Please note that Vineeto’s correspondence below was written by the actually free Vineeto
(List D refers to Richard’s List D and his Respondent Numbers) Vineeto’s Correspondence with Henry on Discuss Actualism Forum February 7 2025 VINEETO: Hence the expression that the planet grows human beings neither requires conjecture nor searching for the origin of flora, fauna and human beings in outer space. HENRY: I was initially trying to capture that I was observing (more) directly the matter that everything is composed of without the influence of feeling-fed narrative. Though the irony is that describing it as star-dust is reintroducing narrative as in ‘stars act as a forge for the creation of heavier forms of matter via fusion, which are then spread throughout the universe and condense into planets.’ Already this is treading into scientific theory which I haven’t researched deeply. I found an article which describes this process: “After millions of years, immense pressures and temperatures in the star’s core squeeze the nuclei of hydrogen atoms together to form helium, a process called nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion releases energy, which heats the star and prevents it from further collapsing under the force of gravity.” Through further research I found that the idea of nuclear fusion powering stars was presented in 1920 by Arthur Eddington, and that further observations such as stellar spectra, predicted energy output, neutrinos, helioseismology, lifetime of stars, and the relative abundance of the various elements support the current theory that stars are powered by fusion and thus the matter throughout the universe passed through stars. However, I did have a chuckle when I saw that ‘theoretical models’ were part of the evidence, and it made it apparent that the theorizing since then has also been a model (though many of the aspects of evidence above are directly observable with the right equipment). VINEETO: Hi Henry, Well spotted, “spread throughout the universe” is clearly based on belief in an expanding of the universe. You are also alert to “‘theoretical models’” and probably already keep in mind that atoms and molecules and their smaller derivations are all theoretical thingymajigs. (see Richard, Abditorium, Sir Brian Pippard). ‘Vineeto’ was initially quite delighted with the wonderful images from the Hubble telescope and collected many on the computer until one day Richard told ‘her’ that all images are artificially coloured, ‘translated’, if my memory serves me correctly, from measurement based amongst other input on ‘Doppler shift’ and red shift, both from the assumption that stellar object are ‘moving away’ in an expanding universe. As such the colouring is most likely not how these galaxies actually look like. ‘She’ soon lost interest after that information. I also found this curious quote in the Helioseismology link – “The derived velocity law implies a supermassive object in the centre of the galaxy with 3×106 solar masses. This provides strong evidence for the presence of a massive black hole {!!} in the centre of the Milky Way.” Reading these ‘scientific’ presentations requires a lot of care and caution to sort any possible factual information from the generally believed narrative. HENRY: Further, on reflection it’s apparent that part of that theory is dependent on big bang theory, as the supposition is that the universe ‘started out’ in a theorized pre-matter form, transforming into plasma and ‘elementary particles’ (which exist theoretically as well) and then which condensed into “mostly hydrogen, with some helium and lithium.” VINEETO: Ha, exactly. The first article you linked to states “Astronomers estimate that the universe could contain up to one septillion stars”. This limited number (despite its size) can only be confidently stated when one believes the universe to be finite in time and space (in order to leave room for god(s) to reside). HENRY: From here, the lighter gases would eventually fuse to form the myriad of forms of matter we see today. However, with no big bang there’s no ‘beginning’ and so this chain of events doesn’t have to occur to produce that myriad of forms. We do know that fusion occurs, it can be generated(?) in the lab (albeit for a short time), and it does produce heavier elements. But there is plenty of room for theory around the edges… VINEETO: You do seem to get the drift – as Richard said, facts are thin on the ground. HENRY: Because of all this, I understand what you mean as far as this planet growing us as being directly observable, whereas “the sun is powered by fusion and therefore this is all stardust” is an abstraction based on a theoretical understanding. In me, it took the form of a meme – I first heard the phrase in a Moby song: Moby ‘We Are All Made of Stars’ <snipped lyrics and interviews> That famously solipsistic argument. So that indicates somewhat his attitude toward the universe. VINEETO: As you demonstrate they are hopelessly steeped in non-material /spiritual fantasy and some are “famously solipsistic” as well. HENRY: All in all, it’s a reminder for me of the dynamics described in one of my favorite passages of Richard’s: Richard: “Pure perception takes place sensitively just before one starts feeling the percept – and thus thinking about it affectively – which takes place just before one’s feeling-fed mind says: ‘It’s a man’ or: ‘It’s a woman’ or: ‘It’s a steak-burger’ or: ‘It’s a tofu-burger’ … with all that is implied in this identification and the ramifications that stem from that.” (Richard, Articles, Attentiveness, Sensuousness, Apperceptiveness). In one instant was a quite pure experience (though there was still self present) and then I ‘translated’ the experience into a form that ‘I’ understood. VINEETO: This is a good description of what happened and you made a very valiant attempt to describe it that I recognized the significance and close-to-purity of this experience for you. Cheers Vineeto February 7 2025 VINEETO: Whereas I cannot honestly say that I am “star-dust” (as in “gaseous swirls of matter (as seen in nebulae) condensing into varying forms of stars, small planets, gas giants, etc”). In other words, I am the universe experiencing itself as a human being, I am not the universe per se, as in “gaseous swirls of matter”. HENRY: On rereading I see that part of the issue is ‘identifying with’ the objectified star-dust, which is a form of projection, whereas it is direct to say “I am this human body, composed of the same matter which composes the rest of the universe, grown on earth. I can see how looking out & identifying with something distant & grand becomes self-aggrandizement (which is where the mystique and power of the Moby song comes from). Regardless of where I came from, I am now this flesh & blood body experiencing life here and now. VINEETO: Hi Henry, Don’t be too hasty with that statement. It is only factual when ‘I’ and ‘me’ are in abeyance. ”‘Identifying with’ the objectified star-dust“ would be an additional removal (to being an identity) from actuality so it is beneficial to recognize that and decline whenever it happens. As ‘I’ am my feelings ‘I’ cannot disidentify from what ‘I’ am, and any dissociative attempt to do that is counterproductive. ‘I’ and ‘me’ have to become extinct for one to be here permanently as “this flesh & blood body experiencing life here and now”. HENRY: I’m interested in how this relates to the lack of centre upon actual freedom: Richard: “… it is ‘I’ who, being a central figure in ‘my’ scheme of things, proposes that there is an outside to this material universe. There is not. This universe has no edges … which means that there is no centre either. With no centre to existence we are nowhere in particular. Being here, as an actuality, is to be anywhere at all, for infinity is everywhere all at once.” (Richard, Articles, List A, No. 12 #No. 01). VINEETO: As you are not “this flesh & blood body experiencing life here and now” unless you are in a PCE, this question cannot be answered as is. In a PCE you may experience to be “nowhere in particular” and get a glimpse of what it is to “be anywhere at all, for infinity is everywhere all at once.” It is marvellous, albeit it can be somewhat disorienting at first. HENRY: The star-dust, nebulae, etc. is not really ‘out there,’ as there is no separation without identity… something for me to ponder. VINEETO: Exactly. It’s grand when you recognize that the universe is “not really ‘out there’” and then can experientially verify it over and over. Cheers Vineeto February 8 2025 VINEETO: As ‘I’ am my feelings ‘I’ cannot disidentify from what ‘I’ am, and any dissociative attempt to do that is counterproductive. ‘I’ and ‘me’ have to become extinct for one to be here permanently as “this flesh & blood body experiencing life here and now”. VINEETO: As you are not “this flesh & blood body experiencing life here and now” unless you are in a PCE, this question cannot be answered as is. (Actualism, ActualVineeto, Henry, 7 February 2025a). HENRY: This was awesome to read, thank you for setting me straight on this. I’ve been trying to force something which wasn’t happening, it explains a lot of the dissociation that I’ve experienced over the years. It’s like the actualism equivalent of stolen valour, trying to ‘be’ something that I’m not! VINEETO: Hi Henry, I am pleased that you got this in one – it’s a big and essential realisation to distinguish between the ‘outer’ world created by the identity within and the actual world. The identity creates a veneer pasting it over everything you see, hear, touch and smell. RESPONDENT: When a person is not experiencing either ASC or PCE, what is one experiencing? RICHARD: Put simply: the normal, everyday reality that 6.0+ billion identities are pasting as a veneer over actuality. RESPONDENT: Is the ‘actual’ person NOT seeing the ‘actual’ world? NOT hearing the ‘actual’ world? NOT smelling, tasting, and touching the ‘actual’ world? RICHARD: The flesh and blood bodies – all 6.0+ billion of them – are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching (and proprioceptively sensing) the actual world. RESPONDENT: I haven’t noticed people walking into walls or failing to respond when called. What’s happening? RICHARD: The facsimile walls and calls (the veneered reality) are sufficient for the purpose thereof. RESPONDENT: I won’t presume that my understanding based on my experience matches yours, but I find it intriguing that you used the phrase ‘pasting as a veneer over actuality’. I understand that all 6B+ persons are experiencing the ‘actual’ world ... RICHARD: All 6.0+ billion *flesh and blood bodies* are experiencing the actual world ... the entity, or being, residing in the body can only experience their ‘outer world’ reality. Here (from the footnote in this e-mail you are responding to): • [Richard]: ‘(...) ‘I’/‘me’, a psychological/ psychic entity, am busily creating an inner world and an outer world and looking out through ‘my’ eyes upon ‘my’ outer world as if looking out through a window, listening to ‘my’ outer world through ‘my’ ears as if they were microphones, tasting ‘my’ outer world through ‘my’ tongue, touching ‘my’ outer world through ‘my’ skin and smelling ‘my’ outer world through ‘my’ nose. This entity, or being, residing in the body is forever cut-off from the actual – from the world as-it-is – because its inner world reality is pasted as a veneer over the actual world, thus creating the outer world reality known as the real world ...’. [endquote]. