The Presence Process by Michael Brown - Notes and overall guidelines and tips for the 10 week process

I first discovered "The Presence Process" probably about 15 years ago around the 2011 time, when I was deeply looking into direct nondual teachings, and at that time more interested in the 'instant' direct paths, neo-advaita, and other such contemporary pointers to nondual awareness.

This probably WASN'T the time to discover The Presence Process (TPP), and it was also the first version of the process/book that I purchased, a paper copy from Amazon. 

As a result, I was quite underwhelmed and non-enthused about the work, even though it had a large number of 5 star and rave reviews at that time. I may have discovered it by trawling through Amazon reviews, or perhaps it was just suggested for me due to my previous purchases. In any case, I went through the book, tried the process for a short time, possibly 2 weeks, and then discarded it.. thinking it was a typical 'progressive path', and too touchy-feely for my liking. I also couldn't get into the style of writing which I found verbose and attempting to say what could be summed up in 1/4 of the book. I probably rated it 3 stars at most.

Fast forward 15 years or so.. and I saw random references to the process on various discussions on Reddit, nondual forums and the like. One random poster, who I recalled, as an answer to the question about which teachings they found the most helpful, replied that all they actually needed (presumably to awaken) was 1. The Presence Process 2. Michael Langford's Bliss book 3. Peter Fenner's Radiant Mind book.

Since this suggestion had come about a few times over the course of the last year or so, I decided to really give The Presence Process a serious look again.

To my delight, there was a new version, a revised edition. I watched a few videos on YT with Michael Brown speaking and giving small seminars. I immediately liked the guy. He was unassuming, had no following, didn't want to be a teacher, and seemed to experience what he was talking about and delivering.

I purchased a kindle copy of 'The Presence Process', and went through slowly over a week or so. There was much in there that I REALLY LIKED, in terms of approaching awakening as an EMBODIED experience, dealing with trauma and emotions, and also acknowledging the higher role of present moment awareness, presence, and what would normally be called "Self" in advaita. Michael Brown attempts to use very neutral and ordinary terms for these things in the book, however, and the book is written from a purely secural, non-religious standpoint, so as to appeal to a wide variety of people-- although this sort of course or approach would only interest a small amount of people due to the level of commitment and desire to deep dive into one's emotional triggers, traumas, 'inner child' aspect and other areas that spiritual teachings generally shy away from or leave to 'psychology' and therapy.

Things I loved about the process on first glace:

• The idea of embodied awakening, using the body and working with the body and "felt-perception" as a means to transcend obstancles to awakening
• The idea that the primary task or work involved is that of integrating charged emotions and emotionally trapped resonances from earlier times. Getting to know the body, felt perception, emotionally related sensations, and becoming ever more present, is a totally do-able approach and bypasses the need for complex conceptual models, beliefs to theories
• Acknowledgement of presence, awareness, and all the good parts generally included in awareness teachings
• The use and exploration of breathwork- in the form of connected breathing as a primary practice to be used each day (twice a day) for 15 minutes or more
• A 'conscious response' phrase to be used throughout each week
• A very structured and well thought out program (process) that would last over 10 weeks with specific aims and a focus for each week
• The emphasis on the process being self-guided, and without the need for facilitators, courses, 'certifications', and group involvement
• The promise and visible means for real change in one's behaviour, beliefs and emotional responses as a result of sticking out the 10 weeks, along with a better understanding of presence, and present moment awareness. An actually WAY to practice being 'Now' or present, rather than endlessly listening to satsang type teachings talk for hours, days, years about the possibility but never actually delivering on the means and effective ways to achieve it.

All of these things further motivated me to commit to the course, and I then purchased a paper copy of the book, which I decided to commit to for 10 weeks (and only that process, laying aside any other practices that I was doing). This was around May 2024.

I'll detail the 10 weeks in another post, as yeah week has some very specific aims and focal points for working and understanding. I'll also detail some of the aims and focal points along the way, pitfalls and things to watch for, and some of my own experiences.

General Tips

• Besides the 2x daily Consciously Connected Breathing (meditation) practice that needs to be done over the course, I found it to be highly beneficial to set aside brief times to sit (in meditation or inner focus) and go over the Conscious Response for the week. Contemplate how the response fits in with experiences that have happened today (especially triggering events or underlying emotions that are just below the surface but waiting to be acknowledged).

