Chapter One: Some General Considerations THE ANATOMY OF A THETAN Man, as he lives on this planet, is a self­contained interactive system interacting with other self­contained interactive systems. So a lot of interaction takes place. The theoretical model we are using to come to grips with this is as follows: there is a state outside games (static) and inside games (dynamic). Both interact through the thetan. For the purpose of interaction inside games the thetan creates postulates and energy. This, through non­attention, may lead to solidification: to the thetan's home­made ridges (GPMs) and his identification with foreign­made ridges (entities). Further components in this model are the mest universe, the Genetic Entity (GE) with its somatic banks containing billions of engrams, and the body. Part and parcel of this model are certain considerations: that of re­incarnation (past and future lives), of individual time tracks being linear, of the law of cause and effect ("karma", to use an old term), and of one's present and future being the consequence of one's past. None of this is true in the absolute sense. It's only part of a workable model. A "model" is a way of looking at things. So what we've got here is a useful way of looking at things. As one puts this model into practice one clears out the bad karma of one's own past and that of others in order to improve one's future. One concerns oneself a lot with the past. Why? Because a person suffering from bad karma won't achieve his goals. For various reasons: firstly, earlier unpleasant experiences (his own Goals Problems Masses) make him feel uncertain and inhibited; secondly, his middle management (the entities) actually falsify his intentions; thirdly his work crew (GE) goes on strike (activated engrams), rendering the body useless. Add to that the interaction with other thetans' opinions, other thetans' banks, other thetans' entities and other thetans' body/GE­units, and you get the picture. Yet despite all of this interaction going on, the thetan is supposed to be the boss. What goes on is his responsibility. Auditing is designed to handle this wildly uncontrolled interaction so as to re­establish the thetan on his post. It does, in fact. If done right. What auditing is good auditing? Any auditing that gets a thetan peeled out of the above. To repeat: what goes on in the system totally and utterly depends on the thetan's considerations and agreements. That many of his considerations and agreements are suppressed, ignored and not­ised doesn't change the matter at all. It's his responsibility. It's he who made the considerations, he who went into agreement, he who identified himself with lousy conditions. His fault. Who built that bank? He did. Flow zero all the way. This is the way to build a bank: First one fails to succeed and thinks up a negative thought (counter­postulate) of one's own. Second step: On the basis of this personal GPM the losses, considerations, and the charge of others can be pulled in and be identified with. Foreign GPMs are added to one's own. As the last step, this unwanted accumulation of twisted postulates and mental mest is taken out on the GE and through it, on the body. One's own incidents and postulates and one's entities' incidents and postulates send their aberrating impulses and commands down to the GE, and the GE starts operating in a fittingly aberrated way. It dutifully pulls out engrams which somehow seem to suit the requirements. It tries to communicate what it finds upwards, to the command level, but nobody seems to listen. So what can it do but release the engram contents downwards, to the body, and ­ behold! ­ the body gets ill. Small wonder, indeed. So the reason why we put old soup cans into the hands of that body, is to measure what goes on further up the line. GE energy fluctuations cause changes in skin resistance. That makes the meter read. And from the read and the TA position we can tell that thetan, entities and GE are not in a state of harmony with each other. You may look at this in terms of little gnomes and elves working away inside the body trying to do the thetan's bidding or, more abstractly, as vibrations and resonances between the interactive fields of thetan, entities and GE. Either way it comes down to the same phenomena. There seems to be a limited number of modes of perception available to man. No matter what classical esoteric school of wisdom or contemporary New Age fashion you wish to follow: it all boils down to perceiving by means of positioning viewpoints, and to the interaction of viewpoints thus positioned. One may perceive as a thetan from inside or outside one's body; one may perceive through another's viewpoint; one may perceive through the GE (human, animal or plant); one may perceive through mest. That's about all one can do. Which is why no "new" esoteric trend ever comes up with anything novel. The Four­Layered Case What does the above mean for the practice of auditing? It means that any situation the auditee wants to see resolved can be addressed on four levels. Firstly, one may address the situation on the time track of the person concerned, of the auditee himself. When did it start, where, and how? Finding this out exactly will lead to either a key­out, a release or an