One of the craziest things about scientology is the use of “success stories.” These things are a strange mixture of self-affirmation, peer pressure and fear.
People write them to accomplish one or all of the following at the completion of a scientology service:
a. To ensure they are allowed to complete and be presented with a certificate, they write what they think they are supposed to say
b. To affirm for themselves that they have in fact gotten something for the time and money they have invested
c. To gain recognition from others for their “wins.”
In truth, nobody should need to write a glowing statement about their “wins” — but in scientology it is a requirement in scientology to progress on the Bridge.
A lot could be said about the effect that writing these things creates and I am sure many people much smarter than I have analyzed the use of this sort of technique, as I suspect this is not limited to scientology as a means of controlling how people think and act.
But there is one thing about scientology successes that are really striking to me, now looking from the outside in. So many of them undermine everything the person has done previously in an effort to present the most glowing “success” about what they are currently doing. Thus you have people writing the most amazing things about their “wins” on the Purif for the THIRD TIME through after having completed numerous other auditing actions. I commented the other day that I would like to see Rafferty Pendery’s THREE Running Pgm “success stories” side by side. (It is another interesting thing about scientology which is likely quite unique — all of these affirmations are written).
I was reminded of this with a new email one of our Special Correspondents sent in and it added to some other stuff I had been collecting.
Barbara Dews seems to be the new Crazy Edy of WUS. She sends out remarkable stuff that she apparently doesn’t even realize is pretty cray cray. If the first “success” below isn’t enough to make you stop and pause about just what going all the way through to OT VIII does for you, then you are probably beyond hope.
OT VIII not only didn’t eradicate amnesia on the whole track, surpassing the cause over life that came from OT VII, it apparently didn’t even stop B.M.’s dwindling spiral.
Read these little capsules of crazy and appreciate the fact that you are no longer on the treadmill that requires you to say ridiculous things in order to maintain the status quo.
“So that in order to pick up horsepower… – thetan-power… a thetan would have to regain, to some degree, his power of decision.” – LRH
(From the lecture series: “The Remedy of Havingness”)
Here’s what New OT VIIIs are saying about Super Power!
“I felt my dwindling spiral stop completely. And then reverse ever upward with each new day.” – B.M. New OT VIII
“I honestly feel that this is THE most important auditing and drilling action I have done in Scientology. I don’t say that lightly having been doing services for 56 years.” – I.D. New OT VIII
“The New OT VIIIs MUST, MUST do this rundown. I promise you an experience like never before.” – S.F. New OT VIII
“The playground is big now. Really big. Lots of action. Lots of purpose. Targets being set and made. I am on fire!” – J.D. New OT VIII
“As a New OT VIII and Ls completion, this was the missing piece. When I received Super Power I realized that THIS is what I came into Scientology for.” – S.S. New OT VIII
Please call or write anytime for anything!
Love,
Sandy Dodwell
Flag Service Consultant
1865 Lundy Ave
San Jose, CA 95131
And in the spirit of calling bullshit on bullshit, check this out from the Moneywinds.
Special “economical and efficient” route to OT IX and X. Re-do your Objectives. Because they are a pre-requisite.
OMG.
Space is limited? Hahahahahaha
And for good measure, here are some wondrous “success stories” from new OT VIII’s (including Megan Shields). These will stand as the greatest thing they have ever done or will ever do, until the next success story they are required to write when they have to re-do the Student Hat or Objectives or they are declared “not Clear” with the “new” CCRD.
And finally, here are some OT VII Comps. Ditto to the above….
“Nothing is superior to the Solo grades.” – LRH
HCOB 3 Feb 1972 R6EW — OT III
NO-INTERFERENCE AREA
“…it is up to you to get up the Grade Chart and through New OT VII, Solo NOTs, and avail yourself of this new discovery.” – LRH
Ron’s Journal 39
Here are some OT VII Completion Stories!
“I have been a Scientologist for the last 30 years. I have gone up the Bridge to OT V with my own resources, coming from my monthly salary. Then I started my own business so I could expand my income and help my wife go up the Bridge, as well as continue my own Bridge up to New OT VII.
“This was quite a challenge! At the same time I was busy helping my local mission expand. While I audited on the level, many barriers melted and I had many wins. My wife continued training up to Class IV internship. All the non-survival impulses disappeared. I also handled my body which is now working well.
“When I return home, I will dedicate my time to help my mission by disseminating and bringing people there.
“I want to thank all the Sea Org members, COB RTC and a huge thanks to the most wonderful person that gave me this incredible technology. Thanks LRH!” – G.R.
“All of this began in the summer of 2004. I was with some relatives on one of the islands on the Mediterranean Sea, and we spent an amazing day together and later at night, we were contemplating a beautiful starry sky and I asked myself: ‘But what the heck are we doing on this planet?’
“The day after I was very bored, tanning by the ocean and I decided to get a magazine, Vanity Fair, where I read an article with one of Tom Cruise’s interviews where he spoke about the many wins he had with Scientology and I told myself: ‘So, you wanna tell me that this Scientology really works?’
“I went back home looking for a book, Book One! I have to confess that before that moment, I had never read a book. I used to ask my wife or my sister to read it and then do the write-up for me.
“After looking in all the bookstores in my area and not finding it, I went on the internet and found a Mission. I read the book in one breath and at that moment, everything came together for me. I had found what my family and I were looking for.
“My wife is now on OT VII. My daughter Valentina is 20 and finished Grade IV and is becoming a mom in a few days. My other daughter Alexia is 11 and she is doing the SRD. And my third daughter Arianna went Clear when she was 13, one of the youngest Clears on the planet, and she joined the Sea Org at 14.
“And Ron was right: this is one of the greatest adventures I ever took part in, and I will never be the same again. And here we are. I just finished my OT VII!! I want to thank all my supervisors, my amazing D of P, my C/Ses, my MAAs and my sups. Thanks to RTC and COB for their leadership and for their outstanding prediction of future. Grazie Ron, you are a legend!!” – G.L.
“When I arrived at the AO for my Solo Course, I always admired the completions. Today I am one of them. I attested to New OT VII!
“Auditing on the level is the best. You wake up in the morning, fly ruds, handle life and the day can start.
“Some wins are smaller; others are bigger. I, for example, always had a real problem confronting antagonistic people. I literally got sick. One day, I came out of session and somebody yelled at me. I confronted and it stopped. I even started playing a little game to see if it is REALLY gone and it is!
“And I found my true love. Of course, there was way more… But I also started to confront the 3rd and 4th Dynamic more and more. So I finished my Patron Meritorious of the IAS and increased my status with Planetary Dissemination and much more.
“About 2 years ago, I decided to go on staff at the Tampa Model Ideal Org. I became the Div 6C Sec and my division was number 6 in last year’s Birthday Game.
“New OT VII is a Gift. But it is only as good as what we are doing with it.
“I am so excited about my next step – Truth Revealed! I want to thank my MAA, my sups, the Ds of P, all the wonderful crew that had so much patience with me. I love you all!
“To COB RTC, GAT II literally changed our world. Thank you for that. And to our best friend, LRH, this attest is for you Sir!” – T.E.
People commonly complete New OT VII after 1 ½ to 2 years of Solo Auditing at home. You can do this!
Please call me or write anytime for anything.
Love,
Sandy Dodwell
Flag Service Consultant
1865 Lundy Ave
San Jose, CA 95131
Not a groupie………if I wrote this and then read it later, ( any of these statements made), I would commit myself!!!!!!
Ah yes, get “wins” and become so vaguely insipid regarding how your life improved..somehow.
Then turn around and do it again,
and again
and again.
Brain wash, rinse, repeat.
“I want to thank all the Sea Org members, COB RTC and a huge thanks to the most wonderful person that gave me this incredible technology. Thanks LRH!” – G.R.
Once again these creepy crawling sychophants give LRH thanks as an afterthought.
Well, of course! I mean, EVERYBODY knows COP RTC is now source! That stuff Hubbard wrote was ok, I guess, but it’s nothing compared to COP RTC! He single handily save Scientology! He’s the one that found all of the colons and semi-colons were WRONG! How detailed is that? All Hail Der Dwarfen Fuhrer! Savior of mankind!
I’m really glad you posted this, Mike. Success stories are one of the biggest lies in Scientology. Thank you for this exposé.
WTF are you talking about, pedrofcuk? My wins ARE REAL! Real, I tell ya! In fact, as I type this, my body is in bed and I’m on Mars (no sign of the 5th Martian invasion force). In fact, I’m reading your thoughts right now as I’m fixing myself a sandwich! How’s that for having incredible powers???
Oh, shit! I gotta go, pedrofcuk! I forgot to write my Success Story! This will be my best one yet….
… and I got to say “Hebbo” to an octopus!
hey, where’d everybody go?
Hm, guess it really is getting to be old news. Damn Scientology story,
never makes you ahappy until you have paid a dear, dear price.
What if God’s only message to man was to be happy?
That would make being happy the yardstick by which to measure Ethics,
truely,
being as God’s command and all.
Which, granted, qualifies as a collossally large IF, not to mention pretentious assumtion to have anything to say about what God has to say about anything, much less a specific message to Mankind, but, for the sake of entertainment, let’s say.., make it so. We’ll just call it the Mark Marco School of Thought.