• As above, spend time often during the day just feeling and being with what emotions are present at the time. Especially the 3 core 'negative' emotions of fear, anger and grief. See how often these arise and lie just below the surface of our every day thinking and operating and how they are exerting pressure on our experience without being obvious.

• At times it can feel that the text or instructions for "felt-perception" or feeling of sensations related to emotions and the emotional body aren't very precise. I'm comparing to approaches such as somatic therapy, or body based mindfulness practices, vipassana etc. , which are extremely precise and clear. At first I was put out by this and questioned the approach that the text takes in advising just to "be" with emotions, or use "felt-perception". But after going through the course itself, over 10 weeks, I can see now that the skilling up with feeling into emotions and sensations DOES happen, but on a much slower timeframe than it does with hardcore mindfulness practices. The Presence Process really does play out over a 10 week period, and works perfectly, but it works on a different timescale than other approaches, such as body-based mindfulness or other emotional energy integration techniques. After 10 weeks, the participant really does understand and know how to be with emotions, feelings and their counterpart bodily sensations. It just takes a longer timeframe (10 weeks) and a consistent practice and repitition of the "integration procedure" over that time. There's also the added help with TPP with likening the emotional body with that of the inner child, and treating emotions and the emotional body as such- with patience, love and attention.

• Try to perform the daily meditation (CCB) as soon as possible in the morning and as a priority. If it can't be done earlier on, schedule time mid-morning at least to do it.

• If doing the CCB meditation in the evening is too energising, do this in the afternoon. For many people, myself included, the connected breathing practice or any breathwork practice can be too activating (esp of the SNS) which will leave you in a hightened state or awareness or readiness. Not something you want before bed. Try box breathing or something more relaxing before bed.

• Do remeber to return to connected breathing at random times throughout the day, even for a minute or so. Michael mentions this reminder, along with remebering the Conscious Response phrase at that time as well, as a sort of dual reminder.

• Make use of the Connected Breathing practice when you notice yourself lost in thought or during a distraction loop or addictive behavioural loop for example. The CCB has the power to snap one's mind/thought/behaviour out of such loops and back into the satisfying nature of present moment awareness and the breath itself.

• Note that some people have energetic issues with the CCB consciously connected breathing practice. This is usually because they're trying to follow a breathwork approach (such as Connected Breathing) as per textbook rules and the instructions given by authorities WITHOUT paying attention to what their body and mind are telling them. IF you have issues with the breathwork practice, you will need to adapt it to your personally settings. For instance, I've had to use a lot LESS effort with the breathing practice than the instructions indiciate. The instructions indicate a decent amount of effort (and noise) on the in-breath, while for me personally, a minimal amount of effort work better so as to not trigger flight/fight response or over-stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. You need to carefully adapt the breathing practice to your particular situation.

If I had to sum up the pros and cons of the course as a whole, then I would say the pros vastly outweigh the negatives and relate to learning how to understand emotions, bodily sensations and our own projections that have been up until this point playing out unconsciously in our life and wreaking havoc. Some of the cons relate more to personal issues that can sabotage the process, and some of the more vague instructions related to connected breathing and how to enter into present moment awareness. Although must is spoken about in the text re: presence and present moment awareness, this isn't an area that is directly tackled by the course, but more of a by product of the process. To seriously experience and understand awareness itself, and present moment awareness, another side module may be required, preferable AFTER the 10 weeks of the course has been completed and during the pause time (weeks, months etc) before another iteration.

It's a great little 10 week course to complete annually in order to clear out accumulated emotional resonances and refresh one's understanding of how to integrate charged historically related emotions, trauma, and triggers. It really works well with other spiritual disciplines too (provided these aren't practiced during the 10 weeks of The Presence Process).

After completing the 10 week course, I would thoroughly recommend committing and taking up the course and related work for anyone interested in learning to integrate emotional charges, triggers, shadow aspects and undoing false perceptions based on projection. It's also a great way to introduce a solid daily meditation practice into one's routine and make this a habit.

 

Quick thumbs-up review for Dan Brule's book (and audio) "Just Breathe".

 I thought that Dan Brule's "Just Breathe" book and audiobook about breathwork was a great little introduction to breathwork and did a good job of covering a large variety of transformative breathwork approaches. 4/5 rating.

The Wim Hof Method - notes on the book and the method in general.

 

Here's a review that I posted in regards to "The Wim Hof Method" book, and the approach overall.

