Good question?
How COULD we have the only workable solution on earth and have orgs that are scrappy and degraded?
Even though we charge exorbitant amounts to let you in on that workable solution?
Do you people ever actually THINK about this?
The Medieval Motif
Subliminal messaging? Build a castle and all will be well…
It will blow you mind!
Believe it or not the mind blowing news IAS that there is MORE fundraising! You are going to be blown away by how serious International Management is about taking your money!
A permanent plaque
Unless of course you fall into disfavor… then they will erase your “permanent” name and bar you from entering the building you paid for.
These people will do anything for status…
Columbus? Why? To be on a permanent plaque?
Scientology Delhi
This is all there is for a nation of more than a billion people…
That’s some big names
Aren’t they? They have to be big because this is a World concert isn’t it? And you need to wear cocktail attire. They must be important right?
32.5 humanitarians
That is 16.25 each I suppose. Is a quarter one leg? Half a torso?
We’ve been given actual numbers on what it will take to clear the planet? Really? And even then you are throwing your money into that hopeless cause? Because to clear the planet you need a MILLION ideal orgs AND some way to solve getting anyone to go into them. Even then that would still require each org to Clear 7000 people and there isn’t an org in the history of scientology that has done that.
Wake up and smell the coffee….
Veteran Class XII auditor
Apparently now put out to pasture to do seminars?
Did you hear?
The IAS event will be at Hollywood and Highland. No, at LRH Way.
No, we have no clue.
The Ultimate Experience
Once we figure out where to be to experience it…
This picture…
Write your own caption.
What does he know?
Why isn’t Hank Bourland, the Class XII doing this?
Greg Capazorio!
OMG. This is definitely a “can’t miss” event. Right?
Big CCHR News!
We want your money. That’s the big news… why else would a French Freedom Medal Winner be in Manchester.
UK Convention
Arts, ingenuity and ideal orgs? How do these things go together?
Might help attendance if they knew where things were going to be held…
Earth shattering news!
What they have to do to get to St Hill size. Something that has been known since 1983… that’s pretty earth shattering apparently.
its always how they’re “going to” do things. Wonder when they ever DO?
Recovery?
Who do they need to recover?
Surely now the have an ideal org everyone flocked in because the reason they were not there before was the org was not ideal. Right?
Greg Capazorio!
Wait — I thought it was live music, videos and discussions with that other guy on the red poster?
No comment
The Cult of $cientology is sure routinely making a mountain out of a lonely St. Molehill.
So that’s what Tim Burke’s job title is… I’ve been on the receiving end of his efforts.
Mike, Thank you for all you do, and for continuing to shed the light glaringly into the bubble.
I was so stunned to see a picture of Hank Bourland. When I first scanned the page, I thought “Who is that old geezer?” He looks about 80. Then I read the name and was gob-smacked. I knew Hank back in the 70s. We’re the same age. And I look like I’m in my 50s. Poor, poor deluded man.
Hank Bourland must have fallen out of favor. In around 2007 or earlier, he was driving the EPF bus despite his Class XII credentials. And now he is out giving seminars. I guess there isn’t much call for a Class XII when there are no pcs. On my last trip to Flag in 2011 or 2012, I was the only pc on my NOTS auditor’s lineup and I didn’t see anyone else in the HGC pc waiting lounge.
LRH: “… we pledge to decry and do all we can to abolish any and all abuses against life and mankind.” So, he appointed David Miscavige the task and he commenced to do so beginning in his own house. DM is yanking more than just ribbons.
As for G.R.’s “win”, only an acknowledgement would suffice. That’s it. The child is clueless. And her parents are morons for promoting her ramblings in public. We learned algebra at 12 and I didn’t hear any horn toots.
LRH did not appoint David Miscavige. If you read his father’s book, Ruthless, he explains that DM had a realization during an asthma attack. The realization was that power is not assigned, but it is assumed. He ‘assumed’ LRH’s position, like a Roman emperor would assume power by ruthless tactics.
Pretty sad if you ask me, as subversion, stiff-arming, and covertness are all low-tone actions. You would think after over 2,000 years, human nature would be past such tactics. Nope, they are still as relevant thousands of years later as they were at the height of paganism. Criminality and mental illness still abound at the high tiers of any hierarchy apparently.
Ah, yes; power is assumed – assuming that no one else is trying to assume it when you are; then you have to get ruthless and destroy all your rivals who are simultaneously trying to “assume” power at the same time, which is exactly what Dear Leader DM did. As a highschool dropout, I guess he never studied Macbeth or Richard the III.
Macbeth, huh?
Does this mean that someone at Gold Base is muttering this to themself about Miscavige?
” Out, damn dwarf! Out, I say!”.
Probably. ☺
“THISIS A DON’T MISS EVENT!”
