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Tara
O’Donnell has recently returned from one of Tony’s seminars in the Bahamas.
Her previous activities include PR consultancy, ownership of Andrews Lane
Theatre, one of Dublin’s most successful theatres and co-founder of the
Dublin Fringe Theatre Festival. She is presently involved in the financing
of movies. Here she talks to Tony Quinn.
Tony, we’ve caught up with you on one of your flying visits to Ireland and
I’ve been promising myself that the next time you came back here we’d pick
your brains and get a few articles from you for the newspaper. As most
of our readers know, you left
Ireland a
number of years ago and you’re now based in the Bahamas, where you do
seminars and work with private clients. The seminars are called ‘Blueprint
for Successful Living’ and I would love you to tell us about them.
Hello
Tara, as we can see times really are changing. Nowadays, a 25-year-old
entrepreneur who has never even owned a suit seems to be able to make more
money in six months than most people can make in a lifetime. You can see how
the media machines, the instant brands, global telecom empires all seem to
come from nowhere onto the world stage.
If we ask ourselves what’s powering today’s changing times and this almost
instant prosperity, indeed confounding the conventional economists, then the
explanation really is very simple: we’re living in the information age and
there’s literally a revolution in information – if you can grasp that
central fact you have the key to what’s happening in the world today.
UNIQUE INFORMATION
I’m involved with providing unique information to people which is
not available anywhere else and I believe they can use that information to
live more successfully.
Just look at today’s technology and all that has come from the human mind
over the past 150 years. Take America for example: they’ve progressed from
covered wagons on dusty trails, log cabins and smoke signals to automobiles,
helicopters, airplanes, six-lane highways, sky scrapers and of course TVs,
VCRs, satellites, mobile phones, computers, the information superhighway.
All of this was drawn from people’s minds – from the chairs we’re sitting on
to the latest wonder drug. What I’m interested in is the technology that
underlies the technology, in other words the mind-technology. How are these
people able to draw the world that we see out of their minds?
You pointed out on your seminar that what some
of these people were doing seemed to defy logic…
Well, imagine in their day the Wright brothers telling the sceptics
that is was possible to have metal flying carpets which would carry people
around the world – or Thomas Edison telling people that he could produce
mini-suns that would light up a room, or the world, at the flick of a
switch, turning night into day as in the electric light, yet these
mind-masters worked their magic, gave life to their ideas and changed their
world.
That’s
happening faster and faster today because of the information we have. Yet
for me the ultimate information must be that which tells us how these people
use their minds to produce these results. What are the mechanics of this?
Although that’s really only the tip of the
iceberg for you, your seminars go much further than this.
Yes. Almost a hundred years ago William James, regarded as America’s
most influential (and by many the greatest) psychologist who ever lived,
believed that modern life made demands upon our minds that produce what he
called ‘the over-contracted personality’. He maintained that there was a
self-imprisoned psychological barrier that separates us from the rest of our
mind and even from life itself. The solution, he said was to dismantle the
structure of our narrowly focused mind and in this way, this would enable us
to use more of our brain and our mind. Basically that has been my goal, to
enable people to do this, to use more of their brain and mind.
You make a statement that I believe would astound most people
and that is that "our way of using "our brain and mind is completely
outdated"…
Long-term research
and studies have been showing this for over 160 years. Indeed there is
literally a mountain of research to show how to use more of our brain and
mind, but basically, until now, no one has taken it up. Our educational
system is completely outdated. I’ve gathered many of these studies and put
all the information together and it’s all basically pointing to the same
approach.
Over many years now, we have been researching this new way of using your
mind in conjunction with a university. My concern is that this information
won’t become generally available. Normally it takes years for something like
this to filter through – I’ve put it all together into a seminar and I teach
people the basics, then afterwards, the people who come to my seminars
continue to have meetings themselves and help one another to put the
material into practice.
You believe, Tony, that it is now possible for
anyone to achieve as the ‘greats’, the super-achievers, the world and
history changers or business and spiritual giants have done…
Yes. Part of my training is in what’s known as behavioural modelling. That
means you can take anyone’s behaviour, say that of a super-achiever, and you
can draw out that pattern and then install it in other people.
Again, I must point out that incredible studies have been done which support
this, sometimes over as long as a 30 year period – If the average person
used this information, well, they wouldn’t be average for very long, so it’s
vital that this information is not lost.
