KSW - LRH as Source

"The Monk watched in transfixed awe. The man, he believed

with an instant effortlessness which would have impressed even a Scientologist,

must be a God of some kind to arouse such fervour.

He waited with bated breath to worship him."

- Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

"A true teacher leads you to Allah.

A false teacher leads you to himself."

- Sufi Sheikh

The first policy letter you study in every Scientology course - and I do mean every Scientology course - is Keeping Scientology Working. (There's a link to the text on the right-hand side of this page.)

In a nutshell: You learn that, had LRH not been brilliant and courageous and daring beyond your wildest imaginings, there would be no hope for mankind. He - and he alone - single handedly dragged himself out of the mud and mapped the way out for the rest of us. He - and he alone - is Source.

In all the years I have been engaged in research I have kept my comm lines wide open for research data. I once had the idea that a group could evolve truth. A third of a century has thoroughly disabused me of that idea. Willing as I was to accept suggestions and data, only a handful of suggestions (less than twenty) had long-run value and none were major or basic; and when I did accept major or basic suggestions and used them, we went astray and I repented and eventually had to “eat crow.”

And so the work of Scientologists is not to research or innovate or be creative with the technology. Their work is to follow that path to the letter. No additions. No deletions. No alterations. In order for the tech to work, it must be pure and must be applied exactly as LRH wrote it. Don't think for a minute that you can improve on it. You can't.

Our technology has not been discovered by a group. True, if the group had not supported me in many ways I could not have discovered it either. But it remains that if in its formative stages it was not discovered by a group, then group efforts, one can safely assume, will not add to it or successfully alter it in the future. I can only say this now that it is done.

KSW is also full of jargon and Scientology nomenclature. This makes it especially difficult for the uninitiated. Just getting through these 3 pages if you're not familiar with the terminology is a monolithic task. It can take hours - sometimes even days - to complete.

I used to think this was unfortunate - understandable, of course, but unfortunate.

Now I think it's deliberate.

I'll explain in the the next post: The Misunderstood Word.

Dianetics - the hook

Nicole and I worked together as waitresses at the same restaurant. I'd only recently moved to Toronto with my boyfriend, and was happy to have found a friend at work, someone who was interesting and cheerful.

After a time, the conversation swung around to Dianetics. Had I read it? No. Would I like to? Sure.

I recently read Jon Atack's recounting of reading Dianetics, and it all came back to me: the excitement, the exhilaration, the possibilities - the hope. I was hooked.

Here's the premise: Man is basically good. The problem is that he has a "held down 7". Think of a calculator: If the 7 is always held down, all the calculations will be incorrect.

Here's how it works. We experience a painful incident accompanied by some degree of unconsciousness. Specifics about our environment and any conversation that takes place around us during that time are faithfully recorded by the reactive mind (the subconscious).

If we later find ourselves in a similar environment, or if we hear language similar to what was used when we were unconscious, our reactive mind will try to warn us that we're in danger and will cause us to "key in" - i.e., experience pain, discomfort, or emotions similar to what we experienced in the first incident.

The example is given of a little fish being bitten on the tail by a larger fish. The sun is low in the sky, the water is murky, the temperature is 68⁰. The little fish gets away, but he's distraught and in pain.

Some time later, he finds himself in a similar environment: sun low in the sky, murky water, temperature 68⁰. And although there are no other fish around, the little fish becomes uneasy. When he doesn't swim away, his unease turns to panic, and he feels a sharp pain in his tail. Not until he swims out of that "dangerous" area do his symptoms subside.

And so all that has to happen to unstick (or clear) our stuck down 7s is to revisit and release the pain and unconsciousness from those past incidents and, presto, we're sane, happy, and healthy.

Makes perfect sense, right? What could be more reasonable?

CAVEAT: LRH makes it clear in Dianetics that there's no way to tell the difference between an actual memory and a fabricated memory. So what happens when the person has a "memory" that they think may be false? It's not up to the auditor to validate or verify. It's up to the auditor to accept whatever the person says on the premise that "What's true for you is what's true for you." And this will have far-reaching ramifications down the line.

NOTE: If you compare Dianetics to Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzybski, you will see astonishing similarities. Korzybski died in March 1950. Dianetics was published in May 1950. Hmm...

What does bowling have to do with Scientology?

 From HCO PL 16 May 1965 Issue II INDICATORS OF ORGS by L. Ron Hubbard:

“Dilettante = One who interests himself in an art or science merely as a pastime and without serious study.

In an org, this manifests itself with ‘people should live a little.’ ‘One needs a rest from Scientology.’ ‘One should do something else, too.’ All that kind of jazz.

Ask what they do the other nights. Bowling. Horse racing.

Scientology, that saves lives, is a modern miracle, is being compared to bowling. Get it? ... Scientology is an idle club to it [sic], an old lady’s sewing circle."

 And so, when I left Scientology, the note I left on my boss's desk read:

 "This is my resignation from the Church of Scientology. Not home. Gone bowling."

How important is it to me now? Not as important as bowling.

Oh - and I don't bowl!

What Scientologists and psychiatrists have in common

They're both delusional.* They make stuff up and believe it. (Okay, not entirely true. LRH makes stuff up and Scientologists believe it.)

They spend years studying a mythology that has no basis in reality.

Both claim to be "scientific" - but there's no science to support that either of them works.

They believe you have to go back to move forward. Huh?!

They counsel people to explore what happened to them in the past so they can deal with the present.

They apply labels to people so they don't have to actually think too much, and call that "understanding".

They apply processes that are questionable at best and take years to complete - if ever.

Improving your mental health and happiness with either is time-consuming, expensive - and highly unlikely.

Once they've got you, you may never leave!

Where they differ

Psychiatrists can testify as expert witnesses - and that's a bit terrifying!

