One of the two major holidays in scientology commemorates the birth of L. Ron Hubbard on 13 March 1911 in Tilden Nebraska (the other is the publication date of Dianetics on May 9, 1950).
Hubbard occupies a unique place in scientology. He is revered almost like a God. Scientologists consider him infallible — his every written and spoken word to be taken as truth and applied literally. If Hubbard says there are implant stations on Mars, no scientologist doubts this “fact.” When he proclaims that smoking doesn’t cause cancer, not smoking enough does — they known he speaks the truth, as ridiculous as it sounds, and they seize upon some other of his philosophical meanderings to make it “true” like “what you resist you become.”
Hubbard claimed to have solved all the problems of human existence, specifically including what he termed “the endless cycle of birth and death.” He claimed to have developed the “technology” to prevent memory loss “between lives” and had discovered a path that would transport everyone who followed him (and paid) to “heights never before envisaged.”
But the sad truth — as recounted by one of the few people who was with him at the miserable end of his life, Steve “Sarge” Pfauth — he died in a paranoid, unhealthy state in a bluebird mote home parked in the barn of a secluded ranch. He had suffered various ailments (among them strokes and pancreatitis) and had become obsessed with “Body Thetans” (disembodied spirits that become attached to a person) that were causing him great upset. He had asked Steve to build a machine that would get rid of the pesky “BT’s” and kill him in the process. Hubbard told Sarge that he had failed in his mission. He left no instructions for who was to take over from him (a huge anomaly from a guy who wrote down everything and issued minute orders about every aspect of his life and that of scientology).
This is all recounted in Lawrence Wright’s excellent book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief, detailing the extensive interview he did with Sarge.
The story of the end of Hubbard’s life was presented to the scientology world by Pat Broeker, David Miscavige and Earle Cooley. It is a creepy, bizarre presentation in which Miscavige proclaims Hubbard didn’t die like a mere mortal, instead, “at complete cause” he “discarded the body,” because it had become “an impediment, an encumbrance.”
He has now moved on to his next OT…level of OT research. This level is beyond anything any one of us ever imagined. This level is in fact done in an exterior state. Meaning, that it is done completely exterior from the body. At this level of OT, the body is nothing more than an impediment, an encumbrance to any further gain as an OT. Thus…Thus, at 2000 hours Friday, the 24th of January, A.D. 36, L. Ron Hubbard discarded the body he had used in this lifetime for 74 years, 10 months, and 11 days. The body he had used to facilitate his existence in this MEST universe had ceased to be useful and in fact had become an impediment to the work he now must do outside of its confines.
The being we knew as L. Ron Hubbard still exists. However, the body he had could no longer serve his purposes. This decision was one made at complete cause by L. Ron Hubbard. Although you may feel grief, understand that he did not and does not now. He has simply moved on to his next step.
Hubbard shuffled off his mortal coil either by dropping dead from a stroke or causatively discarding his body, on 24 January 1986.
He had told scientologists he was “moving off to Target 2” — a vague reference apparently to some other location in the universe where he would continue blazing a trail to “heights never before known,” and in the mind of most scientologists, that meant that “the being we knew as L. Ron Hubbard still exists” and therefore would be making his “new research” into the “next levels of OT.” He would not leave all his friends on earth without the benefit of this amazing new “technology” — he always said that his tireless efforts were done so that everyone could go free.
Miscavige had mansions built for him in a dozen or so locations — fully set up so he could just walk in and carry on when he came back to impart his newfound wisdom.
Hubbard himself had set a precedent by giving Sea Org members a “21 year leave of absence” after their death before they needed to report back for duty.
Well, there has been no sign of the biggest being in the universe — 21 years was in 2007… So he is now more than 17 years AWOL.
As they sing a rousing “Happy Birthday” to this dead man at their event celebrating his birth, not a single one of them will wonder “Where the hell is he?” They are so conditioned not to question anything about Hubbard or scientology, that they put any questions out of their minds.
PS: If you want to know the real story of “Ron,” read Russell Miller’s amazing unauthorized biography: Barefaced Messiah
The only thing Tubby ever wrote that was true was when he described his own personality traits. He put them under the heading of a person who he listed as Covert Hostility on his “Tone Scale”.
Au Contraire. LRH 2.0 has come back and is busy writing new rundowns from his prison cell. He has someone who is his helper who gets the new rundowns out to his list of people who have to pay to subscribe and get all his pearls of wisdom as he writes them.
