# Actual Freedom Library

## Glossary A – B dictionary definition and accompanying description by Peter ...
Please note that the text below was written by the feeling-being ‘Peter’ while ‘he’ lived in a pragmatic (methodological), still-in-control/same-way-of-being Virtual Freedom before becoming actually free.
Library-Index | A | B | C | D | E | F | H | I | J | L | M | N | P | R | S | T | U-V | | actual | actual freedom | actualism | actualist | affection | affective | | Altered State of Consciousness | altruism | apperception | authority | awareness | actual –– existing in fact as evidenced by the physical senses, in action or existence at this time, existing in act and not merely potentially or apparently. Oxford Dictionary Peter: Actual is that which is palpable, tangible, tactile, corporeal, physical and material. It is that which can be experienced by the physical senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. That which is actual, being in action or in existence at this moment in time, is not merely passive. In comparison, that which is deemed to be real is merely the cerebral and affective interpretation of the actual and physical by the psychological and psychic (social and instinctual) entity that dwells within the human body. As such, that which is deemed to be real is a personal ‘self’-centred or commonly-accepted interpretation of that which is actual. In comparison, spiritual Reality, while feeling super-real and ‘other-worldly’, is merely an affective, imaginary, hoped and longed for, fairy-tale dream-like state – a further psychic illusion built upon the initial illusion of reality. The myth of a spiritual Reality was created in ancient times as an escape from the very real horror, and the imagined evil spirits, evident in everyday earthly reality. Actuality is far, far bigger than mere feelings or impassioned imagination for it is actual, patently palpable, infinitely varied, observably tangible, manifestly obvious, always apparent, clearly evident, eternally existing and it is happening right here and right now, under our very noses as it were. Every moment, there is a door available marked ‘actual world’, and it is often most accessible at exactly those moments when there seems to be nothing going on in terms of emotions or worry. The ever-present, physical-only, actual world is ever-peaceful, ever-pure and ever-perfect. There is no fear, no aggression, no good, no bad, no right and no wrong in the actual world. Related Discussions actual freedom –– Peter: Freedom from the Human Condition, evidenced by the total elimination of instinctual malice and sorrow within an individual member of the species. A down-to-earth, practical, matter-of-fact, sensual, sensately-evident freedom as opposed to any and all religious, spiritual, ethereal, metaphysical and mystical Altered States of Consciousness which merely masquerade as freedom. Related Discussions actualism –– the theory that nothing is merely passive. Oxford Dictionary Peter: Actualism, as applied and put into action in Actual Freedom, is the experiential understanding that nothing is merely passive. It is the experience of being the universe experiencing itself as a sensate, thoughtful and reflective human being as opposed to a being a ‘self ’ – a lost lonely, frightened and very, very cunning entity trapped within the flesh and blood body. This direct experience is available in brief glimpses known as Pure Consciousness Experiences and actualism is the application of the method, and the undertaking of the process, which enables one to live this experience 24 hrs. a day, every day. Thus applied, actualism is no longer a dormant philosophical theory but is an innovative rule-breaking fact. Actualism is firmly based on what is actual, factual, physical, sensate and sensible as opposed to ethereal, imaginary, affective, spirit-ual and based on ancient wisdom and tradition. Now actual means it works. It means that given sufficient effort and intent that one can virtually eliminate sorrow and malice from the human body. This means in practical terms that one no longer suffers from feelings of sadness, melancholy, boredom, neediness, sympathy, empathy, despair or fear, let alone annoyance, offence, anger, revenge or violence. It is then possible by practical demonstration to live with a companion in total equity, delighting in freely and mutually enjoyed sex, discussion and physical intimacy. The physical pleasures build and build, as does the awareness of the immeasurable and limitless perfection and purity of it all, increasingly off the scales. One literally ‘buckles at the knees’ as the paltry attempts of the old ‘I’ to fearfully hang on wither in the helter skelter slide to freedom. And all this is actual, sensate – as evidenced by the physical senses – not merely cerebral or affective. It is a paradise not only of physical pleasure as it also offers a stillness and purity wherein one is no longer driven by the instinctual passions, where the mind is a perfectly clear and delightful and playful thing and the usual feelings of fear and aggression