Category Scientology

Get to the bottom of it!

Geir Isene 132 Comments

The insistence on finding the WHY is pervasive. Psychoanalysis. Dianetics and Scientology. ITIL and Root Cause Analysis. The belief that one has to get to the bottom of a problem can be blinding. Because it is far from the only way to solve problems. Sometimes it is better to evade the problem, to find another path or to stop creating the problem altogether.

If you face a difficult situation or problem in life, do you need to find the cause of the problem to solve it? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. It depends. There is no ultimate answer to such a question. Maybe you need what you ultimately think you need in order to solve it.

If your car breaks down, smoke and fire erupting from the engine, do you need to find out why the engine broke down? Not if it is an old wreck of a car. It would be cheaper to buy a new one. And not if it is cheaper to replace the engine than spend much time investigating the source of the engine trouble. It all depends. On the business case. Maybe it was an omen that you should start get in shape by riding your bike more often.

The insistence that one must get to the bottom of it can create tunnel vision and lead to endless hours of therapy or auditing or figure-figure why it is this way or that way. At least sometimes it’s better to just give a fuck.

Scientology pros and cons

Geir Isene 713 Comments

With all the oh-so-polarized discussions on Scientology rampant on the Net, I got the idea of balancing it off with this:

Anyone that wants to participate on the discussion on this very blog post must, as their opening comment, list their 5 main pros and 5 main cons regarding Scientology. Five real gems and five real disasters. Five good things and five bad. Unconditional good and unconditional bad. Not bad things that could be interpreted as good, or good stuff that could be taken to mean something bad. And no qualifiers such as “while Scientology is a complete and utter scam, there is one thing that could seem good…” or “while the core of Scientology is workable, there is one aspect that may be seen as flawed…”. Just simple statements that stand on their own; 5 real plus points and 5 real minus points. Let’s see if this can be done.

pros_cons

To be fair, and to be allowed to participate in this discussion on my own blog, I’ll go first.

My five main positives about Scientology:

  • The communication drills: I have seen these do wonders in me and others to help the person be more open and clearer in his or her communication
  • The importance of helping a person really be Here and Now: Auditing that helps a person be more in Present Time is very valuable
  • The auditing principles of not invalidating or evaluating for the person is a real gem
  • The auditing processes that help a person sort out the dichotomies in life is something I have seen help people to be more harmonious and relaxed in life
  • The research into the nature of a being, the nature of the life force, the “theta” is something I have learned a lot from

My five main negatives about Scientology:

  • The notion that Scientology is The Only Way – that it is complete and consistent, that it represents a one-size-fits-all
  • The worshipping of the super-human, of Homo Novis, of OT powers and every aspect of personal power is despicable
  • The total absence of openness and transparency in research (or the lack thereof)
  • The branding/trademarking/copyrighting of Scientology and the attempt to compartment Scientology as “a body of knowledge” or something special instead of contributing knowledge freely to the mainstream human pool of knowledge
  • The focus on enemies, war, battle and the attacking of anything critical or tangential to Scientology (disconnection and the lack of love come under this heading)

Want to pitch in and discuss? Start by posting your 5+ and 5- aspects of Scientology 🙂

The Unclear path to Clear

Geir Isene 209 Comments

Before reading this blog post, please read up on my previous post on the Scientology subject of Clear – “Conclusion: There are no Clears”

Be warned that this blog post contains advanced Scientology stuff.

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I have recently done some further research into the State of Clear and its history. Let’s first recap some basics and then bridge over into a curious but fundamental inconsistency of Scientology:

