From International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 6 - May 1992 Book NewsExcalibur RevisitedReviewed by Peter Schon[This article was written in 1987]There are many approaches to Scientology, many attitudes to Scientology. What one learns about Scientology will be heavily influenced by the approach and attitude he takes towards Scientology. In various places and times, Scientology is considered a business, a con game, a system of therapy, a brainwashing technique, a religion, a philosophical subject. In the middle class world of today, there is still a controversy going on as to which one of these labels is the correct one, and it is possible the controversy will continue as long as Scientology itself continues in existence.Arguments about -what- Scientology is, disguise the far more important fact -that- it is, and seem also to be trying very hard to ignore the hard-earned simplicity of -where- it is: in books, bulletins, policy letters and on tapes. Scientologists in the Free Zone are as susceptible to this misdirection as any other Scientologists. To voice unflattering opinions of L. Ron Hubbard is not cause for expulsion in the Free Zone; to ride one's own personal tech hobby horse will not get one demoted. In the Free Zone it is not required of anyone describing a supposedly new piece of technology that he documents his find or in any other way align it with source material. One seldom hears anyone in the Free Zone ask, "Does it fit on the Bridge? If so, where?"This is all reflected in the common publications of the Free Zone. New finds that come into publication tend to be one-item finds. In the state of more systematic finds (for example Rowland Barkley's work and Bill Robertson's series of levels) publishing is either private - to the buyer of the level - or journalistic: capsule descriptions in haphazard interviews. Thus is brought about a body of material that is something of a patchwork quilt. Persons whose only inflow of Scientology material is the current journal or magazine dropped on their doorstep are in possibly a worse position than the receivers of  "Advance" and "Source" in the Church. Different authors, different goals, some goals stated and some goals not, different frames of reference, different abilities and different assumptions are the rule in the publications of the Free Zone, not the exception.There is a book which is not included in the official material of Scientology in the Church, but on the other hand not challenged by the Church of Scientology in the courts. This book is difficult, but not impossible to find, and it is not forbidden to Free Zone Scientologists. It is slightly over 800 pages long in typescript form on A4 paper. This book purports to contain the whole of the essential knowledge of Scientology and the minimum information necessary to deliver the complete Dianetics and Scientology bridge. The entirety of the Scientology literature is listed as strongly recommended reading, the author recommends the Tech Dictionary while at the same time taking no chances and providing his own list of terms and definitions for the reader, and for the reader to use with his preclear, should the reader actually take up auditing. There are subtle differences in some of these definitions but most are the same. The book is not opposed to source material. It is also aligned and organised around the bridge.The title of the book is "Excalibur Revisited" and to all who know the definition and usage of the term "Excalibur" in Scientology, this will reveal an accurate concept of the book's technical aspect and general direction. The full title adds "The Akashic Book of Truth": for those who are aware of the Akashic record, this reveals the overall concept of the book. For those who are not aware of the Akashic record, it is explained in the book.As the title divides neatly into two parts, so does the book. Excalibur is defined in the Tech Dictionary as an "unpublished book written in the 30's ... most of which has been released in HCOBs, PLs and books." Half of the 800 pages of "Excalibur Revisited" are devoted to Dianetics and Scientology technology, which is described briefly, simply and functionally, with only subtle differences, very minor on the verbal level but potentially major on an applied level. The one Scientology concept that is explained at length is the Service Facsimile. This beast is given a thirty-page section of its own in the book; the author regards it as the make-break point of a case: that case which is on the upper levels but is still using a service facsimile will run the upper levels making himself right and others wrong.The data given are much more specific than one finds in the church material. The author states the concepts of the core Service Fac, tells what differentiates it from other Service Facs, and describes what to look for so as to know when you have found it. This section on the Service Fac, with its differences from the Church tech, is the longest but otherwise typical for all of the tech in the book. For some the book will answer questions and set stable data: when to resort to a correction list, when to have the