Hi Tarin and all!
I thought I would share an alternative view or thesis to the one put forward by Tarin. I hope some thoughtful discussion can follow.
Thanks for sharing your perspective on your reasons behind your investigation of Actual Freedom. I have great sympathy for your position. What you describe is the 'classical', prototypical enlightenment, particularly as presented in the Indian Sanskrit traditions, and many other old traditions; as different as they are in their details. Variations on complete freedom, bliss, perfection, malice free ALL the time. Spiritual supermen. I have experienced the pce and do conclude there is complete and absolute freedom in it. I wonder if this could be a glimpse of the enlightened state proper, and if true or complete enlightenment - as a higher standard than ‘unqualified’ insight - is actually perfect realization of what we truly are (whatever that actually is, is beside the point -fullness, true-self, no-self, ordinary human self, emptiness - whatever!!). What is important is the realization of the full and complete non-dependent freedom, peace, satisfaction and perfection that we sense ourselves to be. Anything other than this, seems to beg the question, or at least it theoretically could.
However, pce may be simply a high state of Nirvikalpa samadhi and not permanent. An event is temporary by definition. (Note: There is a correlation between Samadhi as a system phenomenon and development of that system as I will speak to below.) As soon as we are embodied in a nervous system, instinct and biological functions will operate. And that is fine, because those functions serve a purpose, have utility, and do their own thing. More importantly and to the point, however, regardless of what is happening, we are the perfect unconditioned, unchanging awareness that sees those functions operate, and NOT those functions per se. Awareness does not suffer. Identification with a separate sense of self is what suffers. Enlightenment is to experientially realize that difference – to irrevocably realize oneself as awareness, and NOT self; that is insight, and the end to suffering and fulfilment of your drives for happiness and peace. That is enlightenment. That is the point. That is the thesis. The rest of this paper is an elaboration on this central point.
Samadhis may come and go, awareness sees them come and go; always remains and is cognizant 24 hours a day, whether the body is unconscious, asleep or hyper alert. 24 hour continuous awareness through our unconscious sleep state is a developmental phenomenon. It is not that awareness ceases, rather, RECALL of that continuity through sleep is related to development of the nervous system and energy bodies. This is because consciousness is developmental and dependent on our bio-energetic anatomy. Consciousness as part of the system changes, grows, develops; awareness as its base and source does not. We can see this in dementia and other neurological deterioration of that particular subsystem; consciousness may be dramatically altered in its phenomenal expression. However, it is awareness that sees this impairment, but is not touched in itself.
Thoughts come and go as part of the wider system, states of consciousness present, as do affective states and their absence; while awareness remains the same, unchanging, non-contingent, seeing these objects in awareness as they are, whatever they are, pure perfect and without the possibility of a value judgment. Hence there can be no suffering in the presence of anger as a system response to some environmental trigger. Clouds move in an empty sky, yet the sky remains unaffected. In the same way awareness is ever present, unchaining, formless, self-luminous, self-cognizant and perfect just Is-ness. Outside of a virtual, conditioned self, and a relative value system, thoughts, emotions and any kind of phenomena cannot have an intrinsic value; all is ascribed by the judgment of a self. Death is just dying, birth is just being born; waves crash and erode the rocks; wind blows and clouds move - it just is. The self says otherwise because it has a me to protect; an I to promote - this is just identification with survival sub-systems, and pleasure systems and self-actualization sub-systems which magically seem to come to life when connected with and operated through by awareness and life force. The grand empty puppeteer which generates a virtual 'separate' being who thinks it is alive, free and independent. Remove life-force, and it drops to the ground as dust. Awareness remains the same untouched. The puppet is nothing more than a kind of animated zombie - systems of cause and effect. But no one is home – there is only Awareness seeing the animation, the drives, the struggle, the pain and joy. In time the system breaks down, or transforms - reborn into something new, in the unending movement and processes of the cosmic system; but awareness is ever present, unchanging. Enlightenment is the full, experiential realization of THAT - of awareness. It is seeing through the self; thus, the end to suffering. No longer identifying with a self, and its grasping and seeking. Enlightenment is the end to that. Hence, the sense of having got it done, that has been spoken of. Not its partial realization which is ongoing and continued suffering, however subtle. No end to seeking, no having got it done, not enlightenment.
The suggested thesis goes, if you haven't realized THAT and you still suffer, then we are NOT enlightened. That is a proper definition and a proper standard for enlightened. Perhaps the problem is we have so divorced ourselves from tradition and are so desperate to eliminate our suffering that we have dumbed down enlightenment. We are just making it up as we go along. And then we say, but I am enlightened, however, I still suffer. I am enlightened, but I am not free. So, the question begs, are and were we ever actually enlightened? Not that enlightenment is left wanting, rather, we have failed to realize it and have effectively thrown in the towel too early. Jumped traditions before completing our stated goals. According to this thesis, suffering will remain as long as we continue to identify with the phenomena of self as composed by the virtual psychic entity arising from the animation of, and interaction with, various deterministic sub-systems resulting in identification with, and disturbance by, desire, aversion and dissatisfaction. If we don't identify, not as a choice we make, but as a genuine enlightenment breakthrough of what we previously held to be the self, we no longer suffer. This cannot be a philosophy espoused, but rather a genuine breakthrough. Real enlightenment. Actual freedom. No breakthrough, no enlightenment. No freedom, no enlightenment. Continued suffering, no enlightenment.
