Actual Freedom – The Actual Freedom Mailing List Correspondence

Richard’s Correspondence

On The Actual Freedom Mailing List

with Correspondent No. 60


February 03 2004

RICHARD: (...) Put simply: it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition ... neither a particular model of the universe nor any particular cosmogony/ cosmogony can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort. Only that which is actual can, has, and will.

RESPONDENT: Surely the universe is actual ...

RICHARD: Perhaps you may care to re-read what you are responding to?

February 04 2004

RICHARD: (...) Put simply: it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition ... neither a particular model of the universe nor any particular cosmogony/cosmogony can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort. Only that which is actual can, has, and will.

RESPONDENT: Surely the universe is actual ...

RICHARD: Perhaps you may care to re-read what you are responding to?

RESPONDENT: In light of the fact that I posted a follow-up no more than a minute later, suggesting you ignore this, it hardly seems necessary.

RICHARD: In light of the fact you had followed the passage you asked me not to bother with with yet another misrepresentation of what I have to say – a misrepresentation bordering upon being a parody of your previous misrepresentations – it did indeed seem necessary to suggest a re-read of what is being responded to.

Am I to take it that your very first words in the e-mail you entitled ‘One Last Shot At This’ which started this thread, where you indicated you were interested in looking *more closely* into these matters, are to be ignored too?

I only ask because it would seem that you have ... less than 24 hours after you wrote them.

February 04 2004

RICHARD: (...) Put simply: it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition ... neither a particular model of the universe nor any particular cosmogony/cosmogony can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort. Only that which is actual can, has, and will.

RESPONDENT: Surely the universe is actual ...

RICHARD: Perhaps you may care to re-read what you are responding to?

RESPONDENT: In light of the fact that I posted a follow-up no more than a minute later, suggesting you ignore this, it hardly seems necessary.

RICHARD: In light of the fact you had followed the passage you asked me not to bother with with yet another misrepresentation of what I have to say – a misrepresentation bordering upon being a parody of your previous misrepresentations – it did indeed seem necessary to suggest a re-read of what is being responded to. Am I to take it that your very first words in the e-mail you entitled ‘One Last Shot At This’ which started this thread, where you indicated you were interested in looking *more closely* into these matters, are to be ignored too? I only ask because it would seem that you have ... less than 24 hours after you wrote them.

RESPONDENT: LOL! I wonder if anyone else is still able to interpret your response to my ‘last shot at this’ as an altruistic intent to help a fellow human being along the ‘wide and wondrous path to actual freedom’, the summum bonum of human experience, a selfless state of benevolence unparalleled in human history, from which you now write these helpful words.

RICHARD: As I am responding to you, and nobody else at this moment, it is of no interest to me what anyone else may or may not ‘interpret’ my words to be – in lieu of taking them at face value – as what is of interest to me is how you do ... which is the whole point I am making in this current thread.

RESPONDENT: Heh. I can only laugh at the naiveté that made me take you seriously ... while it lasted.

RICHARD: Ha ... I never advise being serious; sincere, yes, but serious?

No way ... life is too much fun to take it seriously.

February 04 2004

RESPONDENT: Life being what it is, regardless of how it came to be this way, I did not (and do not) think that any particular cosmogony/cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition. I said words to this effect in response to Respondent No. 49 some time back, and it prompted Richard’s intervention which, much to my surprise, tied actualism irrevocably to the infinite-eternal-universe being an actual fact.

RICHARD: What prompted my intervention, as you put it, was the following: [Respondent]: ‘... to tie the value of a PCE (and Actualism) to a particular model of the universe is just stupid, from where I stand’ [endquote]. As this comment of yours is, presumably, derived from my report of the direct experience of infinitude it may become more clear if I were to take the liberty of rephrasing your comment so it be in accord with what I actually say (and not what you make of what I say). For example: [example only]: ‘... to tie the value of a PCE (and Actualism) to the direct experience of the infinitude of the universe is just stupid, from where I stand’ [end example]. The same applies to your latest take on what I have to say (from further above): [Respondent]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that any particular cosmogony/cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition’ [endquote]. If I were again to take the liberty of rephrasing your comment so it be in accord with what I actually say (and not what you make of what I say) it would look something like this: [example only]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that the direct experience of the infinitude of the universe is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition’ [end example]. (...) Put simply: it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition ... neither a particular model of the universe nor any particular cosmogony/ cosmogony can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort. Only that which is actual can, has, and will.

RESPONDENT: Surely the universe is actual ...

RICHARD: Perhaps you may care to re-read what you are responding to?

RESPONDENT: In light of the fact that I posted a follow-up no more than a minute later, suggesting you ignore this, it hardly seems necessary.

RICHARD: In light of the fact you had followed the passage, which you asked me not to bother with, with yet another misrepresentation of what I have to say – a misrepresentation bordering upon being a parody of your previous misrepresentations – it did indeed seem necessary to suggest a re-read of what is being responded to.

RESPONDENT: Here’s what I followed it with: [quote] ‘In any case, I’ll rephrase: ‘tying the value of the PCE (and Actualism) to a particular cosmological model is just stupid from where I stand’ ... to more accurately reflect what I actually think ... In my opinion, Richard’s diagnosis of the human condition is original and valuable, regardless of the actual nature of the universe... and ... In my opinion, Richard’s diagnosis of the human condition is (by far) the most interesting and important aspect of actualism. I take the rest with a pinch of salt. These are simply my opinions based on my own investigation of the facts so far. [endquote]. Do point out how these personal opinions, expressed as personal opinions, can be construed as ... [Richard] ‘yet another misrepresentation of what I have to say – a misrepresentation bordering upon being a parody of your previous misrepresentations’ [endquote].

