New OT8

On 10 August 2013, in Aruba, I achieved the State of OT8. This is a lifelong quest and adventure which I began in mid 1985. I first heard of the State of OT8 in December (near New Years) 1985.

This is not a status. It is the attainment of a state of understanding and operational capability that far exceeds any that have dared been dreamt of by man. It is the culmination, for me,  of over two decades of dedication and hard work and study. My route was a gradient scale of realizations, all mine. None were told to me. There was no dogma. I was not asked to believe in anything. This is not about believing, or about “having faith”. It is about certainty of knowing that does not come about by sitting passively or by “talking about” or by “not looking directly”. This state takes confront.

Success OT8 – Ken Risley 10 August 2013

I have attested to New OT8. This is a thrill beyond anything I have experienced. It is a rediscovery of myself and a rekindling of a love and validation of self that I’ve never experienced before.

The very first session shocked me. I came out almost in a state of confusion as a new stable datum had appeared which was suddenly realigning the world around me. The change in me, in just my first two sessions, was beyond description. And then each subsequent session was a set of new realizations.

How does one describe this? Being that the concept is new, the words that I have habitually used do not properly relay my new reality. But I am bold and I shall charge onward – armed as I am.

I feel a calmness that runs to the core of me. It is an ability to be – with total comfort.

The environment no longer encroaches. It is not operational upon me. There is an “out-thereness” that I can be, or be part of, or not – my choice. This is new. No longer do I have to proof myself up against a barrage of MEST input. I see MEST more as it is, and it now is sharing my own universe. * – (MEST is a shortened term for Mass, Energy, Space and Time; ie, the physical universe that we can see, hear, touch, etc.)

There is a centerness. This is not a CENTER with respect to anything MEST. It is a center of ME. I can put it where I want it.

My own universe is now an overlay of the others.

My communications are much more at ease. I am in total communication. The goals of OTTR0 are mine with real ease. When listening to others, I am totally interested. I almost become them. There is no noise in my universe. TR’s are an ability and a doingness which I trained myself to do in earlier courses. But now it totally natural. I am OT-TR0. Wow.

I have no attention on my past. It is almost as though it is gone. No interest. I am now and am planning, and doing, the future. It may be one second out, it may be weeks out. But that is where I live now.

My tone is high and remains there. This is huge because I have observed, especially as I finished OT7, that my tone level was an index to how well my postulates stick. It wasn’t results that caused tone, it was tone that was related to results. My tone is high now. The results follow.

I seem to be naturally in ACTION.  I am like a self-propelled lawn mower or that little battery rabbit – I just keep on going. But, I also have an off-switch – completely under my control. If I decide not to go, I stop. My choice. I have no partial “do’s” and “not-do’s”. No maybes. It is go – or not go.

Another skill I have recognized is the ability to pervade and know. Now, to be honest, this is a new skill that I will be honing. I cognited that this is not just something we read about in LRH Basic Books. It is real. This is what we can do. Here, on my first true OT level, I have tested this skill and it totally works. I have a long record of perceiving with via’s. This skill is one of habits and habits broken. I now have the ability, have recognized it, and am using it.

The other night we had our water well go out at the house back in Florida. My wife called to tell me. This can be a very expensive problem to fix. I pervaded the system, from 1300 miles away, and could perceive that it was a set of switch contacts and a small part of the motor. These are cheap to fix. Turned out, the next morning, my wife reported that it was the contacts and a capacitor that had burnt out. So cool. I just knew them to be the situation.

On that same subject, pervasion is something I learned about in the Basics. It is so evident to me, now, that the Basics are the key to being OT. The Case is one thing – but the knowledge of HOW to be OT is contained in the Basics.

This level handled me. I rehabbed a true love for self but this time orders of magnitude more.  It brought about a stability. It brought about a true and simple power.  Cause over life is not something we attain. It is a constant truth that we, simply, uncover and realize. This is a Level that needs to immediately follow Solo Nots, just as OT1, 2 and 3 need to follow Clear. This Level caps it off. It is the explanation point at the end of the Solo Nots sentence. Though the word sentence hardly expresses the NOTS band, the metaphor still fits.

The entire cycle, from eligibility to that dazzling conclusion, is vital to every being – especially those on their OT levels.  Completing it, one not only “knows about” ones immeasurable value and cause over all the dynamics, but one knows and “feels” it. Aside from the case advance, I am a better person. I trust my decisions. I will be exemplary with ease.

