THE CONDITIONS OF LIFE

Today is the 16th of July 1994, and my name is Dennis Stephens. The title of this article is "The
Conditions of Life". Life can be meaningfully considered to be divided into the following four
conditions, or states. I will first give the four conditions, and then discuss each one of them in
more detail. While a familiarity with the theory of TROM may help a person to more easily
understand this article, such a familiarity is by no means necessary to the achievement of such a
feat.* Here, then, are ‘The Four Conditions of Life’: 

1. The no-game condition 

2. The voluntary, or non-compulsive game condition 

3. The compulsive game condition 

4. The insanity condition 

*As this lecture is full of TROM and Scientology terminology and concepts the general public
is not familiar with, I disagree with Dennis on this one. You'll be fine if you read my little notes
I've posted along the way.

The No-Game Condition 

The first of these states is the no-game condition, and that is the one we will discuss first. All of
the states are achieved by postulation – by the use of postulates. For one thing we know with
absolute certainty in TROM is that this universe only consists of life and postulates. So it's no
surprise that each of these four states is achieved by a postulate. 

So what is the postulate that governs the no-games state? Now, the postulate that governs this
state is a postulate which prevents the person from making an opposition postulate. It's a
postulate that prevents the person - or prevents the spiritual being, to be more precise, which
prevents the spiritual being from adopting an opposition postulate. He simply postulates that he
will not make an opposition postulate to any postulate. So it doesn't matter what postulate he
perceives, he will adopt a complementary - that is, a non-opposing - postulate to it. 

But we know in TROM that complementary postulates, because of their very nature, satisfy each
other, therefore produce a mutual vanishment; and therefore produce a vanishment of any mass
in the situation. So the no-game condition is a massless condition. It is also a timeless condition,
because  time  itself  in  this  universe  is only  achieved  by  a  postulate.  It  is  also  a  space-less
condition, because space in this universe is brought into existence by a postulate. So we have no
mass, no space, no time and, needless to say, no energy in the no-game condition. The condition
is roughly equivalent to the native state that Ron Hubbard talked of in Scientology. 

Although, we can, in TROM, define the condition a little better than Ron could, because of our…
more familiarity and greater understanding of the postulates and the nature of games play.
Now, it's necessary to understand that the no-games condition is not some highly mystical,
esoteric state. 

This belief comes from the Eastern religions, because in the Eastern religions they have a roughly
equivalent state to the no-game condition called Nirvana.  But because they don't really
understand the postulate structures involved - they have no great understanding of the games
condition, and the postulates of the games condition, and of the no-games condition, in the
Eastern religion this state has become highly mystical, and highly esoteric. And so when you hear
about this state from the Eastern religions, you think there's something very, very mystical and
esoteric about this no-games state, or the Nirvana state. 

As a matter of fact, there's nothing mystical or esoteric about this state at all. In point of fact,
everyone has some familiarity with the no-games condition. Every person, when they go to sleep
in the night-time, for some period of their night sleep, are in a no-games condition. When they're
in the state between dreams, they are in a no-game condition. And as most of their sleeping
time, their night sleep is between dreams, and not actually dreaming, they are, for most of the
night, most people are in a no-games condition. 

 Then,  by  exercising  their  choice  to  not  oppose  that  postulate,  and  to  adopt  a
complementary postulate, they can end that game and go into a no-games condition regarding
that situation. So that is the voluntary, or non-compulsive, games state. 

Then in TROM this state is achieved at the completion of Level 3. Once a person has completed
the first three steps of TROM, they have arrived into a non-compulsive games condition, into a
voluntary games condition. They have regained their ability to do this. And the upper levels of
TROM - Levels 4 and Level 5 - are devoted to returning to the person their ability to go from the
voluntary, or non-compulsive games state, into the no-games state. 

