# Actual Freedom ~ Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions ## Richard’s Personal Life KONRAD: I am also curious about your own background. RICHARD: I am fifty years old, the father of four adult children and grandfather of seven grandchildren. I was born in a small country town on the south-west coast of Australia, where my parents ran a dairy farm. I attended the local State School until I was fifteen. I worked at various farming jobs until I was seventeen, whereupon I voluntarily joined the Australian Army. By age nineteen I was in a war-torn foreign country, dressed in a jungle-green uniform and carrying a loaded rifle in my hands. This was to be the turning point of my life, for up until then, I was a typical western youth, raised to believe in God, Queen and Country. Humanity’s inhumanity to humanity – society’s treatment of its subject citizens – was driven home to me, there and then, in a way that left me appalled, horrified, terrified and repulsed to the core of my being with a sick revulsion. I saw that no one knew what was going on and – most importantly – that no one was ‘in charge’ of the world. There was nobody to ‘save’ the human race ... all gods were but a figment of a feverish imagination. Out of a despairing desperation, that was collectively shared by my fellow humans, I saw and understood that I was as ‘guilty’ as any one else. For in me – as is in everyone – was both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ... it was that some people were better at controlling their ‘dark side’. However, in a war, there is no way anyone can control any longer ... ‘evil’ ran rampant. I saw that fear and aggression ruled the world ... and that these were instincts one was born with. Thus started my search for freedom from the Human Condition. KONRAD: Where do you live? I try to make a more personal contact. Not that it is important as such, but in this way I can begin a dialogue by taking the concepts you use as a starting point. RICHARD: Yes, I live on the most easterly point of the Australian seaboard in a small coastal village called Byron Bay. I am very pleased to make personal contact, and look forward to what may be a fruitful and illuminating discussion about life, the universe and what it is to be a human being. You will find a short article about myself and my experiences under ‘A Brief Personal History’ on my Web Page. Perhaps you would care to access it and see for yourself whether we have anything in common to discuss? Publishing my discoveries on the Internet is a small start, but who knows what may grow out of it ... maybe something ... maybe nothing. But at least it is a start. There is a lot to read, because I have a lot to say ... and what I have to say is very controversial indeed. You will notice that, where I invite feedback from correspondents, that there has not been too many genuinely interested so far, but it is a difficult subject to grasp. Also, running the web-page is a recent experiment of mine ... I am a newcomer to the Internet myself. RESPONDENT: I don’t know about your personal life. Do you date? Cook? RICHARD: Neither ... I am a fifty three year old male, the progenitor of four adult children and eight grandchildren from my first marriage ... all now scattered far and wide and living their own lives. My companion and I are, by choice, childless and will stay so ... enough is enough. I currently live on the most easterly point of the Australian seaboard in a small village called Byron Bay. I rent a suburban three-bedroom brick duplex one kilometre from the beach – the ocean is an almost constant back-drop in Byron Bay – and the wee small hours are my favourite time for writing ... I most often wake up at two or three o’clock in the morning and write until the first kookaburras start their laughing-like call from some trees over the back fence. Then I like to sit and sip an early morning coffee, with my feet up on the computer desk, and be with the first blue-grey light coming into the room ... through to the first glow of pre-dawn ... and then the sunrise itself. I have a colour TV and VCR in the lounge room and two computers in what was the dining area: I stroll into the village centre for a bite to eat at the local restaurants and sup the froth off a cappuccino at one of the numerous sidewalk cafés several times a week ... and generally lead what could be called a quiet domestic life-style. I have an affinity for the small-town life as I was born and raised on a dairy farm in the south-west of Australia. I had a normal birth and upbringing. I went to a standard state school and took a regular job at fifteen and then volunteered for a six-year stint in the Military at seventeen. I went into a commonplace marriage at nineteen and had an average family and although I worked at many jobs throughout my life, my main career was as a practicing artist ... although I am also a qualified art teacher. I am retired and living on a hard-won pension and instead of pottering around in the garden I am currently pottering around the internet. RESPONDENT: In both of these activities, some anxiety, in my opinion, is inevitable: am I conducting myself correctly in her presence? RICHARD: I simply am what I am as this flesh and blood body – I am unable to pretend to be otherwise – and anyone who spends time with me is attracted to that ... else they go away (there are those who have). RESPONDENT: Do you joke, laugh, flirt, act silly for the fun of it? (Please be prepared to receive a joke from me every now and then). Or have you become a serious man? Pleasure talking to you. RICHARD: I like