pc study and when to put him into the auditing chair, when to handle what he is complaining about versus when to put him on the next level, when to do Expanded Dianetics and on whom, where to start on the different types of people that come to you and how to recognise the types.The author felt compelled to include all material neccessary to deliver a complete bridge, yet only half of the book is technical. The other half - necessary, the author states - is certainly a prod to the sleeping mind. Scientology existed 25,000 years ago and was brilliantly recalled, but not invented, by Hubbard. Absolutes are obtainable in a being's own universe and are the only thing he is really interested in, besides. The difference between a static and a thetan is discussed more thoroughly than I have seen anywhere else. Comparisons to other religions and cultures are given: Lamaism, Northern and Southern Buddhism, The Markabian versus the Galactic Confederation, Atlantis, Lemuria, mainstream culture in the Western world today, with its miseducation and manipulation. It is when one begins to wonder why these far-flung items are thought to be part of "the absolute minimum information necessary" to deliver a complete bridge, that the book begins to reveal its secrets.Geoffrey Filbert has been auditor for over three decades. He left the Church in 1974, delivering the entire bridge in the field since that time at the price set by himself. Declares attempted where never issued. He is currently living in Southern California where he carries on a thriving auditing practice.Editorial Note: This book has not been printed and we understand that Geoffrey Filbert has no intention of printing. It is available in a scanned version at ftp.lightlink.com/pub/homer/act/excalrev.scr**********The Bhagavad Gita - Translated and introduced by E. Easwaren Arkana. 1986Reviewed by Leonard Dunn, EnglandAs I had not read this work a friend sent me a copy as a Christmas present. I have been so impressed with its excellence that I decided to review it. This does not mean that I am in total agreement with all its ideas but I found a lot that was valuable in it.Perhaps it greatest virtue is that it is very readable and the writer's introduction to each chapter is always very helpful to the understanding of the text itself.In his introduction his exposition of Karma is the most sensible that I have encountered. There is no mention of Lords of Karma setting out each life for us in advance, this has always seemed to me to be too reminiscent of whole track tribunals, but to place the the responsibility firmly on the individual for him to work out in his own way. This I have long felt to be the case.Many of the ideas expressed will be familiar to scientologists since LRH acknowledges the Vedas, to which this is akin, as part of his research material. I found myself very much in agreement with Brahman as being "the supreme reality underlying all life... impersonal godhead". On the other hand the god Krishna is like too many other personalised deities, needing and demanding worship and demanding acceptance of his commands without allowing and almost rejecting the individual's right to his own ideas. What sort of a tone level is that!The remedy for one's outnesses, if I may use that term, is meditation. Several of my friends have been into this form of enlightenment and none of them made any great progress through it. Two of them have been in counselling with me, using the processes of Geoffrey Filbert, and they have been amazed at the gains that they have made in a comparatively short time. This emphasises that no one way is applicable to all.I do suggest that this work is really worth reading and it is quite low priced in paperback (5.99 in Breat Britain).**********Book News - Playmasters. By John Dalmas and Rod Martin(Baen Book, Dept IV, 260 Fifth Avenue,NewYork, NY, 10001, USA. $3.50 in USA, 1986.)Reviewed by Bob Ross, USAIn this book the idea is proposed that we participate in games at various levels such as Umpire, Gamesmaster, Playmaster. Below this we have the various levels of Players: Warrior, Farmer, Economist, Healer. Gamesmasters design games, Playmasters direct the scripts of games which are partially written but somewhat changeable by the actions of characters.We/characters are equipped with predetermined skills and interests but sometimes we can enhance those skills from within the playing field. It is against the rules of the particular game being played for those with higher skills to mix in with the game except under specifically predetermined conditions. One such condition that might apply to the game of Earth that we are presently engaged in, is responding to requests for help or advice. Another form of help could be through dreams. Umpire is highest and is equivalent to God of the game. Gamesmaster and Playmaster exist and act above the game but can at will descend to mix in the game from time to time, in ways limited by and defined by the particular set of rules for that game. Roles such as Warrior, Farmer, Healer, Economist can be played at various levels within the game. The top role of Economists is Banker. Well below