The Reality of Dianetics and Scientology: Where Will It Take Us?

Hubbard developed Dianetics as a "science of mind"¹. He further went on to create Scientology as "knowing how to know"². In both cases, he never explored any further than the mind and demonstrated that spirituality, in his view, rested purely within the realm of "mind".

He made outlandish promises on his road to "truth" and when those promises failed miserably, he furiously back peddled by re-establishing that the mind is the sole route to "freedom" and enlightenment. Contrary to those that went before him, he furthered the idea that through the mind, lay God and all the answers to this universe. It was a great sell, but only served to extend the day of reckoning, which was the unworkability of his "scientific" methods applied in a "religious" fashion. Immortality continued to be a dream and dreamers still came to dream the dream of old - easy answers.

Easy answers are not bad in itself. The trouble is that these easy answers were desired in such a way that would appeal to the dreamers. In other words, these people were looking for suitable answers to fulfill their own dream, not spiritual truth, which was too strongly feared. It is the drive of fear that made Hubbard and his theories quite popular for a period of time, but that period was to be short lived.

 
No matter how often the complexities of the mind were referred to as being simple, if it was totally understood, the end result was the same. Years of study, which included subjects totally irrelevant to the problems and studies of the mind. Business administration, which Hubbard was to soon find himself immmersed within and "prove" that he was the sole person on this planet that actually understood the concept, was required study.

From "science of mind"¹ to administrative expert, this guy had it all. He proclaimed that he alone had ALL the answers to mankind's problems and that through "donations" others might be allowed to share in that knowledge.

It is a far cry from Dianetics, whose ultimate goal continues to be elusive, that the religion of Scientology became established within the business world. Religion, in the New Age, IS business.

 
The Mind, as Masters from time immemorial have known, is only the vehicle of Self. It is used as an expression of Self and is not to be confused with anything else. The mind creates problems for it's own solution. Another way of saying this is that reality is what we want it to be.

Along comes Hubbard who looks at the mind as the cause of all of our problems, and proceeds to find a way to "empty" it. He calls it auditing and charges enormous amounts of money for the service. That's what "auditing" does. It removes all the "pictures", "barriers" and obstacles from the mind and supposedly gives the person a new found freedom where they can be "powerful" (see definition of Scientologist). In a reference to times gone by, some harkers would sell snake oil as a cure-all. Hubbard sells auditing as a cure all. It "solves" everything.

The promises of an empty mind is what Hubbard and his philosophy attempted to sell. A person without a mind was classified as "homo novis"³, or "new man". Even though this "new man" is what the organizational arm of the religion strove to create, it failed and continuously fails to create an actual demonstration of this lofty purpose. From "science of mind"¹ to glossy brochures, the end result demonstrates the religion's efficacy.

 
A subset of the mind, called "reactive"⁴ in typical Scientology techno speak, is that part of the mind that solely rests with the flesh of the body. This "mind" is responsible for the recording and playing back of moments of pain and unconsciousness to ensure that the body "remembers" how to survive.

Extrapolated from this, is the theory that the reactive mind plays it's recordings at inopportune times and creates havoc for the person who does not understand what is going on. It supposedly, because of these pictures, now "controls" the body and it's occupant against any and all will of the individual. It supposedly explains the "reactive" behavior of people and thereby demonstrates why it is necessary for this "mind" to be eliminated.

This is not a bad view of reactive behavior, but when the accompanying sales hype is brought into play, much more than what we originally bargained for is delivered. We get the opportunity to eliminate even more from our minds. We get to go "OT"⁵!

 
The state of OT is acquired when particular fantasies of Hubbard's mind are accepted and audited out. The removal of these "realities"⁶ requires, of course, auditing and training, but the end result is marketed as being something to die for.

Of course, the church does not want you to die for it, they would much rather have you pay for it THIS lifetime. The rest is left for those who do not agree with their concepts, ideas and fanaticism. For these people, their only hope lies in another life, as this life is deemed to be too unworthy for them to be "helped".

 
Striving to remove even more pictures from the mind, the Scientologist is encouraged to audit and train to fantastic levels of awareness and power⁷. Power is in the realm of the mind, so we know that even though this organization promises freedom, it only delivers freedom from Scientology's pictures. It is call a vicious circle.

The church introduces realities and promptly requires payment to have them removed and if you believe in this process well enough, you will be allowed to sign a billion year contract in service to Mr. Hubbard and his crew.

That's a long time to go without a vacation, but that subject is best left for a more detailed administrative analysis of the business workings of the cult of Scientology where the religion and philosophy cannot be separated from it's commercial enterprises.

 
As the mind is removed of it's pictures and fantasies, what remains are those pictures and fantasies that have been placed there by the training the person receives while "learning" Scientology. This is why training is emphasized greatly. It is used to replace what the auditing removes. There is that circuitous route again.

The mind is never eliminated within the philosophy of Scientology. It is only used as a reprogramming tool and used quite successfully with so many people. But there are limits and Scientology continues to evolve whereby those limits are never exceeded. It is called stretching the bounds of believability.

Those who have escaped this wheel of self-conflagration are many times left with a gaping hole within the mind. The reprogramming was not completely successful and these people are left with finding their own ways and means of refilling the bite that Scientology has taken out of their mind. This condition can last for years and can be quite devastating to those involved. The programming is such, that many times these people will continue to entertain thoughts of being once again accepted as a part of the Scientology world.

It is called mind-washing and Scientology will go to no ends to ensure that their secret is never let out nor fully examined nor understood.

This philosophy has come a long way from the "science of mind"¹ to where it is today. Are we better off because of it? Hardly. Has it damaged the understanding and wisdom of those who came before Hubbard? Definitely.

It is now acceptable to believe that the mind is all that there is and that man's woes and concerns can all be alleviated for a price.

It is not the Mind but the Self that should be realized. In realizing the Self, the Mind becomes what it was created for in the first place. Just a Mind. Something to use within the play area of our dreams.

A Scientologist cognites⁸ during the auditing process, and so feels "better" because of it. What is a cognition but making sense out of the mind. In this fashion, "Science of mind"¹ is true to it's principals. It deals with the Mind, but do not confuse this with spirituality. It is far, far removed from that.

 
One can explore the Mind forever, or decide that the Mind is not us and determine to realize the Self. It can be done as has been demonstrated many times in the past. Before the past is forgotten, as is wished by Mr Hubbard and his religion/organization, I implore you to remember that it is the Self that drives the mind. Realize this and realize the mind's demise.

We can know ourselves through the Mind or we can realize the Self. Choose your path.⁹