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Imitating Freedom
Omega Point

Outline of Actualism "When one first becomes aware of something, there is a fleeting instant of the clean perception of sensum just before one recognizes the percept (the mental product or result of perception) and also before one identifies with all the feeling memories associated with its qualia (the qualities pertaining to the properties of the form) and this raw sense-datum stage of sensational perception is a direct experience of the actual. Clear perception is in that instant where one converges ones eyes or ears or nose or tongue or skin on the thing. It is that moment just before one focuses ones feeling-memory on the object. It is the split-second just as one affectively subjectifies it ... which is just prior to clamping down on it viscerally and segregating it from the rest of pure, conscious existence. Pure perception takes place sensitively just before one starts feeling the percept and thus thinking about it affectively which takes place just before ones feeling-fed mind says: Its a man or: Its a woman or: Its a steak-burger or: Its a tofu-burger ... with all that is implied in this identification and the ramifications that stem from that. This fluid, soft-focused moment of bare awareness, which is not learned, has never been learned, and never will be learned, could be called an aesthetically sensual regardfulness or a consummate sensorial discernibleness or an exquisitely sensuous heedfulness ... in a word: apperceptiveness. 1 -Actual Freedom Trust webpage Actual Freedom or Actualism is a fringe quasi-tradition which asserts an attainment of the same name. It utilizes methods intended on pointing out or bringing about a condition it calls pure conscious experience or PCE, while it asserts all other conditions to be altered states of consciousness. PCE is an apparently non-dual and non-conceptual condition initially occurring for a brief instance prior to perception where there is an uninterpreted moment of pure sense datum, where the experiential continuum isnt taken as an object nor are sense-objects being segmented and subsequently experienced as concepts, and where involuntary and recollective self-conscious memory imprints are not functioning, renewed, or newly created. During the course of repeatedly pointing out or bringing about such a condition (PCE qua path), the once brief instance is extended and then appears to stick (PCE qua fruit), and this apparently persisting condition is called actual freedom. As implicitly implied by its name and by the terminology used, the quasi-tradition and its progenitor assert superiority and novelty over rigorously developed contemplative traditions such as Buddhism, referring to the Awakening found in Buddhism as mere spiritual enlightenment an altered state of consciousness while branding itself as a third alternative.2

The Base-of-All of Ati Dzogpa Chenpo Buddhism One of the greatest Dzogchen masters of the second millennium, Jigme Lingpa, predicted that the base-of-all states would often be mistaken for Awakening during our age.3 "Those who do not understand it in this way and take the base-of-all for the dharmakaya are like blind men without a guide, erring about in a desert. As they are deluded about the nature of the Base and the Fruit, the Path by which Buddhahood can be realized in one lifetime has been blocked. Samaya. The neutral base-of-all is a transpersonal condition where neither samsara nor nirvana are active. Neutral states having the experiential character of non-duality and non-conceptuality, and further, in which there is the manifestation of the first marigpa of the threefold classification, where that of the basic unawareness that arises when a contingent, beclouding element of stupefaction obscures rigpas inherent non-dual self-awareness, preventing it from making patent its own face and hence from manifesting its all-liberating nature and so the non-dual truth corresponding to nirvana or the state of rigpa is not manifest, though the second and third marigpa are also not manifest, where that of the active delusion that consists in taking the insubstantial as substantial, the relative as absolute, the dependent as independent, what lacks value and importance as having inherent value and importance, the unsatisfactory as suitable to provide satisfaction and so on; and that consisting in the inability to realize that we are under delusion and so samsara is said to be not active either. The base-of-all or basis-of-all are the general terms that the Dzogchen teachings use to refer to the states where nether samsara nor nirvana are active. Phrases that include this term refer to some of the specific absorptions where the base-of-all is manifest, such as the dimension of the base-of-all, primordial, profound base-of-all, "base-of-all carrying propensities. Other examples of absorptions categorized as neutral base-of-all include the nirodha-samapatti valued by the Hinayana; the nirvikalpa-samadhi valued by Vedantic contemplation; the samadhi where the blank condition that is similar to sleep yet different from it insofar as one is simultaneously fully awake is active, which is the supreme realization of Patajalis Yoga darshana; the absorption in the inner luminosity of what Dzogchen calls the dang form of manifestation of energy known as tingsel; the various thought-free absorptions involving the sense-continuum, the dharmadhatu as in the space where all phenomena manifest, etc., yet in which specifically lack the experiential featuring of the subject-object duality or the singling out and recognition of sensations; in general in the non-dual luminosity manifesting in the chikhai bardo, such as the clear light of the void, which fails to recognize Rigpa and therefore is a non-actual clear light; and likely but not certainly due to their ambiguous definitions, the state of turiya-ananda described in the Upanishads (such as the Mandukya and Taittiriya), and in Shankaracharyas Adwaita Vedanta. The neutral base-of-all doesnt solely manifest in absorptions like the ones referred to in the proceeding terms, as it recurs again and again in normal, everyday human experience, in which, however, it usually goes unnoticed. "Perception is always preceded by an extremely short instant of uninterpreted, pure sensation, which we are unable to reflexively remember insofar as it is an instance of the neutral condition of the base-of-all that as such does not involve the awareness (of) consciousness-of-an-object-perceived-in-terms-of-a-concept that is responsible for the production of a reflexive mnemonic imprint ...the condition of the base-of-all in which there is

