, any setback, any failure, into a resounding success (this secret eliminates failure in all its forms)... * And much, much more. Then, in the last three lessons, I close the circle by taking you back to your Internal Map of Reality to show you how childhood influences caused you to create your map in a certain way--for better or worse. These childhood choices, forced upon you before you even knew you had a choice, caused you to create what psychologists call a life script. Once you understand your script, you can (as Dr. Eric Berne said) "close the old show and put a new one on the road." Scripts aren't a choice--until you understand them--and this information will... ...create a revolution in how you see--and live--your life. I wish I had room here to tell you everything about these courses. I will tell you this, however. Those who have taken these courses, and have mastered this information, are totally different than when they began. They are in charge of their lives. Why? Because they now know what the most aware, conscious, powerful people in the world know. You can be one of them. World-famous author and philosopher Ken Wilber was so impressed with these courses that he asked if he could add them to the curriculum of his nationally accredited Integral University. By now I'm sure you're wondering about the cost for all of this. And, you're probably expecting to pay quite a bit, considering how much you'll learn and how much this information will change your life. It's true that if I taught these courses in a live seminar format I'd be on my feet for at least 20-plus days--and I'd have to charge $10,000 or more. And, quite frankly... ...it would be worth it many times over. But this online format allows me to make the tuition ridiculously low--just $249 per course. What's more, I've arranged for everyone who registers for all 3 courses to get the third course FREE--a 33% discount. This makes each course a mere $166! And, when you sign up for all 3 courses, you can even pay in three equal monthly payments. Finally, there's NO RISK to enrolling now to learn how to create whatever you want in life. Why? Because these courses have an lifetime money-back guarantee. Take the courses and do all the exercises (and show me that you really did them). Then, at the end, if you don't think you've received all the benefits I've described--and more--just ask, and I'll immediately refund your tuition. How many refunds have there been so far, you ask? That's right. Zero. None. And I don't expect you to be the first. Please remember. I have room for just 250 more students under the old terms. Once these final 250 students enroll--or on October 1st, whichever comes first--the rules will change, and new students will be subject to whatever changes I decide to make at that point in order to save my sanity. You should know that nearly 70,000 Centerpointe participants are receiving this letter, and because of that I expect these 250 spots to be gone within a few days. So please. If you're at all interested in these amazing courses, right now--while you're thinking about it--go to www.centerpointe.com/life, and register. Then, get ready for the ride of your life. I look forward to working with you and showing you how you really can have everything you want. Be well. Bill PS: Remember, through these 3 courses, 3,672 people have learned how to be totally in charge of what they create in life. They'll do the same for you--guaranteed. There are only 250 spots, however. Be one of the 250 who register before Oct. 1, 2006 and you'll receive free unlimited email access to me as part of each course. After Oct. 1, or when we reach our 250-person limit, this will change in some way, yet to be determined. At that point I'll either delegate the questions to a staff member, limit the number of questions students can ask me, charge an extra fee, or institute some other solution I haven't yet thought of to reduce my work load. Be one of the 250, though, get unlimited personal email access to me, as all previous students have. To register, go to www.centerpointe.com/life. Please, do it now, while you're thinking of it, before all spots are gone and this opportunity ends forever. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://www.centerpointe.com/life +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ................................................................................ 7. Feature Article Two Worlds By Bill Harris Last month we looked at questions like "Why are we here?" and I gave you some metaphors to think about, as a way of gaining a different perspective regarding why we're here and what life and the universe is all about. I began this discussion several months ago with what, for most people, is a rather startling premise: that the common sense idea that we are all separate individuals, living in a world made of separate things and events, is an illusion created by the mind. Instead, I put forth the premise that the entire universe is one big interconnected system, and that all divisions are created in the mind, but do not exist in reality. My premise, then (which is shared by all spiritual traditions in all cultures), includes the idea that there is no such thing as a separate "you" who acts upon and interacts with other separate individuals and things. There is, in fact, no separate doer. The only doer is the universe as a whole. Thinking about the world in this way gives us a weird feeling, because all our experience tells us that we are separate, and that it's made up of separate things and events. Why should we believe something that we cannot experience? Well, of course, there are people who do experience everything as one, big, interconnected processand--who do know, from experience, that there is no individual doer. These people are spoken of as being "enlightened"--though sometimes they are thought of as being crazy. So what are these people experiencing? Is it