It's much more difficult for a person to learn how to go from the voluntary games state to the
no-games state, than it is to get them up to the voluntary games state. Do you understand that?
That is why the first three levels of TROM are much easier to achieve than Levels 4 and Levels 5
of TROM. But certainly, by the time the person has reached the top of Level 3 in TROM, they are
a voluntary and a non-compulsive games player. 

The state is also achievable by Scientology auditing. And a person who's had very, very good case
gain in Scientology auditing, and has completed many of the grades, has been checked out to
Clear*,  and  checked  out  many  of the OT  Levels**  of Scientology  –  this person would  almost
certainly, but not necessarily be, a non-compulsive games player. The state can also, no doubt, be
achieved by various Eastern religious practices, and so forth; and has indeed been achieved by
many devout Christians. 

*A 'Clear' was the goal of the book Dianetics the Modern Science of Mental Health. It is a state
wherein a being no longer has a "Reactive Mind" (also known as "Reactive Bank", "Engram Bank"
or "The Bank"). The Reactive Mind is a stimulus-response mind below the individual's awareness.
It contains moments of pain and unconsciousness known as 'engrams'.  When triggered (re-
stimulated) the Reactive Mind would compromise the more rational 'Analytical Mind'. A Clear
thinks wholly with his Analytical Mind, having had his engrams addressed by an 'auditor' (prac-
titioner)
**OT Level: OT stands for "Operating Thetan". A thetan is the being himself- not his mind or body. A
spiritual being. OT Levels are advanced spiritual states beyond Clear.

Undoubtedly, the most desirable state for a being to be in is in the voluntary, or non-compulsive
games state, while having the ability to return to the no-games state by choice. That is the most
desirable state for a being to be in. At any time he wants to, he can play games. And then, by a
flip of his postulates, he can simply end the games and go into the no-games state, go into the
no-games condition, and there can stay for any length of time he wants to. The no-games
condition can be stayed in, of course, for minutes, hours, years, centuries; and a very useful
ability to have - if the planet of your choice happens to be in a nuclear winter or suffering an ice
age, you simply shut down as a spiritual being and go into a no-games condition for a couple of
thousand of years, until things look better again. Then you come out of it and pick up and
become a voluntary games player again. 

These are just some of the things you can do when you get into the upper levels of ability. In
terms  of  postulates,  the  voluntary,  or  non-compulsive  game  state  is  achieved  by  simply
postulating that there will be a game. By simply postulating that there will be a game and
making a particular type of postulate that makes it very difficult for you to accidentally go into a
complementary postulate situation. In other words, the person simply postulates – he puts a 

little stopper on his complementary postulates, so he won't accidentally make complementary
postulates and so end his game. But he's got his finger on it. He knows exactly what he's doing.
And  any  time  he  wants  to,  he  can  take  the  stopper  off,  change  that  postulate,  go  into
complementary postulates and retire into the no-games condition. 

The Compulsive Games Condition 

The third state, and we're now getting into the first of the undesirable states for a being to be in,
is the compulsive games condition. Now, the compulsive games condition is characterised by an
inability to adopt complementary postulates. 

The person simply postulates that they won't adopt complementary postulates. It's as simple as
that. It's not that they've got a little stopper on it. They've definitely postulated that they're not
going to adopt complementary postulates. That they're going to be in there pitching until the
bitter end. They're going to be in there pitching. They're either going to win the game, or they're
going  to  get  overwhelmed.  And  they  don't  think  about  being  overwhelmed.  They're  only
thinking about winning the game. 

So, the only way the compulsive games player knows to end the game, is to either overwhelm the
opponent or get overwhelmed, and have complementary postulates enforced upon him, or
enforce complementary postulates upon his opponent via overwhelm. That's the only way he
knows how to end the game. The compulsive games state is a highly undesirable state, simply
because it's compulsive. The person simply, once he gets into it, simply cannot stop. He has to be
in there struggling. 

It's all conflict; it never stops. It's all go, and all conflict, and all battles, and it's all fighting, et
cetera. It's all go. And this… it goes on forever like that. That's the postulate that makes it so.
The postulates make it so. 

