THE UPPER DYNAMICS

29 July, 1990, Rev. 16 Dec 1992

The definition of the 8 dynamics has been used successfully for many years. Much observation of life and the long history of workable auditing rundowns based on these show that they do, in some manner, form a complete set of the urges to survive. But there have always been loose ends which hinted at something more.

First, there was the recognition that Survive was not the ultimate goal but simply a mid-point in the Create-Survive- Destroy cycle. Of course, one can do better than simply surviving on the 8 dynamics. One can BE these 8 dynamics (see the Technique 80 lectures) or even create in each of these areas. But, although a being can operate along these lines, they do not seem to form a complete picture of surviving well as a thetan. Although a thetan can't help but survive in the sense of persisting, he can certainly survive well or poorly in his own estimation. And his estimation of this only follows the 8 dynamics to the degree that he has gone into agreement with physical universe survival. It is not his normal baseline. His native operation is up towards the create side.

Consider achieving ultimate survival in mest universe terms on these 8 dynamics even to the extent of being worshipped as a God and having ultimate persistence along all these 8 lines. But imagine it with nothing more beyond this, no beauty or ethics or interesting games. This would be a poor and tawdry thing for a thetan. In fact, it would be a trap. Infinite survival in physical universe terms is a curse, not a blessing.

Therefore, just as we see 8 dynamics reflecting the Survival or physical universe band of the scale, so we might conceive of another set of 8 reflecting the creative or Theta band.

The next clue was the mention of Aesthetics and Ethics as the 9th and 10th dynamics in the Philadelphia Doctorate Course lectures. Certainly these make sense in terms of Creative or Theta dynamics. Also, we can see that the physical universe tries to make nothing out of these, but in spite of this, thetans do operate better when ethics and aesthetics are present.

Looking further, we see other factors that the thetan values. He likes playing games and building things and figuring out logical problems, and especially, he loves to create. Often you will see an individual considering one or more of these as being more important than good survival in mest universe terms. Consider someone solving a crossword puzzle with no payback in terms of any of the 8 dynamics and perhaps even putting off eating and sleeping (good physical survival) to accomplish the task. Is this some weird aberration laid in by an implant? Or is it the individual's last remaining shreds of theta level operation persisting in spite of all physical universe evidence and objections.

I struggled long and hard to define these 8 upper dynamics and get them in the right order. Much research of the whole track and implants gave many clues (there are many implants which try to abberate each of the 16 dynamics in sequence), but still the correct order eluded me. Then one day, I saw that each of the lower dynamics had a slight tendency to sublimate into the corresponding upper dynamic. This let me establish the order of the upper dynamics based on the known order of the lower ones. This brought considerable order and relief to other areas that I was researching and validated the entire pattern of dynamics.

The list of 16 dynamics is as follows:

1. self as a body 9. Ethics 2. Sex/Children/Family 10. Aesthetics 3. Groups 11. Construction 4. Governments/Mankind 12. Reason 5. Lifeforms 13. Change 6. MEST 14. Games 7. Spirits 15. Knowingness 8. Worship 16. Creation

The 9th dynamic, Ethics, has been defined as the contemplation of optimum survival. A major component in this might be referred to as Integrity. For a being who cannot die, integrity is the cornerstone of real survival. Whenever he has lost it, he has not truly survived in his own estimation.

We might say that physical survival as a body sublimates upward into this Ethics dynamic. Or, from another viewpoint, we might say that Ethics has been collapsed downward into physical survival. Once the thetan has abandoned integrity and lost himself as a being, all that remains is the effort to persist as a physical mockup.

Note that I have reduced the definition of the first dynamic down to survival as a body. We generally think of this dynamic as encompassing more theta qualities, but these are really the remnants of dynamics 9 to 16. Once these theta dynamics have been crushed out of view, the last lingering traces can be attributed to personal survival since they are the thetan's last hold on survival as a being.

The 10th dynamic is Aesthetics. It has often been said that sex can be sublimated into aesthetics. We can also see that aesthetics is a huge band of theta enjoyment. In the second dynamic, this enjoyment seems to have been collapsed into a simple physical act.