real? Why should you believe their experience? How could you have that experience? And why would you want to? Let's start with something I've said before, that your mind creates your reality. It may seem that reality is "out there," and that you merely perceive it or are affected by it, but in actual fact what you're seeing or experiencing isn't "reality." You're actually seeing an interpretation of reality, created by your mind. As information comes in through your senses (and after you filter it in various ways), you make what are called internal representations of reality, inside your mind. People forget, however, that they do this. They forget that these representations of reality are at least one step removed from actual reality, that in making them they deleted and distorted much of what came in through their senses, and that they then added all kinds of meanings that were not there to begin with. I call this distorted, partial, and meaning-laden representation of reality your Internal Map of Reality, because that's what it is--a map. And, as you know, a map is not the same as the territory it represents. A map is useful, but it's just a useful representation of the actual territory, and you can't drive your car on those little lines representing roads. That's why your reality isn't the same as your friend's reality. Because you share a similar culture, where similar meanings are added to what actually happens, you both share certain ways of thinking, and for that reason much of your reality is similar. But you also have many different ways of deleting what comes in, distorting it, and adding meaning to it. For that reason, your world, your reality, is unique to you. Everyone, then, is walking around creating their own internal reality, and then forgetting that this mentally created reality, this Internal Map of Reality, isn't THE reality. And one of the most basic aspects of this self-created reality is the idea that there are separate people, separate things, and separate events. I hope I've convinced you in previous articles that though all these separate bits seem incredibly real, all such divisions are created by the mind, all are arbitrary, and none exists in reality. They are all added to reality, and then we forget we did it. Previously, I gave the example of the arbitrary nature of determining how big the sun is, or when you began, or whether a bee, and a flower, and the field it grows in, and the sunlight that helps it grow, are really separate things or one integrated system. So the first major premise of the world of the mind is that everything is divided into separate things. The second premise is that there is an on/off, black/white aspect to these divisions. You might notice that all these ways of dividing the world into categories can be expressed as polar opposites: me/not me, good/evil, here/not here, up/down, in/out, on/off, big/small, having/not having, happy/sad, alive/dead, before/after, etc., etc., etc. In fact, all divisions (all made by the mind and occurring only in the mind) can be expressed this way. Notice that where one side of the polarity leaves off and the other begins is totally arbitrary. All of these divisions, and the actual dividing point, are ideas. They are conceptual. You cannot pick them up and put them in your pocket. They are not real things. And, also notice that with each of these polar opposites, both sides depend on the other. They go together. They are, collectively, one thing, artificially divided into two. You can't have up without down, because they are one system, one unit. That's what the mind does: it divides everything into categories, and then forgets that the categories aren't intrinsic to the world. We all grew up in the world created by the mind. It's what we know. We all assume it's the "real" world. But is it? Let's consider another aspect of how we decide what is real. Our perception includes only what registers with our five sense organs. Everything else might as well not exist. Yes, we've developed some instruments that pick up some things our senses can't perceive, such as cosmic rays. But a lot (in fact, most) of what goes on in the universe just doesn't exist for us because of the limitations of our equipment, both biological and otherwise. So our reality is, in part, determined (and also limited) by the nature of our sensory equipment. If we had eyes that registered a different slice of the electromagnetic spectrum, things would look different. If we had eyes like a housefly things would look different. Our reality is determined partly by what is being seen, partly by the limitations of the equipment we use to see it, and to an even larger degree by what we do with it inside our mind (how we filter it, what we delete, how we mentally divide it into bits, what meanings we add to it, and so on). We're not seeing "reality," then, but our own perceptive qualities, along with our mind's deletions, divisions, and interpretations of the tiny slice that gets in. We're not seeing things the way they are, but as the equipment we have interprets it. After this process, we make some sort of internal representation of reality inside our head, and it's this internal representation that we perceive as reality. Now I'm being as careful as I can be in describing all of this because seeing things in this other way--where you realize that the divisions are handy but not really real--is so foreign to us that at first it just seems absurd. But the more you look at it, and the more you play around with it, and the more you investigate by noticing it in the real world, the more this other way of looking at things grows on you. So, what if you looked at the universe in the other way I've suggested--where everything is interconnected, where it's all one thing? What if you let go of the mistaken idea that all these separate bits exist other than conceptually, inside the mind? If you look at it this way, where there are