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Mark's ongoing trial of Holosync (periodically updated)

Last post 02-03-2008, 4:21 AM by Castel. 15 replies.
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  •  10-05-2007, 7:05 PM 29562

    Mark's ongoing trial of Holosync (periodically updated)

    Personal Holosync evaluation log.

     

    This is my own personal log of my on-going evaluation of the Holosync program.  I will periodically update it.  I am going to attempt to give this product a good, solid, authentic try and report on how well it goes for me. 

     

    Mark

    What do you think of Holosync?

    Please describe what you think of Holosync by choosing the answer that fits you best:

    • I have never tried it but might do so. (0%)
    • I have never tried it and have no interest in doing so. (0%)
    • I have tried it, am still using it, and have used it for less than 1 year. (33.3%)
    • I have tried it, am still using it, and have used it for 1-2 years. (0%)
    • I have tried it, am still using it, and have used it for 2-4 years. (22.2%)
    • I have tried it, am still using it, and have used it for more than 4 years. (27.8%)
    • I have tried it but stopped using it, still my results were favorable. (5.6%)
    • I have tried it but stopped using it, my results were unfavorable. (11.1%)
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  •  10-05-2007, 7:09 PM 29563 in reply to 29562

    Background

    Background

     

    While listening to the about 7 minutes or so of talking-free Holosync of the demo CD, I did experience some changes in the qualitative experience of my own mind.  While not earth shattering, they were enough to prompt my curiosity.

     

    My plan is simple.  I will follow the program instructions as directed and see if the promised benefits follow.  In either event I will report the results.  If the promised benefits really do manifest, I will consider it worth my money.  If they do not, I will have no problem asking for a full and complete refund of my money.

    Specifically in the letter enclosed with the demo Bill Harris says and I quote directly from pages 15 and 16:

     

    "In conclusion, let me summarize the many real advantages of participating in The Holosync Solution:

    *          Super-deep meditation, literally at the touch of a button...

    *          Improved mental abilities, heightened creativity and problem solving ability...

    *          Dramatic reduction in stress and anxiety...

    *          Improved health and a new sense of mental, emotional, and physical well-being...

    *          Increased focus, concentration, memory, and learning ability...

    *          Increased motivation and confidence...

    *          Production in the brain of many vital neurochemicals proven to slow aging...

                and keep the body young, alive and fully functioning...

    *          Better more restful sleep...

    *          More happiness and flow in your life...

    *          Healing of unresolved mental and emotional blocks...

     

    And, if it doesn't do all of this for you, just send it back within one year for a full refund!

                So let The Holosync Solution be the new beginning you've been searching for.

                I eagerly look forward to having you in the program."

     

     

    While a 1 person study is in no way generalizable, it is still an additional point of data for those pondering whether or not to try the system.  I think the two biggest confounds in my particular case will be my current level of (generally) functioning quite well in the mental and psychological domains (as indicated by IQ, MMPI, SCT, and personal subjective assessment of general life satisfaction), and my continuation of other transformative practices (some physical exercise, Big Mind, and zazen meditation).  I could see these confounds possibly influencing my personal experiment in at least two different ways.  It could be that, due to other practices, I show year over year improvement in the domains mentioned above, but not as a direct result of the Holosync program.  It could also be that the Holosync program will have little effect on me with its 'introductory dosing' (i.e. it would take a higher level of the program to produce notable effects in me at this time).  All that being said, while I would guess that I am a significant outlier from the general 'normal' population at large, I would venture to say that I am probably much closer to 'normal' in the context of the II forums.

    I personally have no financial interests involved and have no axe to grind one way or another.  I am hopeful that my time spent on this experiment will yield positive results, but not so much so as to really create an expectancy bias.  I am also well aware of such mental deceptions as attempting to minimize cognitive dissonance etc.  I am equally open to experiencing no effects, effects too small to consider different from normal growth, notable positive results, notable negative results, or completely unexpected results.

    In any event, I will try to post how things are going about every month or two for the next 10 or so months.  If any other people are just starting the program at this time I would encourage them to also do likewise so that we will have a little more data about how such a technology might or might not be beneficial as a part of an ongoing ILP for persons (presumably) in the second tier range.

