from International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 15 - January 1994
See Home Page at http://www.ivymag.org


A View from the Bridge

By Eric Townsend, England

Chapter Three (1)

Dianetics - Where Does It Fit In?

State of clear

For people living in the midst of our restimulative western society,
there is little chance of major progress towards spiritual
rehabilitation
while we have our own individual reactive mind. And so we come to
the latest definition of the word 'Clear'. This is 'A person who no
longer has his own individual Reactive Mind'. (HCOB 14.12.81 The State
of Clear).

The need to quote a Bulletin of such a recent date, rather than one
of the twelve definitions of Clear that appear in the 1975 Dianetics
and Scientology Technical Dictionary, is indicative of the difficulty
of discussing this term. The definition of Clear has been subject
to considerable re-inspection over the years since it first appeared
in DMSMH in 1950. This does not mean the earlier definitions
were wrong but the whole subject within which this crucial term exists
has been changing and developing very fast. The same thing can look
very different when seen from a different viewpoint.

Before we examine some of these changes in viewpoint, we must look
at one very important point about a thetan becoming a Clear. The
crucial
point in time is when they themselves become aware that they are
Clear.
This is why the term is used 'to attest' to the state of Clear. A
person may already have been Clear of a reactive mind for some
time but did not have the data to recognise that and acknowledge it
to themselves.

A person cannot with certainty become Clear at a particular point
on the Bridge. There is a point where you can predict that most people
will go Clear but some will do so earlier and some later. Some will
have been Clear since before they started the Bridge. The crucial
point is the point in time at which you recognise that you are Clear.
No other person can decide for you that you are Clear. There are a
lot of unacknowledged Clears around that have not acknowledged
to themselves that they are Clear because they do not, or did not
at the time, have the data to make an assessment for themselves of
whether they are Clear or not!

Need for re-education

This is one of the many times in this book when the need to educate
oneself in order to make spiritual gains will become obvious. It was
ignorance that got us into this mess in which we now find ourselves
but we didn't have the data then. It is available to us now through
the development of Dianetics and Scientology. We all need to acquaint
ourselves with it so we can apply the tests of does it seem true to
us and can it be used. We also need to know how to apply the data
to help us improve conditions for ourselves and others.

For many people who didn't study the subject further, what was
said in 1950 in Dianetics DMSMH became literal tests to be applied
many years after. Many people have become quite upset because they
could not reconcile being Clear and the fact that they still have
to wear glasses. This is because in DMSMH they were promised
that as Clears they would be free of all body malfunctions, and have
a perfect intellect and memory.

While this is understandable, we must look at the situation as it
was then and what has happened since. I don't doubt that there
are major physical changes in the people audited to what was referred
to as Clear in DMSMH.Several special factors applied to
the situation then which don't apply now. Firstly all the people
referred
to in DMSMH were audited by Hubbard himself. We can expect
that his skill and instincts as an auditor would be exceptional.

Secondly we don't know to what state he audited his early PCs to in
terms of today's Bridge. He would have audited them by identifying
and handling their individual needs. It is perfectly possible for
a person to shed large parts of their case and project themselves
several jumps up the Bridge. And as you will no doubt observe,
a detailed, specified Bridge had not been thought of then. If we
accept
the axiom that thought (theta) governs form and structure, then there
may have been no need for them to go step by step up a Bridge. At
that time Hubbard may have been clearing people not just of their
'body case' but also of their whole thetan case.

Thirdly we should ask who were the people that he audited? The people
who put themselves in the way of being audited in the kind of social
and intellectual climate that existed in the 1940's must have been
pretty exceptional. They would predictably have been pretty ripe for
breaking out of their case with an awareness which was already highly
developed.

Evolution of the subject

This is all speculation on my part because I have had to think about
this issue when I have been confronted with this complaint from time
to time. The short answer I usually give is that if all the answers
were contained in DMSMH, there would not have been any need
to do any more research or write any more books. To further put
the issue in time context, I also relate the development of Dianetics
and Scientology to the changes in aviation technology. In 1950 the
jet engine was in its infancy and was expected to be applicable only
to military use for fighter planes. Transport planes were still
powered
by petrol engines and the future was expected to lie with the Turbine
powered propeller engine.