to joke, yes and I laugh a lot ... there is so much that is irrepressibly funny about life itself. I have no ability to flirt, however, as my libido is nil and void ... yet I have an active sexual life. I do not ‘act silly for the fun of it’ as I have no repressions to seek relief from. Strangely enough I find that I enjoy black humour; whereas the ‘I’ that I was could not ... ‘he’ found it repulsive and sickening. Nevertheless, the humour I enjoy most is that which lampoons puffed-up power and its authority. For example: • A journalist had done a story on gender roles in Kuwait several years before the Gulf War, and she noted then that women customarily walked about 10 feet behind their husbands. She returned to Kuwait recently and observed that the men now walked several yards behind their wives. She approached one of the women for an explanation. ‘This is marvellous’, said the journalist. ‘What enabled women here to achieve this reversal of roles?’ Replied the Kuwaiti woman: ‘Land mines’. Although it looks superficially to be a sexist joke it is not ... the reverse would hold true for a matriarchal society. Human frailty exposes the lie of power. As for ‘serious’ ... the utter reliability of being always happy and harmless replaces the galling burden of being serious ... actuality’s blithe sincerity dispenses with the onerous responsibility that epitomises adulthood. What I do find funny – in a peculiar way – is that I often gain the impression when I speak to others, that I am spoiling their game-plan. It seems as if they wish to search forever ... some people consider arriving to be boring. How can unconditional peace and happiness, twenty-four-hours-a-day, possibly be boring? Is a carefree life all that difficult to comprehend? Why persist in a sick game ... and defend one’s right to do so? Why insist on suffering when blitheness is freely available here and now? Is a life of perennial gaiety something to be scorned? I have even had people say, accusingly, that I could not possibly be happy when there is so much suffering going on in the world. The logic of this defies credibility: Am I to wait until everybody else is happy before I am? If I was to wait, I would be waiting forever ... for under this twisted rationale, no one would dare to be the first to be happy. Their peculiar reasoning allows only for a mass happiness to occur globally; overnight success, as it were. Someone has to be intrepid enough to be first, to show what is possible to a benighted humanity ... one has to face the opprobrium of one’s ill-informed peers. Thus one needs to have a keen sense of humour ... all that ‘being serious’ stuff actively works against peace-on-earth. Be totally sincere ... most definitely utterly earnest, as genuineness is essential. But serious ... no way. An actual freedom is all about having fun; about enjoying being here; about delighting in being alive. One has to want to be here on this planet ... most people resent being here and wish to escape. This business of becoming free is not – contrary to popular opinion – a serious business at all. RICHARD: I have been otherwise occupied, this past month or two, moving house – selling-off furniture, white-goods, desk-top computers, and the like – and settling into my new residence ... a ready-made retreat somewhat removed from mainstream utilities in that it has no internet connection (no telephone cable), electric power comes primarily via photovoltaic cells, bottled liquid petroleum gas fuels the stove, and so forth. ALAN: Hello Richard. Long time no speak – my choice. I am interested in the reasons for your change of abode and (apparent) lifestyle if you would care to provide them. RICHARD: Sure ... the notion of moving out of suburbia has been around ever since I moved in (I had never been a suburbanite before and have thoroughly enjoyed being umbilically connected, so to speak, to all manner of supplies and disposals) and the first vague inclination, about seven years ago, was to move north to this country’s tropical seaboard where coral abounds ... but nothing ever came of it. The next was to move off-shore (to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, or to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean, where there are also turquoise lagoons for fish to leap in) ... yet when the preliminary plans began to bear more and more resemblance to playful quirks, rather than to anything substantial, they never quite made it into the ... um ... the Advanced Planning Department. Besides which I was having too much fun at the keyboard to prematurely relinquish the serendipitously available opportunity to build-up a wide-ranging body of writing, that was of sufficient magnitude to provide enough words so as to put them together in a book format several several times over, at a later date and at my leisure, for no particularly compelling reason other than the sheer enjoyment and appreciation of being able to change environments/lifestyles and all that inheres from doing just that. The main reason why I started writing to mailing lists, when I first went public on the internet in 1997 with a three-page website, other than to gain critical feedback – an ad hoc form of peer-group review as it were – from sections of ‘Richard’s Journal’ (the only publicly available words at the time), was to gather such material ... for if I were to have just sat down to write another book, only out of the blue this time around, it might not have been of sufficient relevance to my fellow human beings without that valuable input from a diverse range of interests from peoples all around the