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 123, 30 August 2006). I like your sense of humour with the “stolen valour” expression – in fact when you are adapting “stolen valour” you are fooling nobody but yourself. To be “this flesh & blood body experiencing life here and now” there is no other way but to give ‘your’ “full-blooded endorsement” to ‘your’ demise – Respondent: I can’t say. It seems like it was the energy/order that happened simply re-aligned. It is almost as if that is calling one, though there is fear to answer that call ... . Richard: Does the fear increase if you allow yourself to consider that the words ‘it is almost as if that is calling one’ are the same-same as saying: this utter fullness is this brain’s destiny; this is what one is here for? Respondent: No, the fear abates. There is order in the perspective you express. Thanks for putting it like that. Richard: Okay ... this is important, vital, pivotal: ‘I’, the thinker, know that ‘I’ cannot do it ... ‘I’ cannot disappear ‘myself’. Only the ‘utter fullness’ can, and the ‘utter fullness’ is ‘calling one’, each moment again, and it is only when ‘I’ fully comprehend – totally, completely, fundamentally – that to be living this ‘utter fullness’ is to be living ‘my’ destiny will one be able ‘to answer that call’. This full-blooded endorsement means it then becomes inevitable. (Richard, List B, No. 25f, 18 June 2000). And because the means to the end is the same as the end (enjoyment and appreciation) this is going to be a fun adventure. Remember to dust off, i.e. awaken, your dormant naiveté and you will experientially know what I mean. Richard: Maybe it is suffice to say at this stage that I do stress how essential the pure intent of naiveté is ... yet because ‘naïve’ and ‘gullible’ are so closely linked (via the trusting nature of a child in concert with the lack of knowledge inherent to childhood) in the now-adult mind most peoples initially have difficulty separating the one from another. Perhaps it may be helpful to report that, when I first re-gained naiveté (which is the closest a ‘self’ can approximate to innocence) at age 33 years, I would exclaim to whoever was prepared to listen that ‘it is like being a child again ... but with adult sensibilities’ (naïve but not gullible). I was soon to discover, however, that being child-like is not it – children are not innocent – and that innocence is totally new to anyone’s experience (it is just that a child is more prone to readily allowing the moment to live one, from time-to-time, than a cynical adult is). Thus the pure intent of naiveté provides the collateral assurance ‘I’ require to safely give ‘myself’ permission to allow this moment to live me (rather than ‘me’ trying to live in the present) and to let go the controls. Yet it is the direct experience itself which is the fundamental factor when it comes to making the curious decision to abandon both one’s present course and that of one’s peers and plunge into the adventure of a lifetime. (…) This is what is important. (Richard, List B, No. 25f, 22 June 2000) Cheers Vineeto March 20 2025 HENRY: Continuing the theme from Kuba’s and Claudiu’s journals, I have been investigating my own motivations while continuing to allow pure intent ever-greater influence, with wonderful results. It has recently become clear to me that my primary obstacle has been a lack of courage in the face of humanity, a fundamental fear of ‘what would happen to me’ if my true views were exposed. It’s now clear that that fear is of ‘me’ being exposed rather than doubt about the PCE or the actually free state, meaning that it is ultimately circular in nature (I am afraid because I am afraid). VINEETO: Hi Henry, This is an excellent observation. As you said, the top-layer of this being afraid of being afraid is habitual, therefore it is relatively easy with diligent attentiveness to notice its occurrence and decline each time. HENRY: Because of the nonsensical nature of this position, as well as the apparent ubiquity of same position amongst my fellow humans, I have experienced a surge in motivation to free myself and everyone from this condition, consequences be damned. This audacity is experiential and obvious in its contrast to my habitually flinching character. It isn’t only me that has been holding back and putting on airs; it is also my friends, my lovers, my family, and all those that I have looked up to, pursued, or imitated throughout my life. VINEETO: The next layer is the emotional/ visceral fear of being afraid. Here a certain amount of audacity is required to allow yourself to feel the fear. You will notice, as feeling being ‘Vineeto’ did, that by allowing the feeling of fear to come to the surface (without dissociation), the fear itself diminished to the large degree. The reason is that fighting the fear is feeding it. By allowing the feeling you stop feeding it. Then the core layer of fear can be allowed to come to the surface without being overwhelming, and by being the feeling you can easily get back to feeling good and then ruminate, contemplate about its nature (for instance: the fear of what other people think about you when you do x, y or z). HENRY: I appreciate especially Vineeto’s recent post (Actualism, Actualvineeto, Claudiu5, 12 March 2025) describing the events of the ‘mutiny’ from ‘her’ perspective, as it gave me a healthy dose of naïveté and a reminder of the simplicity and clarity of freedom as contrasted with my complex and confused nature. VINEETO: I am pleased to hear, Henry. It is mainly fear of appearing foolish in the eyes of others, and in one’s own eyes, which prevents one getting in contact with one’s naiveté, hidden-away-during-puberty, and it will open up a world of wonder and amazement, of adventurous excitement and curiosity in how ‘I’ operate. That’s when the actualism method really becomes fun. HENRY: I can no longer ignore the man behind the curtain. VINEETO: And why should you, be like a child again but with adult sensibilities. * HENRY: I have recently found that a major insecurity for me has been perceiving myself as ineffectual. I work as a social worker, and have frequently felt that it is an extremely ineffective profession: the stated aims are the rather nebulous “help people”, which is then backed up with dubious or non-existent financial and social support. The profession is filled with the compassionate and ineffective, forever wringing their hands and bemoaning the suffering they see. On reflection, it seems likely that I fell into this occupation via a willing tolerance for being ineffectual, indeed an implicit appetite for it as it gives me an easy ‘out:’ I have only to bemoan the state of ‘society,’ forever pointing the blame elsewhere as I paint myself as a virtuous exception to the rule. I no longer see myself this way. These do-gooders and victims are just as much a part of society, just as much a reflection of humanity as those who flex their power to greedily vacuum up wealth and further influence. Further, anger directed toward them is already an in-built function of society; my YouTube algorithm is currently packed with such individuals self-righteously railing to no avail. VINEETO: I can well relate to this tale. ‘Vineeto’ was trained as a social worker and found ‘herself’ over-educated and underqualified in practice, when ‘she’ worked as an addiction consultant after finishing ‘her’ university degree. The suffering coupled with cunning of the addicts bent on milking the system, which had no cure but only panacea, caused ‘Vineeto’ so much emotional stress that she had to quit after only two years. ‘She’ knew ‘she’ had no solution nor could ‘she’ see any on the horizon. Let me know if you find a way of becoming effective in your field of expertise. Remember – Richard: Mr. Sigmund Freud’s (…) solution: A well-balanced personality is one that can juggle these conflicting demands in a compromise between social responsibility and personal gratification. His result: A troubled personality could, with analysis, be returned to normal. His definition of normal: ‘Common human unhappiness’. (Richard, List B, No. 20b, 25 July 1998). HENRY: In the end, the prescription is straightforward: to become effective. How could I respect myself otherwise? It is an insult to intelligence (to paraphrase Richard) to continue on attempting something with an obvious and long-running track-record of futility. To continue to be weak and wasteful with this one life is abhorrent, leaving me with nowhere to go but the place that scares me the most – intimacy & enjoyment of this moment of being alive. VINEETO: I wish you success in whatever field of endeavour you are choosing to be effective. Cheers Vineeto April 10 2025 HENRY: Recently travelled to another city, I got back home last night. I saw how while I was gone there was a breath of fresh air as I was outside my usual environs, habits, and triggers. Similarly, when I got on the plane and began to anticipate being home, I could see my old triggers popping up again one by one, as though I was dressing in ‘my’ familiar clothing, one article at a time to complete the outfit. From this perspective the actualism method is obvious – seeing each of those triggers and questioning its usefulness, ultimately choosing to discard them each one by one, revealing enjoyment & appreciation in their absence. Similarly, it’s obvious why the method can only be completed from the position of being ‘me’: each thing/ identity structure can only be observed while it is in operation. Success is apparent as each thing is discarded to never return. VINEETO: Hi Henry, What a great report of success. And you spelt it out precisely – progress can only happen “from the position of being ‘me’”. PCEs are fundamental to experientially understand actualism, for renewed confidence in your growing comprehension of an actual freedom and a firm connection to pure intent. But to apply the actualism and move towards your goal of becoming free the “identity structure can only be observed while it is in operation”, and subsequently dismantled and discarded. HENRY: It’s also obvious how much more ‘light’ and comfortable I was when I was outside my usual – illustrative of the things that ‘I’ still consist of. ‘I’ have felt very awkward and uncomfortable since being back, the contrast makes this obvious. I’m aiming to make the most of this period of contrast. VINEETO: Your feeling “awkward and uncomfortable” is due to ‘me’ having lost some of the strict control ‘you’ had over your life. You can direct those feeling towards opening more and more to being naïve and unsophisticated, allowing yourself to embrace and enjoy the already lost control and this new-won freedom, and revel in the magic it provides to your ongoing experience of enjoyment and wonderment. It reminds me of Richard’s story on his personal web-page – Richard (speaking in the third person on the 3rd of February, 2016): (…) as the new year dawned in 1981 and as the grandmother of ‘his’ four children was driving them all down the driveway of ‘his’ ex-farmhouse after having heroically elected to have all of her grandchildren stay with her in the city for a three-week holiday (which had left ‘him’ and ‘his’ wife on their own together for the first time since the birth of the first child around fourteen years previously) so as to give her daughter and son-in-law a break from parentage, and, hopefully in her mind, to be of assistance in the resurrection of their failing marriage. (…) When their children were duly returned by an exhausted grandmother, after their three-week exposure to the big-city lifestyle had run its course, ‘he’ was particularly determined not to lose what ‘he’ dubbed the ‘honeymoon atmosphere’ by reverting to type – although ‘his’ wife fared badly in this respect (as per the ‘not-even-peeved’ mouse-hover tool-tip, for instance, in the next paragraph below) – and four weeks later as the official school year was due to commence ‘he’ was similarly set on not losing, as the minimal or bottom line of moment-to-moment experiencing, what ‘he’ dubbed the ‘holiday atmosphere’ (engendered via interacting with ‘his’ children as if a child again, albeit with adult sensibilities, due to an irrepressible re-emergence of ‘his’ hidden-away-during-puberty childhood naïveté). For what ‘he’ had