no separate things or events, you have to also conclude that under this way of looking at things, there can't be a separate "you," either. As you begin to see beyond the world of the mindin which everything is expressed in polar opposites, where everything is arbitrarily chopped up into separate things and separate events--it begins to appear less and less realand less and less necessary--and this way of experiencing the world based on separation exerts less and less pull over you. When this happens, you begin to perceive the world of the mind as I described it earlier: as a play, as fun, as something the mind creates, but not something that has to be taken so seriously. Or, if you do take it seriously, you do so in a playful way, like an actor in a play, who plays his role to the hilt, but knows it's just a play. He knows that when he walks offstage he once again becomes who he really is--which in your case is the entire one energy of all and everything. So what's it like to know that separate things and events, and a separate you, is an illusion? What's it like to know, on an experiential level, that everything really is one energy, one huge interconnected process--and that you are that process? Knowing that you are one with everything, you aren't attached to anything being a certain way. Instead, you realize that the unfolding of the universe is happening in its own way and is being guided by something much bigger than the separate you that your mind has made up. All you have to do is go along for the ride. At the same time, you might decide to play as if it was all terribly important, and you might set goals and take on challenges and work toward certain outcomes. Your happiness and inner peace, however, are unrelated to what does or does not happen, since these things come from knowing that you are everything, that you've always been and always will be everything, and that your existence did not begin with your body, nor will it end when your body dissolves. The awakened person is therefore not at odds with the world, which would be like being at odds with yourself. As has been said of Jesus Christ, you are "in the world but not of it." You watch as it all goes by, but you are also a participant. You know that most people are caught in the world of separation created by the mind and are fooled into thinking that there are separate things and events, and that White Must Win. But because you know that these sleeping people are unaware of being caught in an illusion, you are compassionate, and you do what you can to help others with their suffering. Even though you know who you are, your mind is still busy spinning out a story based on the premise of separate people, events, and things, because that's what minds do. Part of that story is the illusion of agency, of choice. Your mind is indeed making choices, but your mind is not who you really are, and part of you knows this. The real you is the entire going on of it all, and from the perspective of the witness (which is the consciousness of the entire going on of it all), you see this quite clearly. So while your mind is doing its thing, you can pretend to be that mind and therefore pretend to be making life decisions--and you can have all kinds of fun doing so--but in reality, the decisions are part of the entire going on of it all. As I have said, there is no separate doer--the only doer is the universe as a whole. Amazingly, to the degree that the mind you used to think of as "you" learns how to control itself, you can exert a little or a lot of control over your part. (I'm using the term "your mind" to refer to what you used to think of as "me," as opposed to what you really are--the going on of the entire universe.) Ultimately, though, there is a limit to your mind's influence over what is, because your effort is just one of an infinite number of other efforts of other minds, all with their own ends in mind, and because no one can make White Win. After every on, there must be an off, and all living organisms come into being and, after a while, pass away. Instead of being an automatic response mechanism, responding to the world based on unconscious rules, beliefs, fears, and limitations, your mind is able to consciously evaluate each situation, in the moment, and instantly and instinctively know exactly what to do and how to respond in order to gain the most resourceful outcome, both for yourself and for others. The ability to respond in this way is the result of mastering the mind, and also from the additional awareness (exhibited by the witness, which ultimately is the consciousness of the entire universe) which is developed as you meditate. The enlightened person may or may not have this control over what happens and what is created. If that mind has trained itself, then that mind will be able to exercise a certain amount of control (and though this control is limited, it is still so vast that the trained mind can create almost anything it wants in the world of the mind). But here is a key point: the enlightened individual (which is admittedly an oxymoron, since enlightenment is partially the realization that individuality is a game created by the mind) realizes that it doesn't matter if anything is controlled, because once you know you're everything, you sees that it's all one interconnected process, that this process is everywhere, that it includes everything, that it exists forever--and that it's you. And, it's independent of the existence of the organism you formerly thought of as "me." When the organism dies, you're still everything, even though that everything is no longer looking out through "your" eyes. So if the enlightened person has had some sort of mental or yogic training, he may play in the world of the mind, exercising some degree control over what is created. Or, he may just say, "Why bother? Everything is going along perfectly as it is." Mainly, the awakened person watches as he plays his