Category Scientology

Amazing person: David Miscavige

Geir Isene 242 Comments

Although I have written about my meeting with the leader of the Church of Scientology before, this time I will relate why I think he is an amazing person.

In 2006, only two weeks after I attested to the highest OT level yet released, I was back aboard the Freewinds attending the annual Maiden Voyage events.

It was on the night of the photo shoots. I was standing outside the Heritage restaurant with two fellow OT VIII’s from Sweden. All the OT VIII’s were appointed OT Ambassadors and were to be photographed together with Miscavige, country by country. There were only two OT Ambassadors from Sweden and only me from the Land of Santa. The swedes tried to include me in a virtual group of “Scandinavians”, but I naturally declined. The union between Sweden and Norway had been broken 101 years before. Nope, I was representing my own country. It would be DM and me in the photo.

The swedes were first and just as they were to enter the doors to the restaurant, they said they would tell the Chairman of the Board that I should be the next Executive Director of the CoS Oslo, the Oslo Org. They had taken responsibility for Stockholm as the executives of that Org. Now they figured it was my turn to boom Olso Org. I laughed and told them to knock it off.

My turn to enter the restaurant. I couldn’t have been standing there for more than a few minutes before I could hear his voice loud and clear: “Where’s the guy from Oslo?” I responded “Here, sir“, and with no delay he was about to shake my hand when he said “So you’re the new ED of Oslo Org. Congratulations!“. I was puzzled and said “No sir, that is not my game.“. He pushed on “But what could be a better game?“. I tried to explain. He pushed on. He wanted me to accept the position right there and then.

I realized that I had met the most energetic, intense and powerful person ever in my life. His eyes were focused, his intentions clear – he wanted a product, a result right there and then. With unparalleled presence and with really owning the room and commanding his environment, he showed determination like I’d never seen.

David showed great charisma and he was funny like hell. I was laughing all through the photo shoot. And while joyful and funny, he never lost sight of the target – to recruit me as the next ED of the Church of Scientology in Oslo. He ensured his juniors got my details and that I was followed up to realize this result he had in no uncertain terms demanded of me.

I was impressed by his neatness, his elegance, yet powerful and determined while remaining playful and funny.

I will never forget that evening in June 6 years ago. I learned a lot from that meeting.

Amazing person: Jason Beghe

Geir Isene 21 Comments

Real. No facade. A straight shooter. Warm. Generous.

There is no beating around the bush with Jason Beghe. In stark contrast to the usual Hollywood PR personae, he stands out as the genuine human being he is. Honest about his own feelings in any situation. It is very understandable that he left the Church of Scientology, where PR is the real currency since decades. His exit in 2005 marked a new high in honesty and to-the-point communication.

I stayed with Jason for a few days back in 2009, right after my own exit. Excellent hospitality, a loving family, and Jason was remarkably easy to get along with. We quickly got down to a real and honest, deep level communication. Even after months of not being in touch, we just pick it up where we last ended off.

Jason is intelligent, unbreakable, generous and funny.

And he understands people. He is able to take on a wide range of viewpoints and really understand where others are coming from.

I regard Jason as a soul mate. He is a remarkable human being.

Scientology in use

Geir Isene 387 Comments

I recently got an interesting e-mail from one of the readers of this blog and asked her permission to post it here. It relates to a blog posts I wrote some time ago – I am not a Scientologist. Marianne has some good points:

Hello Geir,

I have been avidly reading your blogs (both of them) and many of the postings on the scnforum.org you started. Thanks for doing all that work over the years. As I read through the various materials on your site and then began reading Marty’s Rathbun’s blog, I had quite an epiphany, which I think is very much related to your concepts on tools and how you regard Scientology. I posted it on Marty’s blog on a thread announcing the new iScientology.org website. I wanted to send it to you rather than post it on your current blog because it appears that you are pretty much moving on — good for you!!

Its a beautiful website, carefully thought out and written. (referring to the new iScientology.org website)

I would love to see an addition to the information about Scientology, something I have found to be very true in my life.

