Welcome to Issue #95 (August 1, 2002) of MIND CHATTER, the twice-monthly e-mail
newsletter of Centerpointe Research Institute:

http://www.centerpointe.com

Do you want to Unsubscribe?? Gasp!! Please don't! (Directions are at the end of
the newsletter!)

In This Issue:

* MindQuotes

* More Witnessing by Bill Harris

* Glowing Testimonial of the Month

* Learning to Fall -- The Blessings of an Imperfect Life By Philip Simmons Book
Review By Marc Gilson


* Announcements

***

MIND CHATTER contains articles about:

*Personal and spiritual growth in general

*Meditation (high and low-tech)

*Recovery from emotional trauma

*Mind development

*Superlearning

*Cutting edge methods for increasing longevity

*How evolution happens in the brain

*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.


You'll find MIND CHATTER in your e-mail box once every two weeks.


Free on-line demo:

If you aren't in the program now and would like to hear a sample, please listen
to our on-line Holosync® demo: http://www.centerpointe.com/demo/index.cfm


Finally, if you aren't in the program already -- PLEASE JOIN! (What are you
waiting for??)


There's a RISK FREE one-year money-back guarantee and you can even pay in
convenient payments on your credit card.


You can join by calling 1-800-945-2741 or 503-672-7117 24 hours a day.


Or, just click here: http://www.centerpointe.com/purchase/index.cfm

We look forward to having you in the program!

***

MindQuotes

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a
miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

-- Albert Einstein

"We have infinite trouble in solving man-made mysteries; it is only when we set
out to discover the secret of God that our difficulties disappear."

-- Mark Twain

"It is only when we realize that life is taking us nowhere that it begins to have
meaning."

-- P. D. Ouspensky

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

-- Goethe

Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of
many generations. All this is put in your hands as your inheritance in order that
you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to
your children.

-- Albert Einstein


****

I am a new subscriber to Mind Chatter. Your reference to what Dan Sullivan calls
"The Gap" caused me to recall a poem by Stephen Crane (1871-1899) who is best
known as the author of The Red Badge of Courage, but who is also referred to as
the father of modern poetry.

I saw a man pursuing the horizon; Round and round they sped. I was disturbed at
this; I accosted the man. "It is futile," I said, "You can never-"

"You lie," he cried, And ran on.

Sincerely, Nellie

****

A special message from Bill Harris for anyone who would like to lose some weight
(and I mean really lose it and keep it off this time)...

One very important influence on my own growth was the book Conscious Loving by
Gay Hendricks and his wife Kathlyn, which I read and benefited from several times
in the early 1990s. So when my good friend Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup
for the Soul, recently introduced me to Gay, I was thrilled. Gay is a very
remarkable human being, and a great teacher -- he is, in fact, one of the most
amazing of all of the many personal growth teachers and leaders I have had the
good fortune to meet.

You may have read one of Gay Hendricks' books or seen Gay and Kathlyn, on Oprah,
CNN or other shows.  What you may not know, however, is that Gay Hendricks is one
of the rare people who has lost a great deal of weight and kept it off for many
years.

Now, he has created an Internet course called THE MAGIC KEY, in which he shows
you the secrets that allowed him to lose 120 pounds and keep it off.  After
creating his own weight-loss miracle, he went on to teach it to thousands of
people in his seminars.  Now, he has put all the secrets of the $495 seminar into
a self-paced cyber course that you can take for $49!

I decided to check it out for myself.  My intention was to spend a few minutes
after work last night exploring the first lesson. Instead, I ended up staying in
my office until after 9:00 last night because I was so amazed (and moved) by
Gay's course, and his incredible method of teaching, that I just couldn't shut
down my computer until I had looked through the whole course! (It's not meant to
be done all in one sitting, though, just so you know.)

Deepak Chopra has said about Gay and Kathlyn: "The inner intelligence of the body
is the ultimate and supreme genius. Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks show us how to
connect with this inner intelligence and discover the secrets to healing, love,
intuition and insight."