RICHARD: I am only too happy to modify my response so as to be in accord with your reminder that your misrepresentations are ‘personal opinions, expressed as personal opinions’ if that is what it takes to have you re-read what you are responding to (re-inserted at the top of this page). Viz.:

• In light of the fact you had followed the passage, which you asked me not to bother with, with yet another personally opinionated misrepresentation of what I have to say – a personally opinionated misrepresentation bordering upon being a parody of your previous misrepresentations – it did indeed seem necessary to suggest a re-read of what is being responded to (I am, of course, referring in this instance to the ‘a particular cosmological model’ rephrasing as that is the topic my initial response specifically referred to).

Put simply: it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition ... and no ‘particular cosmological model’ can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort.

Only that which is actual can, has, and will.

February 05 2004

RESPONDENT: LOL! I wonder if anyone else is still able to interpret your response to my ‘last shot at this’ as an altruistic intent to help a fellow human being along the ‘wide and wondrous path to actual freedom’, the summum bonum of human experience, a selfless state of benevolence unparalleled in human history, from which you now write these helpful words.

RICHARD: As I am responding to you, and nobody else at this moment, it is of no interest to me what anyone else may or may not ‘interpret’ my words to be – in lieu of taking them at face value – as what is of interest to me is how you do ... which is the whole point I am making in this current thread.

RESPONDENT: Heh. I can only laugh at the naiveté that made me take you seriously ... while it lasted.

RICHARD: Ha ... I never advise being serious; sincere, yes, but serious? No way ... life is too much fun to take it seriously.

RESPONDENT: Fine by me. How about we start the fun by you coming straight out and telling me what you’re on about?

RICHARD: In this instance ... letting you know that, as I am responding to you and nobody else at this moment, it is of no interest to me what anyone else may or may not ‘interpret’ my words to be – in lieu of taking them at face value – as what is of interest to me is how you do ... which is the whole point I am making in this current thread.

RESPONDENT: Where did I misrepresent you?

RICHARD: Perhaps if I were to highlight the instances, this time around, where you have interpreted/ misrepresented what I have to say (in lieu of taking my words at face value):

• Respondent]: ‘... to tie the value of a PCE (and Actualism) to *a particular model of the universe* is just stupid, from where I stand (...) It’s just plain silly to tie Actualism up to *a particular world view*. [emphasis added]. (Tue 20/1/04 11:11 AM AEST).

And:

• [Respondent]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that *any particular cosmogony/ cosmogony* is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition. [emphasis added]. (Mon 2/02/2004 10:23 PM AEST).

And:

• Respondent]: ‘In any case, I’ll rephrase: ‘tying the value of the PCE (and Actualism) to *a particular cosmological model* is just stupid from where I stand’ ... to more accurately reflect what I actually think. (Tue 3/2/04 7:40 PM AEST).

I report/ describe the direct experience of infinitude here in this actual world and you take my (experiential) report/ description and make it out to be a (intellectual) model, worldview, and so on, that I am talking about ... perhaps the following will pre-empt the use of some other word or words of that ilk:

• [Richard]: ‘... actualism is experiential not ideological. And just so that there is no misunderstanding: actualism is not an ideal either ... or an idea, a belief, a concept, an opinion, a conjecture, a speculation, an assumption, a presumption, a supposition, a surmise, an inference, a judgement, an intellectualisation, an imagination, a posit, an image, an analysis, a viewpoint, a view, a stance, a perspective, a standpoint, a position, a world-view, a mind-set, a state-of-mind, a frame-of-mind, or any other of the 101 ways of dismissing a direct report of what it is to be actually free from the human condition and living the utter peace of the perfection of the purity welling endlessly as the infinitude this eternal, infinite and perpetual universe actually is.

Put simply: it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition ... and no ‘particular model of the universe’ no ‘particular world view’ no ‘particular cosmogony/ cosmogony’ and no ‘particular cosmological model’ can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort.

Only that which is actual can, has, and will.

February 05 2004

RICHARD: ... (I am, of course, referring in this instance to the ‘a particular cosmological model’ rephrasing as that is the topic my initial response specifically referred to). Put simply: it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition ... and no ‘particular cosmological model’ can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort.

RESPONDENT: Never at any stage did I argue that a cosmological model can, has, or ever will enable anything of the sort. So what precisely are you on about? This makes no sense.

RICHARD: The following is representative of what I have been, in fact, precisely talking about all along:

• [Respondent]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that any particular cosmogony/cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition. (Mon 2/02/2004 10:23 PM AEST).

Which is why I took the liberty of rephrasing your comment so it be in accord with what I actually say (and not what you make of what I say) so that it would look something like this:

• [example only]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that the direct experience of the infinitude of the universe is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition’ [end example].

And I wrote that as, put simply, it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition – and no ‘particular cosmological model’ can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort – because only that which is actual can, has, and will.

*

RICHARD: Only that which is actual can, has, and will.

RESPONDENT: Since I was never arguing that a ‘model’ can, has or will, this is irrelevant to your charge of ‘misrepresentation’.

RICHARD: If I may point out? You were (and apparently still are) saying that you do not think ‘any particular cosmogony/cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition’ and that it is ‘just plain silly to tie Actualism up to a particular world view’ (for instance).

RESPONDENT: Do you have anything else to say?

RICHARD: Yes ... I will re-post a part of what I wrote as a response, on December 03 2003, to your query as to what would set in motion ‘the process’ I underwent all those years ago so as to be actually free from the human condition. Viz.:

• [Respondent]: ‘(...) Do you think the key for setting it [the process] in motion is will (‘pure intent’?), or an increase in the frequency of apperceptive awareness? Or both? Or something else?
• [Richard]: ‘(...) it is ‘me’ who is responsible for an action that results in ‘my’ own demise – without really doing the expunging itself (and I am not being tricky here) – as it is ‘me’ who is the initiator of bringing about this sacrifice in that ‘I’ deliberately and consciously, and with knowledge aforethought from a pure consciousness experience (PCE), set in motion a ‘process’ that will ensure ‘my’ demise (*‘I’ do not really end ‘myself’ in that ‘I’ do not do the deed itself for ‘I’ cannot end ‘myself’*). What ‘I’ do, voluntarily and intentionally (cheerfully and blessedly), is press the button which precipitates a, oft-times alarming but always thrilling, momentum which will result in ‘my’ irrevocable ‘self’-immolation in toto. What one does is that one dedicates oneself to the challenge of being just here, right now, as the universe’s experience of itself ... peace-on-earth is the inevitable result because it is already always existing (‘I’ was merely standing in the way of it being apparent). [emphasis added].

