REACTIVE MIND

That portion of a person's mind which works on a stimulus-response basis (given a certain stimulus, it gives a certain response) which is not under his volitional control and which exerts force and the power of command over his awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and actions. It consists of GPMs, engrams, secondaries and locks.

From the AOGP Abridged Scientology Dictionary — based on original LRH source materials, updated through 1982.

Usage

The reactive mind operates below a person's conscious control, storing engrams, secondaries, locks, and GPMs that activate automatically when triggered by similar circumstances in the present. A person may suddenly feel anxious in a hospital without knowing why, because their reactive mind contains a painful incident in a similar setting.

Why It Matters

The reactive mind is the primary target of Dianetics and Scientology auditing, as it exerts unwanted force over a person's awareness, thoughts, body, and actions. Reducing its influence restores the individual's own self-determined control over their life.

Related Concepts

  • SECONDARIESMental image pictures containing mis-emotion (encysted grief, anger, apathy etc.) and a real or imagined loss.
  • CONTROLThe ability to start, change and stop things at one's own choice.
  • ENGRAMA mental image picture of an experience containing pain, unconsciousness and a real or fancied threat to survival.
  • LOCKA mental image picture of a non-painful but disturbing experience the person has experienced, and which depends for its force on an earlier secondary and or engram which the experience has re-stimulated.

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