Scientology 101

Ok, so you’ve thought of doing Dianetics or Scientology but you’d like to find out a bit more about it before you get started?

Well, I’m going to give you an inside look into Scientology, from the perspective of one who spent over a decade working full-time as a Scientologist inside Scientology organizations. And when I say “full-time” I mean from about 8:30am till, at the very least, 10:00pm every week night, and also on most weekends. I worked closely with the top Scientology executives in my country, and lived with the “Sea Organization” (Scientology’s para-military organization) for almost two years.

So I know the ins-and-outs of scientology very well. I know them better, in fact, than most veteran Scientologists think they know them.

So here it is, Scientology 101 :

Getting Started

Usually your first introduction into Scientology is through a friend, a promotional DVD or a book, the book most often being “Dianetics.” The Scientologists may promise you many things, saying that Scientology will increase your IQ, help you be more successful in whatever you do, improve your business etc. They will try to make you feel important, make you feel as though you belong, as though they are your new family.

If you go so far as to walk into an actual Scientology organization you will most likely watch a short promotional film, or do a personality test. This test is designed to show you how “messed up” you are, and to really drive it home to you that there is something wrong with you, and that you need to change it IMMEDIATELY! They call this “finding a ruin.” They may even ask you directly “What is ruining you”, or “what is messing up your life,” or some variation of this basic theme.

Booksellers doing “Stress Tests” to promote the Dianetics book

Once they have successfully convinced you that you are in desperate need of their help, they will try to sell you something. The usual first step they get you to do (or was at the time I was involved) is either Dianetics counselling or “auditing” as they call it, or a course such as “Personal Values and Integrity” or “Overcoming Ups and Downs in Life”.

If they see that you are fairly well off financially, they may even try to sell you professional “auditing” or the “Purif,” a detox program.

At times they may even go directly into trying to recruit you, if their current demands are to recruit more staff. But whatever they decide to do with you, they will keep you constantly in the frame of mind that something is wrong with you, your life, and with the world at large. They will keep you in ruin, and try to convince you that in order to be happy you need to do the next step in Scientology. It becomes a case of “the constant carrot.”

Rule by Fear

One way they have of keeping you in “ruin” is through their merchant of chaos called the IAS, or “International Association of Scientologists”. This is an organization designed to bombard Scientologists with the ideas that psychiatrists are out to destroy the world, that drugs will kill their children, that their human rights are being violated on all fronts, etc. etc. This is an organization designed to scare people into giving them money.

The money so extorted is supposedly going toward community betterment activities, but what it is really used for is to fund the lavish lifestyle of the executives at the top of the Scientology food chain. These are the same executives who like to physically beat their staff into compliance. The money is also to pay the legal fees against people who were harmed by Scientology, who are now suing the organization. Of course, Scientology issues no financial year end reports to its clients, and so Scientologists never become aware of this fact.

David Miscaviage, current head of the Scientology pyramid scheme

You are also kept in ruin by being told “the road to truth cannot be travelled half way,” and that doing so is tantamount to pulling out the pin of a hand grenade and then not throwing it. You are further told that upon completion of any given step on their “Bridge” that you will start to act out the next step, and that they will need to do this next step in order to get rid of this emotional instability.

Scientologists are told that in order to be truly happy in life they have to achieve the mystical states of “Clear” and “OT.” They are told that “only the Clear and OT will make it,” whatever the hell “it” is supposed to be. Scientologists are constantly put in fear of an invisible enemy or threat. And so they continue on this “Bridge” because their “eternity is at stake.”

Now you can start to imagine the frame of mind in which a Scientologist finds himself. People in Scientology are all doing badly, and are pretty much failing in life. So this is NORMAL to them. The staff are convinced this is the “state of mankind” so they think everyone out in the world is really messed up. They are being told that they have the “only workable technology of life”, and that mere “wogs” (non-Scientologists) are in terrible, terrible shape as they are not as “fortunate” as Scientologists. So of course the Scientologists believe that the rest of the world is doing even worse than what they themselves are doing, which is pretty bad!

So in essence what happens is this: the person walks in the door at a particular level of happiness, let’s say 10. They come into the organization, get put into ruin, get told how terrible everything is, and they sink down to let’s say 7. As they go on longer and longer in Scientology they gradually drift down lower, till let’s say 4. Because it happens so gradually they usually don’t realise it. Then they get some Scientology counselling and pop up a notch, to let’s say 5. And so Scientology has “improved” them. But they never get back up to 10.

It’s kind of like really appreciating being simply “not sick” after one has been terribly sick. Even “normal” begins to seem like heaven when one has been to hell. If one had never joined Scientology in the first place, but had continued working on one’s career and relationships, one may even have moved up from 10 to 15 or more.