Put simply: ‘I’ cannot end ‘myself’ ... it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition as only that which is actual can, has, and will, enable such a freedom.

RESPONDENT: I wonder if other people can still persuade themselves that such pedantry contributes to ‘clarity’ and accuracy with altruistic intent rather than obfuscation for devious and/or malicious purposes. (Note: I do not give a rat’s arse whether you wonder that. I said I wonder that).

RICHARD: As a suggestion only: rather than wonder about what others may or may not persuade themselves, in regards what motivates these words, why not wonder about what it is which persuades you that the clarity in communication of these words is ‘obfuscation for devious and/or malicious purposes’ instead?

‘Tis only a suggestion, mind you.

February 12 2004

RICHARD: ... (I am, of course, referring in this instance to the ‘a particular cosmological model’ rephrasing as that is the topic my initial response specifically referred to). Put simply: it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition ... and no ‘particular cosmological model’ can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort.

RESPONDENT: Never at any stage did I argue that a cosmological model can, has, or ever will enable anything of the sort. So what precisely are you on about? This makes no sense.

RICHARD: The following is representative of what I have been, in fact, precisely talking about all along: [Respondent]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that any particular cosmogony/ cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition. [endquote]. Which is why I took the liberty of rephrasing your comment so it be in accord with what I actually say (and not what you make of what I say) so that it would look something like this: [example only]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that the direct experience of the infinitude of the universe is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition’ [end example]. And I wrote that as, put simply, it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition – and no ‘particular cosmological model’ can, has, or will, ever enable anything of the sort – because only that which is actual can, has, and will.

*

RICHARD: Only that which is actual can, has, and will.

RESPONDENT: Since I was never arguing that a ‘model’ can, has or will, this is irrelevant to your charge of ‘misrepresentation’.

RICHARD: If I may point out? You were (and apparently still are) saying that you do not think ‘any particular cosmogony/cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition’ and that it is ‘just plain silly to tie Actualism up to a particular world view’ (for instance).

RESPONDENT: Do you have anything else to say?

RICHARD: Yes ... I will re-post a part of what I wrote as a response, on December 03 2003, to your query as to what would set in motion ‘the process’ I underwent all those years ago so as to be actually free from the human condition. Viz.: [Respondent]: ‘(...) Do you think the key for setting it [the process] in motion is will (‘pure intent’?), or an increase in the frequency of apperceptive awareness? Or both? Or something else? [Richard]: ‘(...) it is ‘me’ who is responsible for an action that results in ‘my’ own demise – without really doing the expunging itself (and I am not being tricky here) – as it is ‘me’ who is the initiator of bringing about this sacrifice in that ‘I’ deliberately and consciously, and with knowledge aforethought from a pure consciousness experience (PCE), set in motion a ‘process’ that will ensure ‘my’ demise (*‘I’ do not really end ‘myself’ in that ‘I’ do not do the deed itself for ‘I’ cannot end ‘myself’*). What ‘I’ do, voluntarily and intentionally (cheerfully and blessedly), is press the button which precipitates a, oft-times alarming but always thrilling, momentum which will result in ‘my’ irrevocable ‘self’-immolation in toto. What one does is that one dedicates oneself to the challenge of being just here, right now, as the universe’s experience of itself ... peace-on-earth is the inevitable result because it is already always existing (‘I’ was merely standing in the way of it being apparent). [endquote]. Put simply: ‘I’ cannot end ‘myself’ ... it is the peerless purity of infinitude which enables an actual freedom from the human condition as only that which is actual can, has, and will, enable such a freedom.

RESPONDENT: I wonder if other people can still persuade themselves that such pedantry contributes to ‘clarity’ and accuracy with altruistic intent rather than obfuscation for devious and/or malicious purposes. (Note: I do not give a rat’s arse whether you wonder that. I said I wonder that).

RICHARD: As a suggestion only: rather than wonder about what others may or may not persuade themselves, in regards what motivates these words, why not wonder about what it is which persuades you that the clarity in communication of these words is ‘obfuscation for devious and/or malicious purposes’ instead? ‘Tis only a suggestion, mind you.

RESPONDENT: Richard, I have not misrepresented you; you have misrepresented me and haven’t been able to see it. The explanation is very simple: I know that the what you’re offering to people here begins and ends with the direct experience of this actual universe. I know it is not a conceptual model, and I know that you are not advocating a mere belief in the infinitude of the universe. I know that you are recommending that people test your words out experientially. Therefore – it is stupid to tie the value of actualism to a particular cosmological model. Dig?

RICHARD: Here are the passages in question – in their full context – which you referred to at the beginning of this thread when you wrote that you did not, and do not, think that any particular cosmogony/ cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition and that you had said words to this effect in response to another some time back which prompted Richard’s intervention:

