The "Lost" Tech of Actual GPMs

by Clearbird

Early on there is plenty to take up on a case. Life-repair, grades, engrams and secondaries. Following the grade chart, once the case has gone clear, you go through OT 1-4 and NOTS. If you follow Ron Hubbard's research line, however, there is an important part of the case that now is being completely overlooked. The Actual GPMs! They were in the 1960s described as being at the core of the case. Maybe they still are?

If you look closely at this core, you find a series of goals and identities the person is currently operating on. In addition, there is a supply of past goals and identities. Among them are very basic goals as well as more practical and contemporary ones. Each goal you find is running on a cycle of action, it has its own unique Be-Do-Have. The Be was the identity, role or “hat” assumed in order to operate. The Do is the execution of the goal. The Have is the desired end result. For example, the identity could be ‘police man’ (be). The goal could be ‘to enforce the law’ (do). The desired end result would be ‘lawful-ness’ (have). Goals that are fulfilled successfully cease to exert any influence as they are completed cycles. However, goals that are incomplete, due to their basic nature or their vastness -- or abandoned due to the opposition they met, tend to remain with the individual at some level. Over time, these incomplete or abandoned goals group in a certain way. They become part of what is called a Goals-Problems-Mass (GPM, see below). Since these goals and identities, at some point, were chosen consciously by the person and happily pursued for a long, long time as “my life” they have a great capability to influence and aberrate the person and go into action, even after they are long “forgotten” on a conscious level.

Anatomy of a GPM
An Actual GPM consists of such own goals and goals that opposed them. We postulate goals to have a game. Once postulated they may attract opponents. This brings about a pair of goals, also called a dichotomy. You could say a dichotomy is an old or current unresolved conflict or games-condition that produces charge between the two sides. One identity with its goal acts like a pole in a battery. The one side of the dichotomy is the person’s own goal. The other side is the opposition that eventually frustrated the person to a degree so he/she abandoned pursuing the goal. One such abandoned conflict is being layered on top of the next as time goes on. The goals in the dichotomy clash so they form problems and masses in the person’s mind. These masses can remain with the individual for millennia. The basic anatomy of a problem is goal-counter goal; intention-counter intention; or one confusion that is hung up against another comparable but opposing confusion. The basic goals the person pursued are typically very broad and general as remote guiding stars that lead a person in a certain general direction. These goals align themselves along the eight dynamics, which, themselves, are very basic goals in this universe. An example of a goal would be “to obtain wealth”. To succeed, all the opportunities and strategies of life may come into play and countless lock-incidents happen and accumulate. Sub-goals and corresponding “hats” or identities are taken on in order to succeed. You can probably imagine the opposition and counter-goals the person runs into during this general pursuit and all the “hats” he/she needs to wear in order to succeed.

A GPM consists of pairs of opposing goals, one pair is layered on top of the next over time. All goals have one theme in common. That's the playing field or what the two sides fight over. One can start by finding such a theme that is in play in one's life, then one goal related to that theme and what opposes it. One would then find another goal and its opposition, repeatedly until all available polarities are discharged. Both the goals and the IDs behind them have to be skillfully discharged as one goes along.

Early Research
The subject of Goals-Problems-Mass was first researched by Ron Hubbard between 1961-65. The processes developed during that period were, however, highly experimental. Although much data was accumulated during the original research, no safe technique emerged that could be put in general use. There is one exception to this. The 1965 process known as “Routine 6 End-words” runs light locks on the Actual GPMs and can lead to key-outs. It is safe (but not that effective) and is used as Grade 6 (before the Clearing Course) in CoS’ original line-up of 1965-1978.

Actual GPMs are different from Implant GPMs. Implant GPMs are short engramic incidents where the person was subjected to overwhelm (usually by electronic means) while being loaded with a long series of conflicting goals. This was a mind control operation (intense “brain washing”) performed to confuse an individual and reduce his power and clarity of mind into that of a more subdued, controllable and dumb individual.
Implant GPMs can also be run out and examples of that would be CoS’ OT-2 level, the original Clearing Course materials, Helatrobus Implants and others.

An Actual GPM is sometimes described as a perceivable black mass or mist that is located in the vicinity of the person. There are numerous GPMs on a person’s case. Each GPM is held together by a subject matter (theme). All goals and identities in the GPM are closely related to this theme. The pairs of opposing goals also relate to each other in a pattern known as the Line Plot. Since the Line Plot is not used in the procedure we will not describe it in great detail here. We will just say, that once a goal has been pursued for a long time in life the person hits a dead end. He is burned out due to the opposition. He therefore reinvents his pursuit but on a slightly less ambitions level. He uses this “tactic” to try to overcome the opposition first met. In this way, he will in turn pursue a series of goals related to the same subject matter, each in turn opposed by the environment (usually other beings) and each eventually coming to a halt when the person gets stuck doing it, prompting a new lower scaled goal. You can plot the deterioration of ambition on various scales (such as the CDEI Scale or Havingness Scale; see example below). Eventually he will abandon the subject matter entirely, once he has reached bottom, and start a new series of goals related to a new theme. Although the Line Plot isn't part of the procedure, it is worth noticing that once a GPM is formed it sets out a pattern that later can be dramatized. The person may click into the succession of goals and contra goals, as if it were a play or set of rails to follow, and go through the whole gamut within a short or long period of time.

