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History
of the Centerpointe Research Institute
Centerpointe
Research Institute had its modest beginnings in the fall
of 1989. Bill Harris and Wes Wait, both with a long-term
interest in meditation and personal growth, had spent the
previous four years with a small circle of friends researching
and personally experiencing the effects of an audio technology
that was later to evolve into Centerpointe Research Institute's
Holosync® audio technology, the centerpiece of Centerpointe's
The End® Personal Growth Through Technology program.
The
idea of using precise sounds to alter a listener's state
of mind came from a 1973 article in Scientific American
by researcher Dr. Gerald Oster of Mt. Sinai Medical Center
in New York. In this article, "Auditory Beats in the Brain,"
Oster describes a characteristic of the brain wherein electrical
brain wave patterns resonate to certain precise frequencies
when presented with audio tones of certain frequencies.
As long-time
practitioners of Transcendental Meditation, Harris and Wait
were familiar with research done in the 1970s, both by the
TM organisation and by others, establishing a relationship
between specific brain wave patterns and a variety of states
including those of meditation, superlearning, increased
focus and concentration, and enhanced creativity.
After
their four years of personal experimentation, during which
everyone in the research group experienced what could only
be described as profound mental, emotional and spiritual
changes, Harris and Wait decided to create a structured,
programmed method of using Holosync® technology, and in
1989 they began marketing this program to the general public.
With electronic tone generators and frequency counters borrowed
from a local university, the master tapes were recorded
for a series of 12 program levels, each more powerful than
the last.
The
initial idea was to re-create, with modern high-tech methods,
the meditation experience usually reserved to those dedicated
few willing to meditate many hours each day for many years.
To recreate the second ingredient of the meditation process
-- the "rescripting" that takes place as meditators
reach an altered, trance-like state and then reprogram their
unconscious mind through aphorisms, mantras, affirmations,
or prayers -- they added, beginning with the second level
of the program, customized subliminal affirmations chosen
by the participant and recorded in his or her own voice.
The
results were spectacular and participant feedback extremely
positive. Participants reported a dramatic acceleration
of positive results in their meditation practice, often
reporting more change in a single year of the Centerpointe
program than in ten or fifteen years of traditional meditation.
To help
participants through the many experiences and challenges
of such rapid change and evolution, a series of Follow-Up
Support letters were written, drawing both from ancient
meditation schools as well as from the practical experience
of the early research group. These letters described to
participants common experiences and effects and how to deal
with them in a way that accelerated and smoothed out the
process of rapid change experienced by participants. These
letters were (and still are) mailed to participants every
two weeks for the first six months of the program. Over
the years, several Special Reports on various subjects have
been added.
In the
beginning, the company was a true "kitchen table" operation,
with borrowed recording equipment set up in Bill Harris's
kitchen and with participant's names kept in a small recipe
box. The banks of computers and massive racks of recording
equipment were to come later, as the company expanded.
In 1990,
Centerpointe Research Institute was formally incorporated
in the State of Oregon, and shortly thereafter, Wait sold
his interest in the company to Bill Harris and left the
company to pursue other interests. Soon, Centerpointe began
running full page ads in a number of national magazines
including New Age Journal, Psychology Today, Yoga Journal,
and Omni, and Centerpointe began to grow. Over the first
four years, sales revenues grew at a rate of 400% per year
as people from over 30 countries on six continents joined
the program.
Between
1990 and 1993, the work of Nobel Prize-winner Ilya Prigogine
relating to how complex systems evolve to higher, more complex
levels was adapted to the observed effects of Holosync®
technology. Prigogine's work provided a very elegant explanation
of why (and how) Holosync® causes such profound changes
in those who use it. This new paradigm was subsequently
incorporated into the Centerpointe support materials, greatly
increasing their value and usefulness to participants. (See
the article "East Meets West.")
