*************
The following message is relayed to you by trom@lists.newciv.org
************
This is from Antony Phillips,
ant.phill...@post8.tele.dk
I am glad this account by Joachim (a.k.a. Max) has appeared
amongst these replays. The beginnings of TROM should not be forgotten,
and it was Joachim/Max who set up the first list under Netscape.
I was watching the goings-on at that time, which was also the time
which The Pilot also appeared as an anonymous person on the Internet. I
joined the list which Joachim/Max started. I noted that people were
getting results which they liked out of it, although when I tried it I
wasn't that successful. Therefore when the flow of messages stopped, I
think for over a year, I offered to take over the list. I had started a
list at that time run for free (the IVy list) under Homer Smith. When I
made the offer to Joachim/Max he thought the TROM list had ceased to
exist, checked, found it was still going but set up probably in
connection with Flemming Funch a list of his own (meaning he didn't have
to pay Netscape for the list). So I started the list or restarted it. I
did so by going to the items which had appeared earlier in the list and
were still in my email program and started issuing weekly replays. I did
this for quite a while, to a list which I think had about 50 to 70
members, before one or two of them started originating new
things.
Recently I noted this list, which had been taken over some time ago from
me by Pete McLoughlin, had gone dead again (or shall we say quiet). I
therefore offered to do the same thing again, sending out a second list
of replays which I made years ago. But that's the last time I do it! You
have been warned! I'm 86 and have other things I want to devote my
bumptious energy to.
So I would suggest you, each reader here, thinks over the possibility of
taking copies of all these replays in preparation for sending them out
again to keep the list going. There is a little motto or saying made by L
Ron Hubbard which is as follows:
PDC 24 lecture (1952) "That to which he devotes energy, he finally
has".
Maybe someone would like to devote energy to preserving the history of
this Internet discussion list.
While I'm preaching a bit it's interesting that Pete McLoughlin has a
different philosophy of running lists to what I have. You can take a look
at my philosophy if you go to the following link:
http://www.antology.info/articledetails.php?id_art=37
End of message. Good tromming,
Ant
At 00:08 30-01-2016, The Resolution of Mind list wrote:
...
From : JHS
<j...@newciv.org>
Thu 22 Feb 96
03:36
To :
tro...@newciv.org
Thu 22 Feb 96
18:43
...
Dear TROM mailing list
participant:
as you perhaps know already my name is Joachim and I am the host of
this
mailing list.
In the past, I've rarely posted on this list. For now, I want to make
an
exception and explain my own intentions and viewpoints regarding TROM
and
its benefits and drawbacks.
The 'history' of TROM-L
-----------------------
Sometime in early 1994, Flemming Funch (ffu...@newciv.org) gave me a
transcript
of 'The Resolution of Mind' (TROM) by Dennis Stephens. It was inputted
into
a computer file by Greg Pickering (who, like Stephens, is living in
Australia).
The reason that Flemming said I should have a look at it was that I
was
looking
at some goals and games stuff at that time, and how to create computer
models
describing the same. Dennis' approach seemed to be more systematical than
the
'traditional' concept of goals by Hubbard, i.e. the Goals-Problems-Mass
(GPM)
handling. (I'm not aware of any other systematic approaches in (even
more
'traditional') fields of psychology.)
The first thing I noticed was the 'time breaking' process, something that
was
very similar to an approach I tried myself in the middle of 1986 but
that
I applied only in certain areas and abandoned as life went on in a
rather
rough way.
I liked what I read but couldn't get a practical grip on the Level 4
processes
even though the theory made a lot of sense.
The TROM transcript was part of stacks of other paper for another half
year
until it occured to me that TROM may be perhaps a good starter for
people
who have
not had any previous training in 'mind-altering' thought processes and
may
even catch on on the 'net.
My motives were to kick-start the reading and usage of Flemming's
'Transformational
Processing' manuals of which he had finished the first volumes at that
time.
I posted (for the first and only time) on the
alt.clearing.technology
newsgroup
and 'advertised' TROM. This happened in October 1994. In late 1994, I
had
created a couple of mailing lists on netcom.com, one of which was trom-l.
At that time, both Flemming and I were in snail-mail contact with Dennis.
In
his
letters to me he was not concerned about potential revenues created from
the
sale of TROM manuscripts (the one transcribed by on Greg Pickering), but
about
the possibility of 'alter-is' of his tape-recorded TROM manual by
other
people.
