1. Welcome to Issue #174 (July 2007) 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.

If this issue has been forwarded to you, and you'd like to subscribe to
Mind Chatter, visit http://www.centerpointe.com/newsletter.  To view
Mind Chatter archives, visit
http://www.centerpointe.com/newsletter/archives.php

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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.)

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3. In This Issue

// MindQuotes (scroll to #5)

// Announcements (scroll to item #6)

// Feature Article Inside the Black Box: How Your Internal Processes
Create Your Life by Bill Harris, Director (scroll to item #7)

// Readers' Voices (scroll to #8)

// Life Principles In Practice (scroll to #9)

// Coach's Corner (scroll to #10) Welcome to our new feature, where each
month a Centerpointe Support Coach shares their personal experiences
with books that have inspired them, life-changing coaching experiences,
and other information we're sure you'll find enlightening and enriching.
This month, we hope you'll enjoy:

Sacred Spacing By Marc Gilson

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4. MIND CHATTER contains articles about:

// How you create your life--and how you can stop unconsciously creating
experiences and outcomes you do not want, and instead begin to create
exactly what you do want

// Personal and spiritual growth in general

// Meditation (high--and low-tech)

// Recovery from emotional trauma

// Pretty much any other subject I get excited about and want to write
about. After all, it's my company and my newsletter,  and I can do
whatever I want with it. So there.

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5. Mind Quotes

Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no
one to blame. - Erica Jong

When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as
fate. - C.G. Jung

Look and you will find it - what is unsought will go undetected. -
Sophocles

The unconscious wants truth.  It ceases to speak to those who want
something else more than truth. - Adrienne Rich


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6. You can resolve that big issue you've been struggling with... The
amazing 5-Day Transformation for those who don't have time to wait for
tremendous change! Only six spaces remain for our fall retreat.

Though I knew it was going to happen, it still was quite shocking. I'm
used to seeing people leave Centerpointe retreats experiencing a huge
transformation, but as people left our latest retreat, something was
differentâ very different. Though a part of me expected it, I was still
awed by what happened. Person after person approached me as the retreat
ended and said, You changed my life... I don't know how to thank you...
This was the missing piece for me...I can't thank you enough.

Why in the world did this happen?

I've been getting tremendous positive feedback about these retreats for
many years, but never anything like this. Why was the feedback even more
positive? Here's what I think: in addition to all the other powerful
things we do at the retreats, I completely changed the material I
present to reflect the Nine Principles for Conscious Living I teach in
my Life Principles Integration Process online courses. This material
describes how we create unhappiness and suffering and how we can create
happiness and inner peace instead. Because this description is so clear,
everyone who heard it (and practiced it during the retreat) had a huge
shift.

I promise that the same thing can happen for you...

If you've ever thought of attending a retreat...or coming to your 2nd or
3rd retreat...NOW would be the time to come. Here is one person's
description of what happens at these retreats:

There's no way to really describe it. It was intense, emotional,
hilarious, intimate, fun, exciting and overwhelming all at the same
time. Most wonderful was being part of a group that accepted, supported,
listened, laughed and cried with me. We arrived carrying different bags
but left singing the same tune, and manifested such respect and love for
one and all. It was like falling in love with 50 people at the same
time. Each so different and yet the same. It sounds impossible and
perhaps that's why it was so specialâ being with a group of human beings
that most people only read about but never get to truly immerse
themselves in. I learned a lot about myself and how I interact with
others. I learned that being vulnerable, being open and sharing with
others takes tremendous courage. So I want to thank each and every one
of the participants and the staff because each one took the necessary
risks to create that tremendous group dynamic at the retreat. If anyone
out there is wondering about going on the next retreat, stop wondering
and just do it. It just might change your life.  - Mickey R.

At a Centerpointe retreat...

*You'll experience a true quantum leapâ taking everything to a higher
level... *With some of the most experienced personal change coaches in
the world, you'll experience a profound shift in that life issue you so
much want (and need) to change... *You'll meet other Centerpointe
participants who may become lifelong friends... *You'll get what it (and
your life) is all about, and... *You'll experience some industrial
strength Holosync, pushing you to new levels of personal growth,
positive change, and deeper self-awareness.

I'm at a loss to precisely describe what happens and what it feels like,
but I'll tell you this...

