We recommend watching the video and/or listening to the audio presentation on how to do Level One of TROM before performing the following exercises. PLEASE ALSO NOTE (as will be explained further in the text) that the exercise known as "R.I." is not actually Level One of TROM, but a test to see whether or not you need to see a separate therapist before going on to Level Two (and that therapist will perform Level One on you).  Many Trommers (including us) will refer to the R.I. exercise as "Level One", but when Dennis Stephens talks about it in his book, always understand he means the actions performed by a separate therapist. He will also use the term "Level One case" or simply say "The Level One" when he talks about the person who must see a separate therapist before performing TROM Level Two. 

Simply Put, the R.I. exercise is a test to see if you need Level One run (performed) on you before going on to Level Two, and if you fail it, you are a Level One case, and need to see a separate therapist.  DO NOT WORRY. 95% of those who perform this test on themselves will be able to go straight to Level Two, and will need not bother with any of the specifics of what the actual Level One of TROM is and how it works.

The instructions on how to obtain a therapist for such are in the appendix and we also made a video.

Level One

  Some Trommers will refer to the Repair of Importances exercise (which will be explained shortly) as “Level One” but strictly speaking, Repair of Importances is not level one, it is the test to see if you need to do level one with a separate therapist. During the initial research and development of TROM, level one was what is now known as level two, but Dennis found that some people would require help before doing those exercises and a test to see if one needed such help which is what the following section is all about.

If this step* needs running it can only be successfully completed by a separate therapist.  As the being goes into a more and more compulsive games condition with his own mind, he becomes more and more fixated upon it, and less and less in contact with the realities of present time (pt).  His actions become more and more strange and irrational until, eventually, for his own safety and the safety of those around him, he must be institutionalized.  Everyone who has a mind is in a compulsive games condition with it, and therefore to some degree out of touch with the realities of present time.  It is entirely a matter of the degree to which he is out of touch.

*"This step" referring to the actual Level One, not the exercise Dennis talks about in this chapter.

There is a make-break point beyond which contact with present time is so slight that any attempt to contact the past will dangerously lessen this tenuous* contact, and so easily precipitate a psychotic break.**  The first step is always contact with pt (present time); only when this is above the make-break point is it safe for the being to contact his past.  This is true whether the being is working solo or with a separate therapist.  In that the being is never aware that his contact with pt has fallen below this make-break point, we see the reason why Level One is, perforce***, a separate therapist step.  It’s never easy for a being to be aware that he’s not aware, which is why you will find a higher proportion of people totally convinced of their sanity inside insane asylums than you will find outside. Their delusional system has become pt to them, and as they know they are in contact with this they ‘just know’ they are sane.  Your truly sane person has no such certainty - merely much positive evidence.

*Tenuous: very weak or slight.

**PSYCHOTIC BREAK: What is sometimes politely referred to these days as a ‘nervous breakdown’

***Perforce: used to express necessity or inevitability: "Amateurs, perforce, have to settle for less expensive solutions"

Fortunately, only a small percentage of humanity are below this make-break point, and most of those have a long history of being in and out of institutions.  However, there are a few below this point who may have no such history; they are those who possess a ‘sane’ delusional system.  The state is appropriately known as computational psychosis.  The being gives all the apparency of being highly sane - if a little too ‘fixed’ in his ideas.  As long as he’s not subject to undue stress he lives a completely normal life.  But he’s a walking powder-keg, likely to disintegrate at any moment.  Too much stress can at any time precipitate a psychotic break in such a person.  (What is sometimes politely referred to these days as a ‘nervous breakdown’).  He’s immediately hospitalized.  Often, he recovers - and five years later disintegrates all over the place once again.  And he’ll continue to do so as long as he maintains such a highly charged games condition* with his own mind, and the consequent tenuous contact with the realities of pt.

*Games condition: Originally a Scientology term, has roughly the same meaning as ‘compulsive games state/condition’.

 So only a tiny proportion of humanity require Level One to be run, but if it’s necessary it must be run before Level Two is attempted.  For the mere attempt to do Level Two can precipitate the psychotic break.

 It would be terribly easy for me to say, “Well, we have a fine test for Level One.  Let him try Level Two; if he spins*, he was Level One.”  It is a test, but hardly a humane one. Fortunately, there is a better test - and an entirely humane one.  It sorts out those who are below the make-break point without spinning them (The test is in the next section).

*Spin: Scientology slang term for ‘go insane’.

