Richard's Selected Writing on Actual Freedom

Richard’s Selected Writings

What is Actual Freedom

For many years I sought genuine exploration and discovery of what it means to live a fully human life, and in October 1992 I discovered, once and for all, what I was looking for. Since then I have been consistently living an incomparable condition which I choose to call actual freedom ... and I use the word ‘actual’ because this freedom is located here in this very world, this actual world of the senses. It is not an affective, cerebral or psychic state of ‘being’; it is a physical condition that ensues when one goes beyond Spiritual Enlightenment. In September 1981 I underwent a monumental transformation into an Altered State Of Consciousness which can only be described as Spiritual Enlightenment. I became Enlightened as the result of an earnest and intense process which commenced in the January of that year. At approximately six o’clock on the morning of Sunday the sixth of September 1981, my ego disappeared entirely in an edifying moment of awakening to an ‘Absolute Reality’.

I lived in the Enlightened State for eleven years, so I have an intimate understanding of the marked difference between Spiritual Enlightenment and actual freedom.

It is so easy to live, here. All this what is happening is self-evidently well organising itself. Insecurity and security have given way to a vast safety unparalleled in the annals of history. Nor do I feel enveloped by any sense of Metaphysical Energy in the form of Love Agapé or Divine Compassion; which is a form of consolation and commiseration ... Divine succour. From the vantage point of being here now, these are seen as unnecessary ... for sorrow and malice themselves are unnecessary. For Love Agapé and Divine Compassion to be effective a lonely and resentful victim is required in order to receive them and feel healed. When one ceases being a victim, one no longer is interested in being soothed. One only wants to be free, actually free. However, once ensnared in the psychic tentacles of Divine Healing it is deemed sacrilegious to break free. To the Religious and Spiritual people I seem to be a heretic. Nevertheless, to establish a genuine peace-on-earth one must, perforce, be iconoclastic. Those ‘Tried and True’ methods have been tried and tried, again and again ... and have failed and failed, again and again. It was high time for something new to hove into view.

And although obnoxious people may still appear, from time to time, and attempt to wreak their havoc, my response to them is not hostile and reactionary. One of the amazing attributes of actual freedom is its far-reaching benevolence; an attribute which allows my responses to be appropriate to the circumstances and sometimes unpredictable ... even to me. To be benevolent – which literally means well-wishing – is to be free to act in a way that is beneficial to one and all. Benevolence acts freely, I am not driven by Universal Sorrow as are the Compassionate Ones. When what is known as That Which Is Sacred – which has no existence outside of passionate ‘human’ imagination – is no longer able to meddle in the affairs of humankind, humans can finally have a genuine chance of peace-on-earth. Such a peace is certainly possible for the individual right now. It has been here all along, freely available for anyone to discover. Daring to investigate, explore and uncover, I had to be willing to venture where no one had travelled before ... beyond the Altered State Of Consciousness into The Unknowable. I had to be intrepid to abandon all the accrued ‘wisdom’ of the ages ... a ‘wisdom’ that has proved itself to be patently absurd.

In actual freedom this universe is experienced as it actually is: it is perfection. Upon reflection, how can it be not perfect? There is no outside to perfection ... and hence no centre, either. The purity of this perfection provides for the ultimate satisfaction; the satisfaction that Love Agapé and Divine Compassion seem to promise but can never deliver.

Surpassing the Altered State Of Consciousness is actual freedom.

Something new is already here. I call it actual freedom, the third alternative. One can be actual; no longer ‘human’, no longer straining to become Divine in order to escape from being ‘human’. To become Divine is the result of a well-meant but fatally flawed desire to be humane. It is the instincts that mark out human beings as being ‘human’ and in the Divine Realm those instincts still hold sway; it has been merely a transmogrification of the gross into the refined ... nothing fundamental has happened. The gross, the ego, has sublimated itself as the soul into the refined, the Self or Spirit. The instincts remain intact, heightened now by the Authority conferred by the psychic Power that reigns in the Supernatural World. Any attempt to escape from the ‘Human Condition’ is doomed to failure ... and the Divine Realm is an escape. It is incumbent upon one to stand fast, as a flesh and blood body only, without moving in any direction at all ... and be what-one-is. Only in this manner will the instincts reveal themselves for what they are. ‘I’ will be laid open and the core of ‘me’ will be revealed for the blind and instinctual ‘being’ that ‘I’ am.