So Scientologists go around hectically and frantically trying to “save” everybody from their own happiness. Really people, that’s how it is. After having left Scientology for good, I discovered that life is actually FUN! And it really isn’t that bad out here. Sure, bad things do exist in the world, but the way a Scientologist will describe it one would think it’s around every corner, when in fact it is not. And I also realized that only in Scientology is Scientology a major player in the world—in the real world Scientology amounts to almost nothing.

Hypnosis in Scientology

Perhaps this all sounds a little far-fetched to you? Perhaps you think that sane people cannot be manipulated in such a way. Well one should also keep in mind that L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was a trained hypnotist and that he knew very well how to manipulate the human mind. In his earlier books he made reference to the fact of his use of hypnosis, but I think these parts have been omitted from the latest editions of his books.

The earliest definition of hypnotism, as was given by James Braid who coined the term, is:

“The induction of a mental concentration  in which the powers of the mind are so much engrossed with a single idea or train of thought, as to render the individual unconscious of, or indifferently conscious to, all other ideas, impressions, or trains of thought.”

—James Braid, Hypnotic Therapeutics, 1853

How could I possibly state that Hubbard is hypnotising people through his books and lectures? Come on, that sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Well, let’s take a look at how he engrosses the mind of a Scientologist so thoroughly that they cannot be conscious of anything opposing it:

Hubbard advocates, and sometimes even mandates, that one doesn’t read newspapers, that one doesn’t do any other spiritual practices, that one doesn’t listen to psychologists, that one disconnects from friends and family who disagree with Scientology, that one should spend all of one’s free time at the org (Scientology “Organization”), that the best thing to do is to become a dedicated Sea Organization member (by signing a billion year staff contact, no less), that Scientology is the only solution for mankind’s problems etc.

This concentration of attention is, purely by definition, a method of hypnosis. Hubbard used the techniques of hypnosis to get one hooked on Scientology.

Scientology staff

The sad thing is that Scientology staff members as a whole believe they are doing good. When the argument comes up that it is all about the money they swear it is not, because of course they as individuals don’t even make enough money out of it to feed themselves properly. In fact, the pay the average Scientology staff member receives is atrocious, and the hours the more dedicated staff members work is ludicrous. They do not realize that the organizational and pay structure was so set up that the money would mostly go to Hubbard, and later, to his successors.

David Miscaviage on one of his Scientology funded toys, with pal Tom Cruise

Scientology staff sign a 2 ½ or 5 year contract. Sea Org members sign a billion year contract. Yip, that’s right, 1 billion years. If a staff member leaves before his contract is up he is deemed a “freeloader” and presented with a bill for any services he received for “free” whilst on staff. If a Sea Org member quits the Sea Org he is deemed a “Degraded Being.”

Book by an ex-Sea Org member

Often times staff have been sent to other countries for training, and due to changes in exchange rates one’s freeloader bill often amounts to a figure which would be impossible to repay. Of course this “freeloader” system was really designed so as to make Hubbard more money.

When ordinary staff member go to Flag (the Scientology “Mecca”) to train, Flag staff take away their passport, mobile phone, monitor their calls and incoming mail, and even scratch out parts of mail they don’t like, and confiscate photos they feel may make them home-sick. Staff who train at Flag are only allowed to travel around in Scientology busses, and if the choose to walk they are not allowed to walk alone. In essence, staff members in Flag are prisoners and are absolutely not free to come and go as they please.

Staff members are “Security Checked” before they are allowed to end off their contracts and leave staff. A Security Check is basically a procedure whereby a person is put onto a Scientology stress-meter called an e-meter, and interrogated so as to find things which the person being interrogated believes to be wrong-doings, or has been convinced are wrongdoings. If the staff member does not do this they are declared a “Suppressive Person,” and all their Scientology “friends” and family will disconnect from them. That’s right people, one’s own Scientology family will cease to speak to a Scientologist declared “Suppressive.” Usually these Sec Checks are dragged out for months and months, and this is really a means of keeping the person on staff far longer than their contract stipulates, because the person will not leave and risk being declared until this Sec Check has been done.

Poster at a Scientology protest

Staff are “Sec Checked” in order to make them feel guilty. Scientologists have been brainwashed by Hubbard into believing that the reason they want to leave is due to their own wrong-doings, and that it has absolutely nothing to do with the wrongdoings of the Scientology organization itself. And so staff are put onto an e-meter and their “crimes” are found. Of course anybody has things which they think they should not have done in their lives and so naturally the interrogator will find these, vindicating the idea that people only leave due to their own “crimes.” Yes, this certainly is some sick stuff.

