# Actual Freedom ~ Commonly Raised Objections Commonly Raised Objections ## Actualism is not New RICHARD: Put simply: it was only when what I then called ‘The Absolute’ (aka God/Goddess, Truth, Being, Presence, THAT, and so on) became extinct – via altruistic ‘self’-immolation in toto – that this actual world became apparent. There is only this actual world. RESPONDENT: What a touching story! Those terms refer to the state of no-self, dolt: they refer to what’s still there when the self is gone ... RICHARD: Okay ... in regards to ‘what’s still there when the self is gone’ here is what you stated on the 18 October 2003 (‘There is nothing but THAT. You are THAT’) looks like in those ‘state of no-self’ terms: • ‘There is nothing but The Absolute. You are The Absolute’. • ‘There is nothing but God. You are God’. • ‘There is nothing but Goddess. You are Goddess’. • ‘There is nothing but Truth. You are Truth’. • ‘There is nothing but Being. You are Being’. • ‘There is nothing but Presence. You are Presence’. • ‘There is nothing but THAT. You are THAT’. That is what is still there when the *ego-self* is gone ... this is what is here when *identity in toto* is gone: • ‘There is only this actual world’. Which is why I reported (further above) it was only when what I then called ‘The Absolute’ (aka God/Goddess, Truth, Being, Presence, THAT, and so on) became extinct – via altruistic ‘self’-immolation in toto – that this actual world became apparent. There is only this actual world. RESPONDENT: ‘There is nothing but x’; substitute for ‘x’ any term ... RICHARD: Okay ... as you say ‘any term’ here is what I report looks like under your schemata: • [example only]: ‘There is nothing but this actual world. You are this actual world’. Now, as this actual world is the world of this body and that body and every body, the world of the mountains and the streams, the world of the trees and the flowers, the world of the clouds in the sky by day and the stars in the firmament by night, and so on and so on ad infinitum, what you are saying is that you are everything that physically exists ... whereas I say I am this flesh and blood body only (sans identity in toto). There is no such self-aggrandisement, as you propose, here in this actual world as the pristine purity of the actual ensures that nothing ‘dirty’ can get in, so to speak, thus I only get to meet flesh and blood bodies here (there is no identity in actuality). And this is truly wonderful. RESPONDENT: What about the narcissistic feelings that come from over-immersion in something that claims to be new and exciting? PETER: Narcissistic feelings are part and parcel of the feelings that come from being an instinctually-driven being and they are definitely one of the things that an actualist has to look out for on the way to becoming happy and harmless. I have written about encountering such feelings in the journal I wrote about my early experiences as an actualist, and whilst you are clearly scornful not only of actualism but of those who write about their experiences of becoming free of malice and sorrow, it might be of interest to others on the list to post it here – ... RICHARD: Which means that attentiveness and sensuousness will facilitate what the wide and wondrous path to an actual freedom is on about: a virtual freedom wherein the ‘good’ feelings – the affectionate and desirable emotions and passions (those that are loving and trusting) are minimised along with the ‘bad’ feelings – the hostile and invidious emotions and passions (those that are hateful and fearful) – so that one is free to feel well, feel happy and feel perfect for 99% of the time. If one minimises the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ feelings and activates the felicitous/ innocuous feelings (happiness, delight, joie de vivre/ bonhomie, friendliness, amiability and so on) in conjunction with sensuousness (delectation, enjoyment, appreciation, relish, zest, gusto and so on) then the ensuing sense of amazement, marvel and wonder can result in apperceptiveness. RESPONDENT: Sounds reasonable but hardly new. RICHARD: You have my interest here: whereabouts in what I write is it ‘hardly new’ and where have you read or heard of it before? If you can provide me with names or URL’s or book titles of these peoples who have already discovered an actual freedom from the human condition I would be well pleased to contact and/or or read about them. I have been scouring the books and talking with people from all walks of life for nineteen years now ... to no avail. I would be delighted to hear of another human being’s experience of living life as this flesh and blood body only being apperceptively aware (sans both ego-self and Soul-Self) and who says that death is the end, finish. Extinction. RESPONDENT: There is nothing new under the sun. PETER: Are you denying the technological and physical changes that have occurred this century in medicine, transport, science, communications, agriculture, etc. The very computer you sit at now is a marvellous new thing, an amazing machine linked to a communication network the likes of which would have astounded anyone a mere century ago. But, yes, I do agree with you that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ in terms of humans becoming free of their instinctual behaviour patterns. We are still driven by fear and aggression, nurture and desire. The imposition of morals and ethics – backed up by strict laws, police and armies – generally keeps a lid on it all and the whole system runs remarkably well, apart from the various outbreaks of war, terrorism, murder, rapes, etc. Many humans, however, are moved, for whatever reasons, to seek a freedom from this ‘normal’ world of fear and aggression, and many seek a solution to the Human Condition such that the human species, as a whole, could live in peace on this planet. Unfortunately the search for freedom is based on the Ancient Wisdom of Gods, spirits, other-worlds, future lives, etc. It is based firmly on that mother of all beliefs that ‘you can’t change human nature’. Seeing that we can do nothing about the ‘real’ world the only thing available – up until now – has been to escape into an imaginary world, created and sustained by belief – a meta-physical world. There is now available a third alternative. The actual physical universe, being infinite – having no outside to it – and eternal – having no beginning or end – is pure and perfect. Most humans have experienced this purity and perfection at some stage in their life in what is called a PCE or pure consciousness experience. There seems also an innate sense of this purity and perfection, but it is normally inaccessible to us humans, as we are born with an instinctual separate sense of ‘self’ with its accompanying instincts and are further imbued with a social identity. This very ‘self’, the who I ‘think’ I am