• [Respondent]: ... The everyday mind lets in only a trickle of sensory data, and what little comes through is quickly processed and evaluated in terms of one’s current purpose, which is nearly always something to do with the human drama, with the instinctual passions pulling the strings.
When a PCE occurs, the distorting and reducing filters drop away, allowing a much clearer and richer perception of what is actual. There is no doubt in my mind that this is true. But ...
In my opinion the Actualists are overstepping the mark when they argue that a PCE reveals specific facts about the origin, composition, and extent of the universe. It doesn’t. It can’t. It’s physically impossible. What it *can* do is reveal that your current beliefs about it are wrong. Eg. it can reveal that they emanate from a wishful fantasy.
It can reveal that what you’ve been told about it also emanates from a wishful fantasy. It can show you what the world looks and feels like without the layer of illusions you’ve imposed on it (and to say that it is wonderful beyond imagination is an understatement).
Beyond the reach of your senses, it can only show you that what you previously *thought* was the case is probably not the case because it originates from belief X or belief Y ... or the mental construct it depended on turns out to be a figment of personal or collective imagination, etc.
It seems to me that recovering spiritualists are particularly prone to swinging between extremes: eg. ‘what I previously believed to be true is clearly untrue, therefore I now know that the exactly opposite *is* true.’ It’s crappy logic, it’s impervious to reason, and it betrays the fanatic’s heart, which is probably the same emotional tendency that led to them being long-term spiritualists in the first place. It’s not a big worry, except in one way: the PCE is now seeming to acquire the status of a revelation of the absolute universal truth.
In my experience, a PCE is indeed a ‘revelation’, but not of the kind the Actualists are now making it out to be. (...)
For myself, I don’t actually care whether a creator exists or whether the universe is expanding, or whether it originated with the Big Bang or whether it has always existed and will always exist in steady state. All of these possibilities are perfectly consistent with what I have experienced in PCEs and ASCs, and *to tie the value of a PCE (and Actualism) to a particular model of the universe is just stupid, from where I stand*.
If time, space and matter originated in the Big Bang, Actualism is no longer relevant? PCEs are no longer valuable? There is no longer a possibility of freedom from the ‘human condition’, of liberating the human mind from the bonds of the instinctual passions that keep us living in confusion and misery? No longer a possibility of delighting in being here, and doing nothing to prevent another person’s delight in being here? *It’s just plain silly to tie Actualism up to a particular world view*. [emphasises added]. (www.topica.com/lists/actualfreedom/read/message.html?mid=909394957).

If you could explain how I have misrepresented you it would be most appreciated.

March 03 2004:

RICHARD: If you could explain how I have misrepresented you it would be most appreciated.

RESPONDENT: Sure thing. By substituting (or ‘rephrasing’, as you call it) what I AM saying for what you THINK I’m saying, getting it altogether wrong, changing the meaning in the process of ‘REPHRASING’ it, and then claiming that YOUR incorrect rephrasing of MY words is in fact MY misrepresentation of YOUR words.

RICHARD: This is the exchange you are referring to:

• [Respondent]: ‘Life being what it is, regardless of how it came to be this way, I did not (and do not) think that any particular cosmogony/cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition. I said words to this effect in response to Respondent No. 49 some time back, and it prompted Richard’s intervention which, much to my surprise, tied actualism irrevocably to the infinite-eternal-universe being an actual fact.
• [Richard]: ‘What prompted my intervention, as you put it, was the following:

• [Respondent]: ‘... to tie the value of a PCE (and Actualism) to a particular model of the universe is just stupid, from where I stand. (Tue 20/1/04 11:11 AM AEST).

As this comment of yours is, presumably, derived from my report of the direct experience of infinitude it may become more clear if I were to take the liberty of rephrasing your comment so it be in accord with what I actually say (and not what you make of what I say). For example:

• [example only]: ‘... to tie the value of a PCE (and Actualism) to the direct experience of the infinitude of the universe is just stupid, from where I stand. [end example].

The same applies to your latest take on what I have to say (from further above):

• [Respondent]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that any particular cosmogony/cosmogony is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition. [endquote].

If I were again to take the liberty of rephrasing your comment so it be in accord with what I actually say (and not what you make of what I say) it would look something like this

• [example only]: ‘I did not (and do not) think that the direct experience of the infinitude of the universe is relevant when it comes to dealing with the problems of the human condition. [end example].

I did not substitute/rephrase what I ‘think’ you were saying for what you were saying at all (let alone getting it altogether wrong or changing the meaning in the process or then claiming that my rephrasing of your words is in fact your misrepresentation of my words) as I explicitly state I took the liberty of rephrasing your comment so it be in accord with what I actually say (and not what you make of what I say) in order to make it clear why I intervened, as you put it, when you wrote to another that to tie the value of a pure consciousness experience (PCE) and actualism to a particular model of the universe is just stupid and that it is just plain silly to tie actualism up to a particular world view.

In short: I have made it clear all along that actualism is experiential – the direct experience of the actual world/universe such as in a PCE – and not intellectual (such as in a particular model of the universe/a particular world view) and my ‘example only’ rephrasing was nothing other than another way of expressing this clarity.

RESPONDENT: All without any apparent awareness of the irony in the above.

RICHARD: Hmm ... why you would be using irony – ‘dissimulation/pretence; esp. the pretence of ignorance practised by Socrates as a step towards confuting an adversary’ (Oxford Dictionary) – when you later say that you know what I am offering to my fellow human being begins and ends with the direct experience of this actual universe (and that you know it is not a conceptual model and that you know I am not advocating a mere belief in the infinitude of the universe and that you know I am recommending that people test my words out experientially) is beyond me.

Or, to put that another way, why you would be using irony – ‘discrepancy between the expected and the actual state of affairs; a contradictory or ill-timed outcome of events as if in mockery of the fitness of things’ (Oxford Dictionary) – when you later say that you know what I am offering to my fellow human being begins and ends with the direct experience of this actual universe (and that you know it is not a conceptual model and that you know I am not advocating a mere belief in the infinitude of the universe and that you know I am recommending that people test my words out experientially) has got me beat.

Especially as you experientially know this moment in time has no duration in a PCE anyway:

• [Respondent]: ‘...there are moments when all of this ceases, pops like a soap bubble, or quite abruptly drops away into open-ended transparency, and the actual universe is there in all its pristine purity and perfection, untainted by the slightest stirring of ‘me’. The lucidity and clarity is stunning. (...) Perception is diamond clear. Ordinary objects are wondrous things, infinitely rich in detail. Time is ... expanded ... inflated ... somehow motionless? ... beyond my capacity to recollect or describe clearly. ‘I’ am gone. (...) These moments of calm can come and go; they never last long by the clock, but the ordinary sense of duration doesn’t seem to apply here anyway.’. (‘Re: Experiential Investigation-Logical Investigation’; Fri 30/01/04 AEST).

