Being Human: The John Sherman Podcast

"It's not necessary to understand the cause of the negative thoughts and emotions that disturb you. They are thought only. The root cause of all of them is the appearance of the fear of life as a context that shapes and distorts the personal psychological apparatus. Declining to attend to those thoughts cannot bring you any harm." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on February 12, 2014. Length: 46 min File size: 10.92 MB

"In a fear-based psychology there is a strong assumption that the presence of difficulty and problems is a sign that something is wrong, and that they must be eliminated before satisfaction is possible. In the period following the looking, those fearful psychological mechanisms begin to fall away and to be replaced by a saner and more intelligent relationship with the natural problems and difficulties that continue to be a part of life, regardless of our relationship to them. This sane engagement with life's difficulty turns out to be the source of true and abiding satisfaction" John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on January 22, 2014. Length: 38 min File size: 8.98 MB

"One of the main characteristics that make the work we do here unique is the fact that there is no teaching here. We have no model or paradigm to impose on anybody. This is a community and we encourage all to play an active role and bring what they see to the entire community." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on January 15, 2014. Length: 49 min File size: 22.2 MB

"It is long past time for us to come to an understanding of the central role that mind plays in our lives." John Sherman Complete recording of a Worldwide Online Meeting with John Sherman on January 18, 2014. Length: 1 h 6 min File size: 15.72 MB

"Even those of us who have found the solution in the simple act of looking at ourselves may find that the last vestige of the effects of the fear is often the underlying assumption that salvation is an individual matter and must be complete for the individual before the problem of the misery of others can be touched." John Sherman Complete recording of a Just One Look Grassroots Meeting with John Sherman on December 15, 2013. Length: 38 min File size: 9.02 MB

"One of the most harmful psychological effects of living from a context of fear and distrust is the way it alienates us from one another." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on December 11, 2013. Length: 42 min File size: 10.05 MB

DEATHLESS? "The more expectations we hold as to what life should be like, the less effective we are in living life and engaging with it intelligently." John Sherman Complete recording of a Worldwide Online Meeting with John Sherman on December 8, 2013. Length: 35 min File size: 8.28 MB

"I am aware of my fundamental nature, and it is obvious that it is untouched by the experience of life. But the idea of silent deathlessness is not very interesting to me. It's just beside the point. What IS interesting is life." John Sherman. Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on December 4, 2013. Length: 44 min File size: 10.62 MB

"Getting a taste of what you feel like is only possible because of the power you have to place your attention where you want it to go." John Sherman Complete recording of a Meeting in Ojai, California with John Sherman on November 23, 2013. Length: 1 h 32 min File size: 22.12 MB

"We have no power to change what is already here but, by using the power of attention and participating in life with self-reliance, you can influence what is to come." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on November 20, 2013. Length: 45 min File size: 10.8 MB

"Expectations come in at least two flavors. The first flavor, and the least harmful, is a reasonable expectation as to what might happen in the course of our day-to-day life. The second is not only much less reasonable, but also represents a barrier to its own fulfillment." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on November 13, 2013. Length: 44 min File size: 10.41 MB

"The idea 'I'm okay, nothing touches me' is just a thought form, and it's part of the symptom package with which the psychology seeks to protect itself. What's much more useful is to train your attention without regard to the nature of the experience that is present, so as to develop more control over where your attention goes." John Sherman Complete recording of a Worldwide Online Meeting with John Sherman on November 10, 2013. Length: 52 min File size: 12.44 MB

"The process of recovery that follows the first attempt to look at yourself can be long and difficult, but that is really unnecessary. Working with attention will shortcut the torment and confusion caused by being exposed to life directly for the first time." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on November 6, 2013. Length: 36 min File size: 8.54 MB

What Happens After the Looking? "At the first moment of putting attention on 'me', the invisible environment of fear of life is snuffed out immediately, but the old psychological mechanisms remain in place for a while." John Sherman Complete recording of Meeting #3 of a Three-Day Online Intensive with John Sherman on October 23, 2013. Length: 52 min File size: 12.43 MB

The Fear of Life "When we speak of the 'fear of life', we are speaking of the environment in which most human minds and all their psychological relationships to experience take shape. As the fear of life takes hold, it establishes an unexamined assumption, when the mind begins to take form, that life is to be feared." John Sherman Complete recording of Meeting #1 of a Three-Day Online Intensive with John Sherman on October 21, 2013. Length: 42 min File size: 10.11 MB

"If you try to do the act of looking with an expectation of what it will feel like, the chances of actually getting a direct contact with the sensation of 'me' are very faint. What the act feels like is beside the point. Start out with a clean intention to simply get a taste of what you call 'me' and you will succeed." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on October 16, 2013. Length: 45 min File size: 10.79 MB

"The act of looking at yourself brings about a fresh start for pretty much everyone who tries it. I am here to invite you to join us in a mission to bring the opportunity for a fresh start to the entire human community." John Sherman Complete recording of a Worldwide Online Meeting with John Sherman on September 15, 2013. Length: 1 hour File size: 13.98 MB

"It's the first look that makes all the difference. It triggers the course that will follow. What seems to happen is that if more looking is needed, more looking will take place automatically. So, just one look is all it takes, but that doesn't mean that you will not look again." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on July 17, 2013.

"Nothing we do from the view that the psychology (the mind) is the problem that needs to be fixed has ever given us permanent relief from its miserable nature whatsoever." John Sherman Complete recording of a Worldwide Online Meeting with John Sherman on July 14, 2013. Length: 56 min File size: 13.4 MB

"Once you have tried to look at yourself, there can be a period when things seem to get worse for you. That's just temporary. The most useful thing you can do for yourself during that time is to first notice that the focus of your attention is caught by hurtful thoughts, and then deliberately try to move it away from those thoughts to the sensation of the breath coming in and out of your body. This practice will strengthen your capacity to decide where you put your attention." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on July 10, 2013. Length: 58 min File size: 13.9 MB