Though the focus is weight loss, this course will create tremendous positive
growth in other areas of your life, too. It is, quite frankly, a remarkable
course, and I know you will benefit in many ways. I have already heard from
several people who have lost weight using the course, and I know it will help you
too.

So if you want to lose weight, and keep it off, or have weight or body image
issues, please check out this remarkable new approach at
http:/www.magic-key.com/26543

I highly recommend this.

Bill Harris, Director

****

More Witnessing or "Watch Out!"

by Bill Harris

As you may know by now, I think the concept of witnessing is crucial to anyone
who wants to be happy and peaceful and grow in conscious awareness -- and not
have their experience of life dependent on the influences of their environment.
When your experience is base on your environment, you have to wait around for a
good environment in order to feel good, and you know how often that happens!

I've also mentioned many times that ALL discomfort, all suffering, is caused by
resistance, and that ending resistance ends the suffering. Since witnessing is
the antidote to resistance, it becomes THE crucial skill for anyone wanting to
grow and become happier.

Beyond the obvious benefit of helping you be happier, witnessing is also the
state of mind (if you can call it that) experienced and practiced by highly
evolved beings. For those who seek enlightenment, expanded awareness, higher
consciousness, or whatever you choose to call it, witnessing is the Master Key.

If you're new to Mind Chatter or Centerpointe, and want to read the basics on
witnessing, or want to review, click here-->
http://www.centerpointe.com/news/archives/2002-01-01.txt

Lately I've noticed that some people are confused by witnessing, so today I want
to clear up some of that confusion.

I have described witnessing as standing aside from yourself and watching what is
happening. From this description, some have misunderstood me to mean that
witnessing is the same as being dissociated. This is NOT true. Dissociation is a
coping mechanism employed by persons who have been abused, usually severely. It
is a shutting down of awareness. Witnessing is an act of heightened awareness.

In dissociation, the person suffers continual, or almost continual, symptoms of
being over their personal threshold for what they can handle, and as a way of
coping, they dissociate. Dissociation is, then, a state in which a person is
completely unaware of certain parts or aspects of him or herself. This medical
name for this "illness" is Dissociative Identity Disorder because the illness
involves states in which a person is aware of one aspect of his/her personality
and completely unaware of other parts. Such people, then, in order to protect
themselves from being over threshold almost all the time (a low threshold being
the result of traumatic abuse), focus their attention on something other than who
they really are and what they are really experiencing.

On the awareness/unawareness or conscious/unconscious scale, they are both
unaware and unconscious.

Witnessing, on the other hand, is the ability to watch, on a moment-by-moment
basis, your thoughts, your emotions, your body, and be aware of your connections,
interrelationships, and interactions with other people, and to also notice
exactly how you are creating the results in your life. On top of all that, the
witness does all of this without being emotionally involved in what is being
watched. In other words, you are dispassionately and curiously watching, without
evaluating whether what you are watching is good or bad. Just watching.

This does not mean you are not feeling emotions, or living passionately. Emotions
still happen, as usual. The witness, however, is not having the emotions. It's
just watching.

On the awareness/unawareness or conscious/unconscious scale, those who are
witnessing are super-aware and super-conscious. The witness part of you is not
caught up in what is happening. It is not reacting to what happens at all. It
sees relationships and connections, it sees cause and effect, it sees thoughts
and emotions, and just watches it. Once in a while it might say, "Hmmm," but not
much else. (Just kidding. The witness doesn't say anything. It just watches with
curiosity. But you can say "Hmmm" anytime, if you want. If you do, the witness
will just watch you say "Hmmm.")

In dissociation, the person is definitely running on automatic, reacting and
responding unconsciously. Unconscious ways of thinking and acting are triggered
by events, and dissociation, as a way of coping, happens (many other responses,
also unconscious, are possible, but we're just talking about dissociation here).

The witnessing person, on the other hand, is running their life with conscious
awareness, instantaneously choosing, on a moment-by-moment basis, what to do
based on what is most resourceful and what consequences they wish to receive in
their life.