twigged to, in the beginning stages of their joint venture (and particularly exemplified by ‘his’ wife’s predilection for venting over voicing), was how it was far, far easier and simpler to stay in a good mood come-what-may – preferably a happy and harmless mood of course – than claw ‘his’ way back up to feeling good, again and again, after having habitually reverted to type. (Richard’s Personal Webpage, tooltip after “the birth of the first child”). HENRY: On the flip side, it makes it clear how much better being even somewhat closer to felicity & innocuity is. ‘My’ life, priorities, and triggers seem so transparent and ephemeral right now. All it took was for me to get on a plane and fly an hour from home for ‘me’ to go into somewhat of a hibernation (or ‘holiday!’). All these objects, attachments, ‘needs,’ narratives etc. were discarded and forgotten, why pick them up again? VINEETO: Well, “all it took was for me to get on a plane” is only the start – now it is the fun challenge to keep the ‘holiday atmosphere’ going and with diligent and fascinated attention avoid to return to the “usual environs, habits, and triggers”. What do you think – isn’t this doable? Cheers Vineeto April 12 2025 HENRY: It’s been becoming very obvious lately how much I center lust/ libido in my priorities, as well as some of the pitfalls of that approach, so I have been poking around in it a bit more. It seems my loop is boredom – desire/ lust – anxiety. They depend on each other, as in boredom is an escape from anxiety, desire/ lust is a fantasized escape from boredom, and anxiety occurs when something interrupts or breaks the fantasized desire. Seemingly every moment of ‘my’ life has been within that loop in some way or another, I can see how many of my habitual activities are driven by one of those 3. Perhaps you could add anger-aggression as a step after anxiety (rebelling against feeling the anxiety, which eventually collapses into boredom/ depression). VINEETO: Hi Henry, My first question would be – did you come up with this diagnosis when feeling good? Otherwise your diagnosis would just be a symptom of your feeling cycle. Let’s assume you have identified three main priorities correctly – boredom, lust and anxiety – with some incidences of anger. Here is one example where Richard talks about boredom – without me having to guess why you are possibly bored with life when you could be fascinated with finding out why you are bored – Respondent: Most of the time, when I am not happy, my feelings are that of boredom, light resentment, hope etc. In case of such feelings, even though I can see the silliness of having them, I can not find what causes them and when do they start. Richard: Put simplistically: they start when the happiness (and harmlessness) stops ... and the happiness (and harmlessness) stops because of an event. The moment you become aware of feeling bored (for instance) can you not recall when you last felt happy (and harmless)? What has happened, then, between the last time you felt happy (and harmless) and now? When did you feel happy (and harmless) last? Five minutes ago? Five hours ago? What happened to end that happiness (and harmlessness)? Was it something someone said? Or was it something someone did not do? Or was it something you wanted? Or was it something you did not do? And so on and so forth until the specific moment of ceasing to feel happy (and harmless) is pin-pointed by the event which triggered off that loss of felicity/ innocuity. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 4a, 31 July 2005). Boredom is sometimes also described as ‘feeling neutral’, listless, resigned, resentful or depressed, and they all have at root the same cause – I don’t want to be here and I don’t want to find out what prevents me from being happy and harmless instead and enjoy being here now, at this only moment which one can experience being alive. The loop you describe all stems from trying to escape the original condition of not wanting to be here in an engaged way. I am reminded of what you said about dissociation a few weeks ago – perhaps there is a clue – Henry: I’ve been trying to force something which wasn’t happening, it explains a lot of the dissociation that I’ve experienced over the years. HENRY: In contrast to this loop is fun, as Vineeto has reminded me on a few occasions! Fun is interesting because it exists completely on its own, it does not depend on any outcome in contrast to desire-lust, which depends on certain instinctual cues which then must be engineered/ controlled. No wonder it’s always disappointed! Fun happens here & now. I’m having a very interesting time right now contrasting this against ‘my’ loop, they exist on such different existential threads. I can be a Henry that loops through those 3 familiar states, or I can be a Henry that enjoys and appreciates what is happening now. VINEETO: Again, what is the obstacle that prevents you from enjoying and appreciating being here? HENRY: My most consistent interruption of PCEs/ excellence in the past has been that I ‘remember’ my ‘important mission’ to seek out my symbols of desire, and then turn my attention toward acquisition, which I now see is just one step in the looping. VINEETO: The following correspondence might be informative – Respondent: One thing that puzzles me is when I do examine my conditioning, it is difficult to establish what exactly is social conditioning and what is not – for example I adopted our society’s view of what a hot and sexy female body ought to be, from the covers of Maxim magazine and the like. Upon exploring how meaningless this particular standard is by comparing to other societies’ standards, it seems that my sex instinct naturally selected another, now simply broader, group of women to be attracted too. It was funny to see how that altered desire just showed up, like a redirecting of the same old instinct, without ‘my’ consent. However, the social conditioning behind the idea of ‘human beauty’ is my big question. What does human beauty mean in the actual world? Richard: Nothing whatsoever ... there is no ‘human beauty’ here in this actual world: beauty is the affective substitute for the purity of the perfection of the actual ... just as love is the affective surrogate for actual intimacy. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 42, 16 February 2003). In other words, when you are naïve, awaken your dormant naiveté, women will no longer be objects of your “mission” or merely an “acquisition” to satisfy your desire, but fellow human beings, persons in their own right and interesting to interact with. It is an entirely different ballgame and a fascinating inclusive adventure to boot. HENRY: I am informed here by Vineeto’s description of the woman of Indian birth becoming free: Vineeto to Kuba: I have seen it happen with the woman of Indian birth. (Richard, List D, Rick, 23 December 2011) (snipped). (Actualism, Actualvineeto, Kuba5, 14 March 2025a). VINEETO: The situation you are referring to does not apply here – you seeing the loop does not end it, perhaps because the seeing is merely intellectual and not existential. However, with sincerity you can unlock naiveté (again), which will allow you to be more fully engaged and sincerely fascinated being alive, and like your fellow human beings, both male and female – Richard: In early January, 1981, feeling-being ‘Richard’ had ‘his’ first memorable experience of being naiveté – the nearest a ‘self’ can get to innocence whilst remaining a ‘self’ – and ‘he’ was particularly struck by the experiential fact of finally being likeable (albeit a likeable persona mind you), and, thusly, a liker of ‘his’ fellow human beings also as they too were (potentially) likeable as well. (A Quaint Clay-Pit Tale) HENRY: As I recall moments of my life, I can look for moments of particular vibes and see how they have repeated metronomicly, whether in the hourly, daily, monthly, or yearly scales. This is ‘my’ life, what ‘I’ have proven myself to be. And then there is now, where there is a choice to be made of how to be. VINEETO: What happened to the ‘holiday atmosphere’ after you stepped off the plane which you wrote about 2-3 days ago? Viz: Henry: All it took was for me to get on a plane and fly an hour from home for ‘me’ to go into somewhat of a hibernation (or ‘holiday!’). All these objects, attachments, ‘needs,’ narratives etc. were discarded and forgotten, why pick them up again? Cheers Vineeto April 14 2025 HENRY: … I’d say typically that happiness & harmlessness has frequently stopped in the past because some hopeful fantasy of mine was disappointed. (…) Yes, I can see that same retreating attitude coming up reflexively. And then the pursuit of fantasy-objects drains what affective energy I could conjure. So it’s about choosing pure intent / pursuit of freedom as the priority over those. I have believed in them. … Believing in romantic love, essentially. VINEETO: Hi Henry, Great, you pinpointed the dominating obstacle which stops you feeling good – now my next question is: what will it take for you to inquire into and dismantle “believing in romantic love”? It is possible and doable, but it requires an ongoing affective attentiveness to how you feel whenever emotions pop up regarding the “acquisition” of women, and observing how much your feelings and behaviour are shaped by the various dreams and taboos you have swallowed hook, line and sinker when growing up, like so many others have. Don’t be afraid that you might feel a fool, as it is not your fault, and the discoveries and acknowledgement of what is happening are of great benefit to boot. Besides, being courageously honest with yourself will lead to sincerity, and sincerity can open the door to naiveté. * VINEETO: ... when you are naïve, awaken your dormant naiveté, women will no longer be objects of your “mission” or merely an “acquisition” to satisfy your desire, but fellow human beings, persons in their own right and interesting to interact with. HENRY: This is definitely my bleeding edge at this point. I’m looking at this now. VINEETO: Perhaps this quote may give you even more encouragement to become fascinated and engaged when contemplating this topic – Richard: To spell-it-out then: All through the ages, and throughout all cultures, one basic predicament exemplified the problem of human relationship and, thus, civilisation itself: man and woman had never been able to live together in peace and harmony – let alone with mutual gladness and delight – for the twenty-four hours of every day for the duration of their respective lives. (…) Thus the basic premise was, and is, as simplistic as this: if man and woman cannot or could not live together with nary a bicker or a squabble – let alone a quarrel or a wrangle – then forget about street-marches, assorted ‘love-ins’ and other public-demonstrations calling for world peace because man-woman sexuality and intimacy is the genesis of family and thus the very core of civilisation itself. Is it not high time ‘grown-ups’ began living-up to the title “mature adults” else the next generation, and those thereafter ever anon, also settle for a best which is less than the superlative best? (Richard, List D, Andrew, 28 February 2016). What Richard wrote just two paragraphs before the above link may be relevant as well – Richard: “I can say this much: the something else which those others you refer to *do not need* is a history of attention-training (as in meditation, passive awareness, mindfulness, self observation) ... if anything *they need to unlearn/ discard* all of those tried and failed disciplines. And unless/ until that much is crystal-clear there is no point in discussing just what the something else was, which the identity in residence circa the ‘eighties decade had in abundance, which those others you refer to may very well be in need of”. [emphases added]. (Richard, AF List, No. 68d, 30 Oct 2005). Have you never