Cindy, maybe you’re right, but seeing him has left me a bit disappointed. I thought and expected he would come back in better shape. He looks like a mix between Peter Griffin and one of the Beagle Boys.
Losing My Religion, I hope you know I was being sarcastic about LRH 2.0. He is a repeat offender criminal. He is out exchange at the very least. And claiming to be LRH is just another one of his scams to try to make money off believers. Of course, I could be wrong and maybe he really is LRH returned. But personally, I don’t think so.
Cindy, thank you. First of all, I’m Italian and naturally sarcastic myself. So I was following your sarcasm. In SO, many thought I was a bit 1.1 because I used light sarcasm in response to the absurdities happening there.
That said, the guy who claims to be lrh 2.0 must have been struck by at least two lightning bolts in quick succession when he was little. He’s definitely not well.
And if we wanted to briefly consider that he was lrh returning as 2.0, then if the result of the whole bridge and tech is that, well, it’s better to continue the natural cycle of life and death as a wog.
I agree with you. If LRH 2.0 is the result of the whole Bridge, then we are better off to do the natural cycle of life and death as a Non Scn.
By the way I love Italians. At Flag in the eating places, if you heard laughter and followed it to a table of people, it was the Italian table laughing. They were up tone and loved to be light and cheery and fun as a general rule. One of my auditors was Italian and he said that in Italy everyone sings or whistles. Just walking down the street you’d hear whistling. He said the native Italians would say you are sick or had something wrong with you if you didn’t sing or whistle.
Cindy right. My idea of spiritual freedom after years of meditation is quite different from what scn inc or any worship with dogmas to adhere to offers. I would say it’s the opposite.
I live in a part of Italy that is between the center and the south, and what you describe is very true. People often sing alone or hear someone doing it in the neighborhood. And at the table with friends and relatives, we laugh and talk about food while eating. And we are very noisy. What a laugh.
Be glad you are among such good company.
I gather LRH stands for Large Rotund (and) Horrible?
I always like to hear more of the antics coming from The World’s Fastest Dying Religion !!
“…the body he had could no longer serve his purposes. This decision was one made at complete cause by L. Ron Hubbard. ”
He may have died “at cause” but really, because it was an assisted suicide.
Sarge’s narrative of that night point towards that likelihood.
Not an assisted suicide. Sarge did not follow Hubbards instructions. He died as a result of a stroke.
I wasn’t referring to the modified e-meter that Sarge built. In fact, Sarge delberately built it so it would just give a non-lethal shock.
Sarge quoted Hubbard as saying “Let’s get this over with” when Hubbard and Denk and Mithoff went to the back of the Bluebird the night he died.
Hubbard already was only semi functional with speech and movement impediments because of the recent stroke.
A few hours later the two came out and said “it was over” and Hubbard dead.
It’s possible that the Vistaril was used to push him over the edge.
Sarge didn’t say these things. I know what he said in some detail, this was never part of this. Theres a lot of rumor and Chinese whispers that go around…
That’s what Sarge wrote to me. We had several email exchanges. I guess we’ll never know what exactly happened that night.
Are you saying Sarge told you it was an “assisted suicide”?
No, that’s just my own opinion.
Sarge did write that Ron said, as he and Denk and Mithoff went to the back of the Bluebird, “Let’s get this over with” which makes me think it was planned.
Again, I don’t know and it’s just my gut feeling. If I get a chance, I’ll send you the email.
I interviewed Russell Miller who described his meticulous research into Ron’s life for the book Bare Faced Messiah.
Russell Miller’s publisher was offered $1 million dollars to have the rights to the book in 1980s money.
He refused it.
The bribe was to destroy the book. Some great anecdotes on the fair game the cult unleashed on Russell. The entire book was published chapter by chapter every week in the Sunday Times, a prestigious British news paper.
Russell won several awards as a writer and investigative journalist. He reminisces with me what it was like to write a book on Hubbard while he was finding out the layers of lies and propaganda. The Fair Game, the Office of Special Affairs targeted attacks and threats in full volume.
In 1986 the Guardian’s office had long since been disbanded. The cult had told the government that a “few rogues” now dismissed did the crimes, discovered in the 1977 FBI raids.
Listen to the savage FAIR GAME the cult enacts, a replica of Guardian office activity. All done by Office of Special Affairs (OSA)
The SCN Cult is a prolific LIAR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLl-ep9XO1I&t=1102s
Ron hasn’t come back. No last lifers have been verified. And not one cleared BT has returned for further auditing.