Staff are also Security checked before going on vacation so as to ascertain if the staff member is actually trying to leave staff for good. If a Scientology staff member falsely claims reasons why he want to go on “vacation” and it is found he is actually trying to leave staff, he should be automatically declared “suppressive” per policy, and all of his Scientology connections would then be forced to disconnect from him, for fear that they themselves will be declared for not doing so. Of course being declared means that one can no longer do Scientology, and to the Scientologist this means that their eternal salvation is doomed.

Furthermore, staff are Sec Checked upon arriving back so as to make sure no friend or family member has tried to talk them out of Scientology whilst they were on holiday.

Another reason they Sec Check you, and one wouldn’t know this unless one worked for the Office of Special Affairs (OSA, basically like the Secret Service Bureau of Scientology) or some high up echelon of the Sea Org, is for blackmail purposes. That’s right, if you leave Scientology for good and become vocal about the abuses you witnessed whilst in, OSA will smear your good name by spreading far and wide your “crimes” which were uncovered during your Sec Checks. Usually they just make up stuff about you.

They will also get people you regard as “friends” to come to you as if they agree with what you are saying, or who want to “help you.” But they are sent to do nothing more than spy on you and find out who else you are talking to.

In extreme cases they will actually send Private Investigators to track your every move, search your garbage, and find out who you are connected to. Sometimes they will even set up a web site entirely dedicated to smearing your name. At times they will send people to follow you around with cameras, not even necessarily taking any photos of you, but just trying to intimidate you.

Sea Org security guard using camera “scare tactics”

Scientologists harassing an ex-Sea Org member

Sea Organization staff members are often subjected to weekly checks on the e-meter to see if they have transgressed against Scientology. If the meter shows that one has things one wishes to hide, one is told to write these all down in what is termed an “O/W write-up.” One interesting thing about an O/W write-up is that they are almost always hand-written. Why is this? Well, think about it, if an ex-staff member were to become an enemy of Scientology, what better way would Scientology have of besmirching their good name than by presenting all their bad deeds, written in their own hand-writing?

When staff members apply for training at a senior Scientology organization they are made to write a complete life history by answering a list of questions. Often times such life history is also hand-written. The particularly want to know evey single details of one’s sexual encounters in such a life history. Once again such information is kept for possible future use against the staff member.

David Miscaviage and some of his personal Sea Org staff

And don’t think your children are exempt from being recruited for Scientology staff, as even 12 year olds are signed up. Yes, this is illegal, but they do it nonetheless. If you do not let your kids join staff or the Sea Org reports will be written on you. Yes that’s right, in Scientology if you do anything considered “bad”, your friends and associates will write little reports on you so as to let the organization know what a bad boy or girl you’ve been. In fact, it is Scientology policy that if they do not write such reports on you they themselves will be considered as guilty as you are, and they will receive the same punishment.

Furthermore, should you not allow your child to join staff, you may even be interrogated on the e-meter, and you may even be threatened with your “eternal salvation.” Many Scientology kids are taken out of school to join staff, with the promise that they will be “home schooled.” However, this never happens, they are never properly home schooled.

The Sea Org “Honor Guard” comprised mainly of youngsters

Sea Org children headed to work

So at the end of the day you get a whole bunch of kids on staff who are put into senior positions where they have the authority to go around telling adults what is right or wrong with their lives, who brag that they “skipped my childhood years” (as if this is a good thing), and who have no high school education. Basically Scientologists breeds poorly educated individuals who only know Scientology, and can only work for Scientology organizations or other Scientologists.

Usually when one leaves staff after having served for so many years, one has no money, no car, no house and no resume worth anything. Often enough one drifts around aimlessly for months, at which time the recruiter pops along and offers one the opportunity to be “important” and “productive” once again by joining staff in the Scientology organization. Scientology can basically be summed up as “The place where losers can get to feel important.”

Scientology is your relationship

Most Scientologists only date other Scientologists, and their friends are mostly Scientologists. Of course, what they mostly speak about to each other is Scientology. I’ve even heard from a Scientologist friend that when they dated a non-Scientologist they were called in to the organization to be interrogated about it.

But Scientology’s level of interference in one’s relationships does not stop at that. They will even go so far as to MANDATE that one cease a relationship they deem unfit, by issuing something they call a  “Separation Order.” Of course, one usually complies with such an order, or else one’s “eternity” gets threatened. Within the first two years or so of my Scientology career I met and fell in love with a student who came to our organization from another country in order to study with us. As my contract was nearing an end, my girl and I had decided that I would go back with her to her country once I had completed it. This was seen as completely treasonous to my organization, and my Executive Director threatened to declare me a “Suppressive Person,” and issued a separation order on us. Stupidly, I complied. I should have punched him in the face.