Thanks, Hilarie, but, wait – a “DON’T miss” event?
I don’t recall there ever having been an “DO miss” event.
Did I miss that?
In the probably distant future the COS might be reformed. Eliminate the vindictive, sadistic and nonsensical parts and the Wall of Fire. I didn’t do the OT levels but there might be some worthwhile processes/procedures on them. The “worst” that could happen is that someone might give some credence to past lives and join billions of other people in that belief.
An alternative is to elevate LRH to the status of prophet which would simplify things. People could then accept or reject whatever he said or wrote as a matter of faith. This and the above is oversimplified to be sure and my feeble attempt at futurism.
Processing and training on the lower grade chart in the 1970’s was an exploration of the psychology of the mind and human interaction. For me it was and still is a basis for comparison.
Hi Richard,
It would take a new cult leader to do something with Scientology. You might be on target when you say that lower level Dianetics could provide some comfort to a mind. But the OT levels are more of a mind twisting mess. In my opinion, the OT levels are nothing more that 6th grade level. There is no real point to looking at BT’s or past lives. As a Buddhist, I have had numerous conversations with the subject of past lives with Monks in my tradition. There is no attention whatsoever on the subject of past lives. In fact, in the cult that I now follow, we do not even accept that the Buddha ever even mentioned them. Most of the information on past lives was added later by Hindu influence. There is no point at all to past lives in meditation. There is a great misunderstanding in the West about the origin of spirits or demons. Hubbard was using bad translations and the knowledge of fear developed in the Middle Ages. Hubbard was more than fundamentally wrong.
“Monks in my tradition”
Vajrayana? I’m a vipassana meditator myself, but have gotten much from all the Buddhist paths.
These are Theravada Monks from Thailand. Also a few from Sri Lanka. Two of them have passed. The tradition started in the late 70’s early 80’s. No consideration of past lives.
Um,no. ” Processing and training” were and are fantasies. There is no such thing as an engram or a reactive mind or a secondary. The e-meter does not detect thoughts, emotions, or incidents.Scientology ethics has nothing to do with the philosophical study of that subject. The subject has no value outside of the cult, and inside the cult the subject is as valuable as the money that, first, Hubbard could extract, and now Miscavige does extract, from it.
If you don’t believe me, take your e-meter and your Hubbard tomes to any psychology or philosophy or medical department of the university of your choice and share your
alleged ” exploration of the mind and human interaction” with them. Its value should be readily apparent and easily corroborated…and quickly adopted for use.
Good luck.
Excellent observation, Mark
Analytical mind – reactive mind – somatic (body) mind is a theoretical model. There is no universally accepted definition of the mind or a memory.
There have been numerous debates about how and why the e-meter does or does not work and there is never any agreement. Everyone has there own opinion.
The “dianetics theoretical model” , besides being full of holes and contradictions and never subjected to long term scientific verification,
requires the practitioner to accept its premises and practices, without doubt, debate, discussion, critical analysis, or alteration. On a common sense level, a ” one program fits all” therapy model, that is tightly controlled and monetized and trademarked, that allegedly GUARANTEES a uniform, visceral, standardly repeatable psychological result for EVERYONE, is suspect without extensive 3rd party testing and verification. It was conceived with the INTENTION to control and defraud; see Hubbard’s Affirmations.
The e-meter is based on the wheatstone bridge, which practitioners of psychology/psychiatry were experimenting with at the end of the 19th
century! Subsequent research conducted about the use of skin galvonometers to assess emotional reactions found them to be of limited usefulness in tightly controlled situations-and those were more sophisticated designs than that of the e-meter. Beyond that, the e-meter was brought into scientology as a gimmick and a hustle by Hubbard.
So, yes; the e-meter does not “read” thoughts or detect truth, but the hypnotic routines and indoctrination of scientology certainly convince its followers that it does.
As a practical and observational matter, in dianetic auditing if the tone arm (an adjustment dial on the e-meter) is rising the auditor asks if there is an earlier incident (occurrence) of whatever is being addressed. If the tone arm is steady or falling the same incident is gone over again. When the person has a cognition (realization) and has good indicators (is happy) the needle on the e-meter floats (swings softly back and forth).
As a practical and observational matter, the e- meter reads nothing…other than the trained(i.e. indoctrinated and hypnotized response) of the scientologist and, incidently, changes in galvanic skin response that can indicate non-specific emotional arousal, especially given the crudeness of the e-meter design. I get that you are attached to the device and the so-called ” tech”; why don’t you read some more about the last 100 years of research and experimentation with GSR and, at the very least, upgrade your machine? And, perhaps, examine the same time period regarding the development of a plethora of concepts of the mind and spirit that are ethical, compassionate, and workable, all useable without needing to surrender your critical thinking skills or your personal moral compass.