The universe’s inclination is to manifest itself as its best. It can make full use of the brain’s capacity to reach its prime potential; namely, to be able to free oneself from the tyranny of the belief in the ‘Human Constitution’ ... which humans defend to the hilt. This ‘Human Constitution’ is the only purview on life so far– it is adhered to and repeated ad nauseam for ages unto ages– but is poised to become outmoded. If it can vanish in one human being it can likewise perish in another ... and another and another and so on. This is an exciting period to live in. For the first time in human history, it is possible for anyone who applies themselves with sufficient application and diligence – guided by pure intent – to become virtually free, virtually pure, virtually perfect.

It is then highly possible that this person can actualise the ultimate as being the immediate.

All in all this morning is a felicitous morning ... faultless in its simple pleasure. Every day is like this in this actual world, although I can occasionally meet unhelpful people, unhappy people, even rude people ... the entire gamut of ‘human’ expression. I can easily make allowances for them for I know that they all live in reality ... and life can be a grim and glum business there. Here, all is benevolent, friendly and kind; no perversity has ever existed in actual freedom. There is a marked absence of malice here; evil has no foothold, no being anywhere at all. When ‘I’ cease to exist as a psychic entity, so too does the Diabolical disappear. To put it bluntly: ‘I’ am a mixture of ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’ ... both are psychic forces which have waged their insidious battle in the ‘human’ psyche for aeons. ‘I’ try heroically, but vainly, to attain to ‘The Good’, hoping thereby to conquer ‘The Bad’, for so have humans been taught, been mesmerised, with precept and example, by the Saints and the Sages throughout the ages. All this is a futile drama played out in the realm of reality. In actuality, neither ‘Good’ nor ‘Evil’ have any substance whatsoever. With utter purity prevailing everywhere, virtue has become an outmoded concept. It is vital only in reality, in order to curtail the savage instincts that generate the alien entity.

‘I’ live in constant apprehension that ‘my’ bad side will get the better of ‘me’, and ‘I’ must maintain eternal vigilance. Such effort is exhausting and unsustainable ... from time to time a crack appears in ‘my’ defences and something nasty can slip out. It can cause harsh words and offensive or anti-social behaviour in the heat of the moment ... or it can take the form of a cold-blooded plan to exact revenge at a later date. These are actions which ‘I’ afterwards regret and ‘I’ will say something like: ‘I don’t know what came over me, this is not like me’. ‘I’ can then feel sorry, remorseful, and with sufficient repentance ‘I’ can regain ‘my’ virtue ... until next time, that is. It is the identity that generates all the ills of humankind, perpetuating misery and suffering. And it is to no avail to strain to attain to the Higher Self in order to cure or heal all the nastiness of humans; such action has been tried before with demonstrably disastrous results. Life can be a grim and glum business in reality.

It is all so simple, here in this actual world; no effort is needed to meet the requisite morality of society. I have no ‘dark nature’, no unconscious impulses to curb, to control, to restrain. It is all so easy, here in this actual world; I can take no credit for my apparently virtuous behaviour because actual freedom automatically provides beneficial thoughts and deeds. It is all so spontaneous, here in this actual world; I do not do it ... it does itself. Vanity, egoism, selfishness ... all self-centred activity has ceased to operate when ‘I’ ceased to be. And it is all so peaceful, here in this actual world; it is only in living this actual world that human beings can have peace-on-earth without toiling fruitlessly to be ‘good’. The answer to everything that has puzzled humankind for all of human history is readily elucidated when one is actually free. The ‘Mystery of Life’ has been penetrated and laid open for all those with the eyes to see.

Life was meant to be easy.

In actual freedom, life is experienced as being perfect as-it-is. One knows that one is living in a beneficent universe ... and that is what actually counts. The self-imposed iniquities that ail the people, who stubbornly wish to remain denizens of the real world, fail to impinge upon the blitheness and benignity of one who lives in the vast scheme of things. The universe does not force anyone to be happy and harmless, to live in peace and ease, to be free of sorrow and malice. It is a matter of personal choice as to which way one will travel. Humans, being as they are, will probably continue to tread the ‘Tried and True’ paths, little realising that they are the tried and failed ways. There is none so contumacious as a self-righteous soul who is convinced that they know the way to live ... as revealed in their ancient and revered sacred scriptures and secular philosophies. So be it.

