What is this? Promoting yoga!
Megan Brazil is a prominent Clearwater scientologist who conducts her yoga classes with prominent, scientologist-owned businesses and now with the Way to Happiness.
You have to wonder whether the current world of scientology has anything to do with “the tech” at all these days?
She (and the other scientologists involved with her) appear not to know that yoga was considered an “other practice” by Hubbard. “Practicing yoga” is right there on Hubbard’s Green Form of case remedies alongside “taking drugs” and “seeing a psychiatrist” as things that prevent auditing from working. This, according to Hubbard, is entirely “squirrel” but nobody seems to mind.
Of course, in reality there is nothing even slightly wrong with yoga. Except Hubbard saw it, like many others things, as competition to his methods in some way.
Wonder when the Flag OT Committee is going to start a bowling team. For those unfamiliar with Hubbard’s writings, he derides “dilettantes” for being involved in a bowling league rather than doing scientology, jut as he derides yoga and “other practices” as being squirrel because all problems should be “solved with scientology.”
The world of scientology is virtually unrecognizable today from the era when Hubbard was alive. In many ways that is a good thing — not the least of which is the incessant focus on fundraising is an unsustainable model.
Bill many thing have changed in the last years inside the cult. This is also what I am find from people that have left recently.
I was sent to ethics for doing Hatha (physical) Yoga when I was a thought slave.
Here is my take:
Without a shot fired, without political operatives, without a super pack, with no one running for office…………………..
Yoga has the power to transform a society from within the culture.
Mediation and Hatha Yoga is taught in grammar schools, high school, universities, cancer wards, helps with blood pressure, anxiety, depression.
Meditation and Hatha Yoga is recommended from health professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists, quantum physicists.
Without a shot fired, the philosophy and practice of ancient India is taking the world by storm, totally under the radar in clear daylight.
June 21st is recognized by the United Nations as International Yoga Day.
That yoga has breached the ramparts of Scientology “other practice” dogma gives me hope.
It’s also done it in the fundamentalist Christian community.
Yoga, being scientific and workable, is infiltrating the very fabric of our culture. There is not one city in the world that you don’t see the ubiquitous yoga mat under someone’s arm.
Once an ideology steals into the enemy camp, as yoga seems to be doing in this post, it slowly reveals it’s philosophy in time. Behind the physical exercises lay the deep philosophy.
Yoga infiltrates because it’s not a belief. It’s a practice with demonstrable results. Physical, emotional, mental and spiritual results.
May yoga infiltrate Scientology and change it from within.
I can only dream.
What’s OTTR 0? People are able to sit down an hour without any human emotions and reactions. What’s an hour in eternity? People making it longer than the money will make it.
The “new” definition of squirreling in scamatology is giving money to the church and expecting a service.
Public = “Hey, I paid 20k to the ship and they gave all my money to Colonel Prado!! I wanted to do a course on the ship!!”
Staff = “Doing services?!?! That’s squirrel!!!”
Public = “I don’t want to give any more to the ideal org! I want to go up the bridge!!”
Reg = “That’s squirrel”
Jeez, that insert photo of Megan is frightening. That’s the smile and eyes of a crazed cultist.
The yoga “exercises” will mostly involve stretching exercises for the arms to make it easier to reach for your wallet, purse, cheque book, etc so you can hand over more money.
Hi everyone,
Hope your 4th was enjoyable.
Mine was; I was comatose for most of the day 🙂
Which was exactly what I needed to be.
Sleep can be a refreshing, if temporary escape 🙂
Mike,
You’re right, yoga per Hubbard is DEFINITELY anOTHER practice.
I recall back in the mid-80s when I was very new in Scientology, during a mild, friendly Ethics Cycle with regard to the importance of not going past any MUs, mentioning to the EO, after she complimented me on being in good shape, that a few yoga stretches were part of my weekly workout class …OMG. I thought she was going to have a heart attack.
Ethics Cycle instantly morphed into how NOT OK it was to be engaging in “other practices” while doing Scientology!
She’d have to write it up. I’d have to do an O/W write up. Etc., etc., etc.
Earnestly, I explained that the “yoga stretches” were NOT “Yoga” per se but just STRETCHES that practically EVERY workout class required as a warm up.