Now we’re having fun.
Yeah? ok. Stop. Just hold it right there and compare yourself to how happy you were, generally,
as…say… a standard Scientologist in the Sea Org., applying of course Scientology Ethics. Presto, we have a real, scientifically oriented experiment on our hands, and, oops, I win.
Not very professional of me, getting snooty there, ahem,..
However, by applying the process of deductive comparison, my belief-system comes out as being the more effective, me or you or whatever subject, so sorry, whomever, doing Scientology does every waking moment -or, by comparison-
doing the Mark Marco School (ok, what did I call it?) …whatever, Of Thought, right.What do you know, my philosophy wins, by virtue of me, being so happy I’m not the poor Scientologist, on top of all other indicaters.
Yeah, that dedicated guy, expecting god-knows-what in exchange for all his worldly persuits of noble intention. Was that you in the Sea Org, or me, in the mid-70’s (Ann! O Ann, hi. Again, ha. Later, ok?)
The poorly fed guy, poorly paid and poorly kept, working till death doth do him part, starting as a child if Scientology has any thing to say about it, which they don’t, BTW, not even word one from the leader. That says a lot. Me?… on the other hand, i can’t shut up. I say my way looks like green lights all the way The David Miscavige way looking all red flags to me.
Me on the beach. Dave… -wherever he is.
Well, what do you know. What do you think? Care to opinion-ate? Don’t be shy. See? You might be able to get away with anything in here. Did I beat the old man at his game, or what? My religion is tops, man. Cool. Way cool. Hey Surfer, Joe. Took me about ten minutes, too. Does it cross the line, to say a thing like that? Ha, yeah it does. Love All. Love you guys. Non-narcissistically, of course, oh no, none of that in my church. You-all might chop me up ‘n drop me in a proverbial blender, ha. OK, go. No, I mean stop. Stop now!!
Comment up, if you feel like it, but, please.
Be happy. -mm
As a “never in” I drive by the Lundy bldg in San Jose often…always wondered what flavor of Crazy inhabits that building….thanks for the peek inside that demented bubble!
You’ve barely scratched the surface, Bruce. And I mean that literally! The Crazy, as you put it, permeates the entire organization. A more accurate name for this organization would be the Church of Science Fiction. Playing and acting like you’re a Jedi Knight is fun! And you know it’s not real. But, inside this cult, you can still be anything you want, but, brother, it’s going to cost you! In many more ways than one.
“Success Stories” should never be a requirement. You can’t mechanize a path to spirituality. Leave science to the observation of purely physical phenomena; human beings are too unpredictable and creative to ever be part of an assembly line.
Gosh. When I was in, we never thanked “COB.” I kinda think that would have been considered obscuring source.
How long has this been going on? It must have crept in. I completely missed it until I starred to notice it very recently.
Sickening.
As an independent Auditor I could care less about Success Stories. I get my pc’s to better their lives by better jobs better relationships with their 2d and really being able to accomplish the results of the grades.
I go for products not success stories. If pc’s aren’t accomplishing their goals in life then all the success stories in the world are just BS. Oh I mean Daveshit.
Wille AKA Good Old Boy,
LRH put in the SS line as an integral part of Standard Tech auditing. To NOT care about them and NOT use them as per HCOB is squirreling. That’s a suppressive act for which LRH would have comm ev’ed you and canceled your certs.
It is the C/S’s job to send a PC to success, not the auditor. An auditor is not suppressive because
he didn’t send his PC to success….it is not an auditors’ call. It is the PC who decides whether he/she has attained a level not the auditor or C/S. A com eve/cancelled cert is done after the C/S and/or auditor has been crammed repeatedly on areas of the tech they keep messing up on, retreaded or retrained and then still keeps messing up.
The C/S series explain this sort of thing in detail. It is not one strike and your out. Unless of course you slap your PC in session then your scenario would apply.
“To not care about the SS line and not use them per HCOB is squirreling”. What HCOB did you read this in? I must admit your dramatics are always fun to read because they are sometimes so totally rote and uninformed. You obviously were never an auditor with any appreciable hours in the chair.
Potpie, LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s called, double hatted.
Just had to mention for those of you who have never done a course in scientology for the record, just so you see how amazingly stupendously ridiculous these “wins” are:
Student Hat IS THE VERY FIRST EVER COURSE I DID WHEN I STARTED SCIENTOLOGY. Yet, it is now a PREREQUISITE for OTIX????????? THE TOP OF THE FREAKING BRIDGE?????????
Hmmm, glad I got it out of the way all those years ago. What? I have to redo it and that other beginning thing the SRD? Why?????
Well, glad I didn’t have to redo them on GAT and GATII only to find out I have to do them again to start OTXI.
Yep. That’s what would have happened if they had “recovered” me.
Well, that’s what they think, they would have actually just found out how empty my pockets were and kicked me out at the nearest homeless shelter and all.
It’s like taking dirt out of one hole and putting in another hole. But, I have to tell you, Val, you’re going to miss the EPIC, HUGE, MONUMENTAL gains that GAT III and GAT IV will give you. I’m thinking you should ask them to take you back.
Umm… ok I will do that. Provided you pay for my circular bridge and all my statuses. Deal?
“Would you want others to achieve the knowledge you now have by reading this blog?”
I know that I certainly would for reasons too numerous to mention but for the obvious reason, and that is when people ask questions like “What happens to me whey I die? Where do I go?” Should I lie and say “You sprout wings, fly to heaven and play a harp for all eternity in GOD’s world.” This would be the truly Christian thing to do! 🙂 Having the knowledge is ONE thing, applying it and seeing the results is another. The Church of Scientology is engaged in a battle to deny and prevent people from having and seeing those results so that the people doing the preventing can enjoy those results themselves. I have never heard of a more backward organization than the Church of Scientology. Of course I want other people have this knowledge and if my church can’t help me give it to them, then there is no law that says I or somebody else can’t do it on our own. And this is done every day. I could sit someone down in my kitchen if I want every day after work and run Book One on them and probably clear them. All I do is LISTEN like any person would do. Do I need a Church of Scientology to help me do this? I don’t think I do! 🙂 Enough said. 🙂
Mike’s brilliant deconstruction of the scientology success story is at once revealing and painful and with sufficient distance, HILARIOUS!
Did not think you would post that cos I have known all along you are controlled op…it will come out. Whatz the pay like?
It was completely and utterly off topic and frankly, quite bizarre. Someone commented on it over at the Bunker and put up some links. Sorry to disappoint, seem to be doing that a lot recently.
Hi Mike,You could never disappoint me not even for a billion years,Off topic but I wanted to write this before I forget it.Yesterday I went to Tony’s Blog to see what was shaking over there.I read a lot of the articles but I do not post because this Blog is my comfort zone.Saw Paulette Cooper what a jewel and then I glanced at all the write ups on Shelley M.I thought I should read all this and I did.oh goodness I have been trudging around with only the first half of Ron / David and The SO story.The reason,I blew before all was taken by DM.I knew absolutely nothing except what I deduce here about what happened after he took over.Shelley maybe faintly if she ever came to ASHO with The Messenger Org,from the pic shown of her I saw Ice Queen but of course I never knew her.Being able to read about what those much younger than me who joined 81- onward is so important because it fills in so many blanks.Thank you all.The one other thing that occurred when I was reading about Shelley the personal comments from Marc and Claire Headley were very helpful.I see the bigger picture not just the trees from my Sea Org time.One last bit,in about early 77 there was much chatter around SO about the huge underground complex that was to be built with a gold pyramid in the center for archiving all,Ron’s “works”of course Miss Ann wanted to punge right in and somehow help,that project.Oh Brother was I KA addled.Anyway now I know that RTC is at Lake Arrowhead,did not The Mafia have a lot of houses up their in the 30s? Well if Shelley wants to,pass on there that is her choice.If I had stayed I might have been the same way OMG I really am glad I got out.The thing is I love reading about DM and all these IAS Satus seekers I never had to deal with.Almost quaint now the little world wide SO band back then guarding ships and turning out auditors it was sure different from DM’s approach.Thank you Mike for all you do all the time.Always Ann B.
@Jeff: Bizzarre attempt at derail. Too bad you can’t speak a coherent sentence. Maybe scamatology and miscavignetics could hep youze wid dat.
Valerie in a bizarre twist, Jeff blogged about how to handle Trolls. His post here is evidence that he is a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of person.
I afraid I just can’t see any of the “success” stories (fictions is a better term) being written by any of the initials tacked on at the end of each piece. Someone, who no doubt specialises in constructing such confections, prepares the statements and then just gets the sucker to add their moniker. $camology controls every aspect so why should “success” stories be any different.
Thoughts when writing a success story:
Well it was a pretty good course…I guess. I probably have a few MU’s anyway. And really, I probably will realize more gains of this course as I get up the bridge. Would I want others to experience what I did?…Yea..sure. I don’t think it hurt me at all. Lets see, what can I write down here……”Great course!! I feel much more theta, and my flows are opening up”. Yea, that’s good. I kinda do. Don’t want to invalidate myself. Sure as hell don’t want to retread the course. And besides, the better my success story, the more admiration I’ll get. “This course was just the thing I needed! and I feel so stable about the gains. Thank you DM, RTC and especially Ron!” That’s a good ending. Now I’ll say my win, get everyone clapping, and get out of here before I get regged for another course. I’ll do more, just not now. I got to get home so I can watch Chicago P.D. Oh yeah, Jason. Better keep that one to myself.