Hi Mark – I agree that scn as a path to Total Freedom is a failure and I wouldn’t recommend scn to anyone. Lawrence Wright said he was interested in how people become caught in a prison of belief. I sometimes mention things I believe were positive within the subject itself as distinct from the organization and the “Founder” which might give some sense to it. Most people in scn and other cults eventually wake up and leave so there may still be some hope for humanity.
“An alternative is to elevate LRH to the status of prophet which would simplify things. People could then accept or reject whatever he said or wrote as a matter of faith.”
Uh, Richard, that wouldn’t work. Hubblard claimed his “discoveries” were a matter of science; not of faith (of course in reality what he wanted was for everyone to worship the ground he walked on).
Someone could say he was being modest. Organized religion is usually about creating a belief and then extracting money from it. I’m not talking about five or ten years from now but maybe in a hundred years if civilization lasts that long.
I meant modest in the sense that Elron said his discoveries were based on research, but a futuristic scn might say he was divinely inspired. That would be the spin put on it.
In the mid 1970’s auditing cost $25/hour which was double or triple what a good wage earner made. The OT levels could be bought as a package for $3,500 which was the cost of a new car back then.
Richard, this is for you 🙂
Oh, the way Led Zeppelin played,
Hubbard’s tech could still get paid
Guys like us we had it made
Those were the days!
There was no 3-Swing FN
No one cared for buildings then
Mister we could use a man like David Mayo again.
Didn’t need no EasyBakes
Auditing on OT 8
Gee our Class V staff were great
Those were the days!
Aqua – laughter! – I occasionally make a comment about scn past as a historical footnote. The public only knows “Scientology” as the scam it is today.
As an auditor I took it seriously. I was dealing with a person’s mind and their deepest thoughts and emotions. Likewise, the administrative people I knew considered themselves professional and insisted on quality of service. We were dedicated but without a steely glare and fanaticism. Maybe the sea org was always fanatical. Even so, probably most people joined voluntarily without undue pressure.
Richard,
Understood on all. I had positive experiences with the tech in my org back in the day. My auditors were wonderful, kind, caring, patient people. I trusted them completely. I benefited from auditing, and from the courses I did. Whatever was occurring due to the toxic policies back then did not affect me. I had no idea it was going on as back then there were no clues. There was always pressure to donate but the pressure was to pay for auditing and training, not the IAS and Ideal Orgs. I didn’t perceive much of a change until 9/11. From my perceptions, that’s when things began to be all about the money. From then on it only intensified. Now, I’m not saying that 9/11 actually WAS the beginning of things being “all about the money”. This could have been ALWAYS the case. I’m just sharing my perceptions. I was never staff, never Sea Org, always a public. As such, there had to be a great deal that I never saw, never experienced. I’m in solidarity with the people here because for so many years I had no idea of the abuses – no idea. And although I was not abused, I COULD HAVE BEEN. In other words, if the cherch had had the kind of leverage on me that it had on others, it would have been used. In brief, I ddin’t get abused because there was nothing they could do to me. And that’s the ONLY reason. I’m under no illusions about this organization. My trust in Co$ was misplaced and my lack of suffering at their hands was purely and luckily for me, circumstantial.
I have only one thing to say to that:
AAAAARRRRRCCHHHHIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait, something’s coming in!
To: Alcoboy
From: David Miscavige COB RTC
Re: that tasteless All In The Family joke.
Stifle yourself, dingbat!
ML
Dave
Richard, minimum wage in 1975 was $2.10 an hour, so auditing was more than a whole order of magnitude (10 times) greater – and the average manufacturing wage was only about $5*, so it was still a lot more than a “good wage earner” made, unless you traveled in some very elite circles. Where do your ideas about that imagined better time, come from?
* I checked, see for instance the wage tables at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021301612;view=1up;seq=406
I said a “good” wage earner which may be unclear. I was a journeyman painter and had no problem finding non union work in the eight to ten dollar an hour range. Later on when I was still in scn I started a small contracting business and often earned $25/hour for the time spent.
In 1964 the Ford Mustang came out. It was later called the “dollar a pound” car since it weighed 2,200 pounds and cost $2,200. Maybe by 1980 after a couple of rounds inflation it cost $3,500.
Scn was never going to Clear the Planet, at least not in my lifetime, and I never bought into it. It took too long and cost too much. I figured it might make an impact.
When the monthly price increases resumed it took scn out of the reach of even a “good” wage earner. I decided the the organization was simply greedy and becoming elitist and quit along with hundred of other scientologists during the Great Exodus in LA around 1981-1982.
In hindsight I think it’s possible that scn was growing too fast for Elron to keep it under his thumb so maybe he wanted to slow things down by jacking up the prices, but that’s just speculation.
Richard, that’s interesting to hear. You must have been in a somewhat privileged position regarding your earning ability, and perhaps also being at a mission or org where conditions weren’t as bad as they were elsewhere.