are replaced by a consuming sense of well being and benignity. And loneliness disappears as one immensely enjoys one’s own company. So, unlike the other metaphysical and philosophical theories of freedom this one works and delivers and, as such, easily rebuffs charlatans and frauds. The proof is in the actual and not in theory but in practice. Of course, the process works, but it only works for those doing it. Even a Virtual Freedom is to live beyond normal human expectations and would be sufficient to bring peace to this fair planet. But to go all the way is always the only way – stopping at ‘base camp’ is not for the true adventurer. One of the major difficulties for newcomers to actualism is that they think there is something new to learn in actualism – something they can add on to what they have already learnt. This is quite understandable because all that human beings think and feel to be true or ‘the truth’ has been learnt from someone else. The tendency therefore is to see actualism as something new to learn, a new form of wisdom to be clipped-on or melded in to their existing belief, a new and superior philosophy than the one they had before, a new set of rules and regulations as to how to live one’s life, a convenient excuse for continuing to suppress emotions and feelings, a clever mask for sublimating undesirable emotions and feelings, a catchy concept to strut around and teach others, and so on. While there is no doubt that even a little of the down-to-earth sensibleness that is the hallmark of the writings of actualists is of benefit for those who have had their head in the clouds for years, to consider actualism as something new to learn is to miss the whole point of actualism. Actualism is in fact all about unlearning – unlearning everything you have been taught to be right, true, wise, and sane. Actualism is about unlearning of all of your social and instinctual programming, the very programming that serves to incarcerate you within the human condition. Becoming free of the human condition involves unlearning and deleting all of your social programming that you have been taught by your parents and peers – in other words, you yourself actively demolish your own social identity. As this unlearning progresses you then start to become aware of the instinctual passions that lie suppressed or sublimated beneath this layer of social programming. You are then free to be attentive to the automatic-instinctual passionate impulses of fear, aggression, nurture and desire and the very act of attentiveness enables you to eventually break the stranglehold that these habitual reactions have over you. All of this is an unlearning, or de-learning, process – an incremental methodical procedure of deleting all you have been taught to be true and all you instinctually feel to be right – it is not at all about learning something new. You can’t learn actualism, nor can you teach actualism to anyone else – unlearning is a do-it-yourself business. Nobody can do it for you, or to you – you have to want to do it for yourself. Related Discussions Actualist — an advocate of actualism. Oxford Dictionary Peter: On the path to Actual Freedom, to be a mere advocate of actualism is a second-rate choice. An actualist is someone who is actively, intently, stubbornly, full bloodedly, whole-heartedly and totally consumed in the pursuit of an individual actual freedom from the Human Condition. An actualist is concerned with action not advocacy, and with practical implementation and radical change, not theoretical observation and superficial adaptation. An actualist is a relentless pursuer of what is factual and what is actual. An actualist is one who devotes his or her life to actualizing peace on earth in the only way possible and gets to have the adventure of a lifetime on the way. It is the most significant thing one can do with one’s life – one’s ‘three score and ten’ of existence as a human being. The whole point of being an actualist is to find out about what it is to be a human being. To explore, investigate, uncover, discover, dig in, find out, realize and then put into practice what you discover. As with anything new there will be pit-falls, wobbles, fears and doubts, stuck periods, wrong alleys, etc. But given a sincere intent to be the best one can be, a willingness to abandon what doesn’t work and a daringness to take risks, success is inevitable. This exploration into the Human Condition, conducted in one’s own psyche, is brand new on the planet. Not only has it never been done before, it could never have been done before. It is only in the last 40 years or so that the human species is emerging from a genesis based entirely on survival. The survival-only phase is over, for those who want it, and for whom the circumstances are right. Only now, with the dawning of the information age, is it possible for the individual to find out for themselves. To access and read all of Ancient Wisdom, mankind’s history, philosophy, science, current happenings, etc. on a scale, and with an ease of accessibility, inconceivable even 40 years