and the who I ‘feel’ I am keeps me forever separate and alien from this purity and perfection. The spiritual search is a vain attempt to seek ‘union’ with this purity and perfection by ‘feeling’ connected, feeling Goodness, God, Love or whatever – the best on offer to date. The major and ultimately disastrous flaw is that ‘when really cranked up’ these feelings lead to Union, Oneness, God-Realization, etc. and yet another Saviour or Guru is realized to form yet another Religion to cause yet more wars ... The mere pumping up of good feelings leads to narcissism in the extreme as the core of the problem, the instinctual passions, lies forever untouched. RESPONDENT: There is nothing new in the idea of using mindfulness as a methodical approach to awakening. If effort at self-mastery makes sense to you right now, so be it. The nondualistic approach is difficult to penetrate. RICHARD: Maybe you are correct and that he is ‘using mindfulness as a methodical approach to awakening’ (seeing that you two have been conversing for so long) or maybe you are incorrect (I do not know what approach he is using to ‘awakening’, if indeed any at all, as he may not have any interest in waking up in a dream). But I do know that I have never advocated ‘using mindfulness as a methodical approach to awakening’ because, first of all, I have explained to you that ‘to awake from a dream is but to be lucidly dreaming’ and that the ‘dreamer’ must become extinct and, secondly, ‘mindfulness’ is a Buddhist term that I never use and involves a total withdrawal of self from the sensate world so as to realise the ‘timeless’ which is another term I never use and, thirdly, I speak of ‘self-immolation’ and not ‘self mastery’. I have never, ever said anything whatsoever that could possibly persuade you to make such inaccurate and unsubstantiated comments about what Richard is on about ... leaving me no option but to consider you ignorant (as in ignoring what I write) or ignorant (as in stupid). RESPONDENT: To ask and stay aware of what I am experiencing now is mindfulness. RICHARD: The word ‘mindfulness’ is an English word that means ‘taking heed or care; being conscious or aware; paying attention to, being heedful of, being watchful of, being regardful of, being cognizant of, being aware of, being conscious of, taking into account, being alert to, being alive to, being sensible of, being careful of, being wary of, being chary of’ and may be used, more or less, the same as ‘watchfulness’, ‘heedfulness’, ‘regardfulness’, ‘attentiveness’, and to a lesser extent ‘carefulness’, ‘sensibleness’, ‘wariness’. However, the word ‘mindfulness’ has taken-on the Buddhist meaning of the word for most seekers (the same as the word ‘meditation’ which used to mean ‘think over; ponder’), and no longer has the every-day meaning as per the dictionary. The Buddhist connotations come from the Pali ‘Bhavana’ (the English translation of the Pali ‘Vipassana Bhavana’ is ‘Insight Meditation’). ‘Bhavana’ comes from the root ‘Bhu’, which means ‘to grow’ or ‘to become’. There fore, ‘Bhavana’ means ‘to cultivate’, and, as the word is always used in reference to the mind, ‘Bhavana’ means ‘mental cultivation’. ‘Vipassana’ is derived from two roots: ‘Passana’ , which means ‘seeing’ or ‘perceiving’ and ‘Vi’ (which is a prefix with the complex set of connotations) basically means ‘in a special way’ but there also is the connotation of both ‘into’ and ‘through’. The whole meaning of the word ‘Vipassana’, then, is looking into something with meticulousness discernment, seeing each component as distinct and separate, and piercing all the way through so as to perceive the most fundamental reality of that thing. This process leads to intuition into the basic reality of whatever is being inspected. Put it all together and ‘Vipassana Bhavana’ means the cultivation of the mind, aimed at seeing in a special way that leads to intuitive discernment and to full understanding of Mr. Gotama the Sakyan’s basic precepts. In ‘Vipassana Bhavana’, Buddhists cultivate this special way of seeing life. They train themselves to see reality exactly as it is described by Mr. Gotama the Sakyan, and in the English-speaking world they call this special mode of perception: ‘mindfulness’. Which is why I have never advocated ‘using mindfulness as a methodical approach to awakening’ because ‘mindfulness’ is clearly a Buddhist term and involves a total withdrawal from the sensate world so as to realise the ‘timeless’ (which is another term I never use), apart from which, to awake from a dream is but to be lucidly dreaming ... the ‘dreamer’ must become extinct. And how to bring about extinction? By asking oneself, each moment again, how one is experiencing this moment of being alive. Given that this is one’s only moment of being alive, if one is not experiencing the peace-on-earth that is already always here now, then one is wasting this moment of being alive by settling for second-best ... it means that the long evolutionary process that produced this flesh and blood human being has come to naught. But, here is another moment, another opportunity, to actually be here now – where one’s destiny is – and how is one experiencing this moment? More often than not one is experiencing this moment through a feeling – standing back and feeling it out like putting a toe into the water – instead of jumping-in boots and all. Thus one can find out what brought about this feeling that is preventing me from being here now and through this ‘hands-on’ examination have it vanish ... and the reward is immediate and direct. This actualist method is a far cry from the Buddhist carefully cultivated ‘mindfulness’ ... which is a further withdrawal from this actual world. RESPONDENT: If it is a technique to bring about a desired result such as self-immolation or freedom from conditioned reaction, it is effort at self-mastery in which the old me is gone and the desired state only remains, i.e.: attainment. RICHARD: Goodness me, no ... ‘self-mastery’ is all about imposing discipline, order, regulation, control, restraint, obedience and so on. Psychological and psychic self-immolation is self-sacrifice ... how can it be seen by you as ‘self-mastery’ ? You are stretching a long bow, here. RESPONDENT: Dualistic approach is effort to bring about a desired result of freedom for me. It starts with belief that I know what is and I know what I want, what should be, so I will work to get there. But that is like a fish trying to become water. Fish or form is the time aspect and water or emptiness is the timeless aspect. RICHARD: Indeed ... you are, more or less acceptably, describing the Buddhist approach, although the Buddhist Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni starts with the attitude that they cannot know in advance ‘what is’ (‘Isness’) or ‘what they want’ (‘Nirvana’) or ‘what should be’ (‘Deathless’) really is like, but that Mr. Gotama the Sakyan does. Hence the necessity of ‘taking refuge’ in the Buddha (the awakened one), in the ‘Dhamma’ (the timeless law) and in the ‘Sangha’ (the community of perfected people). I would agree with you that all this is a belief as in faith (and, further, that the word ‘refuge’ is but a code-word for ‘surrender’) but Buddhists will shake their heads knowingly and tell me that I just do not understand. RESPONDENT: Can you point out how the actual-ism is different from any other here-and-now-ism? PETER: Yes, I saw many similarities between what Richard was saying and what the spiritual Gurus were saying (or anti-Gurus in the case of U.G). Both point to the ‘self’ as the problem and that its elimination will result in freedom. The problem is that the self is both a psychological entity – who we ‘think’ we are – and a psychic entity – who we ‘feel’ we are. In the East, freedom is freedom from the psychological self (‘mind’ is a common word used), and the personal identity shifts to the ‘heart’ resulting in an enormous self-aggrandizement wherein one becomes God or at One with God. So the ‘self’ in fact survives – to become the ‘Self’. One then lives in a psychic, imaginary world of bliss, wonder and Universal Love. This is most definitely not the actual physical world, and an astute study of all spiritual writings will attest to this. Look for clues such as any words with capitals – like ‘That’, ‘Truth’, ‘Universe’, ‘One’, ‘Existence’ etc (read as ‘God’), any talk of an ‘inner’ world (read as imagination), any talk of spirit, essence, Atman, true self (read as that which survives physical death) and any words such as absolute, universal, cosmic, oceanic, moon, (read as heavenly realm). 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. See ‘Time-Chapter’ of my journal for a description of the spiritual here-now as opposed to actually being here. Do you remember the scene from the Life of Brian when he is queuing up and the guy asks him in for ‘crucifixion?’ or ‘freedom’? and he says ‘freedom ... no, just kidding!’ I liken it now to the question ... ‘Enlightenment?’ ... and most will opt for the traditional. RESPONDENT: I also do not find anything radical in Richard’s teachings. I already am aware of most of this stuff thanks mainly to Osho and other eastern philosophies . RICHARD: I am well aware that many people initially get the impression that I am saying the same thing as do those people who are living in an altered state of consciousness known as spiritual enlightenment ... as detailed in Eastern spiritual philosophy. However, an actual freedom from the Human Condition is not an altered state of consciousness (ASC) wherein the identity transmogrifies ... it is an on-going pure consciousness experience (PCE) wherein the identity is annihilated in its totality. In an ASC the identity shifts its focus, when ‘I’ as ego undergoes an ‘ego-death’, and ‘me’ as soul realises its ‘True Self’ as epitomised in the phrase: ‘I am everything and Everything is Me’. The next step is the realisation that ‘Me’ and ‘God’ (not the god of the churches, temples, mosques and synagogues) are one and the same thing and, as such, one is ‘Unborn and Undying’. Thus, being now ‘Spaceless and Timeless’ one has achieved ‘Divine Immortality’ and one can confidently say – as Mr. Mohan ‘Rajneesh’ Jain did – that one is ‘Never Born, Never Died, Only Visited This Planet’. Eastern mystical philosophy stipulates that the temporal world – the entire material universe – is but an illusion, and only God is real ... God as ‘Pure Being’ (The Brahman, The Buddha, The Tao, The Void, The Whatever) and not the god of the churches, temples, mosques and synagogues. Whereas in the PCE the identity disappears when ‘I’ as ego and ‘me’ as soul is expunged, eliminated, extirpated ... as extinct as the dodo but with no skeletal remains. Then one is this flesh and blood body being apperceptively aware ... what one is (‘what’ not ‘who’) is these sense organs in operation: this seeing is me, this hearing is me, this tasting is me, this touching is me, this smelling is me, and this thinking is me. Whereas ‘I’, the identity, am inside the body: looking out through ‘my’ eyes as if looking out through a window, listening through ‘my’ ears as if they were microphones, tasting through ‘my’ tongue, touching through ‘my’ skin, smelling through ‘my’ nose, and thinking through ‘my’ brain. Of course ‘I’ must feel isolated, alienated, alone and lonely, for ‘I’ am cut off from the magnificence of the world as-it-is (the actual world) by ‘my’ very presence. With the clarity and purity of apperception, one is aware that this physical universe is actual – not an illusion – and its space is infinite and its time is eternal (this boundless expanse and an unlimited time is known as ‘infinitude’). Thus the infinitude of this very material universe has no beginning and no ending ... and therefore no middle. There are no edges to this universe, which means that there is no centre, either. We are all coming from nowhere and are not going anywhere for there is nowhere to come from nor anywhere to go to. We are nowhere in particular ... which means we are anywhere at all. In the infinitude of the universe one finds oneself to be already here, and as it is always now, one can not get away from this place in space and this moment in time. By being here as-this-body one finds that this moment in time has no duration as in now and then – because the immediate is the ultimate – and that this place in space has no distance as in here and there – for the relative is the absolute. Thus one is always here and it is already now ... what one is as this body is this material universe experiencing itself as a sensate, reflective human being. I am mortal. RESPONDENT: I have studied long and hard and find much that is familiar to your method. RICHARD: As nobody else, as far as I have been able to ascertain, has become actually free from the human condition by practicing whatever it is that you find to be familiar to the actualism method then it is obvious that any such familiarity can only be superficial. RESPONDENT: Indeed it is identical to some methods that would call themselves ‘meditation’ ... RICHARD: You do comprehend, do you not, that mere assertions add nothing to a sensible discussion? RESPONDENT: – it is all just words. RICHARD: As the actualism method is not [quote] ‘all just words’ [endquote] then that is the end of any such identicalness. RESPONDENT: You have a pithy phrase of your own here, but the basic investigation which is HEAVY ... RICHARD: The sincere application of the actualism method is light and airy ... in a word: fun. RESPONDENT: ... and not easy at all ... RICHARD: The sincere application of the actualism method is indeed easy ... dead easy, in fact. RESPONDENT: ... and subject to thinky