     

    Mark

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  •  10-05-2007, 7:10 PM 29564 in reply to 29563

    9/26/2007 Received Awakening Prologue

    9/26/2007  Received Awakening Prologue

     

    Received Awakening Prologue on this date.  This evening was my first use of the the Dive track.  I definitely noticed something happen.  I really experienced a change in the qualitative feel of my own mental space.  I felt a little 'off' or 'spaced out' after this first use.

     

    Mark

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  •  10-05-2007, 7:11 PM 29565 in reply to 29564

    10/05/2007 Update

    10/05/2007 Update

     

    This is the 10th day since I received Awakening Prologue.  I have used the Dive track every day but 1 since I first received the CD in the mail.  I have done my listening consistently in the evening, usually right before bed.  There is definitely a strong 'push' still present.  I have experienced a range of different effects.  I had an awkward feeling in my right ear for the first 2-4 days.  I did experience a few muscle twitches on about day 6.  On one occasion I almost nodded off several times while listening to the track despite the fact that I was not excessively tired beforehand.  Some of the times when I listen my mind is almost completely blank, devoid of symbolic thought.  At other times there is a ton of mental chatter, far more than is normal for me at other times of day let alone while in a relaxed meditative state.  I am curious as to what will happen when I step up to the Dive + Immersion level in few days.  As far as I am aware, I have not really noticed any remarkable changes in any of my quadrants so far.  I will probably update next after the first day or two of the Dive + Immersion.  After that, I will probably update less frequently (maybe every few weeks or so).

     

    Mark

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  •  10-08-2007, 1:13 AM 29654 in reply to 29565

    • kendoji is not online. Last active: 07-20-2008, 8:01 AM kendoji
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    Re: 10/05/2007 Update

    Very interesting, Mark.  I'm just a few days ahead of you on Awakening Prologue, and am looking forward to hearing more about your experiences.
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  •  10-09-2007, 9:59 AM 29697 in reply to 29562

    10/08/2007 Update

    10/08/2007 Update

     

    Last night (10/08) I really had an interesting experience with Awakening Prologue track 1.  While I am still just finishing up my first 2 weeks with the program this was, I think, interesting enough to report on.  Probably about 15-20 minutes into the track I started feeling into the feeling of emptiness and experienced a very(!) pronounced rush of endorphins and a dropping into what felt like a subtle level experience.  While my primary intention in taking up a program like Holosync is to create more lasting positive changes, I will be quite happy to have experiences like last night as a part of the on-going journey.  I will try my best not to get caught up in expectations about what should or should not be going on for me, but if someone were regularly having these experiences I could see why they would be motivated to stick with the program.  If there really are a dozen qualitatively deeper levels in the program, well that is something that seems pretty impressive at this point.

     

    On a side note, I have recently become aware of a similar program called Perfect Meditation that purports to be stronger/deeper.  I have to admit this has sparked my curiosity and it is something I will likely check out in the future.  For now though, I am going to keep doing Awakening Prologue as directed in the program and see where it gets me in a few months.

     

    Mark

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  •  10-10-2007, 8:28 PM 29797 in reply to 29562

    • i2eye is not online. Last active: 10-10-2007, 8:30 PM i2eye
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    Re: Mark's ongoing trial of Holosync (periodically updated)

    Mark,

     

    Kudos for the courage to take the plunge and keep an online update.  Since the first quarter of 2024 I've been following a similar track.  Buy and try it.  Give the best possible test over time and see what happens.  I'm at the threashold of starting the next step after Awakening Prologue 1.  I plan to use the affirmations which I've developed over the past several years through my ILP.  I remember cathing an conference call between KW and Bill Harris.  During the call, they talked about joingin forces using the psychograph in an effort to track individuals progress...I guess to give another kind of empirical test to the notion that meditation if practiced over time with consistency can result in a person progressing through as much as two stages...

    Since that call I haven't heard or seen any formal follow up from either camp (I-I or Centerpointe) -- but I keep looking.  I even sent an email to the folks at I-I as a kind of inquiry regarding the same but to no avail...

