Arthur Ronald Conway Hubbard

Understanding – Part 6

Scientology 1.0.0 – chapter 33

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” – Shakespeare’s Hamlet

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You can click here to bring up the scale in a separate window for ease of reference.

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The previous chapters attempted to cover a little about the Scientology Tone Scale—the thetan plus body part.

The original scale covered the tones between 0.0 and 4.0 to measure the effectiveness of mind-only procedures (Dianetics), which must be done before addressing the spirit. The thetan-plus-body scale (0.0-8.0), which has been the subject of discussion up to this point, was plotted out a bit later. However, as the field of Scientology advanced, the scale necessarily broadened to encompass all the tones that comprise spirituality as manifested in this universe.

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The Tone Scale In Full

40.0 – Serenity of Beingness
30.0 – Postulates
22.0 – Games
20.0 – Action

Thetan plus body –

8.0 — Exhilaration
6.0 — Aesthetic
4.0 — Enthusiasm
3.5 — Cheerfulness
3.3 — Strong Interest
3.0 — Conservatism (not the political definition)
2.9 — Mild Interest
2.8 — Contented
2.6 — Disinterested
2.5 — Boredom
2.4 — Monotony

2.0 — Antagonism — (middle point between create and destroy)

1.9 — Hostility
1.8 — Pain
1.5 — Anger
1.4 — Hate
1.3 — Resentment
1.2 — No Sympathy
1.15 – Unexpressed Resentment
1.1 — Covert Hostility
1.02 – Anxiety
1.0 — Fear
0.98 – Despair
0.96 – Terror
0.94 – Numb
0.9 — Sympathy
0.8 — Propitiation (higher toned – selectively gives)
0.5 — Grief
0.375 Making Amends (lower toned propitiation – can’t withhold anything)
0.3 — Undeserving
0.2 — Self- Abasement
0.1 — Victim
0.07 – Hopeless
0.05 – Apathy
0.03 – Useless
0.01 – Dying
0.0 — Body Death

Minus tones –

-0.01 – Failure
-0.1 – Pity
-0.2 – Shame
-0.7 – Accountable
-1.0 – Blame
-1.3 – Regret
-1.5 – Controlling Bodies
-2.2 – Protecting Bodies
-3.0 – Owning Bodies
-3.5 – Approval from Bodies
-4.0 – Needing Bodies
-5.0 – Worshipping Bodies
-6.0 – Sacrifice
-8.0 – Hiding

Theta unbeingnesses –

-10.0 – Being Objects
-20.0 – Being Nothing
-30.0 – Can’t Hide
-40.0 – Total Failure

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Description of tones below Body Death

The frequencies below 0.0 are of a grosser nature than those of a human being. At 0.0, the human body ceases being alive (death), and theta can be plotted as other types of beingness that probably operate very differently from humans. The point, and I think this gets missed a lot, is that the human bands of the scale are human vibrational frequencies; therefore, the frequencies both above and below, higher and lower, finer and grosser, are, perforce, not human, but more spiritual (above) and more material (below). The following are the qualities of theta that exist below 0.0.

Personally, I imagine the realities of emotion below Body Death as being something on the order of the so-called demonic realms; or, at least, it seems to me that these tone levels are often depicted as demonic in many religions (although such terms have a lot of baggage). Because different tone levels of certain wave types seem to be attracted to each other, which I mentioned in the last chapter, I also think that some people who are trapped below 2.0 may start to be “linked” by these minus vibrations to varying degrees. This could make them seem either extremely insane (which is how Scientology sees them), or possessed (which is how some other religions see them), or evil (which is how I see them), causing them to demonstrate extraordinary degrees of malevolence (which I will talk about in more detail in the next chapter).

Precisely because the realities of the mind levels below 0.0 are even denser than thetans as humans are (but still theta because it’s theta that created them after all), giving definitions for them poses quite a problem. Therefore, I’ll briefly describe the lowest ones as approximations, somewhat analogical and metaphorical.

-1.5 Controlling Bodies: the slave driver might correspond to this.
 
-2.2 Protecting Bodies: the “devouring mother” could be a useful analogy. The person that has to protect everything so severely that those so protected cannot gain enough independence to seek their own survival, thus becoming weak and easily enslaved.
 
-3.0 Owning Bodies might be analogised as the slave master.
 