I live in peace and tranquillity, beholden to none. With no loyalty to bind me, I have nothing to defend. With nothing to defend I have no need to attack. I have no sense of mission to ‘change the world’. I am not driven by mystical forces to evangelise, to proselytise, and to convert. If anyone is genuinely interested in finding out what the reason for their existence is, I am only too happy to participate in their enquiry. Nevertheless, I can only help those who wish to be helped in the only way that I can help. I am free to be here now in the world as-it-is. Unadorned and unencumbered, I can stand on my own two feet, owing allegiance to no one and nothing at all. I am supremely content with life as-it-is, for perfection can be found in what others call imperfection ... and I have no desire to change anything. To be here now, intimately here at this moment in time, where this actual world is such a marvellous place to be alive in, is a satisfaction and fulfilment unparalleled in the chronicles of antiquity.

Actual intimacy – being here now – does not come from love, for love stems from separation. The illusion of intimacy that love produces is but a meagre imitation of this direct experience of the actual. In the actual world, ‘I’ as ego (the personality) and ‘me’ as soul (the ‘being’) have ceased to exist; whereas love accentuates, endorses and verifies ‘me’ as being real. And while ‘I’ am real, ‘I’ am relative to other similarly afflicted persons; vying for position and status in order to establish ‘my’ credentials ... to verify ‘my’ very existence. To be actually intimate is to be without the separative identity ... and therefore free from the need for love with its ever un-filled promise of Peace On Earth. There is an actual intimacy between me and my companion. Actual intimacy is a direct experiencing of the other. I am having a superb time ... and it is a well-earned superb time, too. Nothing has come without application – apart from serendipitous discoveries because of pure intent – and I am reaping the rewards which are plentiful and deliciously satisfying. Actual intimacy frees one up to a world of actual splendour, based firmly upon sensual and sexual delight. The candid and unabashed sensate enjoyment of one’s body and the world around one is such a luscious and immediate experience, that the tantalising but ever-elusive promise of the mystique of love fades into the oblivion it deserves.

This is an actual freedom. It is possible to be actually free, here on earth, as this body, in this lifetime.

An actual freedom is refreshingly simple. For then one is the universe’s experience of itself as a sensate and reflective human being. Then one is not ‘Spaceless’, I am perennially here; this moment is not ‘Timeless’, it is perpetually now. One has no need for such a paltry surrogate as Immortality ... Immortality pales into insignificance compared to the magnitude of experiencing myself being here now, each moment again, fresh and new and pristine. Nothing that ‘I’ experienced many years ago when ‘I’ explored the Divine Realm can equal the magnificence of being here now in this actual world. An actual freedom far exceeds any Religious Illumination, Spiritual Enlightenment, Mystical Union or any other Metaphysical Altered State Of Consciousness. One does not identify as being God On Earth, or any of that deluded nonsense ... I have no identity whatsoever. One is free to be me; me as I actually am. One is free to be practical, straight-forward and down-to-earth ... one is free of any guile, any hypocrisy, any duplicity, any cupidity or any corruption at all. One is free to live in this magical wonderland that is the actual world. Innocence prevails only where time has no duration and space has no locality ... and as this moment and place has no actual measure, it is ever-new. Likewise, one is ever-new, therefore I can never be tainted; ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’ can find no foothold in me. Consequently, one is benign in character and I cannot maliciously harm anyone or anything. Also, one can never be harmed psychologically or psychically, hence one never takes umbrage. As one is unable to be affronted, one is incapable of holding a grudge ... leaving me free from the horror of revenge. By not taking offence in the first place, one has no need to forgive ... which is an ego-enhancing and soul-boosting act of condescension, anyway. Forgiveness is a meagre imitation of magnanimity, which is one of the many charming characteristics of actual freedom.

Only out of innocence, which is an ever-fresh condition, can one be magnanimous ... otherwise magnanimity becomes tainted and is a devolution into disdain. One is devoid of any measure of dominion ... I have no sovereignty whatsoever. Accordingly, one is not an ‘Authority’ and I have no omniscient puissance ... meaning I have no power over anyone. All in all, I have no ‘being’, ‘presence’ or ‘spirit’ ... or ‘Being’, ‘Presence’ or ‘Spirit’.

And suffering is simply impossible in actual freedom ... I never know sorrow or malice at all.

