http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/introduction/actualfreedom3.htm


this is mentioned quite a few times around this passage.

1st question: How on earth can I "get back" to feeling good if I'm feeling bad?

2nd question: How is investigating, tracing back to whatever stand in the way of me being happy right now eliminates the impediments to my happiness and harmlessness?

ex: I feel bad right now. I have knots in my stomach. Lots of anger and stress.
i investigate and trace back to the source of not feeling happy in this moment to that sensation in my stomach.
The thoughts about what to do in this situation, what can happen, what should i do to prevent something i don't want to happen etc... The sensation in my stomach is caused by being worry about losing my job/wife and i dont want this to happen... (true story)
So my investigation conclude with: I want something and I dont have it.

1 step: i ask the question:‘How am I experiencing this moment of being alive?’
2nd step: I investigate and conclude that my impediment is that i want something and i dont have it.
3rd step: then what? after all this investigation, the impediment is still there.


I'm very confused. Anyone care to help?

PS: I don't understand. I go to places like here http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/actualism/path1.htm
It says "A précis of the method of Actualism"
But I see no method anywhere. All I see sounds to me like "you must ‘Self’-immolate" but nowhere teaches how.

Feel like i missed the book that everyone else have read.


I'm very confused. Anyone care to help?

thank you for reading!

The experience of being a unique separate life is the self experience, the self.

By investigating How am I experiencing this moment of being alive we begin to understand that this moment is always a self experience while there is a self.

The self distorts the perception of this moment. The feeling of being is the self in action and an affective experience.

Using 3 categories for feeling (good feelings, bad feelings, and felicitous feelings) to investigate How I am experiencing this moment of being alive, learn to maximize the felicitous feelings (happy, harmless, inspired, beautiful, bright) as this leads to an affective experience that imitates a PCE.

If I am not feeling happy and harmless this moment I investigate the feeling and its cause that is stopping me from feeling happy in order to get back to being happy as soon as possible. Throughout this process we are investigating the role the self plays in all the affective experiences.

A PCE occurs when the "I" is in abeyance and this moment is directly perceived, a pure sensate experience.
Most people have experienced a PCE at some time in their life.

Once the PCE is familiar use the same process of investigating any affective feeling and its cause that is interrupting the PCE (How I am experiencing this moment of being alive). If the PCE is interrupted investigate the self that is in action, the affective experience and get back to the PCE as soon as possible.

Continue with How I am experiencing this moment of being alive

take care
Jeff

Would it be correct to say that you have to experience and/or remember a PCE before investigating is effective? And that the way to AF is being in PCE mode as much as possible, by increasing felicitous feelings?

The only way investigating will be effective is to start investigating. Realize this is one’s only moment of being alive.

Hello and welcome to the DhO,

The first and second steps seem to be on track. The third step is to understand the desire (or whatever malicious or sorrowful feeling is being experienced) fully and in a way that allows you to let go of it (permanently if possible). So for example, if you are desiring a walk at the moment but do not have legs, you must see that it is silly to desire something that is surely impossible at the time it is being desired. This may seem like an overblown example-- and in a way it is-- but the "problems" found are usually actually about this silly when they're fully understood. Be sure to read up on sincerity, as that is crucial in making a change and having it stick for good. One can say "this is silly, I want to be happy now instead of desirous" all day long, but if one is not sincere about it, nothing is going to change.

So the trick is to keep this kind of question running full time, so that if you are ever not feeling good, you are able to catch the "trigger" when it happens. When you start out, all sorts of things (including yourself) can "push your buttons." When it's all said and done, there are no buttons to push.

Why am I spending my only moment of being alive wishing for something that isn't here right now? Why am I spending my only moment of being alive not enjoying life the best that I possibly can? Why am I making excuses or rationalizations which only serve to perpetuate my own selfish suffering? Perhaps, instead, I can pay exclusive attention to this moment in all of its splendor...what does it mean to be alive here and now? What is in this room? What am I seeing with these eyes that I am? What will come next here? What on earth will I read next as my eyes drift lightly from word to word to word?

That's a relatively simplified way of explaining things which I pulled off the top of my head (so much so that I definitely recommend you dig deeper into the AFtrust website, or ask more questions); did you find it useful?

Trent

Hi,

Not necessarily, since investigating itself may lead to a PCE or the remembering of one.



The way to AF is via the ending of being / identification itself (complete eradication). The PCE's primary usefulness for investigation is as a benchmark for comparing "how am I experiencing this moment of being alive" to the end goal (actual freedom). Without a way of comparing, one would be stuck in the difficult situation of having only one's relative baseline experience to work with. Essentially, the PCE and investigation of the PCE allows one to easily notice the blind spots (unseen identifications) one has when one is experiencing the world "normally." As one gets more and more use to operating in the actual world-- especially later in a virtual freedom-- one may no longer need to rely on the PCE to find these blind spots, as the identity will have become so "thin" (and one's remaining self so well understood) that it is relatively easy to see what is left to be done. Coincidentally, it seems that people end up experiencing few PCEs around that time, perhaps because the draw of the PCE itself is done away with in favor of finishing the journey sooner, rather than later.