-3.5 Approval from Bodies: the narcissist.
 
-4.0 Needing Bodies: the ideologically “possessed.” People who are severely oriented to insane ideas such as socialism or communism are forever desperately recruiting hard-core agreement because their pseudo-philosophies are so weak they cannot exist without forcing others to agree with the lies.
 
-5.0 Worshipping Bodies: might be approximated by the idolator. Idol worship is a deep level of confusion, as the idol under adoration is a symbol of a symbol. Symbols are fine, but when the symbol is confused with the actual concept it is representing, then “Houston, we have a problem.”
 
-6.0 Sacrifice. A powerful analogy for this level might be the Aztec priest. Not only is a thetan engaging in controlling, protecting, and owning bodies, but it must also immolate them.
 
-8.0 Hiding might be portrayed by the grandmaster manipulator, the secret puller of all invisible strings— the nonhuman “intelligence” always in darkness. In our deepest “subconscious” we are aware that there exists something that always knows things, and if we’re not careful, ever vigilant, it will come for us like the spider comes for the fly.
 
A thetan does not necessarily become increasingly ineffective as it descends the minus tones, demonstrating as it might astonishing levels of “knowing,” or “ability,” or even “perception,” “intelligence,” and, certainly, power, but it does become more and more seemingly predatory and malevolent, at least to the human way of thinking. Perhaps a study of various demonic entities, such as Molech, Abaddon, Satan, Yaldabaoth, Legion, and so on, could provide a better grasp of what’s happening down there. Maybe.

As for -8.0 to -40.0, these are the levels of unbeingness as a thetan; levels so solid that not only is theta utterly unconscious, but all awareness of awareness has ceased in some way. I’m damned if I have any idea what’s happening down here, maybe these levels are True Hell.

I’ve possibly described these levels inappropriately, so I leave it to others to speculate on them and form their own ideas.

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Description of tones above Exhilaration

At 8.0 on the scale, the human individual experiences a degree of beingness sublime indeed, but there are even finer frequencies—states of beingness—that lie above it.

The levels beyond 8.0 could be called the angelic realms, although that’s another term that comes with dunnage—whole hotel suites of baggage. Regardless, these tone levels exceed human thresholds and represent vibrational frequencies that are significantly more intense yet diaphanous than those at which the human body vibrates. I suppose prolonged exposure to them could harm one’s constitution; I don’t know. The argument here might be that human bodies are so delicate in relation to these higher frequencies (as well as the lower frequency ones below 0.0) that prolonged exposure may be problematic regarding one’s health; possibly the human body—and perhaps the entire physical universe, the one we can see, I mean—is but gossamer in relation to the scale overall. Again, I speculate.

As for describing them, our experience and awareness of these tones above 8.0—indeed, above 4.0—seems to be so minimal that language in its ordinary form sort of falls flat; poetry and other forms of art communicate these spiritual states far better than prose. Nevertheless, here I go:

20.0 Action: the levels of action we perceive in our cosmos might be entirely dissimilar to the 20.0 levels of action as listed on this scale. Being inside an atomic explosion in the sun may seem rather still by comparison to the frequencies at or higher than the spirituality referred to at 20.0.

Next: 22.0, Games. Play is the point of any reality in the first place.
 
People sometimes associate the words “game” and “play” with “trivial activities that one engages in for amusement or fun” or unwanted tactics, as in, “Don’t play games with me!” In other words, games are often just frivolous distractions or annoying ploys. Scientology 1.0.0, on the other hand, uses the term “game” to describe a competition between matter and theta, the whole point of being in a physical universe in the first place. Theta creates matter and subsequently engages in games with it in exactly the same way that any athletic event is created, except that the whole universe is the playing field and everything in it is a kind of ball.

But why? For the purpose of creating effects, apparently, because it’s interesting to create effects and not having an effect on anything isn’t any fun. Realistically, what’s the common denominator of all action but effect?

Anyway, the 7th Dynamic doesn’t have any action in and of itself, and when some people imagine Heaven, they see it as “nothing going on here,” which, actually, would be more like Hell. The 7th dynamic wants action, so it creates the 6th dynamic. The fact that these games seem to become solid and serious when one gets all entangled and trapped in tones below 3.1 appears to be the primary stumbling block, which explains the emergence of philosophies like Scientology, regardless of one’s opinion of its veracity.

