It’s SaTerraDay!
Shitty Auditors
I might ruffle a few hardcore tech-infused feathers with this one. Wouldn’t be the first time. I know…many of you have had great auditors and tremendous wins in session. Many of you wouldn’t be half the person you are now if not for the gains you achieved at the hands of those wonderful people sitting on the other side of the e-meter. Reality check #1: you were in the minority. For those of you who truly went Clear and ascended to the state of cause over all matter, energy, space, and time…you may now take umbrage.
Most auditors are good people. Most got into the business of Scientology to help people. Many believe they’re actually clearing the planet. Good for them. Reality check #2: most auditors are…(reread title).
If L. Ron Hubbard wrote that Scientology was supposed to “key out” and extrovert people, much auditing does the opposite; it interiorizes people. From the get-go, this is due to LRH’s faulty, unproven “technology,” ridiculous auditor training methodology, the hoax that is the e-meter, and the founder’s insistence that his form of therapy is “workable” and shouldn’t be tampered with.
I don’t have any figures on the percentage of good vs bad auditors. Just like LRH, I’ve never conducted a scientific study in my life. My supreme “knowingness” is based solely on talking with others and from what I’ve personally experienced while in session and while studying in Scientology course rooms.
Auditor Training vs Good Therapy
LRH wrote that ARC stands for Affinity, Reality, and Communication and that together, they equal U—Understanding. An increase in any part of A, R, or C results in greater U. Likewise, a decrease in ARC causes a decrease in Understanding. Scientologists use the word “ARC” colloquially to mean “to like” or “to have feelings for.” For instance, I might say, “I have lots of ARC for Bob.” Meaning, Bob is a great guy. Let’s do lunch. ARC is a very big deal in Scientology.
For the most part, students training to be auditors get the ARC drilled out of them. The very drills that are intended to make them good, compassionate therapists make them robotic, uncaring, and slightly anxious. Instead of concentrating on their PCs, much of their attention is focused on the e-meter and making sure they accurately record everything on paper.
The problem begins with the endless pressure to get reads on the e-meter. An e-meter read is supposed to signify that a PC (preclear) has thought of something that needs to be addressed by him and his auditor. Since this whole business has never been proven scientifically and fails more often than not, auditors are trained to get reads on phantom incidents, many of which supposedly happened quadrillions of years ago but in reality, don’t exist. And so auditors are forced to concoct bizarre methods of addressing their PCs to produce e-meter needle movement that mean little to nothing. Every once in a while, auditor and PC luck-out when the needle moves at the exact end of the auditor’s question. Coincidences such as these are rare.
Stand Up! Sit Down in that Chair!
If ARC is a big deal in Scientology, so is intention. If a PC isn’t “reading,” it’s often because his auditor isn’t asking his questions with enough intention. Everything in a Scientologist’s universe begins with intention. If a PC didn’t “read” on the question “What are your crimes against humanity?” it’s because the auditor simply didn’t deliver the words with enough meaning and intent. And so auditors begin to incorporate vocal gymnastics in their deliveries to try and get that damn needle to fall. (Very basically, a “fall” is the movement of an e-meter needle from left to right and signifies that a traumatic incident recorded in the PC’s mind has been “re-stimulated.”)
Very few auditors address their PCs in normal voices. Why? Because apparently normal voices don’t produce reads. “Normal” voices don’t carry enough intention. Normal voices don’t “impinge.” And if you’re not impinging, you ain’t doing it right.
Auditors aren’t allowed to be human and just communicate. Some try. Few succeed. They’ve been heavily drilled not stray from LRH’s straight and narrow path of technical “workability.”
Showing sympathy is not acceptable. And since sympathy is akin to compassion, most auditors lose this emotion, too. Sympathy and compassion don’t produce reads. Hard, emotionless lines delivered with grit and all the right inflections in all the right places do.
Auditors are also trained to not admit to errors. If they screw up in session—and they often do—rest assured, they won’t cop to the mistake. Two phrases you’ll never hear one utter are “Oops, my bad,” and “Damn…I think I missed a read.”
More often than not, CSs and auditors blame poor sessions on the PC. If a PC’s needle goes solid and the auditor doesn’t get any reads, it’s not because the auditor did something wrong; it’s because his PC is stuck in a present-time-problem or didn’t sprinkle enough vitamin B that morning over his Cheerios. Or his hands are dry or his pants are too tight.
If an auditor’s PC seems critical, it’s never because he, the auditor, sounds like Data, the android from Star Trek, The Next Generation; it’s because his PC is withholding crimes (most of which have to do with sex and really aren’t crimes).
Training to use an e-meter is so preposterous that students are required to get “reads” on lists of fruit and vegetables. In another drill, they’re expected to locate random dates—up to quadrillions of years ago—dreamed-up by their study partners.
More Technical Excellence
If you thought these oral acrobatics were limited to loser-missions and lower orgs…you’d be wrong. Some of my worst auditors were the ones I sat across from at AOLA—Advanced Organization, Los Angeles. (If I was more technically adept, I’d attach a .wav or .mp3 file with an example of some of their more bizarre cadences).