    Stay tuned for more to follow.... Big Smile [:D]

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  •  10-13-2007, 4:10 PM 29947 in reply to 29797

    Re: Mark's ongoing trial of Holosync (periodically updated)

    As you collect data on your experience, remember, you are using only the phenomenology zone and not the psychology or either of the objective zones.

    Harris knows he needs some studies in the psychology zone, but such a study would take a lot of money and time. Sooner or later, I think he'll do it.

    In regards to your poll, Harris recently said that 90% of people who finish level 2 go all the way.
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  •  10-16-2007, 10:25 AM 30106 in reply to 29562

    Update through 10/15/2007

    Update through 10/15/2007

     

     

    Ok it has been about 3 weeks since I first started doing Holosync every night (have only missed 1 day so far).  I have moved up from the 30 min. Awakening Prologue Dive track to the 60 min. Dive + Immersion.  There is definitely a notable 'push' present with the program.  I have found myself almost nodding off during the Immersion portion several times.  I have had one very interesting experience since my last update I will try to describe it as best I can:

     

    I was resting in an extremely peaceful state during the Immersion portion one night and I decided to try an experiment.  I decided that I would try to consciously enter a whole series of 'intense' and 'difficult' emotional/affective states while resting in the peaceful awareness I was already in.  (I got the idea from the Non-Dual Buddhist notion that if one enters the 3 poisons consciously they will transmute into their corresponding virtues as well as Bill's notion that one is not in suffering once one is fully conscious during an event.)  So I started going into anger, frustration, deep sadness, anxiety, etc. fully conscious and while simultaneously resting in the spacious awareness I was already in.  When they started arising, there was a massive surge of energy, feeling, and intensity.  It is really kind of tricky to kind of convey the experience in words.  It was as if the emotions emerged as solid things that started sublimating.  One moment they were solid tangible things with real weight and solidity and then just a second later they were merely wisps as light as air.  Every intense emotion (both 'positive' and 'negative') I could think of I tried to consciously enter and they all started melting.  I started trying to think of whatever I could that might be lurking in my shadow from 'sacred' to 'profane' from 'special' to 'ordinary.' Every one was the same.  At first they seemed a solid and real entity arising in awareness and after but a second of focused awareness they vaporized into a lightly felt entity that was only different from the background awareness in the most vague and subtle of ways.  I really do not think I can put into words the sheer intensity of the experience as experience by 'me.'  Every time one of these ideas melted it felt like massive electrical shocks were shooting through my body and out through the top of my head.  It was something like a combination of being electrocuted, having a massive on-going orgasm, and feeling a heavy weight lift from my shoulders.  As 'neat' as this experience was, what was really 'interesting' was that the unmoved Witness just continued to watch the whole affair with dispassion... weird considering that this was certainly one of the more intense experiences of Mark's whole life.

     

    Yea... so that was a 'big experience.'  Since then my Holosync sessions have been a weird combination of random thoughts coming up even in what is obviously the depths of the Immersion portion alternating with periods of very(!) quiet/light/empty mind.  I am definitely going to continue on with the current experiment, but even so, at times when I am doing my best to be 'okay' with what is coming up there are still a series of judgments about what 'should' be happing so sometimes I am just being 'okay' with trying to judge the experience.  I think it may be part of my conceptual self thinking that all of the experiences should be of a certain type or similar in some way.  Or it could be my grasping mind trying to hang onto the 'fun' or 'exciting' experiences and avoid the 'boring' or 'incorrect' ones.  I will have to do some thinking on this.

     

    On another note, my personal experience of my daily regular mediation (zazen) seems very different at this point than the Holosync experiences, but it seems to be notably deepening in its own way since the start of my Holosync experiment.

     

    Also, again this is just my one-person account.  It is in no way generalizable and may or may not resemble the experiences of others with this program.  Please read 'wow' type comments with the knowledge that this is also occurring in the context of an overall ILP in which other transformative practices are on-going as well.