 The Level One needs to improve his contact with and reality of pt (present time) before he can attempt Level Two safely.  It’s as simple as that; nothing else is involved.  There’s nothing wrong with his neurons* or psychons**; it’s purely between him and the present-time physical universe.  The Level One is, because of his compulsive games condition with his own mind, too far out of touch with the realities of present-time to safely attempt Level Two without running the danger of being utterly overwhelmed by his mind, and suffering a psychotic break.  In order to contact his mind, he has to take a little bit of attention off present-time. That may be more attention than he can afford - and so he’ll spin.

*Neurons are the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system, the cells responsible for receiving sensory input from the external world, for sending motor commands to our muscles, and for transforming and relaying the electrical signals at every step in between.
        **Psychon: an ultimate particle of psychic (having to do with one’s psyche) nature.

I’m mentioning this at great length for obvious reasons: I don’t want people spinning on Level Two, especially when Level One exercises are available from any competent therapist who is trained to administer them.

The Repair of Importances (RI). 

 Before we go into Level Two, I’d like to introduce you to The Repair of Importances exercise.  This is a simple exercise that will stay with you during the rest of your solo work.  The response to this exercise also determines whether or not it’s safe for a person to undertake Level Two, or will require to complete Level One first.  People who fail the test yet insist upon continuing with Level Two do so entirely at their own risk.  I can only warn you of the dangers, not insist that you abide by my warning.  If you successfully pass the test, The Repair of Importances (RI) will always get you out of any difficulties the later exercises may get you into.  However, only a person who doesn’t need Level One running* can make RI work for them, and so has this guarantee.  I trust I’ve made my point.

Editor’s Note: RI is also called “The Governor” but this confusing and unnecessary term is omitted from this work as it is only used a few times by Dennis then never again in the rest of this work, or even in later lectures, and Trommers rarely use this term except to ask, “What does Dennis mean by ‘the governor’? on forums, and it only ever was just another term for “repair of importances” (RI), the exercise that will be explained in-depth in the following pages.

*Someone who does not need level one running is someone who passes the test.

 The being, becoming more and more enmeshed in the compulsive playing of games and their accompanying importances, first becomes surrounded with them and then, by contagion, believes that he needs them.  Thus, he is in the frame of mind of needing to be surrounded by importances*.  As that which is considered important tends to persist and become more solid, we find the being in the state of believing that he needs to be surrounded by mass and solidity (It’s the importance he craves, not the mass and solidity.) This soon reaches the point where he feels bad if this mass begins to vanish.  Left to himself he solves any scarcity by pulling in** around himself more old mental masses.  As these old mental masses also contain various unpleasant sensations (pain etc.), he will pull in upon himself these things in order to be surrounded by the accompanying mass.  It’s an incredible mechanism, and explains so much of life.  For example: problems and solutions.  The being gets into a state where he literally cannot afford to solve a problem without first ensuring that his solution will create a larger problem for him than the original problem (He always likes to be on the safe side, and be sure that his ‘importance quotient’*** doesn’t diminish).  His life becomes like one of those old Laurel and Hardy**** films, where, in endeavoring to solve a simple problem a larger one is created, and in attempting to solve that... etc.  The audience used to curl up in laughter at their antics - then promptly go home and do much the same things themselves!  I wonder how many wives have regretted asking their husbands to replace a tap washer - as they stood viewing the smoking ruins of the family home?

*While the word “Importance” is most commonly used to talk about how important something is (like the importance of getting enough sleep, the importance of having a family, etc.) the way ‘an importance’ is talked about in TROM is meant as ‘something that is important’ or something that has importance (a postulate of enforced knowingness).  Be careful when you do these exercises that when you are asked to ‘create an importance’ that you create a thing that has importance and not just concepts of importance around you.  You will be creating mental masses of your own with the following exercises, not just concepts or ideas of how important things are. I am entering this into this current edition because I actually had a dentist write in to me saying he would create “the importance of brushing one’s teeth each day” around him as a concept and I told him he would get better results if he created around himself actual people brushing their teeth instead.

**To “pull something in” is a popular phrase among those who practice the older subject of Scientology, but you could also say, “attract” or “attracting” which suits the more 21st Century pop-psychology thinking person better.  To “pull in” and “attract” are just two ways of saying the same thing.  You could also say, “Becomes a vacuum for” and it would work.

***Quotient: degree or amount of a specified quality or characteristic: "the increase in Washington's cynicism quotient"

In the line, (He always likes to be on the safe side, and be sure that his ‘importance quotient’ doesn’t diminish.)  Dennis could have just as well wrote, “He needs to make sure he keeps up his quota of importances.”

****Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, and started their careers as early as the days of silent film.

 The exercises from Level Two onwards tend to dissolve mental mass at an accelerating rate.  Thus, the exercise is at variance with his compulsion to be surrounded by mass (importance).  This is a very real dilemma, and there is only one final solution to it: 

The being must replace the old mass (importance) with mass of his own creation.

 In this way he can do the exercises which vanish the unwanted mental mass without compulsively pulling in around himself further unwanted mental masses to fill the vacuum so produced.  In the final instance this is the only way that he will ever ‘let go of’ his mind.  While he is in the frame of mind of needing importances, he will never permit one to vanish until he is assured that he can easily replace it with another.

 Early on the being is like a prisoner who has been incarcerated in a cell for all his life.  He has come to believe that he needs the walls of his prison, and if suddenly freed will demand to be locked up once more; failing this he will rush into the nearest room, slam the door after him and hide.  This mechanism is well known by prison authorities who must deal with long-term prisoners; it is one of the hidden benefits of the parole system.

 Right now, you are like such a long-term prisoner regarding your own mental mass.  You’ve come to believe that you need it, and so will pull in round yourself more mental mass to replace that which the exercises cause to vanish. Thus, we have to repair the importances we vanish with self-generated importances or the being will soon get himself into a frightful mess.  He will find himself in possession of highly persistent aches and pains he knows not what of, as well as a host of other unpleasant emotions and sensations. This mechanism if not understood and allowed for will sooner or later bring any psychotherapy to a grinding halt.  The researcher was thus led to believe that his therapy was of no use; when in fact it was working all too well...

The Repair of Importances. (RI).

Commands:

 a)   Bring something into existence.

 b)   Have another bring something into existence.

 There are alternate commands:

 a)   Create something.

b)   Have another create something.

The word ‘create’ is for many an emotionally charged word, and these people will find the preceding commands easier.  They mean the same thing.

 Third alternative:

a)   Create an importance.

b)   Have another create an importance.

 Many will prefer this set, and should use it.

In passing, those who have followed the theory so far will have realized that one sure way to louse a being up is to convince him that he cannot create.  Once he is convinced of this lie, he is of course trapped forever - not only in the universe but in the compulsive playing of games.  In the final instance, only his creativity will free him.  Thus, the ‘entrappers’ of this universe basically sing only one song: ‘Thou cannot create’.  They don’t have to sing any others; this one is quite sufficient to do the trick.  It’s a mournful dirge* and appears under a myriad** of guises.

*Dirge: song, music, or poem of mourning usually performed at a funeral.

**Myriad: a countless or extremely great number: "networks connecting a myriad of computers"

While running RI it is not necessary to perceive one’s creations.  The certainty that one has created is sufficient. Lack of perception is a very poor proof of non-existence (There are many Chinese stirring their rice pots in Peking right now.  The fact that you cannot perceive them doing so is no proof that they aren’t there doing it). 

Early on many beings find themselves plagued by ‘non-perception’ screens which prevent them from perceiving their own creations.  As you progress through the levels, you’ll become more and more aware of these screens.  Finally, you’ll vanish them and thereafter be able to perceive your own creations.  Some beings have always been able to perceive their own creations - often in glorious Technicolor - and will wonder why I’m making such a fuss about all this.  These notes aren’t for you, but for the being who has got himself backed up hard against a ‘no-perception’ screen - either one of his own, or someone else’s. 

RI by perception will work alright up to the top of Level Four, but Level Five, being intensely destructive of mental mass, really does require the creative version to permit its successful completion.

The immediate effect of running RI is the de-intensification of any compulsive games condition you are currently engaged in whether with your mind or with life in general.  It ‘cools’ the game.  Thus, the exercise is an extremely valuable one for a being to use at any time.  It de-intensifies stress of all types, and is infinitely preferable to the taking of drugs for this purpose.  Use it (Just before you sink the meat-axe into your mother-in-law’s skull pause and run a little RI; you’ll find you’ll be able to put the axe away).

RI also has this remarkable property:

You cannot over-run it.

Being an entirely natural ability of life, it’s quite impossible to harm yourself in any way by running RI.  It stops producing change after a while, but further running of it does not produce over-run symptoms.