The witness, then, sees everything: all aspects of what is happening, all the
connections, all the thoughts and feelings, all the causes and effects. As a
result of seeing and comprehending all of this, the person who is witnessing
knows just what to do in each moment. The dissociated person, on the other hand,
makes himself or herself as unconscious as possible in an attempt to not feel the
pain of their low threshold (a result of the abuse they have suffered).

A second misunderstanding, also closely related to witnessing, has to do with the
principle that it is not possible to do something that is not resourceful for you
and also do that thing consciously -- that any unresourceful act must be done
unconsciously or it will fall away.

The source of confusion here is around the definition of "conscious." People seem
to think that when I say conscious I mean "aware of." Most of you are aware of
the things you do that are not resourceful (overeating, smoking, arguing with
your spouse, procrastinating, whatever). Obviously, being aware that you do
something does not make it fall away, or everyone reading this would already be
free of all unresourceful behaviors and feelings.

To do something consciously, however, is much more than just being aware that you
are doing it. One person wrote to tell me he had an ongoing argument in his head
while he was eating sweets, knowing they were bad for him, so surely he was
eating them "consciously." I told him that the internal argument was actually a
way of going unconscious, a way of not being fully aware of the eating and all
its consequences.

The way to be conscious is to notice the initial impulse to eat the sweets, and
carefully notice it manifest as the behavior of eating, and at the same time be
aware of where it is coming from, why it is coming, what effects it is having,
and so on -- all while being intensely curious about the whole process and
without judging himself for doing it. Again, it is witnessing. Just watching,
with curiosity. If he did this, I told him, the desire for sweets would fall
away. (See Gay Hendrick's on-line weight loss course for his very well-expressed
version of this principle from another angle.)

In some ways, the only way to understand this principle is to play around with it
and find out for yourself what happens. Just be careful that you don't mistake
something else {like "being aware of") for being conscious and then conclude that
it doesn't work and I'm full of it. In fact, you don't really become the witness
in order to get a certain result, though there are results (doing it to make
something happen is just more resistance, and is actually the antithesis of
witnessing, which makes no judgments of what is being watched.)

Here again, is my description of the conscious person:

The awake person is not at odds with the world. He is a part of it, but not
attached to the outcome. Like Jesus, he is "in the world but not of it." He
watches as it all goes by, but he is also a participant. He knows most people are
caught in the world but unaware of being caught, so he is compassionate, and does
what he can to help others with their suffering.

To him, the world is a play, and life is like playing a part in that play. He
knows it's just a role, but he plays it to the hilt, and enjoys every moment. But
he also realizes the script is just a script, and from the highest perspective it
doesn't matter what part has been written for him. He exerts a certain amount of
control over his part, but ultimately has only limited influence over what is
because his effort is just one of an infinite number of other efforts, all with
their own ends in mind.

Instead of being an automatic response mechanism, responding to the world based
on unconscious rules, beliefs, fears, and limitations, he's 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 himself and for others.

Mainly, he watches as he plays his part and marvels at the complexity, the
infinite permutations, the surprises, the certainties, and the uncertainties.
He's 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's 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
the Centerpointe program isn't the only way it can happen, but it's a very good
and very fast way. The program will develop the ability to be the witness, and
you can speed up the process by practicing witnessing whenever you think of it.

As always, be well.

Bill Harris, Director

PS: If you are enjoying Mind Chatter, please send it to a few friends. Share the
wealth!


****

Glowing Testimonial of the Month

Dear Bill and everyone at Centerpointe,

I just want to let you know that your program is changing my life. Reflecting on
the mindchatter article mentioning the laws of life time growth. It is where I am
at the moment.

For a long time, (to be honest a few years) I did not notice the change I was
looking for after listening to the holyosync soundtrack apart from a lot of
discomfort. Though I did not give up even when I stopped once or twice. I found
when I wasn't listening to it I was missing it but when I listened to it I found
it bought up a lot of stuff that I found hard to deal with. I started listening
to your making change easy tape every time I went for a float in a float tank as
I found the soundtrack really relaxing and nice. I'm sure this helped me to let
go of the emotions that surfaced from listening to the holyosinc.