Scientology is something I USE. I also USE my education. I also USE my mind. I also USE my body. I also USE my attitude. I also USE my country’s constitution. I also USE communication and CREATIVITY.

I am none of the above, for these are all things one does, not what one is.

I often see this on this blog, this effort to label someone as a “true” Scientologist or a “false” Scientologist. And depending on which “SIDE” one is on we get the labels: A squirrel. An apostate. A sociopath. And so on.

If I have an “identity” at all, it is “citizen of the universe.” I have found it fruitful to expand my view. Citizen: A native, inhabitant, or denizen of a particular place.

This is from the 1953 Webster’s College Edition: Civilize: 1. To bring out of a condition of savagery or barbarism; instruct in the ways of an advanced society. 2. Cultured and courteous; refine.

I was hoping so much that there would be a return to the concept of Scientology is for USE. By ANYONE, Scientologist or NOT, who cares to learn it and learn it well.

I was hoping there would be a return to the principle that it is NON-DENOMINATIONAL and available to all of good will, with no one demanding that one BECOME A SCIENTOLOGIST, in effect or in reality denouncing one’s existing affiliations / membership. It was the basis on which I first took up Scientology training. I was told that it was perfectly OK that I was a Buddhist. No need to turn my back on my love and joy and experiences and my group. But it turned out that it wasn’t true, and more and more I found myself being pressured to denounce Buddhism in favor of Scientology, to declare myself a Scientologist.

I have long reflected on all this since I walked out of the CHURCH of Scientology. All these labels obscure the truth. These labels are all based on exclusion. Someone is not good enough, is awful, is detestable, is this and that and judge and judge and judge and judge.

I’ve had a belly full of this. Don’t you think its time to end this unworkable way of teaching Scientology auditing?

Make it safe and make it acceptable for the Rabbi in the synagogue to USE Scientology auditing. He can still be a Rabbi — a Rabbi who is a trained auditor. He does not have to BECOME A SCIENTOLOGIST. He can even deliver deliver auditing without calling himself an auditor, let alone a Scientologist. One who USES auditing to assist others. The same for the Christian minister.

It should be safe and acceptable for him to use Scientology. He does not have to become a Scientologist to do this. If Scientology is offered “identity free” then it will be freely used, by everyone, not just by those who are willing to forswear their original allegiances to become a new identity.

Even more fascinating, there were only two responses to my post, and one of them crystallized the epiphany for me. The person said:

You’re right. At some point it was not enough to be a student, to be a pc. That was the point when Scientology became a cult.

Anyway, I am writing to you about this because I really felt that I got to know you through all the many things you have written and your tolerance towards others who have shared their ideas and disagreements and so on throughout the last couple of years.

Thank you!

Marianne

Discussions on the Net

Geir Isene 352 Comments

I am sitting in a relaxing chair in one of my favorite places (Tehuset i Lillegrensen), contemplating three years of actively discussing on the Internet. Enjoying a cup of Chocolate Mint Tea, I write my current conclusion:

“Internet discussions are generally unproductive. They most often serve to solidify the viewpoints and opinions of a debater. When faced with opposing views, a debater will usually come up with increasingly strong and intelligent ways to defend his own – regardless of the value or rightness of those views. Discussions tend to be an exercise in rightness rather than a way to mold and morph and inspire one’s opinions, beliefs, trusts and outlook.”

Want to discuss this? Let’s meet over a cup of tea.

T

5000 reads on Scribd

Geir Isene 4 Comments

I swung by Scribd.com and found that my articles now have a total of more than 5000 reads. That would account for around half the number of total reads of those articles (the rest being read on isene.com and elsewhere). If you haven’t yet looked at the articles, now is the time to nudge you to swing by the same place 😉

Writing articles: Collaboration

Writing articles in collaboration with great people

What culture does it foster?

Geir Isene 341 Comments

ITIL is lacking in people-focus. PRINCE2 is lacking in creativity, LEAN is missing out on innovation, and Scientology management philosophy (LRH admin tech) is lacking in compassion.

Objection! ITIL talks about people, and that people are a core asset to any organization. PRINCE2 certainly inspires creative projects to be more successful. LEAN is stressing innovation through continual improvement. And L. Ron Hubbard covers the concept of affinity and also compassion in several places like the policy on “the model hat of an executive”.

