This is an announcement to promulgate @Srinath’s effective departure from the forum.
As he wrote to me in an email: “I don’t participate in the Actualism Forum anymore and won’t be returning in the foreseeable future. I’m happy for you to revoke my admin privilege’s - if that has not been done already. You can make an announcement to this effect if you wish on the forum.”
He is also stepping down as a Director of the Alan Izatt Actual Freedom Fund (Alan Izatt Legacy), indicating it is not due to “anything related to the fund and its management”, but rather part of “a shift in direction and focus away from the actual freedom forum and any activities related to it.” This leaves me & @Dona as Directors.
In a follow-up I asked him “whence the motivation for doing all this” and whether “it’s out of a general desire to distance yourself from Richard & Vineeto and by extension the forum”, and if not, that “I’d just be curious to know the motivation behind it”.
His response: “As for my reasons, it’s not a matter of distancing myself from Richard and Vineeto. Perhaps in the future I can articulate why I had to depart, but we will have to leave it there for now.”
Hopefully that day will one day come! For now, his account here will be reverted to regular member status.
After all, in his last message some 9 months ago, he communicated how he thinks that this forum actively prevents an actual freedom from the human condition.
This of course was said in the immediate context of what he characterized as having been “hauled over the coals” by Richard.
He also mentioned at the time that there were “problematic dynamics” at play. What those dynamics were he didn’t specify, though he said they did “need” to be spoken about after sitting on it for a while.
It would appear that after 9 months of “sitting on it” what has emerged is how those problematic dynamics do not need to be spoken about, after all.
I wonder if the ‘problematic dynamics’ of the forum is to do with it being turned into some version of the ‘master/disciple’ structure.
There’s the actually free living the condition at the top of the pyramid and the rest of us content to sit back and argue or intellectualise about the scriptures. Or look up to the masters to provide the answer.
Srinath leaving feels like a dad abandoning me Like oh great now I am definitely on my own. But then at the same time it is in my hands only anyways and always has been.
Sorry for your loss @Kub933 But just consider that he’s been gone for 9 months already, and you’ve managed pretty well without his support all this while.
Regarding “problematic dynamics,” those were likely related to his treatment by Richard, given the context:
His objection to the forum was in addition to that, as indicated by his “also” wording:
Thanks for the clarification @rick. Yeah so the main point remains the same, I wonder if the reason why the forum does not successfully facilitate actual freedom but rather gets in the way is due to this mechanic I wrote about.
Like Srinath mentioned initially it may be useful to learn the ropes etc but then I do wonder if what’s required to go all the way is 180 degrees opposite of that kind of mindset, instead of ‘following a path’ it’s about having the ingenuity to blitz one for oneself.
As in the Master/Disciple-structure/mechanic you mentioned?
Then you might regard Srinath’s departure as a boon. With him gone, and with Geoffrey not featuring much around here, there are no more Masters around for that master/disciple structure to “get in the way.”
The problem you identified with the forum has been resolved.
the reason why the forum . . . gets in the way is due to this [master/disciple] mechanic. . . .
Whatever criticism I had of Alan (both in life and after his passing) , the fact that there is a place where actualism can be discussed, is not something I take for granted. Everything takes money, and money is often hard to come by.
I appreciate your efforts Claudiu, and Dona’s participation in continuing Alan’s legacy.
What is interesting about this is that I have always found @Srinath to always articulate what he is thinking or experiencing very clearly in an open and unambiguous way and have enjoyed his participation on the forum and his involvement in previous incarnations of the forums, even when I merely hid in the background, reading without participation.
Funny that his final participation would be one that shows an unwillingness to express exactly what is on his mind. I always thought that whatever we are going through, even when we slip into deleterious behaviours, schisms, arguments, rifts, this would be a safe place of personal expression. I thought those of us who are not free or not close yet, this was still a safe place for us to air whatever thoughts, experiences, ideas, beliefs or questions that we might have too.
Like oh great now I am definitely on my own. But then at the same time it is in my hands only anyways and always has been.