I find I am becoming more conscious and not running on auto pilot all the time
and I'm really finding the holyosinc soundtrack now as a wonderful way to
meditate and unwind from the days events. Yes, I use to think that my past told
me who I was and what I can be. Now it is my best foundation for creating a
better and brighter future. My future is now larger than my past.

Just one more thing. The mindchatter that I love receiving has been a most
valuable backup and source of encouragement and information.

I had built a wall that separated me from everyone, since being a centerpointe
participant this wall is being broken down, and it is a revelation for me. If I
can explain by using an analogy from a little booklet "when we see clearly" from
a Buddhist association. I don't even know how I got the booklet I found it whilst
sorting through my bookshelves.

"When we use the flame of one candle to light other candles, the original flame
does not lose its luminosity. On the contrary, the light from all the candles
build upon each other, making the room that much brighter. The state of happiness
is very much like that candle."

I feel that you and your organization called Centerpointe is the flame of one
candle and I am one of the candles you have lighted.

I am truly grateful to you Bill H. and all involved. Thank you once again.

Amanda E, Sydney.

**

Hello Bill,

I am finding your support with news letters, CD's of retreat, and support letters
very helpful especially to help keep focused on Awareness.  I am finding myself
being a watcher when having some symptoms of sadness, depression and anxiety
which are the ways I have coped in the past. I visualize myself watching myself
finding how interesting where in my body I am feeling these emotions and by
focusing on the watcher....it dissipates. Thank you so much!!!  I feel like I
know you through your letters and the 5 CD's from the retreat that you sent me.

I am wanting to know about the Longevity tapes that were sent with the tapes that
I received and how to use them in conjunction with my meditation.  I also feel
that I am ready for the next set of tapes and would like information on what they
are called and how to proceed from here.  In searching the web site I can not
find anywhere a list of the whole program, how many levels, and cost. I am
curious by nature to see the big picture of things.

I was never one to be that interested in Physics for what ever reason.  The Chaos
Theory is fascinating as to how our brain and your program work to raise the
stress threshold.  I also found the explanation of our internal Map interesting
and yet confusing at the same time.  We are not our Ego and our internal map is
how we view the world.....I guess the program is about finding out who we
are....If I am not what I do or how I view the world, or what I have learned
these 48 years than who the hell am I?  Don't they all make up who I am?   It is
becoming more clear and the example of viewing situations differently was
helpful.  Looking at situations and seeing the dangers vs opportunities and
trying to turn that around.  So much information to try to digest at the same
time this is exactly where I need to be.

Thank you.....Gina S.

[These things (your ego, your internal map of reality) are your concept of who
you are. Just as you cannot drink the word water, or sleep in the word bed --
since these are also concepts -- your concept of who you are, though useful, is
not who you are. -- Bill]

**

More:

Dear Mr. Harris,

I was referred to your web site by a post from Learning Strategies. I'm so
thankful. It has -- is helping me a  lot.

It changed something in my brain. I've been dealing with depression and on thing
I've noticed is, I couldn't smile, unless I forced myself. I'd been feeling like
the bottom half of my face was numb.

I've done NLP and understand physiology, but wasn't getting anywhere, then your
web site. It made a huge difference. I can now smile easily. My brain feels like
its working. I go to your web site about 3-4 times a day.

Thanks. This helps more than anything I've tried. Four generations in my family
have been treated for depression.

Sincerely, Nancy G., Iowa

**

And more:

Dear Bill,

I have just completed my first reading of Thresholds of the Mind [a manuscript
copy of Bill Harris's new book, received by those who purchased something during
the recent Centerpointe Special] which I received with the delivery of Awakening
Level 2 last week and I have to say that this is very powerful material which
creates in me both extreme enthusiasm and inspiration. This book will no doubt be
an invaluable tool (Bible even) for me in my development through the Holosync
Program and has already helped me to more fully understand the process and the
principles on which it based.