Except for one woman, my auditors at AO were mechanical, lacked warmth, and rarely smiled. They habitually seemed harried and under pressure to get their next PC in session—and make sure their Well Done Auditing Hours were up. Except for one woman, all the auditors I saw at AO sadly lacked ARC.
In the early days, the staff smoked like chimneys and the HGC (Hubbard Guidance Center—where auditing takes place) smelled like a Tennessee fireplace. For a guy like me who’s always despised the smell of tobacco, I hated just walking into the building.
After paying thousands of dollars for auditing at Flag one time, my spouse was given a student auditor with a thick German accent that she could barely understand. Only after complaining multiple times to the Examiner did the D of P—Director of Processing—finally “relent” and give her a professional auditor she could understand.
Are “higher classed” auditors better? The ones I saw may have been more adept at following protocol and quicker at pulling out correction lists but that was about it.
The Case Supervisor
Auditors aren’t allowed to stray from an exact program laid out by the CS—Case Supervisor—the person in charge of a PC’s “case” and responsible for mapping out his exact route up the Bridge to Total Freedom. Auditors aren’t allowed to just talk to their PCs for fear of “Q-ing and A-ing”—straying from the proscribed program. Some do, of course, but they’re not Keeping Scientology Working, and per LRH’s justice codes, are criminals. A good auditor assesses a “correction list,” to find out what’s wrong with his PC. With lots of intention! In all the right places!
Since LRH made it a rule that PCs couldn’t talk with CSs, it’s near impossible to tell the good ones from the bad.
Last Words
Most Scientology auditors make terrible therapists. Not all, but most. Their hearts may be in the right place, but their minds have been hijacked and twisted by a warped “technology” and corrupt organization.
Still not Declared,
Terra Cognita
One has to give RLH credit for being incredibly thorough at conceiving every possible way to manipulate and control. “Auditing” is basically people divulging every aspect of their life and person to those intent on using that information to control them. It’s like one of his science fiction stories come to life.
My first auditor was my Dad. He was a student at AOLA and I was his PC, aged 8. That was ARC Straightwire release. My favorite part was going around the org, having my Dad announce my completion, and everybody clapping for me.
My next experience was before I went to Flag (5 years later) while in the EPF. Between my first success and the pre-Flag sessions, I had been repeatedly molested by my father. There was no way I was going to talk to some creepy guy about what happened to me. My auditor was a weird, little short guy who seemed to just be waiting for me to spill something juicy. I went to my happy place, got a floating needle, and got out.
Realizing I could control the E-Meter turned out to be my saving grace. Got me through sec checks and eventually off Flag.
I did have a bit of auditing on Flag, auditor was a gal named Lieke. I could barely understand her. Sometimes she’d just light up a cigarette while in session. Back then I didn’t know I had asthma…just thought I was suffocating. Would do what I could to get the floating needle and get out. I don’t even remember what the auditing goal was.
As a kid, my Mom had become an auditor at CC. She gave the best touch assists. Her Brooklyn accent made the command come out as “feel my finga”. Earned her an interesting nickname “Inga finga”. She was very good. She was compassionate and loved people. She did what she could with what we all believed was a worthwhile “technology”.
So very sorry this was happening to you. My heart hurts reading this. Hugs. Happy you are out. Hope your father paid for his abuse to you. ❤
# One Son, Thanks for sharing your story. Did you ever tell your mom about you dad’s molesting you? I”m sorry you had to experience that.
It is a long story. Happened when I was eleven. Shared with Mom and since we were Scientologists, my Dad did the lower conditions – wore a dirty grey rag, did my chores, cleaned my room…really weird. Since we used the “conditions” regularly, my siblings kept asking what was up. My Mom asked if I wanted her to divorce Dad, but this was not an appropriate question for me and I told her, ‘no’. The abuse stopped, but trust was forever broken. 8 years later, my little sister shared with me a similar incident. By then Dad was already OTII. At 19, I was afraid I’d made a huge mistake and put my sister at risk. I know now, it was not my fault – none of it was.
My family always thought Scientology was the cure for this problem…it was not. I’ve been through therapy and since my Dad’s death about 8 year’s ago I don’t worry about him hurting anyone else. The best thing we ever did was bringing it out in the open, at least among our family. My father stood before his family and accepted responsibility and asked forgiveness for his actions. I eventually forgave him…for myself. I never left him alone with my kids. And I wouldn’t let him hug or kiss them. They were kept at arms length from their grandfather. When they were old enough to understand, I told them what had happened to me and why I was so protective of them. They understood and were grateful, but it was a burden to them.
It is important to know that my father was a victim himself. He was molested by his boy scout leader in the early 1950s. He never told anyone and never got help. I’ve connected with many victims over the years and each of our perpetrators were victims themselves at one time. Every victim handles it differently, women are less likely to become perpetrators, but awareness is key.
It is one reason why Miriam and Saina’s stories were so very important to me. I am grateful for all they, Mike, Leah and others have done.
People who are stuck in their “wins”, “zooms” “zippity do da’s”, et al seem to forget that one had to lie (if only to themselves) to complete each of the lower grades…
A lot like the equivalent of being a great magician, you must make the subject believe your deception. Looks to me like they were pretty successful.
My two cents:
From the mid 70’s:
My life got better after the lower level auditing I had.