And that you experientially know this place in space has no location:

• [Respondent]: ‘... at one point I wondered: where am I? I knew that I was walking on a country road outside town, but when I tried to precisely locate myself in relation to the river and the town, found I could not. I could not hold an abstract map in my mind at all. But it didn’t matter in the slightest. Where am I? I’m here! The whole question of where ‘here’ is only makes sense in relation to where somewhere else is, and what’s the point of that? (‘PCE / ASC / psilocybin’; Fri 7/11/03).

Yet when I report/describe the same or similar I am, it seems to you (further above), a recovering spiritualist particularly prone to swinging between extremes with crappy logic which is impervious to reason such as to betray the fanatic’s heart which is probably the same emotional tendency that led to me being long-term spiritualist in the first place ... here is but one example out of many:

• [Richard]: ‘This [the ‘magical’ element] is where time has no duration as the normal ‘now’ and ‘then’ and space has no distance as the normal ‘here’ and ‘there’ and form has no distinction as the normal ‘was’ and ‘will be’ ... there is only this moment in eternal time at this place in infinite space as this flesh and blood body being apperceptively aware (a three hundred and sixty degree awareness, as it were). Everything and everyone is transparently and sparklingly obvious, up-front and out-in-the open ... there is nowhere to hide and no reason to hide as there is no ‘me’ to hide. One is totally exposed and open to the universe: already always just here right now ... actually in time and actually in space as actual form. This apperception (selfless awareness) is an unmediated perspicacity wherein one is this universe experiencing itself as a sensate and reflective human being; as such the universe is stunningly aware of its own infinitude. (www.actualfreedom.com.au/richard/listafcorrespondence/listafgary.htm#14Aug00).

And even more recently you have reported the following experience:

• [Respondent]: ‘... a whole load of pure childhood PCE memories came flooding in. The simplest things: watching a flag flapping in the wind; listening to the sound of yachts and fishing boats tinkling in their moorings; listening to the sound of waves lapping against the shore; watching a bright plastic windmill in my 3 yr old fist, spinning in the breeze; the smell of the airport cafeteria; the blast of warm night air in Karachi when the doors opened. Wow! These moments of ‘eternity’ were once just how it was. And the world hasn’t changed. What could be simpler than just letting it be? (‘Re: Identity & Nurture’; Thu 26/02/04).

May I ask? Where in all this is the crappy logic which is impervious to reason such as to betray the fanatic’s heart?

April 13 2004

RESPONDENT No. 27 (to Peter): By the way, my recent conversation with Richard regarding ‘spiritual’ has cleared up much of the misunderstanding I have had regarding your statement that Richard is (was) the only atheist on the planet. What I see now is that you have not only applied the word ‘spiritual’ to religious belief, but also to ‘being’ itself. In other words, to ‘be’ is to be ‘spiritual.’ Personally, I think that usage is ripe for misunderstanding. From here, it would seem better to apply the word ‘spiritual’ to ‘spiritual’ belief as in religious belief and practice, etc. then possibly ‘metaphysical’ (or some other word?) could cover better what it means to simply be a ‘being.’

RESPONDENT: I’d second this. It takes some time for a newcomer to really understand the implications of ‘beinglessness’. I don’t think it is the kind of thing that can sink in immediately. In the interim, while people are trying to come to terms with the startling novelty of this aspect of actualism, it is confusing for people to find themselves described as spiritualists, or to hear their views described as ‘spiritual’ beliefs when, in real world terms, they are not spiritual at all.

RICHARD: Here is the passage which your co-respondent asked me (twice) to respond to a line extracted from it ... with the extracted quote highlighted in bold:

• [Peter]: ‘When I was leaving the spiritual world and began to really investigate what others had to say about the human condition, I was amazed to discover that *everyone – and I do mean everyone – has a spiritual outlook on life*. The spiritual viewpoint permeates philosophy, science, medicine, education, psychology, law, etc. [emphasis added].

As you have replied as if Peter had said ‘spiritual beliefs’ – and not ‘spiritual outlook’ (and ‘spiritual viewpoint’) – you are really conducting what is known as a ‘straw man argument’ (wherein something someone never said is critiqued as if it were what they actually said).

Here is the critical part of my response/ explanation mentioned further above:

• [Richard]: ‘... because of ‘being’ itself an atheistic materialist cannot help but be, to some degree at least, metaphysical in *outlook* ...’. [emphasis added].

And again just recently:

• [Richard]: ‘Even though metaphysics has been spiritual from the very beginning, and in the long run it really does not matter which term is used to describe the instinctive/ intuitive *outlook* of ‘me’ as soul (‘me’ at the core of ‘my’ being ... which is ‘being’ itself), the usage of the word ‘spiritual’ as Peter means it – ‘of, pertaining to, or affecting the spirit or soul’ (Oxford Dictionary) – is more direct and to the point.

*

RESPONDENT No. 27: Of course, this is all new territory, so actualists are free to adapt or create whatever vocabulary they please.

RESPONDENT: Sure, but if the intent is to communicate clearly with the ‘real world’, why invite these misunderstandings? Personally, I was very nearly driven away by this issue. It seemed to me that actualists could not distinguish between the metaphysicality of God and the metaphysicality of Euclid’s Elements.

RICHARD: I copy-pasted the phrase <Euclid’s Elements> into this computer’s search engine and sent it through every e-mail you have posted to this mailing list ... only to return nil hits; a search for <Euclid> similarly drew a blank.

If you could provide the relevant passage it would be most appreciated.

RESPONDENT: And when they suggested I had ‘spiritual’ beliefs, it seemed very much a case of them being crazy and/or stupid.