part. As he plays, he marvels at the complexity, the infinite permutations, the surprises, the certainties, and the uncertainties. He knows he is in the dream he decided to dream, as in the metaphor I shared with you earlier, but he knows he is dreaming. He knows there are no divisions other than those the mind makes up, so separation doesn't bother him. He is calm most of the time, but sometimes his part requires him to be upset or to have some other emotion or reaction. That is being human. But whatever his mood, there is an underlying peace of mind, an underlying, effortless happiness. You can be this way, too. It doesn't happen overnight, but it can happen. Using Holosync and learning the material I'm sharing with you isn't the only way it can happen, but it's a very effective and very fast way. "So what," you say. "I'm okay with creating a reality with my mind and living in it. Other than as a fascinating intellectual exercise, why does any of this matter?" This is a good question, and an important one. It matters because there are consequences to seeing the world as a chopped up series of bits and events. And, there's a consequence to buying into the idea that the reality created by your brain is THE reality. If you see yourself as separate from the rest of the universe, then the part of the universe you think isn't you could harm you, and you will be afraid. Of course, if you know that you are everything, then there's nothing outside of you to harm you. Or, thinking that there is something outside of you, you could want it, but not be able to have it. If you know who you really are, there is nothing outside of you to want or need. If you know who you are, there's nowhere to go, nothing to get, and nothing to fear. Knowing this, you can play the game of wanting things and working to get them, if you want to, but you know it's a game, and in an ultimate sense it doesn't matter what happens. In that case, it's fun no matter what happens. When you get caught in the idea that the mind's reality is real, you pay a certain price. You feel separate, you feel fearful, you cycle back and forth between "good" and "bad" people and outcomes, you deal with the illusory problem of existence and nonexistence, always wanting one side of the vibration and resisting the other. But when you get the mind out of the way, and touch the other reality, the separate self disappears, and is replaced by peace and bliss. In the "real" reality, everything is just fine. As long as you have a mind, it's going to do what minds do. It's going to create a map of reality, made of ideas, concepts, and representations. It's going to create thoughts and feelings and it's going to chop things up into separate events and separate things, and it's going to use only those perceptions your sense organs are equipped to pick up. As long as these creations of the mind pull at your attention, as long as you are willing to see them as real--as long as you disregard the evidence that it's all one big interrelated process, and that all divisions are conceptual rather than real--you will stay in the world of the mind, the world of suffering, desire, and death. But once you give up falling for the illusion of separation created by the mind, everything changes. At this point, you have some choices. One choice is to leave behind the world of the mind, to pay no attention to it, and just stay in the no-mind reality. Just rest in being it all, forever. There have been some enlightened beings who have done this. If you visit them, no one is home, so to speak. The separate self is gone. Such people are off in another place, where either the mind is doing its thing but no one is paying attention, or the part of the brain that creates the sensation of being a separate self is turned off. (Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School have even identified the part of the brain that turns off when someone has such a "unitary" experience. If you're interested in looking into this more deeply, get the book Why God Won't Go Away by Andrew Newberg and Eugene D'Aquili.) In this no-mind state, your mind and your body still operate, but the part of the mind that creates and maintains the illusion of a separate "you" is inactive. Still, your body seeks food, eats it, digests it, and so on, and protects itself to the best of its ability from harm, but, as I said, in terms of the separate "you" no one is home. The other alternative is to know the no-mind world, but also, at the same time, live and play in the world of the mind. In this alternative, you are experientially aware of the world of oneness, where there is no separate doer, but decide to play in the world of separation, pretending to be a separate doer, either having fun creating whatever you want, or not caring what is created because you know that in an ultimate sense it doesn't matter. This is why I've used the analogy of an actor in a play, because in this alternative you play your part, but because you're aware of the world of oneness, you realize you're just playing when you create divisions and meanings in your mind. If you know who you really are as you create with the mind, you don't suffer over what happens, as most people do. As life happens, the body and its associated emotions respond, and the "you" created by the mind feels grief or sadness. But if you're established in the no-mind state while you play in the world of the mind--if you know who you really are--this suffering isn't real to you in the same way it is to the average, unconscious person. It's like the feelings you have when a character in the movie you're watching has problems and you identify with him. You feel it, but you also know it's just a story. So what does this feel like, this experience that you're everything? There are generally two ways to describe it. In the first way, you feel that as the universe moves, it moves you. The other experience is the flip side of this one: it feels as if when you move, the universe moves in response. These are, of course, two sides of the same coin, two different ways of perceiving the same thing, kind of like those pictures that, when viewed one way it's a pair of wine glasses, and when viewed the other way, it's a lady's face. Somehow the spiritual growth movement in the West has made the experience of unity consciousness into something tremendously metaphysical and otherworldly. In my experience, it isn't. It's right here and right now, and when you have it, life goes on, though in a different--and much easier--way. When you first drop the separate "me," it's an odd experience. Very quickly, though, you see that everything continues, your body and your mind keep doing what they were doing before, and everything moves along in the same way. It's just a different perspective, like looking at the wine glasses or the lady. In one perspective you think you're a separate individual, and in the other you feel that you're really are the whole thing, and you easily notice how you've been making up the separate you. You might play with this over the next few weeks. Pay attention to how everything goes together. Notice how all boundaries are arbitrary, and how they are all conceptual. Find out what happens when you do this. Above all, remember that no matter what you do or don't do, there is no choice but to be the whole thing. You can choose to not notice it, but you're still it. Be well. Bill Harris ................................................................................ 8. Glowing Testimonials and Letters Dear Bill, I started with Awakening Prologue, finished first part in mid 2003, and again joined your Life principles course (all the three) in late 2003. Well, as I explained to you in my previous mail 6 months ago, life was a kind of wild ride, there were so many issues, so many problems. God it was terrible. Losing my job, financial difficulties, family problems, losing money in business, you name it and I went through between mid 2004 to early 2006, one and half year, it was the most toughest period in my life and most of the things that were happening were so illogical that I was hardly able to understand as to what was happening. Here I am, back on top of the issues. I found a new job as CEO of a Commercial Bank in Mozambique. To my surprise, in view of the problems, the Asian shareholders had decided to close down the Bank and gave me a challenging assignment to turn it around, if I can, I was their last bet. Well, I had nothing to lose, I took up the assignment and believe me, miracles have started happening. After six months of my taking over the Bank, the shareholders are dumb stuck at the performance, out of their 15 international Banks in Asia, Europe and Africa, this one was at the bottom during January 2006 and today at the end of June 2006, it is number 3 from the top. Can you believe this? Bill, the credit goes to you and the wonderful programme you teach people like me, who got most of the things wrong in early life, which grip us and influence every decision we make in life without realizing. I have been listening to the course from the last two and half years, almost daily and went on doing and redoing the home work. Especially the Goal statement and the Six step process for every issue. Today, frankly, if you ask me to pin point exactly as to what contributed to my success and happiness since last 6 months, I wouldn't be able to answer you, because I am a completely different person. I am amazed at the inner and deep changes that have taken place, I simply seem to proceeding towards my goals seamlessly as if there is nothing in between me and my goal, I just need to walk through and pick up. God, I am so happy and feel completely fulfilled. It's not that I have earned a Million Dollars during the last 6 months, but the realization as to how to take decisions and how to attract what I want in life and how to stay focused and what happens when you stay focused. Then of course the most important part, understanding the stuff I have been carrying all these years and throwing it away since I dont need it any more and how that has been creating issues for me. Also, realizing the fact if I do need a Million Dollars, its not beyond my reach. I am not sure I have been able to explain my feelings clearly, language is simply not enough. As you rightly say in one of the lessons, the taste of the Candy can only be felt after eating it, it cannot be explained. I am ever grateful for the wonderful insights and the knowledge you shared with me. Things have never been this clear to me, with all the Anger, Guilt, Sadness, Fear gone completely. Warmest Regards Muralidhar ................................................................................ 9. Book Review by Kate Sparks Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh If you would like to learn more about or order this book visit: http://www.amazon.com/gp/explorer/0679406832/2/ref=pd_lpo_ase/103-2505792-868863 8?ie=UTF8 What began 51 years ago as a simple collection of musings and meditations written during a solitary two-week vacation off the Florida coast has throughout the years become a classic best-selling book on youth and aging; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment. The writer is Anne Morrow Lindbergh--mother, pilot, explorer, writer, and wife of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. Her book, Gift from the Sea, is a treasure not unlike that perfect shell found after a long day of beachcombing. Each day during her hiatus from the demands of her suburban Connecticut life and family Lindbergh walked the beach alone, collecting shells, and allowing herself to be taken over by the sights and sounds, and the tides that met her at her feet. Though categorized under "Christian inspirational" in most bookstores, the book never mentions God nor religious teachings of any kind. It is instead as if