My infinite thanks to all at Flag who helped pave the way for my arrival here. My near inexpressible admiration, affinity and thanks to the entire staff at FSSO who, as a team, created this amazing environment and perfectly applied Tech to get me here. I was so validated as an auditor and as a being.

As one who was around pre 1996 I have a real understanding of how much RTC (under the direction of the COB) has done to get in point 1 of KSW.

And, of course, LRH. The underlying quality of this man, beyond his ability to research, write, look and discover (clearly and cleanly) was an underlying LOVE for mankind. This is, of course, true Greatness. He never said, “To hell with it” and “To Hell with them and their banks”. Never. I think it is this that is most salient to me about this man. Many thanks, Ron. Another one has popped through. Here I am. I will continue to be a great Scientologist and do even more.

WINS WRITTEN Shortly after attesting (10 August 2013)

The results were unexpected. The wins continue to be felt. It is a new stable datum which is now re-aligning my universe.

First of all, there is a calmness and ease that I have not experienced. This is new. It is an ability to be with total comfort. The environment has disconnected from me and is something else from me. I look out into a new world from a position which I entirely control.

The environment, before, was an encroaching thing. I had to proof myself again it – to some degree. Now, it is just out there, and it is as I see it and as I create it.

Of the three universes, mine is at play again.

I can expand and contract at will. I can get so large that I see everything contained in a little ball (a metaphor) or I can be in a space as before.

There is a centerness. This is not CENTER with respect to anything MEST. I can make my ear my center – or my head – or even another part outside myself. The center is me. It is like a glowing ball with me in the center.

I listen to others speak. I am totally there in total comm. The goals of OT TR0, which I reached for on my ProTR’s are now mine for real, naturally. Gone are my simultaneous thoughts as another was speaking. I used to listen and be comparing to my own experiences. Sometimes I would be waiting to say something I thought more important. GONE. Before, I could stop it – for TRs is an ability and something we DO. I could do it. But now it is natural and continuous. Now it is just the way I am. When one speaks, I am totally into what they are saying. I become them, almost. And boy do people speak to me. They will give me the most precious details. And I am them for those moments.

I have Absolutely NO attention on my past. From my perspective, it seems to be gone. No interest. It is as though I am only here now with a future to do. And I think constantly in the future.

I find myself, naturally, slipping into ACTION. It is almost like a self-propelled lawn more that wants to go, go and go. When I decide not to go, then I stop. That’s it. No partial do and not do that I have experienced before. I do. Or…..I don’t do.

And I am learning to pervade. A thetan approximates and knows by pervading. This is a natural occurrence but can sometimes be forgotten as we assume the habits of using the MEST perceptions to know. I can pervade and know. I started by near things, and began to venture out further. This is a skill I have demonstrated to myself and one which I will continue to enhance.

Our well system failed night before last. My wife was without water. I, this was my first attempt at pervading and hardly realized I was doing it, was able to pervade the components of the system and determine that it was not a failed pump (expensive) but a relatively cheap switch. I had seen some contact problems and my wife reported, the next day, that it had indeed been the switch and contacts. Also I determined there was a minor part of the motor that was not functioning and it could easily be replaced. Yes, a capacitor had burned out. Cheap and easy replacement.

I was resting and wanted to know the time. Rather than guessing, I just pervaded  my watch. I then looked (an old habit). I was right on. Realizing that, that the looking was a lessor state of know, I needed to know where a certain shop was in town. I decided to pervade the area and just know where it was. I decided to walk there, not to check if I was right, but to just go there. There it was. Again, this is a skill I will continue to perfect. I now know I can do it – so I will do it. A big win.

My tone is high. I am happy. When Ken gets happy, things always go right. It is NOT the other way around. When I am high-toned I cause things to go right. I can’t wait to apply this to my world.

This feeling seems to be unshakable. I have had “highs” before. But I could unmock them by allowing my thoughts to drift. Not so now. I am gaining a faith and expectation that this is here to last. This feeling lasts. I have nothing to put my mind on that changes that. I am now and future. How can that get me down? Others OT8’s tell me this state remains

When I did the grades and when I went clear, I loved myself. This is not a selfish love but the love necessary and that lay at the bottom of all good acts for all others (all dynamics). That was a big part of the win of those actions. I began to love who I was. But the tugs and pulls of additional case (which I now understand and handled on OT3 through 7) would bury this feeling. I was in good shape and I fought the battles of the NOTS band. The wins were phenomenal.  But at the end, I was a happy, relieved and somewhat like a seasoned warrior. A warrior after a successful battle feels victorious, and a bit tired, which he hardly notices. That was me, after 7.