RICHARD: I see that you have just recently written the following:

• [Respondent to Peter]: ‘No 27 mentioned that a certain way of using the word ‘spiritual’ invites misunderstanding. I chipped in to say that I agree, because my personal experience attests to this. It was as simple as that, and was intended to provide helpful feedback to actualists in order that they might avoid unnecessary confusion in communicating with future prospective actualists who have a non-‘spiritual’ background. No cloak and dagger, no cards close to my chest, no ulterior motive.
I have been frank and explicit about this all along. For reasons best known to yourself, you have been unable to see the point I was trying to make, and instead have begun speculating about my motives. Why you should need to do that, when I have expressed my motives explicitly and honestly, is beyond me.
I have nothing more to say on this subject. (‘Peter re Spiritual beliefs’; Mon 12/04/04 AEST).

As you will be cognisant by now the ‘certain way of using the word ‘spiritual’’ which (supposedly) invites misunderstanding is ‘of, pertaining to, or affecting the spirit or soul’ (Oxford Dictionary) which, when used in conjunction with the word ‘outlook’ (or ‘viewpoint’), looks something like this:

• [example only]: ‘When I was leaving the spiritual world and began to really investigate what others had to say about the human condition, I was amazed to discover that *everyone – and I do mean everyone – has an outlook on life of, pertaining to, or affecting the spirit or soul*. The viewpoint of, pertaining to, or affecting the spirit or soul permeates philosophy, science, medicine, education, psychology, law, etc. [emphasis added].

As the word ‘soul’ has both a spiritualistic and materialistic meaning in the Oxford Dictionary it was the word I chose to use when I first went public as the main difference between those two meanings is materialists maintain that such an emotional/passional/intuitive self (sometimes referred to as one’s spirit) dies with the body and spiritualists maintain it does not ... a distinction which somebody relatively new to this mailing list had no difficulty comprehending a few weeks ago when this fact was elucidated. Viz.:

• [Co-Respondent]: ‘You are of course right to point out that I do indeed experience the materialist’s version of a soul: [quote] ‘The seat of the emotions or sentiments; the emotional part of human nature’ [Oxford Dictionary]. (This fact is obvious to me right now as I have a feeling of excitement and satisfaction that we are conversing). I guess I was focusing too much upon the spiritual understanding of the word (in my mind the concept of a soul has always been tied up with religious baggage and immortality).
• [Richard]: ‘Okay ... I am pleased that this is now clear.

Incidentally, as you state that you have nothing more to say on this subject there is no need to respond to this e-mail.

April 16 2004

RESPONDENT (to Respondent No 27): ... it is confusing for people to find themselves described as spiritualists, or to hear their views described as ‘spiritual’ beliefs when, in real world terms, they are not spiritual at all.

RICHARD: Here is the passage which your co-respondent asked me (twice) to respond to a line extracted from it ... with the extracted quote highlighted in bold:

• [Peter]: ‘When I was leaving the spiritual world and began to really investigate what others had to say about the human condition, I was amazed to discover that *everyone – and I do mean everyone – has a spiritual outlook on life*. The spiritual viewpoint permeates philosophy, science, medicine, education, psychology, law, etc. [emphasis added].

As you have replied as if Peter had said ‘spiritual beliefs’ – and not ‘spiritual outlook’ (and ‘spiritual viewpoint’) – you are really conducting what is known as a ‘straw man argument’ (wherein something someone never said is critiqued as if it were what they actually said).

RESPONDENT: The main point I have been driving at all along is this: outside actualist circles, the feeling of being someone is not regarded as having a spiritual belief/ outlook/ viewpoint.

RICHARD: If I may point out? This is the first time you have even mentioned the word ‘outlook’ (or ‘viewpoint’) in this exchange ... let alone what you do not regard it as being.

Moreover, you are further compounding the problem you have created by now lumping ‘belief’ and ‘outlook’ together (along with ‘viewpoint’) as I have already explained what Peter is not saying in an earlier e-mail. Viz.:

• [Co-Respondent]: ‘So even though most everyone on the planet is ‘spiritual’ in the sense of being under the illusion of being an identity – thus metaphysical, not everyone is ‘spiritual’ in the sense of believing in somebody or something supernatural. Correct?
• [Richard]: ‘What Peter realised very early in the piece was that, as long as the flesh and blood body hosted an affective ‘being’, an intuitive ‘presence’ which is the instinctual passions in action, there was no way that anyone – and he means anyone – can actually be non-spiritual ... *even though they do not believe either in a god or truth (by whatever name) or a post-mortem soul or spirit (by whatever name)*. [emphasis added].

This may be an apt moment to remind you of something I often warn about:

• [Co-Respondent]: ‘As I don’t care to end up like U.G. Krishnamurti, or some other way I realize it’s risky and I need pure intent from the PCE’s to keep it in the right direction.
• [Richard]: ‘Ah, yes ... the only danger on the wide and wondrous path to an actual freedom from the human condition is that one may inadvertently become enlightened along the way.

Has it never occurred to you how come Richard, a reasonably intelligent and well-read person with a tertiary education – and agnostic if not atheistic from early childhood into the bargain – could inadvertently become enlightened along the way to an actual freedom from the human condition? Here is a clue:

• [Richard]: ‘As I was educated in a state-run school I cannot know by personal experience what it is to be receiving an education in a religion-based school ... although as all secular schools are embedded in a society’s religious milieu anyway I can make a fairly good guess that it is but a more extreme version.
It is surprising just how deep a disguised religiosity/spiritually runs.

Put briefly: I was staggered as to how deep the Judaic/Christian environment I was raised in was embedded ... to the point that I then realised that humanism was the secular religion, so to speak, that British/European Colonialism had foisted onto the world at large (via countries like the USA for instance) as it underpins the UN Charter and the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Breaking free from the tenacious grip of their humanitarian principles was difficult to say the least.

RESPONDENT: To describe the feeling of being someone as ‘spiritual’ is to invite unnecessary confusion.

RICHARD: Just what is unnecessarily confusing about describing the feeling of ‘being’ as generating an outlook on life ‘of, pertaining to, or affecting the spirit or soul’ (Oxford Dictionary)?

