A Holiday Message

There is a great quote that I always like to look at during the holiday season. Here it is:

"The hardest task one can have is to continue to love his fellows despite all reasons he should not.

"And a true sign of sanity and greatness is to so continue.

"For the one who can achieve this, there is abundant hope.

"For those who cannot, there is only sorrow, hatred and despair. And these are not the things of which greatness - or sanity or happiness are made.

"A primary trap is to succumb to invitations to hate."

- Excerpted from the book Scientology - A New Slant on Life by L.Ron Hubbard

As you move through the holidays, you may encounter family who you do not generally see. Perhaps you don't normally speak with them or you don't like them. I know I usually end up seeing "friends" at holiday parties who aren't really friends at all but are people I am not fond of. The idea of loving in spite of reasons you should not is profound and inspiring every holiday season. It helps me get through those awkward moments and usually helps me have a better holiday season, with more peace and love to bask in then if I decided to hate.

Let me know if you've ever experienced a bad holiday - bad blood or whatever - and how you got through it.

A Quote about War

I though this quote is particularly applicable to our current situation:

"A society which advances into a war as a solution of its problems cannot but depress its own survival potential." - L. Ron Hubbard.

That one's pretty interesting. We've been at war for several years now, and I haven't seen the state of the US improve. What about you?

Sanity

I read this great quote in Dianetics and I thought it was pretty darn applicable to just about everything in life. Here it is:

"Sanity is the ability to tell differences. The better one can tell differences, no matter how minute, and know the width of those differences, the more rational he is." - L. Ron Hubbard

It's a pretty cool definition and even works with the court idea of insanity - that the person is unable to tell that his actions were wrong. He's unable to differentiate right from wrong.

I recently started working for a lawyer and after reading this definition of sanity, his insistence on details and understanding the differences in cases makes more sense than ever. It's helped me work out differences in cases that I wouldn't otherwise have looked for.

What about you? What do you think?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving all! Every Thanksgiving someone asks me what I am thankful for and I can never pick just one thing. I know I am thankful for everything in my life - for all I've experienced and have yet to experience. With regard to this blog, I am thankful to have all of you. You have helped me discuss my religion, have asked intelligent and interesting questions, have brought forth some interesting observations and I hope I have helped you too.

Thanks and have a happy and safe turkey day!

The Wrong Thing to Do

There have been several sets of fires here in SoCal these last couple weeks and a question that's gone through the minds of many is: "What (if anything) can I do?"

Well, there's a great quote by L. Ron Hubbard that can answer that question:

"There's one positive certainty that you can have: that it's wrong to do nothing."

That really hit home for me this weekend. I have two sets of family that live up by the fires and a good friend who's home got burned down. At first I felt helpless - what can I do about a whole house burning down? What can I do about my evacuated family? I discovered what I could do on an immediate basis was call them, let them know I loved them and that I'd help them if they needed me. I rallied some friends to call up my buddy who's home was burned down. I've never experienced something as shocking as my home burning down - I hope I never do - but I hope words of comfort and offers to help eased the burden.

So, no matter what you do, remember to do something. If it's calling friends or loved ones just to let them know you care - if it's resolving a family argument that has strained your relationship, or if it's donating money or items to charity. The wrong thing to do is nothing - so do the right thing and do something.

Meet a Scientologist

There's a cool new function on the Scientology.org site. If you go to the video channel and click "Beliefs and Practices", you can "meet a Scientologist". It's basically a group of videos real-life Scientologists made to tell you about them, their lives and generally what they do. Anyway, it's cool, so check it out

Developing Dianetics

Someone asked me about Dianetics (which is defined in an earlier post) and how it was developed. While there is a 400+ page book on this called Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health, there is a small paragraph in Dianetics that might help answer the question. So, here's the quote, it's from the chapter "The Goal of Man":

"Consider all knowledge to fall above or below a *line of demarcation. Everything above this line is not necessary to the solutions of Man's **aberrations and general shortcomings and is inexactly known. Such a field of thought could be considered to embrace such things as metaphysics and mysticism. Below this line of demarcation could be considered to lie the finite universe.... The known data in the finite universe can be classified as scientific truth when it has been sensed, experienced and measured. All factors necessary to the resolution of a science of the mind were found within the finite universe and were discovered, sensed, measured and experienced, and became scientific truth." - L. Ron Hubbard

To me, this statement shows that the discovery of Dianetics was done in a completely scientific way. I mean, it seems pretty darn logical to classify your information and delineate what it is will resolved your problem from what won't resolve it.


