From International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 6 - May 1992


Book News

Excalibur Revisited
Reviewed by Peter Schon

[This article was written in 1987]

There are many approaches to Scientology, many attitudes to
Scientology. What one learns about Scientology will be heavily
influenced by the approach and attitude he takes towards Scientology.
In various places and times, Scientology is considered a business, a
con game, a system of therapy, a brainwashing technique, a religion, a
philosophical subject. In the middle class world of today, there is
still a controversy going on as to which one of these labels is the
correct one, and it is possible the controversy will continue as long
as Scientology itself continues in existence.

Arguments about -what- Scientology is, disguise the far more important
fact -that- it is, and seem also to be trying very hard to ignore the
hard-earned simplicity of -where- it is: in books, bulletins, policy
letters and on tapes. Scientologists in the Free Zone are as
susceptible to this misdirection as any other Scientologists. To voice
unflattering opinions of L. Ron Hubbard is not cause for expulsion in
the Free Zone; to ride one's own personal tech hobby horse will not
get one demoted. In the Free Zone it is not required of anyone
describing a supposedly new piece of technology that he documents his
find or in any other way align it with source material. One seldom
hears anyone in the Free Zone ask, "Does it fit on the Bridge? If so,
where?"

This is all reflected in the common publications of the Free Zone. New
finds that come into publication tend to be one-item finds. In the
state of more systematic finds (for example Rowland Barkley's work and
Bill Robertson's series of levels) publishing is either private - to
the buyer of the level - or journalistic: capsule descriptions in
haphazard interviews. Thus is brought about a body of material that is
something of a patchwork quilt. Persons whose only inflow of
Scientology material is the current journal or magazine dropped on
their doorstep are in possibly a worse position than the receivers of  
"Advance" and "Source" in the Church. Different authors, different
goals, some goals stated and some goals not, different frames of
reference, different abilities and different assumptions are the rule
in the publications of the Free Zone, not the exception.

There is a book which is not included in the official material of
Scientology in the Church, but on the other hand not challenged by the
Church of Scientology in the courts. This book is difficult, but not
impossible to find, and it is not forbidden to Free Zone
Scientologists. It is slightly over 800 pages long in typescript form
on A4 paper. This book purports to contain the whole of the essential
knowledge of Scientology and the minimum information necessary to
deliver the complete Dianetics and Scientology bridge. The entirety of
the Scientology literature is listed as strongly recommended reading,
the author recommends the Tech Dictionary while at the same time
taking no chances and providing his own list of terms and definitions
for the reader, and for the reader to use with his preclear, should
the reader actually take up auditing. There are subtle differences in
some of these definitions but most are the same. The book is not
opposed to source material. It is also aligned and organised around
the bridge.

The title of the book is "Excalibur Revisited" and to all who know the
definition and usage of the term "Excalibur" in Scientology, this will
reveal an accurate concept of the book's technical aspect and general
direction. The full title adds "The Akashic Book of Truth": for those
who are aware of the Akashic record, this reveals the overall concept
of the book. For those who are not aware of the Akashic record, it is
explained in the book.

As the title divides neatly into two parts, so does the book.
Excalibur is defined in the Tech Dictionary as an "unpublished book
written in the 30's ... most of which has been released in HCOBs, PLs
and books." Half of the 800 pages of "Excalibur Revisited" are devoted
to Dianetics and Scientology technology, which is described briefly,
simply and functionally, with only subtle differences, very minor on
the verbal level but potentially major on an applied level. The one
Scientology concept that is explained at length is the Service
Facsimile. This beast is given a thirty-page section of its own in the
book; the author regards it as the make-break point of a case: that
case which is on the upper levels but is still using a service
facsimile will run the upper levels making himself right and others
wrong.

The data given are much more specific than one finds in the church
material. The author states the concepts of the core Service Fac,
tells what differentiates it from other Service Facs, and describes
what to look for so as to know when you have found it. This section on
the Service Fac, with its differences from the Church tech, is the
longest but otherwise typical for all of the tech in the book. For
some the book will answer questions and set stable data: when to
resort to a correction list, when to have the pc study and when to put
him into the auditing chair, when to handle what he is complaining
about versus when to put him on the next level, when to do Expanded
Dianetics and on whom, where to start on the different types of people
that come to you and how to recognise the types.