Trent

hi everyone, I truly appreciate everyone's effort and generosity in reading my questions and trying to help me!
It is heart warming and I give much reflections on what everyone has said!

thank you sincerely!



1- So we could say that the key is to see the absurdity in wasting our energy and time feeling bad or obsessing about issues?
(where is this written anywhere in the Actual freedom websites? all i can see is talking about the other paths and how AF is the right path to choose and stuff about the question HAIETMOBA.)

2- So if i have an issue, let say being afraid of losing job, there is no point in imagining all kind of scenarios; i'm not going to find another job right at this very moment.
So I see the absurdity of wasting my time being worry about losing my job.
But i still have decisions to make. Isn't this inability to make a decision the source of the worry? "what will i do? , what can i do...?"
Isn't the problem with worrying being the inability to make a decision?
People spending years thinking about things like "should i divorce this person? what can i do about my kid doing drugs? etc...
So following this reasoning, there is something that requires me to make a decision, what can i do about this situation, maybe what can i do is to look at the situation and choose a path of action? Isn't this worrying?

3- So the secret of life is to make a decision and stop worrying about it and enjoy your life instead by asking the HAIETMOBA question?

so live the moment by experiencing life through the senses, and when something requires a decision, just make a decision and stop worrying about it. whether the decision will be "I have not enough info to make a proper decision so i will get more info, or now is not a proper time to think about it so i will think about this later... so until then i will just enjoy myself"

If this is what is what actualism is trying to say, is this explained or talked about anywhere on the actualism website? If no then why?

4- About the morality of the decisions, what would prevent me for making a bad one?
i mean where is the wisdom come from?
Let's say im afraid, i have butterflies in my belly, wouldn't i make a decision greatly influenced by this?
Or im greedy, wouldn't i make decisions based on this? working myself to death or trying to manipulate other people to get what i want etc...

we can be living the present moment no matter what we do right? like when we work, do shopping, getting throwed out in the street etc...
5- Doesn't this mean that we can be living the present moment while manipulating others or working ourselves to death?
if yes then where is the wisdom preventing us from doing this would come from?

thank you for the advice, i will, and i will do so sincerely
6- but where? from this page? http://actualfreedom.com.au/actualism/path1.htm


7- So the buttons disappear when we truly realize the absurdity of reacting to them?
what if i keep seeing the absurdity of worrying about loosing my job and stressing about not being able to feed my family, (it's absurd because i want to be happy but this ruin my life and consume all of me) but still i worry all the time.
Does it mean i should reflect on the absurdity of it more? does it mean im not sincere enough?

8- If this is so, couldn't there be a list of common triggers so we could reflect on them one by one, and realize the absurdity of all of them so to free ourselves in this way?
I guess many people share basically many of the same triggers.
- a death in the family (so the people who had a death in the family see if this trigger any bad feelings, realize the absurdity of it "Why am I spending my only moment of being alive wishing for something that cannot be changed? and the trigger is gone.
- wanting something we cannot have (so the people see the absurdity of this and disable the trigger)
etc... until all of the triggers are dissolved?


thank you!
9- But where are all of those questions come from? they are obviously full of wisdom but these kind of questions does not appear in peoples mind by themselves. People spend years or lifetimes wondering "why this had to happen? why couldn't i think of this, i would have prevented something terrible of happening" without ever asking themselves any of the questions you listed.

10- Are these questions that you listed somewhere where we can read and memorize them?

11- I have one more question, what about mental blocks?
Let's say someone want to work out and be fit and healthy, but this person cannot bring himself to go to gym. and feel guilty as a result.
Or someone want to work but there is this mental block and this person only procrastinate and feel guilty as a result.
(or anything along those line)
I want to "x" but i can never do it because i feel like doing something else instead and i cannot bring myself to ever do it. and it create much guilt.

So if one would be to investigate this, i would think "well there is no point of feeling guilty about it, just be happy in the moment" then guilt will disappear?
So then i will be happy in the moment, sitting in the couch watching tv and never do what i wanted to do?

I find this very useful indeed, more than i believe you can reasonably imagine and i thank you sincerely! I believe that you are very generous!

These are many questions, I do not know how my writing is perceived but generally my intensions and attitude are misinterpret. I just want to assure you that my inquiries are truly sincere, come from a true desire to learn and I'm not being obnoxious or anything.


If you mr. Trent and all other wonderful people who populate this forum could find the time to answer even only one of these questions i would be eternally grateful again!


thank you so very much!

Hello

Thanks, the discussion on this thread is helpful to me.

Link to AF website page --------- Sincere; Sincerely; Sincerity


Few quotes from AF website . . .





Thanks
Sanjay

1- So we could say that the key is to see the absurdity in wasting our energy and time feeling bad or obsessing about issues?
(where is this written anywhere in the Actual freedom websites? all i can see is talking about the other paths and how AF is the right path to choose and stuff about the question HAIETMOBA.)