After reading this post and the comments, I feel like writing a success story !!…..but I will spare you my friends.
I really did love this post, though.
I had forgotten that inner thought of “you better write a good success story, Steph, or you’ll never get outta here”.
Success Stories is an integral part of Hubbard’s Quality Control system, which is terribly ineffective. How does Qual know they have a flat ball bearing? 1) No success story, 2) No F/N at exam, 3) Success story with bad indicators, 4) Failure to resign.
Wow, that’s some advanced shit.
Success stories have always been coerced. The group pressure insists that the individual write glowing accounts of their service.
Failure to resign is essentially blackmail. If you don’t resign for another service you are put on a Failure to Resign routing form, which eventually leads you to Qual and possibly Ethics. You only need to do this routing form once to learn your lesson. It may end up costing you more than simply routing onto another service.
And F/N at exam…well, do we really need to go there?
The Org’s Qual system is for people who don’t want to know about no results or bad results. The system is rigged to hide failure and paint a rosy picture of success.
Ever wonder how an org can have 99.5% F/Ns at Exam and affluent Success Stories and still be failing?
That’s was really a very excellent analysis, Statpush ; LRH’s Qual system start from the assumption that Tech is infallible and always works , a VERY self-righteous attitude all by itself.
Having said that , and to be fair and balanced about this topic, there were a lot of us (and I do mean a LOT of us) who willingly and w/out anybody even asking for it, wrote many success stories while we were in. We did it because we DID experienced what we considered good results at whatever that we were doing at the time. We were honest about it.
I have never ever written any S.S. out of coercion from any damn terminal, and so have done many , many others as well which were directly under my care. Attempting to generalize this practice, which is more related to DM’s reign and not LRH’s, and attempting to evaluate the wins that others claim to had had with Scn or any other practice for that matter, is not proper form from my perspectice ; it is even evaluative even if those wins are the result of a cult(ish) fixation in Scn.
It chooses the wrong target to “attack” ; the parishioners themselves. I think that we must be careful no to fall into that trap. Wins are highly a subjective issue, and invalidating the good parts that many of us DID got from Scn , even if we got many loses as well, is not going to do anything possitive for anybody.
One thing is the advertized exaggerated claims (and even totally false claims) that the CofS and specially LRH put out , and another entirely different thing is the wins that parishioners advertize they had, whether those wins are actual or not, real or not for others. I mean, who are we to judge others at their attempts to improve their lives, even if misguidely so ?
Let’s just focus on the real target here , DM , LRH, and the philosophy itself , and leave parishioners alone.
My humble opinion.
Best regards,
Peter
Hi Overrun in California, Thank you for an insightful post.Yes the Ability To Pull In A Registrar As An OT.Just what Ron/David fervently dreamed of.Always Ann B.
“And being OT, we pulled in an amazing terminal-the FSSO registrar at Flag”
Hell of an OT ability; to pull in a registrar. I really was hoping for “exteriorization at will”, or “cause over life” or being able to “sit in the center of the sun”, but being able to visit and talk with a registrar who wants my money…..wow!
This was from an OT Vlll folks.
“Hell of an OT ability; to pull in a registrar.”
Really funny, Overrun!
Some thoughts:
1) “Before I started OT7 I was kind of cranky”….bahaha so much for being clear.
2) “I have to thank COB”. You got that right…that is if you want your “eternity”.
3) “It was a dark and stormy night (it really was)”. No, seriously…..you gotta believe me because I know you know the bulk of this is bullshit. It was raining. The night was dark. And there was a storm.
4) “One day, I came out of session and somebody yelled at me. I confronted and it stopped. I even started playing a little game to see if it is REALLY gone and it is!” $300,000 and I can now ask people to stop yelling at me! HIP HIP HOORAYYYY!
4) “After looking in all the bookstores in my area and not finding it (book one), I went on the internet and found a Mission. I read the book in one breath and at that moment, everything came together for me. I had found what my family and I were looking for.” Hows that library dissemination plan going?
I could go on and on.
But what I truly find sickening after reading (and writing) a myriad of these narcissistic fairy tales, I mean success stories, is that no one ever speaks about how it actually betters humanity. Or makes life better for our neighbor. Its always about “I wanted and needed a parking space, and POOF! It appeared!” No one ever speaks about these gains as solving the worlds ills, or making it a better place for our collective community. It really always comes down to being ‘strong enough now’ to tackle more $cientology, as if it gives you more confront to confront the bullshit. What a weird fucking thing this all is.
@Lurr Kurr: My friend asked me yesterday why I got into scientology. I explained my huge dream to save the world. I had big plans. In the ’70’s there was a group of us who really thought we were going to “make things better” by what we were doing. Instead we became more and more enslaved the deeper and deeper we got into the subject.
Until we woke up and escaped.
Hi Valerie,Again another great post.Much thanks.Count me amoung the 70s crowd that really did believe I was on the only path to save the planet.And I had been looking at paths that resonated for years.Bang there was The Sea Org and I dove right on in.Whoops Ann wrong damn Path led me right into the deepest darkest thicket in the infinite forest that was and is this cult.I admire you because you have a very strong mind and spirit.Always Ann B.
Hey Valerie, Thanks for sharing your (real) success story! So happy for you!
Whatever the circumstances the only people who know besides Miscavige are either in the hole, being followed by PI’s for the past 30 years, neatly tucked away or paid handsomely for their silence….or dead.
I had an interesting experience yesterday. A dear friend of mine is taking a psychology class and she interviewed me about my time in scientology. The interview was only 13 questions, which we had pre-planned per an outline her instructor had given her and we had gone over with her. The end product will be a 10-page paper.
We budgeted two hours for the interview. After two hours, we were on question 5. That question was “how was the language different?” I let her watch the video “shit Scientologists say to each other” and I watched her face.
At one point, I also let her watch as long as she could stomach of the video of DM on MV2006 (she made it almost 3 minutes before she said “I would fall asleep or run out screaming.”) She was laughing out loud about the claims of the 30 point raise in IQ points.
Her final question (five hour interview) was “what good did you get out of Scientology?” I sat there stumped. Finally, I said, honestly, none.
I was taken down a road and everything I believed to be true was thrown in my face as false. I’m lucky to have survived mostly intact. I wasted years of my life fighting for and believing in something that didn’t exist.
There’s my win.
Hi Valerie, Thank you for your post.I am very happy you survived mostly intact.A lot was thrown in our faces all I thought true also.So enjoy your posts.Always Ann B.
Monumental win, Valerie. I am truely moved.
We all did, Val. But RIGHT NOW you’re doing great! You have the life of your choice!
I can’t imagine what you went through, but, I know is was tough. But, you’re tougher….
“Finally, I said, honestly, none.” And that says it all right there, Valerie
You are so right OSD. I am living the life of my choice now and enjoying every minute of it. Check out my FB page if you don’t believe me. My grandchildren keep me younger every day.
Our interview went on so long because she couldn’t wrap her mind around disconnection and the lack of family values and the fact the they dare call themselves a “religion”. The forced abortions came up too which made her gasp. Basically, by the end of the interview, she had a huge problem of wrapping her mind around of the the whole concept of scientology being a religion.
She, BTW was married to a Mennonite for 15 years so understands cult mentality and biblical references, etc. it’s not like she went into this not understanding cult mind control, yet it still left her reeling (and she left with a copy of “Miss Lovely” in her computer bag too after talking to me about the press and scientology.)
Have Mike give you my email address, Val. We can ‘friend’ each other. My wife and I are empty nesters now, so, we’re looking forward to grand kids. Wasn’t I just 30 a couple of years ago?
Hey OSD check your messages on FB we’ve been friends since last October
Valerie, I am satisfied there is no “higher truth” that is beyond my direct experience 24/7 and I can say with the honesty of the great George Washington that I too, gained nothing from scientology that I wouldn’t have gained anyway. Nothing. Except… now my postulates stick and all my dynamics have opened up to infinity!
Priceless.
And i can’t believe it… that I’m getting that euphoric feeling coming all over me, just like those old musters, 1974 Success Stories. I was beginning to think that feeling was gone forever.
Thanks, Roger.
Roger & Mark, IMHO, you (we) are the prize you seek. There is NOTHING outside yourselves that you need. We are all unconditioned consciousness. Why we pick up these bodies, I don’t know. Maybe it’s a learning thing. Once any body dies, the consciousness steps into a different world separated by energy, frequency and vibration. You’re forever. It doesn’t matter what religion you are, we’re all going to the same place.
You ARE the prize you’ve been seeking…
Surfer Dude it’s always good to hear somebody speak timeless knowledge. The pure consciousness that you are is complete unto itself and needs nothing, wants nothing.
Therefore spiritual enlightenment is NOT a matter of improving your ability to acquire stuff and “play a big game”. It isn’t a “be, do, have” problem it is a knowledge problem. The temporary individual person who reflects this knowledge is always at peace and finds joy in the simplest of things.