ago. To be able to easily and directly ‘find out’ from the convenience of a computer and the comfort of a couch. To study the Human Condition in action, global-wide, on the 7 o’clock news. And then, you get to put what you have found out into practice … in your daily life … An actualist mixes, mingles, works with and lives with, one’s fellow human beings as-they-are in the world-as-it-is. The trick is to do this while being free of the shackles of feeling and being part of a group – of needing or having a social identity. The next level is to be free of being blindly, obsessively and instinctually driven to impassioned acts of fear, aggression, nurture and desire that give rise to malice and sorrow. For this to happen one needs to have lived a virtual freedom in the world-as-it-is with people -as-they-are in order to gain confidence that one can stop being a being who is instinctively on-guard or ready – and eager – to attack one’s fellow human beings. This confidence, surety and experience also means, when the moment of self-immolation occurs, one will not instinctively grab for the delusion of freedom – feeling one is free rather than being actually free. There is a sacred ceiling in operation for anyone searching for freedom, peace and happiness, franticly maintained and policed by the Gurus, shamans and holy men and their followers. All sorts of tactics, threats, dimwitticisms and inanities are strutted out to enslave the spiritual searcher as a loyal suppliant and stop him or her from searching anywhere else. This sacred ceiling is being broken by pioneers and it will be broken only by people doing it, and the subsequent subversive spreading of the word that it is now possible. Those who firmly believe in the sacred believe the sacred ceiling to be actual, inviolate and impenetrable. For those who don’t believe it doesn’t exist – it is an illusion constructed by human beings themselves, given credence by ancient fear-ridden fairy stories and one’s own instinctual passions. How to break through? Make it your passion, your ambition, your goal, your work. Devote yourself fully to the task, ride upon the thrill of pioneering, take up the challenge and, in my experience, you will find altruism – right there with you, as an innate companion. Related Discussions affection — an emotion, a feeling: like, goodwill, kindly feeling, love, a passion, lust. esp. feeling as opp. to reason. A mental state; an emotion, a feeling. Feeling as opp. to reason; passion, lust. Goodwill, kindly feeling, love. a moderate feeling or emotion, the feeling aspect (as in pleasure) of consciousness. Oxford Dictionary Peter: The feelings include both the affectionate and desirable emotions/passions (those that are loving and trusting) and the hostile and invidious emotions/passions (those that are hateful and fearful). Those attempting to live by the moral codes of either the ‘real’ world or ‘spiritual’ world are admonished to give full reign to the good feelings while repressing, denying, or watching the ‘bad’ ones. As such, the feeling of affection is but a counterpoint for the underlying feelings of fear and aggression and consequently often proves to be a very capricious and transitory feeling. Affection is but a fickle feeling that most mimics the genuine intimacy and well-wishing nature evidenced when the instinctual emotions and passions are eliminated in human beings. Given that the very nature of the actual universe is both pure and benevolent, these same qualities are then automatically and spontaneously the qualities of one who lives in Actual Freedom. Related Discussions affective –– arising from, relating to, or influencing feelings or emotions; emotional disorders; expressing emotion. affectivity: noun. emotional susceptibility. Oxford Dictionary Peter: The three ways a person can experience the world are 1: cerebral (thoughts); 2: sensate (senses); 3: affective (feelings). The ability of human beings to have and experience and share feelings or emotions is upheld as the essential difference between human beings and other sentient animals. Our ability to feel love and compassion in particular, is highly esteemed and, to date, is has been necessary to promote and encourage these feelings so as to overcome and negate the innate instinctual fear and aggression that are genetically programmed into us. ‘We are feeling beings’, is often touted as the essential human quality. Given Humanity’s almost ceaseless state of warfare and endless suffering and sorrow, this is indeed the essential quality of the Human Condition – human beings afflicted by instinctual malice and sorrow. In these current times, to live one’s life affectively – continually churned by instinctually-based passions, emotions and feelings – is to needlessly suffer and to needlessly inflict suffering on others. It is now possible to eliminate one’s social identity such that one is no longer a member of that largest of all social groups, Humanity, and further, to rid oneself of the grip of instinctual emotions and passions, which is the ending of one’s instinctual ‘self’ or ‘being’. This process leads to a new sensible, sensuous experiencing of the actual world as opposed to the affective and cerebral experience of being a social and instinctual illusionary identity dwelling within the flesh and blood body. The ending of affective feelings heralds an unparalleled actual personal peace, and one is then contributing in the only way possible to ensuring peace on earth. Related Discussions Altered State of Consciousness –– Peter: Many Eastern Religions encourage a spiritual practice involving long arduous meditation periods aimed at ‘stilling the mind’ in order to obtain an Altered State of Consciousness (ASC). This state, when fully realised as a more or less permanent state of delusion, is commonly known as Enlightenment. The ASC is epitomised by a feeling of Oneness ... human love becomes Divine Love – what I call Love Agapé – wherein love ceases being a feeling and becomes a state of being ... ‘Pure Being’. This feeling of Union with The Divine – Unitary Awareness – is an Oceanic experience that assures immortality ... and is thus selfishness to its very core. Peace-on-earth is readily sacrificed for residing in this Deathless State, such is its seductive lure. The ASC is a delusion whereby one’s identity shifts from being a mere mortal trapped in the illusion of a real world to becoming a Divine Being trapped in the illusion of a spiritual world. The small mortal ‘self’ becomes the grand immortal ‘Self’. Thus an illusion that is itself born out of an illusion becomes a delusion of massive proportions. Whenever a hapless victim totally succumbs and surrenders to the seduction of the ASC, yet another Self-realized Divine Being wanders the earth, peddling his or her seductive fairy-tale offer of an escape from reality into a blissful Greater Reality and gathering as many disciples and followers as possible to ensure his or her rightful place in the Godly Hierarchy. If successful, yet another group forms around a Master, yet another Way or Path is established, and if the Divine Being is successful in his missionary efforts, yet another Religion will be formed. That this Altered State of Consciousness – or Enlightenment as it is commonly termed – is upheld as the pinnacle of human achievement defies both sanity and common sense in this day and age. The ASC is, in fact, a dire and narcissistic corruption of the Pure Consciousness Experience whereby the self, in a desperate attempt to ‘remain’ in existence, totally identifies with and selfishly personalizes the pure and sensate rich experience of the PCE. One then Becomes the experience. One gleefully and instinctually seizes it with both hands. At last one’s Divinity and Immortality has been rightfully granted! Thus, the direct experience of the vastness of the universe is perversely corrupted by the Enlightened One as their own feeling of being Spaceless, Unbounded. The silence of the universe is translated into a state of Silence. The direct intimacy of the actual is twisted into a feeling of Union – a state of Divine Love or Love Agapé. The eternal nature of the universe is perceived by the new, grand entity as a personal state of Timelessness and Immortality. In an Altered State of Consciousness a total delusion is operating whereby one has, in one leap of fantasy, lost all grip on reality, and landed in an imaginary greater Reality. The ASC leads to a rare few who manage to “go all the way” into the delusion and become convinced of their own divinity. It would all be a rather amusing mental aberration of the few, except for the fact that other humans worship and pay homage to these God-men and God-women with the resultant religious wars and conflicts that have killed and maimed millions upon millions of humans for thousands upon thousands of years. It is plainly time to put an end to the senseless slaughter and eternal cycle of suffering that is the direct result of the insanity of the Altered State of Consciousness. Related Discussions altruism –– regard for others as a principle of action; unselfishness. Oxford Dictionary Peter: This quality needs to be put under the microscope, examined carefully and fully understood lest one confuses it with blind instinctual passions and senseless societal values. The instinct to nurture relentlessly drives many people to sacrifice their lives for offspring or family, only to feel resentment at the sacrifice. This is understandable for this self-sacrifice is a driven, automatic reaction, not a freely undertaken action. The moral and ethical rules of society demand of its flock, as a principle, that they make certain sacrifices for the common good and enforce these rules by carrot and stick. Praise, acclaim and even adulation are showered on the overt do-gooders while those who err towards what is deemed bad and unacceptable are controlled by condemnation, ostracism, laws, lawyers, police and jails. Thus one is either blindly driven, or forced ‘as a principle’ to sacrifice one’s life, for the good of others. One is neither naturally, as in genetic/ instinctually, free nor does one feel free within the applied