I am sitting with my companion at a café terrace, situated at the edge of the pavement running alongside the main street of this seaside village. I am sipping my drink while waiting for the waiter to bring us our lunch order, idly watching the passing parade of people going about their business. It is an agreeable day, the sun just over its zenith, a breeze blowing mildly from the south-east rustling the sun-drenched palm fronds all about the terrace. Large umbrellas stand proud from each table, providing a cooling shelter from the hot summer sun for all the patrons seated here. I have lived in this village before; my impromptu peregrinations have caused me to live in many different places due to my interest in exploring this magnificent earth we all live on. Some I liked so much I re-visited ... and this is one of them. I conjecture, at odd times, how long I will be here for this stay ... I have no plans at all for the future.

Actualism does not promise ... it delivers a virtual freedom. Then one has a distinct opportunity of becoming actually free. One of the charming characteristics of actual freedom – apart from the highly desirable perfection and excellence – is the instant bestowal of universal peace upon the one who dares to be me. With peace comes benignity and benevolence. I simply have no desire, no urge, no compulsion – and no need – to hurt the other, or anyone else. I have discovered that it is possible to be free. I have found the joy of being me. Freed by pure intent from the very necessary social constraints – designed to control a wayward ego and a compliant soul – I can have generosity of character without striving. Pleasingly, I can take no credit for being kind, for it comes automatically. Thus I do not suffer from hubris, with its consequential need for practising humility. Altogether, it is an entirely new way of living, never before discovered, never before spoken of. It was sitting here, all of this time.

My life is now carefree ... and full of genuine fun.

To be actually free is to be free, at last, to be ordinary. To be this flesh and blood body. To be mortal. To be without the need for any inhibiting surrender to that Highest Authority with its Absolute Power. I experience the universe as being here now in all its benignity. The world of people, things and events is no longer at a distance. Without the defences of the identity I can stand proud, as I do not need to maintain myself as ‘someone’ in particular with relation to others. An unusual anonymity has freed me from the ‘normal’ responsibility and onerous task of sustaining ‘myself’. A marked absence of severity has replaced the need for Moral Guidance and Spiritual Discipline, for I am already always harmless.

I have never been harmed, psychologically, nor have I ever known sorrow.

Surpassing the Altered State Of Consciousness is actual freedom.

Pure contemplation is absolutely free from any pre-conceived concepts ... it lies beyond ‘human’ beliefs and ideals. There is a dare in pure contemplation ... daring to expect the utter best. Actual freedom is far superior to anything ‘I’ can aspire to; it makes ‘me’ and ‘my’ world obsolete. The actual world has nothing to do with ‘me’ and ‘my’ machinations: ‘my’ hopes, ‘my’ dreams, ‘my’ ideals, or ‘my’ longings. All these things come from the heart ... and the heart has led humankind astray for countless centuries. Passion, coupled with imagination, can only produce variations on that Timeless Reality so beloved by the Religious, Spiritual and Mystical peoples. Being ‘human’ is a feeling; being Divine is a passion. Feelings – emotions and passions – are a liability to one who is going to be actual. In actual freedom I am neither ‘human’ nor Divine, for I am not metaphysical. I am the third alternative: this very actual body.

Pure contemplation is not thinking ‘about’ something ... which is the usual way of thought. Pure contemplation does not take a duration of time. It is instant thought, a realisation, a flash of seeing. In pure contemplation ‘I’ do no thinking ... thinking does itself. ‘I’ have no substance, therefore in pure contemplation there is thinking without a ‘thinker’. Thought operates freely ... and in immaculate wonder. Pure contemplation is a state of unsullied wonderment: ‘how can this world happen?’, or ‘what is this universe doing here?’, or ‘where does this body come from?’. These questions are posed in such a way so as not to get a thought-out answer, but to simply wonder, in a pure contemplation of the actual. One stays with the notion: ‘I am this body’ and regards that magical world of the PCE. Opening up to that fairy tale-like world by seeing that it is indeed possible now makes it close ... so close as to be already here. It is already always here. Regard the very best as possible for oneself ... and for all human beings. There is a must in pure contemplation that something amazing can happen: all of a sudden ‘I’ am no more and the actual is already here. I am here where I always have been.