And it’s not just the relationships of public and ordinary staff members that get interfered with, as married Sea Org members are often sent to work in different parts of the country from each other, or even to different parts of the world. And no, they don’t have a choice about this.

Scientology even goes so far as to interfere with one’s sex life. The culture which is Scientology places a heavy emphasis on the evils of sex. To Scientologists such things as masturbation, toys, premarital sex and being gay are evils. Placing such taboos on things which are seen as ordinary in the real world has created a sexually-perverted culture in Scientology.

Actual sexual transgressions such as adultery, oddly enough, are often overlooked in Scientology. I could never figure out why this was. Perhaps in the instances I saw such things being overlooked it was due to the fact of one of the offending parties having an important position on staff, or because they donated a lot of money to Scientology.

Sea Org members are not allow to engage in “heavy petting” before they are married. So you have all these teenagers with hormones raging who are not being allowed to explore their natural sexuality. So what do they do? They up and get married at 16 years young. Marriage to a Sea Org member is like dating, divorce is like a breakup.

Ex-Sea Org members protesting

Sea Org members are also not allowed to express their natural biological urge to have children. If a Sea Org member is to have a child, she will be forced to leave the Sea Org. Her husband can decide whether or not her wants to leave with her. Often enough the pregnant Sea Org member is forced to have an abortion, or made to feel so guilty about fulfilling her biological urges, that she herself decides to have an abortion. If she refuses, she is often sentenced to hard manual labour until the baby aborts due to the physical strain. I’m not making this stuff up people, this is real live evil at work.

Scientology private prison

Scientology also has its own private prison for Sea Org members, called the “Rehabilitation” Project Force (RPF). International executives have their own prison which has been dubbed “The Hole.” Were you to ask any of these Sea Org members if they are in the RPF on their own free will they will tell you that they are, but how much free will does one have when one is being threatened with one’s spiritual eternity if one does not go to prison and “repent,” or if one is faced with a massive “freeloader” bill and the title of “degraded being” if one leaves the Sea Org ?

The circular track which “out-ethics” Sea Org members are forced to run around for hours

In these prison camps Sea Org members are subjected to sleep deprivation, poor nutrition, hard manual labour and verbal and physical abuse. These are proven methods of putting a person into a condition where they can be brainwashed. This system is designed to get the Sea Org member to obey utterly, and become a complete robot who will do anything his master commands. The RPF is designed to produce nice, obedient slaves.

RPF members doing manual labour

Scientology elitism 

Scientologists will tell you that they believe in God, but they really don’t. They lie about it because they think you are “not ready for it.” Hubbard states in his book Science of Survival that only the thoroughly depraved do not believe in a higher being, and also states in one of his lectures that the Scientologist is taking responsibility for everything else, so they might as well take responsibility for being God. So Hubbard believes that the “higher being” is each individual Scientologist, with himself being the most superior of all.

Bust of L. Ron Hubbard, as is found in every Scientology organization

This “higher being” in Scientology is dubbed by Hubbard as an “OT,” who supposedly has mystical powers, and is “cause over matter, energy, space, time, form and life.” Hubbard creates a real mystery around the OT levels, by making them confidential, by charging a high price for them, and by saying that one can only do them when one is “ready” for them, and that doing them prematurely will result in the person dying of pneumonia! Of course all Scientologists really want to do these levels, if for no other reason than to “discover” the “mysteries of this sector of the universe!”

The actual truth is that “OTs” have no “OT” abilities, but because they cannot discuss the OT levels, even with a spouse who has done the same level, they never actually get to analyse it or express what they actually feel about it with someone they can trust.

Furthermore they are told that the only person Scientology does not work on is a criminal, and so they dare not tell another that they did not gain anything from having done a particular level. In fact, after the completion of each step the Scientologist is basically coerced into writing a success story. If no such success story is written, the person is sent back to redo certain steps. This process is continued until such time as the person writes an acceptable success story.

So OTs go around thinking there is something wrong with them individually, and that they must be the only Scientologist who feels this way. They pretend to have had these great gains, so as to fit in, because they don’t want to be outcast.

With some Scientologists however, having done the OT levels only serves to boost their own egos. They are so deluded that they somehow think they have abilities that exceed that of other mere mortals. They really do believe that they are better than other people, and they can be arrogantly annoying in this regard.

In fact, one very big characteristic of a Scientologist is his attitude of superiority. Scientologists have an array of disparaging terms for others, such as “Wogs,” “Raw meat,” “Degraded Beings,” “Suppressive Person,” and others.

A diary entry by L. Ron Hubbard, clearly showing his attitude of superiority over others:

“They smell of all the baths they didn’t take. The trouble with China is, there are too many chinks here.”