restrictions of one’s tribal group. There is, however, ample evidence within the human species of acts of altruism that are neither blindly driven nor self-seeking of an earthly or heavenly reward. Many are spontaneous acts, such as those who risk their lives to save another or undertake unsolicited and impromptu acts of consideration for others – benevolence in action. On the path to Actual Freedom it is this quality of altruism, or benevolence in action, that readily becomes more and more evident in one’s thoughts, behaviour and actions. This quality is startlingly different from the spiritual love and compassion – ‘I am God acting for the good of others less fortunate’ – and from being a goody two shoes in normal society with its subsequent rewards. Benevolence in action is free and spontaneous – there is nothing in it for ‘me’ at all, in fact, it only happens when ‘I ’ am absent. However one can be observant of it happening and, in seeing its ‘self’-less purity and perfection, energize this quality of altruism to initiate the process of self-immolation in oneself. The path to Actual Freedom is not at all attractive for there is nothing in it for ‘me’ – no phoenix arises from the ashes to claim the glory, no acclaim of adoring disciples, no wonderful overwhelming feelings, no fame, no recognition, no power – neither overt nor covert. Extinction is extinction. It is for this very reason that one needs a goodly dose of altruism. Related Discussions: Altruism | Catalogue: Altruism apperception –– conscious perception, comprehension, the mind’s perception of itself. Oxford Dictionary Richard: Apperception is the exclusive attention paid to being alive right here and now. This type of perception is best known as apperception, which happens when the mind becomes aware of itself. Apperception is an awareness of consciousness. It is not ‘I’ being aware of ‘me’ being conscious; it is the mind’s awareness of itself. Apperception is a way of seeing that can be arrived at by pure contemplation. Pure contemplation is when ‘I’ cease thinking ... and thinking takes place of its own accord. Such a mind, being free of the thinker – ‘I’ – is capable of immense clarity. Apperception is to be the senses as a bare awareness, a pure consciousness experience of the world as-it-is. Because there is no ‘I’ as an observer – a little person inside one’s head – to have sensations, I am the sensations. There is nothing except the series of sensations which happen ... not to ‘me’ but just happening ... moment by moment … one after another. To be the sensations, as distinct from being an ‘I’ inside perceiving the world outside, engenders the most astonishing sense of freedom and magic. In Virtual Freedom, with pure intent operating more or less continuously, ‘I’ find it harder and harder to maintain credibility. ‘I’ am increasingly seen as the usurper, an alien entity inhabiting this body and taking on an identity of its own. Mercilessly exposed in the bright light of awareness – apperception casts no shadows – ‘I’ can no longer find ‘my’ position tenable. ‘I’ can only live in obscuration, where ‘I’ lurk about, creating all sorts of mischief. ‘My’ time is speedily coming to an end; ‘I’ can barely maintain ‘myself’ any longer... Related Discussions: Apperception | Catalogue: Apperception authority — expert, specialist, professional, master, scholar, adept, pundit. Oxford Dictionary Richard: There are two meanings to the word ‘authority’ and the one that causes all the troubles is the one connected with power. (The power of the authority to enforce obedience; the power of the authority to enforce moral or legal judgements; the power of the authority to command or give the final decision; the power of the authority to control; the power of the authority of a governing body; the power of an authoritative holy book; the power of the authority to inspire belief and so on). The second – less used – meaning is: an expert on a particular subject. Because I live in an actual freedom twenty four hours a day, I am automatically an expert about what it is like to experience freedom from the Human Condition. I have no power – or powers – whatsoever. It is very simple to be an expert on actual freedom ... one has but to live it and report to others from this on-going experience of being here now. (Expert as in specialist, professional, virtuoso ... or being experienced, proficient, able, accomplished, apt, competent and so on). I freely acknowledge – and delight in – my expertise on all matters pertaining to actual freedom and spiritual enlightenment. This expertise is drawn out of my personal experience on a day-to-day basis, for the last eighteen years ... twenty four hours a day. If one wishes to maintain that this makes me an ‘authority’ as in the spiritual meaning of the word ‘master’ then one is entirely missing the point of all I have said, written and demonstrated. Because those otherwise intelligent ‘Enlightened Beings’ have surrendered their integrity to the psychic Power that lies hidden as the ‘Unmanifest Authority’ behind the scenes. This divine