awareness (of) the sensory continuum there is no reflexive awareness (of) consciousness of object and hence whatever occurs in them cannot be reflexively remembered. This does not mean however that it is utterly beyond memory as there is functioning of the unselfconscious and non-reflexive memory. In such states the intentionality of mind does not yet operate, so it is equivalent to where the senses have not awakened to their objects, though not necessarily because the continuum of experience is absent as in the case of an asleep, unconscious person, or the nirodha-samapatti. What is critical ...is that as yet there be no cognitive activity that may either take the sensory continuum as object, or actively function in order to single out segments of the continuum and perceive them as objects.... When the base-of-all manifests as a neutral condition, there is unconsciousness, not in the sense of lack of awareness, but in that of manifestation of a stunned condition involving the first type of avidya / marigpa posited in the Dzogchen classification ... and lacking reflexive awareness (of) being conscious of something and hence involving no knowledgein which therefore no reflexive mnemonic imprints are established. This condition manifests for a very brief instant between each coarse thought of the discursive kind and the next, and although it may be said to be unconscious in the sense just defined, its occurrence, rather than making us lose track of the relationship between the thoughts in question and fall into a stunned condition, has the twofold function of separating each thought from the preceding one, and of establishing the connection between thoughts that makes mental discourse possible." "In the operations that Sartre called bad faith, what has the effect Sartre attributed to an abstract nihilating power inherent in consciousness is the occurrence of an instance of the neutral condition of the base-of-all or kunzhi lungmaten more powerful and clear than the usual lapse between one discursive thought and the next, yet not as powerful and extended as the one occurring in the nyam called heddewa: this allows us to forget the aspect of ourselves we intended to elude, or elude both the object and the sensation of anguish, and by the same token forget we forgot somethingthereby keeping the act of elusion, as well as whatever we intended to elude, outside our conscious awareness. Further, the base-of-all, beside working as the interrupter of all that we intended to elude (including the act of elusion itself), works as the channel that carries the intention to invent and come to believe a tranquilizing myth, causing the first line of thought to manifest immediately after the condition in question to express the appropriate mythor whatever it is convenient for us to look at after looking away from what we intend to elude and, in the same operation, looking away from our looking away from it. Since the neutral condition of the base-of all left us with no immediate reflexive memory either of what we intended to elude or of the act of elusion, and since subsequently we become absorbed in the myth we want to believe, becoming unaware of everything else (including the fact that we are telling ourselves a myth), we automatically forget what we intended to forget and come to believe the myth enunciated by the new chain of thoughts (there being no need for us to elaborate the myth beforehand, for when the moment comes the spontaneity of awareness will do so in the most convenient way. In the case of many transpersonal thinkers and pseudo-gurus, the base-of-all is mistaken for authentic Awakening, often leading to spiritual pride, to individuals setting themselves up as pseudo-gurus, and to false ideas of exceptionalness which serves to further mislead and delude others.4 The importance of this mistake cannot be understated, for it is possible to become established in the neutral base-of-all for extremely long periods of time, thereby squandering the precious human opportunity. It can become a comfortable jail where the progress along the Path is blocked and suspended. Freedom can be suspended, especially when the base-of-all leads to giving up the search to activate the awareness of Rigpa, and one can lack the proper responses to

