That's Interesting... But...

Here are some common initial reactions we get from people when they first hear about The Sunflower Experiment.  Maybe you had some of these same initial reactions?  Here are our responses.

My religion is all I need to live a happy life- what are you going to teach me that I can't get from my religion?

Being active in a peaceful religion is a wonderful thing which we highly recommend. The creators of The Sunflower Experiment, are both active Christians who go to church every week. We assume that many of the people who will be drawn to The Sunflower Experiment are religious people, and also that they have already developed themselves personally to a higher degree than most. The purpose of The Sunflower Experiment is to help us all grow personally regardless of our religious affiliation or level of activity within our religion and regardless of our current level of personal growth. We can all grow more from where we are if that is our intention and we are open to learning opportunities that get put in our path. The Sunflower Experiment is exactly that- a great learning opportunity that has been put in your path to increase your own level of personal growth and by direct extension, your happiness.

We've put together what we call Future You Profile.  It's a list of typical traits of someone who is fairly advanced in their personal growth.  These traits have nothing to do with any specific religion.  They are traits that can (and will) describe you as you reach higher levels of personal growth. 

An organized religion can help us to advance our personal growth, and growing ourselves personally- from whatever source the growth comes- can help us be better members of our religion. We've certainly found this to be true in our own lives.

We would caution against the mind set that your religion (whatever it may be) has everything you'll ever need to grow yourself personally and you'd be wasting your time to look in other places for principles of truth and useful practices for developing increased personal growth. There is much truth to be found in all different religions as well as in many different teachers that are not associated with a particular religion. The Sunflower Experiment draws on principles and practices of truth from many different religions as well as many different spiritual teachers not officially representing a particular religion.  We then invite you to conduct a personal experiment with these teachings in your own life and just see what happens. 

We think that you'll be pleasantly surprised at how the very practical things we cover in The Sunflower Experiment can really make a huge difference in your personal growth- no matter how religious or non-religious you are. That's one of the reason we call it an experiment- because you need to experiment with it yourself- apply it in your current life and keep an open mind and just see what you notice. If you think you've already mastered what we share with you and you get no added value out of it- you just ask for as much of your money back as you want, no questions asked. So if nothing else- just be a little curious and try it out. You've got nothing to loose and maybe- just maybe a whole lot to gain.

I'm already a really happy person, why should I pay you to "fix" what isn't broken?

It's not about being broken or fixed. We're not trying to fix anyone. We're offering a guided e-course in personal growth and asking you to treat it as an experiment in your own life and see what changes you notice as a result of participating in The Sunflower Experiment. Just like a plant starts as a seed and goes through stages of growth, we too need to grow personally through stages. Personal growth is a continual and in fact an eternal process that is never finished or "fixed". To the extent that you are already living the type of life we described in Future You Profile, we think you'll be all the more drawn to what we're offering as you are already highly attuned to attracting truth into your life. Whenever we think we already "know it all" we've disconnected ourselves from the process of growth and we start to stagnate and deteriorate. We don't claim to "know it all"-- not by a long shot. We only claim that what we have learned and carefully organized into The Sunflower Experiment has helped us and many others tremendously and can and will help you too if you are open to "experimenting" with it.

This sounds like a bunch of "New Age Spiritualism" stuff and I'm a conservative religious person or a "show me the facts" scientifically minded type of person.

We live in a marvelous age where the historical perception of a gap between science and religion is closing quickly- like the two ends of a line being bent into a complete circle.  Quantum physics is just now getting to the point of being able to explain scientifically the existence of a non-physical, vibrational reality from which all physical phenomenon emerge.  This has been taught as truth in many religions for millenia.  Albert Einstein, the ultimate scientist understood this better than most.  Here's just one of many similar things he had to say:

"A human being is part of the whole, called by us “universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. "

Sounds a bit "new age-y" to me. 

The Sunflower Experiment isn't about what's new or old, what's east or west, what's religious or new age- it's about what's true and how you can prove it to the only person that matters- you.  We've studied quite extensively many of the world's greatest and most enduring religions.  There is nothing in what we offer in The Sunflower Experiment that is at odds with what Jesus or Buddha or Lao Tzu or Rumi or many other great spiritual leaders of the past have taught.  In fact if a principle wasn't taught by these great teachers in some form, it didn't make the cut for what we offer in The Sunflower Experiment.  Likewise, we've studied extensively from many of today's most enlightened "new age" teachers and scientists and everything we present in The Sunflower Experiment is also supported by their teachings.  Once again- it isn't either/or- it is all one truth looked at from various angles and better understood because the unity of it is seen through a diversity of points of view.   

Why would I pay good money for an "experiment"?  Either it works or it doesn't. 

