Just One Look Forum Archives

Hey everybody, I have a few questions but one main point: What can we do to grow grassroots?

It is somewhat a mystery to me that so few people and posts show up in this sub forum. To me it is very plain that everybody everywhere, the whole world, are bat shit crazy scared, of everything, all the time. It looks entirely hopeless and depressing, a complete tragedy with no end in sight! Am I the only one? What's going on here? Why aren't we in here, as the only group of people who actually know what to about it all, doing more, working together to stop the madness? I have no interest in blaming right now, it is an honest question. Is it fatigue?

Through periods I fall into my own life, having things to do, chores to be attended to and fun to be had, So I can see that this is one reason, simply living an already satisfactory life, maybe such a daunting task is not on top of the agenda. But don't you feel like me when you take a walk downtown, visit the grocery store or see something on TV - like everybody around our little oasis in here are really, and I mean really unwell, and you alone have the key to fix it? Are you perhaps already working privately in your community? These too are honest questions, because if you do feel similarly to me but don't feel like working actively towards a sane human world then I would be very much interested in talking about what makes it seem unattractive to do this, even if it is just a matter of time or interest. All of us are walking wounded and every voice here counts equally for me. I believe so strongly in this community and our potential you can't imagine, and I would much like to know your thoughts on this.

Thanks for your energy, Roed! I guess I'm plugging away, but also enjoying my life very much. I try to tell others when I can, but honestly, it's not always well received. I don't know if there is follow up. I believe you're right, there is much fear, confusion, and general neurosis, especially in the United States right now.

I am still somewhat inward focused, monitoring what comes up as more layers in this process are peeled back. Six years after the looking, i believe I am well beyond the recovery period, but still watching old conditioning come up or be exposed.

I would also also like to see more activity here and I guess I have to engage as well. Thanks for the nudge.

I have some insights on this. I think besides you and Jackx, there does not to seem to be many people applying the SDA exercise, after the looking, to get results in their lives. Some other people have had success just doing the looking, but this is still not a very high number comparatively. The whole process seems to take quite a long time and takes commitment. I just don't know of anyone who is following this particular protocol for long enough to speak of results and promote it. I continue to do it because of background I have with another very effective healer who talks about the vital importance of having focused attention. And, now, my own experience does show me personally how the effectiveness of focused attention can be useful in so many aspects of our lives. I have decided to give it a full year of practice to see if I notice any improvement in my practical life. And I do define this improvement as even just simply not suffering no matter what happens in my practical life...even if it doesn't get better in a 'traditional sense' Obviously, this is tremendous freedom.

Let's take a look and J+C. They could of easily become 'solitary realizers' after having the experiences of losing all suffering but, instead, they chose to devote their whole lives to spreading out this teaching to as many people as possible. To me, that speaks volumes of their integrity and a high level of consciousness. They want as many people as possible to become set free by this teaching.

The problem is that this seems like it is a several years investment of time in this system to develop any type of true freedom from suffering. It's not like people are going to undertake this teaching for several months and start to post testimonials about the wonderful experiences they're having. As you might imagine, this is probably difficult for J+C because they are devoting their lives to this teaching and are relying on donations and support of that nature. But it is hard to give support when you are not really experiencing results that are somewhat noticeable over a period of months. IMO, it greatly helps to have a background in other seeking and modalities that bring psychological health. You usually also have to be suffering enough to have Life motivate you to undertake a practice such of this.

So J+C certainly don't have it easy! Will they be able to have enough $$ to continue before some more years pass and people are able to start reporting actual tremendous results on a consistent basis? Remember, the whole implementation of the SDA exercise after the looking is fairly new. More years have to pass and enough people have to be practicing this new protocol seriously for there to be a kind of 'explosion in popularity' where this teaching is recognized as a tremendous answer for the freedom of suffering. Right now, I am going with the belief that this teaching will really work. I do think there are enough of us doing this practice now on a consistent basis where this could happen. I just hope J+C can 'stick it out' long enough to see this happen as well - after all, they're the ones who created it, are promoting it, and bring it to the world!

Right? It is not well received here either. In my country we are supposed to feel ashamed about doing well, so it becomes oxymoronic trying to tell someone about the experience of living beyond fear. It is a real challenge introducing this work to people and I thought it would become easier in time, but on the contrary I actually find it harder now than ever.

Many around me are recovering but virtually no one is interested in this project. Maybe my presentation is lacking here and there but the fear is without a doubt the main problem. It seems almost to act like an opposite magnetic pole to our work here, people avoid it, don't want to hear about it, know about it.

I'm more than happy to share some energy, it's pretty much all I can do right now. I'm also focused inward as things change with new things to learn all the time. But with this thread a nudge is precisely what I was hoping to achieve, to just get talking. Talking kicks ass.

The solution is organization.