situations. It is compared to journeying to the mountain of absolute sanity and on the way finding a nice and comfortable place to stay and somehow mistaking it for the destination. "...the Dzogchen teachings compare dwelling in an absorption of this kind with cutting ones own head, for so long as one dwells in it one cannot advance on the true Path or attain Awakening, and hence is wasting ones precious human existence.5 Actualism is actually utilizing the Base-of-All After reviewing the criteria by which a manifest condition or state is to be evaluated as base-of-all, per definition it is apparent that actualism is referring to and emphasizing instances of the base-of-all. The base-of-all and so that in which actualism points to has the following defining characteristics: occurring time and time again in human experience, often going unnoticed is proceeding perception initially for a very brief instant of unintrepetation and this brief instant can be extended into progressively powerful manifestations various manifest degrees can be taken as absorption and further one can become established in such does not involve the awareness of consciousness-of-an-object-perceived-in-terms-of-a-concept the sensory-continuum itself isnt taken as object nor are segments actively singled out does not involve the functioning, renewal, or creation of reflexive mnemonic imprints is not utterly devoid of memory altogether, rather it corresponds to the non-reflexive and unselfconscious memory allows the forgetting of aspects of oneself, aspects of our being, or aspects of the entity indicated by our name one intends on eluding is experientially non-dual and transpersonal is non-conceptual samsara is not actively functioning the awareness of nirvana is not actively functioning

So Is Actualism actually novel? In light of the aforementioned, in no meaningful way then can the claim of novelty on behalf of actualism be justified. As shown above, it clearly has not discovered a new alternative condition or state, but rather it is merely another inscribed label on something known about and discussed for a long time before actualism ever was. The extent to which actualism has knowledge of the base-of-all cannot be justified as novel either, as it has failed in quantifying the potential problems of the base-of-all, and its schema insofar as the base-of-alls relation to samsara and the absolute sanity qua nirvana is ambiguous at best in the face of Ati Dzogpa Chenpo Buddhism. Actualisms inability to distinguish absolute sanity from the base-of-all indicates a fundamental shortcoming of its understanding of transpersonal contemplation (however even this error cannot be said to be novel) and of the base-of-all state it advocates. In fact, the primary distinction Actualism appears to try to draw, is based some affective structure underneath coarse and subtle thinking, however this is a major error in that the actualist consideration of thoughts apply only to the coarse and subtle levels, ignoring or mistaking the supersubtle thought-structures, those that Ati Dzogpa Chenpo primarily works with and considers of upmost importance, instead confusing those supersubtle thought-structures to be affective structures. However the supersubtle thought-structures are not inherently affective in of themselves, instead involving such only when they are valued or absolutized and so become emotionally charged (something that seems implicitly entailed and necessarily following from Actualisms position, but overlooked by its progenitor and its practitioners). One major problem is that actualists mistake a symptom for the cause, the cause being the valuation-absolutization of the supersubtle thought-structures, while the symptoms are what actualists call the affective self, affective feelings, and so on. Additionally, an obstacle to making coherent the actualist position lies in the fact that it presumes the supersubtle thought-structures are fundamentally affective structures without clearly accounting for the blatant necessarily conceptual qualities of them, such as the fact that they seem to operate on binary distinctions (mentioned by Actualism when discussing how affective qualities seem unable to arise without their eventual opposites arising). Therefore, the claim to novelty and distinction is based on error and directly misunderstanding the phenomena in question. The methodology of actualism cant be justified as meaningfully novel as it merely advocates directly pointing to the base-of-all. This direct-pointing can be accomplished with the aid of comprehending the definitional characteristics alone. So the additions, such as for example, of repeatedly asking oneself how am I experiencing this moment of being alive? are seen to be superfluous, for the actual direct-pointing is what is necessary, sufficient, and critical. Thus, the additions such as asking, are unreliable mechanisms, as such asking lacks the inherent capacity to provide or bring about the direct-pointing (any pointing aide could accomplish the exact same thing). The direct-pointing itself is obviously completely untethered to the superfluous additions and moreover, without such additions like the aforementioned asking, the direct-pointing can be done so more rapidly and efficiently.6 Some proponents of actualism have alleged optimization insofar as actualism taking the condition it points to as both path and fruit. This claim to novelty through optimization is unjustified as Ati Dzogpa Chenpo Buddhism takes Rigpa as path and fruit. In fact, the fundamental requirement for something to be considered a Buddhist path is that its base, its path, and its fruit have the same nature, which is most fully realized and applicable in Ati Dzogp Chenpo as it is rooted in Rigpa qua base, Rigpa qua path, and Rigpa qua fruit.