thoughts ... RICHARD: If the actualism method were to be subject to anything it would be to feely feelings. RESPONDENT: ... manipulation is not really new or 3rd at all. RICHARD: As thought manipulation plays no part in the actualism method your conclusion has no substance. RESPONDENT: Thinky thoughts will basically win and render the method useless in nearly all cases is my experience of humans. RICHARD: Well now ... it was high time, then, that someone came up with something entirely new, eh? * RESPONDENT: Why do you present your method as quite so unique? RICHARD: Mainly because, going by its effect, it is. RESPONDENT: You may be on to something but I find this very off-putting. RICHARD: As the something you allow I may be onto is unique then why do you find it off-putting that the method which effected same also be so? RESPONDENT: Is it just marketing (which is fair enough)? RICHARD: As the efficacy of the actualism method speaks for itself it needs no marketing. RESPONDENT: And ... at the end of the day (week, month, year), if I have concluded that indeed there is something radically different and radically worthwhile going on here (i.e. a legitimate 3rd alternative able to at long last deliver the goods ... i.e. AF), I will have no trouble, I assure you, in permanently re-adjusting my cognitive maps and models as you, Mr. Peter and Ms. Vineeto have done, regardless of my ultimate judgement of any of the PROMOTERS and their integrity at any given moment. RICHARD: I wonder why you do not see how you undo your claim to have, not only a background of PCE’s but having had one just recently, when you make comments such as above. For example: • [Respondent]: ‘Of course I have had PCE and have also had the ‘devolved’ experience of ASC. (‘Re: Introduction’; 28 July 2003). And: • [Respondent]: ‘FYI, this AM I woke up and disconnected from my self identity entirely (something I have done before, more than once). That catapulted me right into a pure and perfect PCE which lasted for well over an hour. As I got out of bed and took a shower, the experience was exquisite, sensual and overwhelming in a most pleasurable way. The sense of past and future had dropped away and I was experiencing life in the eternal present ... and that freshness has stayed with me throughout this day. even as I re-engaged as an egoic self’. (‘Conversation Continuing’; Monday, 04 August 2003). Yet you say now that, at the end of the day, week, month, or year, if you have concluded that indeed there is something radically different and radically worthwhile going on here (that is, a legitimate third alternative, an actual freedom, able to at long last deliver the goods) you will have no trouble, you assure me, in permanently readjusting your cognitive maps and models. Do you see why I look askance at the other things you have to say? Things like this for instance: • [Respondent]: ‘I’m not convinced that just because someone has created a different map (as perhaps Mr. Richard has), or is using a different vocabulary (as perhaps Mr. Richard is), that he is actually staking out some brand new territory. (‘Re: Ram Tzu Blues; Wednesday 06 August 2003’). As it is the PCE which convinces – and not any claims I make as my words are designed to precipitate a PCE in the reader (whereupon they can then experience perfection for themselves) so as to not have them believe me or be convinced by the sensibility of any description I offer – I would suggest there is a strong possibility that whatever it is you experienced, both before you ‘re-engaged as an egoic self’ and after disconnecting, it was not a PCE. Which could explain why you considered that Mr. Douglas Harding [Finding The Self], Ms. Byron Katie [God With God], Mr. Maximilian Sandor [Alienation/Integration Of The Being], and Free Zone [The Beingness-By-Itself] were some places to look to see where an actual freedom from the human condition was already happening because Richard had not yet made an exhaustive investigation of all the other places it might have been happening up until now. More to the point: if it were indeed a PCE then your contributions to this mailing list would be of an entirely different nature to what they currently are. RESPONDENT: And finally, just so you and everyone else here knows: I’m very comfortable being proven wrong, about things small or large. RICHARD: As the only proof worthy of the name, in matters of consciousness, is experiential proof only you can prove yourself wrong. RESPONDENT: It’s hard to believe that all the mystic traditions are just a vast conspiracy to suppress and enslave souls. RICHARD: Nobody I know of is asking you to believe anything ... read and find out for yourself. It is the most stimulating adventure of a lifetime to embark upon a voyage into one’s own psyche. Discovering the source of the Nile or climbing Mount Everest – or whatever physical venture – pales into insignificance when compared to the thrill of finding out about life, the universe, and what it is to be a human being. I am having so much fun ... those middle-aged or elderly people who bemoan their ‘lost youth’ leave me astonished. Back then I was – basically – lost, lonely, frightened and confused. Accordingly, I set out on what was to become the most marvellous escapade possible. As soon as I understood that there was nobody stopping me but myself, I had the autonomy to inquire, to seek, to investigate and to explore. As soon as I realised nobody was standing in the way but myself, that realisation became an actualisation and I was free to encounter, to uncover, to discover and to find the ‘secret to life’ or the ‘meaning of life’ or the ‘riddle of existence’, or the ‘purpose of the universe’ or whatever one’s quest may be called. To dare to be me – to be what-I-am as an actuality – rather than the who ‘I’ was or the who ‘I’ am or the who ‘I’ will be, calls for an audacity unparalleled in the annals of history ... or one’s personal history, at least. To seek and to find; to explore and uncover; to investigate and discover ... these actions are the very stuff of life! RESPONDENT: Has Richard ever met Michael Roads, a fellow Australian, author of works such as Talking With Nature, Journey into Nature, Journey into Oneness? Michael is as unpretentious as they come ... and I find a lot expansiveness in his perspective on life. Check him out and give me a critique if you please. RICHARD: Hokey-dokey ... Mr. Michael Roads, a native of the United Kingdom, emigrated to Australia with his wife, Ms. Treenie Roads, in 1964 and farmed in Tasmania for twelve years; in the process he became known as an expert in organic farming and a consultant in the field. They are the founders of the ‘Homeland Community’ – based on the model of Findhorn in Scotland – and now live in Queensland, Australia. His ‘Journey Into Nature; A Spiritual Adventure Into Oneness’ is said by some to be a spiritual journey as profound as Mr. Carlos Castaneda’s in ‘The Teachings of Don Juan’ or Mr. Dan Millman’s in ‘Way of the Peaceful Warrior’. Mr. Michael Roads explores the nature of energy, the foundations of personal power, and the frontiers of reality. Through a dazzling series of visions, he goes beyond communicating with nature and becomes blackberry, dog, and crystal. He enters the ‘Guidestone’ and encounters the ‘Power Gates’; he accepts the ‘Great God Pan’ as his guide; he merges consciousness with water; he experiences the worldwide effects of pesticides on the plant kingdom and he fulfils the destiny of a dolphin as it travels from death to rebirth. In ‘Journey Into Oneness; A Spiritual Odyssey’ he has passed the initiations posed by the ‘Great God Pan’, and has earned the right in consciousness to enter into the non-physical realms. He says: ‘when I stepped through those Doors, linear time and normal reality ended. Everything of the known was abruptly replaced by an absolute unknown. Time, if it had any meaning at all, was spherical, so that all points of a sphere were the same time – always’. He then finds himself in his light body and, catapulted through one spiritual doorway after another, he meets numerous ‘Beings’ who expand his awareness of the dimensions of reality. Step-by-step, he is led to the greatest understanding of his journey into ‘Oneness’. As ‘Consciousness’, he evolves from gas, to mineral, to plant, to animal, and finally to human, experiencing the pull of ‘Self’ to express itself through physical form. He explores the infinite universe and comes to know the meaning of ‘I AM THAT I AM’. His ‘Into A Timeless Realm; A Metaphysical Adventure’ was followed by ‘Getting There’ which established this ‘New Age writer’s entry into ‘Visionary Fiction’ ... according to a critic. Mr. Michael Roads is not even enlightened ... let alone actually free of the human condition. His contribution to peace-on-earth is zero ... and may even help pull western civilisation, which has struggled to get out of superstition and medieval ignorance, back into the supernatural ... as the Eastern mystical thought that is beginning to have its strangle-hold upon otherwise intelligent people is becoming more and more widespread. May I ask? Have you read much of what is available on the three linked actual freedom web pages yet? RICHARD: In actualism the third alternative always applies. ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’, ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’, ‘Virtue’ and ‘Sin’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Despair’, ‘Gratitude’ and ‘Resentment’, and so on, all disappear in the perfection of purity. RESPONDENT: This is typical Taoism. RICHARD: Are you sure? Shall we take just one pair of opposites as an example? Virtue and Sin? In Taoism, virtue does not disappear along with its cohort, sin ... it transforms into a superior virtue called ‘Te’. Now, ‘Te’ is the power acquired by the Taoist and is known as the efficacy of the Tao in the realm of ‘Being’ (‘Being’ is life on earth as opposed to ‘Non-being’ which is the abode of the ‘Hsien’ ... Sages known as ‘The Immortals’). Indeed, Mr. Lao-Tzu viewed it as being vastly different from ordinary (Confucian) virtue: • [quote]: ‘The man of superior virtue is not virtuous, and that is why he has virtue. The man of inferior virtue never strays from virtue, and that is why he has no virtue’. The ‘superior virtue’ of Taoism is a latent power that never lays claim to its achievements; it is the ‘mysterious power’ (‘Hsuan Te’) of Tao present in the heart of the sage: • [quote]: ‘The man of superior virtue never acts (‘Wu Wei’), and yet there is nothing he leaves undone’. I have no need for any virtue whatsoever ... either the common or garden variety or the superior model. I have written about this previously: • ‘It is all so simple, here in this actual world; no effort is needed to meet the requisite morality of society. I have no ‘dark nature’, no unconscious impulses to curb, to control, to restrain. It is all so easy, here in this actual world; I can take no credit for my apparently virtuous behaviour because actual freedom automatically provides beneficial thoughts and deeds. It is all so spontaneous, here in this actual world; I do not do it ... it does itself. Vanity, egoism, selfishness ... all self centred activity has ceased to operate when ‘I’ ceased to be. And it is all so peaceful, here in this actual world; it is only in living this actual world that human beings can have peace-on-earth without toiling fruitlessly to be ‘good’. The answer to everything that has puzzled humankind for all of human history is readily elucidated when one is actually free. The ‘Mystery of Life’ has been penetrated and laid open for all those with the eyes to see. Life was meant to be easy’. (Page 98 ‘Richard’s Journal’ © The Actual Freedom Trust 1997). RESPONDENT: Are other aspects of actualism also derived from Ancient Wisdom? RICHARD: You are yet to establish that these aspects of actual freedom are derived from the ‘Ancient Wisdom’. RICHARD: I am not saying that if you bring ‘peace to yourself’ that ‘peace on earth will follow’ ... like they say. Peace-on-earth is already here; it always has been here and always will be here ... now. It is ‘me’ that stands in the way of this already always existing peace-on-earth being apparent. When ‘I’ self-immolate in ‘my’ totality, then the individual peace-on-earth is evident ... for one person. Then one is living in this actual world ... the value-free world of the senses. RESPONDENT: This sounds very much like basic Tantra teaching. Just replace your term ‘peace-on-earth’ with ‘enlightenment’ or ‘my Buddha nature’. ‘Enlightenment is already here, my Buddha nature is already here; it always has been here and always will be here ... now. It is ‘me’ that stands in the way of this already always enlightenment being apparent, it is ‘me’ that stands in the way of my Buddha nature being apparent’. RICHARD: Agreed ... so far. RESPONDENT: ‘When ‘I’ self-immolate in ‘my’ totality, then the individual enlightenment, the individual Buddha nature is evident ... for one person’. RICHARD: Not so ... when ‘I’ self-immolate in ‘my’ totality – and totality is the operative word – then one is beyond enlightenment and living an actual freedom. To become enlightened – to realise one’s ‘Buddha-nature’ – it is important that only ‘I’ as ego dies ... thus leaving ‘me’ as soul the licence to expand like all get-out in a veritable frenzy of self-glorification. RESPONDENT: ‘Then one is living in this actual world ... the value-free world of the senses’. Is it so? RICHARD: No way ... then one is living in the ‘Greater Reality’ (by whatever name) which is the value-packed world of the psyche ... powered by the affective faculty. I like your approach