I'm giving the Wim Hof Method overall 4 stars, and the book itself "The Wim Hof Method" 3.5 stars. 

Overall, I really do like the WHM and admire how Wim Hof was able to simplify a good number of practices and philosophies into a coherent system with three main 'pillars'- these being Cold Exposure, Breathwork, and Mindset. He draws on his years of experience and experimenting with yoga, breathwork, pranayama, mindset, extreme temperature exposure and pushing the human body to its limits. Wim Hof himself is really a character and quite unique in terms of his own personal story, challenges, and ability to transcend physical challenges.

I tried the system out myself, and it really did produce some positive effects that assisted on other fronts, such as with meditation, energy levels, overcoming fixed beliefs, and stress management. I've maintained the practice of having a cold shower each day, and also the breathing technique that WHM uses. I love the use of simplified postures such as the horse-riding stance, and a basic set of hatha yoga moves that support the practices.

THAT SAID, there are some hidden issues with the system that need to be better explained (both in the book and otherwise such as on YouTube). Chiefly, the breathing technique is an energising, sympathetic nervous system type breathwork practice that is pretty much hyperventilation with some breath holds. If someone is prone to anxiety or generally over-active, then this will exacerbate that condition even more. Doing the breathing at night also ramps up one's energy levels, which isn't the best thing when trying to wind down. It really needs to be tempered with down-regulating the breath, and is better explained by a qualified breathwork practitioner. Wim Hof's own background is heavily influenced by Hatha Yoga and he details the years of practice that he himself undertook prior to and during the development of his whole method. The fact that WH is well versed in advanced yoga doesn't mean every beginner off the street is going to be aware of the subtle requirements for doing pranayama and breath holding practices. I do like that these practices have been simplified, but one needs to ensure that the overall context of this being a serious yoga practice isn't lost.

The cold exposure therapy section of the method is explained well, and generally can't cause too much damage by having a short cold shower burst at the end of a warm shower. As usual though, people take this too far, and stories of people sitting in ice baths for long periods of time well past the 30 minute mark etc., in the hope that this can somehow improve on the benefits, end up crashing and burning. Wim Hof does lay out many of the safety concerns for this aspect of the method, and the more extreme practices are best done under supervision.

The final aspect, being the "Mindset" is really a combo of mindfulness and concentration skills building that is done with the breathwork, and also including some visualisation (for health benefits), and busting fixed beliefs and limiting ideas. There's no sophisticated structure of exploration of meditation or mindfulness per se, but it's a start for most people who would otherwise have zero interest or idea about mindfulness or breath awareness. Although the breathwork technique does include 'emotional management and regulation', a lot more needs to be done or included apart from the simple WHM breathing technique to really understand how emotions, trauma and mindfulness of feeling sensation works. Further, there's a danger, especially in the book, that readers may take on board the idea that the WHM is going to solve every health issue, including mental health issues and depression, which require a LOT more intervention than just yoga, breathing and exercise. There is a chapter at the end of the book that details practices and lines of thought more along Patanjali's thinking about sequential yoga and meditation practice. Again, WH has done a good job of simplifying (perhaps over simplifying) the key points in the philosophy and how it needs to be brought back to one's direct practical experience-- which can be done via breath work, some basic asana movements, cold and temperature exposure, and even some seated internal concentration practices (such as breathing while focusing on inner visual fields).

The BOOK itself isn't too bad, but does contain a lot of repetition and personal anecdotes from Wim, along with the constant citing of "scientific proof" and "scientific experiments". Hard core scientific people aren't going to be very impressed with the constant talk of the method being backed up by science, although some of the university studies and explorations done by Wim Hof himself do lend credence to the method. In some parts, the book can become laborious to get through, since large chunks appear to be Wim Hof motivating the reader to do the same things he mentions in virtually every other chapter. On the good side, there are little exercise sections that have some steps written down for the reader to try out on particular situations, such as improved sport performance, emotional regulating, mindfulness of bodily sensations etc.

As has been mentioned in many of the WHM book reviews, one is much better off downloading and following the App for guided instructions or listening to online content on either the official website, podcasts or YT. Wim Hof has been quite generous in providing lots of free content online outside of paid courses.

