self-directed attention

Podcast Episode 36: Get Off the Bus

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In this episode, we discuss how your thoughts are yours to understand and to use, but they are not you. If you have negative thoughts about a present situation and there is something you can do to change it, you are free to follow those thoughts and use them to solve the problem. But if there is nothing you can do in the moment, it is safe to ignore those thoughts and put your attention on the sensation of the breath.

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The Power of Attention, Part Three

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Recovering from Fear

During the recovery period, certain situations may trigger the appearance of fear-generated thoughts in the mind. Old patterns of reaction to circumstance may reappear and catch you by surprise. You need not be discouraged. These are merely old soldiers of fear trying desperately to keep their grip on your mind. They are just trying to protect you based on the false idea that you need protection from life itself.

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The Power of Attention, Part Two

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Self-Directed Attention

The practice of Self-Directed Attention allows you to develop deep control of your attention and enables you to choose for yourself what is worth paying attention to and what is not. Over time, you increase your ability to decline to attend to thought forms that are harmful or simply irrelevant in the moment.

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Podcast Episode 32: The Power of Attention

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In this episode, we discuss the fact that there is nothing that you can control in your life other than what you pay attention to.




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Podcast Episode 30: Great Expectations

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In this episode, we discuss one of the stumbling blocks in the recovery from the fear of life disease, which are the insane expectations we carry with us.




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About Expectations

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A few weeks ago we went to see an acupuncturist in a Los Angeles neighborhood that was completely unfamiliar to us. John dropped me off at the office and went to park the van.

When we left the office, he could not remember where he had parked the van.  He had been in such a hurry to get back to the office that he had not thought of taking note of the location. We walked for hours looking for the van, to no avail. We had to rent a car in Glendale to drive home.

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Podcast Episode 28: Self-Directed Attention Unbound

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In this episode, we discuss the real purpose of the Self-Directed Attention Exercise, which is to develop your control over your attention. And we explain how simple and strict the practice is and how its full benefits are missed when you try to use it to make yourself feel good, to quiet your mind, or anything else like that.




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NEW BOOK: The Just One Look Method

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New book by John and Carla Sherman
The Just One Look Method: Complete Instructions

The Just One Look Method is an extremely simple approach to mental misery unlike anything you have ever tried. It will rid you of the root cause of your dissatisfaction with life and the painful yearning for peace and fulfillment that seems never to be fully satisfied.

The Just One Look Method is the result of nineteen years of experience working with people all over the world who have seen their relationship with their own lives change dramatically for the better.

We do not give you descriptions of a life free of fear. We do not tell you what to think about yourself and others. We do not tell you how to live your life, how to behave, what to believe in, etc.

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Podcast Episode 27: You Have to Do It

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In this episode, John Sherman talks about how the act of Looking at Yourself eliminates the root cause of your mental difficulties, but it may take years for the soldiers of fear to disappear. By doing the Self-Directed Attention Exercise regularly you can accelerate your recovery and gain a clear understanding of how your mind works.




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Podcast Episode 26: Self-Inquiry Unbound

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In this episode, John Sherman explains the origins of The Just One Look Method and how it brings you the practical essence of the Self-Inquiry of Ramana Maharshi, clear of all spiritual references and ideas.




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Expectations

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Expectations come in at least two flavors. The first flavor is a reasonable expectation as to what might happen in the course of our day-to-day life. For example, if I plant a garden, I will have the reasonable expectation that, barring bad weather or unforeseen damage by pests, in due time I will have the fruits of my labor in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables. If I place an order for something at Amazon, I will have the reasonable expectation that, in due time, a package will arrive at my door. If I work for wages, I will have the reasonable expectation that on payday I will have money.

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Podcast Episode 23: Are You in Recovery?

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In this episode, John Sherman speaks about how when you do the act of looking at yourself, you enter the period of recovery but most likely you won’t even know that you are in recovery. But if you start paying attention to how you relate to circumstances, you will begin to notice subtle differences in your behavior.




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Podcast Episode 25: The Worry Monster

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In this episode, John Sherman addresses the problem of the symptoms of PTSD and explains what you can do to be free of them.




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Podcast Episode 24: A Natural Human Life

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In this episode, John Sherman speaks about how the result of working with Just One Look is really not a big thing. It’s just an ordinary, natural human life free of existential fear.




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Podcast Episode 22: What Does It Feel Like to Be You?

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In this episode, John Sherman reveals the actual nature of Ramana Maharshi’s Self-Inquiry, which is to get a taste of what it feels like to be you, and he explains what that inward movement of attention accomplishes.




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Podcast Episode 21: Just One Look and Self-Inquiry

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In this episode, John Sherman speaks about how the practice of Self-Inquiry, when engaged in from a spiritual or magical thinking foundation, is crippled. Therefore, the best course to self-reliant human life is to simply look at yourself, your presence here, in the manner of Just One Look and follow with the practice of Self-Directed Attention.




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Podcast Episode 18: The Brain, the Mind & the Fear

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In this episode, John Sherman speaks about how the mind works by using neural impulses from the brain to create understandings and actions.




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Why Practice Self-Directed Attention?

~ John Sherman ~ Leave a comment

The Just One Look Method is a two-part process. Those two parts are the act of Looking at Yourself and the Self-Directed Attention Exercise.

The act of Looking at Yourself resets the mind and triggers a period of recovery in which the mind restructures itself, in a context that is no longer based on the fear of life itself. For the process to start, just one look is enough.

The second part, the practice of Self-Directed Attention, is fundamental in the recovery.

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