Of all the four states, this is by far the most common state that you will find a being in. If you
were to do a statistical survey on this planet, you would undoubtedly find that more beings are
in this state than any one of the other states. It's the most common state that the person gets
into, is the compulsive games condition. 

Probably the worst thing about the compulsive games condition is that the person, while he's in
it, will exalt it and say that he doesn't want to be in any other state. The rationale the compulsive
games player will give you for being in his state is, that he says it's the only way he can generate
games sensation*, it's the only way he can get anything out of the game, and can generate any
sensations, by playing games.

*Postulates in conflict generate sensations. -Editor

What he doesn't understand is that the thirst for sensation only comes about because he is a
compulsive games player. When a person goes into therapy in TROM, and starts to remove their 

compulsion to play games… as their compulsion to play games lessens, their thirst for sensation
lessens, their thirst for games sensation lessens. 

So the point where they cease to become a compulsive games player, and become a voluntary, or
non-compulsive games player, their thirst for games sensation is minimal – if it exists at all. This
is the thing that the compulsive games player can never understand. The fastest resolution of
the compulsive games state is undoubtedly the first three levels of TROM. 

These are undoubtedly the fastest route out, to returning the person back to the state of non-
compulsive games play. Although this can only be achieved solo by 95% of humanity, the other
5%* will need some assistance early on from a separate therapist; which is a good time for us to
introduce the fourth and last of the conditions of life, the Insanity Condition. 

*These are the 5% that fail the Repair of Importances exercise test, that is to say, R.I. gets no
results. -Editor

The Insanity Condition 

Let me say at once that the insanity condition is, far and away, the most difficult of the four
conditions for a person to understand, simply because in the other three conditions the person is
operating upon reason, while the very essence of insanity is unreason. And it's very, very difficult
for a reasonable being to duplicate* unreason, or to duplicate insanity. 

*Duplicate, in this context does not mean you see an insane person and start acting insane as
well. This meaning comes from the Scientology understanding of how communication works.
First, someone says something to you like, "Hi, my name is Bill". If you hear, "Hi my name is Bill"
then you have 'duplicated' his communication. If you don't hear him, or imagine he said something else,
then you have not duplicated his communication. Duplication comes before understanding. You can't
understand something you can't duplicate.

The urge of the rational being is to shun and to pull away from insanity, to pull away from
unreason.  So the  insanity  state  is an  incredibly  difficult  state  for  a  person  to understand.
Nevertheless, every spiritual being en route through TROM, when they get into Level 5… onto
the fifth level, onto Level 5, will start to regain a familiarity with the anatomy of insanity. They
will get to understand how insanity comes about. 

The first thing we would need to know about the insanity condition, is that it's only entered by
compulsive games players. Insanity is not a hazard to the non-compulsive, or voluntary games
player. It's only when a person embarks upon the compulsion to play games, are they at risk of
going insane. 

Now, this tells us at once that we can proof any person against insanity, by getting them to
complete the first three steps of TROM. Once they reach the top of the third level of TROM,
they're in a voluntary games condition – voluntary, non-compulsive games condition. And from
that point onwards they are proofed against insanity. 

But while they're below that level, and in a compulsive games state, they are at risk, always at
risk, of going insane. One must understand this very, very clearly about the compulsive games
player. He's at risk of going insane; and sliding into this fourth state of the insanity condition.
Essentially, the compulsive games player goes insane when he has no class to occupy* in the
event of overwhelm in games play. It's essentially… it's as simple as that. 

*Also could be stated "Has no role he can move into once he is overwhelmed". The insane person has no
way to end his game.

That's how it comes about. What has happened is that his game play has become so compulsive,
he's got his life so restricted, he's narrowed his freedoms of choice down so much, that he's now
in his last game. And if he loses this game, he has no place to go. And then he goes and loses the
game. So where else can he go but insane? The insane person is literally caught in the crack
between a postulate and its negative. He's trying to dramatise both postulates simultaneously.
He's trying to operate on both the postulate and its negative simultaneously. He can't stay in the
game because he's just been overwhelmed. But he can't go out of the game because he has no
other place to go to. So he’s got to stay in the game. So he's in the crack in between. And that,
briefly, in essence, is the insanity state. 