  • In order for a problem to resolve or a “mental charge” to “blow”, one must get to the very basics, the root cause of it and then it will vanish.
  • An individual (a thetan) was originally almighty and Clear (no reactive mind)
  • At some point during at least the past 4 quadrillion years (as per the OT 3 material), the thetan started creating a reactive mind and became “unClear”
  • The very first traumatic incident (engram) holds the key to unlocking the reactive mind, and when inspected thoroughly through auditing, the individual can again become Clear
  • Individuals may become Clear on different levels of The Bridge to Total Freedom
  • Many go Clear on New Era Dianetics (NED), while those who do not will take the sure-fire way through the Clearing Course
  • The Clearing Course will handle the very basics that will unlock the person’s reactive mind and make him or her Clear
  • In the OT 3 material (“2nd note, point 8) we learn that the heavy traumatic incidents handled on the Clearing Course was in fact implanted as part of the OT3 incident administered by the late Xenu only 75 million years ago (referred to as Incident 2)
  • The chance for a thatan to have become unClear as late as during those few turbulent days 75 million years ago is much less than one in 4 billion
  • So why is the sure-fire way to Clearing a person handling some incident so extremely close to Present Time that there is virtually no chance that this incident could have been the cause for the individuals descent from Clear to starting mocking up his reactive mind?
  • Should we understand from this that every individual went unClear and started creating a reactive mind when Xenu got his fits?
  • Or should we understand that Xenu was so angelic that he skillfully administered an implant that when unlocked, it would unlock all earlier trauma until the beginning of time? Should we then praise Xenu?

I put this question forth to one of the wisest and highest trained Scientologists in history. And he could not sort out this interesting, perhaps disturbing inconsistency.

At the same time I have talked to many who have done the Clearing Course, and most have had great, even life-changing gains from doing that step on the Bridge. So clearly it does Something profound.

I believe Allan Watts got it right when he said:

Make the person do some sort of regimen that the person truly believe he will get great gains from and voilá.

Scientology Bait & Switch, part II

Geir Isene 226 Comments

In the discussion on my first Bait & Switch post, a major reason for Scientology’s failure became apparent.

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L. Ron Hubbard, the founder, the sole Source, the only true originator of Scientology promoted that his religion will give you real, tangible and objective results. This is the Bait. But when you traverse his one-size-fits-all path to spiritual greatness, The Bridge to Total Freedom, gone are the objective, provable results. Instead you attest to subjective results. With very few exceptions, your gains are not measurable and does not compare to the promised objective gains. This is the switch.

This is a major trick, albeit insidious and difficult to catch as you can read from the discussion under the first Bait & Switch blog post.

Here are some examples of the claims Hubbard made for Scientology (the Bait):

  • Broken bones heal in two weeks instead of six (by X-ray evidence), withered limbs restore, burns vanish, swellings reduce visibly to nothing, lives wrecked by grief and loss recover, women lose their aging wrinkles, and sought after abilities return. (DnT)
  • Chronic, which is to say, long-term illnesses cease when audited by Dianetics and then medical treatment. (DnT)
  • The sickness and death rate of persons who are part of Dianetic groups is only a small fraction of that of other groups. (DnT)
  • Dianetics raises IQ in addition to usual auditing, at a rate of about one point of IQ per hour of processing. (DnT)
  • A Clear can control all his body fluids. (EoaS)
  • A Clear can be tested for any and all psychoses, neuroses, compulsions and repressions (all aberrations) and can be examined for any autogenic (self-generated) diseases referred to as psycho-somatic ills. These tests confirm the Clear to be entirely without such ills or aberrations. (DMSMH)
  • The common cold, for instance, if it is a virus or not, passes him (the Clear) by; chronic infections are absent. (DMSMH)
  • A clear, for instance, has complete recall of everything which has ever happened to him or anything he has ever studied. He does mental computations, such as those of chess, for example, which a normal would do in a half an hour, in ten or fifteen seconds. (DMSMH)
  • A Theta Clear is a person who operates exterior to a body without need of a body. (SH Spec 59)
  • The state of Operating Thetan is higher than Theta Clear and means that the person does not need a body to communicate or work. (CoHA)
  • A good thorough-going Operating Thetan should not take more than fifty hours of auditing. (Ass. Newsl. 1953-04-28)

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And here are some results that one actually attests to (the Switch):

  • Knows he/she won’t get any worse.
  • Relief from the hostilities and sufferings of life.
  • Freedom from the upsets of the past and ability to face the future.
  • Moving out of fixed conditions and gaining abilities to do new things.
  • Freedom from dramatization and return of powers to act on own determinism.
  • A Clear: A being who no longer has his reactive mind

While there is no excuse to not revise or apologize for the promised gains when it is not delivered, scientologists continue to justify and explain away this flagrant flaw.

Let’s face the facts; Less than 1% of those that invested time and effort in the subject stayed on in the hope of receiving the promised gain. The failure of Scientology as a subject is massive.