globe. So the way I like to tell the story of how the timing came about to make this long-contemplated move, and it is as good a version as any other, is that I am one of those baby-boomers, of whom one hears about more-and-more these days as they approach/reach retirement age, that had not provided for their dotage – I neither owned a house or car (indeed I do not even have a driver’s licence) nor had any assets or money in the bank – so I bestirred myself from my indolence, several years ago, and built up a credit rating (which I also lacked) by using a cedit card instead of saving then using cash for major purchases and utility bills, thereby paying it off effortlessly and thus progressively being able to raise the credit-limit into the bargain, until my financial status was adjudged as being of sufficient standing to enable me to obtain a personal bank-loan so as to purchase a very modest residence on a five-year repayment plan ... of which about two-and-a-half years remain. Also, the seaside village where Grace and I have been jointly renting a brick-veneer duplex had become an ever-increasingly popular address and the house/land prices, and thus the rents, had been escalating almost exponentially over the last 10-15 years ... hence it had been well-nigh inevitable that the day would come when, by being on a fixed-income, we would be priced-out of what had previously been a very, very inexpensive back-water on the first occasion either of us had stayed a while in the area (circa early 1980’s). My two-roomed retreat, or three if a closet-size bathroom will qualify as one, being readily relocatable – I do not own what it sits upon – can be lifted onto a suitably sized truck (a lorry in your neck of the woods), without too much complication, and transported to wherever we will if, or when, the whim occurs to do so ... even to the coral coast, already mentioned, or anyplace else as might take our fancy. We actually have no plan to go anywhere, though, and may never do so ... it is simply nice to have the option. RESPONDENT: Do you enjoy stories? RICHARD: If by that you mean true narratives (factual accounts or historical anecdotes) of people, other creatures, vegetation, things, or events then ... mostly, yes/occasionally, no; if by that you mean false narratives (fictional tales or mythical legends) about fictitious people, imaginary other creatures, un-real vegetation, non-existent things, or made-up events then ... occasionally, yes/mostly, no. RICHARD: ... as I am not about to provide a day-to-day description of what occupied me suffice is it to say for now that, amongst other things, I was doing some detailed research so as to gather more background information for another project which may, or may not, be one day be released for publication under the aegis of The Actual Freedom Trust. JONATHAN: Do you write anything not pertaining to actual freedom? RICHARD: It being the area of my expertise (in order to write non-fiction successfully one does need to have something of import to say) I have not written anything other than what pertains to an actual freedom from the human condition. JONATHAN: I ask because you mentioned that writing is what you enjoy doing rather than painting now. RICHARD: If I were to paint again (I have idly considered illustrating my next book with the scenes described therein from my day-to-day life) it too would pertain to an actual freedom from the human condition. And even if I were to write fiction (I have also idly considered writing a novel with a romantic castaway-on-an-uninhabited-tropical-island setting whereon a stranded couple would be catalysed, by being thrown together in such an inescapably intimate situation and circumstance, into setting in motion the process of freeing themselves from the instinctual passions/ the identities formed thereof which would mar their otherwise idyllic lifestyle) it too would pertain to an actual freedom from the human condition. RESPONDENT: What interests me most about this ‘condition’ is how life is actually experienced. In your case, you have expressed some hints about the bodily functioning. You say that you have no libido, yet you can engage in sex. The obvious question arises: Do you become ‘aroused’ without any mental component (i.e. do you find yourself with an erection when a partner expresses some desire to engage in sex) or what? RICHARD: Here in this actual world it is impossible to ever be hedonic as the affective pleasure/pain centre in the brain – as in the pleasure/ pain principle which spiritualism makes quite an issue out of yet never does eliminate – is null and void. You may find the following self-explanatory: • [Co-Respondent]: ‘Is it correct to say that ‘actual sex’ is non-erotic? • [Richard]: ‘As the word ‘erotic’ usually means ‘of or pertaining to sexual love; amatory, esp. tending to arouse sexual desire’ (Oxford Dictionary) ... yes; where the word ‘erotic’ means erogenous – ‘of a part of the body: sensitive to sexual stimulation; capable of giving sexual pleasure when touched or stroked’ (Oxford Dictionary) – then ... no’. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 61, 11 May 2004). And: • [Co-Respondent]: ‘... if you are making sex where come these erections, out of the blue? • [Richard]: ‘No, engorgement of the genitals comes from tactile stimulation’. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 44a, 10 July 2003). RESPONDENT: Do the sensations of sexual congress have a different quality than previously in the entity state? RICHARD: As sensations are physical they are no different than when an identity inhabited this flesh and blood body all those years ago ... the experience of same, being direct, is vastly different. RESPONDENT: Would the idea of masturbation ever arise? RICHARD: Having lived with a female companion since 1992 there has been no occasion where, being but a substitute for the real thing, it would ... there is (presumably) no reason why it would not, though, were the situation to be different. RESPONDENT: Do you experience hunger? RICHARD: No (all appetitive desires are null and void). RESPONDENT: When you eat do you have preferences in food? RICHARD: If there be a choice ... yes. RESPONDENT: When it is time to go to sleep do you ‘feel’ sleepy? RICHARD: No ... sleepiness as an actuality indicates that it be time for sleep. RESPONDENT: Or do you experience sleeping as a restful but ‘awake’ state (i.e. awareness never sleeps)? RICHARD: No ... to sleep is to be unconscious. RESPONDENT: Do you dream? RICHARD: No (there is only unconsciousness). RESPONDENT: Do sights and smells have an intensity greater than in the self state? RICHARD: As sights and smells are physical they are no different than when an identity inhabited this flesh and blood body all those years ago ... the experience of same, being direct, is vastly different. RESPONDENT: Do certain smells ever ‘remind’ you of a past experience? RICHARD: Yes ... this flesh and blood body has a lifetime of physical memories. RESPONDENT: Do you ever experience any revulsion with either taste, smell or other sensory experience (i.e. does dog shit stink)? RICHARD: No ... revulsion/ repugnance (disgust) disappeared right along with desire (allurement/enticement). * RESPONDENT: I noticed some discussion about how the eyes ‘see’ regarding comments other persons who also state they are ‘entity-less’ report how they ‘see’. RICHARD: Those other persons are not sans identity in toto/the entire affective faculty. RESPONDENT: You state that the eyes are seeing in 3-D because they are meant to. The logic of that seems unassailable, yet ... RICHARD: It has nothing to do with logic ... it is a physical fact that stereoscopic vision has everything to do with two side-by-side eyes x-distance apart being able to converge on the same thing simultaneously – in contrast to those animals with eyes on either side of their head being unable to converge – which provides for depth of field vision. RESPONDENT: Richard, have you ever lied to anyone on this mailing list? RICHARD: No ... you may find the following to be of related interest: • [Co-Respondent]: ‘Richard, I think it is possible for you to lie, is it not? • [Richard]: ‘As you have titled this e-mail ‘Sincerity’ there could be more to this question than the pragmatic fact that, given the human condition is endemic, it is sometimes necessary on occasion to not provide a truthful answer to an adversarial person or persons in a position of power who, bent on dominance, will not listen to reason. Even so, I cannot recall any instance over the last x-number of years that I have had to have recourse to lying ... having nothing to hide there has simply been no need to. It is all so easy here in this actual world’. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 49a, 18 February 2004b). In other words, if the situation and circumstances were such as to render it an eminently sensible course of action, I would have no hesitation whatsoever in cheerfully, and thus convincingly, lying through my back teeth (to use a colloquialism). RESPONDENT: Do you have any prejudices? RICHARD: If by that you more or less mean the following then ... no. Viz.: • ‘prejudice: an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts; a preconceived preference or idea; the act or state of holding unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions; irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion’. (American Heritage® Dictionary). • ‘prejudice: a preformed opinion, usually an unfavourable one, based on insufficient knowledge, irrational feelings, or inaccurate stereotypes; an unfounded hatred, fear, or mistrust of a person or group, especially one of a particular religion, ethnicity, nationality, sexual preference, or social status’. (Encarta Dictionary). • ‘prejudice: an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge; an unreasonable dislike for something or someone’. (Cambridge Dictionary). • ‘prejudice: preconceived judgment or opinion; an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge; an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics’. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). • ‘a prior judgement; esp. a judgement formed hastily or before due consideration; preconceived opinion not based on actual experience; an unreasoning preference or objection’. (Oxford Dictionary). RESPONDENT: Has anyone ever gone crazy from using the AF method? RICHARD: Yes, I have been duly diagnosed by two accredited psychiatrists as suffering from a severe and chronic psychotic disorder ... the symptoms of which are as follows (with the official description parenthesised): 1. Depersonalisation (no sense of identity) ... as in no ‘self’ by whatever name. 2. Derealisation (lost touch with reality) ... as in reality has vanished completely. 3. Alexithymia (unable to feel the affections) ... as in no affective feelings whatsoever. 4. Anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure/ pain) ... as in no affective pleasure/ pain facility. Moreover, I have that most classic symptom of craziness ... that everyone else is crazy but me. * RESPONDENT: ... is there a link where you talk about your psychiatric experience? RICHARD: No ... copy-paste the following, as-is, into the search-box at Google: accredited psychiatrist site:www.actualfreedom.com.au/richard/ Then left-click ‘search’ (or tap ‘enter’) ... you should get about 31 hits. RESPONDENT: If not I am very curious to know how you ended up being professionally diagnosed as ‘crazy’. RICHARD: The official term for insanity these days, due in no small part to the medicalisation of psychiatry, is mental illness/mental disorder ... and it was mainly because of such medicalisation that professional diagnosis came about. As briefly as possible: at one stage during a twenty-month involuntary and incessant excitation of the brain cells (officially diagnosed as being ‘an excess of dopamine in the post-synaptic receptors’) after becoming actually free from the human condition I vaguely recalled, from my art-college days, that a person experiencing what was colloquially known as a ‘bad trip’ on lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) could be brought down with an injection of some medication or another so I popped into the nearest medical centre to where I was then residing and an elderly general practitioner (with very shaky hands) referred me to a specialist as a matter of course. For more details about that neuronal agitation copy-paste the following, as-is, into the search-box at Google: excitation of the brain cells site:www.actualfreedom.com.au/richard/ You will get you about 17 hits. * RESPONDENT: If a man touched your nipples or your lips or any other erogenous zone would you experience pleasure? RICHARD: If any body – be it human, dog, monkey, and so on, and so forth, of either gender, or any age, shape, size, appearance, race, ethnicity, and social status – were to touch, stroke, caress, lick, suck, nuzzle, or in any other way set out to stimulate me in an erotic manner, then erogenous pleasure would (presumably) be experienced. RESPONDENT: And if so what does that imply? RICHARD: I am none too sure that it implies anything (other than the absence of prejudice already mentioned). RESPONDENT: I am pleased to see that you are working through the backlog of questions and have just reached No. 32’s on partners. Do you consider our discussions on my hasty statements satisfactorily settled so that you can move on to writing on the topics I inquired about? RICHARD: In regards to the topics you inquired about: 1. What I call my puritan period (1982-1986) had nothing to do with the event in the abandoned cow-paddock (1992). 2. This flesh and blood body’s caffeine hypersensitivity is most probably idiosyncratic. 3. I read an article about an awakened/enlightened female who experienced The Absolute as masculine. 4. The first occasion wherein ‘I’ got out of the way and the painting painted itself, so to speak, was in 1958. Incidentally, what Mr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls the ‘Flow’ is not a pure consciousness experience (PCE) ... and neither is what martial arts practitioners refer to, either. * RESPONDENT: Do you still remember where you read that article? RICHARD: It was an article in the ‘What Is Enlightenment?’ magazine circa 1996 ... as a furtherance to this topic you may find the following to be of interest: • [Co-Respondent]: ‘The radiant feminine being you’ve experienced when the Absolute changed its face so-to-speak, was the Self of an actual flesh-and-blood human being or not? • [Richard]: ‘No, it was not the Self of anyone in particular – it was Love itself personified as a (metaphysical) feminine form – and, as I said earlier, its femininity I would nowadays consider to be a product of me being of masculine gender ... if I were to have been of feminine gender then Love itself may very well have been personified as a (metaphysical) masculine form. It really makes no difference ... behind all manifestations The Absolute was genderless’. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 25c, 15 September 2003). RESPONDENT: Can I have your views on abortion (are you pro-life or pro-choice?), euthanasia and ‘the right to suicide’? RICHARD: You certainly can ... (a) I had a vasectomy so that no woman will ever be faced with having to make such a choice on my account ... (b) were physical pain to become of such magnitude and prevalence as to be unbearable then the inevitable unconsciousness unto death will ensure no person ever be put in such a position about me ... and (c) the altruistic ‘self’-immolation of the identity in residence all those years ago rendered any notion of ever killing myself simply risible. CO-RESPONDENT: Practically speaking: How do you see that something needs to be done? RICHARD: The way something is seen to be needing to be done, sans the imaginative/ intuitive facility, is by virtue of the cognitive, ratiocinative/conceptive and insightful faculty being able to operate freely under an overall apperceptive attentiveness/ awareness. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 103, 1 October 2005d). (...) CO-RESPONDENT: I would like to ask, lastly, if we have also reached agreement in our example that an observer, looking comparatively at you and a person still equipped with an identity put in the same situation, would not be able to see any difference between the two reactions to the approaching car. RICHARD: The illustrative example provided in my initial response was just that (an illustrative example) ... as I neither drive nor own such a vehicle as you mention – I do not even have a driver’s licence – I am unable to answer your query. CO-RESPONDENT: Let the illustrative example be that you’re not driving, but standing on the road, and that a car is suddenly coming at you with high speed. RICHARD: As I am not wont to be standing on those black ribbons of death and destruction (whereon a cross between Russian roulette and Vatican roulette gets played out around the clock) – will it suffice to substitute one of those occasions of being about to step onto a pedestrian crossing only to have a pedestrian-expurgator (a pedestrian who has amnesia about having been just that the moment they get behind the wheel) suddenly appear, as if out of nowhere and with both feet firmly planted on the gas-pedal, for your example? (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 103a, 7 October 2005). RESPONDENT: A tangential question if I may? Do you avoid those black ribbons of death mainly/entirely as a personal choice (practical reasons, risk assessment, cost, pollution, etc) ... RICHARD: Yes ... and here is a query which will bring your tangential question back on topic (how things are seen sans the imaginative/intuitive facility) in a trice: as it is far, far safer (in terms of risk to life and limb) to be in the ocean – swimming, diving, surfing, and so on – than on the roads then why would those peoples terrified of sharks not be mega-terrified of motor vehicles? The same, of course, applies to walking through long grass (venomous reptiles), poking around in odd areas (poisonous arthropods), being in exposed places in a storm (lightning strikes), living in densely foliated/forested areas (wildfires), and so forth. RESPONDENT: ... does your house ever get messy ... RICHARD: No. RESPONDENT: ... or do you stuff things away immediately? RICHARD: No, I never stuff things away (let alone immediately). RESPONDENT: From the previous answer I conclude that the answer would be yes. RICHARD: Not all that surprisingly (given all those other conclusions of yours scattered throughout the 70-odd emails you have written in the eight days you have been posting to this mailing list) your conclusion, being based upon a false premise, is invalid. RESPONDENT: Has this – your being very orderly – always been the case? RICHARD: First, I never said I was very orderly (that is yet another fanciful conclusion of yours). Second, since when has stuffing things away – either immediately or otherwise – been considered orderly (let alone very much so)? RESPONDENT: Never, indeed. I will refrain as best as I can from any further conclusions before having ascertained the premises in a better way. So, question one: Is your house orderly? [snip various dictionary definitions]. RICHARD: No. I keep things tidy enough – as in uncluttered – to suit my purposes but I am in no way strict or finicky (and neither is my companion); most things have a regular place in cupboards, wardrobes, drawers and shelves (for ease of access and storage); I make the bed upon arising, clean the benches/utensils as I cook, pick up things as they fall, and so on, as it is much simpler that way; I do not have a lot of possessions (and certainly not knick-knacks, trinkets, and other dust-collectors) so housekeeping is at a minimum; I do not have children or pets so disarray and demolition are a non-event; the socialisation I do is both minimal and casual (no dinner-parties) and often eat out/order in. I am certainly not a slave to cleanliness and tidiness – as in house-proud – and am guided more by serviceability and efficacy than anything else. RESPONDENT: Question two: Are you an orderly man? [snip various dictionary definitions]. RICHARD: No. I function organically – as in uncontrolled – inasmuch I am pragmatic/practical (as contrasted to principled/logical) ... and, again, utility and effectivity in any given situation/ circumstances is what determines such functioning. In short: there is nothing which needs to be controlled ... hence spontaneity (no impulsivity). * RICHARD: Lastly, what does a case of out-of-sight-out-of-mind suggest to you? RESPONDENT: To me, it suggests this: out of sight, out of mind – a principle I can relate to whenever I put things away ... . RICHARD: Hmm ... yet you originally asked me if I stuffed things away. * RICHARD: So as to be up-front and out-in-the-open: what it suggests to me is being concerned about behaviour-only ... or, to put it in the jargon, with keeping up appearances. RESPONDENT: In case that you have only limited interest in keeping up appearances and want to tell me subtly that you find questions about behaviour-only boring – what other kind of questions would you find more interesting? If that is not the case, what are you trying to tell me? RICHARD: It was a query related to both stuffing things away (as in what an observer would observe from the outside) and your question in another thread (about an observer, looking comparatively at me and a person still equipped with an identity, put in the same situation) in the context of the theme which had been running through the latter of your e-mails about how everyday experiences are formulated (rather than how they are experienced) It is what is happening on the inside (or in my case what is not) which counts – not appearance/ behaviour/ formulation – as it is the affective ‘vibes’ (to use a colloquialism) and the psychic currents (aka energies) which determine same in the world of the psyche. RICHARD: What I find interesting is that I made a living as a practising artist, as well as being a duly qualified art-teacher in the fine arts, for a period in my working life – which is, primarily, to be a purveyor of beauty (a beauty-pusher as it were) – yet beauty itself was never questioned ... even though more than a few enlightened/ awakened ones