Editor’s note: over-run symptoms are confusion, unwellness, mis-emotion (unpleasant emotion) etc. according to the original ‘terms used’ section provided in the original version of this book (those terms are now incorporated into the full glossary and the running annotations).  There is more about over-run and over-run symptoms and how to prevent over-run in the section regarding level five, and is best studied in that context when one has reached that section in the normal course of sequential studying of this material.

 However, RI can be badly under-run when it is required. This is a definite pitfall, and one you should avoid.

 The main use of RI during the exercises is to act as a lubricant.  It keeps things going smoothly.  It should be used in generous amounts.  It must be used at the following times:

   a)   Between the ending of one exercise and the start of a new one.

   b)   At the end of every session.

   c)   At the beginning of every session.

             d) During the session if the going gets rough - i.e., you suffer an intolerable amount of unpleasant sensation.

Bluntly, these exercises will not work in the absence of RI and will very soon grind to a shuddering and rather painful halt. Level One is the only exception, but since it is almost entirely perceptual RI the rule still applies. *

*This last sentence is a rather circular and confusing statement as Dennis is now referring to “Level One” as being the exercises run by a separate therapist, and are entirely different exercises than the ones given in this section, and those separate therapist actions involve a sort of “perceptual RI” (they are not creative processes). Therefore, you can just dismiss that last sentence if you pass the Level One Test, or if you are terribly curious as to how this all adds up, you can read the section in the appendix on “What to do if the Repair of Importances commands don’t work on you”.

 When in doubt - run RI.  Whenever you run creative RI in session always run both commands to no further change.  Do not leave it while it is still producing change.  The second command is just as important as the first.  Do not leave either while they are still producing change.  The exercise* will ‘run down’ your stock of importances; use RI to repair it.  Thus, although RI is run to no further change, just the doing of the exercise will make it produce changes once more.  Early on your tolerance of loss of importance is very slight, so RI will have to be run frequently; later your tolerance increases enormously, and you have a much wider latitude in these things.  However, never will you be entirely free of the necessity to run RI as an adjunct to the exercises until you’ve got to the very end of Level Five and have achieved Nirvana.

*Referring specifically to any of the exercises on levels 2-5 of TROM.

NOTE: You can think of “RI” as “Replacement of Importances” (replacing lost mental mass with mass one generates himself) if that helps you understand this section of material better. -The Editor

 The Test

We are now in a position to determine whether or not you can begin at Level Two, or will require to complete Level One. 

The test is very simple.  Just work your way through the list of RI commands. Creative ones first.  Give each pair a good run before you move on.  You are looking for changes. Any changes.  If it produces any change, it’s a usable RI command.  If none of the creative list produce a change, then up on your hind legs and start getting your paws into contact with the walls and floors and tables in your room right now. OK.  You found one?  Good.  Now run all the change out of it*. I don’t care how long it takes.  Run all the change out of it; run it until it’s strictly ho-hum.  Good.  Feel better?  Fine. You’ve now ‘topped up’ your reservoir of importances; and are ready for Level Two.

*In simpler terms, stay in contact with the object until you don’t experience any more changes from doing so.

 Alright, I haven’t forgotten the rest of you.  Don’t tell me: nothing happened.  It all seems silly, does it?  Tell me, did running perceptive RI make you feel a wee bit queasy in your stomach?  Touching all those solid objects?  It did?  Good. Continue with it until you feel relaxed once more.  You are up to doing Level Two.  Just make with the paws on the furnishings for an hour or two; it will work wonders for you. However, if you don’t feel up to it, then go and see a separate therapist who is skilled in Level One exercises and let him help you do it.

And, finally, those to whom absolutely nothing happened at all during the test.  You aren’t up to tackling your mind solo right now.  Don’t try it - it could put you in hospital. You need Level One.  Go see a separate therapist and get it run.  But don’t let him ‘tinker’ with your mind until Level One has been properly run, for even with a separate therapist it’s not entirely safe for you to do so until Level One has been completed - even though he has a sympathetic ear, and a nice leather couch for you to rest your bum on.  Get Level One run, and I’ll see you later - all chittered up* and ready to tackle Level Two solo (Oh yes, when Level One is properly nulled** you’ll find one of the RI commands will work for you).

*To ‘chitter’ is to twitter or chirp like a bird: “the chittering birds outside were driving the cat crazy” and in this sense I believe ‘all chittered up’ would have something to do with the liveliness of birds, so ‘all chittered up’ would be a lively state where one is ready to get on with it.

** To ‘null’ a process is to run it until it no longer produces change. In this case, when the level one processes run by a separate therapist are done to their specific result (no further change). 

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