Another way to look at the insanity state, in terms of Scientology, would be that the person is
simply stuck in an engram. He went into the engram, and there he's stuck. He never came out.
And there he is today. He's still in that engram. And the engram happened to him twenty-five
years ago. And he's still in it. He hasn't made any sense since. He went into that engram and it
ruined him psychologically, and he's never really come out of it. 

And that is the Scientology look at insanity. And it's a very valid look at it. It's a very valid look,
because this is, factually, what happens to the person. He gets overwhelmed and there's no
place to go, except insane. 

I'll be preparing a full logical analysis of this subject of insanity, which will be made available,
with  various  other  matters,  in  supplementary  material  to  TROM.  We  do  understand  the
postulate structure of insanity in TROM. And because we understand it we can do something
about it. 

Although at the practical level, the best procedures for handling the insane are still the CCH
procedures of Scientology. And these CCH* procedures would be run till such time as the person
has completed Level 1 of TROM. And when they pass the test in Level 1 of TROM, they can then
go onto Level 2 of TROM solo as a compulsive games player. 

*(From the Glossary) OBJECTIVE PROCESSES: Processes intended to orient the individual in present time by having him touch things, look at things, and move around his body. 

One very well-known lower-level type of objective processing is called “CCH” which stands for control, communication, and havingness. They are a set formula for improving the person's degree of control of his mind and body; his free communication with his environment unaffected by reactive stimuli (things that would restimulate his case) and his tolerance and ability to reach his environment (“Havingness” being that last- the ability to reach his environment).

Never miss it, when a person, when the insane become sane, they are compulsive games players.
They went from compulsive games play into insanity. And when they return back out of insanity
again, they go back into compulsive games play. So that's where you would pick them up. 

Summary 

So that is our fourth level, and completes our four conditions of life. What may be very difficult
for a person with a Scientology background to understand, when they first meet TROM, and
meet these four conditions, is that as we move a person up through the conditions – say, up from
insanity through compulsive games play, into non-compulsive games play, into the no-games
condition, as we move a person up through these conditions in therapy, as a person is moved up 

through the conditions in therapy, their engrams, their engram bank, their reactive bank, as we
know it in Scientology, is progressively erased. 

The action of changing a person, say, from a compulsive games player to a non-compulsive
games player in TROM, will result in an enormous reduction in the amount of their bank; in the
amount of bank that they have, or the amount of engrams they have in restimulation – call it
which way  you will. But their reactive bank, as such, progressively  vanishes, as they  move
through the steps of TROM and go up through these various conditions of life. 

Some of this bank, some of this reactive bank, will be experienced by the person en route
through these… up these conditions. But the vast majority of their bank will fall away untouched
- but will be available to them in their standard memory banks in their analytical mind. So
nothing is being lost to the individual. 

There's nothing magical about this. It's simply that we're working at such a tremendous level of
simplicity   when   we're   working   with   these   fundamental   postulates, of   conflicting   and
complementary postulates, and the goals packages at Level 5, that vast amounts of complexity
in the mind simply fall away, simply resolve. 

And associated with this complexity is a vast amount of engrammic material. So the engrammic
material falls away untouched – because we're working with this great simplicity. You would have
to do this to actually fully comprehend what I'm talking about. But it's quite remarkable. It's
quite remarkable. 

In the final instance, it's not the amount of reactive bank that the person has that determines at
which level they are on these conditions. It's the state of their postulates, and their freedom of
choice to use these postulates, that determines the amount of reactive bank that they have. 

Well I hope this article on the subject of the four conditions of life will be useful to you, and give
you a greater reality of just what we're doing with TROM. Thank you very much. 

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