BTW, a billion year contract would be considered eternal hell to Buddhists and those of the Vedic schools. To them spiritual life is meant to end the cycle of birth and death not continue it for another BILLION YEARS!!! 🙂
Oh, and when I said my postulates stick and my dynamics have expanded to infinity, that was just me making a stab at humor. I don’t want anybody to think I was serious about that.
Hi Roger Hornaday, Gosh I thought your dynamics and postulates stick perfectly now laughter! Love U Ann.
Hey!!! What have I told you about “…making a stab at humor.”
Grasshopper, when you can snatch joke from hand…time for you to leave Temple. But I will say you are progressing nicely on the humor front….
L’íl Dave:
Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama have been conffirmed to the Human Rights Summit at Alcatraz, to be held sometime in the near future.
We can’t even think to have the greatest ultra mega humongous EPIC meeting without your hol(ee) presence.
RSVP
Hi srl, One more point if you can stand it.Please do not feel ashamed or embarrassed about falling for the cult.I carried those two emotions for years.Those emotions are not completely your or my fault.Cos and all,that goes with it will, bet that those DBs who left will feel that way.You are good and strong and you are here.That is wonderful! XO,Ann B.
xoxo
I love what you do.
“Nothing is superior to the Solo grades.”
“…it is up to you to get up the Grade Chart and through New OT VII, Solo NOTs, and avail yourself of this new discovery.”
———————————————————–
I read those two LRH quotes in your article, Mike, and I’m in shock for some reason that they still would be offered up to the public by the COS. It really stuck in my craw this morning.
Don’t people generally realize that LRH tried to take his own life in the fall of ’85 and then succeeded by volitionally withholding needed medical attention for a serious medical event a couple months later? Normally, people go to the hospital. He didn’t. It WAS a willful decision to die. End of story.
The COS never refutes or has tried to refute this sequence of events anywhere that I know of. At minimum, that should tell you something. Most normal people in the world can put two and two together.
I thought this was now general knowledge out in the world. Mike, don’t the execs at the highest levels of the COS and Flag know all about this by now? What must they think?
I mean it’s only a matter of time before every Flag auditor (and CS and MAA and senior exec) encounters a PC or pre-OT who has read this stuff re: the circumstances around LRH’s death and the “news” spreads through the orgs on some of the best rumor lines on the planet.
Mike, when did you first hear of the TRUE circumstances about his death?
How in the hell do you keep something like like this a secret, off the front pages, and off the front burners of the rumor lines?
Does it all just boil down to hope and an abiding faith for these people?
“How in then hell do you keep something like this a secret, off the front pages, and off the front burners of the rumor lines?”
One of the space shuttles (Challenger?) blew up just after he died. All the attention went there. And, as I understand it, the cult love it that it took them out of the limelight.
Hi Forever Lurker,An interesting post.It would not surprise me if Ron did whatever he felt like.If he wanted to check out Target2 in 85 then he would do so.And delaying medical stuff is par for the course with the cult.What sticks in my craw also is all the secrecy that is layered on in cos.I never realized how deep in secrets cos is all the time,until years later.Bizarre! Always Ann B.
Hi, OSD.
I was doing media gathering while one of the Portland 42. When it was all over and I was in L.A., I was told to attend that event announcing LRH had died. I was soon approached to “volunteer” and do the research and gather all of the media reports on his death. The Co$ definitely wanted the media attention. When the shuttle disaster happened, there was very little attention made to LRH. I recall vividly the rumors within the sea org that the shuttle was a conspiracy and blown up deliberately to get LRH off the front pages.
Sheesh.
srl
sri, the one word that comes to mind is delusional. Everything in the cult is delusional. EVERYTHING! Especially the shuttle conspiracy. I will say this, they do have active imaginations. I ever heard that Hubbard stopped WW III. And yet he died morbidly obese with his teeth rotting out of his mouth after suffering a stoke. So much for handling the body….
Yep.
Hi srl, Very good to meet you.I was not surprised to read in your post that the Challenger Disaster was considered a conspiracy to get Ron off the front pages.Knowing The Sea Org when I did even eons ago,that makes perfect SO sense.Always secrets and conspirators hiding all around to denigrate and upset Ron and his amazing Church/Religion.Until I became intimately led into the inner sanctum of some of the best shape shifting rumor starting operatives I have known!I must say they did their arm twisting with much Tone 40 glee. My very best,Ann B.
Hello Ann,
Thank you for your thoughts on this. I am ashamed and embarrassed that I fell for it.
I see that you post a lot. I am a breast cancer survivor…have you thought of writing a memoir or a book?
Yeah, Ann! Have you???
Hi OSD,The Rats are messing with the order of postings were you referring to a book by me? I was inserted into one of the early books on Ron without my knowledge or permission and my story was all changed ,I did not write half of it at all.So yes,I got burned.I may yet organize my poems and memories into some type of order but for now I love just reading and posting here.Speaking of books,you have such a bright beautiful soul,you could write a Surfers Guide to Life Without Scientology and tell your story.Wait what if everyone out wrote what happened to them.That would be one amazing trove of info on this Cult.Always Ann B.
“Nothing is superior to the Solo grades.”
“…it is up to you to get up the Grade Chart and through New OT VII, Solo NOTs, and avail yourself of this new discovery.”
———————————————————–
I don’t know if anyone really “groked” what I meant.
More bluntly, my point was that LRH had to take his own life to solve his case and solve his bridge.
The story is in Marty’s Book III and in the Going Clear movie and book. You can’t make the above claims in light of how LRH solved his “final problem.” How he went out.
I was asking Mike when exactly he found out about this and who else in the upper strata knew about these facts, which the COS does not deny or dead agent anyplace. And how all the various upper execs can continue to keep lying about LRH’s demise once they get a clue or hear a whisper. How does such a big conspiracy and cover-up keep going?
It’s like . . . er, ah, fraudulent advertising, now that the truth is out there in print and on film.
Hi srl,Thank you for your post.As I posted Pepper,I really like to write and so Mike is stuck with me until he tells me to head on down another trail! Very kind of you to think of a book or memoir.If I ever entertained any thought I would probably weave my cancer journey into it as that is part of the baggage.The thing is there have been so many searing laser light books that have been written and will be written about Sea Org etc.Fabulous incredible true writings about what happened to so many.Actually I was involved in one of the first Ron’s World books out.However I was never informed that my memoir would be used without my knowledge a pen name was given me that I did not authorize and a lot of this memoir was not written by me, The book was good just not vetted very well back then.So I am gun shy about sticking my toe in the book pool again.Plus I’m betting on Mike one day blasting off with his brilliant take on Ron etc.But one day I might bundle some poems and essays about my time.I so admire those that were in SO for years and got out.They are so heroic.If y’all get tired of me just let me know.Always, Ann B.
Yes, Mike, please do do a post on the REAL LIFE story of Ron’s death.
The stuff Forever Lurker just said, …was mindblowing.
I must not have the whole story, like he says, what is general knowledge?
You could start the blog with a link to the YouTube video, DM’s speech announcing Ron’s passing,
he looks like such a clown today.
Because, really, the epitaph for this church was written the day Ron died, Miscavige scrambled to plug the leaks, and now we see well enough. He failed. No other end result was ever possible, huh.
You can read all about it in Marty Rathbun’s book, in Going Clear and on Marty Rathbun’s blog.
Hi srl, I forgot to send you a huge XOXO for surviving Cancer and breast at that.I survived colon and two rounds of breast + radiation.So take that Ron from us both! XO Ann B.
Well, ok. Yes, I did read Lawrence’s book, saw you in the film.
I do assume my facts are correct,
when i say that LRH died with his body riddled with drugs, his mind failing or falling to acute paranoia.
That is enough to discredit the tech alone. Oh, and that he died refusing to reveal the truth.
OK, I’m calling it. The tech is invalid, end of story. It is important to say that he died insane, both in the present sense, and in terms of his own held actions of self-cannonization, whatever you want to call it, self-proclaimed Messiah (by using the name of Metteyya, meaning “the future Buddha”), also the definition of delusion.
It is therefore plausible to say the entire field related in any way to the “tech” is to be taken as inherently wrong until proven otherwise. Sorry, but personally, I am going to need further endorsement from the lips of the leader, or else it remains, as it should, crap.
We have the legal right to dismantle the church, through special legislation. I say special because the church is certainly a special case. Again, let’s hear Mr. Leader address that definiton of itself.
Or, we have every right to demand the “church” be taxed.
And so we have the same right to demand, “Stop and desist calling yourself a church.” by order of law. Forgive me for sounding so much like a lawyer but I’m being forced.
At this point, I’d be happy to see any law telling this church anything in regards to what it can and cannot do, or one thing, what it must do in order to remain legal. One thing at all. I’m sick and tired of David Miscavige referring to himself as the supreme authority. That’s too much freedom for any church if you ask me. In light of the ruined families, one per Scientologist, I have to call it a High Crime in the case of Scientology. A church? Give me a break. Then I am a church, buddy, and I refuse to pay taxes just the very same, by the very same reason.