But what about me? OT8 handled that. It took this warrior and got him back into great shape. It messaged the spirit and there was this “love”again, of self. But this time, with the viewpoint from the mountain top rather than the viewpoint of the path prior to the walk.

I am me again. I am stable. I am as powerful as I choose to be. It is a truth about which I am now certain. Cause over life, really, is the truth. We think we have it at the end of 7, and, we have proven to ourselves that we do – but then the simplicity of OT8 reveals the truth that each of us really is at cause. This is no longer an opinion, no longer an observation. It is a knowingness.

What Mike Fine said was right. This level needs to be done immediately after 7. I would say it is as important to do 8 right after 7 as it is 3 after Clear. As Ron said, “This, you need to handle”.

With the new stable datum, I totally know that wins and realizations and cognitions will continue to happen. This is not the end of my wins. It is like the win of getting a new telescope, but then the continuing wins of new celestial discoveries. I have a theta world to explore – I will create and will learn so much as I live.

It is my new life – at 61 years of age. What a gift from Ron – what a gift to myself from myself.  I did it. My self validation is something that only I will know. And that is quite enough.

One more thing, and this is just as important as above. The Eligibility cycle, I now realize, was more important than I then realized. I tended to look at it as a test – at that time. “Get Through It”was the game. But with the wins of that action, recognized at the time but perhaps not fully, combined with this new realization, the eligibility now grows in apparent importance to me. I get it. We are so much at cause now. What are we going to cause? This now moves beyond case. It is now the setting of new games. I realize the awesome responsibility that I now have. It is like the control of much of the world was just placed in my hands. I have been asked to slip into the left seat of the airplane cockpit. I have been shown the controls and the navigation and told that it is up to me to keep her flying and get her to the destination. This is a big responsibility. My game as an OT8, now, is to fly this sucker and do it well.

ML,

Ken Risley

My Speech at Graduation on the Freewinds (given 16 August 2013)

I live in Ocala, Florida and I have attested to New OT8.

When I was 15 my father returned from the war in Southeast Asia. He brought to my brother and I something which he designed – a ring. There were only two.

This ring had a star Safire in the middle and was surrounded with 6 letters. Each of these letters stood for human qualities that dad considered important. As a fighter pilot, at risk, he wanted to assure that he passed to my brother and I — what he thought was important. He wore those rings while flying several combat missions. As a father myself I understand his motives – his reach into the future through his two sons.

These letters stood for:

Purpose
Perseverance
Courage
Convection,
Knowledge
and Integrity.

My brother lost his the first year.

I still have mine- nearly 50 years later.

The reason I tell you is this is that these were the first words I ever looked up in a dictionary. I actually looked them up.

These were, for me, at that time, completely new concepts.

And with those new concepts I became aware that there were definable qualities that could lead to a better life and  I began my quest to become a better person – to find actual happiness.

My search took me far and wide. I studied philosophies, religions, and made my own attempts to sort it all out. I achieved much, pursued many challenges, each an attempt to find some sort of truth and some degree of true comfort.

But 18 years later – at the age of 33,

as a young father

as a professional in my field

as a well-read man, who had never done drugs, never done anything stupid…   

I still remained a lost soul.  

And then someone sold me a book – called Dianetics. I opened it only with mild interest – because I had opened many such books. Or at least I thought.

And in it I read, “You are beginning an adventure. Treat it as an adventure. And may you never be the same again.”

Well- I never was.

I found and visited the Tampa Org, recieved 25 hours of auditing, began some academy training and, without realizing it, became a Scientologist.

I trained in the academy as an auditor and eventually went Clear.

I became a key player in the Tampa Orgs acquisition of new quarters, up to and including their current Ideal Org Building.

I became the lead engineer and architect on most every building at Flag Land Base.

I began to find happiness and understanding.

Eventually I got onto the OT Levels – and, there, learned the greatest mysteries of life.

I got onto my greatest challenge to date – OT7. And there I, through auditing, training and ethics, handled the mountain of case that sits and squashes everything being on this planet.

And completing OT7, I thought, I had reached the pinnacle.

But, due to some great briefings, I learned that the dessert, the “pot of gold” was yet to be had – right here on the Freewinds.

And, man, they were right.

Let me tell you briefly about OT8.

On the The Eligibility. I learned that I could be a better person.

I learned to trust my own decisions.