In summary, I really admire Wim Hof, and his approach in simplifying some very advantageous practices that can boost one's energy, health, and outlook. He's a really unique guy with a burning desire to better humanity, and he doesn't seem to have let all the fame get to his head (or ego).. as far as I can tell. The method can serve as an excellent into for someone to explore more in-depth areas of yoga, breathwork, meditation and natural health. Many have benefitted from these exercises. That said, there needs to be some discernment on the part of the individual for how much tolerance they have with the exercises, and how they can be adapted to one's personal situation so as not to cause more harm than good.

Related website for the official course:

https://www.wimhofmethod.com/

"The Warriors Meditation", TEM, and spherical awareness.

 

"The Warriors Meditation", TEM, and spherical awareness - meditation approach from Richard L. Haight.

A few weeks back I had been reviewing a book "The Warrior's Meditation" by Richard L. Haight. I purchased this on audible several years earlier, went through it, and then recently had a bit of spare time and decided to review the meditation and approach again.

I recalled that the approach related to the 5 senses and there was a favouring of open awareness using each of the sense doors, that then led to an open awareness of spacial positioning. That was about all I could remember. I didn't follow it up much after that time.

This time however, I was struck by the number of 'little gems' that the book/work contained.. topics such as alpha/beta wave brain states, attaining alpha states in seconds, the benefits of relaxed open awareness versus always being in a focused state (which is often promoted by many meditation systems), and many other little topics that proved to be highly valuable on the path.

I also enjoyed the comparisons between today's standard living mode versus the living mode that hunter/gatherers and anicent people would have lived in. This involved a much more relaxed focus with the 5 senses and an open awareness of what's happening (for survival), rather than always being zoomed into a very small point of focus, as we find ourselves often today-- with phones, reading content, projects, computers, driving vehicles, etc. -- and which all  have a small, but accumulative tension effect on our quality of living.

The meditation itself (The Warrior's Meditation), does have a lot of carry-over benefits, such as being able to access relaxed open awareness while going about one's daily activities, and also the ease at which it can be integrated into other approaches or just general daily situations.

It's nice to make an exploration of the 5 sense doors in this regard, and the last step of exploring spherical awareness or awareness of one's spatial location is really an interesting experience. Just using the practice of becoming aware of one's peripheral and total visual field, for instance, and noticing when one shifts into an alpha brain state, is worth having as a tool in the toolbox. Likewise, becoming aware of one's body and then the space around one's body, rather than just focusing on parts (as is usually done in vipassana approaches) is well worth the exploration time.

Richard L. Haight has a good number of videos on YouTube, and I feel that he's generally offering something new in the field with this meditation and his open awareness style meditations. I've not read any of his other books, although he's published a few more than just TWM.

Can it lead to liberation on it's own?

I'm not sure exactly. There's a lot of cross over between this open awareness style meditation and other approaches, such as Early Buddhist approaches to context based mindfulness and insight. Also there's obvious links between this and some of the Tibetan practices that use an open awareness style of contemplation such as Dzogchen and Mahamudra. Some teachers doing a similar thing would be Loch Kelly (Effortless Mindfulness), Shinzen Young (with his Do Nothing technique or SHF Global), Dean Sluyter (Dzogchen), and other teachings in the awareness teaching (Advaita) traditions that favour an open global awareness instead of a concentration approach. Note though that these approaches usually use the foundation of either Buddhism, Yoga, Shamanism, or Vedanta as a base. So, I'm a little doubtful that just picking up one technique or secular approach to things is going to lead to awakening without some of the other important framework parts such as having a stable, solid, ethical life in general, and including some sort of concentration practice on side -- which would serve to help understand the exact difference between open awareness and concentrated attention.

Overally, Richard's work is definately worth a look, and worth considering due to it's simple approach, and compilation of many related topics into an easy to understand frame of reference. Richard himself seems like a nice guy, and has a deep background in martial arts, healing, and cultural studies. 

Offical website:

https://richardlhaight.com/

Random meeting and teaching with Mark West (Nisargadatta) @ QVB 17-5-24

 Random meeting and teaching with Mark West (Nisargadatta) @ QVB 17-5-24

I had one of those random encounters yesterday with Mark West (a direct student of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in the 1970s, who resides in Sydney). I consider Mark to be one of my teachers, and I attended some one-on-one teachings around 2015 or so at his residence in Kings Cross, Sydney. During that time, I had been able to enable some sort of energetic connection with both Mark, and also the whole lineage of Sri Nisargadatta, which become very devotional and yielded a lot of 'results' on the spiritual plane in general and with progress on the "I am" understanding and experience.