And that’s how I feel. May I say I feel better for saying it, thank you, all.
Again, especially you Mike. Did you say you’ve been feeling a little….something… lately?
Sorry.
I do believe you deserve a decent vacation, since decades ago even, that a long weekend just doesn’t cut it. May we all find nuturing goodness in our lives through each other, especially our families. I mention it specifically, in the campain to end the aftermath created by the families Scientology has destroyed, so many. Love, love to all.
Thanks for your kind words.
It is a GOOD thing having these “success stories”, IMO.
Now, before I go ANY further I’d like to issue a warning to scientologists (in or out of the church) before reading on. On multiple occasions I’ve had scn posters on blogs communicate to me that by a mere turn of phrase from myself (that they then read) I wiped out all of their previous wins and gains they had gotten by climbing The Bridge up through at least OT VII (TOTAL CAUSE OVER LIFE) as created by that god like being, LRH. I intentionally don’t physically go to where I know scn’ers congregate because I fear that by even a side long glance from me one of them might spontaneously combust.
***** YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED *****
The reason it is a good thing is that it shows (inside or outside the “church”) that there is no Standard Tech” being delivered as the results are NOT what El Ron Hubbard GUARANTEED if the tech were STANDARDLY delivered.
So kids, if you run into an auditor (anywhere) that soft pedals scientology by claiming that you will NOT gain super human abilities from going Clear, OT or the L’s, etc. Realize that you are dealing with what LRH called a Squirrel and a Suppressive Person (someone who is criminally insane and comprises 2 1/2 of the population) because they are degraded the tech and committing heinous crimes by doing so.
So the fellow up top can learn anything and is ready to go to NASA? I assume he just finished the new improved, fabulous Student Hat course. Wow….just think what NASA could have been had all employees had done the Student Hat course. We would probably have populated Mars by now.
Dude if you would have sat at home and watched the Ancient Aliens, Area 51 and MUFON shows you could have saved time and money on the Student Hat and found out all you need to know about NASA.
So, we definitely have NEW OT lX&X because there was no old lX&X.
And no one is going to question that because everything is new!
These people are enthusiastic to finally be working on their lX&X PLAN.
Oh boy.
Wait a minute: They’re saying the fastest and most economical way of repeatedly touching walls and carrying a book and bottle is on the Freewinds, where it takes 4-5 weeks?! A month of them holding on to your passport, being forced to eat their food, being hounded for donations, being cramped in those tiny “shared accommodations”, and being love-bombed that you are “saving the planet”? That’s the fastest and most economical way? Makes me wonder how long and expensive the regular method is. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. These are the people who believe their whole Central Files paperwork shuffle is the fastest and most economical way of record-keeping, too.
So Megan was “cranky” before starting VII? Is “cranky” the EP of OT V?
Gnarly cranky is, indeed, the EP of V. The kind of cranky that alienates all of your friends and family.
No, but you do become a crank.
Hi Potpie, I tell you if I had had to do EP’s of OT Levels over and over,always chasing that OT Rainbow,I would be Cranky for Eternity! Always Ann B.
No ….. but it is the EP of every reg cycle.
“I felt my dwindling spiral stop completely. And then reverse ever upward with each new day.” – B.M. New OT VIII
Two points on this gem:
1. The stated gain from ARC Straightwire is: “Knows he or she won’t get any worse.”
So, OT VIIIs who do superpower get a very similar gain? How is it possible that he was still dwindling downward after ARC straightwire?
2. I’ve heard very similar wins from Alcoholics in AA when they find Jesus.
LDW, this one got me too. All I could think of was how stupefying the statement was, and written by an OTVIII! You could apply some sense to it in point number one. I commend you 🙂
I hope that this isn’t too O/T (off-topic, not Operating Thetan!) to find a place in a discussion of “success stories,” but Leah Remini is a fan favorite here and people might enjoy seeing her look so happy now with her family on a big day, if Mike allows linking:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3223866/New-beginning-Leah-Remini-shares-family-photos-daughter-Sofia-s-Catholic-baptism-two-years-leaving-Scientology.html
Success Stories! I’ll use this opportunity to describe my last moments as a student in a Scientology organization.
The last day I was in an org, I was forced to write a Success Story for a routing form which I was forced to do because an IAS reg wanted me to attend a briefing. I was taking two days off of course, and had an approved CSW but Ms. IAS reg interfered (during my course time!) and forced the Director of Training and my course supervisor to put me on a LOA routing form just so I would have to visit the IAS and hear the briefing before I took my two days off. Some background; when I was coming into the building that morning, she ran up to me and told me that I ‘must’ get a briefing after course, and I told her that I couldn’t do that. I had an appointment immediately after course, and I didn’t want a briefing anyway.
I was extremely annoyed about the last minute Routing Form to say the least, and only went along with it because my supervisor and the Director of Training begged me to do it because “She will get us into trouble.” I liked them both very much and wanted to help them out so they wouldn’t get into trouble, and I could see that both were worried and scared. All the while, the IAS reg shadowed us craning her neck, watching. She was dressing in all black clothes during this time period. Just to let us know who is really in charge and to give off some false pretense of “ethics.”
When I reached the Success Story part, I didn’t want to write one because I had no win to write up. I was not doing the form for any reason other than to attend a mandatory, IAS briefing. So I wrote something like this:
“I am writing this Success Story because it is part of my routing form for taking two days off of course. Thanks to LRH and to (org) for delivering this valuable tech.”
That was it! I handed it to the examiner, sat down, picked up the cans. He read it and asked me if I “wanted others to have similar gains” I said yes, and he told me that my needle was floating.
When I left the org, I turned back and looked at the place. I mentally said good-bye to it, knowing that I would never return. The org had gone so far South to me, there was nothing there for me anymore. I went home and told my husband that I would never go back. First, I was interfered with during my course time. Second, they routed me out!
The IAS didn’t get a penny from me that day, and the org lost a good student.
I hope it was worth it to them.
It ended up being a blessing for me.
Thanks for your story Pepper, I totally can relate. I was on course and the IAS came and got MAA and Course Sup approval to take me off course to drive me to their lair to reg me. I wouldn’t go. I quoted the references on not disturbing a student etc and they said that the Course Sup and MAA said it was OK . I said it was out tech per WIAC, and it created a stir. The Sup came and told us to keep our voices down and not cause a scene. He was targeting me and angry at me. I told him the correct target was the IAS for interrupting and unmocking his courseroom. He didn’t see it that way since he was used to being forced to give up students so that they could be regged.
(slowly shaking my head)
OMG Cindy, IAS reges to drive you to their lair?
And when would they drive you back? Oh that sounds dangerous. I can imagine they would hold you hostage and talk your head off for hours. I would rather look forward to my next shingles outbreak than deal with that nonsense. At least I have medication for it that nips it in the bud. ?
Hey, Pepper, you got any extra medication? I’d like to nip it in the “bud” too.
Hi Pepper,Thank you for telling your goodbye to Ron’s World.It ended up being a blessing for us here too.Always Ann B.
Hi Ann. My goodbye was a long one. That story was not the total end. For me, the tech was the last thing to go. It took a long time to understand what was happening with me and only recently have I been able to sort it out to where it makes sense. We are all different in this respect and are at various points in our life journey. This is one of the reasons why I appreciate this blog and Mike as a moderator. I have to say that you are a blessing to us to have you here, so thank you.
Hi My Pepper,Thank you for telling me there was more to your Scientology goodbye.I thought that might be so.I have a few more pieces of my goodbye that I will sort out and post.I understand why the tech would be the last to go for you.for me it was my iron conviction that I would be SO for life.so it took a tornado to disabuse me of that pledge.Thank you Pepper.I’ve been posting here enough because I like to write and Mike is stuck with me until he tells me to mosey on along the trail.Blessings all round,it is nice to be able to say that with a clear no,pun conscience,Love U and a big hug for your Mom.Always Ann B.
Pepper, what a great story! I remember a SO officer dressed in black with a giant scientology cross around her neck . It was at a party at Mario Feninger’s house in LA He played the piano and so did his students. It was all mostly artists and cool people and the place was filled with laughter then in walks this Ethics Officer all in black. It was as if the Grim Reaper had walked in, the mood dropped at once. Then I remembered her. Several years earlier she was a SO guest at the Atlanta Mission and she was to speak. The first thing she said to us was, “FLUNK”.
Wow, Roger that poor woman sounds like a killjoy. Imagine what goes on in the inside with all the high standards to live up to, while expecting others to do the same. One thing I learned from being in the COS is that you are never good enough, no matter what you do. It’s a tough way to try to live and it makes me sad to see people I know and love running this on themselves.
Pepper, thanks for telling your story. It really helps us to understand, and I have a feeling many others have similar experiences. I’m glad you are doing so well, best wishes for continued happiness in the future. – T.J.
Hi T.J. and you’re welcome. My general purpose when I write here is for the person who is searching. Someone who needs confirmation that they are not crazy, evil or just wrong for thinking or feeling the way they do. I know that there are people who are in the church who stay in, and yet they are peeking at the internet here and there. You never know what might resonate with someone enough to believe that they can leave the cult and will be okay. My best to you too and thanks 🙂
When things were good for me in the beginning, the concept of “having” to write a Success Story was okay. Made sense. Kinda like the concept of no C/Sing your own case or “talking” about your own case. Made sense… when they were good, correct or true – for me. But when they are not good, correct or true and you’ve slowly bought in to them over time and now you’re in too deep with family, friends, work, way of life… it becomes part of the dissertation of what makes up a cult.