You used this behavioural modelling when you
worked with Dr. Jack Gibson…
Dr. Jack Gibson, an Irishman living in Ireland – and in my opinion one of
the greatest pioneers in medicine of our time, was able to do over 4,000
operations without any aesthetic, just using the power of the mind.
When I brought this to the attention of the university, they found it hard
to believe and it was decided that if we could get his permission, we would
apply behavioural modelling to his methods and then see if it were possible
for me to be involved in a series of operations without any aesthetic.
As you know, this took place and they showed it on ‘The Late Late Show’
(Prominent Irish TV chat show) and a number of doctors came forward to
validate what was happening.
But here’s a man with information that could have been lost to us, a man who
has put his whole lifetime into acquiring that information – and yet up
until then it was largely ignored!
So people go to your seminar and they learn what you call
"the most effective way ever devised of using their mind". What happens
then?
First of all, realize that what I’m teaching people is supported
overwhelmingly by research and also by the studies I’ve done myself. I’ve
gathered together this information and I present it to a person including
this totally new way of using more of their mind.
What the research clearly show is this: most people are only using one side
of their brain, generally the left side – in particular when they believe
they’re a very logical person, that will confine them to that left side.
However, take the Wright brothers, or the Thomas Edison’s or the Bill Gates
– these people are not just logical, they can also use the right side of
their brain.
They have a vision which may seem impossible or totally illogical to the
average person. If the world just ran on logic – think about this carefully
– if that were the only way, we’d still be back trying to discover the
wheel.
HOLISTIC THINKING
So, one of the first things that happens using the approach I
teach is that both sides of their brain switch on and this allows what has
become known in research as ‘holistic thinking’ – one side of the brain can
communicate with the other. You personally, Tara, have experienced the
difference this makes – opportunities appear, everything in the world seems
quite different, it’s like being a different person in a different world.
Limitations, problems literally seem to fade away.
BUSINESS STUDY
Another example is this marvellous study done by a man called Dr.
Adler. From the Sunday Times Newspaper top 1,000 List of successful people –
he took the top 150 and obtained interviews with them to find out what
caused their success.
The conclusion of the study was that all of these people were able to use
both sides of their brain and consequently were capable of ‘holistic
thinking’. He also was able to show that those on the lower rungs of the
ladder were only using one side of their brain, mainly the left side. This
seemed to hold true with everyone he interviewed.
Why then isn’t this taught in our schools or universities?
Because at this point in time, education is only interested in cramming in
information in the hope that this will allow us to live successfully. The
question it’s not addressing is "how can people become more aware, more
intelligent?" If you can use more of your brain and consequently more of
your mind – surely this would allow a person to live more successfully.
So, let me understand this clearly. You’re
saying you’re not interested in cramming information into people’s minds,
but rather in increasing the amount of brain and mind that is used, and
you’re saying that this is the secret to successful living?
Exactly.
I’m sure our readers would be interested in
hearing about what you call the ‘photographic mind’…
For hundreds of years now we’ve known that it’s possible to have the
mind photograph an outcome or a goal. We’ve known since the time of Freud
that these photographs or impressions are kept in our unconscious mind.
Freud believed that our whole life is basically dictated by these
impressions that are in the deeper part of our mind – there’s almost
unlimited research to show this to be true.
SHOCKING STUDY
An interesting example is a study that took place in an old people’s
home in America. They were researching why some people were unable to care
for themselves and were much more likely to be senile than others. The
shocking difference they discovered was this – if you, as a young person,
were exposed to older people who were senile and unable to care for
themselves, this could cause you to end up the same. While if you were
exposed to active older people who didn’t become senile, it appeared that
that was the mind-set that you formed and therefore that’s what happened to
you.
I’ve demonstrated this under university conditions. I took a whole business
and got everyone to use all of their mind to photograph the goal of the
business – increased sales – it took only one week for this to happen. Sales
doubled. I have countless examples of this from people with whom I’ve
worked.
We’ve all probably read the books
that talk about the subconscious mind which say that if we can get the goal
or the outcome we want into that subconscious mind it will come about. So
what you’re saying is it’s true!
Yes.
That’s the same approach we used with the surgical operations. The person
photographs that they’re going to have a pain-free operation and recovery
and that they’re going to be healthy and well without any aesthetic
whatsoever – then it seemed to happen (As seen on The Late Late Show).