Inspired
by Prigogine's work, in 1992 Bill Harris wrote the first
edition of his book, The Management of Evolutionary Change,
now given to all participants as they begin the second level
of the Centerpointe program. The Management of Evolutionary
Change expands on the material contained in the Support
Letters, and serves as a reference book for participants
as they continue the program.
In 1993
Michael Hutchison, author of the best-seller Megabrain,
the definitive book about consciousness-altering technologies,
introduced Bill to Oliver "Bud" Lowery. Lowery had patented
a technology he developed for the Defense Department that
allowed spoken messages to be encoded on high frequency
UHF carrier frequencies in such a way that the ear and the
brain could de-modulate, or decode, the messages at an unconscious
level. This modern improvement on old-fashioned subliminal
methods improved the Centerpointe program by dramatically
improving the delivery system used for the custom affirmations
participants chose and recorded in their own voice.
In 1994,
Centerpointe introduced three new soundtracks as part of
the program, Immersion 1.5, Immersion 0.5, and Immersion
0.3. These soundtracks expanded the power of each level
by taking participants into the deepest levels of the delta
brain wave pattern where, according to feedback received
from thousands of participants around the world, the greatest
evolutionary changes happen. This brought the number of
custom made soundtracks in each level to six.
In 1996,
Centerpointe held its first retreat. Participants from four
continents gathered in Oregon for five days of informative
speakers, intense listening to Holosync® soundtracks, beautiful
scenery, great food, and fellowship. The retreat was such
a success that a second retreat was held in 1997, and the
annual retreat has now become a Centerpointe institution,
drawing people from all over the world. (Call our office
at 1-800-945-2741 or 503-672-7117 for information about
our next retreat.)
The
next major change in the program occurred in 1997, when
Centerpointe began using a proprietary 3D recording process
to record the custom levels of the program, causing a reduction
in the stress discovered to be a side-effect inherent in
listening to sound recorded in normal stereo. Estimates
are that this one change increased the power of the program
by as much as 40%.
Also
in 1997, Centerpointe for the most part ceased their ad
campaign in national magazines and instead began creating
joint venture relationships with other major players in
the personal growth field, including Tools for Exploration,
Learning Strategies Corporation, Gateways Mind Tools, Jalmar
Press, Synetic Systems International, and a number of others.
We are always looking for joint venture partners who can
help us spread this powerful tool around the world (call
our office if you are in a position to joint venture with
us). Also in 1997, a web page was created and the adding
of program participants through the internet began.
By 1997
the program had become so successful, with many thousands
of participants in nearly 60 countries, that it became necessary
to move the company to new and larger quarters. A building
was purchased and renovated, the staff was doubled, and
in October of 1997 the move was made. At the same time,
the recording studio capacity was tripled to handle the
flood of orders for custom program levels pouring in from
all over the world.
Also
in 1997, Centerpointe established a relationship with Frost
International Corporation who offered to help Centerpointe
expand into Japan. Frost International has been responsible
for bringing Soloflex exercise equipment and a number of
other American businesses into Japan and with their help
Centerpointe opened their first satellite office in Japan
in the Spring of 1997. With FIG assistance, all Centerpointe
materials were translated into the Japanese language and
offered for the first time to the Japanese people in their
own language. Plans for offices on other continents are
being explored.
It is
mind-boggling to us when we look back and see how far Centerpointe
has come from its humble "kitchen table" beginnings. For
that we must gratefully thank the many Centerpointe program
participants all over the world who, as in any successful
company, are the ones really responsible for our success.
This
is a story without an ending. As new developments in the
on-going saga take place, we will add to this history. If
you are already a Centerpointe program participant, we thank
you for your support. If not, we hope you will become a
participant and find out for yourself just how incredible
Holosync® technology, and the program we have created around
it, can be in changing your life. If you have not yet experienced
our on-line demo, we invite you to experience it now, or
to visit any of the other pages on this site.
And
please always feel free to contact us by regular mail, e-mail,
fax, or telephone. We are here to serve you.
Be well.
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