The mistaken emphasis on feeling-tones doesnt justify the novelty claim of actualism as there have been peoples who have posited feelings as the self since at least the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, for he directly addressed such assertions. Considering the base-of-all states that are being discussed are comprised of a pure-sensation/experience that is devoid of interpretation and taking place prior to perception, devoid of segmenting the continuum and experiencing objects as concepts, and devoid of reflexive memory imprints, any emphasis therefore on feeling-tones or any affective quality otherwise is completely superfluous. As the base-of-all is before the result of perception, not exclusively feeling the result of perception; before subjectifying and segregation, not exclusively affective subjectifying or affective segregation; before the functioning of all self-conscious reflexive memory imprints, not exclusively feeling memories; and before the awareness of consciousness-of-an-object-perceived-in-terms-of-a-concept, not exclusively the feeling-fed mind or thinking about it affectively, so to iterate, these additional specifications are totally unnecessary.7 Much of this is due to a misidentifying and misunderstanding, and thus such superfluousness serves to potentially complicate, mislead, and cause confusion.8 To claim that one is the body, like actualism does, amounts to a metaphysical position which in of itself isnt novel for there were peoples since at least the time of Shakyamuni Buddha took up such a position, as he also addressed such assertions. Withal, the metaphysical claim that one is the bodys consciousness isnt novel in that it existed before actualism across several continents. Furthermore, actualism provides no rational justification for said claims, it merely states such positions as apparent, which reveals that these positions amount to mere non-investigated myths. Such myths are not self-evident from the states prescribed and held in high-esteem by actualism, but rather are metaphysical positions merely tacked on without justification for doing so, and so they are necessarily superfluous.

A graduated schematic of consciousness and the relationship between Base-of-All and Samsara

base-of-all consciousness of a pseudo-totality consciousness-of-the-base-of-all ego-centered consciousness/consciousness of the passions consciousness of mental states and thought sensory consciousness

With the base-of-all, though the sense-data is there at any moment, there is no consciousness of it until consciousness emerges from the base-of-all, described in the above

schema. Immediately preceding the base-of-all there begins a sort of spiral of pretences, first there is an arising consciousness of an indeterminate, apparently total object, the consciousness of a pseudo-totality. If this consciousness of a pseudo-totality is grasped at, it leads to a formless samsaric condition. After the consciousness of a pseudo-totality, there is the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all, where there manifests a preconceptual interest that drives the mental events to single out segments and figure structures within the every-changing sensory pseudo-totality appearing as object, taking such segments and figure structures as conserving their pattern within the total change of the totality of sense-data.9 In other words, when consciousness-of-the-base-of-all is grasped at, it leads to a samsaric condition of pure form, as there generally is the occurrence of taking a segment as having configuration continuity to such a sufficient degree that it is seen as a collection of characteristics corresponding to concepts and so an entity, thus making the segment stand as a figure against the rest of the continuum, which thereby falls into a sort of background awareness or ground; and as such, the experience has begun gradually solidifying into the subject-object dichotomy.10 This consciousness-of-the-base-of-all that involves the figure/ground distinction is a consciousness that at this point does not have concrete objects of the five senses presenting themselves as such, but there is a risen subtle cognitive capacity that tends to grasp its objects and has made itself ready in every respect to receive the impressions corresponding to the potential objects of deluded mind, considered like a mirror, so the eyes see color-forms, the ears hear sounds, the nose smells fragrances, the tongue tastes flavors, and the body has kinesthetic sensations. The consciousness-of-the-base-of-all is likened to ice on water, because grasping at its would-be object amounts to singling them out, which is compared to freezing segments of the ocean insofar as it causes the yet un-patterned to become configured. After which, all subsequent stages of consciousness are no more than specifications or transformations of the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all. At this point there already has arisen a sense of being in some yet unspecified situation, following this, there is the ego-centered consciousness, also called the consciousness of the passions. This specific transformation of the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all takes the momentary flow of the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all, where tendencies of habituation are built up and discharged, to be enduring, substantial, and generally considered to be ones own self; and so the basis of the delusive experience of me, myself results from this specific transformation of the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all, while the prior transformation was still anonymously functioning and so a pre-personal, fundamental structuring of all experience. Finally, the consciousness of mental states and thoughts, as well as the consciousness of the senses, which consists of ego-centered perception by means of the six senses, where objects are fully solidified and experienced as concepts.11 12