wondered, for instance, why the near-innocent intimacy of naïveté does not feature in dictionary listings of various forms of intimacy/ ways of being intimate? (Richard, List D, Andrew, 28 February 2016). There is certainly a lot of further wonderful and fascinatingly revealing details to discover and explore once you leave “believing in romantic love” behind. * VINEETO: The situation you are referring to does not apply here – you seeing the loop does not end it, perhaps because the seeing is merely intellectual and not existential. However, with sincerity you can unlock naiveté (again), which will allow you to be more fully engaged and sincerely fascinated being alive, and like your fellow human beings, both male and female – HENRY: This point is well taken. It’s becoming clearer and clearer to me how I have consistently leaned on ‘my’ intellect to ‘understand’ things and overlooking the essential ingredients of naiveté & fascination. I had an experience of naiveté around 10 days ago and I could clearly see how the thoughts & conclusions I was experiencing were completely different, things were coming out of ‘left field’ which makes it apparent how my normal thinking process is trying to imaginatively construct meaning from within myself. I can see how that would ensure that I stay in place. It’s funny looking at it right now because the advice is essentially “have you considered using the actualism method.” Without being hard on myself, it’s amazing & amusing to see how I’ve managed to dodge it to stay alive, always going back to ‘my’ habitual approach. Seems I’m moving in the right direction, though. Considerably more naiveté, purity, simplicity, excellence in the last month or so. I really want to figure this out, get over the hump with this. VINEETO: Ha, you have un-coded my message correctly. It’s great to hear you are “moving in the right direction”. Naiveté starts with liking yourself and others, but it doesn’t stop there. The steady moving away from intellectualisation and theorizing in favour of directly experiencing how you are feeling at this moment of being alive, and removing any obstacle to feeling good right now, the only moment you can actually experience, will allow you to eventually be less guarded and more guileless. And once this new-found naiveté becomes familiar territory, nothing can stop you. Besides, have you ever noticed that it is never not this moment? HENRY: And I also find it threatening and fearful to not be considered attractive by people that I’m attracted to. That was, and has been the consistent trigger: I interact with someone I’m attracted to, generally become nervous, and then perceive or interpret that I’m being rejected and begin to spiral. This week has been a music festival evenings in my town, and that setting has been and continues to be a minefield for me. All of this is based on your observation above that I am viewing these women as an object of desire rather than “fellow human beings, persons in their own right and interesting to interact with”. Throughout the week have had some opportunities to observe this in operation, as well as to experiment with more naiveté and changing my goals away from “desiring sex” toward becoming fascinated with seeing people as they actually are. I’m still halfway in and halfway out, I can see that I could use more actually desiring the naiveté, desiring freedom, more ‘punch’ behind it, it all still feels rather tentative & ‘backseat.’ It seems that is inherent to my habitual approach: strong libidinal desire, coupled with tentativeness, confusion, anxiety. It’s a whirlpool. If ‘my’ approach worked, there would be no need for confusion, so that’s a pretty big red flag by itself. Well, enough thinking, time for more naiveté! Thank you for the considered response! VINEETO: My guess would be that the first thing to disable is a habit of being hard on yourself, and start being your best friend in your own thrilling adventure to acknowledge the intricacies of the various feelings, sometimes happening in rapid succession. Putting the feeling (which ‘you’ are) in a bind, may allow you to ‘jump out of the box’ and experience a whole new world. (See Richard’s detailed description about putting anger in a bind). (Richard, Selected Correspondence, Aggression) It’s not possible to command yourself to be naïve but you can give yourself permission, bit by bit, to increasingly slip out from under the control of your superintending agent (the ‘doer’). Cheers Vineeto May 1 2025 HENRY: The biggest thing which has been sticking with me since my ‘trip’ Saturday has been a realization of who ‘I’ really wanted to be, who ‘I’ had once been as a kid and had lost track of in the pursuit of proving myself as a serious adult. I remember having a mental image of a naive but lost & lonely kid, seeing all the adults all focused in one place and thinking “Oh! That must be where I need to go!” and diving with all my energy and focus into the place of seriousness, of sophistication, of being someone important. I’m incredibly happy to say that this serious adult has been mortally wounded… my delight, lightness, humour, and appreciation of my fellows on the beach in the sun put paid to that person. I remembered myself as a ‘plucky kid.’ Looking up the definition of plucky: “having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties.” I’m reminded of the Geoffrey quote that Kuba ;brought up not long ago: Geoffrey: “Who is that ‘me’, if not humanity? ‘I’ am humanity. And as such, ‘my’ destiny can be achieved. “Pleasant and wholesome” could become a refuge, a hiding place, for an individual ‘I’, a special ‘I’, fortified in dissociation from the dark soil of humanity by its acquired ‘actualist identity’. If one is to be humanity, then nothing of humanity shall be foreign to one. “The psyche is a frightful place” indeed. What is it that Richard admires about ‘me’? Daring, and audacity. [emphasis mine]. It’s so wonderful to have pursued all seriousness to its end, to the point that I can no longer ‘take it seriously.’ This plucky kid is both who I once was, who I want to be, and the perfect launching-place to become free from… the delight is everywhere, and I delight in myself and who I am as well… everyone is a peer and a play-mate, I want nothing but the best for them and need nothing. The courage is of examining and questioning the conclusions of all those serious and sophisticated adults, determinedly pursuing each aspect to its end in the face of the potential reprobation of society. Of enjoying and appreciating even though it is the last thing approved by the sophisticates – indeed, it’s considered the domain of simpletons. Fools may rush in, but only a sophisticate can remain forever trapped in confusion & depression, and then characterize that condition as a virtue! VINEETO: Hi Henry, What a wonderful report and how eloquently you describe your new-found ‘domain’ – that of the ‘simpleton’ and ‘fool’ in others’ eyes but actually the naïve unsophisticated explorer for a whole lot of enjoyment and appreciation of this moment of being alive like child’s play. You may have to remind yourself when old habits try to reassert themselves and seduce you to inadvertently slip back into serious familiar moods – but with affective attentiveness that too can be a fun game. HENRY: From this position who I have been is cast in sharp relief… the bemoaning and anxiety, the skulking, the constant embarrassment & shame. From this naivete there is no need to pretend I know some deep truths that are beyond my ken… my puzzling is simple, graspable, accessible to myself and to everyone. My path is easily trod, as easy as a walk in the woods. All I have to do is continue as I am, and as each step is a delight, there’s no sense of effort involved at all, but instead delight & fascination at having arrived at this place that Richard wrote about, which I have visited but never lived for long, and now see as the jewel of life, the thing that answers all the questions of philosophers and the rest of the lost wanderers. I can’t say enough about how glad I am to be here. To all those reading, I encourage you to find this simple naiveté, your own ‘plucky kid,’ as a priority over all other priorities. VINEETO: It is a joy to read your descriptions, “plucky kid”. HENRY: The dynamic quality is absolutely here as well – if a PCE is being ‘teleported to another world,’ this virtual freedom is the outcome of 10,000 leagues of travel, dead-ends, perseverance at its best, rewarded with the best living I’ve ever had and with the promise of more to come. I wouldn’t trade my place in the world with anyone, and I would say I can’t wait for what happens next except that what’s happening right now has my entire attention. In this space thoughts come from seemingly nowhere, surprising new conclusions adding fascinating new facets to my reality, each with a clean & glowing quality that tells me pure intent is freely operating… the actual world is near and nearer. VINEETO: Ha, now you know why Richard keeps emphasizing that virtual freedom is not to be sneezed at in an all-or-nothing approach and a serious bid for self-immolation before one has discovered and explored the fun of being like a child again with adult sensibilities. You described it well, and with actualism slowly spreading over all continents this will be the trickle-down effect of the third alternative for everyone, not to mention the effects of happy and harmless affective vibes and currents. HENRY: Incidentally, Vineeto, you recently questioned whether I had a habit of being hard on myself – upon investigation that has absolutely been true, and I’m happy to say that as I am now it’s no longer necessary – I have the confidence that I will tackle whatever comes with aplomb, that any mistakes to come are unavoidable parts of the living process, and any ‘being hard’ will only slow me down. It has come up a few more times in the last few days and has been quickly recognized and swept aside, each time greeted with yet another gust of increasingly fresh & delicious free air. I appreciate the observation & comment! This is all becoming so easy! VINEETO: Oh, was that ever necessary to be hard on yourself – or did you mean to say it was an acquired habit and is no longer applicable? You are so right – it will only slow you down in feeling good, feeling excellent and walking around in wide-eyed wonder. I am pleased to see you “appreciate the observation”, don’t forget to apply this same appreciation when you make the observations yourself and unmask your tricks and cunning to “slow me down”. It is indeed “so easy” and fun once you discover the long-lost childhood naiveté. Cheers Vineeto May 22 2025 HENRY: I’ve had a thought which has changed a lot for me. VINEETO: Hi Henry, Ha … it’s not the “thought” which was important but the experience of naiveté “which has changed a lot for me”. HENRY: I’ve been at home convalescing for a few days, and it’s funny because it’s been a bit of a vacation from all the action I usually subject myself to – I’m not rushing into town, off to social engagements, to the various sports I like to play – I’m just hanging out at home with my cat, reading and watching various things on the internet, enjoying the sun on the deck. It’s been really lovely, and a peace has been gradually settling like gentle snow. VINEETO: I remember you were having a similar experience when you returned from a trip out of town for a few days in April – Henry: All it took was for me to get on a plane and fly an hour from home for ‘me’ to go into somewhat of a hibernation (or ‘holiday!’). All these objects, attachments, ‘needs,’ narratives etc. were discarded and forgotten, why pick them up again? Is it that you have the ability to shift effortlessly into naiveté but don’t yet value and consciously appreciate it enough, thus lacking the intent to remain naive? HENRY: Yesterday was especially magical, so easy