I never had a bad session and I had 100’s.
Getting used to the 2 way sincere back and forth was wonderful.
Metering destroyed much of the ease of this system.
Sincerity, patience and attention was the basis for improvements.
The focus on Confessionals/OW destroyed the basis of processing from about 1979.
Auditors and C/S’s were abused for failing to make LRH’s flawed system work; robotism was the predictable result.
Psychiatry ain’t all that good either, but doesn’t pretend to be the sole route to eternal happiness.
“Just like LRH, I’ve never conducted a scientific study in my life.”
His “Tech” has always been flawed. Re-read Dianetics, as it is meant to be read. This is the verbal diarrhea of a malignant narcissist who opened up a thesaurus once or twice in his pathetic life.
What a windbag, was ol’ LRH.
No, won’t even try. I can’t get through reading excerpts from anything he’s ever written. They are usually so poorly written and full of malarky. My eyes glaze over by the end of the first sentence. I can not understand how anyone can wade through that dreck.
Bingo wayc’s. ALL pulled out of his behind.
I have a copy of Dianetics that I like to keep around. It is a gas.
It is like this: let’s take a moderately intelligent and literate human, give him a dictionary and a thesaurus, and assign him the task of trying to write a book pretending to be the most pompous ass that the earth has ever produced. And there you have it, LRH and Dianetics.
Secretfornow,
“The Emperor’s new clothes”.
What a wonderful metaphor for all things to do with Scamatology.
The worst auditing I ever had was my OTVIII sec checking by a GAT-only trained auditor. He was robotic and his idea of intention was anger–the resultant dirty needles were then supposedly my fault. I then had to pay a fortune for endless corrections because he had no clue how to audit. 3 swing F/Ns just added to it. I agree the farther I go back, the better the auditors were, and for sure before GAT. Their TRs really were more natural and they used latitude with their application of the tech. I hate to say that as an ex-auditor myself, as most auditors have good intentions but bad tech.
Well, you probably just need to go back to the beginning of the bridge and start all over then. your intentions were just wrong from the beginning and that’s why you never got anything out of OTVIII. Credit card, please.
I audited from 1976-1998 all levels all the way to the top. I used to pride I was a good auditor, I am not so sure anymore. But whatever it’s all done. Good and most importantly a well written article.
Okay, here goes. Doctors, psychologists, teachers, salesmen, auditors, marriage counselors etc. etc. There are good ones, mediocre ones and shitty ones.
Many of the best, most gifted and successful teachers I know have never heard of study tech and rarely follow the rules laid out by most teachers colleges.
Many auditors, not the majority. but quite a few are very adept at helping a person locate the exact reason for being stressed out, blowing the charge from that stress and being happier as a result. Many people will say that auditors in the “old days” were way better than auditors today. I personally believe this is true from my own experience. There was way more emphasis on real communication, compassion and PC interest. The obsessive meter-mania in the Co$ is totally counter-productive or downright psychotic.
Quick example from me. Person comes to me, distraught, feeling hopeless, out of work and too terrified to even go apply for a job. No money to pay for auditing. I spent about 20 hours with this person just listening, then using various processes (and a few I made up to suit their particular problem). I told the person if they felt like paying me something after they got a job, fine, if they didn’t want to, fine. The person has been on the job for almost two years now, doing fine and even decided to pay for my time.
I used mostly Scn processes and procedures. Many of them are useful. Maybe I would have been even more useful to others in need if I had stayed in university and studied Carl Rogers more avidly. Maybe not.
A person who truly cares about another person can use just about any technique and effect a positive change for someone. Some techniques have a much broader application than others. Some changes last a lifetime, some don’t.
I normally really like your analysis of things TC. This one is just a bit too fraught with generalizations that aren’t quite on the mark (in my opinion). But an enjoyable read as usual.
Wonderful comment Les.
It is my opinion that the help/relief provided by any practitioner — whether a scientology auditor or psychiatrist — is more directly related to the practitioners purpose and genuine desire to help another than it is by any other factor. I think whatever value there might be in auditing (and I consider there IS value in helping someone unburden themselves and/or guided to new ways of looking at themselves/others/life) has been completely destroyed by the organizational control layered over the process. Auditing today in scientology is done with the following as it’s “Code”:
1. The auditor is always right
2. The statistic of how many hours were audited is the ONLY measure of the value of auditing
3. All auditors must be more concerned about whether they are looking for and “standard” on video than whatever is going on with their pc
4. The executive C/S is ALWAYS the senior consideration in what should be done
5. The rules drilled in by “What do you do if…” drills take precedence over anything the pc’s indicators or statements say
6. ANy crime you re told your pc has is something you must find at any cost — all pc’s are trying to fool auditors
7. Money is the universal solvent. Auditing makes money — not as much as stories of reduce crime 50% in countries — but it’s what provides the staff with most of their pay. Pile up as many hours as possible if you have someone that can pay.
8. Sec checking is a wonderful way of increasing hours. You can go on and on and on, always blaming the pc for having to carry on because they are not “coming clean”…
And perhaps a few other key elements I have not included.
I agree with every point you put up here, Mike.
By the way, I’m still not getting notifications on new posts.