Hi McCarran, Your post resonates.I began in my early KoolAid Sea Org days loving to write Sucess Stories.Back then I had no restrictions what so ever on what or how I conveyed my wins.It was about as free a space for me to express myself without recrimination as I could get in The Sea Org.Then once Intell pounced I could never write a success story again.Made a twisted sort of sense though,I had nothing polite to say about their application of Tech! Always Ann B.
Cult members are soo good at parodying themselves its not even funny .
Wait….what? Is that an oxymoron? I’m pretty good and moron part.
“Life kept getting in the way” of completing the next level. That is one of the goals of Scientology: to get members to disconnect from their lives (work, family, community, recreation) and devote themselves solely to Scientology. Once in, the ones that aren’t too far gone will realize that Scientology is getting in the way of having a life.
+1! Outstanding post, Lori S! And, yes, that’s exactly how they get you to give up everything you own and come to work for them. Lost souls…
Reply to Mark Marco and all re: my post yesterday asking Scientologists who are currently still in to “Wake the F*** up!.
You are absolutely correct. In Scientology terms my rant was directed at the “wrong target”.
I am assigning myself a lower condition. (Not really).
Hope everyone has a great day and thanks Mike for all you do here.
Joe
Hi Joe,Keep posting and no lower condition for you.I had plenty of all that make wrong myself!Always Ann B.
“Ann, we’re putting you in a lower condition.” LOL! Does that not sound like a line you’d expect to hear in one of those movies about an awful futuristic society where a pretty young girl has to go out and kill her friends as part of a game? That’s IF SCIENTOLOGY TOOK OVER THE WORLD!
That’s the exact story line science fiction writer Ron Hubbard would have had a lot of fun with. And a character named something like, “Johnny Appleseed Niceboy” would fight that nasty Ruler and save the world from it.
He would describe this awful society as one where people were always put in higher or lower conditions based upon their compliance to the Emperor Lord Xenu or some such thing.
Hi Roger Hornaday,I am about to leave to get my new right eye done,left one 9/23 and I would
hate to be in a lower condition! Loved your post and your one to Pepper about The Ethics Officer in black saying flunk will keep me laughing through the fun with surgery! Love U Always,AnnB.
Hi Mark Marco,We double teamed The Sea Org I was in 74-78.If you ever want to reach me privately my email is: abwatson@cox.net.The Rats already know it so hey.Off to eye surgery now for cataracts do the other eye 9/23.I’ll see U later.Forever Love no fooling XO Ann B Ps loved your recent post.
Joe! That’s so [ ____ing] cool. Thanks for filling in the word I was looking for there:
wrong target, yes. But you understood, that’s great.
And I wanted to give a shout-out to the girl that followed me that day, also, to say I feel the pain she’s talking about there, I do. I get it. Love all, Jupiter-sized. Maybe I should start my own blog, but everybody already comes here and, honestly, I don’t have all that much new to say. The cat is out of the bag, the jig is up and we do, after all, have a handle on the real, inside scoop from the very top, cream of the crop and apple of my eye, I can’t say enough, the man who needs no introduction, Mike. Thanks. I was just dinging around in the middle of the night. Neat.
“life seemed to continually make demands and got in the way” from completing survival rundown. This does not compute. Error…
Good lot of crazinesses from become who i_ndeed became crazily making themselves still more of a foolish lot!
And I remember that Under Hubbard, successes were still crazier. I suspect the dwarfchief to have reduced the size of the impossibilities worded and written by completers of almost any level or service. Comparing the ones on OT VIII with the ones one HAS could be a good way to show this!
Roger: These success stories are EVERYBODY’S worst fear they would not know anything about until they communicate with someone that does and they look back and remember. I hated this and still do. I use to be forced to attest to gains I did not feel like I had attained, to not attest to gains I felt like I had attained, with people that had the same problem and yet someone collected the money for it. It is scary at times, it still happens every day in the church. Thanks to the internet and people like you or me it is much easier to break free. 🙂
Lawrence, I never attested to being Clear. My auditor was pushing me to attest. I refused. I used the old definition of Clear: A Clear is to a normal person, what a normal person is to the institutionally insane. It just wasn’t real for me.
Yes, today’s wins are a lot less tangible. In other words, more slippery and resistant to confirmability.
You ain’t jess whistlin’ Dixie, hgc10! I tried to catch a win the other day. That win was so slippery, I dropped it. I dropped my win. I’m such a downstat.
OSD, you dropped your win on my toe. I’ll have to be careful next time not to pull that in.
I did indeed drop my ‘win’ on your toe. And, it’s refreshing to see that you are taking responsibility for that, hgc 10. You did pull that in. Hmmmmm…..either I’m PTS to the middle class or I’m a raging SP. I’ll leave it up to you, pal.
“my third daughter Arianna went Clear when she was 13, one of the youngest Clears on the planet, and she joined the Sea Org at 14.” This is really sad news. Poor child. What a lunacy. They can only recruit children of 2nd generation Scientologists or people who don’t speak English and haven’t been exposed to the excellent PR Scienotology gets in the media.
So his oldest daughter is 20…..his other daughter is 11 and his 3rd daughter joined the Sea Org at 14? Are we missing a daughter in there somewhere? Daughter #1 is 20. Daughter #3 joined Sea Org at 14. Other daughter is 11. Smartest daughter (#2) is 18 and ran away from home many years ago……
Either he got his math wrong, which is likely because he has never read a book, or he is lying
Or, since English does not appear to be his first language, he is not listing daughters by age……
However he adds it up, they are all screwed.
Wait a sec…..didn’t Tommy Davis say you had to be 16 to join the Sea Org?
The Sea Org specifically recruits young teens (even children) and has been doing this for a very long time. The younger the teen the better. Before they experiment with sex, alcohol or drugs so they are ‘clean.’ Before they learn anything about the real world or how money works. Young minds are very easy to mold, form and indoctrinate into anything you want. Some teens like the concept of being free from Mom and Dad and the Sea Org plays on this. They are told that they are billion year old thetans and that their parents and families are not important. Once in the Sea Org, they enter a living situation that is more oppressive than what most parents would even think of doing with a child.
Note to parents: If your child suddenly starts talking about “Duty” when they never had been discussing the concept before, know that a Sea Org recruiter has their ear.
The only thing sadder is that the recruiters stalk the Scn schools and your kids. And if one child is recruited, they turn around and the sibling recruits your other child into the SO. Now that is sad losing both kids to the SO because they turn the young on the young.
Very thoughtful post, Mike.
Scientology draws people in further and further partly because the illusion of “wins” can only be sustained with the groups agreement that these delusional wins are real.
The group becomes vital to reinforcing the “wins”
But when the “rubber meets the road” the “wins” magically evaporate.
‘You can send me to NASA now” why not the Navy Seals at the same time to put the icing on the cake?
It all has to do with mindsets and if clubbed seals are willing to pay the a hundred fold the price for the placebo trick why not?
“I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a King of infinite space” Hamlet, Shakespeare
But there is something rotten in the stale of Denmark, sorry in the Kingdom of the IAS.
It’s all complete delusion. Utter. As just ONE example, I remember being sent to NYC on Mission from the Sea Org during the horrific sanitation department (garbage pickup) strike – late 70’s thinking I could ACTUALLY become the major and fix everything.
OMGGGGG
When I left the SO and tried to get a job in the “real world” — forget about it.
I *could* however be hired by scientologists — because of my former reputation as a good Sea Org member. And then when I left ALL OF IT — guess what?
NO body would hire me in the Scientology world.
AND then when I embarked to TRY to earn a living — guess what??? Without credentials – i.e. provable job history, college degree and or tech degrees — etc ..
You *might* be able to get an “entry level” job — meaning minimum wage.
The delusion is staggering.
Are there exceptions — of course. Many have parlayed their scion/SO skills into viable careers for themselves – usually self-employed and many have done GREAT>
But walk into NASA? Not on your f**** life.
Windhorse
Hi Windhorse,Another thought provoking post,thank you.That is why I worry that all the elder Sea Org Members if they ever do leave,will have a very bad time with no savings and no nothing.The Sea Org the Cruelist Master You Will Ever Encounter.Always Ann B.
Unfortunately, this attitude is not unique to scientologists.
There is a whole bunch of people out there who believe their attitude and wishes trump useful technical skills. They think companies like google will hire them after reading the wiki article on programming and padding their CVs if they’ve got a vision board with its logo on their desktop.
Then reality comes back and they fail miserably in the first technical interview, because google (or any other successful company) was not built out of wishful thinking and vision boards.