and surprising, and delighting & appreciating this peace & ease. Everything was so easy it was like it has always been like this, all my past depressions and anxiety seem like a bad dream only… the insanities across the globe seem incomprehensible from here (though I understand intellectually). From this space it occurred to me that anyone I come across could be in a PCE – there’s no special cue that tells me in advance, they absolutely could be and I just wouldn’t know. And the peace and delight this thought gave me revealed something – it showed how scared I have been of other people. I have internalized all the nastiness, meanness, anxiety that everyone is capable of, and have recoiled from it – but this thought that they could be in a PCE pierced that narrative. VINEETO: While the “thought” was imaginary it nevertheless demonstrated experientially that there is no need to “recoil” from other people when you yourself slip into being naïve – liking yourself and hence equally liking others – and suddenly life becomes genuinely magical. Richard: Maybe it is suffice to say at this stage that I do stress how essential the pure intent of naiveté is ... yet because ‘naïve’ and ‘gullible’ are so closely linked (via the trusting nature of a child in concert with the lack of knowledge inherent to childhood) in the now-adult mind most peoples initially have difficulty separating the one from another. Perhaps it may be helpful to report that, when I first re-gained naiveté (which is the closest a ‘self’ can approximate to innocence) at age 33 years, I would exclaim to whoever was prepared to listen that ‘it is like being a child again ... but with adult sensibilities’ (naïve but not gullible). I was soon to discover, however, that being child-like is not it – children are not innocent – and that innocence is totally new to anyone’s experience (it is just that a child is more prone to readily allowing the moment to live one, from time-to-time, than a cynical adult is). Thus the pure intent of naiveté provides the collateral assurance ‘I’ require to safely give ‘myself’ permission to allow this moment to live me (rather than ‘me’ trying to live in the present) and to let go the controls. Yet it is the direct experience itself which is the fundamental factor when it comes to making the curious decision to abandon both one’s present course and that of one’s peers and plunge into the adventure of a lifetime. (Richard, List B, No. 25f, 22 June 2000) HENRY: Suddenly now I’m seeing everyone as a potential collaborator in the fun to be had, rather than someone that might hurt me, an enemy. I have even weaponized actualism, as in “aren’t people so terrible” and thus to be avoided. VINEETO: The “weaponizing” of what you call ‘actualism’ has its source in not liking yourself, i.e. resent in yourself the ‘bad’ aspects of the human condition. Once you become guileless yourself and like yourself as you are – a product of the genetic heritage everyone is afflicted with – coupled with the sincere intent of doing something about it, then the world becomes a veritable playground. HENRY: And now I can see how it is for a free person – they only meet the actual person. There is no need to recoil – there is appreciation, liking the actual person that they are. And that requires not putting up a defensive wall, I have to really see them, allow that intimacy to occur. And I can see how easy it is to do that now, actually it’s a joy to do because of all the fun to be had. VINEETO: Be careful to not make a moral or ethical command out of your insight – as in “I have to really see them”. Seeing “how easy it is to do that now”, your intent to allow it is sufficient. HENRY: It doesn’t matter if they’re not in a PCE – they probably are not – because it’s clear now that they were never hurting me anyway, it was always me hurting myself. I was ‘protecting’ myself, but all it was doing was keeping this resentment and fearfulness alive. In this space, it’s evident how meagre that life was – no wonder I felt like I was missing something, I absolutely was! VINEETO: Indeed, it does not matter at all that “they’re not in a PCE” (it was only a fantasy anyway) – because when you are “traipsing through the world about in a state of wide-eyed wonder and amazement as if a child again (guileless, artless, ingenuous, innocuous) – yet with adult sensibilities whereby the distinction betwixt being naïve and being gullible is readily separable” (Richard, List D, No. 4b, 4 July 2015) then you are leaving “resentment and fearfulness” far behind and fun and gaiety are available in abundance and yours for the choosing. When you allow naiveté to flourish everyone is a fellow human being and as likeable as you are. All that is required now is a sincere attentiveness so as to not habitually slip back into ‘your’ still familiar world of fear and sorrow. Cheers Vineeto July 1 2025 HENRY: I was puzzling through what has been happening in Iran and Israel lately and it became apparent that there were a few questions I didn’t have answers to, and I could see that I was kind of hiding from that fact. I realized that I was hiding because I wanted to play the role of someone that is ‘in the know,’ so I could prance about and say important-sounding things about world events. But the truth is that I don’t know much about what is happening on the other side of the world. I found this ‘void’ very threatening, and fortunately I remembered that this was a wonderful opportunity to be attentive to what was happening. As I watched closely the void evaporated leaving me simply where I was, in the dim midnight light of my house. I could see that my posturing was just a way of ‘building myself up’ to avoid the void, but here there was no need to leave – everything is already here. VINEETO: Hi Henry, This is an excellent report of what exquisite awareness-cum-attentiveness can do – the “void” that at first felt “threatening” transformed into “everything is already here”. This feeling of the “void” can happen in many nuances and situations – a ‘lull’, boredom, not knowing what is going to happen next, feeling foolish when an old pattern is seen as no longer applicable. This is the door to naiveté and can, as in your report, lead to the full realisation that nothing needs to change because “everything is already here”. Perhaps you even experienced that you are already here, in this eternal moment of now, the only moment you can actually experience. This excerpt of a correspondence might give you even more (experiential) insight about “everything is already here” – CLAUDIU: [...]. Another related thing I’m not sure of is from the transcript of one of the audio taped dialogues. On a phone now so no link handy. But Richard was saying how the nature of infinitude is that it is always here and now. Thus to be here now is to be everywhere at once. I’m not sure what to make of this ‘everywhere’. China for example is pretty far away so how can I be in China if I am here? It makes sense that on the way to china I would also be here. But not that everywhere at once includes china right now. This train of thought already seems silly as I’m typing it out but I’m left without an answer. Ah well! Something to reflect on next PCE. [...]. RICHARD: G’day Claudiu, You are, presumably, referring to this: • [Richard]: ‘The actual experience of the infinitude of space and time is to be ‘everywhere all at once’, because all time and all space are right here ... and right now. There is nowhere else but here and no time but now. Anywhere is everywhere and everywhere is anywhere’. (Richard, Audio-Taped Dialogues, Infinitude is the Boundlessness). It is better explained in ‘Richard’s Journal’. Viz.: • [Richard]: ‘The purity of life emerges from the perfection that wells up constantly due to a vast stillness which is utterly immense in its scope and magnitude. This stillness of infinitude is that something which is precious. It is the life-giving foundation of all that is apparent. This stillness happens as me. This stillness is my essential disposition, for it is the principle character, the intrinsic basis of everything. It is this universe at its genesis. It is not, as it might commonly be supposed, at the centre of everything ... there is no centre here. This stillness, which is everywhere all at once, is the be all and end all of life itself. I am the universe experiencing itself as a sensate, reflective human being’. (pp. 179-180, ‘Richard’s Journal’, 2nd Edition: Article 25, ‘Peace-On-Earth Is Not The Be All And End All Of Life’; for context see: (Richard, Selected Writing, Actual Freedom). Thus if you think of it, initially, as the vast stillness which is ‘everywhere all at once’ (as in, there is no centre to physical infinitude) then, when following a train of thought about the audio-taped dialogue regarding the actual experiencing of that vast stillness – where matter-as-energy is the source of everything apparent (i.e., matter-as-mass) – as being a flesh-and-blood body’s essential disposition it will make more sense. (Richard, List D, Claudiu2, 28 May 2013). Cheers Vineeto July 2 2025 HENRY: One of my occupations is operating various motorized vehicles, and something I have been finding is that, especially because I live in a temperate rainforest, those vehicles have a habit of oxidizing over time, requiring various maintenance, weatherproofing, and repairs. While this is quite inconvenient regarding the continued function of those vehicles, I have been realizing that it is also reflective of the active (not passive!) nature of matter. The metals, plastics, and various other materials that these machines are made up of are constantly interacting with solar radiation, chemically interacting with water and oxygen gas, and warming and cooling (and radiating themselves!). They are never sitting doing ‘nothing’ like some kind of platonic solid. Everywhere and always these subtle interactions are occurring. So despite my efforts to make them last forever in a particular state that is to my liking, they continue to change, constantly vibrating and undergoing chemical changes to become something different than they were a moment ago. I can clearly see that this process is fundamental to the nature of the universe, so to be annoyed by it is to be forever annoyed. It’s quite funny to consider being annoyed by the fact that matter is not merely passive! VINEETO: Hi Henry, This is a great observation and realisation and a veritable source of constant delight and appreciation. It is also a fundamental demarcation between materialism and actualism. As Richard said, “We do not live in an inert universe“. It must be a pretty and pleasant area you live in, “a temperate rainforest”, which makes vehicles and other metals change their status quo faster than elsewhere. Just one comment – those “metals, plastics, and various other materials”, i.e. the elements and compounds, which constitute all matter and all of which are as old as the universe, are not “constantly vibrating“ (except when some power source vibrates them) – Claudiu: Thus, when I felt something unpleasant in my body, or some persistent tension, the only recourse, meditatively, was to put my attention on it, and notice it as being ‘impermanent’ (that is, as according to MCTB, vibrating in real-time at a certain frequency), ‘not-self’ (that is, as according to MCTB, happening on its own without a ‘self’ involved), and ‘dukkha’ (that is, according to MCTB, unsatisfactory in some fundamental way). The affect itself is taken completely out of the picture. It is noticed, but it is noticed strictly as a physical sensation, and the solution is to do something about that physical sensation. Here is where entering altered states of consciousness helps as it made the psyche more readily able to do something with those sensations. Richard: (…) In regards to continuing the meditative practise during activities, are