We often hear explanations for Scientology’s downfall like “Scientology is so good that vested interest attacked it from all directions”, “The society was in an dwindling spiral, so Hubbard worked so hard to undercut his method to accommodate for the increasing stupidity and irrationality of the population” or even “Hubbard ran Scientology just perfectly, it was only when David Miscavige took charge that it went south”.

But, applying Occam’s Razor, isn’t the simpler answer that Scientology simply does not deliver on its promises?

It doesn’t much matter that people like me got a lot out of the subject as long as it does not consistently deliver factual, measurable results.

Miscavige, Hubbard, Jesus and The Golden Age of Tech

Geir Isene 155 Comments

While the world of Scientology is buzzing with excitement over the new monumentalt milestone releases that is bound to shake the very foundations of this universe, the outside world runs its course unaffected.

Photo by Anette

Most people will never know about “Super Power” or “The Golden Age of Tech, phase II”. But some are negatively excited and are abuzz with carping criticism of Miscavige and his church. And I managed to muster some interest resulting in a few reflections.

Photo by Mike Rinder

Most have long since discovered that Scientology is far from the world’s fastest growing religion, perhaps it’s even the fastest shrinking religion. If you still believe that Scientology truly is the Only Hope of Mankind, then the only logical target for why the world is not embracing the subject is its leader, David Miscavige. True believers would never question Hubbard or Scientology itself, and instead focus almost exclusively on Miscavige as the True Culprit. He must be a power-hungry, greedy and evil psychopath to be able to halt the obvious expansion and Scientology’s natural take-over as the world’s One True Philosophy. If you don’t believe that Scientology is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then there is less reason to blame only him. Perhaps he is just faced with an impossible task of making a flawed philosophy right by any and all means.

Earlier, I reflected on the creative genius of David Miscavige. I also said I think he is a true believer. I see him being on a relentless quest of making Scientology right. He turns every stone, tries fixing every minor crease and splits every possible hair in order to ensure that Scientology may eventually deliver what Hubbard promised. But what if it never can? I don’t think Miscavige would ever openly utter such a doubt. But I think that his quest does reflect such an inner doubt in himself. Just like I think Hubbard devised Scientology to fix himself, I think Miscavige is working hard to fix his own deeper doubt. Just like Jesus may have tried to sell the world on concepts that he himself finally admitted he doubted at the end.

Maybe most peddlers of philosophy try their best to fix themselves and often attempts to convince others in order to fix their own doubts. Maybe. And the followers are eager buyers as they would want their doubts handled as well. Most people like certainty and are willing takers of anything that can fix their fear, uncertainty or doubt.

It seems ironic that Scientologists outside of the church spend time and effort to justify or make Hubbard’s philosophy right, all the while they criticize Miscavige so harshly – a man that are even more adamant in trying his best to fix the subject. But because he is more intensely active and has set himself up as the sole power, the dictator of Scientology, his mistakes are far better scrutinized.

Regardless of the transient buzz and hoopla – when the dust settles and the lack of OT powers and expansion is again starting to show, I think Miscavige is out of stuff to fix – and the naked emperor will be clearly on display. And then the implosion will become a spectacle to behold. And some will regret they didn’t get busy making a better bridge. But fear not, the evolution of Mankind will find increasingly more effective answers to whatever. As long as we help nudge it ever so slightly in the right direction.

Artwork by me

Særoppgave om Scientologi?

Geir Isene 2 Comments

Skal du skrive om Scientologi i en særoppgave på skolen? Vanskelig å få noen fra Scientologikirken i tale? Vel, jeg stiller mer enn gjerne opp og svarer på spørsmål.

Jeg er den eneste i Norge som har gjort alle nivåene i Scientologi helt opp til “OT 8”. Jeg kjenner alle delene av emnet og organisasjonen – og jeg snakker fritt og åpent om alt – både de positive og de negative aspektene. Du kan spørre om hva som helst, og jeg gir direkte og ærlige svar. Du får det du trenger for å levere en heftig god oppgave – ikke bare mengder av informasjon om Scientologi og hvordan Scientologikirken fungerer, men tips til hvordan du kan bygge opp særoppgaven til å få en god flyt, gode poenger og en bra form.