Scientology fanaticism 

Hubbard indoctrinates Scientologists into accepting his way of life by constantly repeating his ideas in recorded lectures, videos, and his books. Whilst I was still in Scientology it seemed to me that his lectures contained very little actual information, and were mostly stories which Hubbard was relating. Of course I did not relay my thoughts on this to other Scientologists, as I thought I might have missed something. After all, other Scientologists were telling me how they were having “amazing wins” from the lectures. Now I realize that they were merely deluding themselves. Hubbard’s lectures were mostly his public relations vehicle, where he could paint himself in good light, as well as indoctrinate Scientologists into accepting his unusual views of things.

The great L. Ron Hubbard, teeth and all

One of the weird views Hubbard had is that anyone who is against Scientology is a criminal, and is against spiritual betterment. Hubbard has brainwashed Scientologists into believing this. It makes Scientologists feel good to believe that those attacking Scientology are criminal, as what they are saying can thereby be easily discounted. Believing that those attacking Scientology are merely criminals means that Scientologists need not inspect their group so as to actually confront the crimes and human rights abuses which it is committing.

Hubbard also wrote a policy letter entitled “Signs of Success” in which he actually manages to persuade Scientologists that if people are attacking Scientology, Scientology is doing well! What a perfect way to take any blame away from Scientology, to make it exempt from any wrong-doing! Yes, Hubbard certainly was a very smart man. Manipulative, but oh so very smart.

Hubbard successfully convinces Scientologists that his lifetime is unimportant. He manages to get Scientologists to believe that if Scientology is not successful, they will suffer in misery lifetime after lifetime after lifetime. And what is one lifetime compared to billions of lifetimes to come? Now think back on that billion year Sea Org contract: what it does is firmly reinforce the notion that one has many, many lifetimes to live. This makes it ok to put up with the extreme, inhuman conditions of the Sea Organization without complaining. In fact, it can even make the Sea Org member feel like somewhat of a hero.

To one who believes that he has many lifetimes waiting for him, but only one in which he can make sure that things will be bearable for himself and his loved ones for eternity, working for slave-labour pay is no longer an issue, not seeing one’s family does not become an issue, no longer having fun is not an issue, giving away all of one’s money is no longer an issue, losing one’s self is no longer an issue, no longer having a hobby is no issue. In fact, a Scientologist who wants his hobbies, who wants to spend time with family, who wants to go for BBQs etc. is termed a “dilettante” and seen as somewhat of an “ethics particle,” i.e. someone who is being unethical. In effect, one sells one’s dreams and one’s soul to Scientology.

As an interesting note, the time I started exiting Scientology was when I actually started to do things for myself again, such as going to movies, or taking a vacation which I had not done in years, and taking up old hobbies which I had abandoned. Funnily enough I started doing these things as part of an “ethics handling.” I say this is funny because the usual outcome of an ethics handling is that the person just does even more for Scientology, and even further abandons himself, as doing more Scientology is always seen as the best solution, it being “the greatest good for the greatest number.”

Scientology “ethics” is really a tool to make you feel guilty about just about everything. It makes you think YOU are at fault, and not Scientology. It is a means of making you do what is good for Scientology, as opposed to doing what is good for you. Hubbard even wrote a book called “An Introduction to Scientology Ethics,” wherein he first states that ethics is a personal matter, but then goes on to give you a list of all the things he wants you to start believing are wrong!

Scientologists are further brainwashed into believing that anyone who has criticisms, has moral transgressions against the thing they are criticising. So of course Scientologists seldom openly criticise the Scientology organizations.

L. Ron Hubbard, setting an example for others to follow. “Do what Ron would do!”

“If anyone does anything to get any of these organizations in bad publicity, such as narcotics charges, drunk driving or other unsavory data, I have a policy–I will beat their teeth in personally. Sincerely–LRH”

Scientologists are also brainwashed into believing that if they leave Scientology it is due to their own crimes. This prevents many people from leaving Scientology. Often enough even those who have left Scientology don’t openly admit to it, and put up a happy front and say they have not been in the organization simply because they are “busy”, and not because they are unhappy about anything. In actual fact, it is Scientology policy that if a person says they are no longer a Scientologist, that they be declared “Suppressive” and that all Scientologists sever ties with the individual. Nice control mechanism, isn’t it?

Hubbard makes sure that Scientologists don’t read psychology texts, and he constantly criticizes both psychology and psychiatry. The reason he prevents one form reading psychology is because he makes extensive use of psychology in Scientology, and does not want them to realize that the actual source of much of the work found in Scientology is in fact, psychology.

In fact, the entire subject of Dianetics is a rehash of a psychological practice called Abreaction Therapy, which he became familiar with whilst spending time as a patient in a naval hospital. Hubbard convinces Scientologists that he is the only one who came up with workable solutions to the human mind. Were one to study psychology, one would discover that there are many very workable techniques outside of Scientology to improve one’s overall levels of happiness and well-being. Furthermore, he actively uses psychology tools to hypnotize and fool you, and he doesn’t want you knowing this.