This could have been called a Level unto itself.

When  I began auditing my first session surprised me.

I came out in a state of confusion

A new stable datum had appeared

And suddenly the world was realigning. It is difficult to describe. I came out of session and the entire world was shifting before my eyes. For some moments I knew the boat was rocking and listing and I had to hold onto the walls – yet I looked out the window and all was level and still.

This reorientation was nearly a surreal experience. Subsequent sessions continued the process – and it was quick. It is difficult to explain this – but I know my fellow OT8’s know of what I speak.

So, briefly, what are some of my wins?

I have achieved a new state of calmness that runs to the core of me.

The environment no longer encroaches. I can be it or have it

OR NOT  – my choice

I feel a new center. And this is not a physical thing.

My communications are so much more at ease and with so much more life. 

I have no attention on my past. 

I AM NOW………………………… and live in the future.

My tone is high and remains there. This is huge because I have discovered that a high-toned attitude causes the good things in life, not the other way around.

I am living in ACTION.

BUT also have an “off-switch – completely under my control.

I can pervade and know. This is not just something we read about in LRH Basic Books. It is real. This is what we can do.

Here, on my first true OT level, I have tested several new skills I read about in the Basics –  and they work.  

The Basics are the     KEY     to being OT. Case is one thing – but the knowledge of HOW to be OT is contained in the Basics.

But the bottom line is…..

I am now OT.

And this bracelet is a symbol of that accomplishment

And I wear it proudly near the symbol of the beginning of my quest.

What they represent

Means so much to me.

Many thanks are in order.

First, to my Dad – who,

without knowing,

started me upon this route.

My thanks and love to my wife, Kimberly,

who has been with me every step of the way.

My thanks to all at Flag who helped pave the way for my arrival here.

And admiration and thanks to the entire staff at the Freewinds who, as a team, keep creating this amazing environment. 

I want to thanks the RTC for keeping the tech there for real in beautiful form. I respect the COB more than any one person alive on earth. 

Now, as far as LRH

Beyond his ability to look, to evaluate and to express his findings,

He had a love for life

And, most importantly, he had a love for mankind.

He NEVER gave up on us.

That is true Greatness.

Thank you, Sir.

To LRH.

Wins – Post Return:

I write this mid September 2013 –  What has my life been like?

First, the wins I expressed are stable.

Second, I own tone 20 on the scale. I can be it or not – my choice. I find myself at ease and quiet at times, just absorbing, or just being. Sometimes I am somewhere else looking at something or pervading something to know it. When speaking to others there is a constant calmness. There is an absolute mastery of myself, everyone in my space (if I choose) and of my space itself. Things just work as I get near them. I’ve watched machines simply work or not work by my decision. And when I go into action, at 20, that is where I am. Total.

I am bringing order. My MEST is getting into order. This is not only magic but I am active beyond my former norm. My confront is many times before. If I want to see “out-points” then there they are and I fix them. I recently cognited that much of making things better is being able to see “out-points”. To be willing to see them and to handle them. Part of this was a gain from my eligibility cycle on the Freewinds.

Physically, I don’t get headaches any more. I am NEVER sick. When I push a joint a bit far and it argues with me I simply pervade it and fix it. My rate of heal now is much faster.

I have NO FEAR of death. I now understand it and know that I will be fine. I can see “cycles” repeating over and over again and see this as another cycle. This is not just something that I “believe” – it is now a certainty. I’m not bound to anything or anyone – other than by choice.

Life is a game. It is NOT a serious thing. Seriousness is a sickness rooted in loses and in dread. It is rooted in regrets and worry. None of this is serious. I can decide that it is important – but it is a decision only. It is not imposed.

I love my fellow man. This is something greater than before. I see every being as an OT – as an amazing being with powers beyond his or her wildest imagination. They only lack the current ability to truly see that. They are trapped by their own self determined decisions and conclusions and it is their on OT abilities that pin them down. IT is like the Chinese finger trap – the more one struggles, the more his own efforts trap him. Life is rigged like that – until you find the key(s) (and there are more than one).

