Category Personal

The FACK

Geir Isene 129 Comments

It’s a cross between a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Fuck It!

Having noticed that my recent blog posts gathered lots of comments around the Net and on e-mail lists, I have decided to answer a bunch of them here. Rather than answering on the various sites, I think it’s better for people to find a collection of some of my views here… regarding Scientology, Hopefully this will be the last blog post on that subject for at least a little while.

Here’s some relevant and some weird statements that I will answer:

  • Geir has abandoned Scientology altogether?
    I have basically abandoned all methods in favor of doing what is right to deliver value in a given circumstance. Goal is senior to method – always.
  • You are ditching the best mental technology known to Man
    I don’t know if Scientology is the best mental technology. I am open to any tool that may help a person reach his own goals.
  • All you want to do is to prove Hubbard wrong
    I don’t care about Hubbard. But I am interested to find out where the root cause of abuses perpetrated by the Church of Scientology comes from. It seems to me they are rooted in the writings of Hubbard – and locating these root causes may help prevent recurrence.
  • He is influenced by some SPs (Suppressive Persons)
    I am influenced by all sorts of people. But my main influence is my curiosity and relentless quest for my own truth.
  • Geir is still stuck in the cult mindset
    I am not stuck. I am a work in progress. Hope you are too.
  • He will eventually wake up and realize that there is NOTHING good in Scientology
    I think absolutist statements about a subject as big as Scientology is stupid – whether the claim is that it is absolutely perfect or absolutely useless. I prefer tolerance and respect for other’s views.
  • He will soon understand that he didn’t have any real gains in Scientology
    It’s like saying I will soon wake up and understand that my childhood education didn’t give me anything after all. I gained what I gained in Scientology and it was great – even though some would love that not to be true.
  • Geir has an annoyingly haughty writing style
    I am curt on my blog and on forums and have been labeled “the champion of conciseness”. That may come across as haughty. I am a fan of Winston Wolf. I have limited time. I prefer to spend my quality time together with my family and friends face to face. I so love personal contact. You will find having a coffee with me quite different than discussing with me on the Net. You are hereby invited.
  • He has gone over to the dark side
    I am on nobody’s side. I am on a quest for my own truth and I bring my own torch.
  • You need an L1C on Scientology (an auditing action to handle a person’s upset)
    I am not at all upset with Scientology or with Hubbard. Scientology has been a good stepping stone for me on my personal quests.
  • Geir wants people to have lofty goals. It’s akin to Scientology’s “Clearing the planet”
    I don’t want any goals for others. people should find their own paths and goals (or not). I want to help those who have a burning desire to reach some goal – whether that is a small personal goal or a goal to make the World a better place.
  • Geir is only focusing on “a person’s own goals” – that’s so first person oriented, so Scientological
    I don’t care what goals people have. But I am always ready to lend a hand if anyone needs it. And I do help a lot of people do things they didn’t think possible. I love to see others succeed.
  • Geir is setting himself up as another guru
    No thank you. The one thing I hated about having reached OT 8 in the church was to be treated as someone’s Personal Jesus. Let’s do away with guruing altogether.
  • He wants to take over as the leader of the Church of Scientology
    What have you been smoking? I am done with organized religion.

That was some of the statements that I picked up. I am sure I have missed plenty. Got more questions or statements for me? Feel free to post a comment.


(Hugh at Gapingvoid.com)

Fuck it!

Geir Isene 157 Comments

Sitting back here in the sofa looking at this calmly… you know what? I am not even interested in salvaging Scientology per se.

I am actually only interested in helping people reach their goals. Read “U-ology”. That’s the only interest. To help people reach their goals.

I don’t want Scientology, Psychology, NLP, crapology, or anything else.

No salvaging of any Scientology needed. As it stands it is a trap and I don’t think it is salvageable.

What is possible, on the other hand is to start, without prejudice (at ALL) to collect all kinds of tools for all kinds of possible goals and wishes (starting with the guy’s you have in front of you) and piece together the tool set that is demonstrably working.

Doing that, and as long as the practitioner really, truly helps people reach their goals, it behooves him well to get those tools tested in order to reach the mainstream and thusly reach the broad general public… so that they too can avail themselves of the tools needed to reach Their goals.

Fuck it.

I want to help PEOPLE. Not Scientology.

(Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere, I’m just done with worshiping of methodologies.)

The danger of inspiring others

Geir Isene 20 Comments

There is a liability in inspiring other people, to sell them an idea or work them up to do something. The liability is that the will of the person suddenly has an external motivator supplanting the intrinsic motivation of the person. Such an extrinsic motivator inherits the responsibility for the outcome of the person’s actions. If the person fails to, let’s say stop smoking, the person could blame the external motivator for the failure.

Brendan has accused me of being a fantastic motivator for people who later deflates when I am not around. This is a valid and good point.

It is better to help the person find his own inspiration, his own intrinsic motivation. Work with the person rather than perhaps unconsciously supplanting that motivation with your extrinsic motivating.