Apart from psychology, Hubbard used many sources to create Scientology, from Buddhism to the work of the magician Alistair Crowley, and many others. Yet he was arrogant enough to claim that he was the only source of the technology of Scientology, and that he alone held the tools for man’s spiritual salvation, and that Scientology is the “only hope for mankind.”

Scientology “technology”

The Scientology tool for bringing about “spiritual salvation” is their counselling, which they term “auditing.” Auditing is a tool whereby one is made to look into the past for solutions to one’s future. They do this using their e-meter. The basic premise is that the past is still very much alive, and has an effect on the person.

I find this concept to be a trap. What I have observed is that this idea holds Scientologists back. It keeps them constantly thinking there is something wrong with them, and that they need fixing up, and that they have not reached their full potential, and that they are, in fact, incapable of doing so until such time as they have done all the Scientology counselling available to them, and have completely analysed all of their past issues. Whenever something goes wrong in a Scientologist’s life he seeks auditing, as Hubbard says that auditing is the solution to everything.  “Solve it with auditing” is the basic idea.

A Scientology “e-meter”

Personally I am more inclined to think that:

“Life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew.”

This was written by Neale Donald Walsh, in his work Conversations with God. I find that this point of view allows one to be in control of one’s own life. In Scientology it is assumed that if one has had a certain way of doing things, this will be one’s pattern forever and for always, unless the person gets auditing. It keeps a person stuck into fixed behaviour patterns. With the concept of “creating yourself anew” the person has no such limitations or dependency upon someone’s system.

During auditing I once “discovered” that in a previous lifetime, in 1965, I was a man of around 35 years of age living in the UK. Yet during another auditing session I also “discovered” that I was a 16 year old boy living in the USA, also during 1965. Was I being two people at once? Or was I simply imagining all of it in the first place? I’m more inclined to think the latter. But of course Hubbard had a method of explaining this away also…

As a Scientologist one does not question such things too much, one simply thinks that one has so much more to learn about the mind, and that one will discover the true answers further up Hubbard’s “Bridge to Total Freedom.” Yes, Hubbard stops one from thinking for oneself. Or put otherwise, one allows Hubbard to make one stop thinking for oneself.

Have you ever woken up from a dream that was so intense, so real, that it still kind of seems like it actually happened? Or a dream so real that you still feel the emotions of the dream very strongly once awake? Well, to me it is the same with auditing. During auditing the mind makes up many strange things, complete with emotion and thought, so real in fact, that one begins to believe that they really did happen. That the mind can create things which seem really real to one does not, in actuality, make them real.

An example which clearly illustrates this point to me is when Scientologists are told that their auditing will go much faster when they listen to L. Ron Hubbard’s lectures, or read his books. What usually happened, and it is really funny thinking about it in retrospect, is that the person would read about a particular thing in Hubbard’s books, and in the very next session that thing would come up! The person had gone for years and years in auditing without ever having come across this thing, but as Hubbard told him they existed, they suddenly came up in his auditing session!  It was simply a matter of hypnotic suggestion at work.

Don’t get me wrong, I really do think that Scientology auditing makes one feel good. In fact, I’d go so far as saying that it can make one feel extremely good.

Many people have a very difficult time accepting real or imagined contradictions. Most people do not want “both sides” to be true about anything, so they tend to choose one or the other. One of the most difficult things to come to terms with regarding Scientology is how it is:

1) so horribly bad in so very many regards and
2) so wonderfully good in other regards.

The fact that Scientology auditing makes people feel so good is why Scientologists will defend it to the death, and still continue with it despite all the other negative things that come with it. It is the only reason why Scientology still exists.

Hubbard once said that the reason one should use his system is that Scientology “works.” Well, works at achieving what? It works at making people feel really good. Temporarily.

This wonderful feeling doesn’t last for more than a few days at the most, but it is very real and it does feel rather good. The temporary nature of the gains means that Scientologists always want to go into session to get this feeling again. It is their “fix.”

Not only are the gains temporary, but auditing also does not result in the achievement of mystical powers and the nebulous state of “OT” it is advertised as being able to.

Is the auditing worth putting up with all the other negative aspects at the end of the day? Absolutely not.

One of the smartest marketing moves Hubbard made was to arrange the different types of auditing into a sequence, making it seem as though the one followed after the other, ultimately leading to some grand goal. Prior to this point Scientology councilors (auditors) simply chose from a mixed bag of techniques they had, choosing what they felt was appropriate at the time.