Mike, I would like to make a modification of your point #1 (“The auditor is always right.”).
When the question is, “Who is right, the auditor or the pc?” the auditor is always right.
When the question is, “Who is right, the Case Supervisor or the auditor?” the Case Supervisor is always right.
When the question is, “Who is right, the Case Supervisor or the Senior Case Supervisor?” the Senior Case Supervisor is always right.
When the question is, “Who is right, the Senior Case Supervisor or the Sea Org Continental or International Tech person?”, the Sea Org Continental or International Tech Person is always right.
When the question is, “Who is right, the Sea Org Continental or International Tech person, or COB?”, COB is always right.
The question is never, “Who is right, COB or LRH?” because LRH is dead, and COB “knows LRH tech better than anyone”.
Totally agreed Les and Mike.
I’m not getting notifications either 🙁
LDS,
Great response. My experience also.
I like Terra’s essays. They are one of the few remaining places or maybe the only place where a person can get a word in and say something positive about the subject itself, not the cherch. The days when the pros and cons of the subject were hotly debated are gone. It looks like comments are coming in and I’ll nitpick some parts of the essay tomorrow – what fun – lol
The best auditing I had was in the beginning, the ’70’s. It was all two way communication and my auditor rarely looked at the meter. And yes, I’ve had many wins which I will not JUSTIFY here because many disagree.
The most robotic auditing I’ve had is at flag, although one or two of them kept that 70’s style. As an auditor, I consider myself old style, just listen to the pc. Anyway, bottom line, it’s all been lost.
nope.
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if what you describe was the norm, if most people had bad robotic shitty auditors, they would not have been able to have mocked up gains and would not stay in and pay scads of money and do the bridge.
People get wins from auditing on a regular basis. This is intrinsic to staying in and forking over money.
You hear about how they went exterior, realized some big thing, handled something that made them feel better in a huge way, etc.
If auditors in general were shitty robots none of this would happen.
I paid a quarter of million dollars and spent 40 years or so and got tons of great auditing. The only real shitty auditing was the OT Preps sec checking hell and the Truth Rundown. Some other stuff was a bit lukewarm, but tons was just fabulous. I had tons of wins and no gains. No magic powers and nothing except self conceived benefit.
…
I don’t think auditing works, I don’t think it produces gains. I think that people are brainwashed and have “wins” which evaporate in minutes/hours/2 days… and perhaps walk away with a false idea that then props them up which they then use to keep their crazy at bay.
“I’m clear, so this isn’t really me” and carry on in a saner fashion. Totally Emperor’s new clothes type thing.
…….
I don’t know the purpose of the article. It does not explain why someone would stay in, it makes it seem like no one would ever stay in because most auditing sucks.
That’s just stupid.
…
If your idea is to say that auditing is false, doesn’t work, doesn’t produce lasting gain, is contrary to how real lasting help and real lasting therapy works, I’ve no problem with that. But you aren’t targeting the false doctrine well, you’re saying that most auditors are shitty and I don’t see evidence of that.
Scn auditing works well to keep a person trapped in scn and wanting more. It does it’s job well. The training is laid out well enough to prop it up. Auditors don’t admit mistakes in session because the PC must have absolute faith in their auditor/C/S, Ron, the Meter – in order for them to have 48 hour wins. If the auditor puts attention on himself, the meter, anything except the pc and the pc’s so-called “bank”, then it falls apart.
It’s well set up. And DM hasn’t ruined it – I’m so sick of that blame. He’s a toad but the bulk of everything is LRH bunk which DOES work to trap people.
It works quite well at that, for the small minority of us that fall for it and get stuck.
If it was all so shitty as you say it’d a been dead in the water right out the gate.
There’s a thing in scn called a “persistent floating needle” which can last for weeks. You can’t even audit someone when they have one because they are taking everything in life in stride. There are also “line charges” periods of uncontrollable laughter or crying which results in great relief. When a trauma is gone it’s gone and there is no need to continually prove it to anyone.
Then there are the e-meter Rock Slams, which according to Jon Atack sent 2/3 of Flag management to the RPF during a couple of seasons. It turns out all those Slams were caused by the cheap components used in the e-meters – the cheap carbon potentiometers of the tone arm were grinding away with every swing of the arm, dropping bits of carbon here and there inside the case. After the bits accumulated at just the right spots, they caused the tone arm to Rock Slam, described by LRH as a sure sign of crimes by the person under audit, and for the auditee, a sure ticket to the RPF. This defect was built into the Mk 5, Mk 6, and first runs of Mk 7 e-meters.
But really, all those many Rock Slams were nothing but the end result of building e-meters with poor design and using the cheapest possible components. I would not be surprised at all if ” a “persistent floating needle” which can last for weeks. ” was not just another sign of cheap design and build quality of the e-meters.
When they had gutted Flag and other upper level operations of executives, and sent them off to wash floors at an RPF somewhere, they realized they had to find the true cause or else shut down for lack of able management people. So someone finally recognized the true problem, and they re-called all the defective e-meters for service. They simply replaced the cheap original parts with better parts which did not deteriorate and cause Rock Slams under normal use. Problem solved, but of course the meter owners had to pay for the service, not the people who specified the cheap components to begin with.