Since then, and perhaps from the first time I met Mark (also randomly) around 2013-2014, I had randomly experienced seeing or meeting Mark spontaneously around the Sydney CBD, where I worked in Town Hall precinct, and in other spots around the Sydney CBD. Sometimes we just have those unusual connections with others and for the time being, or during our lives, we seem to meet that person over and over in a completely unplanned and spontaneous way. A similar thing used to happen with a Tai Chi teacher that I had in the 1990s, Peter Yu, who was a master of Yang and Chen tai chi systems, and whom I trained with in the 90s learning Yang style tai chi. I would randomly see or find Peter walking around the city, and we would have brief chats outside training. This kept occurring until his death in the 2000s, where unfortunately I was not present or aware of this, and just stopped seeing Peter around until I did find out that he had left this plane.

Back to Mark West..

I hadn't seen Mark for several years, though I did seem him very briefly from afar this year or last year, but didn't approach him at that time, since I was busy and he was a bit far off.

I had been having the recurring feeling though that I SHOULD strike up conversation with him, as he looks to be getting on now, as he's in his late 70s, and doesn't look the best health wise. He's lost a fair bit of weight, and seems to have aged considerably due to health issues-- which he later told me he was having. Besides, having the blessing of a connection with someone who has a DIRECT lineage or connection with one of the Advaita "greats" isn't something you find every day.. so I did want to pursue my connection and relation with Mark. I endevaoured to strike up some convo if and when I next bumped into him.

Lo and behold, yesterday I was walking down QVB walk, under George Street, on the way over to my mail box, and I see Mark West walking slowly in front of me, down the escalators, carrying some old bags, an umbrella, and shuffling along. I followed him for a bit, and then when next to him said "Hi Mark.. how are you going, Mr West?"

Right away he was friendly, and asked "How do I know you?", I said "We did some one-on-one teachings a few years ago at your place.. I'm Dean.".. "Ah yes, I remember now..", he said, then he literally launched off into Nonduality speak and delivered a full blown conversation and teaching on nonduality, awareness, consciousness etc., while walking in the busy underground arcade.

We ended up near Pitt Street mall, and I broke in, asking where he was headed, and he said up near George Street CBA.. so I steered him up that way, and I offered to get him a coffee while we continue the 'teaching' conversation, which he agreed. We ended up at the cafe in QVB, near the Northern end, and sat there for a good hour to hour and a half. 

He took out an old worn copy of Sailor Bob Adamson's "Beyond Words, Beyond Mind", which is likely out of print now. He spoke a bit of Nisargadatta, which he can still quote from memory.. and also emphasised a convo he had where he mentioned to Maharaj that "Maharaj had failed because he (Mark) still didn't have the realization..", to which Maharaj replied words to the effect of 'Don't worry about his, Mark, I have planted the seed, and it WILL sprout in due course'. Mark then mentioned to me that the same thing had been done, ie Mark had planted the seed and this would sprout in due course if it hadn't done so already. We spoke of different topics:

- Nisargadatta Maharaj and his approach

- Emptiness in the Mahayana Buddhist teachings

- Douglas Harding's pointers to awareness and self

And then he read a large chunk from Sailor Bob Adamson's book, which is quite compact and points to the nature of awareness, consciousness and presence as the underlying reality of self.

After this, he read a few pages from "Nan Yar", which he also had in his old bag there, and especially around the theme of desire for happiness, and the having to let go of all teachings, books and texts eventually as the main aim is realization of the self, rather than book learning.

I understood at this time (rather than back in 2015 or so), that the whole point of this meeting, and these teaching sessions or nondual pointing sessions, was to actually imbibe the energy of the teaching/teacher, and let the pointing do it's work during that time, so as to establish some sort of abidence in/as pure awareness or as one's nature -- rather than worrying about the content of the delivery or what was actually being said. Let's face it, having heard or read material related to Advaita Vedanta, Mahayana Buddhism, the three greats of Advaita in the 20th Century (ie Nisargadatta, Ramana Maharshi, Atmananda), or nonduality in general.. over a period of years or decades, then generally you've heard pretty much every single pointer, concept, or teaching device already. It's not the content or any new content or pointing that will bring about an understanding or realisation of Self, but rather time spent contemplating and USING that content to undo obstructions or blocks to knowledge of Self (or Not-self).