Neither Flemming nor I managed to educate Dennis regarding the
copyright
issues involved and the specifics of the 'net before he Dennis in
mid-December
1994.
His wife and heir seemingly did (does?) not really understand the
issues
neither, especially pertaining to the Internet.
Since the manuscript is very reasonable priced and readily available
via
Flemming (ffu...@newciv.org) who was always paying the royalties as he
agreed
upon with Dennis, none of this was really a concern for me.
In especially, since I hoped that Flemming would get around to write a
'Time
Breaker's Cookbook' one day because TROM has just too many shortcomings.
That
never happened, though, unfortunately, and I myself don't feel I would do
a
good job in writing such a manual.
The history of TROM and Time Breaking
-------------------------------------
Stephens claimed that TROM was the result of twenty (or more) years of
working
hard trying to come up with a workable 'tech' for everyone which could
not be
monopolized by a few as it happened with other 'mind-tech'.
Geoffrey Filbert claims that it wasn't until after he met with Stephens
in
Australia
and discussed Filbert's 'track blaster' process that Stephens spoke his
the
text of TROM into a dictaphone and sent it to Greg who transcribed
it.
Be it as it may, the process itself is indeed the most powerful process
I
know of and certainly warrants attention.
The second major portion of TROM is 'goals processing'. Whereas the
theory
sounds good, there are some basic problems 'running' it the way Stephens
is
describing it.
Actually, there is a third 'piece of tech' in TROM which Stephens
presents
as both a
remedy and catalysator for time breaking. The creation of importance
on
several
flows ('own' importance, 'other's' importance) that he shortened to RI is
what
I would call a 'creative havingness process'.
Everybody I talked to is running RI a different way. This is good (as
Flemming
pointed out) as it does not restrict a "trom'er" in any way and
allows for an
optimized choice of process for the individual.
On the flip side, it takes away from the predictiveness of results.
If
someone reports having 'completed Level III', for example, s/he may
have
simply
chosen an inappropriate way of running RI, effectively *obstructing*
time breaking. At least in one case which was mentioned on trom-l
I'm convinced that that is what happened.
But one cannot, of course, over the net be absolutely sure what really
is
the case, especially if more languages than English are
involved.
Before going into the details of the processes, a couple of words to
the
latter problem and to the concept of 'nirvana'.
TROM and Language
-----------------
Interestingly, Stephens vehemently objected to 'translations' of TROM as
a
clear and certain way of 'alter-ising' his materials.
This, of course, is in direct contradiction to what can be observed
regarding
the way people run RI (based upon the English original) - everybody
is
doing it differently already.
A translation of TROM is an opportunity, a challenge and a potential pit
fall
because a translation aggravates the problematics around 'words and
their
meanings'.
An opportunity as it gives a chance to reformulate TROM in a way that is
less
dependent on 'words'. A challenge because the translator must confront
the
issues
at hand thoroughly him/herself. A potential pit fall if the
translator
amplifies the original dependency on words of the author.
Clearly, the 'time-breaking' process is _wordless_. The same is true for
RI.
The 'goals processing' the way Stephens is presenting it, however, is
rooted
deeply
in 'words' and this is IMHO exactly the reason why it will fail to work
and
why a 'literal' translation will add to the confusion even more.
'Nirvana'
---------
Few concepts have been more abused than 'nirvana'. In a 'traditional'
sense
it meant literally 'extinguished', like a fire that is was running out
of
fuel.
Theoretically (even though 'theories' aren't worth much in a discussion
like
this),
Stephens' nirvana concept would coincide with the traditional concept if
one
would
equate what he called 'goals' with 'desires' in the Buddhist way of
seeing
this.
However, after exchanging letters with him, it is clear to me that
Stephens
never understood nor cared about other philosophies than Hubbard's and
that he
used the word nirvana as 'PR' and attention catcher.
Of the few results he hoped to gain from this list TROM-L which had
been
founded
during his last days, was to hear from anybody 'who has done the
complete
Level IV' (verbatim quote) because he himself didn't finish it.
So much for the claim of a 'do-it-yourself nirvana handbook'.
It is my sincere opinion, however, that applying the TROM processes can
be a
major step in the evolution of a human being and that one should not
underestimate the tremendous power of timebreaking.
Timebreaking
------------
Filbert warns that his 'track blaster' process - as an undercut to all
other
processes known as 'auditing' or 'processing' - has such a power that
he
himself does not advocate the use of it. The reason he mentions it in a
short
paragraph of his book 'Excalibur Revisited' is for 'purposes of
completeness'
of his
materials.