Is the sustained Base-of-All/actual freedom actually Rigpa? As mentioned at the beginning of this text, no, a sustained instance of the base-of-all called actual freedom by the actualists, is not an aspect of Rigpa. There is not a single description or explanation of actual freedom that indicates, hints, or implies that it is Rigpa, while all descriptions coincide on a virtually a one to one basis with the definition of the base-of-all. Simply put, actual

freedom utilizes the base-of-alls capacity to allow the forgetting of an aspect of oneself that one seeks to forget (in this case, affective feelings, or identifying with feelings); Rigpa though, is not merely the lack of affective feelings. The base-of-all, and by extension actual freedom, can bring about a total-relaxation, which makes it very easy to mistake with authentic enlightenment. However, Rigpa is a total completeness, a supreme satisfaction and happiness, a complete plenitude, and a total-relaxation. It lacks the unawareness of the true condition that is present in the base-of-all and so actual freedom. In short, Rigpa is supersanity, and is dramatically superior compared to actual freedom"/base-of-all; in the face of Rigpa, actual freedom is an ignis fatuus.13 If there is a noticing of a sense of freedom, a sense of liberation, a sense of release from the constriction of identifying with feelings or perceptual objects, then this is a manifestation of the tight grip of delusion. Not only does it give the appearance of being unconditioned and/or giving the false impression that one is or will be uninfluenced by arising phenomena, it also actively aids and abets myth-making and can directly hinder progress along the path to supersanity and true freedom, and so it is several-fold misleading. Rigpa on the other hand, is totally free from the subject-object duality, which is characterized by the automatic and spontaneous liberation of whatever arises. The sensory-continuum is manifest in the state of Rigpa, but there is no seeing, witnessing, or noticing; neither the continuum nor anything within the continuum are perceived. "If there were seeing or witnessing, this would be the tight grip of ego, rather than the condition of rigpa beyond the subject-object duality in which whatever manifests liberates itself spontaneously upon arising... In Rigpa qua path, prior to the Rigpa qua fruit, when perceptions do arise, they are automatically liberated, like drawings on water. Though Rigpa cannot be pinned down easily or described, what can be said are the experiences that are not Rigpa as well as the fact that there is the total and spontaneous liberation of whatever arises (not to be confused with merely not taking the sense data continuum as object or picking objects out of it). There are some that mistakenly draw an equivalence between the actualist PCE, an instance of the base-of-all, and Chogyal Namkhai Norbus quote: The awareness arising at the first sudden instant (of sense contact) is indeed that pure presence which arises without correction (or modification) and which is uncreated (by causes). This very condition of existence which transcends the limitations of both subject and object is the authentic self-originated primal awareness of pure presence. During discussions with Namkhai Norbu and one of his students, it was made clear that he was referring to Rigpa and not the base-of-all. First, the subsequent section following the quote explains that the essence of this presence is the dharmakaya, which is lacking in the base-of-all, which by definition is beclouded by an unawareness, an element of stupification that obscures the awareness of Rigpa. Second, Namkhai Norbu explained that implicit in the base-of-all/PCE is the operation of the subject-object duality, despite it being generally non-noticeable from within the experience. This implicit operation is one of the reasons the base-of-all is so easily mistaken as an arrival point/refuge/enlightenment/"actual freedom, for the state is transpersonal and there is the appearance of a non-duality of sorts, a deceptively subtle degree of duality. While again, the pure presence Namkhai Norbu was referring to is totally beyond the duality. Furthermore, essential Ati Dzogpa Chenpo/Dzogchen practices are designed to rapidly interrupt and show the flaws of the base-of-all states. Teckho does so to a lessor degree, while namely Thogal, is renowned in its function of shattering the base-of-all. There is at-least one report

of a contemplative being explicitly in the state of PCE and it ending upon a short Thogal retreat. If PCE was Rigpa, then it would be sustained and strengthened by Thogal, which has its primary purpose of bringing about and stabilizing Rigpa.14 The fact the PCE subsided in such a practice indicates that isnt Rigpa. Additionally, the practices related to PCE generally entail a contrived subtle directionality which is overcome in Rigpa and its practices. In conclusion, actualism and its asserted freedom found in the the state of actual freedom is not the true freedom of Rigpa, and it is devoid of meaningful novelty. It is evidently the base-of-all, providing no notable contribution to the science of contemplative theory or practice. Actualism tries to present itself as different, a third alternative, even an optimization, yet none of these claims have been demonstrated in the slightest. Actualism is a case of a distinction without a meaningful difference, and at that, a deluded path misinterpreting the base-of-all qua total relaxation, a path not capable of directly bringing about total freedom and even hindering the search and attainment of the freedom found in the supersanity of Rigpa qua fruit, the absolute total relaxation, the total completeness, the supreme happiness, ultimate satisfaction, and end to existential lack and thus a total plenitude. In the face of Rigpa therefore, it is a mere imitation of freedom.