What about the close sharing and love between family members that occurs on the 2D? It's more than simple ARC. How would it manifest between beings without bodies? Wouldn't it be proper to describe this as the intimate exchange of aesthetic waves between beings?

The eleventh dynamic is Construction. This is the kick you get when you build something yourself. The child putting together a model airplane is surviving on this dynamic as is the person who builds his own furniture for the fun of doing it. You might say that this is simply survival through Mest, but it's not. You can buy the child lots of model airplanes and they don't matter one whit compared to the one he built himself. Here it's the construction itself that counts rather than the havingness.

Interestingly enough, this does sublimate upwards from the third dynamic. Or rather, the third dynamic is to some degree a lower shadow of the Thetan's constructive impulses. The biggest and most interesting constructive efforts involve groups of beings working in a coordinated effort. This is a natural way for Thetans to build things and it is the way you would go about putting together a complicated universe. When survival is not a problem and no one has to work for a living, they still join groups for the purpose of building things that are fun and interesting.

The 12th dynamic is Reason or Logic. Here is the realm of the mathematician, the problem solver, and the player of thought oriented games. Here I'm emphasizing the abstract problems because it's easier to see the urge in isolation from the other dynamics.

The 4th dynamic has been referred to as race and mankind. But a better definition would be to consider it as those groups that one is born into. The big difference between this and the 3rd dynamic is that in the 3D one has choice as to what groups to join but in the 4D your stuck with it and must figure out some reasonable way for everyone to get along together. Governments generally fit more into the 4D characteristics rather than the 3D and should be considered here.

Since people cannot leave a 4D easily, this raises the entire area of law and legal systems. This sublimates into the dynamic of reason since logic is the primary justification of law.

For the 13th dynamic, we have Change. Thetans will alter and modify things just for the sake of change and variety. No other reason is necessary. Notice that this dynamic is above reason and often operates contrary to logic. As Ron has pointed out, change and unpredictability are survival characteristics for a Thetan because it makes him difficult to manipulate and trap. At a higher level, we see that altering things lends persistence and interest and variety.

In the fifth dynamic, we also see endless change and variety as one of it's greatest survival traits, so its reasonable to consider the 13th a sublimation of the 5th.

The 14th dynamic is Games. The subject of games was frequently discussed in the materials of the 1950s and is obviously a keynote of theta operation. As far as relating this to the 6th dynamic, it would seem that a playing field and implements and some rules about energy etc. would be necessary components in a game. This is the only theta dynamic where a consistently paced sequential time rate would really be needed. We might well consider the entire Mest universe to be no more than the components of a game. Note that here we are referring to action games rather than the thought games of the 12th dynamic.

Knowingness or Understanding is the Fifteenth Dynamic. This is higher than the dynamic of Reason and quite distinctly separate from it. With reason, one follows a logical progression, but in the 15th dynamic one can just know. Here we have the urge for knowledge and understanding even when there is no physical universe reward in sight. Again we have something that has been extensively discussed in the early technology but not previously considered to be a dynamic.

Although one may come to understand something by study or reason, the higher levels of knowingness are achieved by pervasion, mockup, ARC with other beings, and by pure postulate. In Mest universe operation, this is all closely related to survival as a spirit and with other spirits.

The 16th dynamic is Creation. Here we have ourselves as gods rather than worshipping gods. This is the cause side for which the Mest universe 8th dynamic (religion etc.) is the effect.

Of course all these 16 dynamics are inter-related. Although I have pointed out that it's the upper 8 dynamics which are operational beyond the physical universe level, within this universe the lower 8 are vastly significant. True survival here means operating fully on both sets of dynamics.

Note that each of these upper 8 dynamics have been used to trap and aberrate thetans. Since the thetan wants to do these things, he can be suckered in and taken advantage of even when he is in a bodiless or OT state. His own codes of ethics can be used to trick him into punishing himself, his love of aesthetics can be used to lure him into traps, etc. Total freedom would require being able to operate or not operate in these areas at will. Just because these areas are interesting doesn't mean that they have to be compulsive. A thetan doesn't have to have a game, he only thinks he does.