We should see the evolution of Dianetics and Scientology as a time
track like any other. Hubbard was working from the inside to the
outside,
just like we all are. When he developed the principles and practice
of Dianetics in the late forties, he had no idea where it would lead.
The massive amount of subsequent research that went on can be read
up in the Research & Discovery Volumes(2).
This series of large volumes contains transcriptions
of L. Ron Hubbard's Lectures of which he gave some 2,000, mostly of
one or one and a half hours duration. and it makes fascinating
reading.

In this context it is only appropriate to look at the key developments
for Dianetics and with them the changing idea of Clear. With the
discovery
and development of the wonders of Scientology processing in the
fifties
and sixties, Dianetics went out of fashion. The term Clear was still
used but it was in relation to a much higher state of spiritual
awareness
and ability than relates to today's definition of Clear.

We can see something of the changing importance of Dianetics in
relation
to Scientology by looking at historical developments. In 1950 and
1951 there was only Dianetics. The more advanced technical
applications
were covered in the books Science of Survival  (June 1951),
Advanced Procedures and Axioms(3),
Self-Analysis (August 1951, originally considered a form of
Dianetics processing) and Handbook for Preclears (December
1951).By 1952 the subject of Scientology, spiritual rehabilitation,
was in full flight and interest in Dianetics was eclipsed.

This situation remained true for the rest of the fifties and most
of the sixties. This may have been because the gains in spiritual
awareness and causitiveness obtained from Scientology processing
seemed
to make direct addressing of the reactive mind unnecessary. There
is further potential confusion because the term clear was used in
the sixties in relation to the Clearing Course. This was designed
to achieve a state of OT abilities far above what later became
understood
as Clear or Dianetic Clear.

Revived Interest

In the late sixties/early seventies Hubbard revived his interest
in Dianetics. This may have been because it had been found that while
Scientology could undoubtedly 'key-out' the reactive mind, it
could not 'ERASE' it. ERASURE of the charged images, the 'MENTAL IMAGE
PICTURES', in the reactive mind was only ever achieved by confronting
them as what they are and this is the province of Dianetics. Whatever
the reason, Hubbard's renewed interest in Dianetics bore fruit as
Standard Dianetics. Standard Dianetics was a refined and streamlined
version of the Dianetics procedures of the fifties. It was
incorporated
into the book Dianetics Today published in 1975.

There was also Expanded Dianetics which was a special use of
Dianetics,
particularly directed to handle continuing body difficulties that
a person was having.

The continued work on Dianetics in the 70s resulted in the emergence
of New Era Dianetics which was launched in 1977/8. This was designed
to be an even more powerful means of getting to the basic ENGRAMS
on the 'body case'. It was also discovered however that one should
spend the minimum time possible running Dianetics on an individual
case. This was because excessive use of Dianetics could stir up
fragments
of the upper level case and bring them into immediate restimulation.
This was also the reason for the firm instruction against running
Dianetics on Clears, published in September 1978.

During the thirty years between 1950 and 1980 it would seem that the
term Clear has been something of a moving target. Looking through
the definitions of Clear, and related terms, in the 1975 Technical
Dictionary is very illuminating. During the seventies there was
further confusion by use of certain prefixes to distinguish between
different types of Clear. There was already Dianetic Clear but
now there emerged Scientology Clear, Natural Clear and Past Lives
Clear. Each had their exact definition but many people didn't know
them and often had only their knowledge of reading Dianetics MSMH
to which to relate these terms. There was an understandable amount
of confusion about this area at the end of the seventies.

In 1980 and 1981 Hubbard did a review and tidy-up of many aspects
of Scientology. It was to be his swan song (last piece of Technical
work) but fortunately it resulted in the resolving of a number of
sources of confusion that had grown up. He also produced a revised
sequence for the Bridge which provided a smoother gradient to get
most people onto the upper levels. This revised Bridge and some of
its implications will be dealt with more fully in later chapters.

In relation to Dianetics and Clear, the most important changes were
a new definition of Clear. This was stated as 'A BEING WHO NO LONGER
HAS HIS OWN REACTIVE MIND' (HCOB 14.12.81). This differentiated the
state of Clear from any sort of Release state. Hubbard restates that
there are enormous gains to be had from releases achieved by
Scientology
auditing, that is increased spiritual awareness and ability, but these
states are not the same as the state of Clear. This state is usually
achieved by Dianetics, and faster and more directly by using New Era
Dianetics.