here! RICHARD: Being here now is to put your money where your mouth is, as it were. All other actions are methods, devices, techniques ... which are, in effect, delaying tactics. The most sincere form of flattery is not, as is commonly practised, imitating all the other people’s performance of standing back and expressing a feeling. To feel an emotion or be passionate about life is nowhere near the same as actually being here now. In being here now one is completely involved. Being here now is total inclusion. One demonstrates one’s appreciation of life by partaking fully in existence ... by letting this moment live one so that one is doing what is happening. One dedicates oneself to the challenge of being here now as the universe’s experience of itself. When ‘I’ willingly and voluntarily sacrifice ‘myself’ – the psychological or psychic identity residing inside this body – ‘I’ am gladly making ‘my’ most supreme donation, for ‘I’ am what one holds most dear. RESPONDENT: Did you read the ‘Being Here Now’ book by Ram Das? Do you recall the bit where the young Richard Alpert is off to find the truth and comes across a holy man who just is not interested in his stories of the past, in his emotions or imaginings, only in ‘Being Here Now’. Hence the title of the book. Could you explain how ‘your’ ‘Being Here Now’ is different than the ‘Being Here Now’ of Richard Alpert, who, I am assuming, is, in your estimation, one of those gurus who has caused the whole bloody mess this planet is in? RICHARD: First off, I do not point the finger at the Gurus and God-men for creating all the mess but for perpetuating it forever and a day with their specious solution. It is ‘blind nature’ that is the root cause of all the anguish and animosity. Secondly, Mr. Richard Alpert does not claim to be enlightened – or he did not the last time I looked at his work about 12 years ago – but his influence has encouraged many an otherwise intelligent person to trek eagerly off to the Himalayas for that permanent ‘high’. The phrase ‘being here now’ has become rather hackneyed, yet there is no other expression that conveys the immediacy of experiencing what ‘I’ used to call ‘the cutting edge of reality’ back in the days that there was an ‘I’ inhabiting this body ... and therein lies the clue to the difference: reality. Mr. Richard Alpert’s ‘being here now’ lies in a ‘Mystical Reality’ that is ‘spaceless and timeless’. This is where mystics deceive both themselves and their gullible listeners ... this blurring of distinction between the physical and the metaphysical. There is a lack of intellectual rigour in all this in that time and space is actual and ‘being here now’ can only be at this place in space and this moment in time. The confusion lies around the nature of time: time is eternal ... eternal as in physically without beginning and without end. Now I know that the word ‘timeless’ can mean eternal, but it is a metaphysical use of the word because it implies time stopping or vanishing. In that context, the mystics use it in conjunction with ‘spaceless’ ... ‘I am Timeless and Spaceless; Unborn and Undying; Birthless and Deathless’ and so on. As this physical body has a limited life-span, they can only be referring to a psychic entity receiving its post-mortem reward of immortality. Thus the reality of their psychic ‘being here now’ is vastly different to the actuality of sensately being here now. There is no ‘spacelessness’ here or ‘timelessness’ now, in actuality. Living here, at this moment in time, there is only this moment that is actual. As it is already always this moment, time has no duration when ‘I’ am not ... and to the unaware it appears to be ‘timeless’. It is not. This moment is hanging in eternal time like this planet is hanging in infinite space. There is no beginning or end to the infinitude of this universe’s space and time, therefore there is no middle, no centre. Thus, here and now is nowhere in particular and one is easily already here as it is always now. With apperceptive awareness – which is this flesh and blood body being conscious sans ‘I’ as ego and ‘me’ as soul – there is the direct experience of the immediate being the ultimate and the relative being the absolute. This is what I describe by saying ‘being here now’. RESPONDENT: The direct experience that matter is not merely passive is not new in human history. RICHARD: Yet that is not what is being referred to ... for example (from the ‘Hidden Rosarium’ website which the above quote came from) : • [Mr. Ahmed Baki]: ‘What you observe in this universe as exists is all from, belong to and serve ‘the One’ alone ultimately that is referred to as ‘Allah,’ as nothing is there aside from the Limitless One’. (01 – ‘Limitlessness Of Allah Means Nothingness Of You’). And: • [Mr. Ahmed Baki]: ‘The Deen (religion) principally emphasizes two basic points of reality: The reality of ‘Limitless Oneness’ that is referred to by the noun ‘ALLAH!’ And the reality of ‘life after death’ that humans will survive death of their physical bodies and continue living with their spiritual powers so far as they were able to unfold them from within themselves while they were alive in this world. (...) When we are concerned about the value of a point of a subject in connection with the Deen of Islam in its authenticity, we must consider what our consciousness gains from focusing on that subject and spending our time with it! If a discussion is neither helpful for recognizing your true self better at the dimension of consciousness beyond the limits of your physical body and realizing the limitless potencies originated from within yourself, nor has a value of awakening you about the conditions of life beyond death and the preparations you may do about it for yourself, then your dealing with that subject will result in nothing other than confining yourself with delusions and consolations’. (02 – ‘The Deen Is To Nourish Your Consciousness’). And: • [Mr. Ahmed Baki]: ‘In the Hereafter, you will not survive with your flesh and bones or other things that you were connected through your physical body in this world’. (38 – ‘You Do Not Need Anything At All From This World’). There are many more of similar ilk ... but maybe that will do for now. RESPONDENT: What you call ‘matter’ or ‘the universe’, they call ‘Allah’. RICHARD: They do no such thing ... they know naught of what I report/describe/explain (this actual world). RESPONDENT: However, you will not acknowledge this. RICHARD: If I may point out? There is nothing to acknowledge as they are forever locked-out of actuality by their very nature. RESPONDENT: However, I do question some of the assertions that adorn your essential message. (...) Furthermore, it is almost exactly what the Buddha taught, as was Krishnamurti’s teaching. The Buddha and Krishnamurti were both emphatic that there is ‘NO SELF’ to be found (higher, lower or whatever) and that it is the holding on to this ‘illusion of self’ that is at the root of all suffering! RICHARD: Yet Mr. Jiddu Krishnamurti did urge ‘realisation of the self’, did he not ... and an ‘unconditioned realisation of the self’ at that? Viz.: • ‘I have only one purpose: to make man free, to urge him towards freedom, to help him to break away from all limitations, for that alone will give him eternal happiness, will give him the unconditioned realisation of the self. Because I am free, unconditioned, whole – not the part, not the relative, but the whole Truth that is eternal – I desire those, who seek to understand me, to be free’. (Truth is a Pathless Land; August 2, 1929; The Dissolution of the Order of the Star). He goes on to say that this self that one realises is ‘incorruptible’. Viz.: • ‘As I said before, my purpose is to make men unconditionally free, for I maintain that the only spirituality is the incorruptibility of the self which is eternal’. (Truth is a Pathless Land; August 2, 1929; The Dissolution of the Order of the Star). As for Mr. Gotama the Sakyan, there has been considerable dissention amongst Buddhists (of different schools) about Mr. Gotama the Sakyan’s doctrine of ‘Anatta’ (No-Self). However, if the Pali scriptures (held by some to be the most original) are examined, one will find that what Mr. Gotama the Sakyan expressly stated was that no ‘self’ was to be found in this physical world, in this physical body’s sensations, in this physical body’s feelings, in this physical body’s thoughts, in this physical body’s perceptions or in this physical body’s consciousness. He never stated that there was ‘NO SELF’ at all and, in fact, when expressly asked about the self in the after death state he declined to answer instead of giving an emphatic and unambiguous ‘No’. Then there is the hoary subject of re-incarnation which has kept Buddhists busy for centuries, discussing scripture after scripture and endeavouring to do the impossible: explain how reincarnation can happen if there is no ‘self’ to reincarnate. (And to say that it is a bundle of memories and desires reincarnating is rather disingenuous to say the least). Because all Buddhists know that ‘Parinirvana’ (after-death) is the ‘Deathless State’ ... a cursory glance at Buddhist Scriptures will show you that ‘amata dhatu’ (the unconditioned, the deathless principle) is what Mr. Gotama the Sakyan enjoined his Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis to strive for unceasingly. Viz.: • [Mr. Gotama the Sakyan]: ‘Those who have not known, seen, penetrated, realized, or attained it by means of discernment would have to take it on conviction in others that the faculty of conviction (...) persistence (...) mindfulness (...) concentration (...) discernment, when developed and pursued, plunges into the Deathless, has the Deathless as its goal and consummation; whereas those who have known, seen, penetrated, realized and attained it by means of discernment would have no doubt or uncertainty that the faculty of conviction (...) persistence (...) mindfulness (...) concentration (...) discernment, when developed and pursued, plunges into the Deathless, has the Deathless as its goal and consummation’. (SN 48.44; PTS: SN v.220; Pubbakotthaka Sutta; ‘Eastern Gatehouse’). RESPONDENT: [quote] ‘For thousands of years, human beings …’. [endquote]. [quote] ‘Now, for the first time ...’. [endquote]. Hmmm ... Did a minute read and let’s see ... [quote] ‘Actual Freedom has nothing to do with the traditional spiritual path of transcendence and avoidance ...’. [endquote]. Basic Buddhist mindfulness meditation stresses involvement with life. RICHARD: Well now ... that is what comes of only doing [quote] ‘a minute read’ [endquote], eh? Here is the full text from which you quoted (with the snippets your minute read enabled you to draw such an invalid comparison from highlighted for convenience): • PETER: ‘*For thousands of years, human beings* have searched for genuine freedom, peace and happiness. *Now, for the first time*, a proven method has been devised to eliminate the genetically-encoded instinctual passions of fear, aggression, nurture and desire that are the root cause of human bondage, malice and sorrow. *Actual Freedom has nothing to do with the traditional spiritual path of transcendence and avoidance* – the promise of a mythical ‘freedom’ in an imaginary life-after-death. This new, non-spiritual method produces an actual freedom from our instinctual animal passions, here and now, on earth, in this lifetime. Actual Freedom offers a step by step, down-to-earth, practical progression to becoming actually free of the Human Condition of malice and sorrow – to be both happy and harmless’. (www.actualfreedom.com.au/introduction/index.htm). First of all, the buddhistic mindfulness meditation does not ... (a) stress genuine freedom, peace and happiness ... and (b) does not eliminate the genetically-encoded instinctual passions of fear, aggression, nurture and desire (the root cause of human bondage, malice and sorrow) ... and (c) does promise a mythical ‘freedom’ in an imaginary life-after-death (‘Parinirvana’) ... and (d) is not a new, non-spiritual method ... and (e) does not produce an actual freedom from the instinctual animal passions, here and now, on earth, in this lifetime ... and (f) does not offer a step by step, down-to-earth, practical progression to becoming actually free of the human condition of malice and sorrow ... to be both happy and harmless. More to your point, however, Mr. Gotama the Sakyan’s mindfulness meditation is primarily about detachment/dissociation from life – all existence is Dukkha (unsatisfactory) due to Anicca (impermanence) and suffering comes from Tanha (craving) for Samsara (phenomenal existence) – and any meditation technique which stresses involvement with such is anything but what Mr. Gotama the Sakyan taught. RESPONDENT: [quote] ‘Enhancement of ‘good’ emotion ... denial of ‘bad’ emotion via sublimation’. [endquote]. Again, basic Buddhist mindfulness meditation embraces all good and bad emotion. RICHARD: By way of example I need only point to the four Apramanas (aka ‘infinite feelings’) of Buddhism: 1. Metta: the perfect virtue of sympathy, which gives happiness to living beings. 2. Karuna: perfect virtue of compassion, which removes pain from living beings (out of karuna the bodhisattva postpones entrance into Nirvana to work for the salvation of others). 3. Mudita: perfect virtue of joy, the enjoyment of the sight of others who have attained happiness. 4. Upekkha: perfect virtue of equanimity, being free from attachment to everything and being indifferent to living beings. (from the Encyclopaedia Britannica). RESPONDENT: [quote] ‘Pure consciousness experience ....’