Which means:
Scientology is ineffective at preventing the between-lives memory wipe.
or
Scientology is effective but returnees want nothing to do with Miscavige’s church.
or
It’s all bollocks.
🤔
Au Contraire. LRH 2.0 has come back and is busy writing new rundowns from his prison cell. He has someone who is his helper who gets the new rundowns out to his list of people who have to pay to subscribe and get all his pearls of wisdom as he writes them.
😂 🤡
It’s been over 2,000 years and Jesus hasn’t returned. Perhaps Elron is looking for him.
“BTs” have always sounded to me like they could be delusional parasitosis, which causes coke and meth addicts to scratch at their skin believing things are on, in or under it – and it can also be a result of long-term alcoholism, meaning Hubbard’s extensive substance abuse gave him a perfect trifecta of causes for it. Oh, and it can also be a symptom of mental illness, meaning the old man checked all the boxes.
LRH wrote in more than one place that before leaving your post to move on, that you write up the activities and duties of your post for the next person who occupies it. LRH did not do that. He didn’t write any instructions for what was to happen in the orgs when he died. He certainly never appointed David Miscavige to run things in his absence. This tells me two things: one is he didn’t follow his own policy and two, he was not in good shape mentally, spiritually, physically when he died. It was not a beautiful and causative action of him dropping the body which we were told at the Shrine event about his death. It tells me he died unexpectedly (to him anyway, but not unexpectedly to those close to him at the time). Also Jesse Prince in his book says that DM and Ron’s doctor never took him to the hospital after any of the strokes h e suffered before the big one. Also didn’t treat him for the pancreatitis.
Slightly off thread, sorry. But about that billboard in LA near Big Blue. Davey put two machines in front of it to obscure the phone number etc in an effort to thwart the attempt to get out the word to any SO or staff who may want to leave Scn. That seems like it would be illegal to cover up a paid for ad on a billboard? Do any of you legal eagles know about this? I’d love to see the billboard company sue for that illegal action, if it is illegal?
It’s legal
“He left no instructions for who was to take over from him”
I take it then you don’t believe the memo appointing Pat Broeker is authentic?
I don’t. But that document is not even real instructions with anything to authenticate it. He spent a LOT of time on his Will and Estate planning about what was to happen with his money and that is signed and notarized.
Typically something like who was to take over and what they were to do would have been a “Ron’s Journal” that he recorded. At the very least a policy letter. Not an issue assigning rank…
When you were still in, did you sincerely believe DMs claim about having secret succession orders?
Why do you think LRH didn’t leave any documentation about this? He really believed he would be coming back soon?
He never said he had secret succession orders?
No, he knew he had failed and had given up.
My apologies, maybe I misunderstood you or misstated what I meant. My impression was DM claimed Hubbard had promoted him to Captain, but that there’s no actual document stating such. That’s what I meant by a “secret succession orders”. Is that correct, or am I under a misunderstanding in regards to how DM claimed he earned his leadership position?
I wasn’t even alive in ’86, much less in at the time. But you were, so I’m just asking with humility here.
In ’86, did you believe DM had been hand picked by Hubbard as the successor? If yes, then what did you think was the reason there wasn’t a written record as such? Or did you think he wasn’t hand-picked, but derived legitimate authority from some other policy?
No, I do not believe Hubbard selected Miscavige or promoted him to Captain. Miscavige seized the position and went on a concerted campaign to eradicate any threats to his power. I cover this at length in my book.
Right, I understand that. My question was, what did you think in ’86 as a still-in. Were you like “uh-huh, this guys has clearly faked everything and took it over from the rightful successor, but I’m going to keep going and I’m sure things will right themselves”, or did you believe his promotions were real at the time and only started wondering if they were false after seeing his sociopathy and abuse?
Who do you think may have written that issue?
Pat Broeker
Zev, In those later days at least, Hubbard issued “policy” in two forms only. Verbally recorded or less frequently in his own hand. I used to see/hear what was issued to Gold back then and did work in AVC INT at RTC uplines. He didn’t type it.
Therefore, if Hubbard HAD produced that “memo”, Pat and Annie would have had the recording or hand written version to show or play. They didn’t. Ergo, didn’t happen.