Experiencing “loss” is a fundamental consequence of engaging in games, as the essence of a game lies in the presence of unpredictable elements. This factor of limited data often leads to the reality of not always winning. Scientology’s “know” versus “not know” concept states that there is no game if one knows everything, but play is only possible when one doesn’t. Only when losing is considered unacceptable and “failure is not an option” does misplay occur. Individuals who find themselves stuck below 2.0 are frequently “bad sports,” you see. Still, loss, sickness, pain, and death are everywhere, which can get tiring if it happens too often.

To continue:

30.0, Postulates. The term postulate refers to the act of suggesting or assuming the existence, fact, or truth of something as a foundation for reasoning, discussion, or belief. In Scientology 1.0.0, it refers to causative thinkingness.

This is the level where theta imagines how life will look. Describing what the state of a thetan might be at 30.0 is challenging, in no small part because this is the level of creativity that will give aliveness and action any of the forms that could eventually be described in concrete terms.

Actually, here is a good place to bring up some additional information regarding vibration.

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Wavelengths

In the book Scientology 8-80, there’s a short chapter on wavelengths. It gives the wavelength for 1.5, Anger, as .024 centimetres.

Then for 8.0, Exhilaration, which is the highest level of the human mind levels, the wavelength is given as .0000002 centimetres.

Then for 39.0, the wavelength is given as .000000000000000000000000002 centimetres.

40.0 represents infinity (∞).

39.0 is the highest creative level listed on the scale by my dad, but since the ultimate level of wave forms either winks out at 40.0 or becomes immeasurably small, 39.999 would then be the pinnacle.

Conversely, on the Tone Scale in Full, the initial waveforms of a universe will emerge (begin? “Big Bang,” maybe?) at or just below 40.0. In other words, the initial levels of wave (force) will manifest, leading to some form of action, and consequently, there exists a universe of a certain kind (one that is not necessarily visible to our many instruments, which are made of much denser stuff such as quarks and atoms).

Subsequently, the wavelengths appear to expand until reaching the lowest frequency, possibly a wavelength almost too great to calculate, which one could estimate to be -39.999 on this scale. I have no idea what occurs with the waveform beneath that point, but given that both ends of the scale extend to infinity, something as strange as “no” wavelength at 40.0 must also happen at -40.0.

If all this just seems made up, that’s essentially what a postulate is. It takes reading the book Scientology 8-80 to understand more about how the Tone Scale, wavelengths, etc., and other hypotheses become theories that result in the therapies and procedures that make up the practical applications of Scientology 1.0.0.

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Back to discussing 30.0.

The wavelengths ranging from 30.0 to 39.99 are detectable to us at a spiritual and intuitive level. But they are so incredibly subtle that they might exist almost entirely in the realm of concept, eluding any direct human capture, although, as humans, we still experience them. Thus, 30.0 signifies the beginning of any probabilities that may result in the kind of concrete outcomes that shape any universe, specifically, in this case, our version of reality (there are, most likely, many, many other universes). In other terms, this is the point at which intention can shift into attention, and attention can subsequently evolve (or devolve, if you’re inclined to look at it that way) into a potential action; action coming into play at 20.0.

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Serenity of Beingness

40.0, Serenity of Beingness, refers to a state that is non-vibrational, a condition of pure static. Static in Scientology is defined as having no mass, no motion, no wavelength, and no location in space or time, but it has the ability to perceive. But also goes beyond mere static into something more: infinity.

40.0, Serenity of Beingness, the “tone” that isn’t a tone because it doesn’t have a vibrational frequency (0 wavelength), and also stands for infinity (∞) so cannot be felt or seen by the five senses except by affect.

40.0 is the point at which this scale, or any other scale, emerges

Possibly the goal to “know thyself” is achieved at “Serenity of Beingness,” a state that is the expresser rather than its own creation; the expressed.

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Mind levels

This scale indicates that there are multiple mind levels. In Scientology, the mind is defined as a communication and control system between the thetan and his environment. Level is defined as a position on a scale of quality.

My father was not the first to propose this idea, but his discussion of them as such was the first time many people had heard of them. More interesting, though, is the way he organises, labels, and metricises them, which is completely new. By observing them in this manner, he was also able to come up with ways to get unstuck if you got trapped in the lower mental levels or in some kind of performative dramatisation of higher states, as mentioned in the section about mimicry in Chapter 32.