chairs, desks, buildings, windows, sidewalks, bricks, rocks, trees, flowers, mountains, and so on, all independently (in and of themselves) vibrating in real-time at a certain frequency as well? I only ask because I am sitting here, currently sipping from a glass of water in one hand whilst typing with the other, and I am unable to notice – via being this very tasting, touching, smelling, seeing and listening – either the glass or the water to be vibrating in real-time at all (let alone at a certain frequency). Or is it, perchance, an intuitive noticing (meaning that only an identity has that capacity)? (Richard, List D, Claudiu, 18 December 2012). But perhaps you meant something else when you said “constantly vibrating”? To contemplate with fascinated attention that none of this matter is neither created nor destroyed, yet constantly changing, and that therefore one is observing – and living in – a ‘perpetuus mobilis’ is wonderful to behold. Cheers Vineeto July 3 2025 HENRY: So anything that isn’t ‘absolute zero’ (which is supposed to be unreachable) is vibrating to some extent. VINEETO: Hi Henry, Very pretty images from Alaska. Your above statement is based on the model of an atom with a supposed nucleus and electrons, positrons and neutrons swirling around the nucleus. HENRY: I know that what we call an ‘atom’ is a theoretical structure, but is the vibrating also only a model? VINEETO: As an atom is a theoretical postulate, what supposedly happens within this postulate is also conjecture. Prof. Sir Alfred Brian Pippard (1920-2008), Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Cambridge, knighted in 1974, had this to say, something which is still as valid today as then – ‘It must be realised, however, that the world of experience and observation is not the world of electrons and nuclei. When a bright spot on a television screen *is interpreted as* the arrival of a stream of electrons, it is still only the bright spot that is perceived *and not the electrons*. The world of experience is described by the physicist in terms of visible objects, occupying definite positions at definite instants of time – in a word, the world of classical mechanics. When the atom is pictured as a nucleus surrounded by electrons, this picture is a necessary concession to human limitations; there is no sense in which one can say that, if only a good enough microscope were available, this picture would be revealed as genuine reality. It is not that such a microscope has not been made; it is *actually impossible to make one* that will reveal this detail’. [emphases added]. ~ (Prof. Sir Alfred Brian Pippard; ©1994; Encyclopaedia Britannica). HENRY: edit: I found this article which describes the first imaging of molecular vibration. In the article they describe that prior to this imaging, the vibrations had been theoretical: “To date, molecular vibrations have been pictorially explained using wiggling balls and connecting springs to represent atoms and bonds, respectively. Now we can directly visualize how individual atoms vibrate within a molecule. The images we provide will appear in textbooks to help students better understand the concept of vibrational normal modes, which till now had been a theoretical concept.” (…) (Article, Scientists observe, image all-important molecular vibrations) (…) But this cannot replace the fact that these eyes are actually seeing, these mechanoreceptors are actually touching, and so on. Any further explanation to this potentially apperceptive sensing remains interpretation, and frequently if not always leads away from what is actually happening as fact. “A mechanoreceptor, also called mechanoceptor, is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. Mechanoreceptors are located on sensory neurons that convert mechanical pressure into electrical signals that, in animals, are sent to the central nervous system.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanoreceptor) VINEETO: Regarding mechanoreceptors actually touching – the word “touching” here describes a mechanical device making contact, and not the sense of touch experienced by a sensate human being. Hence, I don’t know what you refer to when you say “mechanoreceptors are actually touching”. What is called “mechanoreceptors” are in fact living sensory neurons being manipulated by mechanical pressure or distortion and this can in no way be called apperceptive sensing just because some mechanical pressure is involved. I also don’t know what you mean by “potentially apperceptive sensing”. Apperception is a function of an identity-free consciousness, i.e. when you are being apperceptively aware, regardless of receiving mechanical pressure, or not. A mechanical device is neither sentient nor conscious let alone apperceptive. Perhaps the definition of actualism might clarify it for you – “the theory that nothing is merely passive (now rare)” (Oxford Dictionary) – and the experience that nothing is merely passive. Richard: Actualism is the direct experiencing of the meaningful, vibrant, dynamic, effervescent, sparkling, pulsating, amazing, marvellous, wondrous and magical happening that is this very physical universe in action. (Richard, List C, No. 3, 16 Mar 2000). I only briefly looked into the article of AAU.edu and in the first paragraph it says: “By focusing light down to the size of an atom, scientists at the University of California, Irvine have produced the first images of a molecule’s normal modes of vibration – the internal motions that drive the chemistry of all things, including the function of living cells.” (https://www.aau.edu/research-scholarship/featured-research-topics/scientists-observe-image-all-important-molecular). Now, you cannot focus “light down to the size of an atom” nor produce images of molecules because atoms and molecules are not actual but mathematical postulates. As such the images they speak of are interpretations (quantum mathematics in quantum-language). When they say “a molecule’s normal modes of vibration” they refer to a postulate’s (molecule’s) mode of conjectured operation, in this case labelled “vibration”. To quote again Emeritus Professor of Physics, Sir Alfred Brian Pippard – “The process of transformation from a classical description to an equation of quantum mechanics, and from the solution of this equation to the probability that a specified experiment will yield a specified observation, is not to be thought of as a temporary expedient pending the development of a better theory. It is better to accept this process as a technique for predicting the observations that are likely to follow from an earlier set of observations. Whether electrons and nuclei have *an objective existence in reality is a metaphysical question to which no definite answer can be given*. There is, however, no doubt that *to postulate their existence* is, in the present state of physics, an inescapable necessity if a consistent theory is to be constructed to describe economically and exactly the enormous variety of observations on the behaviour of matter”. “The habitual use of the language of particles by physicists *induces and reflects the conviction* that, even if the particles elude direct observation, *they are as real as any everyday object*”.[emphases added]. ~ (Prof. Sir Alfred Brian Pippard; ©1994; Encyclopaedia Britannica). (see Richard, Abditorium, Prof. Sir Alfred Brian Pippard). A list of related correspondence at the bottom of the page. As such, I take all their discoveries and interpretations with a large dose of salt. When I became actually free, I lost any ability to believe as well as the ability to imagine. You so rightly said above, in the part I elided – HENRY: Part of what is significant here is the demonstration that sense data is the supreme way to experience and interpret actuality. I have found that ‘my’ reality depends on many of these theoretical constructs in which understanding and interpretation of ‘what is happening’ is outsourced and dominated/ controlled/ owned by an authoritative constructed reality. Where there is interpretation there is room for mistakes, and the model can never be actuality. In a slight-of-hand, our own sense-data is hustled off to a closet and ignored, replaced by these models (which are given the official stamp of approval, taught in schools, printed in books and online sources, etc.). VINEETO: It’s good to be fully aware that these theoretical constructs may well turn out to be an incorrect interpretation of what is actually happening, and because they are now ubiquitously in use, they can spawn a great deal of more theory, conjectures and imaginary conclusions merely based on mathematical equations and models thereof. While it describes the present models of reality, by their very nature of being theoretical constructs they can never be actual. Richard: ‘History shows that a model can be found to be useful without it necessarily being correct ... and such a model is later discarded when another model can be found to correspond more accurately to the facts. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 30, 27 February 2002). Cheers Vineeto July 4 2025 VINEETO: Hi Henry, HENRY: I know that what we call an ‘atom’ is a theoretical structure, but is the vibrating also only a model? (…) But this cannot replace the fact that these eyes are actually seeing, these mechanoreceptors are actually touching, and so on. “A mechanoreceptor, also called mechanoceptor, is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. Mechanoreceptors are located on sensory neurons that convert mechanical pressure into electrical signals that, in animals, are sent to the central nervous system.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanoreceptor) VINEETO: Regarding mechanoreceptors actually touching – the word “touching” here describes a mechanical device making contact, and not the sense of touch experienced by a sensate human being. Hence, I don’t know what you refer to when you say “mechanoreceptors are actually touching”. HENRY: Here I was referring to those neurons (the mechanoreceptors) being manipulated by the finger etc. touching, rather than any mechanical device. VINEETO: Ok, I was mislead by the (rather inappropriate ‘scientific’) naming of human/ animal receptor nerves when sending electrical signals to the central nervous system. I prefer to keep it simple, and thus make a semantic distinction between biological (including bio-electrical) functioning and mechanical operations involving man-made mechanical devices. * HENRY: Any further explanation to this potentially apperceptive sensing remains interpretation, and frequently if not always leads away from what is actually happening as fact. VINEETO: (…) Apperception is a function of an identity-free consciousness, i.e. when you are being apperceptively aware, regardless of receiving mechanical pressure, or not. A mechanical device is neither sentient nor conscious let alone apperceptive. HENRY: The reference to ‘potentially apperceptive sensing’ was because with an actually free person, that signal is not being interpreted according to beliefs. Though I am realizing that that would perhaps require a fully free person. VINEETO: Indeed, or a person contemplating “that signal” in a PCE. Then one can experience that those signals are actually happening in the actual flesh-and-blood body – such as a full bladder for instance – (no matter what they are called in real-world ‘science’). Personally, I find it much easier to observe, delight, marvel in and appreciate the fact that it is all wonderfully operating of its own accord. * VINEETO: Now, you cannot focus “light down to the size of an atom” nor produce images of molecules because atoms and molecules are not actual but mathematical postulates. As such the images they speak of are interpretations (quantum mathematics in quantum-language). When they say “a molecule’s normal modes of vibration” they refer to a postulate’s (molecule’s) mode