Why did this occur? Because by using cheap components, LRH could deposit a few more pennies in his Swiss account(s). It was always about the money, always.
Ammo – Thanks for the interesting information. I had a rock slam in session once. I could hear the needle clacking back and forth and my female auditor got a bit startled. I always figured it was because she almost discovered that I had romantic notions toward her, but now I’ll just attribute it to a worn out cheap e-meter!
“My first auditor barely looked at her meter; it was all about me; she was kind; I needed that; it was fun.”
Yes! That’s it, exactly! Strongly interested, and kind. Worked for me! Worked beautifully for me.
Apparently from what I’ve read, this is NOT how auditors ARE anymore.
Forgive what may sound like extreme naivete to many here, but I can only comment on my own experience.
Merely contemplating being audited by someone who – how shall I say – is not really WITH you is- is just, I don’t know, awful.
If this what’s been going on, for however many years as regards auditing, then, there are no words for how bad, how harmful it is, that’s all.
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This comment was meant as response to Mary Kahn’s comment currently at the bottom of the page.
“My first auditor barely looked at her meter; it was all about me; she was kind; I needed that; it was fun.”
One of the points of auditor training to was to view the meter using peripheral vision so as to seem to NOT be using one, to the PC.
Just another part of the scam folks. (never watch how sausage is made)
Except for an intern who gave me an Int Rundown, who while auditing me chewed gum and seemed to have a hearing problem, I had good experiences with Scientology auditing.
All my other auditing was beneficial and I felt quite cared for and liked by the auditors. There were 3 of them in all.
My last auditing occurred in 1996; I’ve had no auditing in the cherch or anywhere since then.
I got somewhat messed up from the Int Rundown intern’s auditing but it got repaired afterwards and the org didn’t charge me.
I do have reality on how bad auditing can mess up a PC.
I also have reality on how a repair can dissipate the key in, the charge, from bad auditing.
The intern is now an OTVIII and I hope she got herself a hearing aid and gave up gum, at least while auditing.
She wasn’t a bad person but I remember being very unhappy and inwardly resentful of her – inwardly – until I for some reason originated to someone about it, who in turn took it very seriously,wrote it up, and then I got a repair auditing action and was not charged. I forget what they called this repair. But it was good, it nailed what was bothering me and I left the session quite cheerful.
.
Anyway, this is my summarized overall experience with auditing and I’m willing to be in the minority or the majority or wherever about it, no worries! Our experiences are our experiences!
All (but one.. she knows who she is and I hope she is well) auditors I had in the cult were stiff and some were horribly robotic. Worst auditor was at Flag and Tampa Org. (It was at Tampa when I learned PC folders are NOT treated as confidential) Best auditor who had my bests interests at heart was an old grizzled veteran trained aboard the Apollo who was part of the original Sea Project. He’s retired now, but I never met a more gracious civil human being who knew what auditing really was and how to work for the greater gains of his clients. I never knew a sane approach using Scn was possible until I experienced a fully independent environment. And that did not mean it was “standard” compared to how they audit in the cult, far from it. If you are lucky enough to find an old auditor who is actually free to audit FOR THE CLIENT without the onerous and top heavy factors associated with the cult, I highly recommend it. The Church of Scientology is so F’ed up technically I can’t see how anyone gets real gains, because they can’t be honest about the organization, some of the insane policies and all of the wrong items and wrong indications pushed off on the PC. Hell they still believe that people depart due to overts, that alone is a bear trap.
Your article is straight to the point. I have been an auditor and a CS for many years. I believe I helped people, but in hindsight, I did it by straying from the rules laid out by Hubbard. For example, when things were not going right, I would interview the person myself. When an auditor did not lead a natural and interesting conversation, I would correct him.
Imagine my disappointed when I arrived at Flag, and in front of me sits a 16 y/o girl who behaved like a robot, and did not at all understand what I was talking about.
At one point in my auditing at Flag I felt I was literally developing a mental disease. Stopping my auditing saved my life.
Interesting topic. I spent 20 years at AOLA who provided a staff auditor or 2 and by 199something had 200 Class 8s training that had to have practice PCs that didn’t red tag. I always enjoyed and looked forward to auditing until the 3 swing FN inspection style. I started having to ‘prove’ things in life early on in SO, it was always uncomfortable but it was hard to pinpoint what was. Never came up in thousands of hours. Took years of figuring out life my self which never happened in 40 years of depending on LRH. I’m thinking out things by my self. It’s a good feeling. Something no now a days auditor would have helped with. To bad. Auditors who still want to help that way should be come accredited for therapy. With your cult back ground you are in demand and would make a good living. I paid for a therapist once and he just asked questions about Tom C. and John T.! Scientology is stuck together with the fears they all have. Persons will get tired of that someday. People chance when they are ready. It helps to be around people that don’t tell me what to do and think.
Well, that explains a lot. I admit to having got to some mixed up places at times by reading too much into Tarot cards or muscle-testing, but what Scientology has done with the e-meter defies belief. This is what comes of Hubbard not comprehending the nature of science in the first place and instead putting forth his untested claims as incontrovertible truth. I feel sad for all the people who wanted to “help people” through auditing and instead were trained to hurt themselves and others. I’ve said it before, but I really hope the community of ex-Scientologists and critics can come up with an un-training program to help people undo all that damage and restore human compassion.
