More About 2nd American ACC

We’d certainly better know what we’re trying to do with this Standard Operating Procedure. What we’re trying to do with it is orient this life unit so thoroughly that it comes to life. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. —L. Ron Hubbard

Having commenced the Advanced Clinical Course, L. Ron Hubbard had embarked on an intensive period of research and development to refine processes and training procedures. His goal was the simplification of auditing and the standardization of training so that the breakthroughs of Operating Thetan could be accomplished on a widespread basis.

Because of the rigorous nature of the training, Mr. Hubbard had limited the number of auditors to a mere dozen. However, and despite his initial intentions, word began filtering out to the field. And, in turn, it soon resulted in a lot of word flooding back in to Hubbard Association of Scientologists Training Center. Namely, overwhelming numbers of requests by auditors demanding to participate. So great, in fact, L. Ron Hubbard soon decided he had no choice but to widen the doors of enrollment.

As a first step—and one which was absolutely mandated to cater to the volume of requests for application—he located new quarters at 507 Market Street, in Camden, New Jersey. They provided lecture halls, classrooms, student auditing rooms and, most important, recording studios to record the latest breakthroughs.

Then, and within just four days after graduating the first class, Mr. Hubbard began the 2nd American Advanced Clinical Course on 17 November 1953. And if those new students had heard training was rigorous, they were now experiencing it. The schedule said it all: Mr. Hubbard lectured in the morning, afternoon and evening, while in between students were immediately put in session co-auditing under his direct supervision on the procedures he had just lectured on. And in just this way, L. Ron Hubbard was able to make the first breakthrough on his program to discover barriers to auditor training. Specifically, the discovery that lack of successful auditor performance could be traced directly to a lack of understanding of the basic definitions of Dianetics and Scientology. As for its resolution:

“We sailed into them on the subject of definitions, and hammered and pounded and beat on the subject of definitions: What is a thetan? What is a thetan? What is a thetan? And then, just for variation: What’s a thetan?”

Auditing results soared.

Yet if fundamental understanding of basic definitions was a breakthrough that was to change the shape of all future training, there was still another that would do the same as regards auditing itself—all as announced in a lecture of legendary significance, “The Granting of Beingness.” For contained within those words is not only the description of the finest thing a thetan can do, but also the answer and explanation of the “only one.” And where such a trait existed within an auditor, no preclear could even hope to make gain. In total, it was a lecture of such paramount importance that it was not only duplicated for broad distribution to all auditors, but was required study by students of every subsequent Advanced Clinical Course.

However, and notwithstanding the magnitude of these discoveries, the 2nd ACC is marked by an even bigger story with a technical development no less than milestone. For this is where L. Ron Hubbard codified and taught the materials that form the foundation of entrance to all cases: The Rehabilitation of the Human Spirit and Standard Operating Procedure 8-C (SOP 8-C). As he described:

“Specifically, the use of these processes obtains, when correctly used, without further evaluation for or indoctrination of the preclear, the knowledge that he is not a body, that he is a creative energy-production unit and demonstrates to him his purposes and abilities.”

Amongst the multitude of breakthroughs and developments that comprise SOP 8-C was a process that was a virtual panacea: Opening Procedure of SOP 8-C. With this process, Mr. Hubbard had the key for auditors to unlock the entrance of every case: The willingness of the preclear to receive directions from an auditor and, hence, the preclear’s ability to actually do a process and free himself through auditing.

More to the point of future research, results of Opening Procedure were of such magnitude that Ron made the decision to devote his efforts to the full-time training of auditors. After all, having unlocked the entrance to all preclears, he’d also accomplished the very same for all auditors:

“The most cheering and wonderful thing about this process is that, for the first time in all these years, we came into possession of something which could be taught and which auditors—as represented by those in the Advanced Clinical Units—could use, would use, which they understood, which they did not vary, which they would keep up with. And with that process we entered into training.”