Just One Look Forum Archives

Thirteen years of searching, a few weeks of looking. A few months ago, while starting the nth read of Nisargadatta's I Am That, I decided for some reason to consider everything I knew to be unreal. Not wrong, false or incomplete, just not reality. It opened my mind and being to his core message, which pops up here and there throughout his waterfall of crazy sounding, at times over-technical Spiritual Theories. This gave rise to the idea that whatever my mind could conceive, could never be the answer, which paved the way that brought me back to the RiverGanga site. I came here years ago, and was very taken by the sound of John's voice, but back then his message got stored in the big filing cabinet of All Things Spiritual. Right now, even his message has lost its importance, and only the suggestion, the spontaneous need to look reigns supreme.

Looking back at all the stuff that I put in that filing cabinet, a single thought prevails: beautiful signposts. Exquisitely ornamented pointers, painted with the brightest insights and most intelligent word combinations, oozing wisdom, etc, etc... They all point to something so natural and self-evident, and they all fail miserably. Not because they are wrong, but because they have no meaning without that to which they point. All of this information amassed over all these years now all feels like the same thing : someone knocking on my door with a sledge hammer, yelling through a megaphone that I'm home. Right now, all I can say to these teachings is : well duh. But getting here took 13 years of misery and mind activity.

So I would like to express my gratitude towards all the teachers I've read/listened to but never met, for having such patience with me and my busy mind, which sucked up all my attention and energy for so long. And to thank John for showing me what they were all trying to show me, which is me.

Thank you.

Wouter

Thanks Wouter,

I too feel so much gratitude,and

this statement of yours went deep "only the suggestion, the spontaneous need to look reigns supreme."

Maureen

FluoSmurf,

Thank you for your very useful post. Actually John summed it up perfectly when he was talking about the spiritual teachings and the details espoused when he said, yes, but this is all beside the point. Not wrong, certainly beautiful and inspiring, but simply beside the point. The point being to address what the cause that leaves most of us insane, and related to our life as if it is a threat. How it is that so many teachers for so long have not noticed, acknowledged, or addressed the obvious fact that people were not experiencing the natural or default state of being human through their efforts is amazing, and yet to be expected given the power of the context of fear in which they were attempting to accomplish this. The power of context is clearly decisive in that all that appears within it is literally formed and shaped by it's existence.

Yet again, what I have just said is also beside the point. As you said all that is on point is the act of looking and the resulting end of the fear of life, the rest takes care of itself.

Stay tuned and keep with us in this conversation. The future we are living into is going to be an exciting adventure beyond anything seen before, even in the movies. Also, consider volunteering and being part of the project to bring this amazing news to all of humanity, this commitment will serve you well.

Love.

David Parrish

I feel a bit silly now; I've just listened to the June 20th podcast where John says about the same thing I've just said. It is all besides the point, except for the looking. But I believe it inevitably takes effort, knowledge and for some a lot of suffering to be able to put so much trust in this simple little act of looking.

One thing that came to mind after listening to the podcast was this : John's suggestion is absolutely new. It is for me anyway, and I suspect many who have come into contact with it, and who have this big, clunky load of spiritual luggage to carry around, feel the same. And there's one main reason I believe it to be absolute new - when looking at how I used to talk about the "Who Am I" stuff I learned over the years, it always came down to the person a certain theory or idea originated from. "Yeah man, you should really check out X or Y, he's really wise and practical, and you'll find great value in what HE says". Historically speaking I think this has been 'the way things go' for thousands of years. Now, with the looking, I talk about John, but just as "the guy that taught me" what looking is. I can explain 'looking at yourself' to people with increasing ease, every day it gets clearer and simpler, regardless of the oscillations of my own confusions and persisting fear-based habits. I point to John - or more correctly to the website - for the wealth of information and uncluttered context he provides, and to give them the gift of listening to John's voice, which I consider now to be one of the most powerful, short-term transformative tools on the planet. But in the end, I just invite them to look at themselves, naturally seeing their own context and how to plant that seed in there.

Like I said, I already came here years ago, and as John mentioned in the podcast, he wasn't as clear back then as he is now. So John, if you're reading this, you already know this but I feel like saying it anyway : the solution you provide is much clearer than a few years ago. I can only imagine where this will lead us.

Which brings me to the exciting adventure David P mentioned. I'm slowly starting to grasp at how unbelievably HUGE this is going to be. It's already amazingly big and the web of people the looking has created is hard to grasp, but it really feels as if this work we all do here heralds a new age for humanity. I may sound a bit dramatic here, but I truly feel this to be much bigger than 'me', or 'us'. And even though it is besides the point of just looking, this 'Grand Cause' and my newfound devotion towards it seems to facilitate the looking. Feels to me these two things I just talked about really go hand in hand, and are taking over my life for the better.

As for the volunteering, I've been harassing Bill Corcoran for a few weeks already, since filling out my application form, but he's still not sick of me. :D Kidding aside, I feel an immense gratitude, and have found a sense of purpose I didn't think possible before, in volunteering for the foundation. Applying the skills and talents I have amassed over the years to helping spread the suggestion is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done, plain and simple. Again, it's closely linked to the looking and its effects, so by helping out John and Carla, I help myself, and inevitably help all of humanity heal itself, one very small step at a time.

To Maureen or anyone else who finds my words useful - I can only attribute them to the looking. I'm still quite shocked at the kind of things that start coming out of my mouth/fingers recently, and sometimes have a hard time believing I said/wrote them. And I am exquisitely grateful for living now and learning this new language of sanity, and being able to express it more and more clearly.

Even though today might still feel like crap at times, tomorrow sure starts to feel like home.

But that's besides the point! :D

Wouter