The author felt compelled to include all material neccessary to
deliver a complete bridge, yet only half of the book is technical. The
other half - necessary, the author states - is certainly a prod to the
sleeping mind. Scientology existed 25,000 years ago and was
brilliantly recalled, but not invented, by Hubbard. Absolutes are
obtainable in a being's own universe and are the only thing he is
really interested in, besides. The difference between a static and a
thetan is discussed more thoroughly than I have seen anywhere else.
Comparisons to other religions and cultures are given: Lamaism,
Northern and Southern Buddhism, The Markabian versus the Galactic
Confederation, Atlantis, Lemuria, mainstream culture in the Western
world today, with its miseducation and manipulation. It is when one
begins to wonder why these far-flung items are thought to be part of
"the absolute minimum information necessary" to deliver a complete
bridge, that the book begins to reveal its secrets.

Geoffrey Filbert has been auditor for over three decades. He left the
Church in 1974, delivering the entire bridge in the field since that
time at the price set by himself. Declares attempted where never
issued. He is currently living in Southern California where he carries
on a thriving auditing practice.

Editorial Note: This book has not been printed and we understand that
Geoffrey Filbert has no intention of printing.

It is available in a scanned version at
ftp.lightlink.com/pub/homer/act/excalrev.scr

**********

The Bhagavad Gita - Translated and introduced by E. Easwaren Arkana.
1986
Reviewed by Leonard Dunn, England

As I had not read this work a friend sent me a copy as a Christmas
present. I have been so impressed with its excellence that I decided
to review it. This does not mean that I am in total agreement with all
its ideas but I found a lot that was valuable in it.

Perhaps it greatest virtue is that it is very readable and the
writer's introduction to each chapter is always very helpful to the
understanding of the text itself.

In his introduction his exposition of Karma is the most sensible that
I have encountered. There is no mention of Lords of Karma setting out
each life for us in advance, this has always seemed to me to be too
reminiscent of whole track tribunals, but to place the the
responsibility firmly on the individual for him to work out in his own
way. This I have long felt to be the case.

Many of the ideas expressed will be familiar to scientologists since
LRH acknowledges the Vedas, to which this is akin, as part of his
research material. I found myself very much in agreement with Brahman
as being "the supreme reality underlying all life... impersonal
godhead". On the other hand the god Krishna is like too many other
personalised deities, needing and demanding worship and demanding
acceptance of his commands without allowing and almost rejecting the
individual's right to his own ideas. What sort of a tone level is
that!

The remedy for one's outnesses, if I may use that term, is meditation.
Several of my friends have been into this form of enlightenment and
none of them made any great progress through it. Two of them have been
in counselling with me, using the processes of Geoffrey Filbert, and
they have been amazed at the gains that they have made in a
comparatively short time. This emphasises that no one way is
applicable to all.

I do suggest that this work is really worth reading and it is quite
low priced in paperback (5.99 in Breat Britain).

**********

Book News - Playmasters. By John Dalmas and Rod Martin
(Baen Book, Dept IV, 260 Fifth Avenue,NewYork, NY, 10001, USA. $3.50
in USA, 1986.)
Reviewed by Bob Ross, USA

In this book the idea is proposed that we participate in games at
various levels such as Umpire, Gamesmaster, Playmaster. Below this we
have the various levels of Players: Warrior, Farmer, Economist,
Healer. Gamesmasters design games, Playmasters direct the scripts of
games which are partially written but somewhat changeable by the
actions of characters.

We/characters are equipped with predetermined skills and interests but
sometimes we can enhance those skills from within the playing field.
It is against the rules of the particular game being played for those
with higher skills to mix in with the game except under specifically
predetermined conditions. One such condition that might apply to the
game of Earth that we are presently engaged in, is responding to
requests for help or advice. Another form of help could be through
dreams. Umpire is highest and is equivalent to God of the game.
Gamesmaster and Playmaster exist and act above the game but can at
will descend to mix in the game from time to time, in ways limited by
and defined by the particular set of rules for that game. Roles such
as Warrior, Farmer, Healer, Economist can be played at various levels
within the game. The top role of Economists is Banker. Well below that
are bank presidents, tellers, bank guards and the like. The highest
level of activity within a game is at the level of Play or the Spirit
of Play. Below that is the level of work and seriousness. A Warrior
acts at the level of play. A soldier acts at work. Similarly for each
of the other categories. There are rare creative individuals in each
category who act in Play. Many others who act at the level of work or
drudgery and many, many others who are simply moved around and act as
pawns or victims, e.g. the Entrepreneurs, Industrialists, Workers and
so on. At the bottom in each category we have different kinds of
victims and broken pieces.