.....it feeds a deep part of every person who attends.

This experience of unconditional positive regard, just by itself,
creates tremendous changeâ not to mention everything else that happens
at a retreat. (No one, I hasten to add, is forced to open up or be close
to others, but you will feel safe doing so, and you'll find yourself
feeling good doing so.)

Here's another big reason for coming...

As he has at retreats since 1992, performer/song-writer/old
soul/recording artist/genius/amazing human being Michael Stillwaterâ who
participants describe as spellbinding, entrancing, heart-opening, and
awe-inspiringâ will be there. I couldn't imagine a retreat without
Michael's love and talent. Michael is one of the funniest human beings I
know (every year he composes several absolutely hilarious songs spoofing
me and Centerpointe that have everyone rolling in the aisles), and he's
one of the most talented song writers and performers on the planet
(really). He was asked to perform at the 9/11 Memorial Service in
Washington, D.C., and has the ability to help people touch the deepest
parts of themselves. I know you'll find meeting him to be...

...one of the most amazing experiences of your entire life (really)!

On the last evening we'll have a big celebration to bring everything to
a climax. These end-of-retreat celebrations are always awesome, and I'm
sure this one will be, too! In fact, my commitment is to make each
retreat even better than the last oneâ which means you're sure to have
an incredible experience!

This retreat could be a real turning point in your life...

You'll leave the retreat renewed and changed. If there's something
that's been difficult for you to resolve in your life, or if you just
want to move to a new level in your growth, this retreat could be the
turning pointâ as it has been for nearly everyone who has attended. You
don't have to drive, work, cook, problem solve, take care of others, or
do anything except meditate, open your heart, heal your past, take
charge of your life, let go of what's been holding you back, make new
friendsâ and, move your life to a whole new level.

You really can experience 6 months (or more) of growth...in just 5 days!

I know this sounds like an outlandish promise, but it's absolutely true.

People rave about our retreat staff...

Even if this were all, this next retreat would be incredible. But, in
addition, I'm absolutely thrilled to again have Dr. Beverlee Marks Taub,
Ph.D. (Dr. Bev), as part of the retreat staff. I've known and worked
with Dr. Bev since 1985. She helped me create the original Centerpointe
support materials, and is one of the country's most top transformational
therapists. I've seen Dr. Bev help resolve difficult and long-standing
issues in a single therapeutic session. If you need a breakthrough, she
will be available to help you achieve it. Here's what Dr. Bev said after
a previous retreat:

Bill Harris has swirled together a magical mix of technology, supportive
staff and evocative processes, which provide a safe crucible for the
changes waiting to happen. Participants know at a deep level they are
safe. The grosser elements of psychic and emotional debris are thrown
off, revealing the pure gold of the true authentic self, waiting to be
reclaimed. Bill is the Grand Master of this whole show. Part scientist
and part irreverent talk show host, he penetrates the collective social
facade, and gets everybody laughing about the riotous ‘stuff' we all
have and take so seriously. He wields his precision technology like a
laser and knows just how and when to go deeper or to lighten up. Bill
says in his commentary on the process that five days on retreat provides
six months of transformational growth. Because I saw physical, emotional
and spiritual evidence to support this claim, I now believe this is
true.

Internationally known therapist and workshop leader Doris Laesser will
also be there.  Doris has been in private practice for two decades,
working at University Children's Hospital in Zurich, as a lecturer at
the Institute for Psychology and the Fritz Perls Institute, and has been
a workshop leader at the Cortona Conference in Italy for the University
of Zurich. And, Mariah Wentworth and Jean Greene, our two body
specialists, will be there, leading us each day in movement and
stretching and giving...

...incredible massages.

So please, come to the retreat. You'll have a tremendous experience,
you'll learn a lot, you'll dramatically accelerate your growth, you'll
listen to some very powerful Holosync soundtracks, you'll meet a lot of
great people, and you'll...

...learn some exciting new things about...you!

The cost for tuition is only $2097 (lodging not included). This includes
several meditations per day, all presentations, and lots of attention
from me and from the incredible growth coaches we've invited. Here's my
personal guarantee: If, at the end of the retreat, you don't think it
was the most transformative experience you've ever had, just come see me
before you leave and I'll refund your tuition. I make this guarantee
because I know if I can just get you there...