We chose the name Experiment very deliberately.  To read more about why we use this word to describe what we're offering, go to the page on this site called "Our Name" and read the part about "Why An Experiment".  Most of what you'll find in the "self-improvement" field sells "guaranteed solutions" or proven methods.  They like to tell you they have the "secret" formula or method to bring you all you desire. 

The truth is that no words- however inspired or "motivational" they may be, have the power to teach you anything. The most words can do is inspire you to do something and it is in the doing- in the experimenting with life that we really understand truth. So it's not that the principles and practices we'll share with you in The Sunflower Experiment are "experimental" or "unproven"- they aren't. It's that until you turn it into your own personal life experiment- it will just be more words- more knowledge that doesn't really make a real difference in your life.

A good book only costs $15, what's so different about what you're offering that I should pay more for it?

We love a good book. In fact we've read hundreds of good books and continue to read more every month. But as stated above- books can only go so far- the most they can do is inspire action- and there's nobody but yourself to keep your motivated to take action. The author of the book has no real connection with you, there is no follow up. They may have some great things to teach you that they gained from their own personal experimenting in their own lives, but until you do your own experimenting- that knowledge will not have the power to change your life as it did theirs.

The Sunflower Experiment is a very different experience than reading a good book. It is much more like a good college or graduate school course- a semester long learning process with homework assignments and tests and measuring of progress. How much have you paid for a college course? Do the math- per course it probably gets into the thousands of dollars pretty quickly for something that lasts about as long as The Sunflower Experiment. Now compare the difference that The Sunflower Experiment can make in your life vs. any other college or graduate school course. How many of them can even claim to give you any of the benefits you'll get from The Sunflower Experiment?

Really "getting" (through your own experimentation) just one of the many principles or practices we offer you in The Sunflower Experiment will make any price you paid for this course a huge bargain. And of course, if you do it and feel like you didn't get your money's worth out of it- just ask for as much of your money back as you want to- up to the full amount you paid and we'll give it back- no questions asked. Try that at your local college! Infact I can think of a lot of my own college and MBA school courses I'd love to get refunds on.

What is The Sunflower Experiment going to do that all the other "self-help" books and seminars I've been to haven't been able to do? Besides, who are you guys to be telling me how to live my life?  I've never even heard of you.

Probably the biggest difference between all those "gurus" and "experts" out there in the "Self-Improvement" world and The Sunflower Experiment is that we ARE NOT YOUR GURU. We are not "Experts." We don't want you to place us an a pedestal like so often happens with many of the "success" oriented "experts" out there. We are regular everyday guys that have learned by experimenting in our own lives with the principles and practices taught by many sources. Whatever we share with you has passed the "practicality" test in our own active lives. And our whole emphasis is not to teach you to look to us for guidance- but to look to a much better and infallible source- right within you. You are ultimately your own best teacher and coach- and no one will ever know "you" better than "YOU". (You'll understand the very important distinction to be made between little you (you) and big you (YOU) in the first week of The Sunflower Experiment). Understanding who you really are and what you're really capable of is one of the most important truths we can help you discover. Everything else we share with you is built upon that foundation.

Without understanding that important distinction and without having that as your foundation for growth- all the other books, courses and seminars out there will ultimately fail, no matter how "famous" the "expert" is- because they teach you to look to a source outside of YOU for guidance.

I'm more interested in things like making money, improving my relationships or being "successful"- I don't know about all this "personal growth" stuff.  I've got more pressing physical needs right now. 

And you always will have pressing physical needs like lack of money or dysfunctional relationships so long as you stay on the surface of life and look for your solutions there. On the surface of life- the solutions that are offered to us don't have any real power to change us. They may make us feel better temporarily, but all that lives on the surface of life is by it's very nature a constantly changing reflection or mirage. It's real enough in terms of being able to experience it with our 5 physical senses, but that's one of the important lessons we'll cover in The Sunflower Experiment is that what's "real" may be very different than what you may have come to believe. What's real is what doesn't change. Anything that changes isn't real- it's temporary.

By going below the surface level of the physical senses into the deeper non-physical level of spirit where all personal growth comes from,  you'll finally find the real source of your happiness and the real cause for the effects that you experience as real on the surface. Until you really "get" what personal growth is (again- through your own personal experience with it instead of just reading about it or hearing about it), you'll find everything else you try to do to improve your life ultimately frustrating and confusing.

The Sunflower Experiment focuses so much on "personal growth" because we've learned for ourselves that things like money, health, success and relationships are just surface level manifestations of the state of our inner world. So why waste time trying to fix things in the world of effects when we could be working in the world of causes and let the effects take care of themselves?

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