DCSI

In May 1979 there emerged a new auditing/studying programme called
the Dianetic Clear Special Intensive (DCSI). This programme was
designed
to determine whether a person really was Clear, not just experiencing
a major release, and thus was ready to proceed onto the preparatory
steps for the OT levels. This is not just an auditing action but
includes
study steps by the person who has originated that they may be Clear
so that they can make their own assessment of whether they are Clear
or not. This also includes an exact dating of the time they became
Clear or recognised they were Clear.

As was said earlier, it had been found that getting through Dianetics
should be made as short a cycle as possible. This was a major factor
in the conception of the revised Bridge which emerged in 1980. Prior
to that date the first steps of the Bridge had been a handling of
the major effects of drugs and the Objective processes to put the
PC more stably into present time. After that the PC went straight
onto New Era Dianetics and was run on that until he went Clear or
attested to already being Clear. After that he did the Scientology
Grades to complete their stabilisation and restoration of abilities
to handle daily life and livingness as an OT. Only when they were
stably in control of their daily lives were they ready to start the
preparatory steps for the OT levels.

It can be seen that this puts a lot of the priority and attention
of the PC on running their 'body case' with Dianetics. It was probably
being found that some PCs were spending considerable periods being
audited with Dianetics without achieving the desired result of Clear.
The downside risks would be an increasing preoccupation with the
'body case' and increasing danger of disturbing something in the upper
level case. Even though the effect on a person of going Clear is truly
amazing, it is still only a step on the path of spiritual
rehabilitation.
To get rid of one's own reactive mind is a necessary step forward
but it needs to be achieved with the minimum risk of getting bogged
down in that area. So to facilitate getting through this stage as
quickly as possible, the Scientology Grades were moved down the Bridge
and were placed between the drug handling actions and New Era
Dianetics.

Grades before Dianetics

The background to this and the reasons for doing this were given in
a bulletin issued called 'Theory of the New Grade Chart' (HCOB
12.12.81).
This explained that the deteriorating state of cases starting on the
Bridge in 1980, by comparison to those in the 1950s, meant that they
could not be expected to run as quickly and smoothly on Dianetics
to Clear. It was necessary therefore to put in more 'undercut'
actions.
These included a more thorough handling of the effects of drugs, both
medical and street drugs, by means of the Purification Rundown and
the new Scientology Drug Rundown. Secondly the person would then be
run on their Scientology Grades. This would bring about considerable
benefits in handling better his daily life, his relationships and
his environment. It would also have the effect of increasing his
awareness
that he is a spirit who is able to run his life from that viewpoint.
He may well exteriorise from believing he is his body while running
these Grades but this won't be a stable state until he is Clear.

Summary

This has had to be a complicated chapter because we have had to pick
our way through several major areas to establish links and
relationships.
The starting point was Dianetics but this took us into the difficult
area of understanding the state of Clear and the different ways it
has been seen and approached over time. Finally we had to enter the
field of Scientology auditing to see how that which has to be handled
in Dianetics is approached today.

So let us summarise what has been concluded. Dianetics was the first
aspect of the total subject to be researched and developed. It was
the route into a more effective handling of the mind and spirit of
beings in bodies. The world in which Hubbard did this research and
development was very different from the one we live in today. His
subjects and co-workers were well educated middle-class people
enjoying the intellectual openess and optimism of the immediate
post-war years. Anyone who is not familiar with this climate should
watch some of the radical films coming out of Hollywood at that time.
All sorts of traditional thinking, practices and institutions were
being subjected to rigorous scrutiny. There was even a film made about
the workings of the mind which showed a rudimentary form of Dianetic
Auditing(4). It is difficult
to recall that brief window of optimism because of the dark shadow
thrown over the time by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Un-American
Activities Committee. This resulted in a close down of tolerance
of radical thinking and a return to very much more authoritarian times
in the United States.

The end-product of Dianetics that Hubbard was achieving in the late
forties and early fifties was a state called Clear. We only know from
the written records of the time what this state was like and can't
really relate it to an actual or potential state today. The subsequent
development of Scientology and the enormous gains in awareness, data
and abilities that came from Scientology processes eclipsed Dianetics
for quite a while.