erasure. Secondly, one may address the situation with respect to the auditee's entities: how did they contribute to the trouble and complicate it? Thirdly, one may address the situation with respect to the GE and its engrams: to what extent did they play a role? Fourthly, one may address the situation with respect to the body: by recommending medical care, food, sleep, vitamins, exercise, and by suggesting the auditee stay away from drugs, poisons and electronic pollution. In practice, these four layers of case do not necessarily follow each other in this sequence! You can't help starting with what the auditee offers you as an entry point. But whilst working on one layer you have to also be aware of the others so as to account for "weird session phenomena". Nothing weird about them when you know that the session runs on four layers simultaneously. This shows you in essence what a "bridge to total freedom" would have to consist of: it would have to handle the four levels of thetan, entities, GE and body in whatever sequence, so as to eventually put the thetan in full control of his shop. Only then, with a healthy body, a known ideal scene and no entities or telepathic interferences keeping him from attaining it, could a person be considered free. AUDITING AND OTHER PRACTICES The Thetan, Your Neglected Friend I believe that Ron Hubbard has contributed to the advancement of spirituality on this planet Earth in two ways: by emphasizing that thetans (i.e. all of us) are the source of space, energy, matter and time (and that therefore mest doesn't exist as independent of thetans), and by discovering the thetan's bank, in particular the bank characteristic for this planet, the R6 bank. Everybody else (yoga, meditation, aikido, tai chi, shiatsu, shamanism) concerns themselves with investigating and improving the thetan's relationship to energy, but the thetan himself they take for granted. To live life better they use strict ethics and rigorous training. Ron alone made the thetan himself the subject of investigation.By auditing his foreign­made GPMs (implants) and self­made GPMs he found psychological abysses hitherto unknown. He attempted to rehabiliate the thetan as the "source point" he sees him to be. (That he didn't succeed with this in all repects doesn't diminish the value of what was actually achieved.) I have actively participated in various methods that teach a thetan to handle organic energy ("lambda", in Hubbard's terms): meditation, yoga, tai­chi, aikido, shiatsu, etc. I have audited some people who were highly adept in these methods. Despite their adeptness they would still respond to auditing. They found implants they wouldn't have dreamt of. Why? Because much as these methods teach a thetan how to control energy they don't make the thetan look at himself (in particular at the implants he has received or associated with energetically). They don't actually handle the case of the boss in the system. They leave him unchanged. Take shiatsu: an accomplished master of this art can not only heal but actually re­mould bones and vertebrae. Of course, it isn't the man doing it himself, it's him influencing his patient's GE and appealing to that GE's ideal scene and its programs. I was told by an authority in that field that after some months or years of such treatment the actual mass of the bone will have taken on its proper shape and form again. It works only as long as the patient doesn't put counter­postulates there. Part of the reason shiatsu takes so long is that the healer has to slowly change the agreements of his patient with regard to the patient's body so as to key out counter­intentions. But he doesn't actually get the patient to analyse his GPMs and as­is them. This is where auditing is different. The difference lies in what's done with the charge one has detected: the shiatsu practitioner smoothes it out, the auditor finds its source. The shiatsu practitioner goes for key­out and release, the auditor for as­ising the underlying conflict (GPM). But not to forget, there is some great virtue in disciplines like shiatsu, aikido or tai­chi, in that they strengthen the "body org" consisting of thetan, GE and body. They strengthen it internally by harmonizing the energies of these three "business partners". Thus they make the "org" relatively immune to disturbances from the outside such as radiation or "telefighting". Auditing in contrast furthers the thetan's natural tendency to look outwards. Particularly solo auditing serves to establish "external security". Tai­chi, shiatsu and aikido masters are specialists in GE matters, auditors are specialists in thetan matters. The difference between these two approaches to mental health could be used for their mutual benefit. It seems to me that Ron Hubbard at the time he wrote "Dianetics", worked from a viewpoint similar to that of the eastern disciplines mentioned. Back in the 1950s he thought that the thetan was essentially a clean being, only interfered with by pictures from the somatic banks of the GE. He thought the body was the problem. His idea was to calm down the GE by auditing most of its key engrams. With this unwanted interference gone, the person was expected to be "clear". In those years of the past (until 1952), Ron seemed to have known very little