It’s so vital that the average person realizes that their own mind is
working against their best interests – but with this 2 week training that
same person can photograph the outcomes, goals, lifestyle they want and the
chances of this coming about are very high.
I know personally of many people who have used
your approach and did have life-changing results – in fact that’s why I went
to your seminar in the first place.
One of the greatest researchers in the field of the mind is Dr.
Herbert Benson. He pointed out how you could use this photographic approach
and more of your mind. He even went so far as to say on the cover of his
book that if you use this approach he believed that 90% of all illnesses
could be helped.
He also says that by using your maximum mind, not only can you improve your
health, your healing, your fitness, but you can also increase your brain
power and discovered the enormous potential of whole brain thinking. Here is
a man who has gathered research over a 30-year period to show this.
Could you talk a little bit about what you call
your true nature?
If we go back to William James, he maintained that when we used more of our
mind we would awaken to our true nature, or what is often called in research
‘the self’. We’ve already said that when you learn to use more of your mind
– both sides of your brain switch on and you’re capable of whole brain
thinking and your awareness increases.
One of the researchers in this area, Dave Elman, went so far as to say that
the increase in awareness could be as high as 2,000%, that is 20 times
normal. I don’t feel I could put it at a percentage but you, Tara, are aware
that there is an amazing difference. So, when both sides of your brain
switch on, that increased awareness allows you to know your own mind.
GENIUS
You discover that
your own mind has it’s own true nature outside of what you’re taught. It has
a nature, a movement and a purpose of its own. (It’s very difficult to tell
this to a person who’s only using one side of their brain because with that
limited awareness they can’t experience this fact.)
However, when you’re using both sides of your brain and more of your
awareness, more of your mind, you’ll find that you’re automatically more
intelligent, frankly you may even conclude that you’re a genius! At least
you’ll understand how a genius comes to be. You’ll realize when you’re using
your brain and your mind in this way, you can photograph outcomes and they
will come about. You’ll be shocked when you are talking to a ‘normal’
person. You will see they are, as Freud has pointed out, programmed by
these photographs in their mind. Consequently, they are not aware of their
true nature, of themselves and they really don’t know what they think. Such
people are actually hypnotized, they’re in a trance.
SELF-IMAGE
That’s possibly very difficult for
the average person to follow, that they could be in a trance.
Really? Well, just say if you take someone who has an inferiority complex,
or a poor self-image – if they go to do something, the poor self-image or
the inferiority complex may tell them that’s impossible for them.
They cannot talk to the person of the opposite sex that they really fancy or
they can’t go for the job they want, be the life and soul of the party or
give a talk to an audience. If you take the person who is hypnotized by
success, under that influence they could be absolutely ruthless. They don’t
care what happens to other people once they get what they want.
If you want to give an extreme sledge-hammer version of this you can see it
in the last war where if I’m the Nazi who’s hypnotized by that ideology,
when I see the Jew, I immediately want to hurt, gas, kill exterminate.
Research shows overwhelmingly that the average person is hypnotized, is in a
trance, is under the influence if you wish.
HARVARD AND YALE
You pointed out
on the seminar that there was a very interesting study done on this at both
Harvard (15 years) and Yale (12 years) on what they termed ‘mindlessness
versus mindfulness’…
Yes,
mindlessness literally means what we’re talking about – that the person is
under the influence and therefore they’re behaving in a mindless manner.
What I’m teaching people is how to awaken from all of these trances to their
true nature, to their own mind and to live from that mind, with their full
mental capacity or as much as possible. Then they would live in a totally
different way, as I believe you’ve experienced.
I know from being at your seminars that you
point out that people generally are under the influence of what you call the
‘programs’ and then they try to take action through them…
Yes, the ‘programs’ could be an inferiority complex, it could be a success
complex, a poor self-image, it could be self-imposed limitations, it could
be creed, colour, race, the past. So you look through this ‘program’ and
react to life. But what would happen if you didn’t look through any of this?
FLOW OF LIFE
An incredible study which took place over 10 years at the Chicago
University and also involved Milan Medical School in Italy, the University
of Seoul in Korea, Murdoch University in Australia and the Tohoku university
in Japan was able to show that when we awaken from the trances we got into
the ‘flow’ of life and the researchers even claimed that this was the very
secret of happiness. This was accompanied by mental efficiency and feelings
of effortlessness and the mind functioning at its peak. To be able to do
this made possible peak performances and even optimal experiences in every
area studied. They just about studied every area you can imagine from
surgery to dancing, business to daily life.