RESPONDENT: (There is plenty of empirical evidence to suggest that this is the case).

RICHARD: As this is the first time this issue has ever cropped up since publishing the website in 1997 this is news to me ... which could very well be because Peter makes quite clear the association between the adjective ‘spiritual’ and the noun ‘spirit’ it is descriptive of (even to the point of many times hyphenating the word). Viz.:

• [Peter to Respondent]: ‘... I very often wrote the word spiritual as spirit-ual in my journal and other early writings so as to emphasize the association of the words spiritual and spirit.

RESPONDENT: As this observation/ opinion is not specific to spiritual belief (as opposed to viewpoint and/or outlook), it is not a straw man.

RICHARD: As this is the first time you have acknowledged, albeit in a circuitous manner, that the glossary entry in question was not about spiritual belief, but about a spiritual outlook on life (and, by extension, a spiritual viewpoint permeating various disciplines) I do look askance at your asserverance.

*

RICHARD: Here is the critical part of my response/ explanation mentioned further above:

• [Richard]: ‘... because of ‘being’ itself an atheistic materialist cannot help but be, to some degree at least, metaphysical in *outlook* ...’. [emphasis added].

RESPONDENT: *Metaphysical* in outlook. [emphasis added] ;-)

RICHARD: I had figured, as this was such an important issue for you (inasmuch you would have Peter choke on the shards of those front teeth of his you would like to break), that you would have already read what I wrote in response to being asked (twice) to respond to Peter’s entry in the actualism glossary, before responding to me, such that I could simply provide a truncated version in this thread.

Nevertheless ... here is the sequence (with the above extract highlighted in bold):

• [Co-Respondent]: ‘... [snip four points] ... I do understand after your explanation of Peter’s usage of the word ‘spiritual’ though that it would not necessarily be exclusive of being a ‘materialist’ – since his usage was a broader sense – more likely a synonym for ‘metaphysical’.
• [Richard]: ‘I cannot say I follow your points 1-4 (especially No. 2) but it does not really matter as the issue now seems to be satisfactorily clarified ... I could add, however, that *because of ‘being’ itself an atheistic materialist cannot help but be, to some degree at least, metaphysical in outlook* (to use the more likely synonym). Just as a matter of related interest: has all this thrown some more light upon the topic of atheistic and/or materialistic physicists and/or mathematicians and their cosmogonical and/or cosmological theories? [emphasis added].

Do you see, this time around, that I specifically mentioned I was using the synonym my co-respondent had said was [quote] ‘more likely’ [endquote] the way Peter was using the word ‘spiritual’ (even though he was not specifically doing so) so as to shed some more light on the topic of atheistic and/or materialistic physicists and/or mathematicians and their cosmogonical and/or cosmological theories in a previous (and unfinished) thread?

I deliberately phrased it that way as a lead-in for a much-needed discussion on what the word ‘metaphysical’ can mean and the implications thereof: in short it is the non-theistic spiritual outlook, generated by the instinctive/ intuitive spirit/ soul, which occasions atheistic and/or materialistic physicists and/or mathematicians to postulate metaphysical cosmogonies/cosmologies ... when all the while this actual universe is out-in-the-open with no uncaused/uncreated source/underlying reality at all.

To apprehend this latter point the atheistic and/or materialistic physicists and/or mathematicians would, of course, have to be out-in-the-open as well ... but that is a matter of them coming to their senses (both literally and metaphorically).

*

RICHARD: And again just recently:

• [Richard]: ‘Even though metaphysics has been spiritual from the very beginning, and in the long run it really does not matter which term is used to describe the instinctive/ intuitive *outlook* of ‘me’ as soul (‘me’ at the core of ‘my’ being ... which is ‘being’ itself), the usage of the word ‘spiritual’ as Peter means it – ‘of, pertaining to, or affecting the spirit or soul’ (Oxford Dictionary) – is more direct and to the point.

RESPONDENT: You say it does not matter.

RICHARD: No, I say that, even though it does not really matter in the long run, Peter’s usage of the word ‘spiritual’ is more direct and to the point.

RESPONDENT: I think it does matter if you are interested in sparing people unnecessary confusion when they begin to investigate actualism.

RICHARD: What I am interested in is explicating why human beings project metaphysical realities and/or metaphysical beings onto and/or existing prior to the universe ... and Peter’s usage of the word ‘spiritual’ is direct and to this very point.

RESPONDENT: Metaphysics and spirituality are by no means equivalent.

RICHARD: I never said they were ... I specifically said that metaphysics – ‘a division of philosophy that is concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and being and that includes ontology, cosmology, and often epistemology’ (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) – has been spiritual from the very beginning (per favour Mr. Parmenides, of the Eleatic School in the Greek colony of Elea in southern Italy in the fifth century BCE, who held that the only true reality is Eon ... pure, eternal, immutable, and indestructible Being, without any other qualification).

RESPONDENT: Euclidean geometry, for instance, is entirely metaphysical – but few people would describe it as ‘spiritual’.

RICHARD: Surely you are not suggesting that Peter should have written that he was amazed to discover that everyone – and he does mean everyone – has a metaphysical outlook on life such as to be found, for instance, in Euclidean geometry?

Quite frankly what you are trying to do just does not make sense to me ... to try and tell Peter what he should have been amazed about, back when he was leaving the spiritual world and beginning to really investigate what others had to say about the human condition, and what permeates philosophy, science, medicine, education, psychology, law, and so on, is but an exercise in futility..

RESPONDENT: As a matter of interest, would you [describe Euclidean geometry, for instance, as ‘spiritual’]? I doubt it, but you do tend to surprise me sometimes.

RICHARD: Of course not ... and, being a particular system of a branch of mathematics which deals with the properties and relations of magnitudes, as lines, surfaces and solids in space, it barely even qualifies for the title ‘metaphysics’.

But, then again, I am not a geometrician.