Just as one can improve one's physical beingness through exercise and
improved one's mental beingness through study, it is also possible to
improve one's spiritual beingness through such activities as Yoga or
$cn.

(Editors note: When one meets such a review as above, one is apt to be
smug, and say "See how what Ron has given out has been followed up by
others". Perhaps the best written scientology source for Games Theory
is "Fundamentals of Thought" (chapter VI) by L. Ron Hubbard, 1956. Of
live lectures, some of the best are in the Philedelphia Doctorate
Series, Reel 20 on the spool to spool editon, lectures 39 and 40
entitled Games Processing and Games/Goals. The blurb from Pubs Org
says "There must be rehabilitation of the -spirit of play- otherwise
the thetan gets out of his head and [he] has no goal". Since there is
a bit of space left on this page, I might do worse than quote a little
of what Ron said way back in December 1952: "Do you know that nowhere
here on earth do they have a games umpire, no where here on earth do
they have a games supervisor, nowhere here on earth do they have an
office of maker of games, substation earth? No place...There is nobody
going around thinking of games.. So what do we do about something like
this? You can just upset this old apple cart left and right, by
studying what is basically a game. Now in the first place everybody...
There is another right which people may contest. It is anybody has a
right to play a game, some game. People who are playing a game have a
right to exclude people from playing a [specific] game but they do not
have the right to set it up so that those people cannot play in
another game. So there are a lot of rights to a game..." Its
fascinationg stuff, Ed IVy.)

**********

Book News - Slan
Reviewed by Todde Sal‚n, Sweden

A.E. van Vogt is one of the most read Science Fiction writers in the
world. He was a very close friend of Ron Hubbard in the 40'es and
early 50'es.

He was the first course supervisor of Dianetics in Los Angeles.
Between 1951 and 1981 he was director of the oldest Dianetic
organisation in the world (the C.A.D.A.).

Among all the Science Fiction books he wrote the most popular one has
been "Slan". When I asked him how he got the idea to the Slan book he
told me that he had read about grizzly bears and learned that the
grizzly bear was quite innocent and vulnerable before it grew up. He
then got the idea of a more advanced race of human beings and how
they, before they grew up and became able to control the world could
be in trouble because they were not in control.

For those who have done the advanced levels (OT-levels) in Scientology
this book should be interesting reading, as it gives a very clear
picture of how poorly a being, no matter how powerful he could become
is, if he is not organised in a world that does not appreciate his
abilities.

Our destinies as future able beings (organised OTs) are determined to
a large degree on how we can relate to each other and how we can
organise ourselves into sucessful groups that can co-operate in
creating a better civilisation.

A.E van Vogt also wrote a few science fiction books on the subject of
higher levels of logic - the Null-A books. The "null-A" stands for
"non-Arestotelean logic". Arestotelean logic is supposed to be 2-
valued logic, while "null-A" logic is infinity-valued logic or what
Hubbard called "gradient-scale" logic.

**********

Foundation Triology Review
Reviewed by Todde Sal‚n, Sweden

Isaac Asimov is the most read and the most famous of all Science
Fiction writers in the world. He was a personal friend of L. Ron
Hubbard in the 40's.

The most read and sold book of all Science Fiction works in the world
is the Foundation triology written by Isaac Asimov. Personally I have
no problem understanding why this book has fascinated people so much
for so many years.

The book actually describes the laws of Karma in relation to large
human groups and 4th dynamics. It illustrates in a very nice way how
actions of the past do influence the present and how you can change
your future karma by acting in the present.

If you translate the viewpoints on Karma of the 3rd and 4th dynamics
in the book to laws of Karma for the 1st dynamic, you will get a
better understanding of the laws of Karma for life and livingness
everywhere.

So I recommend this book for everybody who is interested in the laws
of life and especially if you are interested in the law of Karma and
want a very interesting book to read, written by one of the most
educated men in our modern world.