...something will happen that will change your life forever!

Please act quickly, though. There are only 6 spaces left in this
upcoming retreat. For the last several retreats, it's become common for
us to turn people away. So if you want to be at this next one...

...please let us know right away.

To reserve your spot, we need a $495 deposit, payable with Visa,
Mastercard, check or money order. Please note that this deposit is not
refundable, unless we cancel the retreat. The balance of your payment
will be due 45 days before the retreat begins. For more infomation,
including the specifics of each retreat, go to www.centerpointe.com and
click on retreats, or call us at 1-800-945-2741 or 503-672-7117. So
that's it. Please come. You'll be shaking your head in wonder when it's
all over, just as I was after the last retreat. You really can make
tremendous progress withâ even totally resolveâ that big issue you've
been struggling with. I'm really excited to finally meet you in person,
and I know you'll enjoy meeting the other participants. Only six spots
remain. To avoid the possibility of missing out, please call or write
now to reserve your spot.

See you there!

Regards,

William Harris, Director

P.S.:  Don't forget: there is a 100% money back guarantee on this
retreat. I expect it to fill up fast, so reserve your spot right away.
Spending five days with Michael Stillwater and Dr. Beverlee Marks Taub
and Doris Laesser (and me!) is worth the price of the retreat all by
itself, so don't delay!

Reserve your spot now by calling 1-800-945-2741 or 503-672-7117. Or send
your deposit to: Centerpointe Research Institute, 1700 NW 167th Place,
Suite 220, Beaverton OR 97006. You can also reserve your spot by faxing
your name, address, and credit card number with expiration date to
503-643-3114. (For more info, and to see pictures of past retreats, go
to www.centerpointe.com and click on Retreats.)


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7. Feature Article

Inside The Black Box:  How Your Internal Processes Create Your Life Bill
Harris

Does life, for the most part, just happen to you? How much of what
happens in your life seems to be under your control? Are you creating
your life, or is it creating you?

Though you're probably not aware of them, certain internal thinking
processes (what I call your Internal Map of Reality) generate several
key aspects of your life: 1) nearly all of your internal feeling
experiences, 2) your behaviors, and 3) the people and situations you
attract into your life, or become attracted to. Whether your emotional
states are positive or negative; whether your behavior leads you to what
you want, or what you don't want; and whether you attract people and
situations that help you experience what you want, or what you don't
want, everything begins with your Internal Map of Reality. It's the
software that creates your lifeâ though unlike most software, you can
rewrite the code whenever you need a different result. In doing so, you
can create whatever you want in life. Yes, it often seems as if what you
feel, how you behave, and what happens to you is largely driven by your
external circumstances. However, there is substantial evidence that
almost everything you experience begins with certain internal thinking
processesâ processes you can learn to direct. If you're unaware of how
your Internal Map of Reality works (most people are), you'll create your
experience of life, to a large degree, automatically, as if on
autopilot. With a little bit of practice, though, it's possible to
become aware of these processes and learn to operate them intentionally.
In doing so you gain an amazing degree of control over what happens in
your life. In fact, those few individuals who master their internal
processes, and use them intentionally, could be called true Masters of
Life. They represent the tiny fraction of humanity who are able to
intentionally create whatever they want in their external world, as well
as what happens in their internal, feeling world. You can be one of
these people, regardless of your present or past circumstances. There
is, of course, a price to pay to achieve such mastery, but paying it can
actually be enjoyable. And, the rewards are huge.. A few aspects of your
Internal Map of Reality are inborn. Most, though, are learned, and
entirely under your control. Most of how your Map of Reality was formed
happened during childhood, representing your best attempt to
resourcefully deal with the unique set of circumstances you faced in
your family situation. Then, as long as this Internal Map continues to
operate, it automatically shapes the rest of your life. You can,
however, take that Map off of autopilot and consciously and
intentionally reshape it. And, in doing so, you can take charge of your
life. An Internal Map of Reality can work well even if it is operating
automatically. A positive childhood, with positive mentoring and the
protection of loving and supportive parents, leads to a positive and
resourceful Internal Map of Reality. If you have such a Map, you will
tend to focus on possibilities and find ways to manifest them. You will
more often than not experience positive emotions, and be more likely to
behave in resourceful ways. You will also more often attract or be
attracted to people and situations that will help you create the
outcomes you want. A less-than positive childhood, however, without such
mentoring and protection, and possibly with some amount of emotional
trauma or abuse, will lead to a much different Map of Reality, one that
will generate more negative results. If you have such a Map, you will
experience unpleasant emotions more often. You will tend to behave in
less-than resourceful ways. And you will attract, or be attracted to,
people and situations that will quite often help you create negative
results and outcomes. Your Map of Reality could be at one of these
extremes, or somewhere in the middle. The range of possibilities, and
the exact details of each Map, is unlimited. Whatever your Internal Map
of Reality, though, it will generate your results in life. An unhealthy
Map of Reality will tend to focus on how to be safe in what seems to be
a dangerous world. If you have such a Map, much of your attention will
be directed toward avoiding danger, whether physical or emotional.
Positive possibilities will seem less real, or non-existent. You will
feel good less often. You will generate more negative than positive
emotions. You will behave in a less resourceful manner. Ironically, you
will often attract the very dangers you seek to avoid.