By arranging the different processes into what he termed the “Bridge,” auditing was no longer just something one did to feel good, but it became in the minds of its users a means to achieve the nonexistent states of  “Clear” and “OT.”

The truth is that any auditing done at any point could make a person feel good, which is why student auditors can audit other students on processes such as “Grade IV” when the student hasn’t even done “Grade I.” Arranging a “Bridge” was just another way for Hubbard to keep people paying for more.

At some point in the Scientologist’s career they decide that Hubbard knew best, and that they themselves, being mere mortals, know nothing compared to the knowledge Hubbard had. It is at that point that it’s Game Over for the Scientologists, they have now become complete robots, who will not, indeed who cannot, think for themselves.

How Scientology is run

The current management of Scientology perpetuate Hubbard’s ideas that Scientology is a big and expanding and vital movement on Earth by holding many public relations events throughout the year. These events are held live in the USA and recorded versions thereof are sent to all Scientology organizations throughout the world, so they can be shown there.

Even whilst still in Scientology I noticed how false information about my organization was being portrayed in these events. This made me wonder about how much of what was being told about the other organizations throughout the world was in fact true. As it turns out, a lot of it was also false.

All Scientologists who own their own businesses are made to become members of the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises or “WISE.” If they refuse to become members, they are refused Scientology services. A Scientologist is not allowed to run their own business without paying an annual WISE membership, and the better their business does, the more they have to pay. Yes, Scientology is all about the money after all.

 Members of “Anonymous” protesting against Scientology abuses

Scientologists are promised that they can get a refund, should they so choose. They are told that they must come into the organization to do the necessary paperwork if they decide to go ahead with a refund request. However, they also make you sign an indemnity form before each service you start, stating that you give up your right to refund if you sue them. What this basically means is that if they drag their feet in repaying you, you have no recourse and cannot sue.

The latest trick off Scientology to prevent you from getting your money back is to say that you must come into the organization to get the repayment, but unfortunately you can’t come in to fill in their required paperwork as you’ve been “expelled” due to your own transgression against the “religious” policies of the “church.” Yes, Scientology is a criminal organization, and it is all about the money.

Letter justifying Scientology criminal activity (and highlighting their insanity)

Hubbard instituted a system of “Rewards and Penalties,” whereby if one’s statistics are down one is penalised, and if one’s statistics are up one could be rewarded. The time period during which the statistics are being analysed are completely arbitrary, so a person in effect could be awarded or penalized as was seen fit. He also came up with something termed a “Liability Condition,” in which a Scientologist who is already working ridiculous hours for slave pay, must still somehow go “above and beyond” to “make amends” for taking on the “color of an enemy.”

Sea Org members “Overboarding” someone, as per L. Ron Hubbard’s instructions

Scientology often uses the slogans “Think for yourself” and “You’ve heard the controversy, now find the truth” to attract new customers. These are campaigns designed to harness the rebel in someone, and get them to reactively join Scientology. What actually happens to such a person is that they STOP thinking for themselves, and start to “Do what Ron would do.”

Hubbard’s ego was so big that the claimed “Everyone is a Scientologist, they just don’t know it yet.” Hubbard tried to take ownership of natural laws and practices which existed since the start of the human species, and put them all under the banner of “Scientology.” No, they are NOT Scientology, they are natural laws, and all people are not Scientologists, they are people who are governed by natural laws. As an example, acknowledgements, a common human courtesy, suddenly becomes a Scientology invention in Hubbard’s mind.

I have witnessed Scientologist’s “confidential” counselling sessions being discussed amongst staff, and seen how the most intimate details about the person gets laughed about. I have heard staff joking about and being extremely critical of other Scientologists at executive meetings and event meetings where it is discussed how to best extort something from each individual Scientologist.

Scientologists will say the most horrible things about you behind your back, but will quickly be friendly to you when they think they can get something out of you. And after they are done chewing you up, and they find that you are no longer of any value to them, they will spit you out, and tell other Scientologists how bad you actually are, despite how great they thought you were during the years you were there doing as they dictated. Yes, they will betray you at the drop of a hat, and discuss your “confidential” information you gave to them in trust, don’t ever doubt that.

Despite all of this, a lot of Scientologists are sincerely good people, yet they are people who cannot conceive that evil can be so evil as to conceal itself as good fighting against evil, and in so doing use the person’s own good against them.

Scientology has many front groups, such as drug rehabilitation (Narconon), criminal rehabilitation (Criminon), and human rights groups (Youth for Human Rights). All of these groups are actually public relations (PR) groups, with the purpose and end product of such being stated as “Acceptance of Scientology.” Yes, Scientology’s very own management flow chart states that these organizations are designed merely to create acceptance of Scientology, yet somehow those working in these organization believe they were designed because Hubbard gave a damn about these things. No, it is only the people involved and who are doing the work who give a damn, and they don’t realize and don’t want to accept that their good natures are merely bring exploited. These organizations, like much of Scientology, are all about PR.