. [endquote]. Read Nisargadatta ... better description. RICHARD: I read what he has to report – very carefully – quite a few years ago and nowhere is a description of a pure consciousness experience to be found anywhere (let alone a better one than on The Actual Freedom Trust web site). RESPONDENT: Look dude, it’s good that you achieved ‘Appreciative Awareness’ or whatever ... RICHARD: The term, as you would know had you done more than a minute read before reaching for the keyboard, is ‘apperceptive awareness’ (unmediated perception). RESPONDENT: ... but what is the point of sounding like a fourth rate salesman who doesn’t read? RICHARD: Hmm ... have you ever heard of the expression ‘hoist by his own petard’ by any chance? RESPONDENT: Tsk, tsk, Aussies. RICHARD: As [quote] ‘tsk, tsk’ [endquote] represents a sound expressing commiseration, disapproval, or irritation, according to the Oxford Dictionary, it would appear that you are indeed embracing both good and bad emotions in your (non-buddhistic) mindfully meditative involvement with life. Incidentally, just because some peoples are currently residing on a land mass called Australia it does not necessarily mean they are what the colloquialism ‘Aussies’ refers to. * RESPONDENT: Sorry to put my thumbs down. RICHARD: There is no need to apologise ... they are your thumbs, when all is said and done, and what you choose to do with them is your business. RESPONDENT: Hmm ... this Richard ... he probably has reached constant pure awareness ... RICHARD: Ha ... them damn’ thumbs just cannot help popping up, eh? RESPONDENT: ... or maybe not. RICHARD: Then again ... thumbs can be such indecisive digits. RESPONDENT: His crude play of words unease me ... like a mail order ad ... alarm bells ringing all over the place. RICHARD: Well now ... that is what comes of only doing [quote] ‘a minute read’ [endquote], eh? RESPONDENT: For some people here I suggest you study Western philosophy ... so one can think, read, write and argue clearly, logically. RICHARD: Oh? Like asking, perchance, what the point is of sounding like a fourth rate salesman who does not read, right after demonstrating that (1) the mindfulness meditation you are flogging is not what Mr. Gotama the Sakyan taught and (2) you have no idea, even, of what apperceptive awareness is? Viz.: • [Respondent]: ‘Basic Buddhist mindfulness meditation stresses involvement with life’. [endquote]. • [Respondent]: ‘... it’s good that you achieved ‘Appreciative Awareness’ or whatever ...’. [endquote]. RESPONDENT: [For some people here I suggest you study] NLP ... with the same reasons above. RICHARD: May I ask? Are your e-mails a practical demonstration of what being able to think, read, write and argue clearly, logically, thanks to Western Philosophy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, is really like? RESPONDENT: And read this [snip link to a ‘Myths of Meditation’ website] so that one don’t get too carried ... away. RICHARD: As nowhere on The Actual Freedom Trust web site is it even implied, let alone explicitly stated, that an actual freedom from the human condition can be achieved via mindfulness meditation – quite the contrary in fact – there is no need whatsoever to post warnings about same. May I ask? Are you right-handed or left-handed (or both even)? Just curious. VINEETO: The only ‘fundamental experience of the actual’ that we are talking about on this list is the pure and perfect actuality that only becomes apparent when the ‘self’, in its totality, disappears along with all of the animal survival passions. Actualism is indeed unique in that neither Buddhism nor Jiddu Krishnamurti, neither U.G. Krishnamurti nor any of the many Advaita teachers and sages nor any other spiritual teaching come anywhere close to comprehending that the root cause of the human condition is genetically-encoded as a rough and ready survival package. Nowhere else will you find this being talked about. RESPONDENT: This is completely untrue, in that it is the teaching of the school of the Dalai Lama, the prasangika madhyamika or middle way consequence school that such is the case, and is spoken of somewhat frequently in teachings. VINEETO: If you could provide a referenced quote where either ‘the teaching of the school of the Dalai Lama, the prasangika madhyamika or middle way consequence school’ make specific reference to the instinctual survival passions as being the root cause of human misery and mayhem it would be most appreciated. Of course a further reference that unequivocally states that the elimination of the instinctual self in its entirety is the only way to eliminate the instinctual passions such that the already, always existing peace on earth can become apparent would be the icing on the cake. RESPONDENT: It is also the teaching of J. Krishnamurti, though he never refers to it directly, it is obvious that is saying that it is natural for a human being to move away from pain toward pleasure as an act of insecurity, and for the memory function to function from a reference point of looking back at the past and selecting a configuration of subjectively chosen details that eventually becomes a psychological center, due to fear. VINEETO: Again, I would appreciate if you could back up your claim by providing a quote were J. Krishnamurti refers to the fact that it is the instinctual passions that are the root cause of the human condition of malice and sorrow. You could further substantiate your claim that ‘this is all untrue’ by providing evidence that J. Krishnamurti explains that the instinctual animal passions are genetically-encoded within every human being and that it is these animal survival passions that give rise to the parasitical entity or the ‘being’ who thinks and feels it is separate from the flesh and blood body. You may find it useful to read at least some of what has already been said about the teachings of J. Krishnamurti on The Actual Freedom Trust website so as to avoid using quotations that have already been discussed and found to be naught but olde time Eastern religion. RESPONDENT: This is also implied in many other teachings, such as the teaching of Christianity, for one. VINEETO: I was brought up a Christian and all I was told, and all I could find in their holy scriptures, was that the root cause of the human condition is the original sin of the first humans disobeying their creator god – the fairy tale of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden apple from the tree of knowledge. If you could provide a passage from the teachings of Christianity where the teachings refer to the fact that the instinctual survival passions are the root cause of human malice and sorrow and that the extinction of one’s ‘being’ will result in the elimination of these instinctual passions thereby bringing about an actual end to malice and sorrow it would be most appreciated. Actual Freedom Homepage
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