clearly state that it is through beauty that truth (often capitalised as ‘Truth’) is to be found. RESPONDENT: Do you know of any of your works being on public display, like on the internet? RICHARD: No. RESPONDENT: If it’s possible, could you share some of your art-works with the list? RICHARD: I do not know where any of it is – that era of my life took place more than a quarter of a century ago – and as all the book-keeping records were destroyed, in the studio fire which brought my career as a practising artist to an abrupt end, there is really no way of finding out where it went to. RESPONDENT: Richard, do you have personal likes and dislikes: do you prefer certain foods to other, certain activities to others, certain television programmes to others and certain sports to others? RICHARD: I do have personal preferences ... one of which is a marked disinclination to engage in any sport or sporting activity (including all aspects of spectatorism). There is, for instance, a preference for omnivorism over vegetarianism; a preference for water-based activities (boating, swimming, and so on) over land-based activities (hiking, mountaineering, and so forth); a preference for comedic entertainment over the dramatic/ a documentary over a fantasy/ the voluptuous over the horrific ... and, to detail a few general ones at random, a preference for creature comforts over frugal asceticism, a preference for the warmer climes over the colder, and a preference for civilisation over savagery. Please bear in mind, however, that a preference for something is to merely prefer this over that ... and if ‘this’ is not available/ does not happen then ‘that’ does not detract one iota from the utter enjoyment and sheer appreciation of being just here, at this place in infinite space, right now, at this moment in eternal time, as this particular form which perdurable matter (mass/ energy) has taken shape as. RESPONDENT: How do you determine what is to be done? RICHARD: Other than necessity ... that which is pleasant/ pleasing determines. RESPONDENT: Let us take as an example the fact that you chased a shoplifter and when you finally caught up to him told him that what he had done was against the legal laws and that he should promptly return the item shoplifted. (I, presently, am not able to find this portion on the website but do recall reading something similar hence I am unable to quote your writing directly). RICHARD: There was only a straightforward request for the return of property not belonging to the larcenist. Viz.: • [Richard]: ‘... some years ago whilst in a supermarket my wife and I had a pack stolen from the shopping trolley we were using when our backs were turned; I saw a young man disappearing along the aisle with our pack and on out through the turnstile; I went off after him at a brisk pace (...) and eventually regained the pack without a fight or even any display of intimidation. (...) He knew that he had crossed the line in regards to the legal laws and social protocol and fully expected to pay the price for his actions ... his bluff and bluster collapsed like a leaky balloon when confronted in the mall with the straightforward request for the return of property not belonging to him’. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 27a, 30 January 2002). RESPONDENT: My questions related to the incidence are these: did you not consider the possibility of him being poor and/or not able to find work despite his best efforts which could possibly justify his shoplifting? RICHARD: I reside in a country with a long-established social security system and social welfare network ... nobody, but nobody, has to steal for their daily necessities (water, food, clothing, and shelter) in any technologically-enhanced industrialised agrarian society. RESPONDENT: What was the thought process operating in that situation? RICHARD: As all I wanted was the stolen property returned (the pack mainly contained library books of which reimbursement would be required if not returned by the due date) there was virtually no thought as intent determined action ... I can clearly recall admiring an ornamental garden whilst giving chase. Here (from one of the snipped sections marked by parenthesised ellipses in the above quote): • [Richard]: ‘[I went off after him at a brisk pace], negotiated the turnstile easily, and moved out through the self-opening doors; there was an ornamental garden between me and the car-park wherein off in the distance the young man could be seen heading away; I cleared the garden in one leap – seeing each and every plant and flower in detail as I sailed over it – and soon caught up to him as, glancing over his shoulder and seeing me coming, he headed for a crowded mall to the left ...’. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 27a, 30 January 2002). * RESPONDENT: Are you involved with any charitable organisation, any non-governmental organisation or any form of social activism? RICHARD: Yes, I am involved on a daily basis with The Actual Freedom Trust, a non-governmental organisation set-up and funded by private citizens to promulgate and promote an actual freedom from the human condition and a virtual freedom in practice, which provides millions of words totally free of charge to anyone with access to the internet (potentially all 6.0+ billion peoples on the planet) ... words such as to make what the term social activism usually refers to pale into insignificance by comparison. * RESPONDENT: How do you respond when people address you as ‘sir’ in restaurants, hotels and other public places ... RICHARD: I respond to that genteel mode