Psychiatrists have discovered a short cut to treatment: drugs. Now that they can correct Prozac and Ritalin deficiencies, they can see more patients per hour.

Psychiatrists can lock you up - for your own good. Oh, no, wait - apparently Scientologists can, too!


*Thanks to exscn.net for pointing out the typo!

The Misunderstood Word

A Scientology course room is unlike any other class you've ever been in. The course room is run by a course supervisor. Do not confuse a course supervisor with a teacher, lecturer or instructor. The course supervisor doesn't lecture, instruct, clarify, explain, or answer questions. Everything you learn is from LRH written materials and audiotapes. NO other information will be forthcoming.

The first thing you'll learn about are the perils of misunderstood words. A misunderstood word is a word that either (a) you don't understand or (b) you understand incorrectly - i.e., you have a wrong definition for it in that context.

Are you struggling to make sense of what you're studying? Call over the friendly, no-nonsense course supervisor! She won't interpret it or simplify it or explain it to you. She will simply ask, "What do your materials state?" And if that doesn't solve it, she'll ask, "What word just before that did you not understand?" Once you've found it, she'll help you "clear" it - look it up in the dictionary and use it in sentences until you have a "conceptual undertanding" of it.

So what if you understand all the words correctly but don't understand the concept?  LRH assures us that's impossible! It is ALWAYS a word that's misunderstood.

It is not a misunderstood phrase or idea or concept but a misunderstood WORD.

I confess it's very satisfying to clear up misunderstood words. Very liberating, sometimes even exhilarating. I'd highly recommend it to anyone!

But there's a darker side to this... (Refer to my later post on misunderstood words.)

The aims of Scientology

                              "Pay close attention to what they do

                               but little attention to what they say."

                                                                     William Glasser, "Choice Theory"

"A civilization without insanity ...

When you join Scientology, you're pushed to get to OT III as quickly as possible. This is called the Wall of Fire, and is apparently not for the faint of heart, but vitally necessary to freeing the planet.

(OT - operating thetan: a thetan is a spiritual being, not a body. III - level 3.)

You can find a full description of this highly confidential material here.

WARNING! Hubbard cautions that, if you read this material before having successfully completed all the earlier levels, you will become overwhelmed and stop sleeping, and within a few days you'll contract pneumonia and die. It's that powerful!

I read the OT III material within 48 hours of leaving Scientology, and I didn't even get a cold.

Thousands of Scientologists around the world believe every word of OT III. And if that's not insanity, I don't know what is.

... without criminals ...

In the 1970s, the Guardian's Office - the covert operations branch of the Church of Scientology, run by Mary Sue Hubbard  (L. Ron Hubbard's wife) under his direction - infiltrated the IRS and other government and corporate offices and copied documents - quite a lot of documents, actually.

In 1977, the FBI raided the Church of Scientology and recovered the stolen documents - enough to fill a 16-ton truck.

Eleven high-ranking Church officials were indicted and convicted. The sentences ranged from 2 - 6 years.

Here's the story of the covert op called Operation Snow White.

Here's the court document entitled Stipulation of Evidence (in Canada, we call it an agreed statement of facts) that Mary Sue and her co-conspirators admitted to.

And this is the court's decision.

  ... without war ...

These folk are Sea Org members.  That means that every single one of them has signed a one billion year contract with Scientology. (See "A civilization without insanity ..." above.)

The Sea Org are the elite of the elite and have reached the pinacle of what it means to be a staff member. They are referred to by some as the clergy of the Church. I think of them as The Enforcers. Note the "We do whatever it takes" in the last ad.

They certainly have that "dedicated glare" - but not much of a sense of humour. Imagine if they were running the world, bringing freedom and sanity to earth - BY FORCE.

 

... where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights."

Now, if we could just get rid of Scientology, we might stand a chance!

Org staff

With the release of the HBO documentary film Going Clear, it seemed like a good time to share some of what it was like to be staff in Scientology in Toronto.

We weren't celebrities.

We weren't rich.

We weren't famous.

We weren't glamorous.

And we weren't powerful.

My stories aren't as dramatic as the ones you read about online, the high-profile, senior executive and celebrity defections. But they're my stories nonetheless.

We were the little people - unacknowledged and largely invisible - the staff members who worked 50, 60, 70 hours a week for pittance while our children were neglected, our families fell apart, and our lives caved in around our ears.

We were the drones, the worker bees, the slave labour who knew naught of work/life balance - and cared even less.

We were passionate and committed - and too exhausted, overworked, and overwhelmed to wonder, What the hell am I doing here?!

So why did I join staff? Because I was naively idealistic.  And I fervently believed in LRH's vision for a better world:

“A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where Man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology.”

I wanted that world for my children and grandchildren!

In the beginning, my life was full. I belonged to a community that welcomed me, took me in, and made me one of them. My life had meaning and purpose - I was working for something greater than myself. But the honeymoon was short-lived.

So why did I stay? Because of KSW.

From HCO Policy Letter of 7 February 1965, Keeping Scientology Working Series 1 (hereafter referred to as KSW) by L. Ron  Hubbard:

"We’re not playing some minor game in Scientology. It isn’t cute or something to do for lack of something better.

The whole agonized future of this planet, every man, woman and child on it, and your own destiny for the next endless trillions of years depend on what you do here and now with and in Scientology.

This is a deadly serious activity. And if we miss getting out of the trap now, we may never again have another chance."

And I believed him. The wandering doubt in my eye had been turned into a fixed, dedicated glare. I thought I was saving the planet - and I believed we had very little time to do it in.

Oh, one more reason why I stayed: I was brainwashed (although I didn't believe it, and wouldn't have admitted it even if I'd suspected).