Being Human: The John Sherman Podcast

"We believe that the sole cause of all pathological personality traits in human beings is the fear of life. We believe that fear of life comes upon us accidentally at or near our birth, and we believe that all hatred of self and others, all greed, all pathological aggression, all narcissistic preoccupation with self and lack of regard for others are the fruit of that fear. " John Sherman Complete recording of a Public Meeting with John Sherman in Ojai, California on October 21, 2012. Length: 1 h 23 min File size: 19.89 MB

"The act of looking at the actual feeling of 'me' brings an end to misery and hatred if life itself." John Sherman Complete recording of Meeting #3 of an Online Intensive with John Sherman on June 26, 2013. Length: 1 h 19 min File size: 18.78 MB

"Spiritual teachings assume that our only hope is outside the normal experience of a human being. What the wisdom teachings seek to do is to stop the madness of the psychology by withdrawing from the mind into states of emptiness and bliss. I'm not suggesting that there is anything wrong with that. It's just not what we are doing here. We offer a chance to be free of the only thing that has caused us to hate our lives, which is the fear of life." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on June 24, 2013. Length: 56 min File size: 13.47 MB

"The fear of life is not the immediate experience of fearfulness that arises in the face of a real threat. The fear of life is a silent, unseen assumption that life is dangerous. It is the context that produces the psychological mechanism that excretes those fears and anxieties. Once you get that insight, it explains everything. Knowing the cause of the problem reveals that you are not responsible for the madness of your own mind." John Sherman Complete recording of Meeting 2 of an Online Intensive with John Sherman on June 25, 2013. Length: 1 h 7 min File size: 16.07 MB

"The practice of moving attention from troubling thoughts to the sensation of breathing is very useful. It not only it defangs the experience those thoughts are about, but it gives you an opportunity to develop new skillfulness in moving your attention to where it can do some good." John Sherman Complete recording of an Open House Meeting with John Sherman on June 19, 2013. Length: 32 min File size: 18.3 MB

John Sherman speaks about the nature and history of human spiritual yearning, and about the goals and effectiveness of the wisdom teachings that have sprung from it. He explains why the simple act of looking at yourself is not spiritual, and how it differs from spiritual teachings that seem to be similar. Complete recording of an Worldwide Online Meeting with John Sherman on June 16, 2013. Length: 60 min File size: 14.58 MB NOTE: We did the best we could to improve the sound quality, but there are still crackling and popping sounds throughout the recording. If you can get over it, the talk and the conversations are really worth listening to.