My fondest memories of scn and best wins (and I DID have wins) were in my early days when I really never fully knew what it was all about or what was expected of me in terms of cognitions and wins. The wins were entirely unexpected – and more welcome for that reason. Ultimately, I became highly respected – but the wins almost entirely vanished – when I ‘cognited’ on how to BS. I became expert at writing success stories that were entirely insincere but I knew they would go down well with the sheeples. They were almost entirely aimed at appeasing the CS. Ironically, this also spelled the beginning of the end for me as I increasingly went on the internet to find inspiration for my BS, and guess what I eventually found there!
So true dr mac….writing success stories to appease the C/S. If a success story had any hint of BI then it’s time for an FES, Review/Repair program…..not for free. Or better yet after writing your success, you go to the examiner who reads it and gives a funny look or makes a covert invalidative comment with fake happiness for your “wins”. Once a person finishes a level they are then subjected to complete evaluation and a lot of times invalidation of how they feel and what they feel they experienced. After one experience like that a PC then “knows” what should be said and how one should act because if not there are consequences. It’s okay to be happy but you have to be happy the way we think you should be happy. Where in the hell is the spiritual enlightenment in that??
Thank you, doctor.
This beautifullly portrays the true value of the required Success Stories,
and reveals the covert agenda behind them.
[ Startled, the Wizard kicks at the little dog and says into his megaphone, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.]
I think at this point the curtain has been pulled open very wide so all can see inside. And what they see is fraudulent.
“I, for example, always had a real problem confronting antagonistic people. I literally got sick. One day, I came out of session and somebody yelled at me. I confronted and it stopped.”
Someone yelled at Sandy Dodwell as he came out of session. Why would that happen? Because he was in a Scientology org, that’s why. The “antagonistic people” he is referring to are Scientologists. Being around Scientologists was making Sandy physically ill. That was, until he learned to be counter-antagonistic (“I confronted”) in the proper style of assholery. I am sure that Sandy applies his new personality to outsiders too, which means that he has learned to alienate non-Scientologists by his thousand-yard stare and pretend acknowledgement but in-fact complete dismissal (“I get what you’re saying”) of another’s concerns.
Congratulations, Sandy. You have become a Scientology Asshole Grade Zillion.
That’s what I got from that “success story”. Now I go around antagonizing people, just to have fun. Look at me.
Oh, oh, oh! Can I go with you, Val? That sounds like so much fun! I’ll buy us lunch…
“I honestly feel that this is THE most important auditing and drilling action I have done in Scientology. I don’t say that lightly having been doing services for 56 years.” – I.D. New OT VIII
FIFTY SIX YEARS?! You’ve been doing this crap for FIFTY SIX YEARS and you say that like it makes you an expert? Seriously- boasting that you’ve been going round on the same hamster wheel for over half a century does not encourage anyone [outside the Bubble] to take you seriously. I’d be laughing if it weren’t such a tragic waste.
Hi Graham, Good to meet you.I did a double take on 56 years also.This person must be an Olympic champion as to the Hamster Wheel! Please do not say anything lightly your success story is weighed down by all your yrs in Ron and David’s World.Where will that clam be at the very end of their run?Brofe,sick,and abandoned.That very well would have been me if I had not fled.Always Ann B.
Hi Graham,I meant broke…Ann B.
Again, notice it’s only initials and not names. After 56 years in, and you feeling like this is THE most important auditing & drilling action you’ve ever done in Scientology, wouldn’t you want your friends to know it’s you???
If they only use initials, when the people blow by the time the promo comes out, they can still use the success story.
Hi OSD, Right with you.If I had been in 56 years I would be screaming my full name from every Idle Org roof top.I would want the Planet to know how “on source” I was! Always Ann B.
Hi Valerie,I like your post and you are right but in my last weeks in Sea Org if I could have
i would have gathered all my success stories over the years and put s match to them.After what Scientology did to my friends ,my soul mates ,my public I wrote to every day.I would never let what I wrote then as success stories be used now.Always Ann.
Damn, Valerie! I never thought of that. Of course, you’re right on the money.
The more I read the more about these training program the more I am convinced these people are doomed. They are deep in Scientology and constantly hurting for self improvement while permanently reminded by “big brother” that they are not good enough, “you need to invest in another course!”.
With the same passion and effort they could just do whatever they wanted to do in the real world ……but I feel that this simple concept would be like explaining quantum physics to a goat….
Yo Sandy,
“Space is limited! ”
You bet it is!!
Here is your news flash: That is the only kind of space available inside the Cult. Take a walk on the wild side baby and break out. Bring your friend Bill Batchelor with you.
BTW, How are you doing with your ‘spot sec checks’ of Oat Tees during Clive Rabids little 10,000 on or above briefings? Pretty popular activity I imagine speaking of creating space.
Space on a ship is finite, therefore limited. That doesn’t mean that the space is full of people, though. The space in my wallet is also limited, but it is far from full of cash.
“I had found what my family and I were looking for”. Interesting. Members of my family are always looking for different things: my 83 year old mom is looking for her keys, my daughter is looking for a new boyfriend, my son is looking to get laid, my wife is looking for the man she married 20+ years ago and I am looking for……..Maybe we should all be looking for our local org, because apparently whatever we all are looking for is there!
Wow, Roger! Your family is truly a family of seekers! You’ve inspired me! Whatever this ‘org’ thing is, that’s where I’m going! And I’m positive I’ll find the key to life there. I’ll see you and your family there, right?
I am so glad I took the time to read the success stories from high-level Scientologists. Every ex- Scientologist must read the stories if you want to make progress. It was just like “Whew!!!” I feel totally empowered. Now I feel an unshakable certainty that nothing will ever stop me on my upward progression to total freedom. Thanks Mike!
P. S. I also gained the ability to move objects with the power of mental thinking.
It works for me too Thomas. Yesterday I thought about moving three loads of horse shit to create some compost and I actually did it after I thought about it.
Now, where do I send my success story?
Yo Dave,
How’s that compost heap in Hemet workin out for you good buddy? Tossed anyone new in lately?
Just be sure to thank COB, David Micavige, and LRH. If it weren’t for these two, Coop, you never would have had the thought and your horse shit would still be in your horses.
Thomas, I feel you, brother! Thanks so much for sharing your wins. Coop and Mary, same thing. I thought about going surfing a couple of days ago. Next thing I knew, I was driving to my favorite surf spot. And then, I went surfing! Whew! I now realize that the ocean is just a little ways from where I live! I mean, this is earth shattering for me! I know it’s not nearly as profound at Coop’s win, but, it’s still huge for me! Slingin’ shit is one hellava success story!
Coop, were you able to ascertain how warm the shit was using just your super powers? I’ll bet you did! It’ll probably take some time for you to come back to your body after this experience.
And Mary, you are quite correct! If it weren’t for COP, LRH & the USDA, Coop would never have had that thought! I mean, I don’t know about you, Mary, but, I’m just totally blown away!
Now, I’m not the sharpest nife, errrrrr, ahhhhh…I mean knife in the chandelier, but, honest to God, you could send me to NASA RIGHT NOW!!
Father Miscavige, writing the words
Of some drivel that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working, slapping his socks
In the night when there’s nobody there
What does he care
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Surfer Dude you are my king. You wear the crown of the kingdom, mine.
I thank the stars, never would have happened, if not for the sharing of
your success story. Don’t board the ship without me, I’ll be first officer,
and never will we be lost for the want of a well-sighted Captain.
Say, do they serve margaritas on this beach?
Hi Thomas Weeks, Like your post.Me too,I can move objects also,for all the millions spent,all those OTs can try out their new abilities in the Cos/David’s sand box!Always Ann B.
I am glad that you brought this subject up Mike.
There is more to scn wins and success stories than what you say.
It is (from Hubbard’s (and the church’s) POV, legal insurance, so that you can’t come back and say you did not get anything out of it. If you do, then they can pull the “win” story and show it to you.
But is in fact unlawful because it was done under duress of the most diabolical and sinister kind.
Success stories would hold more weight if they were written one week, one month, three and six months after.
I was in comm with an ayahuasca treatment center owner in Mexico a while back.
And we had a good talk.
The comm got to talking about success stories.
And the guy says we do not want a success story from you until about six months after.
That is so you will have time to get over the euphoria and really evaluate your experience, with the test of time.
That is called having “ETHICS” in.
Dio
Right there with you, Dio. When I was on staff and had just finished some course, of course, the powers that be wanted me to write a “Success Story.” I told them the course was ‘alright,’ but, nothing to write home about. You’d have thought I had just said Hubbard was a fraud! All the execs pounced on me to write my success story. If I didn’t, I would have to do the course over again. And, believe me, they were all pissed off! Not wanting to redo the course I had just completed, I acquiesced to their demands. That was my first inkling that insanity permeated this group.
And, Dio? You’re absolutely right in the way they use success stories to blackmail people.
Staff member: What??? You’re leaving? Why?
Public: Well, I really didn’t get anything out of it so I want my money back.
Staff member: Well, here’s your “Success Story” right here! That’s your writing, right?
Public: Yeah, yeah, but, now I don’t think is was worth it so I want my money back. Hey! Where are you going? I still get my money back, right? RIGHT?
Staff member (walking away): We don’t give refunds. You better read the contracts you signed, you DB!
This whole gig is about keeping the gig working.
Deception, blackmail, punishment…
installing self doubt for every problem,
constantly creating enemies, attacking enemies, declaring ever more enemies.