Hey roed, a couple of examples I wondered that may be relevant. This would probably mostly apply to people who are closer to you, who you have a personal relationship with. Being self-employed, I have studied various entreupeneurs who give talks about how they succeeded in various forms of investing. Having had the opportunity to hang out with several 'self-made millionaires', one common variable that they all had in common was that they stressed the importance of spending time with others who were succesful in the same field they wished to be succesful in. That this is the main way that these people, who were previously aspiring millionaires, claimed that they learned how to achieve the success of those they admired in that area of their lives. They got an overall idea of how these people lived their lives, how they conducted themselves, and their overall behavior in life.

I've also studied various forms of spiritual healing over the years. This has brought me into many different belief paradigms where physical and emotional healings have occured by non-traditional means. When hanging out with those who were of a christian belief paradigm who had various healings happening around them, I also noticed a common demoninator when interacting with these people. They always told me that the way that they 'preached' their beliefs were not with their mouths, but by their actions. (Note, I am reffering to those I consider to be true christians where actual healings occurred). They said they preached by the way they lived their lives and, of course, the healing occurences that happened around them. But they never tried to 'convince' me of their own faith by speaking to me about it.

I wonder if this type of idea could be applied to people who are very psychologically healthy. Could it be that, when you reach a point that J+C are at, that those who are close to you may be effected and interested just because they feel the energy that you personally embody? In the example of the millionaire investors, they did have to use the spoken word to advertise what they were speaking about but, once the audience was attracted, then they basically simply explained their lifestyle, conduct, and how they were able to achieve success in that particular area. They weren't trying to 'convince'. And I found the same type of idea applied to the true christian people I interacted with.

So J+C promote their teachings by the books and the website and the yt videos, among some other things. But I notice when listening to John, he never gets too specific and stresses that each person will have their own unique, individual experience, so he doesn't like to go into too much detail. This was directly helpful to me when John spoke to me personally about this when I first got into these teachings. I also remember J+C had advised me when I spoke about the justonelook teachings to say as little as possible about it, and to just post a link to the website and instructions on what they were teaching. I have been following this advice. I wonder if this is one of the reasons J+C have been going out on the road again actually. To get people to know them personally and see that they were living what they were teaching.

So these are the ideas I'm currently having about all this and I figured I would put it out there for consideration. All the very best, Lex

"Right? It is not well received here either. In my country we are supposed to feel ashamed about doing well, so it becomes oxymoronic trying to tell someone about the experience of living beyond fear. It is a real challenge introducing this work to people and I thought it would become easier in time, but on the contrary I actually find it harder now than ever."

Roed - one more thing I feel compelled to ask. You don't have to feel pressured to say what country you're from if you're not comfortable in doing so, but I just have to ask - What is the philosophy behind the idea that one is to be ashamed about doing well? I can't currently recall ever having heard of this as a 'nationalistic' sentiment. I mean, it seems to be counter-productive to just the very logical idea of a country. So I'm from the USA and am coming from that perspective in thinking - I just can't wrap my head around the idea that any country in the world wouldn't want to promote itself and better itself. Especially if we are talking about 'politics and countries' where I think the idea of separation is more prevalent then for those involved in endeavors such as researching and seeking about the meaning behind the life we're living. Wouldn't the idea be that those involved in promoting the idea of a 'country' that's separate from other 'countries' would be that they would want people to be as proud of their accomplishments as possible? I mean just for the overall good of the country and making that country look good? I'm just interested in why this philosophy exists where you're from. Thanks and all the very best, Lex

Interesting question Lex, I'm from Sweden and nationalism and patriotism are frowned upon here it is safe to say, because in our culture it is equal to saying that "I am better than you are" ("my country is better than yours"). If for example you have success with money you should keep that to yourself, to not be a thorn in your neighbour's eye who might not have the same opportunity as you. Yeah it's not more or less logical than any other culture I'd say it just works on a wholly different premise than say the US. Is it coherent? I don't know, I don't think so, it is fear based, just like the incessant strive for individual gain beyond what's necessary. So yes, it is clearly shameful to get ahead - and especially to take pride in it. Paradoxically it is not in the interest of the country to look good, on the contrary, looking good equates to boasting, which implicitly devalues everybody else's position, as well as it points out the uncomfortable social fact that life isn't fair, so it is taboo. This is my simplified take on it, if you're interested you can look up the "Law of Jante" which we kind of have consensus is a decent, although cynical, description of the underlying philosophy of Nordic values. I think the "Ten Rules" sums it up pretty well and can perhaps indicate some of the apprehensions that make it challenging to work here.

About studying people skilled in things, I have done this too with sports and it has been super effective actually, just to copy what it seems the experts are doing and take it from there. I'm sure it can be done with a lot of things.