Agree with the article.Seems they got worse every decade.turned from well meaning counseller type into police detectives.
I audited a lot and now know many counselling techniques.
My subjective ranking of auditing effectiveness
Pre 1977:In the top 5 considering price quality (not including ot3,clearing course,ot2 which was and is trash.
Past 1977.Year by year higher prices,less arc,more and more robotism,more ethics nonsense.
Now on a price quality experience effectiveness metric it is close to a wasteland.
There a few small ponies under the wall of horseshit.LRH made some nice discoveries here and there that are useful.
Third sentence sums it up, it’s counseling, listening and caring and suggesting changes in ones thought processes that is successful, not interrogations and emotional stimulation trying to get a response. The poor people that got sucked in, I just feel such pity, they wanted a solution and they get nothing for a bunch of money in most cases. 🙁 actually they get negative personality traits implanted for a bunch of money. Horrible and shit process
I can’t quite remember the quote by Jon Atack regarding LRH ‘discoveries’, but it went something like this:
“Hubbard never had an original thought in his life.”
LRH had a propensity for plagiarism. He was unable to conduct research, matter of fact showed time and again he did not understand what research was. He was a guy who was truly clueless, who came to a full stop when he could not steal ideas from someone else.
Any wins from Scn came from techniques imagined and codified by someone other than LRH. He could not figure out anything, but give him enough of the right barbiturates, and send in Nibs with some speed and a mighty case of jet lag, and together they could collaborate on a history of mankind. Right, how accurate was that?
It is ALWAYS best to talk about things OBJECTIVELY. And here is the objective truth of the matter. No matter how “good” your auditing in scamology, you gained ZERO abilities that WOGs don’t have.
Yes, the ENTIRE purpose of doing the grade chart was to OBTAIN NEW ABILITIES above that that wogs had. They are listed actually starting at ARC Straightwire. However, NO ONE HAS EVER SHOWN TO HAVE GAINED A SINGLE ABILITY NOT ALREADY DEMONSTRATED BY WOGs.
The purpose of doing scamology was NOT to get subjective “wins” or “zooms”. It is time to face facts if you already haven’t.
YOU WERE SCAMMED. We all were.
amen!
Even the Hubbard said, in the end he failed and wasn’t coming back. I wish he would have issued a HCOB or HCO Pl or Advice to staff members as he told Sarge.
something like, opps I failed you all and you all can go home now. I ain’t coming back.
Mankinds greatest friend, yah right.
FU Ron. And DM.
I think I was on Grade 2 when I got pulled off it to do the “Dianetic Drug Rundown” which was just released and deemed a priority. Obviously I had previously attested to “Grade 0 Release”, willing to communicate to anyone about anything on all four flows. Whether that’s true today I don’t know and don’t care. That’s just introversion.
P.S. I might still be a Grade 0 Release. I watch both Fox News and MSNBC, although my confirmation bias at this time leans toward Fox News. I don’t care much for CNN.
“that’s just introversion”?
Wynski – In the Grand Debate about whether scn produces any lasting benefits it’s often mentioned “Hubbard Promised!!!! . . . some ability.” He promised everything to everybody! I don’t get spinny about it.
I did a dictionary search on introversion and it seems to have some contradictory meanings. In dictionary.com some synonyms are contemplating, meditation and reflection as well as brooding, egoism and self-absorption. In general usage, being extroverted is a good thing and being introverted is a bad thing. Brooding about my faults is what I had in mind in my comment above about introversion.
I would use the word introspection as less confusing when referring to any kind of counselling.
introspection – observation or examination of one’s own mental and emotional state, mental processes etc.; the act of looking within oneself
Thanks for the question – it helped me clear up a confusion. Now I won’t feel guilty about why I “introvert” over something I just screwed up – laughter
On the meter: Induce euphoria and then stuff the sausage casing with Hubbard’s crap.
The Investigation Discovery TV Channel will be doing a show on Shelly Miscavige!
https://www.broadwayworld.c…
Cindy, it says, ‘cannot access the server.’ I hope you can get that working. I mean, Discovery channel!!!! That should wake the cult up.
This didn’t/wouldn’t load for me. I am so very interested in watching/recording this. Do you have anymore information? Date, time, etc.? Thank you so very very much.
Try this link
https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Investigation-Discoverys-VANITY-FAIR-CONFIDENTIAL-Returns-For-New-Season-25-20180126
I got that from a poster in the comment section on Tony Ortega’s site. Investigation Discovery’s Vanity Fair Confidential will be doing a series about unsolved crime and scandal and the disappearance of Shelley Miscavige will be one of them. The Investigation Discovery channel’s show returns for a 4th season on Monday, February 5 at 9/8c, only on ID.
Thank you!
https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Investigation-Discoverys-VANITY-FAIR-CONFIDENTIAL-Returns-For-New-Season-25-20180126
Yes, but there was a change to get auditors into a mechanical auditing. The infamous GAT. Before that, auditors were a real friend of the pc and an honest care was always present.
