James: My current objection to pure intent and self-immolation: How can I experience pure intent and self-immolation when I am hurting all the time? (link)
Hi James,
Regarding your pain, you can start by ceasing to emotionally object to the pain. By fighting the pain you give it additional energy with your affective objection and thus add suffering to physical hurt.
Richard: Every moment again is an occasion to improve your lot … when you are interacting with someone, either face to face or on the telephone … or a back-ache: ‘Oh god, how terrible!’ … another opportunity. It is bad enough to feel pain, why make it worse by adding an emotional suffering like ‘I feel terrible’? To feel terrible, emotionally, on top of the physical pain is simply silly when it is possible to disentangle oneself, emotionally, and still feel good about being alive, about being here. This is being sensible, is it not? To feel good, if not happy, all the time? (Richard, Audiotaped Dialogues, Silly or Sensible).
You recently wrote in Claudiu’s Journal –
James to Claudiu: (link) In your day to day experience when you are not in a pce do you want self-immolation more than you want your significant other or your work and career?
I don’t recall wanting self-immolation like that? Right now I want to be healthy more than I want self-immolation. Of course I am not in a pce. (link)
You made it clear, that “to be healthy” is your top priority. However, if you do not consider self-immolation as your top priority you can nevertheless choose to live in virtual freedom –
Richard: What the wide and wondrous path to an actual freedom is on about is a virtual freedom wherein the ‘good’ feelings – the affectionate and desirable emotions and passions (those that are loving and trusting) are minimised along with the ‘bad’ feelings – the hostile and invidious emotions and passions (those that are hateful and fearful) – so that one is free to feel well, feel happy and feel perfect for 99% of the time. If one minimises the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ feelings and activates the felicitous/ innocuous feelings – happiness, delight, appreciation, joie de vivre/ bonhomie, friendliness, amiability and so on – in conjunction with sensuousness – then the ensuing sense of amazement, marvel and wonder can result in apperceptiveness.
If it does not … then one is way ahead of normal human expectations anyway as the aim is to enjoy and appreciate being here now for as much as is possible.
It is a win/win situation. [Emphasis added]. (Richard, List B, No. 19e, 26 Dec 2000).
For experiencing Virtual Freedom “the first and crucial step” is to get rid of resentment. If, for instance, you prefer to complain about/ resent an obvious fact of life that one can only be as healthy as one is at this moment of being alive (with the available help of modern medicine) then that would be a sheer waste of this moment of being alive –
Richard: … the first thing ‘I’ did, in January 1981, was to put an end to anger once and for all … then ‘I’ was freed enough to live in an ad hoc virtual freedom. It took ‘me’ about three weeks and I have never experienced anger since then. The first and crucial step was to say ‘YES’ to being here on earth, for ‘I’ located and identified that basic resentment that all people that I have spoken to have. To wit: ‘I didn’t ask to be born!’
This is why remembering a PCE is so important for success for it shows one, first hand, that freedom is already always here … now. With the memory of that crystal-clear perfection held firmly in mind, that basic resentment vanishes forever, and then it is a relatively easy task to eliminate anger once and for all. One does this by neither expressing or repressing anger when an event happens that would previously trigger an outbreak. Anger is thus put into a bind, and the third alternative hoves into view, dispensing with the hostility that is a large part of ‘I’ the aggressive psychological entity, and gently ushering in an increasing ease and generosity of character. With this growing magnanimity, one becomes more and more anonymous, more and more selflessly motivated. With this expanding altruism one becomes less and less self-centred, less and less egocentric … the humanitarian ideals of peace, kindness, caring, benevolence and humaneness become more and more evident as an actuality. [Emphasis added]. (Richard, List B, No. 34b, 11 July 1999).
Does this clarify, and perhaps simplify, things for you?
Cheers Vineeto
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Yes thanks Vineeto, actually it does clarify and simplify things for me. I am still living independently at home and its not that bad. I have plenty of help from my doctor prescribing some relative mild to moderate pain meds which help w/o being addictive w/o bad side effects , my maid who cleaned my house today, and my neighbor who put in my new air conditioner yesterday. I am still able to enjoy and appreciate while getting my shopping done and eating.