If auditing was $25 per hour back then, that’s 11.9 times the 1975 minimum wage of $2.10 per hour.
California minimum wage in 2018 is $11 per hour, so if auditing now $125 per hour (the most recent figure I remember seeing), that’s a multiple of 11.4.
Things don’t seem to actually have changed as much, as your nostalgic recollections lead you to imagine. It’s a common foible of human memory, and seems also to be exacerbated by long-term Scientology indoctrination including being forced to frame things in terms of “wins” and to though-stop criticisms of the CofS.
The charts you referenced say the hourly earnings for production workers in Contract Construction was $7.49/hour in 1976. You’re contradicting your own reference. Maybe you have some “resistance” to the idea that scn was once affordable?
Ha! The Vancouver Org is a complete joke. There’s no one there. They can’t even afford to maintain their property. Last I heard they’d been repeatedly fined by the city for failure to maintain their facade. When the winter freezes over the rainwater left over from the last time’s rain and expands, gradually worsening the damage. They couldn’t even afford to fix damage from the rain! In Vancouver!
J.T., I love to read heartwarming news like this! Thank you. I’m in Washington State, not too far from Vancouver, and if they can’t keep the rain out in this geographical area, that’s pathetic. No wait, wrong word; that’s laughable. Proving, once again, that as “a modern science of mental health,” scientology is all wet.
Mr. Hank Bourland
Sea Org Veteran.
Huh?
I thought that when you joined the Sea Org you signed on for a billion years!
How’d he get out so soon?
What kind of a discharge was he given?
Does this mean he now qualifies for Scientology veteran’s benefits?
Can he now go to the Scientology PX and Commissary?
What about his Sea Org pension? How much does he get a month?
“How could we have the only workable solution on the planet and have orgs that are scrappy and degraded?”
Simple answer, the orgs reflect the true workability of the techniques and administration policy.
It seems that we’re seeing quite a few teasing claims these days, that the International Landlord Office has some sort of revealing news for the local orgs with stalled and uncompleted “ideal” building campaigns. I wonder exactly what angle they are trying to work now – I assume that the bottom line is that they want members to continue to empty their pockets, hunt for coins in the furniture and hock their own homes, and then at some point determined by international management, some Scientology entity like the IRS along with “whales” will be brought into get another renovation project done and ensure that Miscavige has enough ribbon yankings for his annual calendar. Given the schedule, it does seem inevitable that the remaining orgs will get their renovated buildings within a few years.
And I can only guess that the scientological weasel-wording at work is that the plaque is “permanent” – but there will be individual screw-on name plates that can be “disappeared” when necessary.
I didn’t know that September had 2018 days. What does Brisbane know that we don’t? Not going to comment on that awful, horrible, crap photo.
“Keys to OT”
Okay, I put on the suit and smiled at the camera. Can you please take the handcuffs off, I’m losing sensation in my hands.
“This picture”
I think Jenna needs to see a skin specialist and dentist rather badly. And that hair…
Wow, Seabrook’s career is just rocketing…to slow oblivion.
Going by the flier for the UK three day convention you don’t actually get fed until the third day. What joy, what fun…
“No comment”
All that did was raise my creepiness levels.
OOOOHHHH, I just realised that the zombie is the one trying to escape from from Jenna’s reggeing. Whoops.
caption: Jenna demonstrates PTS/SP tech, repeatedly shouting “what are your crimes?” until the subject has a cognition about how both are just searching for brains.
?
Sadly, I have been looking for my brains going on 20 years. I guess I’m not the sharpest nife…I mean, Knife, in the chandler.
Do you mean not the sharpest knife inna draw?
Stop bashing Jenna elfman. Her horse is breathing a sigh of relief. For at lease one night he’ll be left alone.. Let her go to CCINT to tell would-be actors how to break into show business! At least during that time she won’t be breaking into his stable to violate him! This has been going on a long time! It does NO good for the poor horse to rear up on his hind legs and neigh and whinny that its not right, she’s a married woman and he’s NOT that kind of horse. She doesn’t care. She’s out of control, a predator who abuses her power to employ him. He’d like to quit but he needs the job, the stable is air conditioned and the hay is really good. But never fear, this courageous animal will make good use of predator Mrs. Elfman’s brief absence. Along with a few pet sheep belonging to Danny Masterson he’ll be forming up 5th Dynamic #MeToo.
Aquamarine, Just give the horse an Aftermath card with the toll free number to call for help. Maybe there is a monkey there with fingers and thumb who can dial the number for the horse.
🙂
What??? No ‘Chan the Sensitive’ this week. Makes me feel like a cold bowl of noodles that does.
It’s obvious DM is the True SP!