A happy childhood isn't enough

Obviously a positive childhood is preferable to a negative one. But
whether positive or negative, there is an even more important
distinction we could make about your Internal Map of Reality: whether
you are consciously aware of how it operates and how it creates your
life, and are able to operate it intentionally, or whether it operates
automatically, outside of your awareness. If you are unaware of how your
Internal Map creates your results and experience of life, you won't see
and therefore will be unable to take advantage of an almost unlimited
number of additional choicesâ choices that could be used to create
different (and potentially better) results. Even if your Map of Reality
is generally positive, you will still be operating within a narrow range
of possibilities. Though better off than a person with an unhealthy Map
of Reality, you're still exercising only a fraction of your potential.
There are, then, two potential challenges to creating a resourceful and
fulfilling life. The first is an unhealthy Map of Reality, created by a
dysfunctional childhood. The second is a lack of awareness of how that
Map automatically creates your life. Luckily, because Internal Maps can
be changed, both problems are solvable. If you are willing to put forth
a certain amount of effort, you can become aware of how your Internal
Map works, and learn to operate it consciously and intentionally. This
allows you to take charge of three key aspects of your life: how you
feel in each moment, how you behave, and the people and situations you
attract or are attracted to. When you learn to operate your Internal Map
intentionally, your feeling life changes. Instead of reacting to
whatever happens around you, you can decide to experience happiness,
inner peace, motivation, enthusiasm, compassion, imagination, focus,
persistence, insight, loveâ or any other emotion or feeling state. One
aspect of your Internal Map of Reality are what cognitive psychologists
call strategies. Strategies are certain combinations of internal
representations (a fancy name for thoughts) that lead to the feeling
states (and, also, the behaviors) you experience in each moment. Right
now, it's very likely that your cognitive strategies are running along
automaticallyâ which means they are creating your feeling states
automatically. You can, however, learn to operate them intentionally
and, in doing so, decide how to feel in any moment. If you're like most
people, it can seem as if emotions just happen, that they suddenly come
over you, completely unbidden and out of the blue. Or, that feelings are
caused by whatever is happening around you. Someone cuts in front of you
on the freeway, and you feel angry, or scared. Despite appearances,
though, your Internal Map of Reality is the real source of your
feelings. External circumstances provide a trigger, but it's what you do
with that trigger that determines your emotional response. When you
direct your attention unconsciously and automatically (based on how your
Internal Map was pre-set during childhood), you have little if any
control over your emotional responses. Instead, you experience certain
pre-programmed feeling states over and over, automatically. No wonder it
seems as if your feelings come unbidden, or that they are caused by
external circumstances. When you learn to operate your Internal Map
consciously and intentionally, though, you can choose your emotional
response, regardless of circumstances Second, learning to operate your
Internal Map of Reality consciously and intentionally allows you to take
control of your behavior, to act in purposeful ways that lead to the
outcomes you want. Actions begin in the mind, and when your internal
processes are intentional, your actions will also be intentional.
Intentional actions then lead to intentional results. Even when actions
don't turn out the way you hoped, your intentional and conscious control
over your Internal Map allows you to turn challenges and obstacles, and
