Oh my goodness. Okay, when you mentioned the holosync thing earlier I contacted them and got the free cd and promo materials and honestly, it just creeped me out. It reminded me of a business I used to work for, where the owners who were brothers who constantly battled each other sold subliminal message woohoo new age message cd's and portrayed themselves as somehow enlightened although they wanted to kill each other on a daily basis.  I'll tell you more another time, but it set off all my snake oil alarms…I can tell myself all the things that are important and focus my own consciousness without buying anything. I'm always grateful for being able to say thanks but no thanks. And for my living room.

This is truly worthwile, sfl; and as you say, it is I who decides what is worthwhile…wonderful insights and movement here!

Hi:
I'm a Holosync Inner Circle Member (and one of the Moderators for the Gaia Holosync Group) - and this is just Bill Harris being…. well…. Bill Harris - super-entrepreneur, and possibly a little more than over the top - especially on what he thinks HIS time is worth.

I love the Holosync program and have benefitted immensely from it over the four years I've been using it.  I got into Holosync just shortly after I became a Certified Hypnotist.  Now I'm a Certified Hypnosis and NLP Instructor.  Aside from what he may be able to contribute on the Zen side of things, anyone with the training that I have acquired can do what he's proposing to do.  I can also tell you that at the lowest (Silver?) level, this might come close to what a good weekend with a top level trainer/coach like the guy I studied from could respectfully charge (I just finished spending $2,500 to take his training over 5 days, plus a couple hours of personal coaching).  The rest is just over-the-top.

What Bill is looking for are about  18 to 20 rich dudes who will come and swallow this up like Starbuck's lattes, and then help to promote him on the road.  That's what he does.  He enjoys the travel, the contact, the accolades, etc. at nauseum……

But I must also say, I'm just a little startled that you'd allow yourself to get so charged up about this, SFL.  :)  My response to getting this was to read it well, actually a couple of times, make a copy of it for the wording of his “copy” - because there's always value in his marketing lingo somewhere, and then I had a good laugh.  Your response to him will probably never be seen by him, which is probably unfortunate.  As to whether or not he truly has learned how to handle HIS emotions - I've seen him in action on a Holosync forum, and it ain't pretty if he's crossed…… LOL!!!!! Of course, that was a couple of years ago - maybe Jenpo Roshi has Big-Minded him enough now to quell that flame a bit. ;)
Hugs,
Gem ~~~^v^~~~

I sent away for the cd and the next day they were already trying to convince me to buy it. That said it all ,keep your program I'd rather remain unenlightened and put my money elsewhere than be unenlightened and out 6,000 dollars.
Good on you for sending the letter I just vented to a friend.

OMG…LOL…..Well, at least he doesn't seem to be totally dangerous, I mean he's just looking for some bored rich ones to entertain them. 
The worst is that there are lots of freaks like him around, looking for troubled people to take advantage on their situation, promising miracles, health, love, whatever they are in need…
Thanks for talking about the subject, I allways wonder why is it so ignored and the freaks treated like therapists, helpers, saints…

The structure reminds me uncomfortably of certain aspects of scientology…

 I understand we make our livings in different ways,selling our services or our time but the persistent hard sell the idea that exclusive is better , that you have to keep on buying to “advance”.  What does that say about their interest in people who have very little money or even people in general. “You are poor so too bad,call us when you have some cash”. If you are not wealthy we have no interest in you.
There is something so sad about the whole thing. If it does help people the way the testimonials say it does why not make it available to everyone ,like swimming classes at the YWCA,or community kitchens where people who really have a hard time stocking their fridge benefit. Why not introduce it free of charge into prisons , or the armies around the world if this truly brings inner peace why not share it with the world for free or on a sliding scale,if inner peace is what  he is preaching.
Seriously if he has the answers why not share for real , instead of calling it sharing but really just taking as much money as possible. Practice what you preach for once ,be open,be transparent,be honest. I'm thinking if he wrote the letter saying that he is only in this for the money that he doesn't give a shit about the people who buy into this I might actually have a chuckle and a weird kinda respect at least for the honesty anyways.
 

Selling enlightenment is in a different universe from selling a public service, regardless of whether you use a phone for both.  Although I have to say, I've asked some of the same questions you posed, Dawn, only about how health care can be exclusive in this country - if people called 911 because their house was on fire and got a conversation like “Well, I'm looking at your policy and you haven't met your $2000 deductible for this year, so will you be able to meet the firetruck with a check for that amount?” people would flip out. So why do we value property more than people, or maybe just value money more than people - which, in my mind, is what selling enlightenment is all about. It seems…odd.

Hello to Dawn and everyone,

I don't have time today to read everyone's comments but I at least wanted to make this comment.

I confess I have been meditating with Holosync for about a year now. I started because of a recommendation from my brother. I also noticed a very positive change in his overall attitude toward life.

I was immediately turned off big-time by Bill Harris. My background in spirituality comes from the Buddhist perspective where generousity is an important element. Bill's extreme capitalistic attitude was repulsive to me.