"Cowboys and Indians" is a classic pair in conflict. The subject they fight over could be "wilderness". The Indian's goal could be "to be respectful of the wilderness". The cowboy's could be "to dominate the wilderness". Each side is made solid by all kinds of fixed ideas, experiences, confrontations, etc. They are both "right extreme" in their traditional identities.

The Theme
The general subject matter of a GPM is called the theme. In Ron Hubbard’s materials it is known as the End-word. The most basic themes on a case are broad general concepts that can cover a lot of situations and territory. It could be “wealth”, “survival”, “eternity”, “consciousness”, “faith”, “health”, “beauty”, "justice", “serenity”, etc., etc. They cover broad concepts that have been important to living for millions of years. These core themes sound like philosophical areas of interest that people can feel passionate about. They are Absolutes; and “Absolutes are unobtainable” ( Logic #6) and therefore never completed as goals. They can, however, be dealt with as highly charged subjects. You will usually start out with more tangible themes related to daily life. They may derive much of their force from DEEPer, older basic themes to which they are related. Themes, over vast spans of time, tend to repeat themselves and thus reappear in a cyclical pattern. This is known as the Downward Spiral. The theme re-appears, but now smaller in scope, as there is a loss of  power due to the fact that more and more attention units get tied up in old goals, identities and mental masses. It is, however, important to note that to work out “whole-track charts” and Line Plots aren’t part of the presented technology. To try to map them outside research serves no good purpose. They will reveal themselves when the preclear is ready. Feel free to find them piece by piece as results of cognitions.

Whatever the person brings up as a hot theme can usually be run as long as it is in a “timeless and qualitative” form. By “timeless” we mean in a form that can be found independent of any particular time and place. By "qualitative" we mean, it at its core has a quality, flavor or "feel" to it rather than being a thing. "The theme of law" would cover anything related to law matters which all belong to one GPM. The example could include anything related to the police force, to courts, to lawbreakers, crime, loot, victims, etc. Despite this diversity, all elements in this GPM would have a certain "feel", flavor or quality in common. A theme is such a broad category characterized by a common quality, "feel" or flavor. This abstract quality is what holds the GPM together in the mind.

The basic conflicts we go through in life may change in personnel and circumstances. Yet, the emotions and drama patterns are stunningly similar anywhere on the time track. A hot theme is something that engages and appeals to the person. It's something the person expends effort on, agonizes over. It could be something that ruins his life and consumes his attention, interest and energy. Any area that continuously causes out rudiments on a case is a strong indicator of a theme that can be processed once its “timeless and qualitative” form is formulated. Initially it could be the job, the boss, the spouse or kids, how one looks, one’s special nemesis, the tax man, etc.

If we take the theme “wealth” as example, you can see how many conflicts and wars that theme has led to going way back in time. How many goals and counter goals have gone into that theme! Examples would be “to create wealth”, “to gather wealth”, “to protect wealth”, “to retain wealth”, “to steal wealth”, “to pretend wealth”, "to ridicule wealth", “to avoid wealth”, “to destroy wealth”. The examples show the deterioration of ambition to a point where the last one “to destroy wealth” is the opposite of the first one, “to create wealth”. At the very end the person has, typically, switched sides and become what he was fighting so hard when he first set out “to create wealth”. Such destructive goals are usually of short duration as it's against the basic goodness of a Being. An up-scale goal, such as “to create wealth” is usually the first and most basic goal in a GPM (“create” is the top level of the Havingness Scale). The opposing goal to any given goal is not necessarily its logical opposite. It is simply the counter-goal that completely frustrated the person and caused him to give up the original activity. Counter-goals to “to create wealth” could be, “to scatter wealth”, “to tax wealth”, “to detest wealth”, and of course, “to destroy wealth”. Once the most basic goal (and its opposition) is discharged, the whole GPM is erased. The most basic goal the person pursued in a GPM would be the original unopposed intention just to postulate something into existence. This may be found, and usually may not, the first time the theme is contacted and available goals run. Often general unburdening of charge is needed on a number of themes before the earliest pair of goals of any given GPM is unburdened enough to produce a read on the meter so they can be run.

Since a person, as he exists in present time, has countless GPMs as part of his case, chances are that many different ones are affecting him. After all, each GPM consists of long sections of his time track organized according to theme, goals and polarity. Sections of a GPM can go in and out of restimulation depending on the person’s intentions, activities and environment in present time. This is, in other words, a very complex and confusing situation we are dealing with.