Shouldn’t the Manchester folks have gone to the grand Ceremony itself instead of watching it later? If people can fly in from LA and Taiwan, surely locals can show up…
Jenna Elfman, seen here ralphing out a body thetan.
That, or she is offering encouragement to David Miscavige before his make-up session on his next photo shoot. A lifetime of scotch, steroids, and cigarettes haven’t done the thug much good in the looks department.
Actually, this is how her horse sees her during those times when she’s expanding his…dynamics.
I thought Jenna was projecting out her true personality? I once worked with her husband Bodhi in the 90’s. He was a nut case. As was his father Rick Elfman.
I used to think she was slightly talented, but you can tell she’s way out there now. In her fairly recent interview about how scientology helped her marriage someone commented her responses were zombie like and robotic. Lol.
Zombie and L.Ron Robotic after effects are the cult’s brain washing specialty. Where the cultists can think for themselves as long it’s Hubbard-think. Sad they can no longer see how they are truly mind prisoners of a made-up bad belief system minted 5 minutes ago by a hack science fiction writer.
And actor’s think of themselves as enlightened and above most people in awareness. Hah!
Of (precise) topic but anyone else excited about the $34 millionjudgement against the Jehovah’s Whitnesses for hiding abuse of children? What little I’ve read sounds a lot like some of the similar allegations about Scientology.
Another very sick group, the JWs. Thanks, Liz, I’m happy to hear this.
Yes! Overjoyed to hear this news too Liz! Maybe it can help set a precedent for scientology lawsuits in the future.
THURSDAY FUNNIES….INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW????
. Do twins ever realize that one of them is unplanned?
.What if my dog only brings back my ball because he thinks I like throwing it?
.If a poison has an expiration date, is it more poisonous or is it no longer poisonous?
.Which letter is silent in the word “Scent,” the S or the C?
. Why is the letter W, in English, called double U? Shouldn’t it be called double V?
. Maybe oxygen is slowly killing you and it just takes 75-100 years to fully work.
.Every time you clean something, you just make something else dirty.
.The word “swims” upside-down is still “swims”.
.Intentionally losing a game of rock, paper, and scissors is just as hard as trying to win.
.100 years ago everyone owned a horse and only the rich had cars. Today everyone has cars and only the rich own horses.
.Your future self is watching you right now through memories.
.If you replace “W” with “T” in “What, Where and When”, you get the answer to each of them.
.Many animals probably need glasses, but nobody knows it.
. If you rip a hole in a net, there are actually fewer holes in it than there were before.
. If 2/2/22 falls on a Tuesday, we’ll just call it “2’s Day”. (It does fall on a Tuesday)
.100 years ago a Twenty Dollar bill and a Twenty Dollar gold piece were interchangeable. Either one would buy a new suit, new shoes and a night on the town. The Twenty Dollar gold piece will still do that.
Re Twins: What if the parents wanted triplets? Does that means that they were both unplanned?
I have a degree in lapology. We study laps and where they go when stand up.
I lost my lap in San Diego.
I lost my lap
In San Diego
When I stood up
It fled from me –
…this is a work in progress.
The word “swims” upside-down is still “swims”.
Only if the w in swims is a double-u, not a double-v. ? (I think the name would have to go back to how the letter was written — by hand — not how it was typeset or typed.)
Both of my adult children have two Master’s Degrees…..they have never heard of Xenu….or “the tech” or “clearing the planet” or what is it Teekegac (spelling )…..I must be a bad mother.
The worst!!! Absolutely the worst! You should hang your head in shame. I’ve heard about people like you!
Somehow when I myself was a teen looking for something new in religion, I’d looked into “The Moonies”, “Hare Krisna” & others to numerous to mention…but it was a few years before I began to investigate Scientology. It seemed when one is young & not well schooled…& trying to “HELP” others…interesting….after reading a lot, hmmm……Realizing just WHO LRon Hubbard WAS….a Science FICTION author….Well, that was a huge wake up call to me so…no thank you.
Some friends got into the Hare Krishna thing…the jumping up and down, the bells ringing, barefoot…ahh…attracting to the hippie generation…for me a huge fail.
Yes, for shame, Balletlady. An unfit parent such as yourself should be hanging her head in shame for raising well educated, employable children.
Now, I’m being sarcastic here, but if you were a Scientologist you WOULD be made to feel guilty about this by your cherch!
Good, dutiful, koolaid drinking Scientology parents think its just fine for their kids to drop out of high school at 16 so that even if these clueless children wanted a decent job they couldn’t get one. But then, this is almost never an issue because trained for nothing and unemployable as the are, placed in the same desperate-for-any-kind-of work demographic as the llegal immigrants in this country picking strawerries for $8 an hour,, totally unequipped to go out on their own and create their own lives in any worthwhile way that they are, the hungry Sea Org hovers around them waiting for these ignorant, unemployable American children to realize that they have no future in the “wog” world, waiting to pluck them, like ripe fruit, from the family tree, and devour them.