*Line of Demarcation means: that which marks the boundaries or limits of, or divides something so that its divided parts are separate and identifiable.

**Aberration means: Any deviation or departure from rationality.

The Aims of Scientology

I've never posted the Aims of Scientology, which are covered in Scientology 0-8 - The Book of Basics (can you tell I like that book? It's a plethora of information). Anyway, here are the aims:

"A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where Man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology."

I really like that quote. It's such a simple sentence that lays out what many people want in their heart of hearts. What do you think?

The Scientology Code of Honor

I was reminded of The Code of Honor the other day and I thought I might share it with you guys. I've always found it a useful guide for living. So, here's The Code of Honor as given in Scientology 0-8 The Book of Basics:

"1. Never desert a comrade in need, in danger or in trouble.
"2. Never withdraw allegiance once granted.
"3. Never desert a group to which you owe your support.
"4. Never disparage yourself or minimize your strength or power.
"5. Never need praise, approval or sympathy.
"6. Never compromise with your own reality.
"7. Never permit your affinity to be alloyed.
"8. Do not give or receive communication unless you yourself desire it.
"9. Your self-determinism and your honor are more important than your immediate life.
"10. Your integrity to yourself is more important than your body.
"11. Never regret yesterday. Life is in you today and you make your tomorrow.
"12. Never fear to hurt another in a just cause.
"13. Don't desire to be liked or admired.
"14. Be your own adviser, keep your own counsel and select your own decisions.
"15. Be true to your own goals."

The above code is considered an ethical code in Scientology, which means it's your decision whether or not you follow it.

I've always liked that about this code because for me (for example) I love #11 (Never regret yesterday...) because it's so freeing. I love the idea that I make my own tomorrow. However, #12 (Never fear to hurt...) I've never seen as necessary - because I have never run across a situation in which hurting another would be for a just cause. I can certainly see an example of a cause in which it's just to hurt another (someone trying to kill you, for example), but happily I've never had to deal with something like that.

One thing I love about this code, and really about Scientology, is that I've always been encouraged to make my own decisions. And from my point of view, that's extremely important.

Tell me what you think about the Scientology Code of Honor.

A Professional

I seem to be into quotes lately, so forgive me if you're sick of them. No, scratch that, tell me if you're sick of them and I'll figure out something else to write about. Otherwise, speak now or forever hold your peace. :)

Now, since I'm speaking of quotes, here's a great one about being a professional:

"A professional is somebody that can produce a high-quality product. A professional is not an audience, and when he views things, he looks for what's good in them and neglects the poor, low-grade things. The reason he does this is so he has an ideal scene. Without an ideal scene, he just operates off technical data and produces, artwise, a low-quality product and isn't professional. For instance, without an ideal scene, a director can never get a preconception of the shot.

"In viewing things that approach an ideal scene, the true professional works out how they did it and when presented with similar tasks of production can bring off things which approach an ideal scene in his own work." - L. Ron Hubbard

I really like the kind of quote that you can apply to your own life instantly. This is one such quote to me. I feel as if I can easily work at professionalism by always deciding on the ideal situation or scene and comparing what is currently there to that. In this way, I can make my product better, I can make my life better.

What do you guys think?

The Two Rules for Happy Living

I have always enjoyed the book Scientology A New Slant on Life. It's very simple and insightful . Two thing I've learned from it that I've found invaluable are the Two Rules for Happy Living. These are:

"1. Be able to experience anything.
"2. Cause only those things which others are able to experience easily."

That's pretty deep, huh? When I first read number 1, I was like "no way can I be able to experience anything. Who would want to do that anyway? Well, L. Ron Hubbard further explains:

"To be happy one only must be able to confront (which is to say, experience) those things that are. Unhappiness is only this: The inability to confront that which is. Hence 1. Be able to experience anything."