I have also recognized that case and understanding of life a separate things (though related). We have heard of the “Cleared Cannibal”. This brilliant metaphor  is a perfect description of one who has eliminated case but still lacks the knowledge of life. The importance of learning the keys to life is now more obvious to me. This is now my mission. An OT’s skills are well delineated in the early works of LRH. But to study them, in an aberrated state is only partially instructive. Many of the skills and abilities become truly real as the Case disappears. This is a gradient thing starting from ones first true session till OT8 and beyond. One begins to try to do these things. It is as a pilot might feel who steps into an airplane with capabilities beyond his former experience – both in equipment and in the airplane itself. Before he stepped in he was barely even aware of their existence. But once he steps into and trains into this airplane these greater skills and abilities become part of him. This is analogous to new OT8. This level (the first actual OT level) sits one into the seat of this new aircraft. Some of the “bells and whistles” still lay there – not yet fully appreciated. It is only through the learning how to use and their actual use that one begins to gain the abilities. I see my new OT8 as the seating into the seat of this massive new airplane. My OT hatting (through the Basics, the Lectures and the ACC’s) is my recognition and practice in the use of these neat new toys. Each toy is another magical ability that I heretofore did not know existed or that I had.

Just the ability to leave for over 60 days is a lesson in life. It is a recognition that we can do what we need to do. There really is no “must” or “you should” grounded in the “everybody knows” band. This is patently untrue. Life is not a “must”. It is a decision that leads to action and better conditions – chosen by one’s own knowingness and observation. That is a great degree of freedom.

While on the ship I met folks of many ages who were there to do OT8. Two gentlemen were 82 and 86 respectively. I met and befriended a lady (79 years of age) who could have been my daughter, my sister or my mother. She is that ageless. She is a professional pianist yet begged me to play and would just sit and listen with her eyes closed and say, “You are a remarkable musician”. My roommate, Dave Worthen (my new brother), is 60. He is a master disseminator and literally got five of the folks doing OT8 ONTO THE BRIDGE. Can you believe it? Another great friend, Lisa, is 49. I love her. We walked the streets of all the ABC islands and Colombia – she told me the story of losing her only son. The joy of her two Sea Org daughters. One of her daughters is a writer of songs and wrote her FIRST song the night she lost her brother. What depth.  Another, Roy (a dentist) went to high school 15 miles from me in Dayton and we graduated the same year (1970) but did not know each other. Mary Anne, also born in 1952, is a speech pathologist in Buffalo and became a dear friend. She recently wrote me: “I will be always grateful for all of the help you gave me on course. I will never forget you. I really, really appreciated your help. It was such a huge win for me! “ Annie (one of the youngest looking grandmothers (man they all looked young) is a writer of children’s books. I met a “young” gal who has 7 children and many grandchildren – she heads a very large school.  Jim and Vicki (he a veterinarian and owns a vet hospital and she a professional potter) are married and were there to do OT8 together. They donated over $70K just while on the Freewinds– feeling so strongly about how much help this planet needs. Roy has donated over $2.5 million since 1997. And Janet – another backpacker through Europe (as did I) in search for “truth”. She ended up a Travel Agent and I saw changes in her that gave me chills (as she finished 8). And Eddie, the greatest laugh I have heard (a dentist and orthodontist from Texas). Ages from 49-86. No matter the age, all of us walked through this magic door. This is for eternity.  The “golden doors” – a space of uniqueness beyond any I have ever seen. These are the greatest beings on this planet; the elite of the elite; in IQ, in insight, in toughness, in perseverance, in goodness and in value.  It is, for each of us, the toughest, the hardest and the most fulfilling cycle (through OT7 and finally OT8) that we have EVER, EVER done.  I am so honored to be part of this group of beings. My greatest challenge is trying to live away from them and away from my fellow OT’s with whom I share so much. With others, I can only share a small percentage of who I am and what I know. It’s like returning from an amazing journey and then trying to explain it to others, or trying to look at others in the same way one did. It’s like returning home to a small town where one grew up after touring the universe.

Ah, but this too is easy – by decision alone. The good news is that the worthy ones, including many close to me now, will join me in due time. This club will get larger and larger – and this world will become a better place. We need OT’s. And OT’s need OT’s. We do not do so well by ourselves. We need each other. Together we can’t fail.

There is so much more I could say – I will add to this from time to time. I wear this OT bracelet all the time now. My name and date of attainment are on the back. None are eligible to wear it until they finish 8.  I wear it as a reminder to myself. It is a symbol complete with mass, meaning and mobility. It is a symbol of my nearly 28 year journey – through trials, through the counter intention of people who could not and can not see the reality of their own and this world’s condition.  It is a reminder that I have not achieved an end but only a new state from which to operate and accomplish. May I never fail to live up to all that it encompasses and to the honor and privilege granted me to having been able to achieve this state.

Ken Risley