All true. But a grape in an apple pie does not make it grape pie. And a mention of love does not make Anders Behring Breivik a loving person.

Because it is not what a subject happens to cover. It is what it predominantly covers. One has to look at the whole picture and see what the major portions are dealing with. The major parts of a subject marginalizes the parts that happens to be included. The intentions behind a subject is made evident by the major focuses of that subject. And that is the culture it fosters.

Scientology management philosophy fosters robotic and militant obedience to policy. LEAN fosters blinders and a squeezed organization, PRINCE2 fosters bureaucracy and ITIL fosters red tape through process compliance. None of them makes for an inspiring, creative and people-focused organization. Because even though these concepts are mentioned, they are dwarfed by the major parts that focus on hard and cold values of yestercentury.

It seems that most organizational frameworks are created as a substitute for more directly handling the problems of responsibility and communication between people.

This is not say that all such frameworks are useless. They may very well contain useful tools. But organizational frameworks will always be inferior to human attention, a warm heart and a hug.

—

In the spirit of strict policy:

In the spirit of strict policy

An epiphany of sorts on help

Geir Isene 184 Comments

I have had an interesting discovery about myself recently; Despite the fact that I have received countless hours of help in the form of Scientology counseling since 1984, I have grown increasingly hesitant to receive help from others proportional to how much I have been helping other people in my life.

The more help I give and the more I listen to others with issues at hand and the more I give advice, the less easy it becomes to accept others helping me. It’s like my mission in life has become so focused on helping others that it feels awkward to have that flow reversed.

The support I offer is mostly very practical and very direct – both in business and for interesting individuals. It ranges from coaching individuals to success, coaching teams to perform at their best and organizations to break important barriers. I am very lucky to be able to do this together with Brendan in our new company. But as my focus on helping others sharpens, my acceptance for others helping me seems to dull. This is something I have to work on – to be as open to others supporting me as I am eager to support others.

I don’t have any specific reason for sharing this, and I’m not particularly trying to rally any discussion. But it does feel nice to be able to let others in on my inner thoughts.

Kooks Unite!

Geir Isene 171 Comments

When I got into Scientology back in 1984, I was a nerd. I couldn’t pick up a girl if my life depended on it. And while my interest in Scientology was initially along the lines of particle physics, it was the communication training that would give me a boost in the right direction.

During my first few months in the Scientology organization in Oslo, I noticed that quite a few of the people frequenting there was “a bit off” – not ordinary or normal. Some were right out wirdoes. Like me I guess, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. The training went great. There was a few strange situations, like grown ups yelling at eachother and behaving like they never had a real upbringing… but these situations were dwarved by my gains from the subject.

As time went on, I had more strange and even crazy experiences. One time the Executive Director started spitting in my face. Another time I was yelled at from point blank distance and with full force by the Depyty Commanding Officer for Europe. And I saw others being treated badly. But again, the gain kept mounting and the “score card” kept going in the positive direction.

In 1996 I was asked by OSA (Office of Special Affairs – the Church of Scientology intelligence arm) to help them out on the Internet. I was to do research and find information on the main enemies of Scientology and report back to OSA. It was like entering the loony bin. The news group alt.religion.scientology was arift with kooks. The place would give any psychitrist a field day. The fact that the kookiest of them all, Koos Nolst Trenite, had gotten the Kook of the Month Award in 1995 seemed to fit all to well into the picture. But the picture was clearly “explained” as this snake pit was the result of Suppressive People gathering to destroy my religion. It never really dawned on me that many of the kooks hanging out at ARS had been in Scientology and that many of the weirdities I saw inside the church could well have been equally kooky had they had the freedom to post freely and anonymously on the Net.

It also never occured to me how it was that the group with supposedly the best communication training in the world could get itself into such a communication mess as I saw on the Net and also in their handeling of media exposure.

As the pressure from Scientology International Management mounted parallelling the contraction of Scientology worldwide, the kookness became ever more present. All the while I was busy justifying that the craziness I saw in Oslo and Copenhagen had to be the lack of training in these lower organizations.