Then GAT and RTC showed up and that is when it became mandatory to be “serious”, “don’t fraternize”, “be all business” sort of approach.
Add to this the Advance Tech VSD (Value of Services Delivered = the amount on dollars – intensives – that were accomplished that week). Right, RTC Stat.
The demand to really get a happy self determined pc was altered and the priority became to get the Advance Tech VSD up, irregardless of Policy and, believe it or no, irregardless of the Auditor’s Code.
PC hungry, sorry, stuffed him with protein drink so he can metab one more time and meet the VSD target…or else. Again, alway present in ensuring this happened were the RTC Reps, behind them, Miscavige.
I do respect auditors, I’m one of them, and I read your viewpoint, but deep inside an auditor had only one purpose = really help someone else. And we did that more often before Miscavige’s alterations of tech and, unfortunately less often, as RTC encroached the lines.
And that purpose will always remain, Miscavige or not Miscavige.
Irelvant Silvia. Post or Pre Miss Cabbage. The grade chart and what it was supposed to produce was a lie.
It is like saying that you bought a telephone book that was blank inside but the salesman was nice or rude.
You got scammed either way.
Agreed. Also, pre-GAT auditing for me was bogus. Carol Kingsley was the worst, most stiff auditor I ever had. I was born and I can say for certain that the whole subject is lies and B.S.
I agree with you Silvia.
The GAT rote system turned auditors into automatons like so many McDonalds employees preparing food by pushing buttons. Understanding the material was no longer necessary. A Scn student today couldn’t french a fry on their own if their life depended on it. A doctor friend of mine once said that he thought that a lot of doctors today seem to have forgotten the most elementary of diagnostics: Look at the patient.
I’m afraid the GAT rote system was already in place by Hubbard.
From experience the repetitive questions on the lower level grade chart was in place by Hubbard. What a pain in the ass to answer the same question over and over until one had to “mock up” a win to get out of the same repetition question.
LOL
I’ve only had a few great auditing sessions, the only thing that kept me going or still involved was that I could attain the state of Clear, and then OT. Hubbard said so.
But then, I did something contrary to what LRH said, but yet what he said.
What is true for you is true for you.
So, I took a look around and took a look and examined, and discovered there are no Clears or OT’s from the many people who supposedly attained these states of existence.
Hopefully all people involved in scientology will do the same.
Loved your post, Sylvia. “And that purpose will always remain, Miscavige or not Miscavige”. Good to hear this. Thank you.
Sylvia, 2 questions, if you don’t mind: as far as your experience, at what point did it start being solely about the VSD? And was this “only about the VSD” auditing mindset which would even flout the Auditors Code only at Flag or did it permeate to the outer orgs as well? I was never audited at Flag. No personal experience at all of that place. Thanks in advance for answering if you catch this.
Silvia, your comment meshes with my experience. When RTC came into being, that was when things got really weird really fast and all ARC went out the door. I remember the first time the RTC came in the metering course room and did their SS type of stuff. It really created a bad vibe in the course room that was palpable. Spirit of Play changed into craven fear.
Finally the shoe falls in this public forum. Finally it comes out, with only a little apologia, that the central tech of Scientology is just so much bunk. Made up nonsense. Or, to quote LRH, something for the record books, i.e. “Let’s sell these people a piece of blue sky.”
As I go backwards and forwards in time in my Scn track I see the first significant outing come from Australia, where in 1965 ‘The Anderson Report’ pulled no punches after taking testimony from active Scientologists, who initially were full of themselves trying to show how great and effective they were, how their boss Hubbard was nothing less than the greatest scientist of the generation. During two years of investigation, many tales of the actual workings of Aussie Scientology as told by Aussie Scientology leaders and adherents were examined by licensed psyches and medicos. Mr. Anderson wrote his report, with scathing comments, but only after he had observed a veritable parade of witnesses who gave expert and non-expert testimony, both from inside and outside of Scientology, Anderson made this famous proclamation:
“Scientology is a delusional belief system, based on fiction and fallacies and propagated by falsehood and deception…. What it really is, however, is the world’s largest organization of unqualified persons engaged in the practice of dangerous techniques which masquerade as mental therapy.”
Inside The Anderson Report are the comments on Command Hypnotism, also called Authoritative Hypnotism. It is further discussed in Arnie Lerna’s pages at http://www.lermanet.com/exit/covert-hypnosis.htm. Scientology makes the worst use of hypnotism, partly because the auditors often do not know they are involved in it, and certainly have no training in the skill, but mostly because the pre-clears absolutely do not expect hypnotism to occur, and for decades after will loudly refute any claims they were ever involved in any sort of hypnotism, certainly not during auditing, not even when they ‘went out of body’, a effect known to science as dissociation., which can occur under hypnosis,
Well, to be fair, they were not brought up on stage and made to cluck like a chicken; they were brought up on stage and made to accept a $50 trophy for a donation of a quarter million dollars.
Me – I’d rather cluck like a chicken.
You are spot on Ammo Alanon! Hubbard uses hypnotism and it is powerful and works when standardly applied!
Then L Ron Hubbard claims to be “Waking People Up”.
And he says to stay away from Hypnotism
Very clever that L Con Hubbard. Very clever indeed.