Notes 1. Apperceptiveness may partially correspond to Kants transcendental apperception, by extension the Konigsberg empirical apperception, and even partly to Sartres Soi and the Upanishadic sakshin, amongst others. Based on various errors of mischaracterization and misunderstanding. Such as the claim that enlightenment brings about a quantum leap to the heart, where vibratory and somatic energies continue to coincide with discrimination. In Buddhism however, this is distinctly the opposite of enlightenment: "samsara, in which the true condition of the Base (qua active awareness of Rigpa/nirvana) is concealed and its spontaneously perfect functionality is impaired....two of the cornerstones of this delusion are, (1) the vibratory activity that seems to emanate from, or to be concentrated in, the center of the chest at the level of the heart (though in some cases some individuals might feel it more strongly in other focal points of experience), which charges thoughts with apparent value, truth and importance (even though in themselves these have neither neither value nor worthlessness, neither truth nor untruth, neither importance nor unimportance.), and (2) the fragmentary, limited and rather hermetic focus of consciousness that, upon apprehending a segment of the continuum of the energy aspect of the Base, plunges the rest of this continuum in some sort of penumbra of consciousness. The delusory valuation-absolutization of the super-subtle thought structure known as the directional threefold thought structure gives rise to the delusory subject-object duality, while the delusory valuation- absolutization of subtle and coarse thoughts allows us to determine the segment of the totality appearing as object that is to be singled outand, after it has been singled out, to know it as being inherently this or that entity. For its part, it is the fragmentary, limited and rather hermetic

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focus of conscious attention that makes it possible for us to single out that segment. Thus the former gives rise to the illusory subject-object duality, and the two of them together single out segments of the totality of sense data appearing as object, and give rise to the illusion that the singled out segments are inherently separate from the rest of the continuum of the energy aspect of the Base, and that they are self-existing entities.. Which "gives rise to the phenomenon of beingthus generating the illusion that there is an experience-that-is, an experiencer-that-is and something-experienced-that-is. Therefore what is considered to be enlightenment by Actual Freedom is precisely a cornerstone of the delusion of samsara according to Buddhism, and so a massive mischaracterization of Buddhist enlightenment on behalf of Actual Freedom and actualists. For the sensation qua vibratory activity cum tension usually predominant in the center of the chest at the level of the heart that accompanies every perception and can manifest with emotion or without as positive or negative feeling-tone (tibetan: tsorwa or tshor ba) as well as the feeling or perception of I am ceases in Enlightenment and in many base-of-all states (base-of-all states are necessarily non-enlightened) it becomes undetectable. 3. Since the states referred to by the term base-of-all are characterized by non-duality and non-conceptuality, Jigme Lingpai (one of the greatest Dzogchen Masters of the second millennium CE) prophesied that in our time many yogis will mistake them for the dharmakaya (the Mind aspect of Buddhahood, which, as noted above, is the first level of Awakening on the Path of Ati Dzogpa Chenpo). "Many of those who have had experiences of any of the various kinds that Stan Grof subsumed under the category of transpersonalsuch as oneness with the universe, out-of-the-body experiences, the presence of immaterial guides or guardians, etc.and who believe these occurrences to be high spiritual accomplishments, become possessed by what, in the context of the practice of Chc, is called the demon of complacence, conceitedly wallowing on such experiences for the rest of their lives, and very often trying to convince others that their experiences prove them to be spiritually extraordinary individuals. The dangers resulting from such deviations must not be taken too lightly, for quite a few of those who, after having had experiences of the kind and thereby having become convinced of their spiritual specialness and extraordinariness, in the short or in the long run have come to face psychological problems that caused them to land in the mental hospital or face other calamitous outcomes. And many of those who, after having had experiences of the kind, managed to convince others of their spiritual specialness and superiority, becoming renowned (pseudo-)gurus, haveintentionally or notseverely harmed others. ...falling prey to this confusion would involve the extra danger of self-infatuationwhich, what is worse, may turn into long term spiritual pride, taking those who indulge in it further away from authenticity and therefore from Awakening, and in some cases leading them to set themselves up as gurus and use disciples to exacerbate their conceit and unauthenticity, by the same token leading the latter along the misguided way they themselves trod. - Elias Capriles This section is derived from Elias Capriless works, and most of the quotes throughout the entirety of this short paper are also from his work. In later sections, quotes are not used as to not unnecessarily burden the reader.