entity can go by many names, most of them obviously a god, but the most pernicious is the one usually described as either ‘The Truth’ or ‘The Absolute’. To have surrendered to ‘that which is sacred’ is the root cause of all the religious wars that have beset this planet since time immemorial. Power is what the ‘authority’ of a guru / master / sage / avatar / messiah / saint is all about. As they have surrendered to a ‘Higher Authority’, everyone else has to slot into the inevitable hierarchy which ensues. And so the battles rage. The hunger for power – or the subservience to it – is the curse of humanity. Related Discussions Authority | Superior awareness –– being cognizant or conscious (of); informed. Oxford Dictionary Peter: In common usage awareness refers to ‘I ’ or ‘me’ being aware. The psychological and psychic entity within the body usurps the body’s senses, giving an apparent validity to its existence, and experienced as though ‘I’ see through the eyes, ‘I’ hear with the ears, ‘I’ smell with the nose, ‘I’ touch, ‘I’ think and ‘I’ am aware. ‘I’ experience myself as an alien in the world for ‘I’ am seemingly trapped within the body, feel isolated and disassociated from the world, and often yearn for freedom or release. Thus ‘normal’ awareness is typified by feelings of separation and alienation, fear and suspicion, resentment and aggression. With increasing life experience, disillusionment and disappointment, ‘I’ become cynical, resigned or accepting of ‘my’ lot in life, as any remaining naiveté is replaced with cunning self-interest. This cunning selfishness is most prevalent in the spiritual practice of developing a higher form of ‘awareness’. This practice creates a disassociated higher entity, commonly known as ‘the watcher’, who then watches what ‘I’ feel, what ‘I’ think, what ‘I’ am aware of. This illusionary awareness of one’s ‘self’, if practiced assiduously can, on rare occasions, lead to a full-blown delusion or ASC whereby this watcher or Higher Self can imagine or ‘realize’ itself to be Divine and Immortal. Even if this Ultimate State is not reached, the practice and pretence of developing a new identity – the higher Self as opposed to the normal self – leads one further away from the possibility of developing a genuine awareness, bare of any ‘self ’ whatsoever. Thus far there have only been two alternatives – the common condition where there is an ‘I’ who is trapped inside the mortal flesh and blood body and who is fearfully aware of an outside world, or the spiritual delusion whereby there is an ‘I’ who, as awareness only, is confirmed by repetitious imagination as completely separate from both the flesh and blood body and the outside world, and who is thus ‘freed’ to dwell in an inner imaginary, eternal, spirit-ual world. There is now available a third alternative for those who seek a genuine freedom from the Human Condition in its totality – the elimination of both the self and Self. When one’s awareness is freed of the emotional and instinctual bondage created by the psychological and psychic entity, a bare awareness of the actual world-as-it-is becomes extravagantly obvious. This awareness is readily apparent in the pure consciousness experience, or PCE, when ‘I’ temporarily abdicate the role of being ‘the one who is aware’. The physical senses, freed of the limitations and restrictions of a fear-based interpreter, are heightened in the extreme. The brain, similarly freed of restrictions, is able to operate with immense clarity and ‘self’-awareness is replaced by apperception – the brain’s ability to be aware of itself. Related Discussions: Awareness | ‘Self’-awareness Library-Index | A | B | C | D | E | F | H | I | J | L | M | N | P | R | S | T | U-V | | belief | benevolence | body | belief — that which is believed, an accepted opinion. Conviction of the truth or reality of a thing, based on insufficient grounds to afford positive knowledge. Confidence, faith, trust. A Religious tenet or tenets. Oxford Dictionary Peter: To believe means ‘fervently wish to be true’. The action of believing is to emotionally imagine, or fervently wish, something to be real that is not actual – actual, as in tangible, corporeal, material, definitive, present, obvious, evident, current, substantial, physical and palpable. A belief is an assumption, a notion, a proposition, an idea that requires faith, trust or hope to sustain in the face of doubt, uncertainty and lack of factual evidence. Whereas a fact is a fact, demonstratively evident to all that it is actual and/or that it works. Many beliefs are masqueraded as ‘truths ’ or are merely accepted as facts in lieu of any serious scrutiny, or are protected by the blatant and stubborn refusal to question the facticity of that which is ‘dearly held’ to be true. Simply because everybody believes something to be true doesn’t make it a fact. At some stage in history everybody believed the sun went around the earth and that the earth was flat, but both notions, believed and accepted as ‘true’ at the time, have turned out to be mere beliefs. Indeed, what is esteemed as ‘Ancient