     

    Mark

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  •  10-28-2007, 3:57 AM 30806 in reply to 30106

    Re: Update through 10/15/2007

    Great stuff Mark. As with others, I'm really appreciating your Holosync journey journaling.  I've also just started using it. I'm especially curious that you are continuing to sit zazen in the morning. I'm beginning to wonder just what Holosync does as it gives me rather a different experience from my own sitting practice. I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with it.

    In straight forward sitting there seems to be a clear continuum between how I/one operate/s in my daily life and the intentional awareness I bring to my sitting. The result is an deepened state of focus, concentration, and bodily awareness all of which transfer over quite naturally to my day. This is not to say I carry this deepened state with me, but I may access it in the same way at any time if I wish to make the effort required. And, in fact, I really enjoy maintaining a mantra as best I can throughout the day. That I find truly powerful.

    With Holosync, however, I feel carried along, held, moved. I'm not in the driver's seat. Something is being done to me.  Indeed, I had a disturbing moment the other day of seeing myself as an infant being cradled in Bill Harris' arms. :)) I laugh now but it wasn't that pleasant in the moment I have to say.

    What is happening with Holosync and other brain entrainment/binaural beat sound tracks?  Do they take one to the same place as a good meditation practice - by other means -  or is something a little different going on. And what are the implications of a practice that doesn't require your engaged focus, a practice in which it is possible to simply think about whatever you like and Holosync will do the work for you. To my mind it seems counter intuitive to the cultivation of the witness.

    Let me know if you'd rather I posted these thoughts in a new thread. My responses don't seem irrelevant to your own, fresh Holosync adventure, but I understand if you'd like to keep the thread clean.

    Nice post over in Zaadz about the technical terminology of AQUAL btw.
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  •  10-28-2007, 4:21 AM 30809 in reply to 29562

    Re: Mark's ongoing trial of Holosync (periodically updated)

    Mark, I've posted again to say that  the post above is in response to one of your posts that has a changed title from the original thread title. Its been pointed out a number of times that changing the title of a post changes the title of a thread. This is confusing for those who wish to follow what is being said.  I'm sure there are many taking an interest in your ongoing Holosync experiences. Can I suggest you maintain the original title :)

    And I think I'll start my own ILP thread and post my thoughts on Holosync there, unless they're in direct response to a comment you've made.

    Oh, and that post  I mentioned was in 'Integral Without The Maps'.


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  •  10-30-2007, 11:38 AM 30939 in reply to 30106

    • Dunkerly is not online. Last active: 10-07-2009, 6:26 PM Dunkerly
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    Re: Update through 10/15/2007

    I've been using holosync for about a month every day. Don't notice any difference between it and what goes on in my head and body when I mediate on my breath. I'd like to experience something soon but will probably order levels 1 and 2. Of course, I think I'm stuck in a subpersonality but how can I really know - Harris seems to be honest or I'm just a gullible consumer whose tried just about everything else. At least when I lift weights I can see myself getting stronger - how does one sense the witness getting stronger or does it suddenly manifest itself? My mind must be really full of shit because I don't think it gets anywhere near to empty -- the tape keeps going, and going and going.
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  •  10-30-2007, 12:12 PM 30940 in reply to 30939

    Re: Update through 10/15/2007

    Hi D,

     

    My first experience of the Witness came about several decades before my less than successful test of Holosync technology, (about which i have written elsewhere) so i have more positive things to say about the former than the latter.

     

    In my case the appearance of the Witness came suddenly and somewhat strangely as at the time i did not know that it had a name. It's a little difficult to describe, but the best i've been able to do, is to say that it is as if my vision shifts; or more accurately it's the viewpoint that shifts. It's as if a focal point of vision is slightly above and behind my head. In the early days it was strictly a state experience, i.e. it would come and go unexpectedly; after some time it stabilized as a more or less permanent stage, recallable pretty much at will. So i wouldn't use the word stronger to describe this change but rather i favor the phrase more frequent.

     

    I know of no more efficacious way of dealing with sub-personalities than through Genpo Roshi's Big Mind process. In it sub-personalities are more recognizable by allowing them to speak; and if this approach is followed with diligence a place within our internal hierarchy can be found for each sub-personality.

     

    In any case i think it's wise to look at these processes as making better friends with ourselves, and not to be too much concerned about results, and learning to be content to take the energies that goes into results or lack thereof and put them directly into the process.