I boka “Nittenåttifire” får du mengder av stoff du kan bruke, mens et direkte intervju vil gi deg ennå mer. Ta kontakt dersom du vil ta hjem en god karakter 🙂

Tough questions…

Geir Isene 437 Comments

…I should be asked.

Since I left the Church of Scientology I have been asked thousands of questions. Many were simple and easy to answer, others were more tricky and harder to reply to. There are a few questions that could put me in a tight spot and that would be hard to answer. Although they have been touched upon, no one have yet asked me these directly. And so I take the matters into my own hands.

First the questions:

  1. You claim you have had heaps of gains from Scientology. Yet you criticize the subject that helped you get those gains. Are you not in fact “burning the bridge” behind you and hinder others to get the same gains as yourself?
  2. When you talk about your gains in Scientology, are you not running the risk of encouraging others to become victims of the biggest cult trap known to Man?
  3. Every time you talk about your gains in Scientology, should you not be responsible enough to also inform about the dangers, the destroyed lives?
  4. When you criticize Scientology, should you not be responsible enough to also inform about the marvels of the tech, your gains and the only hope for Mankind.
  5. Are you not done yet?

Then the answers:

  1. After having discussed Scientology openly for 4 years, I realize that I was lucky living on the fringe of the Scientology world when I was in for 25 years. Others were less fortunate and have been victims of much more pressure and oppression in the church. Lives have been destroyed, families broken apart. I believe that every person should be able to make informed decisions about whatever they may decide to get involved in. Informed decisions require open access to all relevant information – both the good and the bad. I do not believe in hiding or not revealing anything bad or good in a subject that may come so close to your mind and spirit as Scientology. All information should be freely accessible on the Net, and through discussions, people can learn and avoid harmful involvements and make use of what they think will help them.
  2. See answer #1.
  3. I feel no obligation to bloat my blog posts with anything else but the succinct points I am trying to convey.
  4. See answer #3.
  5. I live on a whim. I do what I enjoy. And I continue to enjoy this until I enjoy something else. Who knows when I am done blogging, discussing or babbling about Scientology? Not me.

It really is that simple. Got any other tough questions for me? Shoot!

1984: Looking to partner up with a US publisher

Geir Isene 13 Comments

After really good responses from readers in the Norwegian market, my publisher (Humanist Forlag) is looking for a US publiser as a partner to release my book to the English speaking market.

1984

This is the only book on Scientology written by a person who has done all the secret levels, and who reveals them all. The book gives an inside account on how it is to be a public Scientologist, about my gains in Scientology, the challenges, weirdness, mysteries and crap.

There are plenty of books that is looking at Scientology from the outside. And lots of books written by former executives within the Church of Scientology. This book tells a story from the ranks of the public Scientologists – a 25-year journey from the bottom of The Bridge to Total Freedom and all the way to the highest secret level, OT 8. This could have been your story, or your brother’s or sister’s, or a friend’s.

People should know what they enter into when they walk through the doors of the church. The book is balanced and throughly relates both the good and the bad in the controversial religion. The information in this book deserves to be open and accessible to all English readers. An English version would spell the end of the secrecy and mystery surrounding the greatest cash cows for the church.

There has already been hundreds of people asking me to get the book out in English. And so I put this out here to see if readers might have interesting connections that could lead to an English version being published in the near future. Feel free to spread the word.

From a talk on my book and my 25 years in Scientology

From a talk on my book and my 25 years in Scientology

Scientology bait & switch

Geir Isene 350 Comments

The first part of Scientology’s Bridge to Total Freedom helps the person take responsibility for his own mind and his own issues.

From the bottom of the Bridge to OT 2, the person exercises his ability to take responsibility over his own mind matters.

From OT 3 and up to OT 8, the Bridge is all about blaming others for one’s issues. The person works on shifting blame to imaginary entities that he is told is stuck to his body. Hubbard calls these entities Body Thetans (BTs), remnants from a sci-fi catastrophe 75 million years ago. And every person on Earth presumably has thousands if not millions of these spiritual flees stuck to and around his body and pestering him. They are supposedly the source of odd sensations, pain and discomfort and can make him behave irrationally. Whatever mental issue the person has, it is the fault of these BTs.