I even demonstrated them for her right there so that she could see what I meant.
Once she saw that it wasn’t “Yoga” that I was doing she calmed down.
It was the word that had freaked her out, apparently.
Whew! I was glad because I didn’t want to give up my class.
I’ve been sober now for 10 years and yoga was a HUGE part of my sobriety. My upbringing in Scientology has zero to do with me getting sober. Davey boy can suck my sober d**k.
“I’ve been sober now for 10 years and yoga was a HUGE part of my sobriety.”
If I may say, that’s impressive, Badafuco. Quite so.
I remember when I was an auditor and we did hours and hours of TRs. And how much meditation was dissed as a waste of time.
And then came the moment of realization that what made TRs effective was meditation… I think of the years and hours I spent doing TRs as my initial introduction to meditation.
Most probably yoga exercises aren’t related to meditation. Are just exercises for the body.
When one enters into meditation firld is this yoga or zen or other kind, then you start dealing with present awareness. In the present you find your essence and you don’t need to label or judge yourself to have a meaning. Having a meaning is what you need the less.
Of course in this contest scn becomes totally unworkable and unuseful.
Hatha yoga, physical exercise, was created by yogis to make the body strong to be able to sit in meditation for longer periods without body disturbance.
Hatha yoga was created for meditation.
Brian thank you. This makes totally sense.
Joy Villa recently mentioned yoga – though I think she gets the celebrity exemption to get away with things that a rank and file public member would be in trouble for.
And I think Hubbard knew exactly what he was doing when he prohibited “other practices” including yoga – he realized that they they were a real threat to keeping people indoctrinated in Scientology, and loyal to the CofS and to himself as “source.” They provide similar fundamental benefits, and tend to reveal how Hubbard was just borrowing earlier (and others’) ideas without proper attribution.
I suspect that Scientology may be trying to figure out how to compete with yoga – as I’ve mentioned a number of times, I think it’s one of the things, along with contemporary meditation, that undercuts any remaining appeal that Scientology’s dated offerings might have, by offering mentally and even spiritually grounding practices, and even a sense of community, with low financial and other costs. They might keep some current members from straying by offering an “exercise-only” version of yoga under the Scientology aegis, trying to keep them in the fold and limit their exposure to the more profound aspects of yoga practice, but it could also be a risky gambit.
I think the KTL and LOC courses Scientolgy introduced in the 1990s were an attempt to compete with what were then contemporary offerings from other personal growth and career enhancement groups which were at that point more successful – partly because they were more focused on trying to help people actually move on with their lives, rather than keeping them trapped for a lifetime of heavy involvement. It appears to me that backfired on Scientology because their versions of the courses incorporated enough of the original concepts, that they caused a lot of members to really reflect on their lives – and decide to move on from the trap of Scientology. Trying to co-opt yoga could get Scientology into similar trouble, if too many members try out the full mainstream versions and realize what they have to offer – and that they don’t impose crippling demands.
p.s. It also occurs to me that, on yesterday’s tropic of disingenuous trolling for recruits, Scientology could be hoping to get some people in through “excercise only” yoga classes, perhaps claiming that they had taken out unwarranted mental and spiritual components – and then of course trying to offer their own supposedly superior ones instead.
When I did LOC I was supposed to find my ” Hat in Life”. When I got to this point, which is at the end of the course, I found that the only acceptable “Hat in Life” (to the org) was the post I had already been on for 14 years. As I had full blown AIDS by then I did not really need a “Hat in Life”. What I really needed was a “Hat in Death”. Since the organization took many actions to ensure my death; which have already been told on this blog, they should have at least provided me with an A-I hat. I have always worked to deliver what was Needed an Wanted. For now, commenting on this blog is my ” Hat in Death”.
Bill I just want to know one thing…When are you going to write a book on your experiences? You have a unique perspective. You caught this disease through no fault of your own during what was to be lifetime service to this ‘church’ which has done everything in its power to kill you. THEY should be held responsible and pay for your treatment. I like many others would happily buy your book!