     

    Warmly,

     

    Charles

    88W18'28" 41N58'02"

     

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  •  01-29-2008, 12:28 PM 37773 in reply to 29562

    Re: Mark's ongoing trial of Holosync (periodically updated)

     

     

    Update through 1/29/2008

     

    It has been 125 days since I first did Holosync and in that time I would estimate that I have only skipped doing it about 5 days in total.  While there have been a few instances in which I have repeated the Immersion track for a 90 min. session and in the first 2 weeks I only did the 30 min Dive track; I have usually done 60 min. per day just before bed.  I consider this update to be my 4 month data point.

     

    As noted several times previous, this on-going trial of Holosync is occurring in the context of an overall Integral Life Practice (ILP).  I have continued with regular exercise, traditional Zen sitting, and Big Mind practice (self-facilitated, following along with the DVDs, and through clips on Zen-Eye.org).  My frequency of physical exercise is generally daily.  I alternate free-weights (FIT) with some cardio on off days.  My traditional Zen sitting has been more sporadic.  I am unsure if this is due to my busy schedule or the addition of the Holosync.  When I do sit traditionally, I really get into the 'just sitting' / Non-Seeking Mind easily and just sit.  I do Big Mind every few days and find that I can easily make the shifts w/o dropping out of the voice or having other voices intrude (well most times anyway).

     

    As for the effects that generally occur during the actual Holosync session, they are much the same as noted before.  Sometimes I still fall asleep toward the tail end of the Immersion track.  Sometimes my mind is absolutely serene and clear like during a calm sitting.  Other times my mind is considerably more turbulent and active than is usually the case either in meditation or just in regular waking activity.  Every once and a while I have really 'interesting' experiences and yet at other times I am somewhat bored.  Other than a correlation between my feeling tired and my likelihood of falling asleep; I do not readily see any patterns that appear to predict these experiences.

     

    In my daily life I am really settling into a very different way of being.  For significant periods of time during the day symbolic thought is dropped out (i.e. no words or commentary running, just what-is).  Often I find myself momentarily shifting into flow or unitive states during the day.  This most often occurs at school, but it also happens while driving, while at work, etc.  While I have experienced glimpses of these states on and off since my Big Mind opening in late 2024, they are now quite frequent and in a way just 'normal.'  The changes have been gradual, but in making a retroactive comparison they are notable.  Again, I do not know if this can be fully attributed to the introduction of Holosync as some of the changes began beforehand.  Still, I am fairly confident at this point that the regular use of Holosync has at least sped up this process for me.

     

    I am curious about the future.  While I feel pretty good with my sense of self as it presently is (I can often easily shift between the Witness and the Ego as situation dictates), I am wondering what the future might hold.  I am aware that Holosync has at least 12 more levels of depth and I must say if the change continues to progress at the same rate it has I am not entirely sure what I might look like at the end of this journey.  If I had to hazard a guess, I would bet that the unitive flashes probably become more the normal sense of identity and that the witnessing capability probably gets clearer and more generalized... but this is only a guess on my part.

     

    I think I will still give at least one or two of the competing entrainment/meditation programs a try and see how they compare.  That being said, I think that it is very likely that I will be continuing on with one of them for some time to come.

     

    Mark

  •  02-03-2008, 2:31 AM 38229 in reply to 37773

    • ats is not online. Last active: 03-21-2009, 2:32 PM ats
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    Re: Mark's ongoing trial of Holosync (periodically updated)

    When I try a new level I typically feel stressed.  My heartrate goes up.  I learn to sit with groundlessness.  It works better for me that way than for experiencing satori or something.

    On another note, 3 times in a row, I have had difficulties getting the next level.  I have lost over a year waiting for the levels.  Their responses to my follow up e-mails were very impersonal and unapologetic.  I don't know if others are having this difficulty, but I had to resort to writing a nasty, nasty e-mail to get them to immediately send the next 3 levels so I can keep a buffer from now on.  The didn't even reply or apologize, but they did send me the levels via UPS.  Their service is very sub-par and unpersonal.


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