Necessarily, the world does not meet all our needs all the time. It does not meet much of our needs most of the time. The absence of emotion will not change that. The absence of thoughts will not change that; or imagination, as it were. As we have seen, I have argued only the complete and full penetration of a 'sense' of self will result in the freedom we seek. I have defined this self as a virtual entity resulting from awareness/life-force operating through the nervous system, generating consciousness, which identifies with various mechanical, deterministic sub-systems of information processing, creating a dependant and ever unstable complex system know as a person or me with drives, identity and self-awareness. Since it is contingent and not self-existent, it is in a constant state of decay and need, inexorably driven and unable to rest – it is the essence of suffering. As such, it is the self that is the experience and source of suffering; given its contingent nature, it can be no other way. See through the sense of self and there is just lived experience, pure and perfect as it always was/is. Just is; no judgment; because, no self. Simply awareness of what is and the intrinsic peace, perfection and bliss of being as our underlying nature. Pure cognizance. Everything else is the play of energy, crystallized and structured in an infinity of interdependent, yet discrete systems; which have taken on a life and animation of their own. They come and go, yet have no substance or permanence; no intrinsic value or worth - they just are the fractal play of light in awareness. To see THAT is to have true, real and liberating insight.
Level one enlightenment: ditching the split - seeing through the virtual self. A 'real' uncontrived shift in view - from identification with, and experience of, self as the puppet - the little virtual self that needs and suffers, strives and seeks, defends and promotes - to a realization of that which sees-what-is - the unchanging, ever pristine, perfectly peaceful and satisfied, empty sky-like awareness. Conditioning continues to arise at level one due to lack of development and purification of the 'whole system' that is the person. However, we are not the system. The shift has taken place, we 'experience' that we are not that system of cause and effect, we as awareness see it, but are not it. And if the shift is real and not some adopted intellectual philosophy or confusion of attainment, then we, like the open sky, remain free and untouched, simply aware of what is, but unaffected by it. True enough in the early stages of stabilization, we may be distracted and fall back into identification with phenomena. This is not a loss of enlightenment, or a true shift back as it were, far from it; it is merely a momentary distraction, like a day dream, at the psychoemotional level due to remnants of habit patterns yet to be purified. There was no suffering or craving, just an emergent - mechanical - ripple of cause and effect in the virtual systems-self. Awareness sees the ripple, and it is perfect and equal like every other movement of energy in awareness. Why? Because there is no self to judge the ripple. Just awareness of objects in awareness. Practice goes on and so does the personal body-mind system develop and purify, giving rise to all sorts of transformations of body, energy and conscious - not awareness, however. That just sees the movement in stillness; stillness in movement.
A final point. I do think there is progressive development that moves along an infinite trajectory, and as such, I think that what is considered enlightenment around here is enlightenment proper, but only basic or level one enlightenment or first of the higher spiritual initiations if you want to use that metaphor. There will be further progress in that development - growth and transformation of the system. And while awareness is pure and perfect now, as it always has been - before and after enlightenment - and never changes, just is, and is aware of what is, while everything else changes - the phenomena that is the objects of awareness, our lived experience and various systems - WILL change due to purification of the skandhas and development of the nervous system, and greater presence or embodiment of intelligent life-force - chi - and development of shen and higher bodies and such. Thus, further 'developmental' transformation of the system that is the person will result in ever greater, more comprehensive and more direct experience of infinity as we are, and always were, resulting in cosmic enlightenment or initiation; for want of better terms. At this level, such perfect stereotypical enlightenment, as you seek, and as previously detailed above may be found. Thus, here is where we might find at the systems level, a complete absence of conditioning and imperfection - by human standards.
So, I propose that any and all systems of authentic development will eventually result in what you seek, and that Actual Freedom is not unique in this. I think we will find some rare Buddhist, Taoist, Christian Mystics and those from all traditions who have found what you seek. It is rare because it is the peak of human/spiritual evolution, at least as we currently understand it. Not peak, according to greater standards we currently cannot comprehend, which reach beyond this speck of a universe. It's rare because it is no small feat, like the peak of ANY human endeavor - sports, music, art - and in the same way, cannot be done in brief amount of time, with minimal commitment. First level initiation or basic enlightenment isn't of such a high standard and may more easily be stumbled upon. Not so difficult to get High Distinctions at university, pretty bloody hard to win the Olympics. ;-P
Tarin, on a different matter. What is the definition for Arhat you are using? I wonder if you would take a moment to explain why you think you are one? And what are the changes in your experience prior to and after?
Thanks!
In kind regards,
Adam. Edited for grammar, spelling and clarification.
Yeah, Hokai's the man!!! He was a great loss to this community. Poetic Iterations of a central theme is a common teaching method; however, I was just amusing myself 
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