Scientology staff and public are subjected to heavy pressures to get statistics up, and this often makes them do extreme and even stupid things. Combined with the fact the Hubbard constantly reiterates that the person’s “eternity is at stake if Scientology doesn’t make it,” this puts the Scientologist into a very anxious frame of mind.

Under the extreme pressures of joining staff and paying money to Scientology, relationships are ended, and friends betray, and even steal from friends. Often times if it weren’t for the interference of Scientology, such relationships would never have gone sour in the first place.

More members of “Anonymous” protesting  

Scientologists will often mortgage their houses in order to donate money to Scientology, they will take their kids out of school so they can join staff, they will use their inheritance to buy books and lectures they will not use for ages to come, they will relocate, they will quit their jobs. I have even seen public being interrogated on the e-meter if they did not donate to Scientology. Scientology will portray itself as a fun, exciting thing to do through its advertisements and promotional items, yet nothing could be further from the truth.

Scientology states that its purpose is to create a better world, yet instead of putting their materials on the internet where it would be free and available for all to use, they copyright and charge EXORBITANT fees for them. They say this is to cover costs, yet they spend millions of dollars on producing expensive printing and CD manufacturing facilities, whereas putting lectures and books on the internet requires absolutely no such costs. No, the purpose of Scientology is to create money for those at the top. Of course honest Scientologists don’t usually believe this at first.

The general response of Scientology toward a former member now speaking out against the abuses of Scientology is to say that they are a “disgruntled ex-member” or a “defrocked apostate” who has been expelled by the “Church”, so they are not to be taken seriously. So wait, let’s get this straight: Scientology is saying that people who have upsets with Scientology are not to be believed because they have upsets?? Scientology really is an insane group of people!

Besides which, the person has not been“ expelled” from Scientology, they have gotten to the point where they have had enough of the abuses and they leave! In defence, Scientology now “expels” the person who has already left! Scientology then makes use of character assassinations in an attempt to discredit the person speaking out about Scientology, to thereby try and discredit what they are saying.

Summary

Being involved with Scientology is much like being in an abusive relationship—you don’t see how bad it really is whilst you are in it, but when you leave you wonder how you could possibly have put up with so much crap for so long.

A lot of Scientologists don’t get too heavily involved for any length of time in the day-to-day, frontline activities as a general staff member, and they might not have too much daily contact with “OTs.” As a result they only experience some of the negative aspects of Scientology, and so they figure that these are isolated instances, and that the rest of Scientology is good. They think that people who have had a bad time in Scientology have simply “had a bad experience,” and were unlucky. They do not see that their experiences are actually a reflection of the whole.

Scientologists like to get words fully defined when they study, yet one word they fail to get a full conceptual understanding of is “cult.” A cult is usually defined as “a religion regarded as unorthodox,” but this is a horribly incomplete definition. A cult is characterised by many more important and harmful things such as:

•Claiming that they are the only true path to salvation

•Demanding unquestioning obedience to a leader or the leader’s doctrines; especially to a single, charismatic leader

•The use of fear and intimidation such as:

“if you leave us then you will lose all of your friends and family”,

“if you don’t conform then you will go to Hell”,

“if you don’t give us money then you will fail in business”

•The use of Character Assassinations

•Creating feelings of guilt in a person

•Telling you who you may see and who you may not see

•Not allowing one to view information critical of the group

•Secret knowledge

•Keeping their members so busy with meetings and activities that they become too busy and too tired to think about their involvement.

I would add more points of the list, but then it would seem as though I am making them up in order to fit Scientology. It just so happens that Scientology fits many of these points…

Some Scientologists get fooled into thinking that the problems in Scientology arise only from the current management system, whereas the problems are inherent flaws of Scientology itself. They are a by-product of the very philosophy of elitism and “end of world” pressure which Hubbard created. Doing Scientology outside the confines of “Corporate Scientology” is as big a delusion as it would be to do it within the corporate structure—the lies of Scientology remain lies.

L. Ron Hubbard, the great “OT”

Scientology claims that its organizations are “Islands of sanity” whereas they are really “Islands of ignorance, and insanity.” In summary, here is how one ex-Scientologist who goes by the name of Alanzo put it:

“Scientology deserves all the ridicule and derisive satire that can be heaped upon it. But Scientology is not funny. It ruins people utterly. It takes a person’s highest hopes and ideals, and his most divine impulses, and it exploits these, and uses them against him, until all the life has been sucked out of him. And then it gives him his own gun, to insert into the roof of his own mouth, to pull the trigger.”