about past lives, let alone entities. He didn't seem to know that the thetan had a bank of his own. He thought there was only a GE bank. The GE bank consists of the recordings of death or near­death incidents received by human, animal or plant bodies in the past. Only later did he discover that there is a thetan bank, too! The thetan bank consists of one's own GPMs (ridges) and of others' GPMs one unknowingly identified with (entities). A Novel Type Of Meditation Ron's most significant technical innovation (in my opinion) is this: that he expanded the concept of meditation so as to include two people. TR­0 is meditation for two persons being there with each other. This is one step up from Gautama Buddha's idea that one should just sit down by oneself, hold still, watch the flow of one's breath, not attach oneself to passing attitudes, emotions, sensations and pains, and see what would happen. With that, Siddartha Gautama cut through the complications accrued throughout some two or three thousand years of vedic practice. He told people to keep it simple. In the same vein Ron ­ by saying that one should sit down with another, hold still, not attach oneself to passing attitudes, emotions, sensations and pains, and see what would happen ­ cut through the complications accrued throughout some two thousand years of Buddhist practice. Yet again someone had to come along and tell people to keep it simple. Rumour has it that Ron was Buddha. To my knowledge, Ron never claimed to have been the Buddha of 500 B.C.. Ron Hubbard was not Siddartha Gautama. They were two different persons entirely. However, Ron does claim (in "Hymns of Asia") to be the coming buddha, the Maitreya. It was mentioned above that eastern practices take one to a very high state of release and energy control. They release you from the bank and make you able to handle matter and energy way beyond the wildest assumptions of western science. Think of their healing powers! Their martial arts! Their control of telepathy and the "paranormal"! Fabulous stuff. Yet seductive, too! Which is why Hubbard used strong words against it (LK3/ p.114). One particular discipline doesn't concern itself with energy at all, though, and that's Zen Buddhism. Up to the present day, Zen masters keep emphasizing that nothingness (static) is the source of all things. So by Hubbard's standards they could probably be considered ok. Ron Hubbard A Clandestine Zen Monk? It's quite intriguing to look at Hubbard's technology in terms of Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism is very much a "now!" discipline. Ron refers to this as "stay in present time!" or "doing what you are doing whilst you are doing it" (his definition of power). Using that as a maxim of course bypasses all auditing and leads right over to the subject of ethics. It aims at the static aspect of the thetan, at the awareness of creating one's actuality by postulates alone For example, if one maintained that the ups and downs of one's life were entirely due to oneself having fallen prey to suppressive persons in one's past, and if one maintained further that this condition was going to be improved by auditing sometime in the future, one would forget that the condition is now, that it is being created now, and that from the viewpoint of ethics the past is no excuse for not making it go right in the present: there is only "now". This principle actually underlies Objectives Processes. They are merciless in that they don't permit bank to be an excuse for bad performance. "Touch that wall!" ­ "Thank you!" ­ "Let go of that wall!" ­ "Thank you!" ­ "Touch that wall!" ­ "I have a headache!" ­ "Never mind, just keep going. Touch that wall!" ­ Etc. The most fascinating process command Ron ever came up with was: "Change your mind about it!" Auditee: "I hate being lonesome, ugly, ill and a total failure." Auditor: "Fine. Just change your mind about it!" Doesn't work. Demands an ability one may command at the top end of the bridge, not before. But nevertheless: this is what it's all about. Why look at explanations? Why look at the past? Just change your mind about it! The picture is not the thing. So why be afraid of pictures? Why be afraid of something oneself or another is mocking up? Why be the slave of one's own considerations? You, the static, should be able to change the thing you have constructed (your mind) to suit the job better. "There is beingness yet man thinks there is only becomingness". You remember this from the Factors? Not a far cry from "one's all­pervading Buddha­nature is ever present". Auditing in a way compares to contemplating a Zen koan. The auditor (the "authoritative master") takes up an item the auditee (the "disciple") has originated previously. The auditee focuses his attention on it, makes it the most important thing in the world, builds up mind­bending tensions, associates blood­curdling thoughts and pictures with it, eventually realizes what he is doing there ­ and laughs about it. This is the static playing games with himself. The good thing about eastern disciplines (and this is where scientologists have a lot to learn) is that a master guides a disciple. They don't permit the blind to lead the blind. It's not "the tech" that does it. It's the wisdom of one's guru. Creating Nothingness