Yes Aqua, it is similar to the FLDS who’s kids are DONE with school early on…the boys are put to work immediately. IF the kids are permitted to even make it to 8th grade, their education is mostly about their religion & the Bible.
Like those infamous TV “Celebs the Duggar clan”….the girls are taught to be obedient to male domination over them. Taught that having a college education isn’t necessary since your are ONLY there to have sex with your husband & have a baby as often as possible as that is your ONLY purpose in life. Any college educations permissible is on line only as you can’t “hang around” with outsiders & you MUST only study permissible courses geared to mostly females like a low level mid wife. Can’t be a FULL midwife as that requires CLINICALS, i.e. working in a hospital with “outsiders” who might influence the girls to run for the hills for freedom!
These strict religions keep the kids away from outsiders who might fill their kids’ heads with other ideas, like getting a college degree or Heaven forbid a female WORKING outside the home That’s why all the Duggar sons or sons in law work for “big daddy Jim Bob”….can’t work for anyone else who might give them CRITICAL THINKING abilities….then they’d want to leave or would leave (blow) like COS.
For a couple of months I lived across the street from the Hare Krishna temple in Boston (Allston, to be precise). They tried to recruit me and told me I had to give up drugs, booze and cigarettes, so that was the end of that. They stopped nickel and diming me when they saw I only had money for my various “substances.”
Were you also turned off by the mandatory vegetarian diet and the requirement to shave your head and run around in nothing but a loincloth?
When I lived in Denver in ’81 my husband loved to go eat vegetarian Sunday night meal with the Hare Krishna’s. We danced, chanted, enjoyed camaraderie, friendship and a fantastic meal. And fresh flower lays. They never hassled us to join at all! They always said everyone welcome on Sunday nights. They knew we weren’t interested but liked them. It was a blast! Lol But like I say, they never hassled us at all to join. ☺
Actually, the one thing the Hari Krishna’s did right was to cook healthy vegetarian food. They had a “free” feast on Sunday afternoon. At the time I was surviving on slices of pizza, hero sandwiches, sometimes doughnuts at work, Chinese take out on payday, all washed down with copious amounts of beer and cheap wine. So, if I could cage a meal off them (not always an easy task), it was probably my best meal of the week.
But yeah, they sure looked and dressed ridiculously; no loincloths that I can recall, just flowing yellow whatever they’re called, shaved heads and that pony tail down the back. From what I’ve learned about scientology, their efforts to proselytize were mild by comparison. My buddy and I hitched a ride with them to the Newport Jazz Festival to hear Sly and the Family Stone et al, and they pretty much left us alone when we showed no interest.
I well remember the shaved heads & the ponytail down the back…white flowing robes & no shoes. I was and still am NOT into a veggie only diet…..probably another reason not to join (only kidding). From what I recall they were seeking monetary donations…but never pressured us for it.
Back then I worked near the Empire State Building in NYC…..they were always in Times Square & sometimes the train station to “entertain” everyone. They were happy kids with what they were doing. Use to chant be spread the joy….no problems there!
YUP…you nailed it…I am Pro Meat…..another BIG reason NOT to join. Plus barefeet on filthy NYC concrete where people have spit, tossed cigarettes, urinated…..ummmm, no thanks!
Did you ever make it to their temple in Brooklyn on Schermerhorn Street?
@Alcoboy…Never made it to those locations but when I am in NYC I LOVE to “cruise by (no pun intended) the Scientology location. The place nearby has GREAT PIZZA…. The usual COS “waiter dressed staff” are sometimes out front sharing a cigarette.
As mentioned, a while back my BFF & I had taken out two slices of pizza from that aforementioned pizza place (too good to toss or leave) so we handed it to these two young people hanging outside the door….kind of a few paces away from the front door where insiders could see them & you would have thought we’d given them a gold piece….they wolfed those slices down in less than a minute without a gulp of water/juice etc.
Once in a while they will try to use “the hook” to drag you off the street to the inside….no thanks! My BFF once told them we were “Krisna’s”…they had NO IDEA what the Hell we were talking about as they stared blankly at us.
Regarding the poster jennaElfman.com……
Which one is Jenna?
The scary one. The one on the left is a halloween costume.
I knew Jenna hung out with other zombies!
What’s wrong with Zombies? Some of my best friends are Zombies! The conversations we have are very enlightening. Oh sure their arms fall off there bodies, but, that’s the way it is.
Here are the ‘The Top 10 Lessons For Surviving A Zombie Attack’ from the book “The Zombie Survival Guide” by Max Brooks.
1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.
OSD I love zombies in general! I guess Jenna isn’t cool enough to be a zombie. She’s probably more like a Stepford wife. Or a very dull robot. She’s lost her shine completely.
