A preclear is in better condition and will audit better exteriorized than "in his body."L. RON HUBBARD
Renzo got a telegram from Felicia: "CLEAR!!!" Her follow-up letter told him that she would be traveling in France and Italy for a few weeks to unwind. Renzo was uneasy. I knew that Felicia wouldn't have any money left for a vacation, but I didn't probe.
When Felicia returned, I was invited over for my first look at the new Clear. She did seem different, more self-possessed and knowing than before, the privileged holder of a beautiful secret she hoped we would all eventually share.
Felicia had brought with her from England Gerald Tyber, an OT II Class VII Auditor. OT II was the second "Upper Level" above clear and VII was the highest class of auditor. Gerald proudly introduced himself as "the only OT II Class VII alive and well in the Western Hemisphere."
There was nothing noteworthy about Gerald Tyber's appearance, save that he was on the rotund side and his eyes were so often half closed in mirth that tiny crinkles had formed at the sides which made him look much of the time like a contented suckling infant. His manner was a quaint blend of old-fashioned graces and glib familiarity that I took at first as a put-on. He treated everyone in the room as co-conspirators in his friendly banter, while putting such gusto into common courtesies -- "please" and "thank you" -- that I remember thinking "He can't mean it, but it's charming and flattering." He spoke of his arrival in the States as if it were a game. He seemed above petty upsets; even an unpleasant encounter at Customs hadn't ruffled him.
Gerald had come to America to open his own Scientology franchise, with Felicia as his partner. Scientologists with certification from Saint Hill could establish their own auditing enterprises, provided they followed Hubbard's Standard Operating Procedures and sent him ten percent of their take. Only a few did this (at the time there were only about four franchises in New York City); most Scientologists earned their living doing other things or worked at an org for low wages. Without quite saying so, Gerald managed to convey that the org members were poor business people with somewhat masochistic tendencies. While looking for a suitable apartment for the franchise, Gerald would be sleeping on the Lancia living room sofa. This arrangement struck me as peculiar, but by this time I was reluctant to harbor any "considerations" on the behavior of Clears and OTs. I was enormously impressed by Gerald. There was a world of confidence behind his hail-fellow manner and rich, meaty laugh. Here he was, just starting a new business in a foreign country, having as it were just dropped in with his overnight bag, acting as casually assured as the man in the white apron tossing dough in the pizza parlor.
Renzo was out when I stopped by the next day, and Felicia told me that their marriage was breaking up -- and Renzo didn't mind. I assumed that Felicia's clearing had something to do with it; a Clear would see things afresh and have the freedom to make long-put-off decisions. I had had no inkling of any marital trouble until Renzo's solitary return from England.
Later that day, Renzo told me that the breakup had been inevitable and he concurred with it. Unbeknownst to their friends, the marriage had been stormy, and now that they had decided to part their relationship was friendlier than it had been for years. But just in case Renzo felt any rancor over the turn of events, Gerald Tyber had offered to give him extra auditing -- called "review" -- at no cost.
Gerald suggested I also have review, at $25 an hour.
I was all for it. When I'd heard that Gerald gave "review sessions," I realized I had had some doubts about my previous auditing, especially Marty's disjointed late-night sessions. An OT II Class VII was just the person to straighten it out.
I immediately liked Gerald's auditing. His acknowledgments sounded as gracious as they did out-of-session. By comparison Felicia's auditing technique was scratchy. Being auditing by Gerald was like cruising in a Rolls-Royce equipped with bar, stereo and oriental rugs.
I mentioned a possible lingering ARC break with Marty. Gerald ran a Search and Discovery process which revealed Marty as "suppressive" to me. Also unearthed as a suppressive was the doctor who presided at my birth. In the incident I saw contrasts of light and dark. Then I recalled an incident at some unknown time when I felt I was out of my body, or "exteriorized." I had floated into a room and was hovering over a sofa.
"He's screwing her," I said.
"Fine," said Gerald. "Go through the incident."
"That's all there is to it. I see a man and a woman screwing on the sofa."
"All right. Anything more on that?"
"I don't know who they are, but I think I'm being suppressed in the incident."
"Thank you. I'd like to indicate that the meter has validated that you are being suppressed in the incident."
Gerald rehabbed my Grades, beginning with Marty's Dianetic auditing and on through Grades 0 through IV.
"I'd like to validate that `I was deprived and nothing can be about it' is your service facsimile," he concluded his summary. "All right, sire. You have a beautiful, clean floating needle. That's it!"
We had been at it for four hours. It didn't seem to matter whether I'd really been out of my body or whether such possibility explained my recurrent dreams of disembodied wanderings. By now I was fully into the routine and willing to forego any questioning in favor of swift progress through a session. When Gerald asked, "What gains, your honor?", I told him with conviction that I felt lighter and freer.