what looks like failure (as the cliché says), into opportunities. Not
all actions begin with a thought.1 Most purposeful action, however, does
begin with a thought, with a focusing of attention. You get up from your
chair to answer the door because the doorbell focused your attention in
a certain way, which generated certain thoughts (and possibly certain
feelings), which then generated your behavior. How you focused your
attention created an internal state (motivation) that led to action.
When focusing is automatic, the behaviors generated will obviously also
be automatic. On the other hand, the more intentionally and consciously
you use your Internal Map, the more likely you'll generate resourceful,
intentional behaviors. Finally, your Internal Map of Reality drives a
third key aspect of how you create your lifeâ the people and situations
you attract or are attracted to. With an Internal Map operating
automatically, in a certain way, you will notice and become attracted to
certain people and situations. Set it up in another way, and the cast of
characters and situations will change. If you can learn to change your
Internal Map depending on the outcome you want (instead of just putting
up with the pre-set outcomes you automatically generate with an
unconscious Map of Reality), you can intentionally attract the people
and situations you need or want in order to accomplish your objectiveâ
whether it's a feeling, a behavior, or a particular outcome in the
world. Your Internal Map of Reality generates certain verbal and
non-verbal cues. These cues cause others to notice (or fail to notice)
you, or to become attracted (or not be attracted) to you. Based on these
cues, people are led to become involved with you in some way, or to not
notice you at all. In many ways, life consists of a complex matrix of
cues, some we send out and others we receive, all regulated by our
Internal Map of Reality. In a similar way, you notice and become
attracted to other people or to certain situations, based on how they
mesh with what your Internal Map of Reality has been pre-set to create.
It's as if our Internal Map of Reality has a script, and it finds the
characters and situations you need in order to create that script in
reality. The script could be a drama, a comedy, a tragedy, or a success
story. Your life, however, does not need to be script-driven. You can
step outside the world of automatic, scripted outcomes. Your Internal
Map, your life script, is not set in stone. You can, with a little
effort, rewrite it, or even give up living a pre-scripted life and
instead create an intentional life. As Dr. Eric Berne, the creator of
Transactional Analysis and a pioneer in script theory once said, You can
close the old show, and put a new one on the road. You do this by
learning how your Internal Map works, and noticing what it is currently
creating. Next, you notice previously unnoticed choices, notice which
are the most resourceful, and begin to exercise them. If your Internal
Map of Reality is operating under your conscious and intentional
control, you can actually change it on the fly. In doing so, you can
generate any result you want. These three thingsâ how you feel, how you
behave, and the people and situations you attract into your lifeâ
determine most of what happens to you. Yes, genetics plays a role, and,
yes, there are random acts in the world. And, other people are acting
(though usually unconsciously) with their agenda, which may conflict
with yours. Even so, once you take charge of your Internal Map and learn
to operate it consciously and intentionally, genetics, random acts, and
the potentially conflicting desires and actions of other people become,
in almost every case, a non-factor. When you take charge of your
Internal Map of Reality, you find a way to overcome any problems of
genetics, you avoid the people and situations that might thwart your
intentions, and you find ways to avoid most negative random acts, and
turn the others into opportunities.