Wisdom ’ is a literal plethora of beliefs, ‘truths’, superstitions, myths, opinions, assumptions, theories and misconceptions that require active scrutiny and intelligent investigation by anyone who sincerely wants to become free of the Human Condition. After all, the very charter of the Human Condition is firmly based on, and rooted in, this same ‘Ancient Wisdom’. It does take immense courage to stand on one’s own two feet, to stop believing what others tell you are facts, ‘truths’ or the ‘Truth’ and start investigating for yourself – to ascertain and distinguish between fact and belief. A belief is an emotion-backed thought – made to appear real or true only by ‘my’ emotional support for the belief, by ‘my’ passionate feelings, intuition and imagination. As such, ‘I’ fervently wish many beliefs to be true, none more so than the belief in a metaphysical world with its implied promise of an after-life for ‘me’. It is no wonder that all sorts of meta-physical beliefs permeate every corner of human thinking and wisdom, and that these beliefs are so passionately defended. People actually kill each other and sacrifice their lives for their beliefs. People kill and die for their God and their Country. We are instinctually programmed to sacrifice ourselves for what we perceive to be the ‘good’ of the particular tribe we are in. One tribe’s God becomes another tribe’s Devil and, as such, horrendous religious wars, conflicts, persecutions, repressions and tortures are fought over the spreading or defending of particular beliefs. Who ‘I’ think I am as a social being is nothing more than the opinions, values and beliefs of others – my parents and those of my parent’s generation, which in turn came from their parents, and so on and so-on, back into the dim dark ages of the cave-men and cave-women. These very beliefs are what ‘I ’ am made of – they form the very substance of ‘my’ social identity. The reluctance, fear and stubborn refusal to question and investigate beliefs can be sheeted home to this crucial fact – to question one’s beliefs is to question one’s very ‘self’. To replace a belief with a fact is to eliminate a piece of one’s ‘self’. The very act of believing supports and sustains ‘my’ very existence for ‘I’ have no existence in actuality. ‘I’ am an impostor, an alien, a usurper and an illusion. However, the effects of this psychological and psychic entity are very real in that it results in feelings of sadness, loneliness and despair, not to mention anger, resentment and hate. Only by challenging the very act of believing itself, can one actively dismantle and eliminate all of the beliefs that ‘I’ hold so dearly. It needs a full-blooded commitment to eliminate belief and acknowledge fact in order to free oneself from malice and sorrow. The physical universe simply is perfect, pristine, pure, infinite, and happening this very moment – it requires no belief, faith, hope or trust that this is the case. Human beings have just been programmed into believing that this is not so. This programming consists of the instincts of fear, aggression, nurture and desire that we are born with, overlaid with the beliefs we have been indoctrinated with since birth – in total called the Human Condition. Further the advice of parents, teachers, priests, gurus, philosophers – indeed all of the human Wisdom – is founded on the belief that you can’t change Human Nature. Not only is life on earth a sick joke, but there is no cure possible – the Mother of all beliefs! If one is to become actually free of the Human Condition, in its entirety, then it is imperative to find out for oneself the facts, rather than merely perpetuate believing, to sort out what is silly and what is sensible rather than merely accept what others say is right or wrong, good or bad. Then, and only then, can one discover and sensately experience the fact of the delight, ease, magic and perfection of the actual world. Actual Freedom is not a belief, it is a fact. Related Discussions Belief | Fatalism | Gullible | Ideals | Psittacism benevolence –– Disposition to kindness, generosity, and goodwill towards one’s fellow human beings. Oxford Dictionary Peter: Benevolence is the innate disposition or quality of the actual world and, as such, is the innate disposition of anyone who is actually free from the Human Condition. Any attempt to appreciate the benevolent quality of the actual world requires one to cultivate and maintain naiveté, which is the closest human quality possible to actual innocence. One needs to abandon the cynical and resentful ‘real world views’ epitomized by such sayings as ‘Life wasn’t meant to be easy’ and ‘Life’s a bitch and then you die’. Similarly one needs to abandon the spiritual mind-set that merely affirms the ‘real world views’ while cultivating an affective fairy-tale ‘inner world’ of denial and fantasy, complete with its seductive promise of a greater Reality and a ‘better life’, after death. The naiveté required to question the gloom and doom of ‘real-world reality’ and the seductive delusion of ‘spiritual-world Reality’ is accessed from the