John Sherman’s work is to teach the method of the vichara to all who are interested.

Like everyone, John spent most of his life unconsciously searching for the one perfect path out of the wilderness of human life; the one perfect idea, the one perfect thing to think, to understand, to want, to have, to believe, to become that would bring him salvation and satisfaction.  The course of John’s search was extreme compared to most, but the result was the same: nothing worked, nothing ever does.

Late in 1975, when he was 33 years old, John discovered the perfect idea of perfect Social Justice, and set out to become the perfect Communist revolutionary.  joined with a small group of anarcho-communist radicals, and embarked upon four years of bank robberies, property bombings, gunfights with the police, two escapes from federal prisons and two years on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List; all done in the name of supporting the struggles of the American worker for justice.  In the end it came to nothing.

In January of 1976, he was shot and captured during a bank robbery; in March, he escaped. 

In 1978, after two years on the run, robbing banks and organizing property bombings, John was captured by the FBI, tried, convicted, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

In March of 1979, he escaped again from the federal prison where he was serving his sentence.  In April of 1981, after two years on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, he was finally captured for the last time and returned to prison.

In June of 1994, in the fifteenth year of his imprisonment, the American spiritual teacher Gangaji came to the prison where John was serving his sentence.  John found himself face to face with her and, in that meeting, discovered himself to be eternally and unconditionally free.  Three and a half years later, in 1998, he was released on parole.

Upon his release, John moved to Boulder, Colorado.  John met Carla in Boulder and they were married in June of 1999, in San Rafael, California. In 2001, John and Carla moved to Ojai, California, where they live with their cat, Switters.  In August of 2007, John was released from parole.

Since 1999, John offers guidance in the practice of the vichara, and encourages people to seek only the simple truth of their actual nature. John speaks from his experience, listens to reports, and answers questions.

All meetings and events with John are always free of charge. All are welcome, with no regard for religious and spiritual beliefs or practices. Our work is entirely supported by donations.

RiverGanga Foundation (FEIN 77-0561647) is a public not-for-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. All donations are tax-deductible according to IRS regulations.