Unburdening The GPM Case
In the original research of Hubbard, it was considered necessary to uncover one Actual GPM in its entirety, following the internal pattern called the Line Plot. Various researchers in the Freezone have found this impractical to do or too hard on the person. Instead, one can view a person’s case as a complexity of intermingled GPMs that has to be taken apart from the top down, so to speak. You want to remove the dichotomies you can get to without stirring up additional charge. You keep this up, taking the most available dichotomies and once that one is removed, you look for the next available one and keep it up until done. You unburden the case gently rather than insisting on a theoretical form that undoubtedly exists below or inside the mess. The truth is, to tear down an old structure (such as an old building) it is not necessary to know all the details about how it was built and operated. Instead, you make a careful plan and blow up the key pillars -- or you simply bulldoze the whole area flat.

To tear down an old structure--be it a building or a mental structure as a GPM--it is not necessary to know exactly how it was built and how it operated. One simply needs to know some solid basic principles so it is possible to unsettle the stucture and it will collapse. Ron Hubbard actually used this principle in other parts of processing. He talked about locating the linchpins and pulling those out and the aberrated mechanism and condition would collapse.

Another thing that makes this approach unique, compared to Hubbard's GPM techniques, is the care taken in discharging not only the goals but also the identities (IDs) behind each goal. Each ID came about as the Beingness assumed in order to effectively pursue a goal. A goal like, "to enforce the law", makes you think of a police man–and that is the typical ID related to that goal. Each of these IDs hardened while pursuing its goal. It adopted fixed ideas, service facsimiles, lies, etc. in an attempt to remain a force focused on succeeding. A goal is, in other words, not seen as a mathematical vector in an abstract universe but as a chapter in one’s personal history book. It headlines personal battles, victories and defeats, tenacity, cruelty and underhanded practices used in the battle in order to prevail. Often you find your own past ID in a certain conflict is now hopelessly intermingled with “the enemy’s” ID. This intermingling of IDs is part of what makes it persist as mental mass formed around the dormant but “not dead yet” opposing goals of the conflict. To take the mess apart completely, you have to look at the IDs of the combatants, including their fixed ideas, etc. These ideas, etc. solidified the IDs opposing “just causes” to a point where they to this day are worth fighting for when restimulated. The identities and the fixed ideas that hold them in place are the most basic “lies” in the GPMs. A Being can be anything. In the context of the GPM he passionately decided to be, say, a police man and made sure to be a “damned good cop” by adopting all kinds of fixed ideas and justifications. This is a long way from his natural potential. It’s a huge alter-is or “lie” that keeps the person being solid and aberrated. It is, however, also a way to give the goal pursued persistence and power.

The top-down approach means that you not necessarily get the very first time a goal was conceived. You may take up subjects that are less than at the very core of the case. Likewise, you don’t necessarily get the earliest incidents when the goal was in play. Sometimes you get high-powered locks. But you are unburdening the case and your ability to spot earlier occurrences and more basic themes will improve as you continue. Just take what comes to you and run that and leave it at that. You flatten a goal by repeating it and acknowledging each repetition. You keep up using Repeater Technique until it no longer produces a change or read. Both when finding themes and goals you should go with the first answer that pops up in your mind. (Sometimes you may have to rework the formulation to run it.) The technique is known as “Flash Answers” in the old Dianetics book. The mechanism is also known as the mind's File Clerk. Once you have found a hot theme, you stay with that theme until you can find no more charged goals connected with it. A goal always has the form “to [verb] theme”. See examples above related to wealth.

Completing GPMs
Actual GPMs in their entirety may not be available at first contact, as mentioned above. You may only be able to find and run a few pairs before something more urgent demands to be run. To get it all, it is therefore important to go back and recheck themes from time to time. This should at least be given great care before finishing the whole action. A GPM is erased when its first pair is dealt with. The very first item in the GPM is the person’s original postulated goal related to that theme. Erasing this will usually result in a significant blowdown and wide floating needle on an e-meter. The cycle has finally been “completed” by undoing the stuck postulate. The first goal in a GPM will be an upscale “free spirit” postulate, such as “to create [theme]”. Different systems can be developed to find as many themes as possible. You can ask to specific dynamics, for instance. We have found that asking for what a person is dramatizing (the main question used in R-6-EW) may yield additional themes that then can be taken through the Goals-ID steps. Since finding live and important themes require that the person can look at his life “objectively” or with self-critique, the action requires that the person is in good shape and has completed grades 0-4 and Dianetics (grade 5). This is also why the rundown works best as an duo-action rather than a solo action. We have often found that great themes come to mind in some odd life situation or as a result of reading and works when checked out in session. There are, of course, also more formalized ways to find hot themes.

Rounding off
In the light of the tremendous case gains that can be gotten from finding and running the polarities of Actual GPMs, it is a mystery how this whole band of technical possibilities got so utterly abandoned. Many old-timers, from the 1961-65 period, assumed it would be taken up on the upper OT levels. This with good reason as it was placed as the top level of the 1965 grade chart. What we have from Ron Hubbard now seems, however, to be all about entities as they are processed in various ways on OT-3 through OT-7. Using the approach of the Goals-ID Rundown you will realize that there is plenty to take up from the experiential track. When you embark on this action, you will experience a profound positive effect on your ability to be, do and have in daily life in the form of stable gains.