Everything covert, nobody knows what lurks about, what is demanded next, what to expect next, what is expected of them now…
Who the leader is going to decapitate next.
why nobody is buying auditing, why they aren’t getting anywhere on the Bridge, nobody knows.
And they don’t ask why they are not allowed to see what is next on the Bridge,
why they can’t talk about it, it is all just blindly accepted, the policy, the tech, the fact that the Bridge and everything that happens on it remains invisible.
Invisible is a state of being a covert-based organization would enjoy.
Silent the leader would be.
What happens in auditing remains confidential until it can be used against you,
another thing they don’t exactly tell you at the entrance, or before you give them the money,
and I forgot to mention.
Yes,
I do mark the entire doctrine as invalid. I would go further, noting toxic effects and all, the danger to society by accepting any part or word of it …
but I prefer to walk away. LRH, after all, is dead. The king is dead. Long be dead the king.
And never mind David Miscavige. He was always at best just a puppet to the boss there and we have successfully discredited and muzzled him. Everyone knows that, except the few believers who still put faith above critical thought, and Tom Cruise.
Time now to burn down the church altogether.
(metaphorically, of course. Some of those beautiful buildings must have some kind of useful potential, somehow. Theaters, maybe. Let’s show the play “Disconnection”. )
love all
Dedicated to the still inside.
Mark, what you described is a classic cult. I can’t possibly know which cult you’re talking about, though.
And when they return home, they will be devastated as to how much debt they are in, how alone they are and how their dreams have been shattered…
but the “implants” fed to them by the propanda work every time….
those suck-sess stories are right out of the propaganda….
Look behind the curtain at the Scientologist’s – you will see “acting crippled, not winning, financial ruin, no friends, no mest, no money, living in flop houses writing up KR’s on each other”….
THAT is the product of Scientology.
Sadly, Idle Morgue, THAT is what it has become. I can assure you though, that it wasn’t always that way! Especially during my tenure, during the early 70’s (and before) when the focus was mainly on churning out as many highly trained auditors, as possible.
This COBbledigook insanity just produces more and more aberration and self-destruction — precisely as the Old man predicted it would, in the WRONG hands!
WE needn’t resort to the current popular mindset, of ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’ , just ’cause the ‘baby’ shat in it a few times.
After all, wasn’t it ‘the baby’, that tried to teach us to LOOK (and duplicate) for ourselves?
IF we had learned that one lesson well enough, (as some of us did,) would we not then have been sharp to avert the ‘mind – control’ trap the Old man warned about above?
Nevertheless, it’s great to see Mike handing back the ‘karma’ to the man with the greatest personal tally of overts against former Scn’s, than anyone else in the movement, since it’s inception. 300,000 X ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE!! (wild guess)
Just LOOK at that too, will you? 🙂
racingintheblood39,
I agree with and share your balanced view.
Mike states how distorted writing wins has become inside the bubble. Very true and precise.
And you mention how different it used to be. I agree too. Many of my (far) past written wins were real and clean from enforcement.
And when you say: “We needn’t resort to the current popular mindset, of ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’ , just ’cause the ‘baby’ shat in it a few times” again I can’t agree more. I will only add that they have been forcing the baby to do that constantly in the CoS for decades. Bad for everyone.
Mike says: “In truth, nobody should need to write a glowing statement about their “wins”..” While agreeing totally with the “SHOULD NEED” and “WINS” (meaning fake ones), I wish to point out that writing, or telling, or singing wins and successes in life INCLUDING those which result from spiritual work, are some of the biggest and pure joys of life.
Being an Indie for more than 3 years now, with a “clean baby”, practicing the Tech totally free with NO MUSTS of any kind, caused me to write, tell, sing, and play. numerous wins, all of which, easy to see, come straight from the heart, and totally self determined. I can say sadly, what a pity that the baby was kidnapped and abused.
These true wins, I share freely in writing and speaking with other friends who practice “other wonderful practices”, spiritual or mental, Buddhist, Taoists modern psychology and more, and they share their many wonderful wins with me. 🙂
No abuse, no enforce, no bullshit. Just improve and grow and mend your life for the better. Spiritual and mental work can take place. It does take place!! al over. But NOT in the CoS!
Just to share and balance positive with the negative…
Hemi
Hemi, as I once said earlier in this life, even the people at Auschwitz-Birkenau were treated better than the church treats its members. And I didn’t say it as joke. 🙂
love the Germans,
they dealt with this cult much better than us, The US, as we have the prediliction for protecting [ explicative deleated ] churches.
No, the Germans are not going to hand authority over to some self-declared eclectic belief system, ha!
Why didn’t we learn the same way? 1950’s in America, was not our proudest moment in history, in more ways than one.
Yes, Marco. In the USA we believe in the human right of freedom of association. People are free to join whatever group they want. (whether it is a “good” or “bad” idea. Interfering with free choice & personal beliefs is bad. Germany has a very “interesting” history when it comes to human rights though and some admire that State for those choices…
Lawence, you are either WOEFULLY uneducated or, insane. Here is just one of THOUSANDS of pics from Auschwitz-Birkenau
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d5/51/a4/d551a43bc70e5e07904693cf4db65678.jpg
Hemi, thanks so much for your abundant positivity. 🙂 You always manage to have your glass magically FULL, somehow!! 🙂 — ( we DO know how 😉 )
Yes, it’s just too convenient to abandon that which works, (a high toned, productive, energizing, theta filled environment) because one simply doesn’t HAVE that readily available any more. DROR, under the direction of Tami and Dani, being one marvelous exception, among a few others.
“Keeping the SHOW on the road”, has been replaced with the SHAM!
The other thing I reckon we need to stay alert to, is how insidiously the ploy of ‘mind-control’, is actually exercised upon the unwitting. (most!) That is to say, how easily we buy into ‘latest trends’, popular sentiment/s, etc, etc.
Keeping a ‘balanced’ view, as you put it, is simply insisting upon the imperative to differentiate, in order achieve that balance.
The simplicities of the tech and Axiomatic bases to resolving the ‘mess’, (current scene having overtaken (most of) the disgruntled field today) is still VERY much available, to those who recognize (and differentiate!!) exactly what has occurred, for what it is. — The wholesale destruction of a large scale of places of order, sanity, mental and spiritual technology ,hope, and healing – which effectively provided just that.
The great news is, one still have it all!! It’s available on the ‘net. And is now FREE of charge to the inquiring individual. Just need to grow the Independents back into to a position of physical locations, along the lines of DROR Academy, and the scene can again be abuzz with genuine wins, just as before.
As the Old man urged. — “Put an ORG there!!”
Much love & ARC,
— Calvin. 🙂
Thanks Calvin!
It’s your positivity which positived me in the 1st place… 🙂 and yes, you are right, it comes from spiritual work, WHICH WORKS.
The reason I keep “preaching” balance, is, because in the important and vital mission of exposing the abuses and fighting against the horrors of the CoS, one can entirely forget SPIRITUAL WORK, and forget that it is not only people that are crushed there, but that very ancient and wonderful concept, which means IMH(indie)O: improving conditions, raising happiness, love and tolerance levels, expanding, growing, discovering self and essences of life, the world, and really caring about people. That’s all, with the addition of having fun and joking more and more. 🙂
The horror of the “should write wins” system, as Mike so wisely portrays, is that it considers the Org, the Tech, THE TOOL, more important than the person, the USER of that tool. Total reverse: the person serves the Org instead of the opposite.
I didn’t intend to, as it is was not relevant, but you mention Dror Center. A place where I practice spiritual work, with wonderful results.
The place is there to help people with whatever THEY wish to improve / discover / correct in their lives. No other agenda. If a friend of mine
has a problem or is stressed mentally or spiritually, I will introduce him/her to Dror. If he likes and decides to do a service, great. If he doesn’t like it there for WHATEVER reason, I will urge him with all my heart to go do something else: meditation, mindfulness, therapy, anything that can help.
Because Dror, wonderful as it is, is not the important thing, but the person and whatever can benefit him, period. And this is totally fine with Dror…that’s why I am there, even though the “success/wins” forms can never be found there, when I need them, damn! and nobody cares, that’s how enforced they are…
Hemi
Thanks again, Hemi. Beautifully articulated, as only a truly spiritual person could. Of course, “balance”, is the entire point of trying to get our lives in workable sync, isn’t it? 🙂
And seeing just how broadly you apply your spiritual work, is, or should be, another eye-opener for die-hard in’s or ex anything-a-ma-bobs 🙂
Okay okay, and I get the Dror disclaimer bit too! (tch, tch) LOL!
But, BUT, my dearest Hemi, we still need a physical location we can call home-away-from-home, right? (there, Tami, Dani – done!)
You know? 🙂
Goodness gracious, Calvin, you validate like Michael Jordan dunks… Blush me…thanks. You are very wise, and I just had a cognition that you are even much funnier than me.. 🙂 You are right, in this material world physical places have their role. You know much about me and my fellow conspiratos and I know nuffin about you. Get in touch if you wish, through Mike (my mail) or Dror. Love your ” ex anything-a-ma-bobs” too!!
Cheers,
Hemi
Okay, Sunshine, Let’s! 🙂