1. Has feeling bad or obsessing about issues improved your life. You know the answer to this, use this as as impetus to investigate.
When I first read the AF Website I experienced a strong aversion to what was written and found myself skimming over the material. We react strongly when what we cling to is threatened. Take the time to read the material slowly and if need be a number of times. There is a wealth of information there. Investigate HAIETMOBA.

2- So if i have an issue, let say being afraid of losing job, there is no point in imagining all kind of scenarios; i'm not going to find another job right at this very moment.
So I see the absurdity of wasting my time being worry about losing my job.
But i still have decisions to make. Isn't this inability to make a decision the source of the worry? "what will i do? , what can i do...?"
Isn't the problem with worrying being the inability to make a decision?
People spending years thinking about things like "should i divorce this person? what can i do about my kid doing drugs? etc...
So following this reasoning, there is something that requires me to make a decision, what can i do about this situation, maybe what can i do is to look at the situation and choose a path of action? Isn't this worrying?

2. Every judgement and every decision is influenced by emotion. We are slaves to our emotion. Slaves to our instictual passions. Advertising Agencies know this. Look at Ads, first they get you to identify with some Social Identity then they show you how your self image can improve with the product. Isn't this absurd?

perhaps you are looking for something like this:

'As one knows from the pure consciousness experiences (PCE’s), which are moments of perfection everybody has at some stage in their life, that it is possible to experience this moment in time and this place in space as perfection personified, ‘I’ set the minimum standard of experience for myself: feeling good. If ‘I’ am not feeling good then ‘I’ have something to look at to find out why. What has happened, between the last time ‘I’ felt good and now? When did ‘I’ feel good last? Five minutes ago? Five hours ago? What happened to end those felicitous feelings? Ahh ... yes: ‘He said that and I ...’. Or: ‘She didn’t do this and I ...’. Or: ‘What I wanted was ...’. Or: ‘I didn’t do ...’. And so on and so on ... one does not have to trace back into one’s childhood ... usually no more than yesterday afternoon at the most (‘feeling good’ is an unambiguous term – it is a general sense of well-being – and if anyone wants to argue about what feeling good means ... then do not even bother trying to do this at all).

'Once the specific moment of ceasing to feel good is pin-pointed, and the silliness of having such an incident as that (no matter what it is) take away one’s enjoyment and appreciation of this only moment of being alive is seen for what it is – usually some habitual reactive response – one is once more feeling good ... but with a pin-pointed cue to watch out for next time so as to not have that trigger off yet another bout of the same-old same-old. This is called nipping it in the bud before it gets out of hand ... with application and diligence and patience and perseverance one soon gets the knack of this and more and more time is spent enjoying and appreciating this moment of being alive. And, of course, once one does get the knack of this, one up-levels ‘feeling good’, as a bottom line each moment again, to ‘feeling happy and harmless’ ... and after that to ‘feeling perfect’.

the above quotation was excerpted from richard's article, 'this moment of being alive', which can be found at: http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/richard/articles/thismomentofbeingalive.htm. it is but one of the many places in his body of writing where such matters are discussed.

i recommend that you read through the entire article.




the problem with worrying is that, simply put, worrying sucks. further, worrying does not actually help one make a decision; the best it may do is to keep one from spacing out to avoid considering whatever one is afraid of facing[1]. worrying complicates the decision-making process.. and when one finally does make a decision, one may then worry about whether or not one made the right one.

look, whether or not you worry, decisions still have to be made in life: either you will divorce this person, or you will not. either you will do x about your kids doing drugs, or you will do y about your kids doing drugs, or you won't do anything about your kids doing drugs. the circumstances and context are what inform you about what decisions to make and actions to take, if there are any ... worrying genuinely adds nothing of value to the process (unless you value suffering).

do you really think you need to worry? if so, why? what is the worst that will happen if you stop worrying?




i will here refer you again to the article i mentioned above.

(as well as to this short, very very simple, one)




if you are afraid, your decisions will definitely be greatly influenced by this.. and if you are greedy, your decisions will be based on this. this is exactly the problem, and a problem few people wish to see: one's behaviour is inextricably bound to one's desires and moods.

seeing this, the question any sensible person who is concerned with the matter of their conduct would be asking themselves is, how can i change my state of mind for the better, here and now as well as permanently?

if this is a question you have found yourself asking, a tested-and-verified answer can, once again, be found in the first article i linked to above.




i find it generally makes sense to not do things that will get me thrown out into the street (here i assume you mean 'forcibly removed from one's home'), but i would not suffer the slightest bit of anxiety were i to be thrown out, no.




while one can live in the present moment while one is greedily manipulating others or working oneself to death, such a life would be bereft of meaning and devoid of fulfillment.

as such, the wisdom which prevents you from doing these things comes from realising, here and now, that you want far more than to merely be greedy and that you want far more with your life than to simply do this.

have you ever noticed, by the way, that it is always now?

tarin



[1] the irony here is that what causes one to be afraid, to space out in order to avoid being afraid, and to worry so much that one cannot avoid fear successfully, are all basically the same phenomenon.