************************************************************************ The following first appeared in the private email list IVy-subscribers, which is available to all those who subscribe to the printed magazine, International Viewpoints. ************************************************************************ Bewitched, bothered and bewildered by Phil Spickler 27 May 1999 Dear Clearisattvas, (which is either Pali or Sanskrit for "Clears-to-be,") or perhaps in simpler terms I could just say Fellow Bodhisattvas: Some acknowledgments are in order, and here they go: My warmest thanks go to Alan C. Walter for smiling upon my humble effort, and to Srdjan for his absolutely wonderful reply, and to Thom Pearson for contributing to my happiness, and to Allen Hacker for his absolutely wonderful and vastly improved restatement of that which is absolutely wonderful. These acknowledgments arrived just in time to keep me from diving off the very top of the Transamerica Pyramid tower in downtown San Francisco to test the necessity level theory and see if I would get such a tremendous spurt of IQ and abilities on the way down that I would briefly sprout an excellent set of wings of sufficient size and strength to allow me to pull out of my dive, which may have already been approaching terminal velocity, in time to startle some of the residents of San Francisco into believing that Icarus really didn't fall to his death. 'Way back in the days of mock-up processing, and the notion of getting the "guy" exterior to "his/her" body, one of the most amusing processes of the time went as follows: you would have the pc mock up a stick of dynamite jammed into each ear of his body's head, and then you'd have him mock up the fuses of both sticks being lit, and have the fuses be maybe a foot long and not too fast, and then just have the fuses burn down and both sticks of dynamite explode simultaneously, and after a proper pause to let the dust settle, you might say very quietly, "Where are you now?" This technique seemed to really work for a number of people, getting them out of their heads so they could then properly address the famous Route 1 activities for thetan exterior. Getting exterior was, all kidding aside, a very important point in Scientology, since it was aimed at making it possible for a human being to rediscover its own true nature, and that was considered essential if Scientology was to have any real validity. It's not uncommon to find similar notions in other religious practices, which would be considered sterile verbal exercises without some kind of true religious WOW occurring. Well, when something or someone does get outside of its head, I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I said life looks to be quite a different thing, and a lot of things can and do become understandable that have previously resisted the efforts of interiorized beings. Also, a large range of abilities and potentials for full restoration of the spirit of play and cosmic humor can come into existence, and it's safe to say that such people are never the same again. I propose in my next posting to the IVy list to take up the subject of exteriorization and interiorization, and go yackety-yackety-yak about it for awhile, hopefully in an entertaining fashion, and if all goes well, numbers of other folks will check in with more information and experience on this topic, thus avoiding death by boredom. 'Til then, and thanks some more -- Phil and not-Phil