One has always been here ... one has never been anywhere else. Where else is there but here? Here is perfection for there is no sorrow or malice anywhere. One realises that there is nothing outside of perfection ... humans are all unwittingly living their life already in perfection. It is as if everybody is playing a game called ‘Let’s pretend we are lost’, knowing it will only ever be an illusion. Humans are creating the illusion so well that they take it for real ... wrongly implying it to be actual. In actuality there is no animosity or anguish, only perfection. This perfection does not come from anywhere. It is already always here. I am not making it happen as ‘I’ did Reality, it is happening of itself.

All is self-generating ... and so exquisitely intricate.

I am seated with my companions on the balcony of an apartment overlooking some rather luscious wilderness-type gardens in the company of the man and the woman who share the lease ... and who both have taken a deep interest in actualism. I take a sip out of a freshly poured cup of tea and set-to upon the task of rolling a cigarette. These simple things are the very stuff of the joy of life ... I do not need the stimulation of frenetic ‘busyness’ to enhance my day with a self-induced sense of importance. I no longer have to justify my existence here on earth by doing and achieving something that is considered ‘worthwhile’ by the denizens of the real world. Being here now – which is being fully alive – is the summation of all existence; nobody is going anywhere, anyway, for one is already always here. This universe is simply being here now in all its splendour and magnificence and I am the universe experiencing itself as a sensate and reflective human being. The perfection endowed by the infinitude of all space and time is such a remarkable occurrence that nothing more needs to be done other than to enjoy it through-and-through each moment again. This experience of being here now is the experiential apperception of the much sought-after ‘Meaning of Life’.

So what more could one ask for? Nothing is a mystery any more; there is no riddle to be solved nor any puzzle to be unravelled for all is open to view. Because of the sheer infinitude of the universe I can never be bored or restless ... each moment is packed so full that I do not have time for reverie or speculation. Other than the essential physical planning required for the smooth running of my day-to-day activities I have no idea at all as to what I want to do with my life ... and this constant realisation is ambrosial. Yet for all of these years that I have been investigating and finding out, exploring and uncovering, seeking and discovering I have been aware that the time would come wherein some fellow human beings could be interested in a totally new and non-spiritual way of living in the real world, well-endowed with the necessary abilities and skills to live life as freely as it is possible within the ‘Human Condition’. So apart from being well content and constantly delighted with the inherent gratification bestowed by the condition of actual freedom, I am also immensely pleased with the outcome of all these years of the splendid fun – not to mention the moments of existential angst – that precipitated these momentous days that are now unfolding. We five fellow human beings are discussing the details of setting up ‘The Actual Freedom Trust’ in order to publish the actualism works and writings.

For thousands of years humankind has been struggling along, fumbling around in the dark for some miserable ray of light to act as a beacon to guide one’s way to an affective ‘perfection’ and ‘peace’. This dismal fate, which was decided for me in advance of my birth, I would not accept. One has only to look – actually look with both eyes – at the trees and the flowers, the rivers and the oceans, the sky and the stars, to realise that we are not forever doomed to a life of iniquity and misery. All of the philosophies and psychologies and all of the ideologies and theologies have not been able to deliver the goods. Peoples everywhere were forced to live on hope ... and hope is a poor substitute for the exquisite purity pouring forth from the actual. It ensures the eventual and complete eradication of sorrow and malice that is the essential pre-requisite for peace and harmony to prevail. One is then happy and harmless ... and well equipped to face the now inaptly named ‘rigours of life’. One is able to make one’s way in the world with joy and delight, marvelling in wonder at the magnificence of being alive on this verdant planet. Then it is, of course, a pleasure to share one’s discoveries with others who are similarly fascinated with life, the universe and what it is to be a human being. Whilst one is well aware that global peace-on-earth will be a long time coming, one can but start small and see what eventuates. So, as this organising of material for public consumption requires a mandatory legal entity, I am happy to set up a trust company.

Although living freely has nothing whatsoever to do with trust!

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The Third Alternative

(Peace On Earth In This Life Time As This Flesh And Blood Body)

Here is an actual freedom from the Human Condition, surpassing Spiritual Enlightenment and any other Altered State Of Consciousness, and challenging all philosophy, psychiatry, metaphysics (including quantum physics with its mystic cosmogony), anthropology, sociology ... and any religion along with its paranormal theology. Discarding all of the beliefs that have held humankind in thralldom for aeons, the way has now been discovered that cuts through the ‘Tried and True’ and enables anyone to be, for the first time, a fully free and autonomous individual living in utter peace and tranquillity, beholden to no-one.