What you focus on, you create

A fundamental characteristic of your Internal Map is its ability to
determine what you pay attention to (and also, as a result, what you
disregard, overlook, or delete from your attention). What you pay
attention to supplies the raw material used to generate feelings,
behaviors, meanings, decisions, and other aspects of your
moment-by-moment experience of life. On the other hand, you cannot use
what you are unaware of to create your life. In a practical sense, it
doesn't exist. If you are unaware of a possibility, it doesn't exist. If
you are unaware of certain information, or certain people, neither are
available to you. What you pay attention to exercises a powerful effect
on what happens in your life. If how you pay attention happens
automatically, because your Internal Map is running on autopilot, your
choices are limited. If, however, you can intentionally pay attention to
that which helps you create what you want, you can create any internal
state and any external result. Why is paying attention, and what you pay
attention to, so powerful? Research indicates that when you repeatedly
focus attention in a certain way (for instance, when you repeatedly
focus your attention on an idea, a feeling, a meaning, or an outcome you
want), or when we repeatedly take certain actions (as when we practice
or rehearse a certain skill), the brain actually devotes additional
neural real estate to noticing, processing, and actualizing that idea,
feeling, meaning, outcome, or skill. This leads to a rather startling
conclusion: what you repeatedly place your attention on, you tend to
create in reality. What is more, in the midst of an infinitely complex
and often confusing world, with billions of other people setting out to
attain ends which may often conflict with yoursâ the one and only thing
you really have complete and total control over is how you focus your
attention, what you focus it on. (This was the message of the popular
film, The Secret. Unfortunately, The Secret implied that focusing your
mind is all you need to do, that creating what you want is somehow
magic. As we will see, focusing your attention on what you want is a
crucial first step, but there is much more involved.) The part of the
brain involved in the finger dexterity a concert pianist needs to play
Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto, as well as the part of the brain
that allows her to make the minute auditory distinctions that enable her
to play it well, are many times larger than the same parts of the brain
in persons who have never practiced the piano or received musical
training. By repeatedly focusing attention in a certain way, and by
repeatedly taking certain actions, the concert pianist develops what
seem to the rest of us to be almost magical powers. This mechanism works
for more than motor skills or auditory distinctions, though. Whenever we
repeatedly pay attention to something, it grabs additional brain real
estate, and as this happens we become better at it. This is true whether
our focus involves feelings, actions, or any other human activity.
Scientists recently studied Buddhist monks, some of whom had spent up to
50,000 hours practicing a special meditation designed to increase
feelings of loving kindness and compassion. The part of the brain that
generates such feelings was many times larger in these monks than in
persons who had never meditated, and, as a result, these monks actually
are more compassionate. The simpleâ and perhaps obviousâ truth is that
when you repeatedly focus your attention or repeatedly practice doing
somethingâ mentally, emotionally, or physicallyâ you get better at it.
Once you learn how your Internal Map of Reality works, and practice
choosing how to operate each part of it, you will become a master of
your mind. As this happens, the parts of your brain that intentionally
create how you feel and behave, and that intentionally attract or become
attracted to certain people and situations, will become increasingly
better at doing so. In that way, you can master your life. If, on the
other hand, your method of determining what to pay attention to
continues to operate automatically, without intentional choice on your
partâ if you continue to automatically pay attention in the same way, to
the same thingsâ your brain will continue to devote more neural real
estate to paying attention unconsciously, and you'll continue to create
your life on autopilot, for better or worse.

Centerpointe's Life Principles Integration Process (LPIP) is a
step-by-step method for mastering your Internal Map of Reality. To
experience a free preview lesson, just click here:

http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview



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8. Readers' Voices

Your support has been quick and helpful. I wanted to let you know it has
been greatly appreciated. I'm beginning to believe the centerpointe
program is the solution; at least for me so far.

(1) I've always had trouble working with computers. Now I'm starting to
really understand some of the software I use.

(2) I have enrolled in a swimming class even though I used to be
terrified of water.

(3) I have flown in an airplane without fear...and that has never been
true for me.

All this has happened in the first 2 months of using the Awakening
Prologue.  I still can't believe it. Sometimes The Mind insists it's all
the result of a placebo effect but it works for me. Nothing else has. I
recently ordered Level 1 and am looking forward to starting it in
August-if I'm ready. As long as I experience improvements in my life,
I'll be looking forward to Holosync meditation programs at increasingly
higher levels. Note: Going through life as the Witness has been
challenging but it's beginning to work with minor things and that's good
news too. I thank Bill and his support team for improving my life. PS:
The neck pain/stiffness on my left side has gone and the temporary anger
issues I had have significantly subsided. - Jon

I want to thank you so much for the information and the Holosync
technology you have brought into my life.  I'm a 14 year cancer survivor
and in the past 14 years have been struggling to deal with the stress of
my ordeal.  Just in the last few weeks my connection to source and my
belief's in myself have changed for the better.  You've truely blessed
my life and want to thank you for what your doing.  I will stay in
touch! - Jeff

