Please Log in to Vote.

10 out of 10 members found this useful.

À lot of claims but no evidence and no response.......

Posted May 16th, 2010 by Harrison de Bont
In Reference to:
An Integral Look at Holosync

I have been practicing holosync for more than two years now (I finished the first three levels) and practice vipassana / shikantaza for more than 25 years. I started holosync solely because it was highly recommanded by Genpo Roshi (on a site of Integral Institute). The first two weeks were amazing: bliss and a clarity of mind I had only experienced before during long and intensive meditation retreats! After that most of the time nothing happened at all, besides some very slight experiences of unstressing. The moments of clarity appeared less frequently and with less intensity. It is as if habituation took place in a progressive manner and is almost complete right now. Neither did I experience any of the physiological and psychological effects of holosync as Bill Harris described in the booklet "The Management of Evolutionary Change". I felt disappointed about this as Bill Harris raised high expectations. On many occasions he "promised" and "guaranteed" results that were supposed to be superior to the results of the traditional meditation techniques!

So I wrote him an e-mail about this, and expressed my astonishment about the fact that he made so many claims about the effectiveness of holosync, without putting these claims to the test of empirical data (after all Centerpointe is a Research Institute!). The support staff promised me to send this mail to mr. Harris, but he never answered it (this is about half a year ago)!! As I was inspired to start with holosync by Genpo Roshi, I also sent an e-mail to him, asking him his present opinion about this matter. He replied within 24 hours! He told me that he uses it only when he is tired, for instance in airplanes, to relax and taking a nap. And that he never intended it to be a replacement for regular meditation practice. In fact he said that he made Bill Harris and his wife practice Shikantaza meditation! This is really special, for shikantaza is one of the most traditional meditation techniques ("shi-kan-ta-za" meaning: "nothing-but-precisely-sitting") and Bill Harris made the claim, many times, that holosync is superior to any of the traditional meditation techniques! Genpo Roshi advised me that if I have one hour aday to spend for meditation, I should practice shikantaza and not holosync!

 

Please Log in to Vote.

6 out of 6 members found this useful.

Claims, Marketing and the Disappointment of Holosync

Posted May 23rd, 2010 by wunder

 I’m writing this because I recently received an email from Integral Life mentioning Holosync. Because of this, I went to the site and found this discussion and thought I’d weigh in. Here’s the recent email I received.

 

 

 

 

As members of the Integral Life community, you may already be familiar with Holosync, an extraordinary synthesis of science and spirituality that uses binaural beats to induce powerful meditative states in the listener.  Whether you are just starting a meditation practice and are looking for a good way to "make it stick", or are an experienced practitioner who wants to deepen your exploration through these transformative states, Holosync might just be what you've been looking for.

For years we have been receiving questions about how to make sense of Holosync through an integral lens.  How does it work?  What is the connection between brainwaves and God?  Can this technology actually help me on my own spiritual path?  We want to take a moment to shed a little light on these questions, which is why we are inviting you to check out the following presentation: An Integral Look at Holosync.  

And don't miss the other fascinating audio and video interviews with Bill Harris, the creator of Holosync audio technology, which can be found on the same page.

Watch the Holosync E-Learning now!

 

 

 

I bought Holosync because I received an earlier email several years ago from Integral Life (or Integral Naked) recommending the product. I've meditated periodically for 20+ years and decided that since I didn't have daily practice, I'd use Holosync as a program to help me develop one. I’ve used other recommended practices and teaching from Integral Life/Naked such as Shawn Phillips, Sally Kempton, Terry Patten and many others to develop a spiritual practice. These recommendations have been advantageous to developinmg an integral, spiritual practice. So, I ordered the Holosync introductory CD and found it helped me sit down for one hour a day and it did help deepen my meditation practice and reach lead me to subtle states of awareness. They promised more, so I ordered more.

 

I decided to invest in the entire program. I opted for the Inner Circle for a full $900 off the regular price. If Harris was offering $900 off, you can imagine the price for the Inner Circle was substantial; totaling $2097 (interesting price choice, not $2099 or $2095).  When I received the reams of headline handouts on the use and benefits of the product, I found it offensive. As an example, inside the package was a sealed envelop stating: Here's An Even Better Offer! It reminded me of the junk mail you’d receive from the Clearlinghouse Sweepstake. I decided I would ignore the hype, a distraction toward my inner work and chalk it up to Harris receiving poor advise on his marketing (or maybe not, perhaps he knows exactly what he’s doing by persuasing his market). I did find his continuous emails for marketing other products confusing and I became annoyed by the notion that he kept selling schemes to get richer, a kind of spiritual materialism. Again, I decided to assume good faith given the connection with Integral Life/Naked and the family of teachers and practitioners associated with the organization. 

 

About 1.5 years ago my wife and I attended one of the combined workshops with Genpo Roshi and Bill Harris. Again, I assumed that since he’s connected to Genpo, then he must be worthwhile and substantial. We were very impressed with Genpo, but not with Bill. In fact, we were very disappointed because of how poorly Bill demonstrated and facilitated the Big Mind process. In addition, there were many ways the workshop was poorly designed. Bottom-line, we spent a lot of money, learned some from Genpo but the Big Mind/Big Heart workshop with Bill was unsatisfactory. 

 

Now two and half years later, I’m still using Holosync, along with other meditation practices. I feel disturbed by Harris’ claims and bravado about his product and the price point he demands. My issue relates to the value proposition. I don’t find the price of his product at $2097 provides the benefits delivered. I find he oversells his product, his promise and quite frankly, I would not recommend his entire program. There’s a concept in businesses called Net Promoter. It uses a scale from 1 to 10 to test a product or service with customers. A net promoter would give the product a value of 8, 9, or 10. If a customer rated the product or service at these higher values, they would openly recommend the product to people they know. I would give Holosync a 4, maybe a 5. 

 

From the standpoint of marketing with ethics, I expect people selling spiritual products to be transparent about what they’re offering. I expect them to share all relevant information so the buyer can make an informed choice. I find Harris promises more than his product delivers. I haven’t found the “deeper” levels of learning and growth through the continual use of Holosync. The lesson, the deeper levels must come from within my own work.