Russell Paul Schofield's search for truth began at a very early age. He was born in Indiana, (USA), the youngest son in a large family. His mother and father were both ordained ministers. Russell's mother was gifted with the power to heal. As a small boy Russell witnessed many healing miracles which she performed. Being born clairvoyant, he was able to perceive the energy-fields around people and the radiant light-fire of the healing energy which his mother channeled through her hands. When he asked her where the fire came from, and what the different colors meant, she told him simply that "God works in mysterious ways, and it isn't up to man to question His works." But even though she believed she could be a channel for God's healing power, she was unable to accept healing for her own body. Consequently, at the early age of forty-nine, her physical body gave out. Russell was only six years old at the time, and he was told that God had taken his mother. This left him with a deep feeling of betrayal. He reasoned in a childish way that if it was God who had taken his mother, then he would have nothing to do with such a cruel God.

For three years Russell rejected all religious training. Then, at age nine, he had a dramatic spiritual awakening that was to set the course of his life. He was playing with other children by Lake Michigan, and wandered alone up into the sand dunes to lie down. He was suddenly lifted up in consciousness and was contacted for the first time by a great teacher known on the inner planes as the master teacher of synthesis. This was to be the first of many contacts with inner teachers who provided inspiration, guidance, and protection in the years to follow. He was shown the planetary tapestry of the universal interrelationship between and among all life on earth. He was shown how God actually relates to individuals, and to humanity as a whole, with the greatest of love--completely devoid of judgmentalism or vindictiveness. God, in fact, had not taken his mother. She had been taken out by her own false-to-fact concepts and images which prevented her from opening to and partaking of the abundant healing power that is always available. She thought of herself as merely a "channel" and therefore unable to use the healing power for herself.

In the broader perspective, it was then revealed how all of humanity are victims of "image government." Thus humanity is governed by false-to-fact belief systems and theories that misinform and mislead them. Russell was shown that his purpose for incarnating in this lifetime was to establish a training process to free individuals from image government so they could be free to experience and express their many truths, thus enabling them to actualize more of their divine potential. He needed to found a school that would actually teach, in modern terms for Western culture, all that was meant by the statements, "Man Know Thyself" and "Physician Heal Thyself." Such teaching could prepare the sincere seeker to know his/her own divine nature by direct experience.

In order to integrate esoteric and exoteric teaching, Russell acquired doctorates in psychology, naturopathy, and divinity. He then traveled to many countries searching for the viable truths contained within their cultures. He spent years testing and checking the tools and techniques he had been shown on the inner planes. This was accomplished by working with clairvoyants and seers of many nationalities who confirmed the actual existence of these tools.

In 1959, after a series of experimental groups, he started to teach a group of sensitives in southern California who evolved into the pioneering teaching staff of Actualism. Actualism became a non-profit California corporation in 1977. Today there are about a dozen active teachers of Actualism in various parts of the United States. Russell died in 1984, but his legacy of Lightwork lives on. The current staff and Board of Directors are working together to preserve the essence of the teachings, and at the same time to expand the reach of the training so that more people can learn these powerful and effective methods of integrating body, mind, identity and Spirit.