Linear 13: Thank you for your comment. I guess that I will have to add writing the book to my “Hat in Death”. I beats what the Freewinds had in mind for sure. I have been mainly trying to support myself and find a job. Working for a cult all those years doesn’t help one’s resume much and some people are still leery of hiring someone with HIV though my last blood tests showed that the virus was undetectable using their most sensitive test. My doctor told me years ago that my blood counts are as good as someone who never had this disease. My heart was severely damaged from the HIV but currently I have few symptoms from it. I should get going and write the book while I still can.
I had thought of contacting the Aftermath Foundation but they seem to be mainly trying to get people out of the Church and I have been out many years.
Bill, it’s always good to hear from you – and hard to hear the terrible things you went through.
I’ve also read multiple accounts from people who said that the result from their doing the LOC, was to realize that being on staff – or even being heavily involved in Scientology – wasn’t aligned with their life purpose.
By the way, I did one of the other programs of that era, that I suspect Scientology copied – when I hear accounts of the LOC they sound eerily familiar, except that the realizations about changed life priorities and goals that often occurred for people, were part of the intended result of the course I did. I suspect that Scientology copied it and/or similar programs without really understanding how they worked, and tried to twist it so that the outcome would be increased devotion to Scientology, but then still found it producing the result of many people looking at their lives and purposes with scientologically-dreaded “open-mindedness” and actually thinking for themselves for once.
Yes. For an organization that lies so much; the tech that LRH put out sometimes found the truth.
And the organization can’t handle the truth.
For example my 1st wife, who was the Dir I and R FSSO ( now COFSSO) Sharron wanted a divorce and called me before a ” Chaplain’s Court. It was not held with the Chaplain, but with the Qual Sec Sherry Anderson, who was a friend of my wife.
They both worked me over at the same time until I caved and agreed to the divorce.
Then they screwed up; they offered me a ruds session. I went in session with Steve Schlussel and he did an L1C. After he made some indications that blew all of my charge, I decided that we would get a 2D co-audit before the divorce. My wife was forced to agree being that she was the Dir I and R and putting on the Ethics Conventions on the Freewinds for years. She backed out at the last moment, snarling at me that there was no way she was going to tell me her overts.
I signed the divorce papers.
2 weeks after our divorce was finalized she married Ken Weber.
It was all for the best.
So much for being the most ethical person on the ship and getting everyone else’s ethics in.
Dave Fagen,
Can you e-mail me when you have a second? Thanks!
[email protected]
Logical. Management of any for profit entity will try new products when their existing products don’t work. Hubturd’s “tek” never “werked” so bring in something that might.
Wow, violation of KSW!
She is just following Miscavige’s example on how to ‘interpret’ HCO Bs and HCO PLs…at least the few ones that may be left.
Silvia. Laughing. I just found recently that Ksw isn’t more on chacksheets and as well hcobs if not retraslated recently. What a joke. Isn’t?
LMR!
KSW is not on the checksheet?!
It is a High Crime not to have it and Technical Degrades as the 1st items on the checksheet. Anyone making a checksheet or course ( even a course on how to scoop dog shit) would have been immediately declared Suppressive.
Without that, this means that Scientology orgs cannot even pretend to know and use Standard Tech. They by their own statement here are a bunch of squirrels.
“Solved with Scientology” Hey! HEY!!! I want to solve things from Scientology!!! When do I get the kit? Boy oh boy! This is exciting!
OSD. “Solved iwith scientology”? Watch it! This is a damn extention course!!!
“You have to wonder whether the current world of scientology has anything to do with “the tech” at all these days?”
Short answer: “No, it doesn’t.” lately, all the enterprise called scientology does is about getting money, more money, EVEN MORE MONEY. Their efforts have little or nothing to do with the activities which DID seem to work for years. Of course, the real successful elements were mostly obfuscated by Ron’s pet reasons, which had little to do with the actual world.
Jere, I wonder when TC will show up at one of those hinky gatherings and scream SHOW ME THE MONEY! After all, that’s one of the lines he’s known for in the movie world.
I sort of think the Yoga thing might actually be a good thing if it helps people to clear their minds and think in a different direction than the cult. Show them the tech isn’t what HLR or DM have been trying to tell them it is.
For those who understand facial signals, the eyes reflect our left brain, right brain condition. Right eye left brain left eye right brain. Megan reflects. her left brain FEAR right brain INSANITY.
Such is the condition of the current scientologist.
Scientology Ideal Scene is: Trojan virusesque!