The meeting ended with me having to get back to 'the office', and Mark having to get back to where he was headed in the city. We did exchange details again, since Mark's website was no longer around now (as he is retired and didn't have the time or money to maintain it.. besides, Mark was never a highly publicised teacher with a following, unlike contemporaries such as Sailor Bob, that have always had a solid following and need for material-- which Mark has reservations about, in terms of dependence on a guru or messenger for years on end.. but that's another story).

I'll let things run their course for now, as I've not made any immediate arrangements to meet again, but will be open to the prompting or possibility of doing this in the months ahead.

---

(Gleanings from Nisargadatta - Mark West (notes from meetings with Nisargadatta in the 1970s)

A couple of reviews for Michael Singer's Unthethered Soul series. (spoliers)

 

A couple of reviews that I came across that went against the grain with Michael Singer's books and material. More generalised information, tips, advice and a shotgun approach to spirituality.

https://shannonlinden.ca/why-i-couldnt-surrender-to-michael-singer/

https://salvadorbriggman.com/review-of-the-untethered-soul-by-michael-singer/

https://www.scaruffi.com/politics/singer.html

If you're after something light, and some general information on starting off with spirituality, then perhaps this book set is for you.. 

Actualism or Actual Freedom - deep dive 1 - notes approach links issues discussions

 

Actualism or Actual Freedom - deep dive 1 - notes

I've decided to take a bit of a deep dive into a niche set of teachings and approaches called "Actualism" or "Actual Freedom". This originated around 12 years back, again from Australia (which is unusual in terms of being anywhere on the spiritual map). Originally, the approach was posted by a "Richard", and later included some other names "Peter", "Veneeto", and over the last decade has grown slightly to include others who claim to be 'free' and 'actualised' (but avoid common terms such as enlightenment, due to wanting to stand out as something different, a new teaching, or 'third alternative' to the current spiritual offerings out there).

If I had to sum up this teaching or approach, taking into account there's hundreds of lines of text on the source website attempting to explain what it is and isn't, then I would say it is pretty much:

- The consistent (or permanent when the habit self-ing/self-reference has ceased after a long while) state of present moment awareness with hightened clarity of external sensory perception and focus. This naturally leads to what AF is attempting to do, which is enjoy oneself and sense experience in the present moment (becaue the nervous system is calm, focused, clear and chilled). Of course, this isn't anything new, despite AF claiming it's a new thing, and this approach has been around for thousands of years via certain schools in yoga, Buddhism, Zen, etc. I won't say ALL schools, but certain niche schools that took this approach to clarity and awakening. IMO there are better ways of approaching this instead of using an enquiry only, and forsaking other aids such as a regular meditation practice, having some stability and ethics in life etc.. and this is why there seems to be a relatively few people who have stuck it out with AF and gained the promised end result.

I originally encountered this teaching and site (also) about a decade ago, but due to the lack of coherent content on the site, and a lack of structured approach, decided to leave it. There was some commentary on DharmaOverground and in a few other places such as Soh's ATR blog site, but commentary and understanding seemed to be limited to the main actualfreedom.com.au site.

Since then, an excellent, coherent and simplified site has popped up explaining Actualism in simple, easy to understand terms. This can be found at https://www.simpleactualism.com/intro and I would highly recommend this over the original 'Gold Standard' website http://actualfreedom.com.au/ in terms of beginning to study the approach. However, the original website does have a massive amount of background information and Q&A, which makes it worth browsing over time. 

----

As an initial reading or overview today, after having fully gone through the SimpleActualism site, some points I'll note here:

• The aims seem to be similar to certain approaches in early Buddhism, being insight into anatta, and the loss of a 'self'/'I'/'being' or referential entity or individual. This is for the overall aim of being "happy and harmless", and living a sort of 'natural', 'common' state of existence without psychological suffering. Key differences between other common spiritual paths include the treatment of sensuality (encouraged in AF, not encouraged in Early Buddhism for instance), a lack of philosophy (supposedly, although there's quite a lot of philosophical conjecture on the AFT site), and of course a much simpler structure and approach with AF, excluding all rules, conduct, cultivation of concentration, insight, maps, etc.--- NOTE however, there is some talk about cultivating a harmless, happy state of being and investigation into feelings, emotions and negative states with the intent of move out of these and back to the natural, actual state of affairs. 
• This also resembles some nondual approaches, particularly certain contemporary nondual teachings such as Tony Parsons and Jim Newman, where there is just  experience or life happening in a fresh way right now, minus any person or individual present.
• There are however, some ideas present when one probes deeper into the AF approach, and some of these ideas remind me of Barry Long's approach to the human being and body, a removal of all spiritual concepts, theories, and spirituality in general, coupled with the idea of the present moment or NOW being all there is (cf Eckhart Tolle, Barry Long), which is a sort of gateway into experiencing this moment as being a living body. 
• The process for this, or practice if it can be considered one, is to use an enquiry to return one's awareness to the present moment and experience 'being alive' via the senses and apparent (actual) world, minus any reference to an internal entity. In terms of likening this practice to other practices, it would be what Shinzen Young calls "See-Hear-Feel Out" or favouring the attention on external phenomena appearing at the 5 sense doors- excluding internal images, sounds and feeling sensations, and a noticing of how this brings about a cooling of the mind and feelings and generalised happiness and wellbeing. Internal feeling sensations and emotions are used differently and in an investigative way to dig up what's happening in one's experience that triggered a loss of the 'happy, harmless' state, with the aim to bring up these emotional causes or triggers into conscious awareness and drop them in favour of returning to a moment by moment experience of being alive (and happy and harmless).
• The enquiry itself is "How am I experiencing this moment of being alive?". There is also some enquiry and investigation into moments when one is not feeling 'good', or ruminating on thoughts and feelings outside of the present moment, which are the cause of negative emotions in general.
• A main goal of the Actual Freedom approach is to be "happy and harmless". Triggers that detract one's experience from this are investigated as to when and how these arose, with the idea being to return to one's experience at this moment as a living body-mind, happily and harmlessly.
• Fundamental to the AF approach is also the notion of a PCE or Pure Consciousness Experience, which is basically a hightened sensory experience (since it seems described mostly as a temporary, but attainable state), whereby one experiences the perfection of sensory phenomena (the actual world) and one's natural being, minus any referential self/I/me. These "PCE" episodes are encouraged and used in the approach as well, though there's discussion about how and when to use these episodes with the aim of permanent 'actual freedom'.

As I go through the approach over the next week or two, and edit this blog post as needed.

Main themes or points in the AF approach:

• Time - This moment here and now is the only time there actually is.. past and future are imaginary. Experiencing happens now and this needs to be repeatedly understood and experienced
• The self, "I", "me" is the root cause of all misery and problems with the human condition, and is an instinctual, animal self built up over time and evolution. This is the part that is 'immolated' or removed to enable simple, natural living as the actual
• The means to do this are- the enquiry 'How am I experiencing this moment of being alive?", or similar. Investigation and uncovering triggers that have removed one's state from being happy, harmless and then a return to that state. Abidance in the present moment and foregoing past/future concerns. Sensory experience and refinement leading to PCEs and unmediated experiencing of phenomena (without a mediating 'I' or inner self).
• "Virtual freedom" is a partial arrival point where 99% in this process where the problematic "I" has been eliminated. Over time, the remaining 1% is eliminated, culminating in actual freedom
• Repetition of the above and having the above as an overarching goal for one's life situation until change takes place and is embedded as an ongoing experience\

Daniel Ingram has summarised the practice very well here and some relevant conclusions:

https://www.integrateddaniel.info/my-experiments-in-actualism/

Some discussion material is available on the internet, and the bulk of it was done around 2010-2015 when this method seemed to be capturing the attention of a few people in spiritual circles:

Discussions

 

ATR

Attempts to map Actualism with ATR maps, Buddhist maps etc.

 

https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2009/09/actual-freedom-third-alternative.html

 

https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/search/label/Actual%20Freedom

 

original article by Soh re: Buddhism and actualism

 

https://app.box.com/s/sbyi64jrms

 

 

REDIT discussion from 9 years back on differences with AF and Buddhism, Dzogchen

  

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dzogchen/comments/3n75ik/actual_freedom_philosophy_and_method_seems/

 

 Actualism practice discussions on DhO

https://dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/2401384

 

Related: "Actualism Made Easy" ebook by Justine (pdf)

https://www.dharmaoverground.org/discussion/-/message_boards/message/2969859

https://www.scribd.com/document/89160012/Justine-s-Memoirs-on-Actual-Freedom-Part-I

https://www.calameo.com/books/001100941868620b67859