| Anonymous feedback. Tell us what you think. (more info) |
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| Anonymous feedback. Tell us what you think. (more info) |
| Send us your message. |
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| Seeing through the trick |
Dear John, Thank you from the depths of my individual spirit for the gift of your simple instructions for the Vichara. In my case, they have proven to be nothing short of a god-send. Thank you, thank you. I follow your advice of taking a moment whenever it occurs to me to stop for a second and feel what it is to be. To taste the always present and undeniable feeling that I am here. I find that as time goes on I do this much less and less. There was a period where it was an incessant thing, but that seemed to taper off on its own. Now, it comes up occasionally, but more as remembering that I am already always doing that, rather than as a thing I need to remember to do. I also do a focused period of this tasting every morning during my daily meditation. You suggested this in one of your talks once, and it works particularly well in my case. This morning, while sitting quietly tasting the raw feeling of being I saw through this trick of yours. Since this feeling is something that I can feel, it must not be me. With that simple thought my identity dropped away. I am not this feeling, I am that which is aware of this feeling. That awareness has no boundary, and is not a product of this physical form. It is the first feeling, of simple existence, which all have and which comes before all other thoughts. This is the first inkling, or the I-I that Ramana referred to. In the individual mind it gives rise to the individual sense of identity and gives rise to the I thought. Since it is everywhere present it also gives any other mind the You, or We, that appears to an individual I. It is also the wellspring of the objects of the world, the source of It, separate things. The simple feeling of being is the first part of the urge of Awareness to see. As you say, this is the first part of the forms of the world being "sucked out of, Silent Awareness." This previous Awareness, this which witnesses the simple feeling of being, has no identity. There is nothing to not do in order to be free of identification. Identification comes long after this first feeling (albeit indescribably fast for us), but in no way ever has an effect on this Awareness. Walking through this life, enjoying the play of things, it is never affected in the least. My body may move, my mind certainly does, but nowhere that that movement takes it will the Awareness, which I am, not already be. All are already this, even if they don't care to see it. There is nowhere anyone to "save", but through this Awareness lies the salvation of the world. Again, thank you, and Carla, for all your efforts to spread this simple, simple teaching.
T. San Francisco, California
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| Worldwide Online Meeting | ||||
Saturday, March 13 at 1 pm PT (GMT/UTC -8) People all over the world gather together online with John for a couple of hours. John is available to listen to your questions, and to help you sort out any difficulties you might experience in your own practice of the vichara. This is very much like a call-in radio show. If you simply want to listen to the meetings, all you need to do is to install the software and have speakers attached to your computer. If you wish to speak with John, then you will need a headset with microphone. You can also use earbuds and a microphone. |
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| Download our 2010 Schedule of Events: | ||||
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All our events are always free of charge. All are welcome, with no regard for religious and spiritual beliefs and practices. Spontaneous donations for the support of our work are always welcome and gratefully accepted. |
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| Featured Letter of the Month | ||||
| We receive many, many beautiful and useful letters. Every month we try to feature one here that seems especially valuable and instructive for one reason or another. | ||||
| Podcast | ||||
A Meeting with John Sherman - February 13, 2010 "Self-reliance is not easy. Self-reliance is full of mistakes, stumbling blocks, false trails and premature conclusions. Self-reliance isn't pretty. Self-reliance is hard, it is not easy. It is easy to abandon self-reliance and try to find answers in other people's understandings and experiences. That's easy. Trying to manifest experiences that we have come to believe to be what we need to be in order to be free and happy and satisfied and fulfilled, that's easy. But it is not self-reliance." John Sherman Complete, live recording of a Worldwide Meeting with John Sherman broadcast live from Ojai, California on February 13, 2010. |
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| Video Blog | ||||
Our Work First, last, and always, my advice is only to look at the feeling of being you, without the mediation of understanding, the need to resolve paradox, or the requirement that this looking lead to any conclusion. Simply make every effort just to look, and persist in that effort as often as you can. In this effort, understanding is irrelevant, belief is irrelevant, even duration is irrelevant -- the briefest look, repeated over time, does all the work. A Message from John Sherman, videotaped in Ojai, California on May 15, 2009. |
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Our work is to bring the vichara to all who are interested. The only problem anywhere to be found is the false belief that you are at the mercy of your life, and the only solution is the truth, which is everywhere and always present and self-evident. Ridding oneself of the false is as easy as repeatedly tasting the truth of being here, unmovingly, unchangingly here. This repeated looking directly at oneself is the infallible method of the vichara. Although our meetings are free of charge, they are certainly not free of cost. The money needed for this work must come entirely from the generosity and compassion of those who, like us, have seen for themselves the immense worth of spreading this good news to all humanity. Please help provide financial support for the work of making this method more widely available in the world by making a donation or a monthly pledge in any amount now. All gifts to the RiverGanga Foundation are fully tax-deductible as charitable donations. |
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