They access any and all of your financial resources.
They know who you are getting in comm to,
and
It is going to be for the eternity!
This might just be the kind of “yoga” that only involves physical exercises rather than the spiritual aspect of yoga that Hubbard forbade because it was an “other practice”.
I remember this coming up in my org once where someone who wanted auditing was doing “yoga” and was permitted to continue to do so because this person was only doing physical exercises that somehow fell under the label of “yoga”, and there was said to be nothing spiritual involved in it.
If that is all that Megan is teaching, then it doesn’t violate Hubbard’s rules about not being allowed to participate in “other practices”.
Still, she’s using the word “yoga”, and that word means what it means. If it’s not a spiritual practice she is teaching, she should either not be using that word, or she should be making the clarification in her advertisement that it is not the spiritual brand of “yoga” she is teaching, it is just physical exercises.
Or if she really is teaching yoga in its full application and practice, she and all her Scientologist students are “squirreling” in the world of Scientology.
Aaaand… This is Okay until it suddenly ISN’T.
She “uses her comm lines” to promote and build her practice.
Gets a facility, hires some staff, sinks everything into this endeavor..
She’s promoted as a success story of using the tek, donates and gets some trophies and commendations in a file.. OT committee mug shots,
Until it all changes overnight.
She’s ripping off the org
Using her comm lines for personal gain
Promoting squirrel tek
Bleeding the field at the expense of the org, promoting SP tek
Instantly all scio clients disappear, she owes them refunds, they’re pissed, as they’re all in ethics and all have lengthy ethics handlings – conditions, M9 KSW, assigned to redo PTS SP course, do the KSW course
She has all that plus maybe a Court of Ethics or maybe a comm ev, especially if she pushes back at all. Showing prior commendation or approval, her investment and financial fallout….NOPE NOPE! comm ev time.. (Wow, did you know she once backflashed a Sup? And her ex-brother-in-law has psych connections?!!)
She loses the entire business, spends thousands on sec checking, lengthy ethics program followed by ordered to training, pressure to donate to IAS, and looks to triple the boulders in her OT elig route. (add TENS of thousands of boulder dollars)
Goldenrod on the bulletin board, and a year-long sour stomach from keeping her mouth shut while trying to take responsibility, how could she have not seen how squirrelly she’d been??
…either that, or…
She says Hell No, loses the scio clients, friends, family, and all life as she has known it.
…..
No matter where you did your bridge or were staff, you’ve heard local stories of this ilk. You knew the gal or guy or family.
(LW has a helluva shit-show story of Flag’s criminal abuse of power. Absolutely blood boiling mad, it makes me)
Eventually , ” going in session ” will be considered ” other practices” when you should be out fund raising .
@Christopher,
Laughing! Good one 🙂
Thank you.
KSW: If you’re not doing Scientology you’re not keeping it working (exceptions allowed are WISE businesses and regular big donations of money).
It must be nice to have an hour to yourself when the other 167 hours in the week are dedicated to the cause.
It occurs to me that all those VM yellow shirts would make a swell bowling league outfit.
LOL bixntram! That’s a great observation.
Yes, Mike. The world of Scientology if virtually unrecognizable today. It has flipped from an interest if delivering real results to a vampirish lust for money only and above all. Think that is killing it better than anything.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to cross-post this here, but it is actually relevant to today’s post.
Following Minister Farrakhan’s major address yesterday, Scientology Clear, Super Power Completion, Cause Resurgence Rundown Completion, PTS/SP Course Graduate and Classed Auditor-in-Training Nation of Islam Sister Nayyirah Tivica Muhammad says:
https://facebook.com/groups/677083492390671?view=permalink&id=2927895617309436
“Thank you so much for the guidance you’ve provided us today and continued guidance throughout the years. Much to study. I love you and thank Allah for you the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan!!!!”
Talk about “other practices.” With members of the Nation of Islam, we have devout allegiance to a different leader, a vastly different cosmology, and different “tech” (e.g., books, lectures). While some NOI members refer to Scientology as the “Supreme Tech,” all such NOI members make it clear that they study this “Supreme Tech” only to better understand and apply the Supreme Wisdom of Master Fard Muhammad, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.
On sister Nayyirahs Facebook post is this post from a NOI follower.