*

RESPONDENT: ... It seemed to me that actualists could not distinguish between the metaphysicality of God and the metaphysicality of Euclid’s Elements.

RICHARD: I copy-pasted the phrase <Euclid’s Elements> into this computer’s search engine and sent it through every e-mail you have posted to this mailing list ... only to return nil hits; a search for <Euclid> similarly drew a blank. If you could provide the relevant passage it would be most appreciated.

RESPONDENT: Righto. I haven’t specifically mentioned Euclid before ...

RICHARD: Then why say it seems to you that actualists cannot make such a distinction? I do understand that the word ‘metaphysical’ can mean ‘highly abstract or abstruse; also theoretical’ (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). For example:

• [Co-Respondent]: ‘I define metaphysics as ‘meta ta physsika’, a Greek word meaning beyond nature and physics.
• [Richard]: ‘As the word ‘physics’ – plural of ‘physic’ from the Latin ‘physica’ from the Greek ‘ta phusika’ (‘the natural’ understood as ‘things’) – is derived from the Greek ‘phusis’ (‘nature’) it properly refers to the science of the natural world (as in knowledge of the physical world of animal, vegetable and mineral) ... thus to say ‘nature and physics’ is to separate it [physics] from the physical.
And I am not just nit-picking over the meaning of words here as it is glaringly obvious that the late nineteenth-century/early twentieth-century physics departed from being a study of the natural world (the physical world) and entered into the realm of the mathematical world ... an abstract world which does not exist in nature.
*Indeed the word ‘metaphysical’ also refers to that which is ‘based on abstract general reasoning or a priori principles’ (Oxford Dictionary) as well as the more common meaning of that which transcends matter or the physical (as in immaterial, incorporeal, supersensible, supernatural and so on)*.
And quantum theory, for an instance of this, is most definitely based on a mathematical device (Mr. Max Planck’s ‘quanta’) initially designed to solve the hypothetical problem of infinite ultra-violet radiation from a non-existent perfect ‘black-box’ radiator and never intended to be taken as being real (until Mr. Albert Einstein took it up for his own purposes). [emphasis added].

RESPONDENT: ... but I have on numerous occasions raised the difference between ‘metaphysical’ and ‘supernatural’.

RICHARD: I copy-pasted the word <supernatural> into this computer’s search engine and sent it through every e-mail you have posted to this mailing list and have been unable to locate those numerous occasions you refer to (where you say you raised the difference between ‘metaphysical’ and ‘supernatural’).

If you could provide the relevant passages it would be most appreciated.

RESPONDENT: I think Euclidean geometry is one good example of the usefulness of drawing a distinction between metaphysical and spiritual (because ‘spiritual’ connotes ‘supernatural’, whereas ‘metaphysical’ does not (necessarily)).

RICHARD: As this – ‘‘spiritual’ connotes ‘supernatural’’ – is a red-herring (when I specifically gave the ‘of, pertaining to, or affecting the spirit or soul’ definition in the part of this e-mail you said you trimmed for brevity) I will pass without any further comment other than adding that the trimmed part could well do with a re-read.

*

[trimmed for brevity]

RICHARD: As the word ‘soul’ has both a spiritualistic and materialistic meaning in the Oxford Dictionary it was the word I chose to use when I first went public as the main difference between those two meanings is materialists maintain that such an emotional/passional/intuitive self (sometimes referred to as one’s spirit) dies with the body and spiritualists maintain it does not ... a distinction which somebody relatively new to this mailing list had no difficulty comprehending a few weeks ago when this fact was elucidated. Viz.: (snip quote containing definition).

RESPONDENT: I also have no difficulty comprehending this distinction.

RICHARD: Good ... the difficulty you seem to be having appears to lie in applying the distinction, eh?

RESPONDENT: As I was speaking about the potential confusion surrounding the word ‘spiritual’, not the meaning of the word ‘soul’, your observation is – according to your definition above – a straw man. Addendum: Sorry, that’s wrong, it isn’t a straw man. The dictionary definition of ‘spirit’ includes the word ‘soul’, and the word ‘soul’ has a non-supernatural meaning as well as a supernatural one. Therefore, one aspect of the word ‘spiritual’ has a non-supernatural meaning.

RICHARD: Okay ... I am pleased that this is now clear.

RESPONDENT: I do see your point.

RICHARD: It is Peter’s point, actually, as he wrote the glossary entry and not me ... all I did was to respond as (twice) asked.

RESPONDENT: It does seem to be clutching at straws somewhat though.

RICHARD: As Peter wrote that glossary entry circa 1997-98 you are but wasting your time making this comment.

RESPONDENT: The confusion that results from describing the feeling of ‘being’ as ‘spiritual’ rather than, say, ‘metaphysical’ is unnecessary.

RICHARD: This is what you are saying, in effect, when spelled out in full:

• [example only]: ‘When I was leaving the spiritual world and began to really investigate what others had to say about the human condition, I was amazed to discover that everyone – and I do mean everyone – has a metaphysical outlook on life. The metaphysical viewpoint permeates philosophy, science, medicine, education, psychology, law, etc. [end example].

As Peter was not (repeat ‘not’) amazed to discover that everyone – and he does mean everyone – has a metaphysical outlook on life (and that the metaphysical viewpoint permeates philosophy, science, medicine, education, psychology, law, etc.), but that it was a spiritual outlook/viewpoint (as in the association of the adjective ‘spiritual’ with the noun ‘spirit’) he was amazed to discover, to then go back and rewrite history with what did not happen would be to (a) deny his experience ... and (b) falsify his account ... and (c) no longer convey what he was amazed to discover.

Maybe this will be of assistance:

• [Richard]: ‘Apperception reveals that identity (both ‘I’ as ego and ‘me’ as soul) creates a centre to consciousness – and thus a boundary (or circumference) – which is then projected onto this universe’s properties ... the ending of identity is the ending of such boundaries.


CORRESPONDENT No. 60 (Part Four)

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