Well, that doesn't seem to bad. I can face the nitty gritty of how things are.

The second rule isn't so hard. I can understand that causing others to experience things they don't want to experience can upset them. In the book, L. Ron Hubbard puts it like this:

"All bad acts, then, are those acts which cannot be easily experienced on the target end."

That makes sense to me. In an extreme example, shooting a person is something they can't easily experience, thus it's not a good act to do. Not so extreme - you're mom isn't will to experience you sugar high, so when you take a cookie without permission, she's likely to get upset. You know you're not supposed to do it, so you don't feel so hot either.

So, try out the two rules and see if they make your life happier. Let me know how it goes.

Dianetics - What's it really all about?

I've been asked to do an overview of Dianetics, and I wanted to start by reiterating that I have written a few posts on this already so, if something doesn't make sense, please check them out or comment. Another great resource is the Dianetics website.

Here's what L. Ron Hubbard has to say about Dianetics:

"The history of Dianetics would be the history of a voyage of discovery, of an exploration into new and nearly uncharted realms, Terra Incognita, the Human Mind, a land which lies an inch behind your forehead."

I've spoken earlier about the mind and about engrams, but I haven't really talked a whole lot about how Dianetics works.

The basic idea is that you have two parts of your mind, the analyzer - which records your conscious thinking and memories and aides that thinking, and the reactive mind - which records unconscious memory. When some situation similar to a painful or unconscious experience you've had before comes up, you begin to think illogically, using your reactive or stimulus-response mind.

Dianetics allows you to look at those painful experiences and memories. It allows you to then move them from the reactive mind to the analytical mind, where they no longer cause you to react in a stimulus-response manner - rather, you respond rationally. Once you've completed this process, you have achieved the state of Clear. You can reason with your analytical mind without any unnecessary stimulus response reactions getting in your way.

There is a ton more data on this with great examples and real-life experiences in the Dianetics website, but that's the basic gist. Any questions?

What is squirrelling?

Most religions get altered in some way by someone. In Scientology, we have a word for this. It's called "squirrelling".

The Scientology definition of "squirrelling" is: "Squirrelling (going off into weird practices or altering Scientology) only comes about from noncomprehension."

It's interesting to look at, because you see this happening with other religions a lot. People interpret what others have said differently, the religions branch out and end up saying something very different from what the original said. It makes sense that this would all stem from someone not understanding why something is that way, then changing it.

Scientology and Life

I've had some accusatory comments (which I haven't posted - it's my blog, right?) about the quote regarding personal integrity. The quote is very simple and succinct:

"Nothing in Dianetics and Scientology is true for you unless you have observed it and it is true according to your observation. That is all." - L. Ron Hubbard

I've gotten comments saying that is a scapegoat for Scientologists, saying that we use it too freely. So, I thought I'd dredge up another quote about Scientology and life. I sincerely hope this helps people understand how Scientologists feel about their religion and about life in general:

"...But just because you know Scientology is no reason or license to stop living. You should be able to live much more fully. But you feel very free to use or not use exactly what you know, to use it as you think it ought to be used, to create the effect you want to create or just to create a random effect. That's a wide license, isn't it? The material is yours. Go ahead and take it." - L. Ron Hubbard

I think that's pretty clear. You can study the material of Dianetics and Scientology, then decide if you want to use it in life and how much you'd like to use it in life. Just like every other religion, you have the choice of when and how to use the information you've studied.

Any questions?

PS: Please, if you do have a question, frame it nicely and politely or it won't be published. If you accuse me or my religion of anything, I won't be publishing your comment. If you have a question about something that has nothing to do with this post, I'll try to answer it or give you a link that will answer it. I think these are pretty reasonable requests and most readers do the above naturally - but some don't and may wonder why they aren't getting their comments published.

Response to Aligote

I have another comment that I think will need more than just a comment in response. Aligote asks:

"How did LRH discover the Techs and start using these new words? Why use thetan when you could use spirit? Why use engram when you could use memory?"

That's two very good questions and deserves in-depth answers.

- Regarding the first question - "How did LRH discover the Techs?"