of conjectured operation, in this case labelled “vibration”. HENRY: Yes, this is the conclusion I came to as well. VINEETO: I am pleased you can appreciate that. I have always found Richard’s modus operandi very useful and effective, to look for the capstone of the upside-down pyramid when researching the facts or falsehoods of any topic – and it can be rather alarming that facts are far and few between the theories, hypothesis, models and outright lies and inventions – • [Respondent № 110]: “Reading over some of your previous correspondence (regarding UV Light, quantum physics and subjective realities), I seem to have no reason to believe in private representative realities or a noumenon objective reality anymore. Stunning stuff. Thanks again Richard”. • [Richard]: “You are very welcome ... it is indeed stunning to discover that more than a little of the wisdom of the real world is not worth the parchment/ papyrus/ palm leaves/ rice paper/ clay panels/ stone tablets it is inscribed upon. What I have found, more often than not, in any area of research I have ever looked into is that not only are facts rather few and far between but it is mainly the proposition which gets most of the attention ... so much so that I have oft-times figuratively likened such theses to an inverted pyramid (one standing on its apex) where a judicious pulling-out of its intuited/ imagined capstone results in the teetering edifice painstakingly constructed thereupon ignominiously tumbling down. It is all so glaringly obvious when one twigs to what to look for – the factual basis of the hypothesis or theory/ the basic premise of the argument or proposition – and it saves wading through a lot of quite often well-written but fatally-flawed articles trying to make sense of something which can never make sense”. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 110, 14 April 2006). As such when you know for a fact that atoms and molecules are hypothetical postulates and the question “whether electrons and nuclei have *an objective existence in reality is a metaphysical question to which no definite answer can be given*” (Prof. A. Brian Pippard) then you also know that everything built upon this premise is not actual, even when a large number of ‘scientists’ consider them as real as everyday objects. Then it’s really simple, for you personally, to distinguish a belief or interpretation from fact and actuality in this topic. Cheers Vineeto October 4 2025 HENRY: [quote]: “Lost in awe at the beauty around me, I must have slipped into a state of heightened awareness. It is hard – impossible really – to put into words the moment of truth that suddenly came upon me then. Even the mystics are unable to describe their brief flashes of spiritual ecstasy. It seemed to me, as I struggled afterward to recall the experience, the self was utterly absent: I and the chimpanzees, the earth and trees and air, seemed to merge, to become one with the spirit power of life itself. The air was filled with a feathered symphony, the evensong of birds. I heard new frequencies in their music and also in singing insects’ voices – notes so high and sweet I was amazed. Never had I been so intensely aware of the shape, the color of the individual leaves, the varied patterns of the veins that made each one unique. Scents were clear as well, easily identifiable: fermenting, overripe fruit; waterlogged earth; cold, wet bark; the damp odor of chimpanzee hair, and yes, my own too. And the aromatic scent of young, crushed leaves was almost overpowering. That afternoon, it had been as though an unseen hand had drawn back a curtain and, for the briefest moment, I had seen through such a window. In a flash of “outsight” I had known timelessness and quiet ecstasy, sensed a truth of which mainstream science is merely a small fraction. And I knew that the revelation would be with me for the rest of my life, imperfectly remembered yet always within. A source of strength on which I could draw when life seemed harsh or cruel or desperate.” (Jane Goodall) VINEETO: Hi Henry, I was puzzling why you put up this quote. I guess you are aware she is describing an altered state of consciousness? Here are some of the give-aways – “Lost in awe at the beauty”, “the moment of truth”, “even the mystics are unable …”, “brief flashes of spiritual ecstasy”, “become one with the spirit power of life itself”, “I had known timelessness and quiet ecstasy”, just to list the most obvious ones. Did you want to demonstrate how to recognize an altered state in contrast to a PCE perhaps? Cheers Vineeto October 7 2025 HENRY: Hi Vineeto, My impression was that it was a PCE, so perhaps this an opportunity for me to become more incisive. Could this be a case of a PCE devolving into an altered state? I think that the limitations of language play a role as well often, for example someone who hadn’t ever read the Actualism site might find themselves describing a PCE as ‘beautiful,’ having not observed that there was in fact no beauty at play. VINEETO: Hi Henry, Thank you for your reply. It is indeed vital to be “incisive” [astute] when assessing another’s (and your own) extraordinary experiences. Even though Claudiu wrote an excellent exposé already, I post this one as well as it was already written. Let’s have a close look at her wording and consider if you would use such words describing your own PCE – Jane Goodall: “Lost in awe at the beauty around me” Both “awe” and “beauty” are definitely feeling words. Jane Goodall: “the moment of truth that suddenly came upon me then. Even the mystics are unable to describe their brief flashes of spiritual ecstasy.” “Truth” is clearly a spiritual/ religious word, so is “spiritual ecstasy”. Ecstasy also means ‘rapture, bliss, euphoria, jubilation, exaltation’ per Oxford Dictionary, which is clearly not describing an experience where the instinctual/ feeling self, both ‘I’ and ‘me’, is in abeyance. Also why mention “the mystics” unless one believes in a spiritual reality beyond the physical reality. Jane Goodall: “the self was utterly absent: I and the chimpanzees, the earth and trees and air, seemed to merge, to become one with the spirit power of life itself.” The “self” Jane Goodall is referring to is the ego-self, not the ‘Self’ with a capital “S”. With the ego-self absent she temporarily becomes “one with the spirit power [sic!] of life itself” and merges with “the chimpanzees, the earth and trees and air” – a oneness as is described being experienced in many altered states of consciousness. Jane Goodall: “The air was filled with a feathered symphony, the evensong of birds. I heard new frequencies in their music and also in singing insects’ voices – notes so high and sweet I was amazed. Never had I been so intensely aware of the shape, the color of the individual leaves, the varied patterns of the veins that made each one unique.” This part of her description could be similar to that of a pure consciousness experience, even though it has a poetic tinge to it. Jane Goodall: “Scents were clear as well, easily identifiable: fermenting, overripe fruit; waterlogged earth; cold, wet bark; the damp odor of chimpanzee hair, and yes, my own too. And the aromatic scent of young, crushed leaves was almost overpowering. That afternoon, it had been as though an unseen hand had drawn back a curtain and, for the briefest moment, I had seen through such a window.” This indicates that the experience may have started as a PCE but very quickly devolved into an ASC, as demonstrated by her unequivocal spiritual sentences at the beginning and referral to malice and sorrow at the end. Jane Goodall: “In a flash of ”outsight“ I had known timelessness and quiet ecstasy, sensed a truth of which mainstream science is merely a small fraction. And I knew that the revelation would be with me for the rest of my life, imperfectly remembered yet always within. A source of strength on which I could draw when life seemed harsh or cruel or desperate.” The mentioning of the “revelation” being a strength “on which I could draw when life seemed harsh or cruel or desperate” means that nothing she experienced has revealed that there is an actual world where life is already, and always, perfect and pure. This is really the strongest clue that it was not ever a PCE despite her heightened awareness experience. I did not mention “timelessness” as the experience of time standing still in a PCE can be easily misnamed – Richard explains it well in Pamela’s video. Does this help to draw a distinction between a pure consciousness experience and an altered state of consciousness (for millennia considered as the summum bonum of human consciousness)? Here is the selected correspondence on differentiating altered states and PCEs – (Richard, Selected Correspondence, Affective vs. Pure Experiences) Cheers Vineeto October 9 2025 HENRY: Hi Claudiu and Vineeto, thanks for the thoughtful responses! It was clear to me when I initially read it that there was some spiritual language at minimum mixed in, but it is more obvious following both of your analyses that it is more than just that. Claudiu I appreciate that you found the original sources – they are much more obviously spiritually tinged – and Vineeto I agree that the thrust is going toward spirituality, if there was a PCE at all (perhaps!) it clearly was quickly co-opted. I can see in myself a habit of playing things “fast and loose” which I am seeing as a product of an anxious demeanour… rushing for ‘optimism’ when the baseline is doubt. Looking at this now! VINEETO: Hi Henry, You have been interested in actualism for a while, and if you still are, then a distinction between a PCE – the (temporary) abeyance of ‘I’ and ‘me’ – and an altered state of consciousness – the (temporary) abeyance of ego – is vital. On making this distinction hinges what it is you pursue in your life – the perceived best of the real world or being a pioneer for something entirely new to human consciousness. It has not so much to do with “rushing for ‘optimism’” or following “the baseline” of “doubt” – it is not even “a product of an anxious demeanour”. It is rather a matter how interested you are in sincerely imitating the actual as experienced/ rememorated in a PCE. It is your sincerity of purpose which will inform you if you are closer to imitating the actual or just ‘getting by’. Cheers Vineeto October 11 2025 HENRY: I can see that my attention has been split into a few domains, perhaps the trend is simply not wanting to be ‘me’ as I am currently. Some of this has been intentional as I felt a couple years ago that I had been spiritual bypassing in the sense that my life was a bit of a mess but I was avoiding my problems and feelings and living in a false ‘actualist identity.’ I have been spending some time re-engaging with my occupation and social life, which I don’t see as a contradiction to actualism but has meant engaging with things that I had long avoided, and as such have had a lot to learn. In this, I have necessarily become quite involved in many ‘real-world’ problems. Perhaps it could be described as a period of ‘me’ consolidating. VINEETO: Hi Henry, Mmh, I can’t quite make sense of what you mean by “spiritual bypassing” – is that related to how you have been “avoiding my problems and feelings and living in a false ‘actualist identity’”? Perhaps it is time to simply clear the workbench and start afresh. HENRY: I am definitely still vitally interested in actualism and becoming free. I have found this period of consolidation productive in clearing the cobwebs out of some ‘dark corners’ of myself. I’ve also found the appearance of new problems informative. VINEETO: You know there is a very simple way to start afresh – now that you found that “avoiding my problems and feelings” is segueing in “not wanting to be ‘me’” – Richard to Claudiu: Pleased to read of you recollecting a childhood PCE, during a sunny carefree day in Romania, and the best way to maximise the benefit gained from this trip is, of course, none other than what has become known as the actualism method ... to wit: enjoying and appreciating being alive, each moment again, come what may. It really is that simple: all the rest – such as feeling as happy and as harmless as is humanly possible, each moment again, by minimising both those futile malicious/ sorrowful feelings plus their antidotal loving/ compassionate feelings (and, thereby, maximising the felicitous/ innocuous feelings via this sensible utilisation of the potency of affective energy), for instance, and by being as naïve as is humanly possible, in order to be naiveté (and, hence, be sensitive to and receptive of the overarching pure intent), via being sincere about achieving one’s goal (in order to, thus, be sincerity in action) of peace-on-earth in this lifetime, for example, concomitant to coming to one’s senses both literally and metaphorically – are the various ways and means of effecting that very enjoyment and appreciation of being alive, each moment again, regardless of the situation and the circumstances. Put succinctly: the means to the end – enjoying and appreciating being alive – are, therefore, no different to that end (the very enjoyment and appreciation of being alive) other than the former is, of course, affective in its nature and the latter is, quite obviously, actual by its very disposition. (Claudiu's Report, 30 October 2013) * VINEETO: It is rather a matter how interested you are in sincerely imitating the actual as experienced/ rememorated in a PCE. It is your sincerity of purpose which will inform you if you are closer to imitating the actual or just ‘getting by’. HENRY: I appreciate this message. I’m experiencing it as something of a wake-up call… a reminder of pure intent. I remember in 2017 having a PCE and having the thought that ‘I’ would colonize the experience, co-opt it for my own ends… that is exactly what has happened over the years in many different forms. But the clean and clear qualities of the PCE are not something the identity can recreate completely. VINEETO: An excellent admission. Now is a good time as any to actualise this realisation. (Sundry, FAQ, Realisation/ Actualisation) HENRY: I am happier and more harmless than I was 1 or 2 years ago, and I’m pleased about that. Perhaps it’s time to step on the gas regarding attention to pure intent. VINEETO: I do find Geoffrey’s summary one of the best suggestions an actualist can adopt – Geoffrey: As long as you find yourself looking for the door that is tiny (the recipe, the formula, the secret sauce, the psychic gun, the pill, the trick), you’re nowhere near and should instead walk the path. As long as you find the path narrow, arduous, vanishing, confusing, instead of wide and wondrous as it is, you’re not walking it, you are merely lost in the woods nearby – and should instead find it in yourself to take a first clear step in the right direction, such as making a commitment to happiness and harmlessness. Ruthless honesty and utter sincerity will help you to succeed. Here is a quote you might take encouragement from – Respondent: Does responsibility and seriousness come with being carefree? Richard: No, the utter reliability of being always happy and harmless replaces the onerous burden of being responsible ... and actuality’s blithe sincerity dispenses with the gloomy seriousness that epitomises adulthood. It is funny – in a peculiar way – for I often gain the impression when I speak to others, that I am spoiling their game-plan. It seems as if they wish to search forever ... they consider arriving to be boring. How can unconditional peace and happiness, twenty-four-hours-a-day, possibly be boring? Is a carefree life all that difficult to comprehend? Why persist in a sick game ... and defend one’s right to do so? Why insist on suffering when blitheness is freely available here and now? Is a life of perennial gaiety something to be scorned? I have even had people say, accusingly, that I could not possibly be happy when there is so much suffering going on in the world. The logic of this defies credibility: Am I to wait until everybody else is happy before I am? If I was to wait, I would be waiting forever ... for under this twisted rationale, no one would dare to be the first to be happy. Their peculiar reasoning allows only for a mass happiness to occur globally; overnight success, as it were. Someone has to be intrepid enough to be first, to show what is possible to a benighted humanity. One has to face the opprobrium of one’s ill-informed peers. (Richard, List B, No. 20a, 10 July 1998) Cheers Vineeto October 15 2025 VINEETO: Mmh, I can’t quite make sense of what you mean by “spiritual bypassing” – is that related to how you have been “avoiding my problems and feelings and living in a false ‘actualist identity’”? Perhaps it is time to simply clear the workbench and start afresh. HENRY: Yes precisely, basically I had some real-world issues that I hadn’t settled and was avoiding. Over the last 1-2 years I’ve been gradually reducing my aversion to facing and dealing with those issues directly. Currently I find my mental ‘to-do’ list to be a bit overwhelming, which is perhaps a sign that 1) I have succeeded in re-integrating myself into ‘normalcy’ and 2) it is time to do as you say and ‘clear the workbench.’ What is it like to get my life done from a place governed by sincerity, naivete, rather than avoidance and/or neediness? I can sense a whisper of it, which is enough to find my heading. VINEETO: Hi Henry, What about “from a place governed” by feeling good? As it says on the Cabbot’s paint tins in Australia, “when all else fails read the instructions” – in this caseThis Moment of Being Alive. Contrary to popular conception, it doesn’t take ‘time out’ to adopt the habit of affectively monitoring your mood and pay attention to when the mood-meter goes below feeling good. Then apply whatever tool is necessary to get back to feeling good and resolve what triggered feeling less than good so that it doesn’t occur again. When you are feeling good, your “to do list” will not so much be governed by duties, responsibilities and obligations (to which you now want to add ‘practicing actualism’ as an additional burden) but you may gain a different perspective that life is meant to be easy and enjoyable, and then you may want more of this. It goes almost without saying that genuinely feeling good and feeling happy only works when you are also feeling harmless, i.e. considerate and friendly, (including towards yourself). One of ‘Vineeto’s’ favourite quotes might help to get unstuck – Richard: ‘To get out of ‘stuckness’ one gets off one’s backside and does whatever one knows best to activate delight. Delight is what is humanly possible, given sufficient pure intent obtained from the felicity/ innocuity born of the pure consciousness experience, and from the position of delight, one can vitalise one’s joie de vivre by the amazement at the fun of it all ... and then one can – with sufficient abandon – become over-joyed and move into marvelling at being here and doing this business called being alive now. Then one is no longer intuitively making sense of life ... the delicious wonder of it all drives any such instinctive meaning away. Such luscious wonder fosters the innate condition of naiveté – the nourishing of which is essential if fascination in it all is to occur – and the charm of life itself easily engages dedication to peace-on-earth. Then, as one gazes intently at the world about by glancing lightly with sensuously caressing eyes, out of the corner of one’s eye comes – sweetly – the magical fairy-tale-like paradise that this verdant earth actually is ... and one is the experiencing of what is happening. But refrain from possessing it and making it your own ... or else ‘twill vanish as softly as it appeared. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, Alan, 13 December 1998). Of course sincerity is vital to make sure you are not fooling yourself, whilst naiveté is not really something you can ‘govern’, rather allow it to come to the fore, as much as you dare. HENRY: Geoffrey: As long as you find the path narrow, arduous, vanishing, confusing, instead of wide and wondrous as it is, you’re not walking it, you are merely lost in the woods nearby – and should instead find it in yourself to take a first clear step in the right direction, such as making a commitment to happiness and harmlessness. Noted – for some reason previous attempts at this commitment have not ‘stuck,’ honestly not sure what I’m missing. Leaving that as an open question for myself for now (though if anyone has ideas or suggestions, feel free to comment). VINEETO: When, or if, you come to a point where you find yourself looking for the meaning of life, the purpose of existence, other than fulfilling the to-do-list again and again, here is an observation about commitment – Respondent: You say it doesn’t end itself, but pushes a button to make it happen. What is that button? Richard: You must be referring to something like this: • [Richard]: ‘‘I’ do not do the deed itself for an ‘I’ cannot end itself. What ‘I’ can do to bring about this ‘death’ is that ‘I’ deliberately and consciously – and with knowledge aforethought (from the PCE) – set in motion a ‘process’ that will ensure ‘my’ demise. What ‘I’ do, voluntarily and intentionally, is to press the button which precipitates a momentum – oft-times alarming but always thrilling – that will result in ‘my’ inevitable self-immolation. What one does is that one dedicates oneself to the challenge of being here as the universe’s experience of itself. When ‘I’ freely and cheerfully sacrifice ‘myself’ – the psychological and psychic entities residing inside this body – ‘I’ am gladly making ‘my’ most supreme donation, for ‘I’ am what ‘I’ hold most dear. It is the greatest gift one can bestow upon this body and that body and every body. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, Alan, 27 July 1998). The button is, of course, dedication (‘what one does is that one dedicates oneself to the challenge of being here as the universe’s experience of itself’) and/or devotion. Here is how I put in my previous e-mail: • [Richard]: ‘... when ‘I’ looked into myself and at all the people around and saw the sorrow of humankind ‘I’ could not stop. ‘I’ knew that ‘I’ had just devoted myself to the task of setting ‘myself’ and ‘humanity’ free ... ‘I’ willingly dedicated my life to this most worthy cause. It is so exquisite to devote oneself to something whole-heartedly ... the ‘boots and all’ approach ‘I’ called it then!! (from page 261 in ‘Richard’s Journal’, Second Edition; ©2004 The Actual Freedom Trust). And one of the best ways of ascertaining when one’s commitment has reached 100% is when the peoples one knows start calling one obsessed and slip the word ‘insanity’ into their well-meant advice every now and again. Despite all the rhetoric 100% commitment is avoided like the plague in the real-world. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 50, 5 October 2003). * Richard: It is, of course, a bold step to *forsake lofty thoughts, profound feelings and psychic adumbrations* and enter the actuality of life as a sensate experience. It requires a startling audacity to devote oneself to the task of causing a mutation of consciousness to occur. To have the requisite determination to apply oneself, with the diligence and perseverance born out of pure intent, to the patient dismantling of one’s accrued social identity indicates a strength of purpose unequalled in the annals of history. It is no little thing that one does ... and it has enormous consequences, not only for one’s own well-being, but for humankind as a whole. [emphases added]. (Richard, Articles, A Brief Personal History). It might take a gestation period. Cheers Vineeto
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