This book amazed many readers who hadn't previously seen hard evidence of wholetrack and space opera. But what grabbed my attention was the similarities of societies billions of years ago and light-years away: similar animals, buildings, vehicles, and beings mostly in human-shaped bodies like on Earth today.
It's still useful as background to two lecture series - the London Clearing Congress and the 5th London ACC - in which LRH revisited the technique of engram running.
The first edition is dated 1958, but its publication seems to have been delayed until March 1960. It contained 42 case studies from the ACC co-audit, with a list of names and addresses of 63 auditors who had participated. These included Herbie Parkhouse, Tony Dunleavy, Reg Sharpe, Cyril Vosper, James Momsen, and also James Pembry (who developed a hand-held type of E-meter used in the late 1950s). There are 9 pages of introductory material, two of them signed "The Editors", so only 7 pages are attributed to LRH.
Case reports were written up from the viewpoint of the auditor, the preclear, or sometimes by both. Each originally had the auditor's name attached, with the preclear only identified by a case number. The first case in the book was audited by Jessie Gray, who told me many years later that she had tried by writing at length and in careful sequence to help readers understand the technique being used. Her report explains clearly how an incident was located, dated, and developed by asking the preclear "What part of that incident can you confront?" The other reports range from detailed accounts to sketchy notes, but each one demonstrates the new discovery of raising the preclear's ability to confront the incident on a gradient, instead of just erasing it. No. 2 is an account of a group execution in Qing dynasty China; even after being beheaded, the pc observed the deaths of the prisoners after him in the line. Case 33 is a vivid space opera narrative by a pc who must surely have been a professional author. Some reports are of incidents that were still unflat at the time of writing (engrams weren't always finished in one session in those days), so the pcs' data was still provisional and changing.
I haven't examined the current edition illustrated above, which is said to contain 41 case studies, and wonder which one has been deleted.
This book amazed many readers who hadn't previously seen hard evidence of wholetrack and space opera. But what grabbed my attention was the similarities of societies billions of years ago and light-years away: similar animals, buildings, vehicles, and beings mostly in human-shaped bodies like on Earth today.
It's still useful as background to two lecture series - the London Clearing Congress and the 5th London ACC - in which LRH revisited the technique of engram running.
The first edition is dated 1958, but its publication seems to have been delayed until March 1960. It contained 42 case studies from the ACC co-audit, with a list of names and addresses of 63 auditors who had participated. These included Herbie Parkhouse, Tony Dunleavy, Reg Sharpe, Cyril Vosper, James Momsen, and also James Pembry (who developed a hand-held type of E-meter used in the late 1950s). There are 9 pages of introductory material, two of them signed "The Editors", so only 7 pages are attributed to LRH.
Case reports were written up from the viewpoint of the auditor, the preclear, or sometimes by both. Each originally had the auditor's name attached, with the preclear only identified by a case number. The first case in the book was audited by Jessie Gray, who told me many years later that she had tried by writing at length and in careful sequence to help readers understand the technique being used. Her report explains clearly how an incident was located, dated, and developed by asking the preclear "What part of that incident can you confront?" The other reports range from detailed accounts to sketchy notes, but each one demonstrates the new discovery of raising the preclear's ability to confront the incident on a gradient, instead of just erasing it. No. 2 is an account of a group execution in Qing dynasty China; even after being beheaded, the pc observed the deaths of the prisoners after him in the line. Case 33 is a vivid space opera narrative by a pc who must surely have been a professional author. Some reports are of incidents that were still unflat at the time of writing (engrams weren't always finished in one session in those days), so the pcs' data was still provisional and changing.
I haven't examined the current edition illustrated above, which is said to contain 41 case studies, and wonder which one has been deleted.
Where I stand
I am a...
Independent Scientologist
Pros and Cons (optional)
Pros
An important piece of the history of dianetics.
Would catch the interest of the type of public who are more interested in occult marvels than in practical information.
Validates what most of us already know, that we're spiritual beings who have run various bodies during our long sojourn in this universe.
Cons
Some parts can be misleading to a reader with little previous knowledge of Dianetics.
Doesn't contain much appliable data, it's essentially a background reference.
Not a book for the beginner.
Self Analysis (August 1951): Possibly the best introduction to the subjects of Dianetics and Scientology. Self Analysis contains both a series of essays on the basic discoveries Ron had made up to this point in his research as well as an extensive auditing section that a person can do by themselves right at home. The book contains a special version of the Hubbard Chart of Human Evaluation and a series of tests one can do to discover where you're really at. Then, by applying the processes from the second half of the book, one is guided through a path of self-discovery. At the end, you will re-do the tests to confirm your improvement. How good can you get? These techniques have been in use for more than six decades and Ron referred to them again and again throughout his research, stating that the processes here were capable of curing any neurosis.
This is the starting point for anyone wanting auditing. You will be audited by L. Ron Hubbard himself through the pages of this book.
Find a copy in used bookstores or at Alibris.com, Amazon.com, eBay. Or you can buy a new copy from these Church of Scientology organizations (but once you give them your address they may continue to send you junk mail) Bridge Publications or New Era Publications.