Oh, c’mon Jim, you’re being a bit catty. I bet you wouldn’t kick her out of you know where.
bixntram,
You’d lose that bet.
Bet I wouldn’t, if you’d had a couple of drinks in a bar, it was getting late and you were getting desperate. C’mon, fess up.
Binx! I’m so disappointed in your taste. She’s so psycho. Unless you’re into that! You might as well go for Kirstie! Lol. ?
Ann, please – Kirstie? What did Bix ever do to you? 🙂
LOL
Go for Kirstie??? Where’s the nearest gay bar?
Binx you deserved a little ribbin’ for that comment! Haha! That would be a good game show for scientology tv. The Dating Game! You have to choose between Kirstie and 2 other celebrity losers. And the loser gets the date! Or the hole! ?
🙂
At the UK Convention, are they watching a production of “Macbeth” during dinner? What an odd choice of productions for dinner theater.
“Or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?”
“Something wicked this way comes.”
“It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.”
“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.”
“Confusion now hath made his masterpiece.”
@ Chuckles, and then,
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
“it is a tale told by and idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Oops, scratch my last comment. I couldn’t find it here to delete.
Just to clearify. Victoria Cummins would have been in the photo with her husband, but after donating all our money she did not have any clothes to wear for the picture.
So she wasn’t about to engage in Operation Lady Godiva?
Mike, you have become a great critic and critical thinker. Your blog as well as the TV series with Leah are a “wake up” call for scientologists and serve to educate the curious and cult watchers. Despite some demanding that you do more than that and risk your and your family’s happiness and safety by doing it, you might as well continue with what you’re doing. It DOES make a difference and that’s all that counts. All the best for you and your family. Greetings from a never-in.
Well said. I would add that these people who are still-in are living in a fantasy world where society in general is adherent to status, thus linked fundamentally to merit. This is completely false, there is no hidden merit in society where you will be moved up in status to a better job, more income, and greater ‘group acknowledgement’ in your church. Trust me, I lived their world and had a great job. No amount of my donations, charity, or other ‘bought merit’ helped me when I lost my job and unemployed. It is all imagination, fiction, and dreams. Its not how society functions, nor will this group be there for you when you’re down.
“Wake up” call indeed. Hopefully some day this will end, but until then we have Mike, Leah, and other champions.
Great post! Perfectly said. That’s how I feel as a never in.
Interesting to see in the 4th poster, the Canada meeting, that International Landlord is named.
This reminded me your blog of a couple of days ago, or so; no mention of Senior C-S Int or ED Int. Well, of course they done equate to money, the Landlord does.
What a corrupt organization this has become. Only money, money, money.
It started out with a corrupt postulate that the best way to make money was to start a religion …….. and went down hill from there. The real Q is when was it not corrupt?
Bingo.Hubbard’s affirmations slam home the point that it( the dianetics/scientology turd) was ALWAYS intended to control, degrade, fleece, and enslave its adherents, period.
Always corrupt, indeed!
Outstanding post! Bravo!
Exactly, the whole structure was built on shifting sands of greed and abuse. It finally caught up to them.
“I’m much more confident about going to school now. And I know I know how to handle people when they make me upset. So I don’t think I will get sick anymore.”
G.R. Age 12.
Hey kid! Regarding getting sick. Good luck with that.
That child being brainwashed so young made me feel sick! Freakin’ horrific and so sad.
I wonder what will happen he gets sick. He’ll have to deny it, I guess.
This kid will end up in the Sea Org for sure. Then he’ll find out “what happens” when he gets sick.
Brad and Alice Spence have given all their money to Ohio ideal orgs? That is sad, they are fucked for life.
No. They’re fucked for a Billion years.
It’s always the same story, we are running out of time and laying a guilt trip on others for not giving everything. I recall Steve Lower at DC telling me in a condescending tone of voice how the chiropractors and dentists that were there every weekend spent every penny they make on auditing.
I worked with Steve at the org in DC. Yes, the die-hards there( Irene Rochefort ,Tom and Liz Clapp, Karen Berg, Steve, Michelle Winteregg, Sylvia Stanard[OSA], et al) repeated the same line and were quite adamant and arrogant in the expression of their views.
” Let the beatings continue until morale improves!”
Wow thanks for replying. Are Steve, Tom and Liz still there? I don’t remember the other names you mentioned. I do remember Dave Lamb, he seemed like the most likable one to me.
Good question. Haven’t been around that place or those people for 7 years. Don’t recognize the name Dave Lamb. Was around the old church at 20th and R and then the “new” place at 16th and P between 2002 and 2011.