Your reminder of a virtual freedom was timely because that sounds doable even if I am unable to go all the way and there is nothing wrong with being 99.9 % free.
Also, I haven’t given up on improvement of my condition. While scrolling on Facebook I ran across an add for Texas Back Relief and clicked on it from which they got my phone # and persistently called me about getting a second opinion. I have agreed for an appt with their Neurosurgeon who is an Indian Dr with 37 yrs experience so maybe he can help me.
A virtual freedom with mild to moderate pain sounds doable, Thanks for the guidance, The appt is Thurs so will let you know how it goes. This just my be the right path for me at this point. It is 20 miles away with a nice freeway all the way and the person I talked to on the phone sounded friendly and courteous. I expect everything to go good,
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James: Yes thanks Vineeto, actually it does clarify and simplify things for me. I am still living independently at home and its not that bad. I have plenty of help from my doctor prescribing some relative mild to moderate pain meds which help w/o being addictive w/o bad side effects, my maid who cleaned my house today, and my neighbor who put in my new air conditioner yesterday. I am still able to enjoy and appreciate while getting my shopping done and eating.
Your reminder of a virtual freedom was timely because that sounds doable even if I am unable to go all the way and there is nothing wrong with being 99.9 % free.
Also, I haven’t given up on improvement of my condition. While scrolling on Facebook I ran across an add for Texas Back Relief and clicked on it from which they got my phone # and persistently called me about getting a second opinion. I have agreed for an appt with their Neurosurgeon who is an Indian Dr with 37 yrs experience so maybe he can help me.
A virtual freedom with mild to moderate pain sounds doable, Thanks for the guidance, The appt is Thurs so will let you know how it goes. This just my be the right path for me at this point. It is 20 miles away with a nice freeway all the way and the person I talked to on the phone sounded friendly and courteous. I expect everything to go good, (link)
Hi James,
Thank you for your reply. I noticed that you only commented on outward physical changes which improve(d) your condition but not about the experimental option which might well bring a permanent change to feeling more felicitous and appreciative being alive –
Vineeto: … you can start by ceasing to emotionally object to the pain. By fighting the pain you give it additional energy with your affective objection and thus add suffering to physical hurt. (link)
You do understand, do you, that as long as you nurse any kind objection/ resentment, you are not yet “99.9 % free” and there is still room for improvement.
Cheers Vineeto
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Thanks again Vineeto for another timely reminder. I really got it this time. Actually, I really got both of your salient points: 1) Its the experiential option that can bring about a permanent change along with the physical changes, 2) Don’t harbor objection/resentment to the pain or anything else. I cannot be 99.9% free as long as I do.
I have really noticed this time that as long as I have any objection or resentment to the pain or any thing else then I will not be virtually free.
It has made a huge difference to me to focus on virtual freedom before I try for actual freedom.
I recall @geoffrey saying this was important also.
I really appreciate your detailed attention in guiding me.
I can now better cope with my pain whether the new doctor can help me or if it gets worse. This has helped me to make a huge breakthrough in pain management and virtual freedom simultaneously.
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James: Thanks again Vineeto for another timely reminder. I really got it this time. Actually, I really got both of your salient points: 1) It’s the experiential option that can bring about a permanent change along with the physical changes, 2) Don’t harbor objection/ resentment to the pain or anything else. I cannot be 99.9% free as long as I do.
I have really noticed this time that as long as I have any objection or resentment to the pain or any thing else then I will not be virtually free.
It has made a huge difference to me to focus on virtual freedom before I try for actual freedom.
I recall @geoffrey saying this was important also.
I really appreciate your detailed attention in guiding me.
I can now better cope with my pain whether the new doctor can help me or if it gets worse. This has helped me to make a huge breakthrough in pain management and virtual freedom simultaneously. (link)
Hi James,
You are welcome.
This is really a great report of success. As you say “I really got it this time.”
I particularly like that you say you “can now better cope with my pain whether the new doctor can help me or if it gets worse”.
Each time the habit to reject pain wants to return you replace it with an emotional acceptance as being all part and parcel of being alive. So it will no longer be a hindrance to you enjoying and appreciating being alive.
This is wonderful.
Vineeto
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