Part XVII:Obsolete Tech

Many people have asked me why I no longer use Dianetics technology, especially since I was once such a strong proponent of that method. They wonder if I now believe that Dianetics is unworkable.

For many years, Dianetics was state of the art in the field of therapy. However, with the advent of Idenics, Dianetics became obsolete. However, I would never say that Dianetics doesn't work.

If one were trying to cut down a tree and only had a pocketknife, the knife would be workable in cutting down the tree. One may skim the skin off their knuckles and it might take a long time to accomplish the task, but a pocketknife would be workable in their endeavor. But if they had a power saw, why would a person continue to use the less effective tool? What it would take to accomplish in hundreds of hours using Dianetics would only require a few hours with Idenics.

There are numerous examples of less efficient ideas and mechanics used in Dianetics when compared to those employed in Idenics. In this write-up, I will describe the difference in a couple of the major concepts.

One of the main tenets of Dianetics is that the source of aberration is the engram, a picture recording of a time of physical pain and unconsciousness. In other words, the basic kind of incident at the bottom of any unwanted condition would contain physical pain and unconsciousness.

John Galusha, a man who probably understood and could apply the mechanics of Dianetics as well or better than anyone, found that the above statement is not true. He discovered that there could be an incident containing physical pain and unconsciousness where an unwanted condition began, but that this was not inevitably the case.

There is an incident where any unwanted condition started, but it isn't necessarily as described in an engram. In Idenics, we refer to this initial incident as a "confusion", and define a confusion as a disruption of one's intention or expectation. In life, a person is almost always operating from some identity. In an occasion when what the person is being is not capable of handling the situation, this incident would constitute a confusion. One of the most important understandings of this primary event is that what would be a confusion for one person is not necessarily a confusion for another person. In other words, what constitutes a confusion is an individual matter. This understanding exposes a great limitation in the mechanics of Dianetics.

Not all that dissimilar from the example given in Part 16 of this series of Hubbard's insistence that there were incidents common in all people, LRH incorrectly assumed that there was a common TYPE of incident at the bottom of all people's unwanted conditions. This incorrect assumption has caused great difficulty for many people. The application of the supposition regarding engrams has produced enormous hardship for numerous pcs.

A case history described in Part 12 of this series, demonstrates the extent of difficulty to which this assumption about engrams can cause for a person. In this example, a client came to us wanting to resolve a major condition that had persisted for most of his life. Even though he had addressed this condition many times throughout his 25-year trek up the entire bridge of Scientology, the condition remained. Every time the condition was addressed, starting with his first Dianetics session, the pc would come up with an incident where he was on a playground and a little girl had looked at him. Since the event contained no physical pain, unconsciousness or even loss, auditors had adjudicated that at the best, this incident was only a "lock". Therefore, according to the mechanics of Dianetics, the auditor would abandon the incident, having the pc look earlier for the elusive engram.

In the first Idenics session addressing his unwanted condition, the client discovered that the incident that his attention had always first gone to was where that condition had begun. Even though it had previously been treated only as a minor event on a hypothesized chain of more important events, that incident WAS the confusion for that individual. Addressing that confusion properly with Idenics, the unwanted condition was quickly resolved.

Here's another dramatic case history of someone bogged down by the application of Dianetic theory. Only the client's name has been changed.

Bill had inherited a large and successful business that made outdoor, recreational equipment and accessories. Not having much interest in the business end of the company, Bill's passion and activity was focused on the testing and use of the company's products. His time was spent with activities such as skydiving, going on dangerous canoe and rafting trips, and racing motorcycles. During this career, he'd had more incidents of physical pain and unconsciousness than the average person would have in twenty lifetimes.

Exposed to Scientology, Bill went into a local mission for auditing. During his initial interview, the case supervisor discovered Bill's "Evil Kenevil-type" history. Bill's auditing program focused on handling his numerous engrams. However, Bill's auditing produced no results. Unable to get anywhere with him, Bill was sent to the local org for handling, where his lack of auditing results continued. From there he was sent to ASHO, and eventually to Flag for case handling. His "no-case-gain" response to engram running and all manners of repair and review auditing continued in all of these organizations. Because he trusted the auditors and case supervisors, didn't complain, and had plenty of money, the CofS continued auditing Bill for several years.

Finally, after over a thousand hours of auditing without any substantial results, Bill left the CofS. Coming to Survival Services, Bill relayed to me his unsatisfactory experiences with Scientology. During our meeting, the discussion turned to a less serious subject. We found that we both shared a common interest in motorcycles. While exchanging harrowing motorcycle experiences, Bill told me about a time when he was riding on the highway with his daughter on the back of his bike and had gotten into an accident. His daughter was miraculously unhurt, but he had almost been decapitated and had sustained serious physical damage.

A flight-for-life helicopter flew him to the nearest hospital while he went in and out of consciousness, barely surviving the incident. He underwent heavy, re-constructive surgeries and was in the hospital for many months. But during the entire ordeal, his attention was mainly on a big, upcoming motorcycle race, concerned that he might not get out of the hospital in time to participate in this important event. His story ended with him being released from the hospital the day before the race, qualifying for the race and winning it!

Listening to Bill recount this experience, it was obvious that the pain and unconsciousness that he had undergone had little importance to and created no adverse affects for him.

Later, Bill decided to try Idenics processing. It was quickly discovered that his incidents of physical pain and unconsciousness were not confusions for Bill. What he wanted to work on were difficulties he'd always had with relationships. These difficulties were what he had gone into Scientology to handle, but were never addressed. Within a few hours of Idenics processing, he was able to resolve these difficulties and was extremely satisfied with the results.

Another important part of the mechanics of Dianetics is the running of earlier similar incidents. Even though this technique is workable and does get charge off in most cases, we have discarded its use in Idenics. By asking for earlier similar incidents, the client tends to jump from one identity to another, leaving identities not fully handled, and thereby leaving unwanted conditions unresolved. Using Idenics' mechanics produces much more stable results in a much shorter period of time.

In this write-up, I have only discussed two obsolete aspects of the mechanics used in Dianetics. But with this discussion, I believe that I've answered the question of why, even though it may have its workability, I no longer use the technology of Dianetics.

GO TO NEXT PART