I'm writing to say thank you so much for the Holosync programme. I've
been on Awakening Level 1 for almost four weeks now and I have to say
that the hour of listening (and sometimes 90 mins when I can squeeze it
in) is the highlight of my day. Initially, when I first began to listen
to the original CD I had a few rough experiences, sometimes I wanted to
rip off the headphones but this soon passed and now I'm loving it. Not
only do I sink into a deeply, deeply relaxed state but I find that I can
do all sorts of physical and emotional healing when I'm 'down there'.
I've lost almost 18 pounds in weight since I started the programme, I'm
eating less and enjoying food more. I'm more patient and tolerant and
just much, much happier! I have more staying power in all that I do and
am becoming creative - I was totally unable to be creative at all but
now I'm finding all sorts of ways in which I can harness my new found
gifts. Best of all is the peace in my head - the 'noise', that constant
chatter, has all but gone. What a pleasure not to wake up and dread the
day. Only on level 1 so a long way to go but it's so exciting and so
life-changing. Again thanks to all of you at Centerpointeâ I'm
gob-smacked! (Do you have that term in USA?) - Aidan

I am so grateful for this Holosync program.  My son and grandson were
recently shot at in their home in Aliso Viejo immediately after the
young man killed my sons neighbors.  My son  escaped serious injury as
the window shattered in his front room.  The young man then committed
suicide in his own home down the street.  This was on national tv and
you may have heard it in this way.  I spent my time with my daily cds
and powered on gamma compassion for I wanted to judge, to blame, to be
very angry with this world and because of this help from these gentle
prayers I am accepting the way the world has me and am grateful for the
gift of life that was given to my son.  I did not lose myself as is
usual for me but rather gained and changed the painful frightened
illusions of myself to be me and giving me added energy and compassion. 
I only pray that my son and all could one day benifit from this program
but would never at this time consider spending the time it takes.  I am
grateful to spend the time as it brings peace and allows me to become
myself.  Thank you for allowing me to thank you for I know that
Centerpointe has brought a miracle of healing to this troubled world. -
Jeanne


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9. Life Principles In Practice

// Make it up, but know what's real

The problem isn't that we make mental boundaries that make it look as if
there really are separate things, it's that we forget we've done it. If
you were watching a really grisly, scary horror movie and you totally
forgot it was a movie, if you really thought it was true, it would
probably be a horrifying experience. There is a difference between
seeing a killing in a movie, no matter how realistically portrayed, and
a real killing, and the difference is that you know the movie killing
isn't real.

// The beauty in meaninglessness

The universe is a meaningless energy, going nowhere for no reason. But
this isn't a statement of despair. It's a statement of awe and wonder.
What a marvelous thing to be here, on this rock ball, with all these
other beings and animals and plants and everything else, zooming through
space filled with these giant balls of fire, grouped together in
galaxies. Amazing. And then to be conscious of it all is another layer
of amazing. So again, we go back to the two realmsâ the realm of the
mind and the realm of the natural world, of reality. If you want to play
in the realm of the mind, you can have anything mean whatever you want,
because all meanings are made up anyway. Or, you can look directly,
without meanings, and see things in all their naked glory.

// Peace comes when you stop fighting

Change happens, but there is no oneâ no separate entityâ who changes. In
a way, the whole problem you perceive in your life is created by the
fact that you--as a separate entityâ want to change. You think there is
a problem, you think there is a separate you that could have a problem,
and this makes it appear as if there really is a problem. Freedom comes
not from solving this illusory problem, but in realizing that there is
no problem to begin with. Those who are enlightened are peaceful and
blissful not because they defeated the parts of life they don't like,
but because they stopped fighting against them.

// Suffering depends on you

When all of this is droppedâ all the classifying and naming and adding
of meaningsâ all the problems we generally attribute to reality
dissolve. Fear requires that something be other than you, outside of
you, for you to be afraid of. Anger requires something other than you
for you to be angry at. Anxiety requires something outside of you, or
something in the futureâ which, remember, is just a concept--to worry
about. Grieving requires something outside, something not you, that you
could lose. Longing requires something outside of you to want or cling
to. All of this dissolvesâ or at least the suffering that usually
accompanies it dissolvesâ when reality is no longer filtered through the
mind.


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10. Coach's Corner

Sacred Spacing by Marc Gilson

Marc Gilson started his career at Centerpointe over 10 years ago, when
the office was still located in Bill's basement.  Since then, he has
established himself as one of the most knowledgeable individuals in the
world of meditation, both traditional and technical.  His expertise in
the fields of coaching and neurotechnology have made him invaluable, and
his natural wisdom and compassion for other beings have made him the
heart and soul of the Centerpointe office.