Thanks roed, I was reading about the 'Law of Jante'. Yeah, I agree, it is pretty fear based. There's a couple of the rules that I think are positive but I think this is better if it occurs naturally as a result of dissolving egoic illusions. I mean I think in ways it's better than the mainstream US culture where if you have more $$, you are looked upon more favorably - Of course this is only mainstream culture and I find that people who are interested in the things we are, as well as artists, in general have a totally different awareness of what makes a person 'special'. The type of people I look up to are the ones who embody great humility, compassion, love, kindness, etc.. I don't know if you find this true in your own life but, for me, the vast majority of people I am friends with, or come across in my work, are people who tend to have similar types of values that I do.. So, yeah, I do think 'like attracts like'. Even reading the different people who post on this forum, and they seem to be from all over the world, it seems that many of them share similar ideas/values to myself. Thanks for sharing man! All the very best, Lex

Yep, I'm sure jazzrascal would agree with me when I say that, in learning jazz improv, you copy those musicians you admire and, in failing to duplicate them exactly, you develop your own unique style.

I would make a good Swede.

Yeah, and maybe this is reason enough for us to just interact on here. Not saying anyone's an expert, only that it's useful for me, hard to define but somehow it helps me think. I know this isn't primarily a social platform but it is what we have, and because of the context that we want to work with grassroots I feel it's right to keep going.

About cultural differences the perspective of cultural relativism comes to mind, which means that any person or group should be studied from within their own context and circumstances for there to be any meaning to the findings. It's an anthropological term that basically means that since everything we do arises within, and in causal relationship to, our context--the mix of social, psychological and geographical factors that make out our mental and physical environment a.k.a our life--nothing humans think, do or say can be said to be more or less right or wrong but rather everything is contextual. In other words, which things seem weird and what things seem like normality is always a product of a cultural reference frame and ultimately a social construct and as such can't be compared outside itself. Would you eat goat's brain? For me that sounds gross but for someone else it might be a delicacy, and to understand how such other "worlds of meaning" hang together we need personal experience from inside those contexts or we will remain ignorant of the true meaning of those behaviors we are interested in. Take note that this perspective is only a tool for analyzing society and not some inherent truth or anything like that.

A quote from John which keeps coming back when writing this is "Everyone is doing the best they can given the circumstances they find themselves in" (along those lines anyway) from one of the old retreat videos I believe, referring to how the fear of life makes us desperate to "solve" the crisis of being alive, and that human aggression is but a symtom of this struggle, so no one is to blame. That is basically cultural relativism but coming from a different context, one which I am only beginning to understand.

Back on topic though--how we can grow grassroots. By organization you say, I agree with this. We need a movement!

The other day I invited a class mate to check out the JOL website. This time, instead of going with the approach of looking as an antidote for anxiety and fear I sold it as a method one can use to take full control of their own minds, and to see what is really true. People in my city and age group are seldom interested in receiving help or talking about anxiety, we are supposed to figure things out for ourselves, every man for himself, in--as some say - the loneliest city in the world, getting help or asking for help is uncool and goes against the grain. This other approach--to turn to the looking as a form of "lifehack", if unfamiliar you can check out a definition in the urban dictionary - proved to hit home at least with this particular person. Now I feel that using this approach could make it easier for the crowd I am around to accept that the stupendously simple method of JOL coupled with SDA actually works. In other words, instead of focusing on the vanishing of anxiety, focusing on the emergence of true self-reliance, something outside the realm of all the internalized fantasies about what effectiveness really is, or actually outside all internalized fantasies period. I feel like this approach brings up much less stigma attached to it than talking about mental suffering does. Mental suffering is kind of irrelevant once it's gone anyway. Please advise me in case this reasoning is missing something vital, I'd like to know.

I'm thinking aloud here, to get your opinion on this as I'm trying to figure out a way to reach the folks around me. Most of them have done the looking and are going through changes but deny or dismiss its value, which they very well might do for long time to come, perhaps forever, and that is a waste. Personally I want everyone or at least most - in any case more - people to understand what sanity and self-reliance entails. If they did I bet they would not only spend less time in recovery but maybe also be more inclined to get aboard with J&C's message, making it possible for them to work with us, or parallel to us, in whatever situation they are in. I'm sure they will personally be fine in time nonetheless, and however beautiful that is in itself, this time it is beside the point because meanwhile our home planet and mother is being literally ravished, together with our beloved cousins species. In the name of fear, by means of increasing violence, exploitation, and alienation everywhere - our aggression spreads like a plague through the various forms of capitalism and modernity that are so pervasive today, while our attention rests on petty bickering and escapism. All, of course, due to the search for a sense of security that never comes. Well... until it comes, that is. So let's make it happen! For the love of life - let's make it happen lookers.

Dear Roed_,

This is fantastic. Great insight. We believe it is indeed a great way to present the JOL Method to people because, of course, this method IS the greatest life hack of all. We are going to work this week on a small presentation of Just One Look as the mother of all hacks. We will send it to you as soon as we have a draft (Hipchat). We would love to have you work with us on it. Thank you!

That's wonderful Carla! Yeah, would love to help. Let me know what I can do.