A further Zen­Buddhist feature in Hubbard's work is his concern with the duality of somethingness and nothingness. In order to keep communication flowing, the auditor (or indeed anyone) must create nothingness (a vacuum) between himself and the other terminal. He does so by TR­2, acknowledgement. Acknowledgement leads to as­isness, no matter if the terminal is a thetan­ mind­body composite or consists of thetan plus mind only. (It's telepathy in both cases anyway.) The thetan creates his viewpoint and stays centered. That's TR­0. He extends a comm line. That't TR­1. Along that comm line he receives an inflow. That's a somethingness. He acknowledges (TR­2), and again there is nothingness. He is ready for the next load to come in. No overwhelm. Thetan and GE: A Loving Couple Let's have a look at eastern practices with "ki" or "chi" as part of their name: they focus the practitioner's attention on the area just below the navel (called "hara").By focussing on this point the thetan creates his space via the main command post of the GE. He works "through the navel", as it were. This means they make the thetan consider and include the GE in what he his doing. He acts "in step" with his GE. His power and that of the GE combine. That gives him a lot of power. Very wise indeed! In contrast, Hubbard takes his approach not through the navel but through the forehead (6th chakra), the major command post of the thetan. He goes "through the mind" (dia nous ® dia­noetics ® dianetics). This emphasis on the mind unfortunately made the whole subject of scientology very head­oriented. So much so that body and GE became ignored, if not despised. Very unwise indeed! The thetan loves logic and KRC. He thinks in the linear mode, he thinks in terms of cause and effect. He likes to focus his attention to a narrow beam. The GE loves emotional warmth and ARC. It "thinks" in the lateral mode, in terms of broadly sweeping associations. It tends to spread its attention all around. Both are useful, depending on the situation. This has nothing to do with the left and the right half of the brain "doing" anything. As usual, the brain just reflects "theta electronics" in the form of mest electric discharges. Right or left brain predominance in certain people just shows who is the boss: thetan or GE. The closest Ron ever came to handling the GE directly, is the Touch Assist. The Touch Assist doesn't work "through the mind" but through GE and body. To be more exact: it works through putting the thetan's attention on two energy flow lines which run up each leg from the heel, pass the spine on both sides, continue up the back of the neck, circle the head like a crown and unite at the forehead. Anyone familiar with yoga or shiatsu knows these lines. By putting the thetan's attention on them, knotted­up energy is released and made to flow again. Ignoring body and GE is nonsense, of course. Because it would mean ignoring what's there. Next time you do TR­0, try do it through the navel, i.e. include the GE in the process. Notice the difference! The art of confronting is often misconstrued to mean taking things on "with your forehead" ("frons", Latin, means forehead). Perhaps this is the reason why scientologists, particularly on a group level, often act like bulls in a china shop when it comes to confronting their environment and the people in it, all in the stalwart effort "to make it go right". Whereas followers of eastern practices tend to be very mellow in their social interaction. Often to the point of getting nothing done! I'm sure we can learn from each other. West Meets East The innermost ruin of an auditee usually cannot be handled by lower level auditing alone. It takes the whole bridge to do so. And more than that, as we'll see in a moment. After removing his own charge, one would have to remove his entities first (on Solo 3 and Excalibur), then unburden the GE of its engrams (on the GERD), and eventually undo the auditee's games postulate fabric (on the SEPP). Now that's a long way to go. Yet one cannot always wait that long! The auditee ­ particularly if that innermost ruin was in restimulation for a long time ­ may be in need of urgent help! So what to do? Answer: proper nutrition, proper exercise, proper relaxation. For this I warmly recommend yoga, meditation, tai­chi, aikido. No better way to smoothe out and harmonize body, soul and spirit! Works only on a key­out basis, yes, gives great releases but no erasures, yes, doesn't touch GPMs, yes ­ but provides a platform successful auditing can stand on. "Squirrelling"? No. This is not mixing practices. This is using the right practice for the right job at the right moment. We have to take a holistic (wholesome) approach. Looking at one part we have to consider the whole. What do others have to offer that might help us to fix things? You have a tooth ache? See your dentist. Broken arm? Get it put in a plastercast. Overweight? Go on a diet. Stiff like a log? Take up yoga. Aura all spotty? See a tai­chi or aikido master. Bottom line: get the GE purring like a cat by ordinary means, then use auditing to handle the thetan. Instead of wasting loads of good auditing hours on the fruitless effort of running rudiments or engrams on a chainsmoking workoholic who never sleeps and eats properly.