My severe reality adjustment came as I met the Church leader, David Miscavige in 2006. The insanity came from the very top.

I left the church in 2009 and have been posting and discussing Scientology on various forums, mailing lists and other channels since then – like my blogs, the FreeZone and IVY mailing lists, The ESMB and Anon forums, etc. I have also been active in very different arenas such as the EFN (the Norwegian EFF counterpart), the HP calculator Forum, various LinkedIn groups and Facebook groups, etc. When I compare all these arenas with those concerning Scientology (outside or inside the church) there seems to be an overrepresentation of kooks in the world of Scientology. While I remain among the few weird people in those other arenas, I am certainly not in a minority in the Scientology arenas.

But beyond the positive quirks or cute eccentricities, what I am targetting here is the inability to treat others with respect, the inability to resolve situations with good communication.

So, why is this? Is it because weirdoes get attracted to Scientology, or is it because Scientology produce them? In any case, it seems unlikely that Scientology is able to mitigate the kookiness among its ranks. And that puzzles me.

Let an open discussion ensue. No rules. No suspensions. Feel free to pitch in. Al, Dio, Vin, ESMB-ers and normal people alike, let your voice be heard.

My current stance on Scientology

Geir Isene 95 Comments

With recent events cencerning the subject and the church of Scientology, it seems appropriate to reflect on my current stance on both the suvject and the church.

Debbie Cook left the church. Katie broke up with Tom. And now the news that the one and only Mark Schreffler declared independence as a scientologist.These are but three of the many blows that the church of Scientology has suffered in 2012.

As you may know, I left the church in 2009 with a 6 page write-up on why I had had enough. Since then I have been exploring life along many avenues. This and my previous blog give a decent picture of my explorations. I even published a book titled “Six months in the open” to give some kind of insight into one person leaving at the top of the Bridge. When I wrote a blog post titeled, “I am not a Scientologist”, I got many reactions, even got de-linked on Marty’s blog. Some thought “Oh, finally, Geir has seen the light”. Others thought I had gone bonkers. But most people understood the blog post. Still, the picture is not quite descriptive of the present without this post you read now.

I will keep it short. I hold conciseness as a virtue.

  • I believe Scientology contains much value – in the basic philosophy and in the tools it offers.
  • I owe much to Scientology auditing; Personal integrity, confidence, artistic creativity, calmness, enlightenment, not taking everything so serious in life, enjoying life more fully.
  • The lower Bridge is generally very good. The upper Bridge (OT levels) did me wonders – but I belive it handles something different than what L. Ron Hubbard describes in his very dramatic sci-fi way.
  • I owe my surge in communication skills to the communication drills I did in Scientology. I owe my skills as a public speaker also to those drills, as well as to Mark Schreffler – the best public speaker I have seen.
  • I know Scientology to give great insight into how reality comes about.
  • I believe that the Tone Scale is a good tool to understand and help others.
  • I find the Admin Scale a great tool to help people get effective in life. The Admin Scale can be improved, something I will cover in an upcoming book.
  • I have seen the Study Tech, although incomplete, do wonders with kids and adults alike.
  • There are many useful tools beyond the above.
  • I think the Ethics Tech is unempathetic and humanly unfriendly. It equates human value to the person’s production output.
  • I see the Admin Tech as mostly a disaster – responsible for the Orwellian cult called the Church of Scientology.
  • I think it is important that thet human rights abuses in the church get stopped.
  • I believe in Open Sourcing Scientology, to let it evolve.
  • I still want to complete my Ls – L10 and L12.
  • I still want to do the old OT levles (4-7).
  • I still use Scientology every day in my life. I also use art, computers, psychology, physics and a lawn mover now and then.
  • I am not a scientologist. Just like I am not an artist, computerist, psychologist, physicist or the lawn mover man.
  • I am a seeker. An explorer of free will. Which is why a rewamped article, “On Will” is soon finding its way to a blog post near you.

If there is anything on the above list that you don’t understand, disagree with or want to question – feel free to ask.