New look in the 70's

Hubbard became interested in Dianetics again in the 70s and developed
some very powerful techniques for applying it. Despite their dramatic
power to pull out pictures and data from way down the time track,
they could not be relied on to get all PCs quickly to the state of
Clear. This was partly because of deteriorating condition of new
cases who were suffering the effects of more environmental suppression
and the increasing use of drugs in medicine and drug taking for
stimulus
or as a cultural phenomenon. This led to an increased obsession with
the body and its condition. It had been found also that running
a PC for a long period on Dianetics could disturb other things on
the case. A further complicating factor was that there was little
data and increasing confusion about the state of Clear and the varying
types of Clear that were being discussed.

For all these reasons a redefinition of the state of Clear was issued
in 1981. This is a being who no longer has his own Reactive Mind.
This definition was not radically new and is in line with the previous
definitions in the Technical Dictionary (see defs 3 & 5 in
the 1975 Tech Dictionary). It was just more explicit and the
bulletin in which it appears (HCOB 14.12.81 - 'The State of
Clear') reinforced the link between Dianetics and achievement
of Clear. The lower Bridge was revised to take account of these
factors
and ensure that every person had achieved the state of Clear before
advancing onto the OT levels. These changes include bringing the
Scientology
Grades down to before Dianetics to improve the abilities of PCs to
operate in everyday life before embarking on Dianetics in their most
direct and powerful form, New Era Dianetics.

In HCOB 12.12.81 The Theory of the New Grade Chart, Hubbard makes
the statement that the first book, Dianetics MSMH, contains
the bulk of the elements and philosophy that we use to-day. This
statement
may cause some confusion or disbelief but you need to know both
the material in that book and the technology of today very well to
be able to judge for yourself whether that claim is justified.

As a final word on the distinction between Scientology and Dianetics,
we can look at the 'Introduction to Scientology' section which
prefaces
the 1967 edition of Dianetics - The Evolution of a Science.
This is not a long section but the relationship is best shown by this
extract -

'Scientology addresses Man the Spirit, not Man the
Machine. As long as we address the spirit, as long as we return the
individual to some belief and faith in himself, he gets better,
brighter, his IQ goes up, his ability to handle things gets better,
he gets more powerful, more persistent and he becomes kinder and more
merciful, more tolerant, less critical.

If we start treating the Machine we get a patched
up broken leg.'

REFERENCES From: Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary
DIANETICS, STANDARD DIANETICS, EXPANDED DIANETICS, DIANETIC AUDITING,
CASE COMPLETION, DIANETIC CLEAR, KEY-IN & KEY-OUT, RELEASE, ERASE
& ERASURE, MENTAL IMAGE PICTURES, ENGRAMS.

HCOB 14.12.81 THE STATE OF CLEAR,

HCOB 12.12.81 THE THEORY OF THE NEW GRADE CHART,

HCOB 2.5.79 DIANETIC CLEAR SPECIAL INTENSIVE HCOB, 12.9.78 DIANETICS
FORBIDDEN ON CLEARS AND OTS.

Books :

Dianetics: Modern Science of Mental Health 1950, Dianetics:
Evolution of a Science 1950, Dianetics; the Original Thesis
1950, Dianetics Today 1975, Scientology 0-8: The Book of
Basics 1970, Introduction to stress Counselling (Auditing),
E. Townsend, Anima Publishing

Note: The book A View from the Bridge can be obtained
from Anima Publications, PO Box 10, Bramhall, Stockport SK7 2QF,
England.
The price is 10 english pounds plus postage (surface mail). Postage 1
english pound United Kingdom, 2 english pounds rest of Europe,
3 english pounds rest of the world.


(1)First three pages of this chapter appear in IVy 14, from page 29

(2)The Research and Discovery Series, published by Scientology (first
edition of
Volume 1 by Scientology Publications Organisation, Copenhagen, was
published in 1980, and covered Rons first Dianetic Lectures,  from
10 June 1950).


(3)My first edition, getting
very brown, does not have a date or publisher. The Technical Bulletins
of Dianetics and Scientology, give the date as November 1951. Ed.

(4)Alfred Hitchcocks film Spellbound.




Fri Jul 21 20:22:26 EDT 2006