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....and in total these constitute examples of distinctions having little to no meaningful difference, different in name only. This also applies to the peripheral sweet spot practices, as nearly all contemplative traditions recognize and utilize this in a variety of ways. In general Vajrayana for example, it is the navel wheel (not to be mistaken for the fire wheel) roughly four finger widths below the navel and two fingers above the root wheel. The sweet spot methodology merely utilizes focus on the general area of this wheel to redirect the subtle dynamic psychophysical energy away from the heart wheel, and the associated somatic vibratory activity, to the navel wheel area. This assists a specific application of base-of-all eluding and forgetting particularly sought by actualism. In the face of the efficiency of the highly developed practices involving this spot, the sweet spot is neither novel nor a matured and fully realized method of utilizing the potential of this wheel. To preemptively address a couple potential mischaracterizations: The claim that after the brief flash of pure perception there is some type of feeling-tone segregation and feeling memory, and then a subsequent secondary order of conceptual segregation and conceptual memory, fails to meaningfully contribute in that it is superfluous when considering that the pure perception precedes both claimed orders of segregation and memory. Moreover, this claim that there are two truly separate orders, and further that one arises before the other, is myth and myth alone, and so can be rejected on principle in that it does not derive from empirical observation. Several base-of-all states notoriously allow the perpetuation of a blind spot by which one fails to recognize that one is telling oneself a myth, further, the base-of-all then provides a type of myth-feeding illusory feedback whereas the myth and the myth-making is experientially covered, providing illusory reenforcement via feedback loops that assists in perpetuating the myth. There is actually one order in which the segregation and memory imprints arise with their qualities co-emerging. This order fundamentally entails the supersubtle directional threefold thought structure, the thought structure subtler than coarse thoughts, subtler than mute thoughts and mute knowledge, and subtler than the subtle intuitive thoughts; meaning that the supposed feeling-tone segregation and feeling memory necessarily require this super-subtle thought structure, as they are the valuation-absolutization of it. A second and weaker mischaracterization would be the claim that the pure-experience of the base-of-all states is fundamentally different and arises before conceptual segregation and memory but not before feeling-tone segregation and feeling memory, which fails in that the claim rests on violating the fundamental definitional characteristics of the base-of-all via the fact that the base of all is uninterpreted and no reflexive memory can form, functioning, or renewed, so the claim requires ignoring the definition of the base-of-all and has to go as far as misrepresenting and misdefining it. Consciousness-of-the-base-of-all in this case can also be referred to as consciousness of color-form.

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9.

10. It should be noted that consciousness-of-the-base-of-all in of itself isnt inherently samsaric in nature, it not only is the root of samsara but also the source of a type of nirvana. The true

nature of this consciousness and so the whole of reality is the absolute nature of thatness qua dharmakaya, but it goes unrecognized by normal beings. So when the purification of this consciousness has been had and it has been restored to its original simplicity, the radiant non-dual transparency in the absolute consisting in thatness becomes fully evident (this nirvana subdivides in terms of fruit posited by Shastra, as in the nirvana with some residue; the nirvana without residue, and the nirvana exclusive to Buddhas and so not attained by Hinayana arhats). 11. Note: in the desire realm, the senses, mental forms, and so the passions are principal, where all else, such as the base-of-all and the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all are secondary. In the realm of form, the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all and the consciousness of the senses are principal, and all else are secondary. In the formless realm the base-of-all itself is principal and all else is secondary. 12. Understanding this schema, especially within the context of this written work, should bring elucidation to the oscillatory nature of progressive actualist practice and its stages, which in prior was rather vaguely explained by actualists and often overlooked by actualists themselves to the extent of ignoring, not-noticing, or implicitly claiming the non-existence of such nuanced stages. Often when trying to cultivate a strengthened consolidation of the base-of-all, by glossing over the differences between the various consciousnesses, there is decreased efficiency or even arrested development, such as through ambiguity and lack of identification as to how far one is progressing towards the base-of-all from the consciousness of the senses, and so lacking identification of potential sticking points"/obstacles, thus there can be confusion and lack of clarity as to the arrival point itself. For example, if an actualist is trying to take the base-of-all as an absorption, without clear knowledge of the various states, it could be easy to mistake the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all, the peaceful transpersonal condition of the consciousness of the pseudo-totality, or even the peaceful transpersonal condition of a formless samsaric state manifesting due to the consciousness of the pseudo-totality being subtly grasped at, as the very base-of-all itself. In this way they would mistake stagnation as progress (aside from the larger context of taking the base-of-all as an arrival point, where it serves as the ultimate stagnation). What one person might call the PCE, not having a figure-ground distinction and is more likely to be an authentic case of the base-of-all, another might take the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all that has the figure-ground distinction, as that same PCE. Some for example, under the impression that they have attained the actual freedom, while still having experiences of objects with consistent patterned characteristics corresponding to concepts (like the body), are not experiencing actual freedom qua the base-of-all, but are likely experiencing an extended, extremely lengthy, and transpersonal samsaric state (it is an error to presume that transpersonal = non-samsaric) arrived at by implicitly grasping at the consciousness-of-the-base-of-all. The ambiguity and potential confusion that can lead to different states being called the same PCE or the same actual freedom, becomes even more nuanced when discussing the differences in base-of-all states themselves (which is something not done by this work and as far as I know is hardly, if it all, touched on by Actualism and the actualists themselves).