So, to sum up what you’re saying – the person
can actually awaken from these trances which can be self-imposed or have
been imposed by society, then they can use both sides of their brain, have
more awareness and live in a totally different way?
Yes, and the key to it all is learning to use more of your brain and
more of your mind.
Indeed another highly respected study (conducted mainly at Yale) which has
now been published in book form shows how using more of your mind was the
key to having ultimate relationships and even euphoric sex.
20-YEAR STUDY
I find it
fascinating to realize that you’ve only got to learn to use more of your
brain and your mind and then you can just apply it in any area that you wish
from becoming more spiritual to becoming richer. On the seminar I often
point out to people about the 20 year study by Napoleon Hill of some of the
most successful people in America – including the two richest men who ever
lived, even richer than Bill Gates by today’s standards – people like Andrew
Carnegie and Rockefeller.
THE SECRET
Carnegie claimed he had the secret to how to become successful in
any area. He invited Napoleon Hill to conduct a 20-year study with the most
successful people of the time to find out how many people knew of this
secret. They all claimed to use this secret, including Thomas Edison who
was possibly the greatest inventor of all time. The secret essentially
was how to apply all of your mind to the results that you wanted. Even then,
they were talking about getting your subconscious mind to photograph what
you wanted to come about.
You also talk a lot on the seminars about power…
Yes, suppose a person is looking through what I call a ‘program’, let
me again use the simple example of the poor self-image or inferiority
complex – then if you ask such a person to stand up and give a talk, they
would react to the situation. Now, if in some way (which of course is
what I teach) the person can step out of that ‘program’, then that open or
free mind can take direct action – the person is asked to give a talk,
doesn’t have an inferiority complex and can quite happily get up and do it.
POWERFUL
As people like William James (and in latter days people like Carl
Rogers) have shown, the more ‘programs’ are there, the less powerful the
person is. It takes a switch in your mind to get into abundant living.
That switch is out of damming up your power of your energy in the ‘programs’
– i.e. stress, tension, worry, fears, problems, phobias, self-limitations.
You can learn to take all of your energy out of this. Then your physical and
mental energy comes up – and so does your awareness – you’re a different
person. We can go back to the average person who’s only using a very
small amount of their mind – it’s like there’s this huge field and they’re
only choosing to use a very small corner and they’re living their life
through that very small corner. It’s like trying to live your life ‘through’
the inferiority complex and there’s really only a little bit of you coming
out to actually live. If only everyone reading this could realize the truth
of this. It’s like trying to run your car with the brakes on. Take the
brakes off and then you’ll see what power you have.
STEVE
COLLINS
An
excellent example of this would be the boxer Steve Collins with whom I
worked with in his fight against Chris Eubank. If you ever saw that fight
you would see that Chris Eubank was looking through the ‘programs’ – he was
certainly fearful. In fact, it took an hour to persuade him on the first
meeting to even come out for the weigh-in. In comparison, Steve was
just totally focused on the winning. That’s all he could see. He was just
very one-directional mentally about it and consequently he had power. I
remember in the second fight, where Steve literally rushed out and nearly
knocked both himself and Eubank out of the ring. He just kept coming forward
all the time because there was no ‘program’ in the way. What a
difference it would make to the average person if they could just take all
of their energy and power out of these ‘programs’ and into going forward in
life.
The seminars that you hold are quite expensive…
Yes. I want people who are really serious – people who are prepared to be
all that they can be and live to their full potential. I can never resist
saying that people spend fortunes updating their computers – do you realize
what we’re talking about here is just the price of a small car? I
really only want people who put a value on what I’m teaching and on
themselves. If you update your brain and your mind it would be easy to be
successful in all areas of living. In addition, such people would begin to
realize as I do that just about all the personal and global problems we are
facing are simply the result of our minds not keeping up with our technology
– we need a revolution, or an evolution in our mind. It is the next great
frontier. The problems personally and globally are arising because
people are very immature, they are using just one side of their brain. So,
not only could using all of your brain and mind make the vital difference in
your daily life, but ultimately, it would bring about a change in society as
we know it today. Indeed we would then live in a different world
entirely. I don’t believe there is anything that’s more important than
learning how to use all of your brain and mind.
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