actual innocence of the peak experience or PCE, when the perfection, purity and innate benevolence of the physical universe is readily and obviously apparent. Benevolence is then seen clearly for what it is – an intrinsic quality of the actual universe, and not, as is commonly imagined, a quality bequeathed or bestowed by some mythical Creator-God or some meta-physical energy of a sprit-ridden Mother-Earth, or some other esoteric Divine force. In the actual world, benevolence is a palpable and innate disposition of the growth force to attain the best possible result in any situation. At its simplest level it is readily seen in plants, as each does the best to adapt, survive and thrive in different situations. In animals, this tendency can be seen as a more sophisticated reaction as the options for action, mobility and adaptability are increased in a more complex life-form. In human beings, with the marvellous intelligence of the brain operating, we see this innate benevolence at its most stunning. The technological developments in agriculture, health, communications, transport, services, etc. all move inexorably and inevitably towards more comfort, more safety, more pleasure, more leisure and more ease. This is benevolence in action, the direct result of the human brain in action – the only intelligence in the universe – and has nought to do with any Gods, Energies, Intelligence, Force or the like. And the time has now come for the next stunning breakthrough in benevolence in action – an actual freedom from the Human Condition of malice and sorrow is now possible. This will have the benevolent result of a gradual reduction and eventual elimination of human violence and suffering – an end to malice and sorrow – as each individual does it for his or herself. The benevolence of the actual physical universe is the very ‘engine’ for this new discovery of Actual Freedom, and the cultivation of naiveté, based on the experience of the PCE, is the key for anyone wishing to access it. Related Discussions body –– The physical and corporeal nature of a human; flesh as opposed to soul or spirit. Oxford Dictionary Peter: The flesh and blood body which sees, hears, smells, touches, thinks, reflects and speaks as distinct from the psychological and psychic entity within (who I think and feel I am) that neurotically controls, is fearful and aggressive, feels lost and lonely, and desperately fears death. Spiritual wisdom has it that the spirit or soul is real and the physical body/mind is but an illusion. The physical body is imagined as the seat of lustful carnal desire and the mind (ego) as the seat of selfish, evil, and non-divine thought. The soul, the imagined seat of the good feelings, is seen as the ‘spirit’ within the body, able to survive the death of the body. The spiritual solution to the human dilemma of malice and sorrow involves actively cultivating the soul – the ‘good’ feelings – into a distinct, superior, God-fantasizing identity. This new spiritual identity is then in total denial of, and transcendent to, the more unpleasant aspects of the body’s instinctual programming that produces lust, anger, despair, violence, fear and depression. To fantasize of a ‘good’ and immortal ‘spirit’ dwelling within an ‘evil’ and, very obviously, mortal body is to deny the fact of that humans actually are – instinctually-driven flesh and blood bodies, able to think and reflect. The Human Condition that enslaves the human body in malice and sorrow is essentially a neuro-biological condition. It is firmly based on the formation of a social identity imposed over an instinctual based primitive sense of self – installed by blind nature to insure the species’ survival. It is only when we firmly face this fact, cease denying it, and cease believing the fantasy story of a spirit-world, can we sensibly get down to the business at hand – ridding ourselves of the neuro-biological instinctual programming of the human brain. When one does, one discovers that the instinctual programming is exactly analogous to software in a computer – it is nothing more than how the hardware of the brain has been programmed to operate and function, and being software, the whole lot can be disposed of, deleted, eradicated. What is discovered is that the human flesh and blood body, freed of the pernicious restriction of a personal, instinct-based ‘self’, is able to operate at its optimum, to its full potential – freed of malicious and sorrowful feelings. In Actualism, it is possible to eliminate the psychological and psychic entity such that one becomes this flesh and blood body only, wondering at the perfection and purity of the physical universe. All is then delightful, easy, carefree, serendipitous and perfect. Related Discussions Library-Index | A | B | C | D | E | F | H | I | J | L | M | N | P | R | S | T | U-V | A Down-to-Earth Freedom from the Human Condition – Happy and Harmless in this Lifetime Peter’s & Richard’s Text ©The Actual Freedom Trust: 1997- . All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer and Use Restrictions and Guarantee of Authenticity