I would urge everyone on the program, or those considering joining, to obtain a
copy as soon as it is published, it will certainly answer a lot of questions and
will enlarge their understanding and perception.

Thank you very much Bill and God Bless.

Chris C. Great Britain

**

Still more;

Dear Bill,

I like Mind Chatter. It really gives me a lot of pause for thought. In addition
to your wonderful holosync product, it is helping to raise my awareness. So thank
you very much for such thought provoking and inspiring ideas! It's wicked cool!

Later, Lilly

p.s. my favorite part from the July 1, 2002 issue is "To really create deep
change, you are going to have to really root around in your unconscious, and
examine closely what you believe, what you value, how you sort information (what
you pay attention to, what you filter out, what you distort, what you delete,
what generalizations you have made), and really ascertain which parts of this map
give you the results you want and which give you results you do not want." Using
holosync allows you to do just that, right?

[Yep -- Ed.]

**

Shameless self-promotion:

Here are some of the endorsements I have received so far from my new book
Thresholds of the Mind (which should be back from the printer and available
toward the end of August):

"Thresholds of the Mind is a work of genius. I urge everyone to read, use, and
benefit from the magnificent breakthrough Bill Harris has made."

Al Siebert, Ph.D. author of The Survivor Personality, Director of The Resiliency
Center

**

"Bill Harris has helped thousands of people reach new heights of awareness, and
with this informative book millions more will have the opportunity. For many
years Kathlyn and I have taught that the central problem human beings face is
what we call the Upper Limits problem-the tendency to settle below the threshold
of what is possible to achieve.  Bill Harris not only understands this problem,
he has created an ingenious technology for breaking through it,  With the
remarkable Holosync Audio Technology developed at The Centerpointe Institute, all
of us can now learn to live at a new and higher level of functioning.  Do
yourself a huge favor by reading Thresholds of the Mind and working with the
Holosync Audio Technology."

Gay Hendricks, Ph.D. author of CONSCIOUS LIVING and co-author (with Dr. Kathlyn
Hendricks) of CONSCIOUS LOVING; President, The Hendricks Institute

**

"A very compelling concept...I am quite intrigued with its potential. Bill Harris
presents a powerful and provocative program that stands apart from the
traditional approaches to self improvement."

Tony Allesandra, Ph.D. author of Charisma, The Platinum Rule, Collaborative
Selling, and Communicating at Work, and creator of over 50 audio/video programs
and films, including Relationship Strategies, The Dynamics of Effective
Listening, and Non-Manipulative Selling.

**

"Spirituality deals with the fundamentals of human living, happiness, the
elimination of suffering, the discovery of the authentic self, the power of love,
the understanding of and control of emotions, even the transformation of one's
life. When I read Bill Harris' Thresholds of the Mind, I found an approach to
spirituality that was different, yet very compatible, with all I have been
teaching and have found helpful to others who seek a deeper understanding of
their lives. This book does not pretend to be spiritual in a religious sense, but
fills a void in the teaching of spirituality that is most welcome. I highly
recommend it."

Father J. Francis Stroud, S.J Director, The DeMello Spirituality Center, Fordham
University, New York

**

"Bill Harris comes from deep personal experience with healing and consciousness.
Thresholds of the Mind is truly inspiring and filled with profound wisdom.
Holosync is the perfect addition to other growth and spiritual processes."

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. author/coauthor of Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By
You?, Healing Your Aloneness, Inner Bonding, and Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be
Loved By God?

**

"Bill Harris has woven a wonderfully understandable tapestry of personal
possibility in this useful work.  Readers will find the just right road map for
their own journey of growth and joy page by page." 

Robert Danzig, former CEO, Hearst Newspapers; Author of Angel Threads, Success
Vitamins, Speaker, Professor.

**

"Bill Harris's Holosync process and the Centerpointe program perfectly blend the
technology of the new millennium with its new spirituality. We are definitely not
in Kansas anymore! Thanks, Bill!"