that are bank presidents, tellers, bank guards and the like. The highest level of activity within a game is at the level of Play or the Spirit of Play. Below that is the level of work and seriousness. A Warrior acts at the level of play. A soldier acts at work. Similarly for each of the other categories. There are rare creative individuals in each category who act in Play. Many others who act at the level of work or drudgery and many, many others who are simply moved around and act as pawns or victims, e.g. the Entrepreneurs, Industrialists, Workers and so on. At the bottom in each category we have different kinds of victims and broken pieces.Just as one can improve one's physical beingness through exercise and improved one's mental beingness through study, it is also possible to improve one's spiritual beingness through such activities as Yoga or $cn.(Editors note: When one meets such a review as above, one is apt to be smug, and say "See how what Ron has given out has been followed up by others". Perhaps the best written scientology source for Games Theory is "Fundamentals of Thought" (chapter VI) by L. Ron Hubbard, 1956. Of live lectures, some of the best are in the Philedelphia Doctorate Series, Reel 20 on the spool to spool editon, lectures 39 and 40 entitled Games Processing and Games/Goals. The blurb from Pubs Org says "There must be rehabilitation of the -spirit of play- otherwise the thetan gets out of his head and [he] has no goal". Since there is a bit of space left on this page, I might do worse than quote a little of what Ron said way back in December 1952: "Do you know that nowhere here on earth do they have a games umpire, no where here on earth do they have a games supervisor, nowhere here on earth do they have an office of maker of games, substation earth? No place...There is nobody going around thinking of games.. So what do we do about something like this? You can just upset this old apple cart left and right, by studying what is basically a game. Now in the first place everybody... There is another right which people may contest. It is anybody has a right to play a game, some game. People who are playing a game have a right to exclude people from playing a [specific] game but they do not have the right to set it up so that those people cannot play in another game. So there are a lot of rights to a game..." Its fascinationg stuff, Ed IVy.)**********Book News - SlanReviewed by Todde Sal‚n, SwedenA.E. van Vogt is one of the most read Science Fiction writers in the world. He was a very close friend of Ron Hubbard in the 40'es and early 50'es.He was the first course supervisor of Dianetics in Los Angeles. Between 1951 and 1981 he was director of the oldest Dianetic organisation in the world (the C.A.D.A.).Among all the Science Fiction books he wrote the most popular one has been "Slan". When I asked him how he got the idea to the Slan book he told me that he had read about grizzly bears and learned that the grizzly bear was quite innocent and vulnerable before it grew up. He then got the idea of a more advanced race of human beings and how they, before they grew up and became able to control the world could be in trouble because they were not in control.For those who have done the advanced levels (OT-levels) in Scientology this book should be interesting reading, as it gives a very clear picture of how poorly a being, no matter how powerful he could become is, if he is not organised in a world that does not appreciate his abilities.Our destinies as future able beings (organised OTs) are determined to a large degree on how we can relate to each other and how we can organise ourselves into sucessful groups that can co-operate in creating a better civilisation.A.E van Vogt also wrote a few science fiction books on the subject of higher levels of logic - the Null-A books. The "null-A" stands for "non-Arestotelean logic". Arestotelean logic is supposed to be 2-valued logic, while "null-A" logic is infinity-valued logic or what Hubbard called "gradient-scale" logic.**********Foundation Triology ReviewReviewed by Todde Sal‚n, SwedenIsaac Asimov is the most read and the most famous of all Science Fiction writers in the world. He was a personal friend of L. Ron Hubbard in the 40's.The most read and sold book of all Science Fiction works in the world is the Foundation triology written by Isaac Asimov. Personally I have no problem understanding why this book has fascinated people so much for so many years.The book actually describes the laws of Karma in relation to large human groups and 4th dynamics. It illustrates in a very nice way how actions of the past do influence the present and how you can change your future karma by acting in the present.If you translate the viewpoints on Karma of the 3rd and 4th dynamics in the book to laws of Karma for the 1st dynamic, you will get a better understanding of the laws of Karma for life and livingness everywhere.So I recommend this book for everybody who is interested in the laws of life and especially if you are interested in the law of Karma and want a very interesting book to read, written by one of the most educated men in our modern world.