So what I do is ignore him. I sit in the mornings and use the sound tracks as timing devices and a bit of a crutch to keep me going with my mediation. I would like to be going to meditation retreats but my situation right now, won't allow it.

I listen to my dharma teachers for inspiration.

When I get emails from Bill they go straight to trash without even reading them. This is working nicely for me.

Gotta go do Thanksgiving now. Will come back and read the comments later.

Cheers,   jw

“So why do we value property more than people, or maybe just value money more than people - which, in my mind, is what selling enlightenment is all about. It seems…odd.”
Oh Jeannie isn't it though. I feel post saturated by all of it today. It feels so forced this whole idea of freaking enlightenment,to the point that if I bumped into someone who called themselves a guru today a wedgie might be in order.

I agree totally with the idea that if this technology is so good, why not give it freely to those who need it most and do something very good to make this a better world. Bill Harris is definitely not a bodhisatva.

However, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a guy I was dating in college. He worked for TM (transendental meditation.) At that time it cost $30 to get a mantra. My question to him was, “If this is so good and the TM people are so spiritual, why do you have to pay to get a mantra?” He responded by saying that Americans don't value things unless they have to pay money for them. Unfortunately, I think he had a point.

What is important is doing the meditation, whether you do retreats or use binaural beat technology. Everything else is just distraction.

I thought you'd say that about valuing things. I love the quote about the small cup and the salt. When I heard it the ocean was included. Cheers!

Some thoughts that came up:

I think that when money is given for the time someone does anything for us; it helps in  having an energy exchange that is far easier than if we had to actually do something for the one giving that gift. e.g. when a guru gives something to a student, and the student/initiate gives the gift of personal service for the guru; that is something most people would not like to give.

I also feel that giving a mantra is not inherently more spiritual than giving e.g. a glass of water or even telling someone a story. It is the attitude/ the ”bhaav” with which one accepts it, that makes it spiritual or mundane.

On another note, when we are asked to pay in money for something spiritually offered; and we feel we don't have it; we just have to intend, and the money comes–or the $amount of the offer is reduced to what I can pay. It's  happened to me a few times, and I realize that even getting my feelings “right” about the exchange of money in this situation, was a part of the learning and the imparting of a spiritual lesson.

I agree with gemstar that this is Bill being Bill. However, in a world that is as diverse as our world is and a world that promotes “exclusivity,”  what we need most is more promotion of  the “inclusive.” IMHO So, I am turned off by the “exclusivity” of it all. And that's just coming from probably some projection I have going on or a personal story I am telling myself about lack and limitation. But for me, even more, if I had the money to do this thing, I would not need to do it. That's the paradox for me. The only reason that I would be interested in his offering would be to help me understand and change my prosperity consciousness from one of lack to one of being and living more prosperous financially. And I figure if I had the money to participate in his ultimate inner circle, then I'd already be there in the first place.

I think that there are a lot cheaper or less expensive ways of “accelerating” personal growth. What the HS cds do for me create all the personal growth I need at the speed I can handle right now anyway. An I regularly do holotropic breathwork locally which augments the HS listening. And it isn't costing me 30K per year. And my men's support group is free and I'd say is helping to accelerate my personal growth.

But I am going to refrain from judging Bill personally for what he is offering since I can't get in his head and it would just be my own projections and stories anyway.  I would do it differently I think but I am not Bill. But who knows what I'd do if I believed I really deserved a much better life than I am living now? I'm working on believing it anyway so I'll keep you posted when I get there.  LOL

OK. SFL, I am making an assumption here that you are open for discussion. So I want to make a comment and I am taking responsiblilty that this is a judgment and projection of mine. And I do the same thing I will be discussing all the time.

In your above comment you state, “the thing about bill's emails is that each and every one of them suggests that my life is somehow impoverished or will be if I manage to miss out on the next best thing he is hawking.”

And you also state, “the goal of most advertising is to convince you that you need something, to convince you that you lack something - and bill's advertising is no better than those slick ads trying to sell you another car or a better yoga mat. ”

In reference to the 1st comment, when I read Bill's emails, I just see that he is trying to sell something that he thinks may be of benefit to you that he feels is worthy of his endorsement. And yes, he is most likely going to benefit from your purchase monetarily. The fact that I don't interpret it the same way as you do suggests that we are both projecting our stuff on to Bill's advertisement and Bill. I am judging that you have some stuff that is being triggered by Bill's presentation and you are making a judgment about the presentation and about Bill as well based on a projection coming from all of your filters.

To use Bill's words in some of his support literature, you are playing the game of Black and White. And I am too, when I judge and project making one person's way wrong and my way right. Eckert Tolle discusses this same characteristic of the ego. We all do this all of the time. It is the structure of the ego. Over time, and I can speak for myself only as it is what I have observed in me, is that holosync listening will bring this process more and more into the light of our conscious awareness.

