Dianetics, the foundation of the church, never did work the way Hubbard wished it to, and the only evidence of it's healing properties working is purely anecdotal. There are no medical studies, anywhere, that prove the workability of this "technology". Hubbard claimed that a person's awareness is influenced by the stimulus-response of the reactive mind. Achieving the state of Clear means a person has overcome the reactive mind and is in complete control of his analytical mind. According to Hubbard: "A Clear is a being who no longer has his own reactive mind, and therefore suffers none of the ill effects the reactive mind can cause. The Clear has no engrams which, when re-stimulated, throw out the correctness of his computations by entering hidden and false data." According to Dianetics, almost all disease is psycho-somatic and can be cured by the eradication of the reactive mind. A "clear" is supposed to have superior mental abilities and a perfect memory. So does it work that way?
In August 1950, amidst the success of Dianetics, Hubbard held a demonstration in Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium where he presented a young woman called Sonya Bianca (a pseudonym) to a large audience including many reporters and photographers as 'the world's first Clear.' He had also seeded the audience with a few of his followers to ask the questions, which had been rehearsed with Ms Bianca before the event. However, despite Hubbard's claim that she had "full and perfect recall of every moment of her life", Bianca proved unable to answer questions from the audience testing her memory and analytical abilities, including the question of the color of Hubbard's tie. Hubbard explained Bianca's failure to display her promised powers of recall to the audience by saying that he had used the word "now" in calling her to the stage, and thus inadvertently froze her in "present time," which blocked her abilities.
So what, really, is Dianetics. Simply put it is a combination of partial Freudian Psychology and a light form of Hypnosis. Before I had ever heard of Dianetics, I was a highly trained hypnotist. I know when I see hypnosis. And in my studies to become a hypnotherapist, I had to study a whole lot of Freud. And because Hubbard was too lazy a student, (Click here to see his college transcript My thanks to Arnie Lerma), to study anything in depth, he was never really able to put something together that would really work any everyone. Hell, even full Freudian therapy doesn't work on everyone.
And then, in January 1951, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners instituted proceedings against the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation in Elizabeth for teaching medicine without a license. So he turned it into a spiritual science instead. Separation of church and state, you know. But he knew that Dianetics didn't work and he had to come up with a way to keep people in and get new people in. So he named his new venture The Church of Scientology and devised several spiritual, (and costly), steps before you can go "clear". And guess what? Ron knew they didn't work either. And so does existing Management. Otherwise they wouldn't keep changing their grade chart. All the way up to and including their precious OT8.
One example of the lower actions is Level 0, the first action once you step on their Bridge to Total Freedom. On the grade chart it reads:
Communications Release - Grade 0
F1: Ability to communicate freely with anyone on any subject. Likes to
outflow.
F2: Willing for others to communicate to him freely on any subject.
F3: Will permit others to communicate about anything to others.
Have you ever tried to have a real conversation with a Scientologist? You would get a more intelligent discussion from a first grader.
I will just give you the examples from the OT levels. The original abilities gained written by Hubbard will be in red. The updated versions will be in blue. And of course I will provide commentary as always. Let's take a look:
Section I OT - Extroverts a being and brings about an awareness of himself as a thetan (spirit) in relation to others and the physical universe.
New OT I - A fresh, causative OT viewpoint of the MEST (matter, energy, space and time) universe and other beings.
Section II OT - Ability to confront the whole track . (The whole track is supposed to mean from the second you came into existence, hundreds of trillions of years ago - all of your lifetimes)
OT II - Ability to confront the whole track. (no change on this one)
Section III OT - Return of full self determinism.
OT III - Return of self-determinism, freedom from overwhelm. (they added something)
Section IV OT - Certainty of self as a being. (I am certain I am a being, aren't you?)
New OT IV - Eradication of the last vestiges of the effects of drugs on the being. (OK, now I get it. I am screwed up because somebody drugged my soul. They actually believe this.)
Section V OT - Re-familiarizes a thetan exterior with the physical universe. (Does this mean you get to see stuff that isn't there? L.S.D. costs a whole lot less.)
New OT V - Completion of New OT V Rundowns and ready to begin Solo NED for OTs. (Solo NED for OTs, also known as NOTS = Self run New Era Dianetics for OTs)
Section VI OT - Ability to operate freely as a thetan exterior and to act pan-determinedly, extends the influence of the thetan to the universe of others. (Wow! You could be a Super Crime Fighter!)
New OT VI - Ability to audit Solo NED for OTs. (Meh.)
Section VII OT - Rehabilitation of intention. (Works for me, I intend to stay the hell away from Scientology.)
New OT VII - Cause over life. (Uh, what?)
Section VIII OT - Ability to be at cause knowingly and at will over thought, life, form, matter, energy, space and time, subjective and objective. (Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about.)
New OT VIII - Handles the primary reason for amnesia on the whole track. (That's kind of vanilla isn't it?)
Why were they changed? It is simple really. There were too many people walking out of Scientology upon completion of OT7 and OT8. They didn't get what they were promised. Pretty smart of Mr Miscavige really. If you don't promise them anything, they can't complain when they don't get anything.
Thank you so much for sticking it out with me to the end. If you know someone who is still in the church or someone who is thinking about getting in, please share this with them. Who knows? Miracles have been known to happen. If you have any comments or questions, I welcome them. Again thank you.
OH! Wait! One last thought. After you have learned how to communicate like a pro, and have spent $700 thousand dollars to get to OT8, what are you going to be like? Watch this:
Well don Robert!! Keeping speakinf the Truth Brother.
ReplyDelete"Scientology works if you want to go crazy"
Another great write-up! You're doing a great job!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. It's a very good read.
ReplyDeleteHowever, contrary to your statement that it "...never did work the way Hubbard wished it", I think it worked exactly like he wished - it gave him the power and money he desired while providing him with subservient minions fawning over his every word.