More than 50 years after exposure and the scam goes on. Shows the profound limits of logical persuasion.
Mental therapy? Huh? I thought I was on a self improvement or self awareness course. I didn’t need no stinking Mental Therapy!
I could hypnotize people and I didn’t even know it? Cool. That sounds like an oat tea ability. I’ll work on it.
dissociation
3. Psychology. a) a split in the conscious process in which a group of mental activities breaks away from the mainstream of consciousness and functions as a separate unit, as if belonging to a separate person
b) the abnormal separation of related ideas, thoughts, or emotions
Webster’s New World College Dictionary
Dissociation would be possible when addressing body thetans as affecting thoughts and actions, unlikely on the grades up to and including Clear
If Mr. Anderson and others believe ‘went out of body’ is dissociation and/or abnormal that’s okay with me. It’s a different topic of conversation – lol
Itotally agree that most auditors are shitty. I would complain only to pay MORE $$$$ and take up MORE TIME to find my crimes.. because….of course, “you pulled it in”
and if you natter – you are hiding crimes.
I have to say – I went all the way up the BRIDGE to CLEAR and it SUCKED!!
Scientology was disabling me – I created a great life prior to this evil cult trapping me into it with confusing information that caused me to STOP creating and living.
The majority of the auditing was terrible and it was ME who looked for something good in my mind so I could stop the mind fucking. That is one way HOW $cientology scams, tricks and deceives.
Your rational mind wants out of pain and $cientology actually creates a lot of pain…so your mind finds something good to stop the pain…
Also – study up on HYPNOSIS and thoroughly research it.
It will help you understand HOW SCIENTOLOGY WORKS WHEN STANDARDLY APPLIED.
Dribble…
I could write the same way concerning real soldiers, pretend soldiers & soldiering in general, a scenario I know a little about. Fuck ups, vested interests and misguided training/leadership in that subject costs lives and destroys and disrupts countless other lives as it ripples through families. I assume one could write a derogatory expose on police if you ran into a bad one or suffered injustice at their hands or maybe political or racial persecution legalities and enforcement. I’m NOT for one moment protecting or endorsing Scientology or the criminal scam it is, the damage it does to people’s lives or the lies it fosters off but I think the above is mostly dribble. For whatever it’s worth I think there are some who practice the subject of auditing away from the Cof$ that should never be included with the above sentiments, including the ones who were declared because of their auditing skills and dedication. I’m truly glad you were never my auditor Terra.
However, I have been well and truly away from that scene for near on 20 years now (geezers, where does the time go?), so I come from another era. Same OT carrot scam back then, just not quite so insanely ridiculous.
I mostly know when someone is warm, friendly & grateful when they shake my hand.
Well, damnit! Why don’t you pay a trip to Huntington Beach in Southern California? I’d even pick you up!
Bought my lotto ticket, see ya in a jiffy!
Soooooooo looking forward to seeing you! Now, if you don’t come, I’ll track you down…
I enthusiastically pursued scn from around 1975 to 1982 when things were different. I don’t recall T.C. mentioning when he participated so maybe he’s guessing about some things within the current stupid CoS.
It seems the best guess of the number of scn-ists worldwide is about 20,000. If half of them are there just because of family or business ties or in the sea org, then 10,000 people are finding SOMETHING keeping them interested.
There’s nearly 5x more felons in California alone than there are members of Scientology worldwide. Crime is vastly more popular it seems, yet the Cof$ is a criminal organisation yet to be bought to justice. What a strange world we live in…
Come on Mike Rinder. There are no real clears. The status as described has never been attained. Realised and glimpsed in theory. Maybe even acknowledged as existing. But as hubbard described it never attained. Even Hubbard stated tat if only one person could really be in present for even a few seconds time it would be a miracle.
Of course there are no ‘real’ clears! I mean, it’s make believe, for Christ’s sake! Just like we played when we were kids! Make believe is fun! But the cult takes it far too seriously.
Hey! There are no Super Powers! None. Nada. Zip.
Hey!!! Hang on a minute there buster! I reckon I could find my way back to bed in the dark a lot better while doing Scientology. So ‘whoopee do’ to you & all you non believers! So there! What do you think about that?
(snoring).
“Come on Mike Rinder.”
Mike didn’t write today’s post. Terra Cognita did. Perhaps I’m mistaken, but based off of Terra’s previous posts, the “clear” thing may have been tongue in cheek. Not sure.
The best auditing I had was in the beginning – before the auditor had the “ARC drilled out of her.”
Auditing became more and more about the meter (legitimate “instant” reads and “3 swing FN’s”) and less and less about “the E-meter reads in proportion to the amount of ARC in the session.” When I trained as an auditor in the 70’s it was fun; I was unaware of the tons of mistakes I was making that got corrected out of me in the 90’s and I thought my PC’s were doing great (Lower Bridge stuff). That’s when I learned that it wasn’t fun; it was punitive; so, I decided I didn’t have what it takes.
My first auditor barely looked at her meter; it was all about me; she was kind; I needed that; it was fun. The next auditor I had was shitty. I should have learned then that this was not an anomaly; by 2005 it was just plain torture. Live and learn.
Mary Kahn, I loved this comment.