Lindbergh managed to channel the wisdom of the sea--the only form of God that seems relevant in such surroundings. Sounding more like a philosopher and poet than any sort of guru, Lindbergh lulls the reader into a state of presence with her writing. She brings the rhythm of the sea, the spaciousness of being alone, and the peace of acceptance home with her words. The 50th anniversary gift edition features an introduction by the writer's daughter, Reeve Lindbergh, who writes, "Even the sway and flow of language and cadence seem to me to make reference to the easy, inevitable movements of the sea...Whatever the reason, after just a few pages I always begin to relax into that movement and to feel like something that belongs to the tide--just another piece of flotsam floating in the great oceanic rhythms of the universe." Early into her vacation, Lindbergh begins the process of shedding that comes with vacation. There are fewer clothes, fewer time commitments, and generally simplified surroundings. As she does, she reflects on the lives most of us live that are anything but simple. We have endless social engagements, distractions, and business appointments. It is a way of living that ends in fragmentation, Lindbergh warns. "It does not bring grace; it destroys the soul." This simple life she experiences during her stay becomes a metaphor for the simplicity of the inner life that so many of us seek--of connection and presence and living in the moment. She writes, "Simplification of outward life is not enough. It is merely the outside. But I am starting with the outside. I am looking at the outside of a shell, the outside of my life--the shell. The complete answer is not to be found on the outside, in an outward mode of living...The final answer, I know, is always inside." Through this period of simplification and solitude Lindbergh "re-learns" the importance of being alone--a challenge she also poses to her readers. "When one is a stranger to oneself then one is estranged from others too. If one is out of touch with oneself, one cannot touch others." She writes of the pulls in society that keep us from solitude and from knowing ourselves. "The world today does not understand, in either man or woman, the need to be alone. How inexplicable it seems. Anything else will be accepted as a better excuse. If one sets aside time for a business appointment, a trip to the hairdresser, a social engagement or a shopping expedition, that time is accepted as inviolable. But if one says: I cannot come because that is my hour to be alone, one is considered rude, egotistical or strange. What a commentary on our civilization, when being along is considered suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, hide the fact that one practices it--like a secret vice," she writes. A striking element of this book, particularly today, is Lindbergh's ability to write with foresight and relevance well beyond the small space of time in which she wrote. Though she doesn't speak in new age terms, her revelations on the inner life and connection with the self and others have significance and meaning for the generations of spiritual seekers that would follow. She comments on the stirrings of feminism and the changing roles of women at the time, suggesting that women will always be in flux between feminism and Victorianism. The answer for women, she suggests, exists not in either side of this duality, but in nourishing her inner life, and in reclaiming "her long postponed hope and right, as a human being, to be creative in other ways besides the purely physical one." Though she writes from a female perspective, her insights into relationships have relevance for men as well. "Perhaps both men and women in America may hunger, in our material, outward, active, masculine culture, for the supposedly feminine qualities of heart, mind and spirit--qualities which are actually neither masculine nor feminine, but simply human qualities that have been neglected," she writes. "It is growth along these lines that will make us whole, and will enable the individual to become a world to himself." Lindbergh's book moves in stages that follow the stages of relationship--first with self, then with a lover, then with ever increasing circles of community and humanity. Her reflections on romantic relationships are interesting because even in her day she noted the opportunity for spiritual growth and freedom in modern relationships that more and more often defy limiting gender roles. She suggests that when both partners come to each other no longer as limited, dependent halves, but as two whole fully developed people, that relationship can be a launching point to greater spiritual freedom. However, there is a tendency, Lindbergh reminds us, to become attached to duration and continuity, to the future and past, when dealing with romantic relationships. One must accept the inconsistency of love and life--the ebb and flow, she writes. "The 'veritable life' of our emotions and our relationships also is intermittent. When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; When the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity." Good relationships have a pattern like a dance, Lindbergh writes, where each partner is completely in time with the music, poised directly on the present step as it comes. "The joy of such a pattern is not only the joy of creation or the joy of participation, it is also the joy of living in the moment. Lightness of touch and living in the moment are intertwined." Lindbergh died in February 2001, after leading an impressive life filled with travel, exploration and contribution. Her daughter Reeve comments in the preface the book on her mother's life, "In honest reflection upon her own experience, in trying to live from a core of inner stillness while actively responding, as we all must do, to the 'here and now,' my mother quietly set herself free, into her own life and into all life." =//=