Stephen Simon Film producer Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May	Come; Author
of The Force is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives

**

"Bill Harris has created something very unusual: the perfect marriage of
meditation and science. His elegant explanation of how mental, emotional, and
spiritual change happen, how and why we make change so difficult, and how we can
get out of the way and just let it happen is nothing short of brilliant. This
book is a must for everyone committed to lifetime growth and self-improvement."

Dr. James F. Hennig Author, The Familiar Stranger, consultant to Fortune 500
companies, creator of video training programs in 14 languages in 37 countries,
past president, National Speakers Association, member Speakers Hall of Fame.


****

Learning to Fall -- The Blessings of an Imperfect Life By Philip Simmons

Book Review By Marc Gilson


***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553802666/centerpointer-20

In 1993, at the age of 35, Philip Simmons was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's
disease. But while he has had to learn to make his peace with his physical
decline and mortality, he has used his situation to awaken to his life. As a
husband and father, with a promising literary career before him, the prospect of
losing his life was not something he was prepared for. Yet it was this very
circumstance that has allowed him to live each day in full and mindful
appreciation of what life is from moment to moment, and to fulfill his dreams day
by day.

Learning to Fall is, putting it simply, a beautiful book of honest awakening.
It's not a pep-talk given in the face of serious situations, nor an appeal to
"get back up again" when getting thrown off life's various horses. Rather,
Simmon's basic point is to realize -- and even appreciate -- the falls, failures,
and slips we make in life, from our first tentative steps, to our last. Simmons
reminds us that, although we strive and struggle to stay upright, stand tall, and
keep our balance, it's in our nature to sometimes fall:

"We have all suffered, and will suffer, our own falls. The fall from youthful
ideals, the waning of physical strength, the failure of a cherished hope, the
loss of our near and dear, the fall into injury or sickness, and late or soon,
the fall to our certain ends. We have no choice but to fall, and little say as to
the time or the means."

That we do fall is obvious. But how we fall -- and understanding the role of
falling in our lives -- can affect the quality and richness of life itself.

"Perhaps, however, we do have some say in the manner of our falling. That is,
perhaps, we have a say in the matters of style. As kids we all played the game of
leaping from a diving board or dock, and before hitting the water striking some
outrageous or goofy pose; ax-murderer, Washington crossing the Delaware, rabid
dog. Maybe it comes to no more than this. But I'd like to think that learning to
fall is more than merely a matter of posing, more than an opportunity to play it
for laughs. In fact, I would have it that in the way of our falling we have the
opportunity to express our essential humanity."

When we become mindful of our falling, we find less to fear in life. We're less
inclined to concern ourselves with staying upright when we fully understand not
only the inevitability but also the necessity of falling.

Through personal anecdotes about his life in rural New Hampshire, Simmons weaves
a moving and truly poetic portrait of a man working his way to a fuller
understanding of the mystery of life.

With equal parts humor, insight, and gentle wisdom, Simmons opens up his life for
the reader. He talks of his fears and uncertainties with a compelling confidence
that these are not things that make him -- or us -- less than we are, but are
things that from moment to moment contribute to the reality of who and what we
are.

In a chapter called "Mud Season," Simmons speaks of true mindfulness to
acknowledge and embrace more than the ease and pleasure of life:

"I undertook my first road improvement project at age six or seven, removing
pebbles from the dirt road in front of our home. It was the work of an idle
summer afternoon: I dug stones out of the packed dirt and flung them into a
field. I felt I was acting for the general welfare and planned on telling my
parents that evening at dinner about the good I'd done in smoothing the road. But
then my father came out and told me to stop. We needed those stones in the road,
he told me. This made no sense: wasn't it better to make the road smooth? No, he
explained, the stones make the road hard. We needed a hard road more than a
smooth one. It took me many years to understand what my father meant."

Our efforts to smooth everything out in life, to pry the pebbles out of our
roads, sometimes results in a weakened life. It's not that we need to seek out
difficulty, for there's plenty of that in life as it is. But because it is there,
honoring it as part of our lives empowers us to live fully conscious and awake to
life. Of course as with so many things, it's really all a matter of perspective:

"Before my illness I, like everyone, had always spent much of my time in the mud,
only I didn't know how to value it. Mud seemed only to block my way. I had spent
my life in pursuit of knowledge and happiness, only to find out that both were
overrated. For what is knowledge without faith, and what is happiness without
sorrow?"