13. This conclusion is drawn from both text and personal experience, having personally tasted PCE/actual freedom/extended and powerful base-of-all as well as Rigpa, without question Rigpa is superior and the truly unconditioned. 14. This has been reported on dharmaoverground.org and also derives from personal experience.

A Selection of Works Consulted This work is humbly derived from the many works of others, all the credit (save any errors) therefore should go to them. 1. The Cycle of Day and Night, An Essential Tibetan Text on the Practice of Contemplation -Namkhai Norbu Approaching The Great Perfection, Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig -Sam Van Schaik Ocean of Eloquence, Tsong Kha pas Commentary on the Yogacara Doctrine of Mind -Gareth Sparham The Major Facets of Dzogchen -Alexander Berzin Impure and Pure Appearances According to Non-Gelug -Alexander Berzin Alaya and Impure Appearance-Making -Alexander Berzin Fundamentals of Dzogchen Meditation; et al. -Alexander Berzin Treatise on the kun gzhi -Denma Locho Buddhist Thought and Applied Psychological Research -D.K. Nauriyal, Michael S. Drummond, and Y.B. Lal

2.

3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. Beyond Being, Beyond Mind, Beyond History, A Dzogchen-Founded Metatranspersonal, Metapostmodern Philosophy and Psychology for Survival and an Age of Communion; Volume II: Beyond Mind: A Metaphenomenological, Metaexistential Philosophy, and a Metatranspersonal Metapsychology -Elias Capriles 11. Ordinary Awareness & Pristine Awarenes: A Treatise on the Distinction -Karmapa Rangjung Dorje 12. Wonders of the Natural Mind -Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

13. Private communication with Chogyal Namkhai Norbu 14. The Great Perfection, A Philosophical And Meditative Teaching Of Tibetan Buddhism -Samten Gyaltsen Karmay 15. Beyond Being, Beyond Mind, Beyond History, A Dzogchen-Founded Metatranspersonal, Metapostmodern Philosophy and Psychology for Survival and an Age of Communion; Volume I: Beyond Being: A Metaphenomenological Ellucidation of the Phenomenon of Being, the Being of the Subject and the Being of Object -Elias Capriles 16. Beyond Being, Beyond Mind, Beyond History, A Dzogchen-Founded Metatranspersonal, Metapostmodern Philosophy and Psychology for Survival and an Age of Communion; Volume III: Beyond History: A Degernerative Philosophy of History Leading to a Genuine Postmodernity -Elias Capriles 17. Private communication with Elias Capriles 18. A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar -Thinley Norbu 19. The Beyond Mind Papers: Transpersonal and Metatranspersonal Theory. Vol. II: Steps to a Metatranspersonal Philosophy and Psychology: A Critique of the Systems of Wilber, Washburn and Grof, and an Outline of the Dzogchen Path to Definitive True Sanity -Elias Capriles 20. Buddhism and Dzogchen: the Doctrine of the Buddha and the Supreme Vehicle of Tibetan Buddhism; Part One; Buddhism: A Dzogchen Outlook -Elias Capiriles 21. The Mother Tantras -Marco Alejandro Chaoul 22. Unbounded Wholeness, Bon, Dzogchen, and the Logic of the Nonconceptual -Anne Carolyn Klein, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche 23. The First Four Themes of Klong chen pas Tshig don bcu gcig pa -Daniel Scheidegger 24. Eye of the Storm Original Perfection, Vairotsanas Five Early Transmissions -Keith Dowman 25. Old Man Basking in the Sun, Longchenpas Treasury of Natural Perfection -Keith Dowman 26. The Universal Great Perfection of Pure Mind, the Supreme Source -Adriano Clemente, Namkhai Norbu ...and others.