Dear friend,

If you have been following our work over the last couple of weeks, you probably have already read the essay The Fear of Life and the Simple Act of Inward Looking That Snuffs it Out, which sums up our understanding of the cause and the cure for the strangely common human disaffection with life.

You may also have seen the document we sent out to the community entitled The Way Forward, in which we describe our plans for the future.   These two documents taken together say pretty much everything we have to say about these matters, and we urge you to read them if you haven't already done so.

We believe that the profound discontent with life, that seems to be the common experience of most humans, begins when the fear of life itself — which comes upon us without warning at birth, caused by we know not what — opens a wound of helpless anxiety that causes us to keep life always at a safe distance, and to be ever watchful for danger and promise. This defensive posture spoils our experience of life and leaves us forever searching for something that will redeem, transform, or allow us to transcend, our own lives.  The medicine for this wound is to look with the mind's eye at the raw experience of being a person, of being me — just once, for one small fraction of a second.

We know now what can be done to bring an end to the endless, self-destructive insanity that seems to afflict the entire human species, and we know how to tell people about it cleanly and plainly enough that anyone can easily understand it and see for themselves the promise and the self-evident harmlessness of this simple act so that they can try it at will.  Having seen this clearly, and having seen how simple and easy is the solution to this misery, our only goal now is to bring the news of the miracle of inward looking at oneself to all of humanity as quickly as possible.

We believe that anyone who hears this suggestion to look at their own experience of being a person, will try it on the spot. Why wouldn't they? There's nothing to lose; there's nothing to understand, there's nothing to get or get rid of. And we believe that the trying of it is all that's needed to trigger a profound change in the relationship with life for anyone who does try.

And once the suggestion is heard, there's no need for more talk about it, no need for more understanding, no need for more thinking about it, trying to fine-tune the expression of it. There's no need to require universal agreement on the whys and wherefores of it. Any reason to do it is good enough — as long as you do it.

It's that simple.

We are now in the process of creating a worldwide movement that we are calling Just One Look. The goal of Just One Look is to do nothing more and nothing less than bring the clear and simple suggestion to look at yourself just once to 20 percent of the world population within a year.

We believe that if that many people try to take just one look at the reality of their nature, for just a fraction of a second, this communal action will create a kind of critical mass of simple sanity that can arrest the inexorable slide of humanity toward more and deeper insanity and reverse the direction of the development of human consciousness and community toward sanity, peace, and freedom from fear for all.

This is like nothing that has ever been done before; this is a living revolution in the making for the entire human species. This is not a movement to create a new model of being, or living, or understanding life. This is not an attempt to create a new orthodoxy, or a new organization to support and guard the new orthodoxy.  This is a movement which will end when its goal is reached, which is the generation of a tsunami of sanity that will sweep through the human species and disappear without a trace.

All that's needed is to get word of it out to the rest of us, cleanly and plainly enough so it can be heard by all, regardless of their background. 

We have come to see that, as fantastic as it might seem, we actually can do this. We will soon be asking for the involvement of the entire community in making it happen. We have already begun to discuss with some of you what it would take, in practical terms, to accomplish this goal.  We're writing to you now to ask you to take part with us in this great experiment.

We recently received a thoughtful and intelligent letter from someone who has just heard of our work, asking if it might not be possible to ask some of the people who have done the looking and seen the results for themselves to make recorded reports of their experience. The writer points to the power of hearing the actual voices of people telling about their experience with the looking, instead of simply reading such reports in letters, emails, and online postings.

We think this is a great idea, and we plan soon to publish a new audio podcast of just such direct reports from people who have experience with the looking and its effects on their relationship with their own lives. We want to give the world a chance to hear directly from those who know best, from their own experience,

• how they came upon this approach;
• what they thought of it when they first heard of it;
• what they did to try to get the first look;
• what problems and difficulties they experienced in the effort to look;
• what worked and what did not;
• how the course of recovery from the effects of the fear of life unfolded;
• whether and in what ways their lives have changed as a result of the looking;
• and whatever else they might think would be helpful to those coming upon this suggestion freshly.

Many new people are now showing up, drawn by what they have read in the book Look At Yourself or heard in recent interviews with John in venues that reach a broader audience than we have previously had access to. And, like the writer of the email, they are often interested in hearing about other people's experience with this radical new approach to the problem of being human. Which is where you come in.

We receive many reports in meetings, emails and postings at the community forums which catch our attention as clear expressions of what can actually be expected by those who try this simple act. Your reports, free as they are of the ordinary mystical states and orthodox spiritual claims, evoke for us the deep authenticity that has the power to move people.

Few arguments are as clean, as plain and as compelling as a personal affirmation of the truth of what is being claimed. Personal testimony from those who have tried the looking and are satisfied with the results can go a long way toward cutting through the ordinary reactions of distrust and pessimism. That's why we are writing to you now to ask you to help in this important work.

We are looking for reports of the actual experience of people who have been in this adventure with us, not just glowing reports of success. We are certain that the most useful information people can receive about this work is the truth from those who have been doing it. It is authenticity we are after here, not cherry-picked claims of success.

If you decide to participate, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. We will ask you to choose one among four different two-hour time slots to meet with Carla using the same software we use for Online Meetings. Your private conversation with Carla will be scheduled within the time slot of your choice;
   
   
2. Each person will have about 10 minutes with Carla. Your report of your experience with the looking should be no more than 3 minutes long. The conversation will be recorded;
   
   
3. When you speak, we would like you to state your name, your age, your city, state and country;
   
   
4. We would like you to be prepared. Things to think about when preparing for the meeting: What was your relationship with your life like before you started looking? What worked best for you to figure out where to look? What was your experience during the course of recovery? What is your relationship with your life now?
   
   
5. We encourage you to write down what you would like to say, and use your notes as a guideline while you speak. We believe that if you try to write down your experience, even if it is in the form of simple bullet points, it will become clearer to you how to talk about it. Writing about it may help you say everything you would like to say, while remaining as objective and to the point as possible. Think of it as writing a note to a friend, telling him or her about your experience with the looking.  If you have already written about your experience in emails or letters to us or anyone else, you might use the text of those reports, you might even just read them aloud.
   
   
6. All individual recordings will be edited into one audio file and posted on the John Sherman Podcast and on iTunes. We will also post the audio file on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
   

Step 1: Request to participate & choice of time slot

Please click on the link below to go to our website where you will find a form to let us know you want to participate, and to reserve a time that will work for you.

Yes, I want to help by telling you about my experience with the looking.

Please submit your form as soon as possible and choose ONLY ONE time slot that would be best for you. The time and day of your conversation with Carla will be scheduled within the time slot of your choice.

Step 2: Confirmation

As soon as there is a spot available, we will send you another email with a personalized link to connect, phone numbers available, etc.

Click here to begin.

Thank you very much for your help!

John & Carla Sherman
Just One Look

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