Simmons' ability to facilitate contact with the real human condition is his
strength. That we can attain freedom through our sorrow, and enlightenment
through pain, means that most of us already have the raw materials in our
environment with which to transform our lives.

My favorite chapter is called "Choosing the World." In it, Simmons makes what I
think is a critical point to be appreciated by those people engaged in serious
personal growth work: true realization in life comes only through radically
inclusive awareness:

"When I began writing this essay, men with chain saws and a bulldozer were
felling trees on our property to open up more of our view of Red Hill. As
exciting as this was, I somehow found it hard to fix my mind upon the idea of a
transcendent deity with chain saws snarling outside my cabin. But if God is
immanent in the world, then God is immanent also in the chain saw, or at least in
the beings who would invent and use it. Choosing the world means choosing all of
it: the tall maple and the severed stump. In my case it means choosing a world
that includes both black raspberry ice cream and my weakening arms, which will
soon be unable to raise the ice cream to my lips. In choosing the world we choose
both pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, health and illness, rapture and rue."

As I read this book I found myself nodding in agreement with each and every page.
Many Centerpointe Participants who are familiar with the Nine Principles offered
in your support materials will see these same ideas reflected beautifully in
Simmons' book.

A book about spirituality, growth, and enrichment written by a man with a
life-threatening illness could easily be filled with cliché and empty platitudes.
Instead, Simmons has produced a thoughtful, humane, graceful work that belongs
with the likes of Richard Bach's "Illusions," and Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Wherever You
Go, There You Are."

Deeply affecting, purposeful, heart-rending and heart-warming, Leaning to Fall is
staggeringly good. It belongs in the library of anyone sincerely interested in a
deeper appreciation of the meaning and mystery of life. I rarely re-read books,
but this one will have a place in my regular rotation for years to come. It's one
I will enthusiastically recommend for anyone needing a reminder of what it's like
to be in love with life, and of the many blessings present in our imperfect
lives.

Visit Philip Simmons' website at: http://www.learningtofall.com

***If you would like to read more about or order this book click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553802666/centerpointer-20


****

Important Announcements (and I do mean important):

1. By the time you read this, the Summer Retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs in
Oregon will be over -- and another 50 people's lives will have been changed
forever. Your life could change, too, should you decide to attend one of these
amazing retreats.

It isn't too late to come with us to Australia for one of two retreats in
September (though it's getting close to being "too late"-- one is full as I write
this and the other is close to being full).

Or you could sign up for the next retreat in March 2003 at Glen Ivy Hot Springs
and Spa in Corona California.

We filled the latest Breitnebush Retreat without even sending out a promotional
letter, so if you have a big issue you'd like to eliminate, or just want to take
your growth to the next level, don't wait to call Centerpointe and sign up, even
though March of 2003 might seem to be a long ways off.

We advertise that you'll get six months of growth in 5 days at these retreats.
One person, this time, told me she received six YEARS!

And, we offer a full money back guarantee if at the end of the retreat you don't
think it was as advertised -- and more.

Click here for more information: http://www.centerpointe.com/retreats/

You do not need to be a program participant to attend (though most people who
attend are). (And if you're not a program participant, why the heck aren't you?
Quit futzing around and join.)

Here's why, even if you've been to a retreat before and thought about coming to
another...

.........or have toyed with the idea of attending one for the first time...

.........NOW is the time to attend one: I've significantly changed the material
presented at the retreats to include and focus on the 9 Principles I've been
writing about in Mind Chatter over the last few months. A major goal of the
retreat is for you to leave with a concrete plan for learning to live these
principles. I believe these principles are the key to living a life free from
suffering and filled with peace and happiness. Mastering them will change your
life forever.

If you want 6 months of growth in just a few short days, or a breakthrough in
that big issue you've had trouble cracking on your own, please be there!