Anyhow, understanding that mind levels don’t start and stop at discrete points but rather shade one into the other, there are approximately five basic levels. Going from bottom to top:

-40.0 to -8.0 – unbeing
-8.0 to 0.0 – minus being
0.0 to 2.0 – somatic mind

(As mind levels grade from one to the next, the tones between 2.0 and 3.0 are not wholly somatic but also not very analytical, and the tones between 3.0 and 4.0 are not entirely somatic and therefore more analytical.)

4.0 to 6.0 – analytical mind
6.0 to 40.0 – aesthetic mind

More definitions:

Being is: a viewpoint (see Chapter 2). Therefore, the definition of unbeing would be: less viewpoint. That is, “less” rather than “no,” because a thetan cannot actually “unviewpoint” themselves.

Minus being is: trapped theta below body death. Theta acting entirely more and more like MEST; less beingness as spirit, more beingness as MEST.

Somatic mind: somatic means relating to the body. It is thought to be distinct from the mind in other practices but in Scientology it is just a more solid form of mind. The somatic mind works in a purely stimulus response way and can be trained to do amazing things, such as in the martial arts or in athletics. It only becomes a problem when an individual gets stuck in it.

The analytical mind is defined: the aware mind which observes data, remembers it and resolves problems; the consciously thinking part of the mind. The analytical mind entails contemplating and managing life using reason and logic.

The aesthetic mind is spiritual level instinct one might call intuition and creativeness.

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Aesthetic mind

Aesthetics refers to being concerned with or appreciating beauty. It is the study of ideal forms and is the philosophy of art. It comes from the late 18th century (in the meaning “relating to perception by the senses”): from Greek aisthētikos, from aisthēta ‘perceptible things’, from aisthesthai ‘perceive’. German speakers coined the sense “concerned with beauty” in the mid-18th century, and it was adopted into English in the early 19th century.

The word beauty comes from early 14 century, bealte, “physical attractiveness,” also “goodness, courtesy,” from Anglo-French beute, from Vulgar Latin bellitatem, “state of being pleasing to the senses” from Proto-Indo-European dw-en-elo-, “to do, perform; show favour, revere.”

Revere means to feel deep respect or admiration for (something).

Admiration! Huh! Most everyone has had the experience of heightened perception. In one moment you are not merely, say, seeing a thing; you’re experiencing it at a level of intensity that, after the moment has passed, could make you wonder why you had never noticed it that way before. With this type of experience comes a degree of joyfulness and reverence that often borders upon ecstasy, and it is especially poignant when the moment is had with something familiar, such as seeing sunlight dappled upon a flower or hearing a child laugh.

Also, admiration is intriguing because it is something one creates, not something that just happens to one. It is a way of causing one’s own reality of life itself rather than passively experiencing it. Another way of saying this is, if you choose to admire anything, it changes: admire people and they change, admire the world and the world changes. Not always easy to do, granted, but give it a shot next time you’re blue.
 
Anyway, 6.0 and above are the wonder tones that can instantly raise the tone of others, no matter how low they are on the scale. Theoretically, beauty could stop a riot; or take someone as low as 0.01 and bring them back to life; such is the power of aesthetics.

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Cause over life

The Tone Scale in Full is a description of degrees of freedom versus barriers.

It is also a scale that shows degrees of forms of creativity. It seems it is true that the whole scale is, in actual fact, a scale of aesthetics.

But possibly the best way to think about this Tone Scale is as different kinds of beingnesses. The skill is to be able to move between them at will.

In Chapter 10, I laid out some ideas about mysticism. With the Tone Scale in Full, one can see how mysticism might be plotted out in Scientology 1.0.0 as a kind of metricised chart; a chart that, by its own unique method, not only depicts an individual’s current position but also their potential upward or downward trajectory. The whole scale is a game where only if one gets stuck does it become no fun. After getting stuck (when one experiences too many barriers), Scientology teaches one how to unstick themselves, which is freedom. Freedom, in this context, refers to finding the ideal balance between freedom and barriers, or the “sweet spot.” Until one gets stuck again.

There is no actual intention to be so free of barriers that there is no game, because it’s not interesting to have no game.

If one can move anywhere on this scale by decision alone, then that would be “cause over life,” the goal of Scientology 1.0.0.

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Next: ethics