(Hugh at Gapingvoid.com)

Inspiration for my book

Geir Isene 93 Comments

As you may know, I have have had a book project for a while. My auto-biography is on it’s final leg, and I am currently writing a chapter on the inner secrets of Scientology. The book covers my whole life, but with emphasis on my journey into and out of Scientology.

I have covered a lot in the book, but I may still have missed an angle. To complete the work, I would like to harvest ideas from you guys.

What would you like to read about in the book when it enter the stands later this year? Pitch in by adding you comments.

Invalidation

Geir Isene 89 Comments

People get touchy for all kind of reasons. In Internet discussions it is rampant.

I’ve seen critics of Scientology go ape-shit as someone challenge their views. I have seen Scientologists go irrational as someone challenge their beliefs. It’s not very helpful or productive if the purpose is to gain new knowledge.

If your purpose is to evolve, to gain wisdom or enlightenment, it may be wise to simply disregard defensiveness and keep your focus on that purpose.

“Invalidation” is an often used term in Scientology. It means:

“refuting or degrading or discrediting or denying something someone else considers to be fact.”

But certainty enters the equation. You get more touchy and more easily invalidated the more uncertain you are in your views. You wouldn’t get especially touchy if some guy came along and challenged your belief in a spherical Earth. Even if he screamed from the top of his lungs “THE EARTH IS FLAT!”, it still wouldn’t upset you. But if someone challenges something you want to believe, a view you are really not that certain about, then you may get quite touchy.

So when someone gets defensive in a discussion or blows up, realize that you may have struck a point of uncertainty, where the other is struggling to maintain his resolve.

This may be a reason why the Church of Scientology is so litigious, why their press releases are so defensive and irrational. It may be a reason why you sometimes see heated discussions on this blog.

I find it amusing when I myself get defensive. I try to use it to dig out my own uncertainties, and then dig deeper to see what exactly I am struggling with – and then go ahead and fix it. I enjoy that adventure 🙂

Scientology: The ultimate trap

Geir Isene 236 Comments

Having just announced that I will try out a different topic, I just had this huge realization and needed to write it down for clearity of mind.

Scientology does not deliver on its promise of full spiritual freedom (nothing can but yourself). Therefore it acts as a place-holder, a thought-stopper for people seeking spiritual enlightenment. Scientology presents itself as the end-all to spiritual attainment, the end station, the look-no-further. Hubbard dictates that Scientologists MUST NOT look other places for spiritual freedom. And those who bite the hook, line and sinker… they look no further. And thus the people seeking ultimate enlightenment are forever trapped from gaining what they seek.

Scientology is the perfect spiritual trap for this very reason.

It is treachery to promise ultimate freedom, tell people to look nowhere else and then not deliver on that promise.

Hubbard could very easily have avoided creating the ultimate trap – simply by not telling people that Scientology is the end-all, and by not enforcing blinders on other paths and methodologies. He could just have presented a set of powerful tools for people to try out, test and verify. But he didn’t. He made a brand, and locked it down with copyrights and trademarks. He crafted a belief system and a world view. A cult.

There are excellent tools in Scientology. There are many beneficial methods worth trying out. But the whole, as it stands, is the ultimate spiritual trap. You can benefit from Scientology – but don’t swallow it whole.

Hubbard could have focused on what you want. But instead he focused on what he or Scientology wanted for you, for the world. And it ended up with “my way or the highway“.

I choose the highway. I choose to choose freely.

Let hell break loose.


(Hugh at Gapingvoid.com)

Status March 2013

Geir Isene 24 Comments

When I write about HP-41 calculators, the guys over at HP Forum reads it but few comment on the post (they do plenty of commenting in the forum). When I write about my realizations in philosophy or physics, many different people read it and interesting discussions ensue. When I write about my positive experiences in Scientology, some people read it and there are some comments (less than 200 comments on a blog post is not much here). When I write something critical about Scientology, the place goes ballistic.

I don’t much care how many reads what or how many comments. This blog is an act of selfishness. I enjoy writing. It helps me sort my thoughts and views. I invite others to comment and reading other’s viewpoints helps me improve my views. But it is interesting to see what gets traction, and since I have a few years of statistics, I’d like to share a few points.

December was the most active month ever, both in number of views and number of readers (some 15000 views and a couple of thousand readers). January beat December. February was another high, and March will beat February by a good margin.

Reflecting on the recent months, I see that when I post often, there is more action (duh!). And when I sort out my own earlier “brainwashing” (accepted data without thorough inspection), lively discussions ensue. These posts generate more comments on Scientology than on any other blog on the Net (with more than 1700 comments on one post). It seems that criticizing Scientology generates lots of emotions that results in action (posting of comments). Maybe because it triggers bad experiences or because it challenges beliefs? Or are there other reasons?

I will try out a different topic soon and see how that fares. Stay tuned.


(Hugh at Gapingvoid.com)