The first part of the Bridge is the Bait. The second part is the Switch.

  • Why do OTs blindly follow the commands of the mad dictator, the pope of the Church of Scientology, David Miscavige?
  • Why are there few if any OTs that make real positive impact in the world today? Or even in their own neighborhood?
  • Why can’t the OTs in the church stop their religion from sinking faster than the Titanic?

Could it be that their responsibility is driven down to the level of a lemming?

Could this also explain why Hubbard found so many enemies to blame – from the CIA, KGB, APA, psychologists, psychiatrists, the media, the bankers, SPs, anti-scientologists, Xenu, the Marcabians and BTs – lots and lots of BTs?

I have hardly seen a group with that many perceived enemies and where the blame-game is on such a high gear. The International Executives blames the lower rank Sea Org members (the super-clergy), the Sea Org blames the outer Organization Staff and the those Staff blames each other and the public. And everybody blames the Suppressive Persons (the SPs). The shifting of responsibilities is massive.

Personal freedom and harmony is possible, but the road to tranquility is certainly not paved with blame, but rather with love, forgiveness, giving, care and fun.

Update(2013-11-03): After discussing this in great length, I have come to the conclusion that the above is merely a special case of Bait and Switch in Scientology. It is known to relatively few people. What should be much broader known and what constitutes a much more fundamental Bait & Switch at the foundations of the Bridge is this: Hubbard promised a great many objective, real and testable gains from Scientology. These range from a stack of abilities that you would get when you become Clear (see Dianetics) as well as a range of special (OT) abilities higher on the Bridge. All testable and objective, such as Freedom From Overwhelm (OT 3) and Out-of-body experiences (OBEs). But, when you are to attest on the various levels you attain on The Bridge to Total Freedom, the vast majority (if not all) of the End Phenomenas (EPs/gains) are strictly subjective. Promising objective gains is the Bait, delivering subjective gains is the Switch. It’s like a school would promise that you will attain a certain level of math skills, but at the end of the year you would attest to “I feel good at math”. A classic Bait & Switch.

What I lost in Scientology

Geir Isene 143 Comments

While we hear about abuses, human rights violations, harassment, criminal conduct and “fair gaming” in the Church of Scientology, I have been very satisfied with the service I received in my 25 years being a member. Others have lost money, time, careers, family members, unborn children or even themselves. I lost none of that. But I did lose something. And it took me by surprise.

I was nervous as a child. Worrying about stuff – mostly social situations. I was shy, terrified to be asked to read aloud in class. There was often a cocktail of emotions, blood pumping, adrenalin, fear, uncertainty and doubt. Amid the social stress was a boy seeking refuge in hard core natural sciences where I could satisfy my appetite for knowledge and master the crafts. Logic and reason was safe. Emotions not.

When I got into Scientology in 1984, I was seeking new answers and new angles to particle physics and astrophysics. But they offered me a path to gain control of those unruly social situations. I was intrigued to learn that I could gain some level of mastery of shyness, stress and my worrying.

From the very first communications drills and all the way up Scientology’s Bridge to Total Freedom I was longing for less worrying, more control. Mastery of emotions, of self, of stress and of the worry.

And lo and behold, that was just what I got. In spades. No wonder I was happy with my Scientology services. I went from a worrying and shy boy to a radio show host to a CEO of several companies and a renowned public speaker. I got exactly what I wanted.

But be careful for what you wish.

I am seldom stressed or worried. I can be thrown headlong into any public situation, be it impromptu speaking on an unknown subject or going on radio or TV without preparation. No stress, just a pure “Fuck It” attitude to whatever the situation may bring.

I miss the stress. The anticipation of the unknown. The adrenalin. The rush. Much zest have been lost. If anything, that is a source of some worry.

This is why I seek situations where I am not in control. That is why I want challenges beyond my abilities to cope. I need to feel more of those emotions, that part of life.

It is harder and harder to find exciting challenges. If you have any ready, please throw it my way.

In hindsight, I would still do it all over again. Because the benefits of calmness and harmony outweighs the loss of zest. But it is a loss that I am very much aware of.

(From my heart, pure text, no graphics or even links. Delivered as-is.)