In reference to the second comment I quoted from you…. I (me) am not sure how anyone would sell anything without trying to cultivate some need for it in the mind of the prospective consumer. The better the advertising, the stronger this need is created. It is still the responsibility of the consumer to determine if this is really something that would improve his or her life and would therefore make sense to purchase. The victim mentality would be seduced and remorseful and resentful if after purchasing realized that he or she really didn't need that. The responsible, powerful mentality would just see it as a learning experience if  he/she determined the same.

I went to the link at Centerpointe's website that explained all of what Bill was offering for the $30K “deal” for personal growth acceleration and I think that even if I had $30k to burn, I would not take advantage of it. In my view, there are many other less expensive roads to Damascus. I did make a brief judgment that it sounded a bit absurd and over priced and even pretentious. And my other judgment was that Bill must have a tremendous ego and be quite full of himself or overly confident with his own value. I wonder where that resides in me? Humm? Or maybe it is just triggering a sense of worthlessness in me and I am resentful and not owning that part of myself. It's certainly a good way to play the game of Black and White and make Bill wrong and me right. It's also a good way for me to play the victim. Either way, I get to be right. And unconscious.

But, from what I am learning and discovering about myself, this is all coming from me (as noted by possible examples given above) and has little to do with any truth about Bill. The only important thing for me to get is what in me is causing me to react to his advertisement as I have and what projections am I making that can teach me something about me? What are the filters I am seeing through that keeps me playing this game and staying unconscious?

It is possible that what he is offering could have unlimited value to someone who had the means to accept it. It may be many times the $30K value to that person if it helps them to produce some signifigant change in their life that was of value for them.

Bill gets to use whatever means that is legal and within his value system to advertise his product. That's a fact. How I react to it is entirely up to me. And I can't know where his heart is in all of this. I can make judgments and assumptions but I am not Bill and I can't get into his head. So everything I think about it  and Bill is coming from my own filters, my own little creation and story  in my head. And no matter what I do to rationalize it, it most likely has little to do with the truth.

Your comment, “”the things that are worthwhile in life are priceless, they are the things that you can't actually quantify with a dollar sign.  love, laughter, gratitude, health, harmony, friendship, companionship, fresh air, clean water, the star filled sky at night.  maybe mr. harris is planning on teaching his weekend living room workshop attendees those things.  but what he isn't telling them is that they can have them, right now, just for the price of paying attention to them and being them.”,

is part of your own value system. And I would suggest that possibly, and this is my judgment, that you are making this into a  “should” meaning that this is how it ought to be and Bill's advertising rubs contrary to this view for you. While it may be true that all of the values that you speak of can be learned without spending a dime, it also may be true that for someone out there, spending $30K and sitting in Bill's living room, may the very way for them that they need to get that lesson. The Universe is in charge (my belief).

I am open to your comments. And I hope you don't take any of what I have said as a personal attack because I am constantly being triggered and pulled by my own judgments and projections. My ego loves the game of Black and White. And Bill's way of being Bill does challenge me. And I have met with him privately at a workshop before and got to know him a bit.

My judment of him, after spending 7 days with him, was that he is a genuine person and wants to help people become more of who they would like to be. Because I currently lack the supreme confidence he has, and because I currently lack the belief in my ability to live my life as full as he appears to live his (my judgment again), his boldness (my judgment) scares me and challenges me at times. That comes from a place in me that envies him. And I do. I hope to live a much better life than I am living now and I do love a lot about my life now at the same time.

I have a good life on many levels and I want more, especially in the area of money. Current my financial life is one on struggle and lack. I stuggle to make the bills and in fact I am terribly behind on many. I am working towards changing this. As a result of where I am in consiousness, activities that I'd like to participate in that cost more money than I have can at times, if I let them, trigger my victim consciousness of lack and then I get into a bunch of judments, projections, and a bunch of other nasting, stinking thinking and story telling. But mostly, I am recognising this for what it is and stepping back in to my power because I see this “game” for what it is and how it simply keeps me in the place that I don't want to be and that is in a place of struggle and lack.

I thank the Universe and Bill for his advertisement because it has given me much spiritual food for change and the opportunity to examine much about myself as I observe myself and my reactions and responses to him and it.

In love and light

SFL,
Thank you for your clarifications.

And…my wanting more is mostly in reference to wanting more money to meet basic needs right now. It's like not having any food in the refrig and wanting more food to fill it. Many of the basics for me are not being met yet I can still focus on the fact that there is still much good (and much worthwhile) in my life.

And actually what I am going through is worthwhile yet difficult.

Thanks again for all your insights. I'll check out the adbusters.

I love that idea “We make things worthwhile”

Hello Dawn, I would have never known about Bill Harris’ special offer if you hadn’t written this blog, since I immediately dump his emails into trash, but…. I wonder if he got anyone to go for it?

And I also started wondering if I could get folks to pay me big bucks to hang out with me in my living room and have telephone access.

Do I have too much spare time to wonder? <giggle, giggle, snort>