Actual freedom is non-spiritual. There are a number of definitions of spirituality and people usually mean different things when they use the word spiritual. Generally spirituality refers to 'the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things' (OED). There are connotations of belonging to something greater than oneself, of acknowledging a higher power, sacredness, divinity, all encompassing love, deep meaning etc. Admittedly this is a rather broad and extremely general way of charactersing diverse religions and spiritual practices, but it is our entry point into distinguishing actualism from spiritual practises that at first seem similar.

Actual freedom shows us that the universe is throroughly material. But this is a materialism that is far removed from the bland, mechanical and dead world of the reductive rationalist. The materialism of this universe is magical, stunningly alive and scintillating. The universe and the matter within it is not dead or inert. It is positively alive – but of course a rock or a cup are not alive in the same way a dog or a human is; even so, the stuff that they are made of is bursting with the matter and energy of universe that goes into us all, whether we be camels or a telephone!

Blending Actualism and Spiritual Practice

Many come to actualism after years of spiritual practise. Even if you haven't had an established spiritual practise at some point, you may have overt or covert spiritual beliefs that you are reluctant to abandon. It is typical for novices to try and blend actualism with meditation, Buddhism and even Christian spirtual beliefs and practices. To avoid throwing out the 'baby with the bath water' as it were. What I would suggest is that you keep in mind that this sort of blending will take you in a direction, far away from actuality and actual freedom. However there is no need to give up your spiritual beliefs to make a start in actualism. Beliefs automatically drop away when something else that is better and truer takes their place. Actualism is a down-to-earth, marketplace practice. You can see for yourself how your spiritual beliefs stand up in your actualism journey. I would strongly recommend though that at the very least you 'bracket' your current spiritual worldview and set it aside if you are sincerely interested in actualism, as it works best when it is taken a total system – rather than picking and mixing bits that you like with your favourite spiritual ideas. Many have tried and failed!