Scientology Mythbusting - Revelations

 


 

 I was in Scientology for twenty five years and about two and a half years ago I saw the infamous Posse of Lunatics Freedom mag story and was alarmed. I ended up reading the Underground Bunker and with much confusion, anxiety and concern focused on the Scientology Mythbusting series by Jon Atack and read Never Believe a Hypnotist and articles on hypnosis at Lermanet.com and realized that Scientology is entirely a fraud.

So, I always have a special appreciation and gratitude for Jon Atack's articles and the Underground Bunker for putting them out. When I first looked outside Scientology tentatively and timidly I wasn't prepared for the cold harsh truth.

But Jon presented little bits and pieces of the puzzle, sometimes describing an aspect of hypnosis like the fact that formal hypnosis isn't the only kind possible or that the main methods of it are confusion (aka contradictions or paradox), repetition, attention fixation (or division or overwhelm), mimicry, or vivid imagery.

That gave me pause to reflect on the fact that Scientology has many contradictions in it and a class XII auditor once in an interview stated Hubbard's writings can SEEM paradoxical and contradictory. I reflected on being taken aback when I first joined Scientology by looking through the Tech Dictionary for definitions to Scientology terms and finding many had multiple definitions that completely contradicted each other for the same word.

I realized Hubbard has plenty of contradictions in his doctrine. He said to not tell harmful lies in the Way To Happiness but in policy said if promotion is higher than delivery we always raise delivery and never lower promotion.

So, if we can't make clears rather than admit it, we keep saying we can make clears and try to somehow make it true. That should have clued me in about Hubbard's approach to life. It's okay to lie your ass off, if you wish you were capable of doing great things.

I also easily saw repetition is used almost constantly in Scientology. It's in the courses, drills, study procedures, auditing and language Scientologists communicate in and think. As Scientologists we studied the same references like KSW and study tech materials on how to study, the barriers to study and word clearing hundreds of times. We practiced TRs for hundreds of hours.

I could go on but the point is easy for any Scientologist to recall. There's a lot of repetition in Scientology. And attention is fixed in drills and auditing. It's also divided as a student has about a dozen barriers to study phenomena to look for constantly, then to pick between three barriers to guide which procedures to use, and a constant gnawing anxiety about being able to instantly answer a spot check for the definition of any word on a course, to avoid the dreaded flunk that results in being sent back to clear the word then restudy from where the word first appeared, even if it was five hundred pages earlier.

Mimicry appears in the TRs, the language and behavior of Scientologists too as they try to fit in. And vivid images are created in auditing by the imagination of the person being audited, along with Hubbard's outlandish descriptions in his writings and tapes on his adventures and whole track space opera.

I read everything on Scientology by Jon Atack I could find. Never Believe a Hypnotist was truly profound for me as it lays Hubbard's statements on hypnosis next to each other. It made several things clear: Hubbard contradicted himself on hypnosis dozens and dozens of times. He also showed that he knew a tremendous amount of information on hypnosis, despite claiming it isn't what Dianetics and Scientology are. But in another quote said you are laying in suggestions whether you try to or not.

I particularly like Jon Atack's statement today: "Over 20 years ago, I analyzed Hubbard’s own statements in Never Believe a Hypnotist; Hubbard leaves no doubt that his processes are hypnotic in effect. Indeed, Scientology is nothing more than a series of hypnotic procedures that cause euphoria and heighten the willingness to believe."

It took a lot of hard looking for me to see that. When you are a Scientologist you usually solve the contradictions in Hubbard's doctrine on hypnosis by being confused to the point of hopelessness on hypnosis, and dismiss it as "not something we use in Dianetics and Scientology."

That's something many Scientologists and exes NEVER overcome. Or they see hypnosis as only being in some places but not others and won't dare look at drills or study technology indoctrination to see if hypnosis could be there.

Frankly learning about hypnosis is avoided in general in society but in particular for Scientologists and exes.

There's a wealth of information, including many specific quotes by Hubbard himself to support the claim the processes in auditing and methods in indoctrination both are based on hypnotic techniques.

In exchanges with independent Scientologists they often try to sidestep the hundreds of quotes by Hubbard and say "intention in auditing and study technology isn't to hypnotize, and as intention is cause, you can't hypnotize anyone unless you intend to."

It's a kind of magical thinking. It's like saying if I shoot a person but don't intend to harm them my intention will prohibit the bullet from injuring anyone.

Hypnosis existed long before the term did and worked on people whether a hypnotist intended to help or harm the person. I think intention isn't cause.

An act causes an effect whether anyone intended it or not. I understand for Scientologists the possibility that all the euphoria they experience in auditing and on course being due to manipulation of their own imagination and mind with no miraculous technology present can be frankly shattering. It's worse the more you have invested in Scientology and the more you have reshaped your life and mind with Scientology.

So, the thought of Scientology and Hubbard being frauds is more terrifying than death. It's a loss of meaning, identity, values, status and the future you thought Scientology provided.