Andrew: Minimising the malice and sorrow, while maximising the felicity and innocuous, IS minimising the entire ‘self’ automatically.
I just didn’t see this before!
There is no separate “minimisation” of ‘myself’ other than what is achieved via “enjoying and appreciating facilitated by feeling good, great, happy and harmless”.
That is the entire trick!
Hi Andrew,
Yes, well spotted – this is how it works, all the way. And the more you allow your hidden-away-since-puberty naiveté to come to the fore, the easier it becomes to solve this puzzle of how you ‘tick’ in order to facilitate “feeling good, great, happy and harmless”. Persistence and courage are the other ingredients to make it work.
And now that you see the overall picture how the actualism method works you can allow yourself to let those insights percolate and then actualise them bit by bit.
Andrew: Edit; there has always been a trick I played on myself so as to get “no where” with Actualism. It was in many moments, an “imperative command”.
Even all the way back to Yahoo, I said as much to Richard. I was looking for a “god man” to tell me what to do, but I had only got as far as to rebel against such god men. I was stuck in rebellion. That was a “free” as I could feel.
Following on from the realisation that ‘I’, the person I feel myself to be, the ‘Andrew’ who is the only one writing this, GETS TO ENJOY the whole ride!
What would “bounce” me, is that rebellion. Which, I see now, quite clearly was ‘me’ protecting ‘my’ existence the entire time.
What I was rebellious against was the very thing Actualism was NEVER saying! It never said that I needed to suffer. Or that more fully explained, that because ‘I’ am the reason the world is messed up, (rotten to the core) that in NO WAY was there any repercussions, or condemnation, or even embarrassment, and especially not “repentance” required.
A great summary of many smaller insights which eventually revealed more of your attitude and beliefs towards the world in general and actualism in particular. And especially because you can see there is no “repentance required” you can leave this attitude in the ‘been-there-done-that’ basket where it belongs.
Andrew: I literally have been offered to enjoy and appreciate my way to actual freedom, for something like 14 years. I never got that part. Suffering was never encouraged, or in any way prescribed.
As I am still working through this I will say more. (Rather than waiting for a thesis).
I was ALREADY suffering. I was already having a mainly unpleasant time. It is indeed highly motivating to seek an answer, an escape, a blissful release. What didn’t click, was that was never part of the solution. ‘I’ am the suffering. So, it was always about minimising that suffering, which was made up of malice and sorrow, and maximising feeling good.
I don’t in anyway blame my past self, and I am writing more, as if I left it as it was, it certainly looks like some blame is in there. As in, I was worthy of “wry amusement”, …
I can’t say that anything could have changed that, in hindsight. At this point, I am tempted to try and “solve the problem” as to why 14 years have passed. As if saving the next person is my responsibility. (I am yet to “save myself”).
When you look at the overall outcome – how you were feeling 14 years ago and the result of what you have comprehended now and are gradually putting into action now – those years have been successful in facilitating your insights and you are therefore feeling better today. You could say that it needed time for gestation and background rewiring of your previous attitude(s) … and, of course, a good dash of enough is enough.
Perhaps you are interested in reading about Peasant Mentality (link) (link) (link) to find out “as to why 14 years have passed” and how much of it you have already disentangled, apparent from your recent understanding.
Andrew: Anyway, that last paragraph is to fill out that there was never a “shorter path”, and I am not at the end, yet. It’s to acknowledge that indeed, once one is on the path to improving one’s lot, one will have the drama needed. Not because it is prescribed, but because, IT WAS ALWAYS ALREADY THERE. (link)
I am pleased to hear you say “there was never a ‘shorter path’”. So many people interested in actualism have initially tried the ‘shorter path’ by jumping straight to the end, which turned out to be a futile enterprise –
Dona: The only thing that he [Richard] and Vineeto had to say that could be seen as “wrong”, is that people are trying to “jump to the end” before making a commitment to feeling good this moment and every moment again. (Dona & Alan’s Report, 30 Sep 2017)
To reiterate, nothing is wrong, and I am pleased to read of your progress to feeling good.
Cheers Vineeto