In my opinion, the 'track blaster process' or 'time breaking' is indeed
the
COMMON
DENOMINATOR to all methods of psychotherapy known to me (I'm not a
'real'
expert in an 'academic' sense, however).
Be it methods of associations, recall technologies, reliving past
incidents,
etc:
a past picture is brought into vicinity of a present-time
picture.
(The only exceptions are so-called 'creative processes' of which RI
actually
is a
prototype.)
The difference in TROM is that the pictures ('mental masses' in
Hubbardian)
are
brought together in a rather mechanical way and irregardless of
their
individual
contents.
This can indeed in some instances cause 'too fast a progress' for a
trom'er
and
can become a (temporary) problem of magnitude.
It is not that 'time breaking' itself would have caused any harm but
that
the trom'er
erased 'mechanically' a protective measure that he/she installed in
his/her
past
WITHOUT being yet able to confront whatever it was meant to hide in
the
first place.
I was partially aware of this problem when I started promoting TROM in
late
'94.
But then, like today, I wanted to see TROM as the entry step to a
more
comprehensive
study of the mind, especially the study of Flemming's material.
Goals
-----
One recurring issue in TROM discussions is the 'wording' of
goals.
Stephens, in Hubbard's footsteps, was often fixated on words.
Whereas for Hubbard it was a way or attempt to allow 'untalented'
people to become 'auditors' by telling them how questions should be
asked, Stephens went so far to even insist on his English wording
(no translations!!).
The fixation on certain words and phrases for goals is a major
drawback. Using the word 'goal' already is a drawback.
'Goal' implies, at least for me, a conscious decision of what to
have or not to have. While those 'goals' (and their counter parts)
sometimes need to be addressed in processing, they're not all
there is.
Far more important are those mechanisms who are _above_ the
conscious level (assuming time-breaking has cleaned up body-level
automatic picture associations).
The 'Buddha' called this 'thirst' and it appears in many colors
and shapes, if one could call it that way. Because of a lack of
another 'word', I'll use 'thirst' in the following.
If 'thirst' is there, any goal will be recreated over time, no
matter
how careful the goal combination has been 'erased'.
Besides Flemming, also Enid Vien and Alan Walter have observed and
mentioned this phenomenon recently. It seems to get some attention,
at last.
I don't know Enid's 'Game Spheres' program and Alan Walter's
Meta-commands(?) because both make a game of not publishing any
specifics about their processes except claiming a complete
'handling'.
But a 'complete handling', IMNSHO, *MUST* involve addressing the
'thirst' as such.
Using 'words' to question this 'thirst' is an utterly futile
attempt.
Even trying to 'list' items in the old Scn tradition wouldn't work
because a verbalization already alters the perfectly hidden 'thirst'
structures.
Furthermore, this 'thirst' is so natural, so self-evident to a
person that s/he would never, ever get consider it to be an item
anyhow.
I don't know of any concise method other than an honest self-finding
attempt over a period of time. Once observed, it will vanish,
or, in Scn lingo, 'as-is' automatically.
That means, rather than offering 'words' in this process, one
should learn how to identify the frequencies/vibrations that
underly one's activities, keeping in mind that every human condition
is *forcefully and constantly* held in place by a person.
Stephens states in TROM that the basic 'goal' of every being would be
the goal 'to know' (which I find to be utter nonsense for various
reasons.)
Stephen's idea (like Hubbard's) is that of a linear world and a
straight, linear timetrack. Then it would make sense to assume
a 'basic aberration' or 'postulate' to which all others 'goals' are
linked together in a daisy-chain.
Funny enough, timebreaking is resolving exactly this fixation on a
fixed, unique timetrack (or so it should).
But if there is no 'FIRST', then even a logical dependency structure
does not make sense anymore (at least not theoretically).
Conclusion
----------
TROM's timebreaking process is like a sharp knife: it can cut
bread or a throat.
Well, it's not that bad ;-) Enough rest and simple 'havingness'
processes like a long walk at the beach will restore wellbeingness
again after a while.
And, whatever happens, it cannot but help the person in the long
run.
That's why I continue to provide this forum on the 'net and why I
mention
TROM in the 'Logs of JD Flora' and elsewhere.
However, I would not want to advertise it or make any claims about it.
I assume that whoever happens to find TROM will be able enough to cope
with
it.
Joachim
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