These retreats now fill up without my advertising them other than these messages
in Mind Chatter, so call now and sign up early to make sure you have a spot.

Click here for more information: http://www.centerpointe.com/retreats/

Or, call us between 9:30 and 5:00 Pacific time, M-F, at 1-800-945-2741 or
503-672-7117.

2. Attention Australians!

Also in 2002 will be offering two retreats in Australia:  September 7-13 and
September 16-22, 2002, at the Bellbunya Lodge in Eumundi, Queensland, on the
Sunshine Coast of Australia. We'll keep you posted. Click here for info:
http://www.centerpointe.com/retreats/

Or email Alan Hewitt at alan@earthstar.com.au.

If you want to be in one of these retreats, you better act now, because one if
full and the other will be VERY soon. If you want to be there, contact Alan
Hewitt NOW.

3. A reminder that Dr. Beverlee Taub, Ph.D therapist, facilitator and life coach, is available to help you maximize your opportunities and overcome your obstacles.  She has an international telephone coaching clientele and supports those who wish to combine an in-depth inquiry with their use of the Holosync technology.  Even though Dr. Taub has her own independent practice and is not a part of Centerpointe, she has utilized and recommended the Centerpointe program since its development in the late 1980's.  She has been a consultant, coach, and friend to Bill Harris for over 17 years.

Dr. Taub is a key facilitator at Centerpointe retreats, leading attendees in what she calls "transformational games," as well as meeting privately with those who desire more in depth work.

Telephone appointments with Dr. Taub can be arranged by calling Dr. Taub directly at (503) 641-5408.

There is no charge for an initial consultation with Dr. Taub and fees for additional sessions may be negotiated directly with her.  Appointments are required.

4. Welcome to all new Mind Chatter subscribers and new participants sent to us by
my good friend Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, from
the various email newsletters of Daily Inbox.com, from Chet Day, from Bob
Scheinfeld's Invisible Path, from Tools for Wellness, from Paul Sheele and Pete
Bissonette's Learning Strategies Corporation, from Hale Dwoskin's Sedona Training
Associates, from Healthy.net, from Tarot.com (and from any other place that led
you to us). You will be so glad you joined this program!

Please send your comments, questions, and suggestions about Mind Chatter to me at
mindchatter@centerpointe.com.

5. UP AND RUNNING!!

A "Participant's Only" section of the Centerpointe web site where you can:

Order deeper levels, headphones, and other products on-line

Just go to http://www.centerpointe.com and click on "Participants". (You CANNOT
log on to this section with your Discussion Forum log-on -- there is a different
log on for this new section of the site. Just follow the instructions after
clicking on "Participants.")

1. From centerpointe.com...click on participants 2. Click on "Participant's Only"
Registration... link 3. Enter (your current) THIS Email address. 4. Click on
Search 5. Verify info and click "next" 6. Select and Fill in your alias, password
and hint 7. Verify info and click "next" 8. Go back to the Log-in page 9. Log-in
with the email and the password you just created And that's all there is to
it!!!!


Still to come to the Participants Only section:

* A bulletin board where you can post your email address and city of residence if
you are willing to correspond with others in the program. * Find the answers to
most questions about your account with us ("What credit card did I use when I
ordered? Did you get my affirmation tape? When will my Awakening Level 3 be
recorded? When was it shipped? How can I track it? How many payments do I have
left? etc. etc. etc") * More articles about personal growth, Holosync, etc. *
Other surprises! (Like interactive ways to learn and live the 9 Principles I've
been writing about!)

We'll let you know when more of this section is ready!

6. Our Support Team is expanding! We're pleased to welcome three new members of
the Centerpointe Support Team: Heather Self, Lori Weatherwax, and Eric Robison.
Heather, Lori, and Eric are great additions to our already great team, and are
looking forward to providing the same outstanding service and support
Centerpointe is known for.

***

Archives of previous editions of Mind Chatter (good stuff) can be found at:
http://www.centerpointe.com/news/archives/
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