of address in the manner it is given ... courteously. RESPONDENT: ... (you don’t want people to address you ‘sir’ when they write to you on this mailing list)? RICHARD: I accord no value to an affectation regurgitated for dramatic effect by aficionados of the teachings Mr. Jiddu Krishnamurti brought into the human world. RESPONDENT: (...) Though I’m in the 3rd year of medical school, if you ever need a second or third medical opinion, do not hesitate to consult me. I write this having read of your lower back problem. From memory, I say that around 80% of back problems have no identifiable cause (even after radiological investigations such as an X-Ray, CT scan, MRI, etc.). P.S: Becoming a medical doctor is so much easier now that I’m on the road, so to speak, to an actual freedom from the human condition. It is just amazing how the human body fits everything perfectly into place, and works remarkably well having done so. RICHARD: (...) Thank you for your medical opinion offer; without going into too many details MRI scans showed what CT scans did not reveal (spondylolisthesis of L5, displaced forward at age 24, nowadays complicated by age-related bone stenosis pinching the right sciatic nerve ... resulting in a ‘breathless’, debilitating pain all the way down to the small toe). For instance, towards the tail-end of the DVD video-shoot taken on the river bank (in which I did not talk much) it became increasingly difficult to stay sitting there ... indeed, I had to call an abrupt halt to the video-shoot, eventually. I appreciate your contribution, No. 8. RESPONDENT: Specifically, is an actual freedom from the human condition a potential threat to my everyday cup of freshly-brewed caffeinated morning coffee? RICHARD: No ... nor alcohol, either. RESPONDENT: Thank you for replying, Richard. RICHARD: G’day No. 7, Thank you for your eagle-eyed query ... and the brevity of my reply was due only to being about to head out the door for an appointment, as I had more to say about this topic, and omitted to add a ‘more later’ codicil before clicking send and setting off. RESPONDENT: I will begin spiking my morning coffee then :o) RICHARD: Ha ... that is something I have never done as, and this is just a matter of personal taste, it spoiled the flavour of the both the coffee and whatever it was spiked with (each of which were enjoyable on their own but not in combination). I have the same with chocolate and nuts: individually, yes, but as a combination, no (again but a matter of personal taste). Be that as it may ... what I wanted to add is that over the past two years I have gradually been able to partake of a moderate amount of alcoholic drinks (which pleases me as I had always enjoyed a glass of wine with a meal, plus a post-prandial port and cigar with either very dark chocolate and/or nuts in the shell or a cheese platter). My limit, however, is around about the equivalent of two ‘standard drinks’ and I still only drink decaffeinated coffee or a mild tea such as rooibos with bergamot. Also, apart from tobacco I use no other substances (such as marijuana and other criminalised vegetation) and if a no-nicotine tobacco was ever to be marketed – the equivalent to decaffeinated coffee – it would be of interest to me as any herbal substitutes I have tried are way too strong. Another thing which has changed for me is that, whereas I used to sleep about 3-4 hours a night these days it is more like 4-5 hours. Sleep is still unconsciousness (no dreams) and I generally awake in the same position as falling asleep (usually no moving about). I still only need one meal a day – with either cheese and crackers or a handful of nuts as a snack or for supper – as any more is just an uncomfortable experience. My diet is mainly a fresh salad with protein (usually seafood) although in the colder months a curry dish (either fish or chicken) with basmati rice is welcome ... as is a hearty stew (lamb or beef) with potato mash (liberally seasoned with butter, iodised sea salt and freshly cracked peppercorns). A cold collation of ham (off the bone or prosciutto), bacon (pancetta), smoked fish (ocean trout/ atlantic salmon/ deep- sea tuna), sliced chicken breast and other delicatessen meats, pâtés and cheeses, with a fresh salad is an occasional option. The only other thing worthy of comment is that, although I have been sexually inactive (celibate) for most of this past year, there have been no nocturnal climactic events (as contrasted to the previous period of celibacy, in my mid- thirties, where such was the norm about every 3-4 weeks). Although age may be a factor the most obvious reason is the total lack of libido (instinctual lust/ impulsive sex-drive) upon an actual freedom as distinct from a sublimated/ transcended libido in spiritual enlightenment/ mystical awakenment. The total absence of sexual impulse is one of the many fringe-benefits of being freed from the instinctual passions: when with a sexual partner I can happily have sex all day and every day; when without a sexual partner I do not miss it at all ... not even in the slightest. Also, I am really enjoying living on my own (having only ever done so for a three-month period previously) and filling in the word widower – rather than the words divorced or separated – on official forms, as being my marital status, does seem to have a certain cachet to it even in this supposedly liberalised/ non-discriminatory day and age. In other words, the only decent or seemly way, in societal eyes, to have a marriage end is through spousal death. Actual Freedom Homepage
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