I was there in 1991. That group would suck money out of a homeless person if they could. They were always asking me about my finances and I was stupid enough to answer their questions. I was there one weekend, I had told Tom I had just got a tax return for $700. Before I was leaving late Sunday night I was routed to Steve’s office, he said “I’m going to have you write a check for $700. . I declined to do so and he gave me a disapproving look. And a few nights later Steve and Tom called to double team me to getting the $700. Those were the days.
Yeah I thought the same thing. Those poor, misled fools. Such a waste.
They are! Mindblowing
lol. I agree. Blew their mind & finance. ?
“I learned what exterior means and had a win…”
Uh, yeah. Funny thing about that. You did not learn what exterior means in common English usage. You learned a bit of cult jargon that refers to the delusional fantasy of out-of-body experiences, which can be induced by the dissociative effects of sleep deprivation and hypnotism. It’s not uncommon for kids your age to believe fantastic claims uncritically. As you mature and gain more experience, you will assess such claims with in light of a basic knowledge of physics and biology and, hopefully, an understanding of how people come to believe in out-of-body experience.
What about out-of-body experiences for things which don’t have a real body like ghosts, angels, demons, spirit guides and the list goes on. Halloween is coming up and it’s no fun without ghosts and goblins.
Richard, I always do up my front yard. And I this year is going to be something special.
What are you going to have – Kirstie out there?
That’s a great idea! That would be hilarious and scary as hell!
Why can’t goblins have children?
Because they have hollow weenies.
Why don’t witches have children?
Because they like goblin’ better.
What a sad collection of Ne’er-do-Wells and Wanna-Be’s. . . . .
“…the only makers of space in which a man could walk free.”
Really? Really?
Imprisoned by your own belief and afraid to even talk about your own feelings and you are “walking free”. I think not.
Scientology. Cognitive dissonance at its’ finest.
I had a glass of Cognitive Dissonance once. I hated it.
Well OSD of course you hated it, it’s made of sour grapes!
Nice!
Boil it in vinegar first, pickles your brain it does.
But did you drink it anyway OSD??
The Scientology Planetary Plan:
Step 1 – Raise funds to make all Orgs Ideal.
Step 2 – Make all Orgs Ideal
Step 3 – ?????????????????????
Step 4 – Planetary Clearing!
Step 3, then something magical happens: maybe Hubbard will return or an invader force will drop by for a visit. Nothing like an alien invasion to unite humanity and clear the planet!
What do you think happens on step 3?
so these two cretins state that the Orgs are crappy yip yap yip yap.
what a withold they had for so long!
I have heard tales of the 60’s at St Hill E.G where they were delivering processes in the out houses they were so stuck for space.
No one ever complained as the Tech was being developed and tested. It seems now there is an entire generation of mindless imbeciles that simply do what they are told.
Scientology today is in a state of “confusion” and the person responsible is the most suppressive bastard who ever entered the building.
DM is a short arsed toe rag and he should rot in hell for what he has done
” Tech developed and tested”. No. No therapy, no tech, no scientific method or process of third party ,rigorous verification applied. Half baked, contradictory concepts and lies applied via indoctrination and nonconsensual hypnosis? Yes. ” Routines ” and
” processes ” that confuse, disassociate, and harm? Yes.
There was never a golden age of scientology. It’s always been a con, a hustle, and a criminal enterprise wherever it has operated. Miscavige and El Con are both sadistic, degraded, evil motherfuckers.
Wake up.
Janis says in book 2 Chapter 16 – Morroco January 1971-May 1971 when discussing LRH developing new auditing programs: “I did not observe hundreds or thousands of case studies being done, researched and summarized before finalizing the process….and I certainly didn’t see what I have since heard being referred to as “research.” ”
She then details how he just basically punted and then figured out what worked with a person. She was there when it was supposedly happening.
I’ve read various accounts of people certain stuff being tested on staff or people who were around the big orgs. Hubbard did a lot of improvising too. That’s as close to research as it gets. (And it isn’t very close.)
That’s what I think Mark! 100 percent.
I’ve talked to old-timers, and heard and read the accounts – and there were complaints about Saint Hill in its heyday that were just like what we hear today, basically bad and ineffective training and processing, excessive charges and price gouging. Those are the sort of reasons why major figures of the era, like Jack Horner, the Berners, and John McMasters, gave up in disgust.
Back in the 60s there was a huge churn of young people at the peak of the baby boomer youth generation and in particular the “seekers,” but that was a demographic and social phenomenon Scientology happened to be riding, that came and went on its own. After all, what happened to all those people who once filled Saint Hill to overflowing – whatever was going on in Scientology wasn’t compelling enough to get large numbers of them to stay and continue, was it?
“If you knew time as well as I do….you would not be wasting it”. from “Into the looking glass”.
So guys and gals, the bottom line is, “You have this chance!”
Will you avial yourself to this new technology?
Opportunity knocks. And those who hesitate…………