When you say Mike that Miscavige had mansions built for him in a dozen or so locations are you meaning (aside from the vast new BV of course) things like the restorations of his old houses and at places like the CST bases, or am I learning an entirely new bit of information today that there are *other* LRH houses around the globe? Honestly, stuff like this almost intrigues me more than the workings of CSI, the tech etc, it’s absolutely fascinating even if it is all ultimately even more of a waste of time and money than the rest of Scientology.
No I was referring to the homes built for him at the CST bases… and of course BV at Gold
The real question – being asked by everyone currently involved in scientology (except for one person, david miscavitch), is “where is everyone?” This question, along with many, many others, rattling around in their dissonance-addled brain, keeps them awake during the night.
“Where the hell is he?”
Good question.
Or ask some auditors how many past life Scientologists they have audited.
I recall back around 1989 talking to my auditor about Hubbard having passed on. My auditor said that he was sure that “they”, without defining who they were, knew where Hubbard was.
Yes, his ashes were spread into the Pacific Ocean….
Ah, that explains the Krakatoa eruption;-)
(Yes, LRH scrambled the Time track;-)
So LRH swims with the fishes now eh?
Regarding Sarge and his end of life stuff, Ron wrote in several places that you should write up your hat when you leave a post, “otherwise you’ll always have a piece of that post coming back to haunt you” or words to that effect. So it is very unusual that Ron didn’t write up his post or leave instructions or otherwise instruct what was to happen and who was to do what when he died. That alone belies the lie of “he causatively dropped his body because it had become a hindrance to what he wanted to accomplish.” No, he died suddenly and never left instructions or prepared for it. And I heard that in Jesse Prince’s book he said that Miscavige and Ron’s doctor, Dr Denk, none of them took him to a hospital or doctor during or after any of the strokes he had before the big one took him. Even the pancreatitis was untreated.
Miscavige was not even present until after Hubbard died (neither was Jesse, or me for that matter). Dr. Denk who was there did treat him. I do t think he died of medical neglect if that’s what you are implying. Dr. Denk was a good doctor.
If I could go back in time I would tell him that.
No wonder it’s turning acidic!
Seeing how he ended up without actually achieving anything, and yet obsessed, sick, and continuing to rummage deep into his mind searching for who knows what, it brings to mind Nietzsche’s famous quote that fits perfectly:
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
And this is what happened to him.
Perfect quotation. Thanks for sharing.
Cindy welcome. The ‘abyss’ should never be probed. It’s technically a kind of counterweight. Those who truly want to cross the threshold of true spirituality know this. Hubbard was a home-made rocket without a directional center of gravity that, after several random loops, ended up in the ravine.
And how can we forget when in the mid-1950s he wrote hymn of Asia specifically for a Buddhist conference, but nobody gave a shit, and one of the pieces was titled something like “Am I Metteyya”? Nothing less than the prophesied successor to the Buddha. What modesty. Besides his disproportionate egocentric tendencies, it was clear he was already quite deluded back then. Then in the 1970s, this idea was proposed several times on the covers of the magazine printed on the ship, where Metteyya was depicted with hubbard’s face. It was laughable to tears even when I still believed in it, such was the presumption. Yes, happy birthday to the dead man.
I agree completely about the absurdity of Hubbard proclaiming himself to be the incarnation of the Buddha. Hymn of Asia ranks as one of the Great Grifters most bizarre books (along with A History of Man and All About Radiation). Hubbard as an enlightened being compares to Hubbard being a great artist (photographer) as revealed by the stomach turning photos he took for his book The Volunteer Minister’s Handbook.
Definitely his photos were something embarrassing. I remember in ron’s magazine ‘The Photographer,’ the latest photo – obviously defined as brilliant – he took a shot of his own shadow where you could also see the silhouette of the camera.
Even back then I was thinking, ‘What the hell was rolling around in his head?’ Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to encounter any obstacles.
Can we file a missing person report with the LA police department for L.Ron? Tell them he has been missing since 2007 and no one has seen him. Maybe a welfare check on L.Ron?
I wonder if the Police will respond that they have talked to him and that he is fine – like they did for Shelly.
I’m sure that it’s *well* established that LRH is no longer with us and that his ashes — or some facsimile thereof — were dumped into the Pacific, except for the bits that blew back into the plane IIRC. There’s nothing to check the wellness of.
The video was so eerie. I’m not really sure how to describe it other than that. It gave me chills, in a bad way. I noticed Barefaced Messiah is at my college library I am going to check it out today. I know that you and many others have mentioned it previously, but it has always slipped my mind to check it out.
– Suzie