“ APDTA,for the Divine Reminder,Divine Warner,Spirit Of Truth,Grace Of God,Mercy Messiah and Extended Father Over the House(the Hon.Minister Louis Farrakhan)the most Humble,Selfless,Loving example of a human being that I have ever witnessed in my life!😇And the Hon.Min.Louis Farrakhan,answered so many questions for my soul yesterday,in particular was Bro.Hafiz,a martyr and how did the Jewish female get the opportunity to poison Prophet Muhammad,and how they tried to kill him medically in nonviolent manner.INSHAA ALLAH,W e will see what they have planned next,But they will reap what they are sowing and Allah SWT,is the Best Of Planners!Alhamdulilah!!!!!!”
Hey all you Jewish scientologists, what about your human rights?
Quelle Looney Tune!
Hey! I like looney tunes!!! Only thing I have to pass the time.
Can Tyranny be solved with Scientology?
Oh! Hell yes! You just slap the shit out of them!
Well, I’ll have you know I was part of the Dianetics Bowling Team. 🙂 and I was a darn good bowler.
I do remember wondering why other teams seem to dislike us so much. 🙂 All one has to do is get out of the church of scientology and so many things become clearer.
Anyway, maybe soon PC’s can start meditating before their sessions.
Since the start of the lock down the St Louis mission has had very few cars in it’s parking lot. There are always the VM van and the maroon van that sit side by side and a beat up badly faded green jeep. ( not sure it runs ) yesterday there was one other car and a UPS truck. Last week on a week day I went by at lunch time and there were no cars in the parking lot other than the 3 that are almost always there. Activity is way down. Before the coved-19 there were often up to 17 cars in the parking lot. I wonder what effect the pandemici has had on their already meager bubble dwelling members? I also wonder if there were any eyes opened when the elderly 50 year veteran of $ci got ripped off for $65,000?
Thanks, local eyes telling the way it is!
I often wonder what it would be like to still be living near my home org city, one of the places where I was staff for so long. I wonder how it would be to stay UTR but able to keep tabs.
I always arrive quickly at the obvious conclusion. I’d never be able to pull it off. I can’t even visit without being regged for staff and my old senior exec posts. (I can have my pick!). Haven’t been back in a few years now, and I would fumble the simplest of questions…
“So what are you doing on the bridge these days?”
Back in the day when scientology was “fun” yoga, meditation, prayer etc. were definitely considered ‘other practices’ in the cult. Involvement in these would earn you a trip to the ‘ethics officer’. I know, I was an ‘ethics officer’ at a mid-sized mission. Even back then though, the powers that be looked the other way if there was a significant ‘reg cycle’ involved. Even when scientology was “fun” it was all about the money. Still is and always will be. The long con rolls on…
I took ashtanga classes for a while and was eventually pulled up for it. After insisting I was doing it as a form of exercise (and not as a spiritual pursuit) they let me off. Not long after, I had a similar chat after reading The Alchemist whilst waiting to go in session. “Why are you reading it?” “Are you taking it literally?” “So long as you know it’s not really true, right?” 😂
I got in trouble for reading, “The Secret.”
My experience with Yoga was very brief but I did get to read the main text that was written a few centuries ago. It is great that a movement to Yoga is happening. As I read the text, it became very clear that the physical movements were simply a prep to better mind and meditation skills. Scientology is now moving away from Hubbard. This is great.
George – I’d like to get in touch with you. I posted a Q in a FB group looking for meditation teachers who have experience with Scientology and someone mentioned you. I was in SCN for 10+ years and now a Buddhist Meditator for about 25 years. I’m looking for folks who understand both well to have some discussion. 🙂 Jill
No problem. here is my e-mail:
[email protected]
Well you just fixed that George! Lol
Once they read your comment, that’s it for her yoga practice!
Well, I was hoping she could survive with Yoga but truth is truth. I have been doing a lot of research reading old ADVANCE magazines. Do you know if HUbbard wrote those articles on religion in the 70’s?
The Clearwater Clams really should start up a bowling Teem. They could pass out all their pamphlets at tournaments and wear their VM tee shirts and really impress the other teams. And they could show the power of OTness by bowling perfect games, all the time. Hell, they already have the trophies…..
I use to bowl…until I realized I hated to bowl.