Actual Freedom ~ Frequently Asked Questions

‘I was thinking about ‘spiritualism versus actualism’. I think the reason why I still can’t differentiate between these two is perhaps a lack of PCE. To me both Satori and PCE look same. I have no experience of either. I practiced Vipassana irregularly and found that it made difference in my ordinary life. It did help to make me reasonably happy. I don’t care about what is the exact philosophy behind it. I don’t think that the spiritual practices are useless’.

What appealed me most about actualism is that I don’t have to believe in it (the same thing I liked about Vipassana).

Richard – you may also want to look at this and explain how you can still assert the 180 degree different-ness of actualism and what you call spirituality. Sure, you don’t have to know everything about all the different sects and such, but you better know enough to be able to assert how what you say and what others say is actually 180 deg. opposite. No God in Vipassana., this becomes clear after practice.

From what I have been taught, the teaching of Vipassana is to go beyond both body AND consciousness, or mind. Are you sure actualism is 180 degrees opposite? Maybe you guys just know Vipassana as taught by quacks.

Sorry I’m not hip to your lingo I was not referring to ‘Psychic Vibes’ or vibes as ‘feelings’, sorry. As you continue to put (unintended) meaning into my words you will continue to misunderstand me, making effective communication impossible. This has happened countless times now.

Good Morning Richard, I now agree that my beliefs about my vipassana practice do not stand up to hard scrutiny in terms of being pragmatic or non-dogmatic. Meaning, I can see there are beliefs and views in my decision to do it in the first place, in the actual act of doing it, in the results that I expect, and in the results that I achieve; furthermore, these results are actually related to “the absolute”, as it occurs in Buddhism (namely, in the ambiguous form of the “not this/ not that” that [No. 42] pointed out). I would not have necessarily seen these things before, as I was so committed to being a true believer in this practice. So where should I go from here, if you don’t mind me asking? What is the next step, assuming I have taken one in a positive direction by realizing these things? Also, I don’t know how this comes into play, but the results of the vipassana, really are helping me deal with bipolar-nos symptoms (in a remarkably better way than other types of meditation, positive thinking, self-help methods, psychotherapy, medication-regimens, etc). This would be okay/ acceptable to me, even if the results were completely explainable as placebo or scripting. Does this sort of, legitimize my beliefs, in any way? Thanks again, Richard.