AS DEVELOPED BY L. RON HUBBARD
Scientology helps all aspects of life. Key principles better any condition. Scientologists use these principles in their daily lives so as to succeed. One example is through understanding the eight dynamics.
The basic command of all life is "Survive!". This can be subdivided into eight compartments, each an aspect of life. These eight compartments are called the eightdynamics (dynamic meaning urge, drive or impulse).
L. Ron Hubbard observed and delineated the first four of these dynamics in Dianetics. His research then led him into the realm of Scientology, where he wrote of the remaining four dynamics. By understanding each of these dynamics and their relationship, one to the other, a person can increase his survival on all these dynamics.
The first dynamic is SELF. This is the effort to survive as an individual, to be an individual. It includes one’s own body and one’s own mind. It is the effort to attain the highest level of survival for the longest possible time for self. This dynamic includes the individual plus his immediate possessions. It does not include other people. It is the urge to survive as one’s self. Here we have individuality expressed fully.
The second dynamic is CREATIVITY. Creativity is making things for the future and the second dynamic includes any creativity. The second dynamic contains the family unit and the rearing of children as well as anything that can be categorized as a family activity. It also incidentally includes sex as a mechanism to compel future survival.
The third dynamic is GROUP SURVIVAL. This is the urge to survive through a group of individuals or as a group. It is group survival, the group tending to take on a life and existence of its own. A group can be a community, friends, a company, a social lodge, a state, a nation, a race or in short, any group. It doesn’t matter what size this group is, it is seeking to survive as a group.
The fourth dynamic is SPECIES. Man’s fourth dynamic is the species of mankind. This is the urge toward survival through all mankind and as all mankind. Whereas the American nationality would be considered a third dynamic for Americans, all the nationalities of the world together would be considered the fourth dynamic. All men and women because they are men and women seek to survive as men and women and for men and women.
The fifth dynamic is LIFE FORMS. This is the urge to survive as life forms and with the help of life forms such as animals, birds, insects, fish and vegetation. This includes all living things whether animal or vegetable, anything directly and intimately motivated by life. It is the effort to survive for any and every form of life. It is the interest in life as such.
The sixth dynamic is the PHYSICAL UNIVERSE. The physical universe has four components. These are matter, energy, space and time. The sixth dynamic is the urge to survive as the physical universe, by the physical universe itself and with the help of the physical universe and each one of its component parts.
The seventh dynamic is the SPIRITUAL DYNAMIC, the urge to survive as spiritual beings or the urge for life itself to survive. Anything spiritual, with or without identity, would come under the heading of the seventh dynamic. It includes one’s beingness, the ability to create, the ability to cause survival or to survive, the ability to destroy or pretend to be destroyed. A subheading of this dynamic is ideas and concepts and the desire to survive through these. The seventh dynamic is life source. This is separate from the physical universe and is the source of life itself. Thus there is an effort for the survival of life source. The eighth dynamic is the urge toward existence as INFINITY.
The eighth dynamic is commonly supposed to be a Supreme Being or Creator. It is correctly defined as infinity. It actually embraces the allness of all. Simply understanding these dynamics clarifies and brings order.
One can observe them in one’s own life, noting which ones need improvement and bring these factors into greater harmony.