One early morning, several years ago, a homeless man approached me on a
downtown street asking for fifty cents. He smelled of cheap wine and the
stench that comes from days and nights on streets and under bridges. I
reached into my pocket and realized I had no change; but I had a few
dollars. I handed him two one-dollar bills, hoping he'd let me get on
with my walk. His eyes lit-up and he quickly reached into his coat
pocket and retrieved a small object. Looking into his grubby hands I
noticed that it was a ring made of thick copper wire with an empty
mounting on top. He explained that he had just made it the previous day.
He handed it to me and had me hold it up in the misty morning light. See
there, he said pointing to the top of the ring, that's where the diamond
would go! I looked at him standing there, smiling at me proudly from
under his dirty gray beard. I smiled back, handed him the ring, and
began to walk away. Wait! he said. It's yours. Thanks, I said, but you
keep it. He stepped in front of me, But this could be a diamond ring,
you know. All it needs is the diamond! He held the ring in front of my
eyes as if displaying a priceless piece of real jewelry. Then it
occurred to meâ it was indeed a priceless piece of jewelry. I smiled at
him and said, Well, it's an original, isn't it? He put the ring in my
hand and began to walk away. There's not another one like it! he said as
he headed down the sidewalk. I called out, Thank you, and went on my
way. I've encountered several such people before. But this one man
sticks in my mind. For him, the reality of not having a diamond to go in
his ring was not a problem. Rather, he found happiness in creating a
spot for the diamondâ a place for value and beauty, a space for
something of worth. He could have just made a simple band with no place
for a stone, since he had none. Or he might have substituted something
for a gem, a marble or piece of glass. But his satisfaction came from
his effort to make a space for something valuable, not from investing it
with false wealth or fake riches. I imagine that while he was making the
ring he did so with a sense of the value and meaning of what he was
creating; a value and meaning far beyond what society would usually
define as valuable. And when he offered me the ringâ nothing more than a
piece of copper wire with an empty mountingâ I experienced that same
meaning and value. Today I keep that ring with the empty mounting with
me at all times; it's not for sale. I bring up this issue of making a
place for value because it's usually the first obstacle people encounter
when attempting to meditate. People who begin The Holosync Solution
program sometimes have concerns about spending the necessary time
meditating with their Holosync soundtracks. They want the benefits the
program has to offer, but how will they find the time and space to do
it? Meditating means making a place for value, setting aside time for
solitude, contemplation, stillness. You might call it sacred spacing.
And yes, it will require time and space. But I don't have time to
meditate! Can't I meditate on my way to work? Can I watch TV while I
listen to my CDs? It's so easy to fill our time with other things; often
things of less value than an hour of sacred, uninterrupted time.
Meditation is an oil upon the rushing waters of our high-velocity
lifestyles. But therein lies its power. It doesn't mix in. It isn't
something you do while reading the paper or balancing your checkbook. It
doesn't always fit neatly in between appointments, phone calls, or other
activities. It requires sacrifice, devotion, discipline. Mainly, it
requires us to see value in emptiness. When we can allow ourselves the
luxury of that hour without the habitual compulsion to fill it with
something, we find ourselves in a different world; one where emptiness
does not represent lack, but possibility. Where silence doesn't mean
boredom, but serenity; where we are able to shed uniforms we wear to
undertake our work and other responsibilities, and just be. This cannot
happen without the time and space we must sometimes wrestle away from
wild and frenetic external pressures. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not for most of
us. Most of us are not used to stillness. We are not comfortable when
it's too quiet. We really don't know how to make a place for value
because we tend to fear the sacrifice of time necessary just to carve
out an hour or so each day. Not to mention, stillness can be, well,
boring! But bear in mind that boredom is nothing more than the mind
without its pacifier. It might take time for the mind to wean itself
from the addiction of stimulus, but as the withdrawal passes, a new
level of centeredness and harmony supplant it. Remember that a sacred
space is not merely the physical environment in which you meditate. It
begins on the inside, with the commitment to yourself that the space and
time you make is, in fact, sacred. The countless demands on our time and
energy may be important and necessary to attend to. But the space and
time you make when you meditate is for you and you alone, a precious
gemstone placed carefully in the center of it all.