A whole book has been written to tell you about how L. Ron Hubbard discovered the technologies of Dianetics and Scientology. Also, I wrote a very brief account of how L. Ron Hubbard got started in his researches in a previous post. It's also partly covered in this part of the book What is Scientology? For the whole shebang, you're going to have to check out What is Scientology? in it's entirety.

I hope these links help answer your question.

- Regarding the next question: Why did LRH "start using these new words?"

This question is answered in Dianetics. The following quote is the most explanatory:

"In order to establish nomenclature for Dianetics which would not be too complex..., words normally considered as adjectives or verbs have occasionally been pressed into service as nouns. This has been done on the valid principle that existing terminology, meaning so many different things, could no be used in Dianetics without making it necessary to explain away an old meaning to bring forth a new. To remove the step of explaining the old meaning and saying then that one doesn't mean that, thus entangling our communication inextricably, and to obviate the ancient custom of compounding ponderous and thundering syllables from Greek and Roman tongues, this principle and some others have been adopted for nomenclature."

Also, as a note, engram does not mean "memory". It (in short) is a moment of greater or lesser unconsciousness on the part of the analytical mind which permits the reactive mind to record the total content of the moment with all perceptions.

Thetan is defined in a previous post. The main difference between the words "Thetan" and "Spirit" is their use. "Thetan" is used as something one is - like "I am a thetan". Where "Spirit" is used as something one has - "I have a spirit". It's a difference in usage that was established to remove any confusion of the two words.

A Quote about Life

Here's a great quote from L. Ron Hubbard's book A New Slant on Life:

"Life is an interdependent, cooperative effort. Each and every living organism has a part to play in the survival of other organisms."

That quote effects me more than ever this week, because not only have I gone to two weddings this month (so far), but I adopted a puppy. Each living organism that these actions involved made me supremely happy. In fact, I've started to lose weight (yay!) and get more exercise because of one of these organisms (the puppy) and actually got to dance with my boyfriend because of the other organisms (the people at my friend's weddings). So, thank goodness for other people, for plants and animals! Without the variety we cultivate, this world would be very boring and (in my humble opinion) no one would survive well.

Anyone want to add anything to this? Does anyone else have a real life example of other organisms aiding their survival?

More on Clear

I'm a bit late on this post... sorry about that. I just got back in town and adopted a puppy - so you can imagine that I have a lot on my plate at present! Anyway, I wanted to talk about something I just reread in Dianetics, The Original Thesis. It's all about the state of Clear, which I went over a bit in a previous post. I found another great quote about Clear that I'd like to share:

"The entire intent and technique of Dianetics is to break the partial or complete suppression of the analytical mind by the exhaustion of the false data contained in the engrams which compose the reactive mind. When this is done, the analytical mind begins to clear itself somewhat on the order of an automatic computer which makes way for new problems." - L. Ron Hubbard

I thought that was a pretty neat quote - it gives a better idea of what you are really trying to do in Dianetics, and what someone is talking about when the speak of "Clear". I've seen a lot of uncertainty and, frankly, false information about this state online and I think it's interesting to look at the person who first talked about the state to find out what the real deal is.

Let me know if you have any questions, or want to discuss the state of Clear.

Scientology Humanitarian Campaigns

I have to say that I really admire the people who work in these various Scientology humanitarian programs. I thought my readers would get a kick out of checking out each of the programs:

Anti-Drug Program
Narconon
Awareness of Psychiatric Drugging
Youth for Human Rights
Scientology Volunteer Ministers

The Scientology Video Channel

The Scientology Video Channel just got two new videos - one is a look inside a Scientology Church and the other is all about L. Ron Hubbard. Check 'em out.

Response to GRHnDC

I got a comment that I feel needs more than just another comment to respond. GRHnDC asks:

"Please explain why it costs so much to cross the Bridge..."
I know of some great posts where someone took the time to answer this very same question, so instead of answering you "on the fly", I'm going to link to these well thought-out posts. Here they are:

Cost of Scientology
A round up of posts by Grahame about Scientology Costs
What Scientology Myths has to say about the monetary cost of Scientology
Information on how Scientology Churches are supported financially

Also, here's my 2 cents: I personally have never had a problem with being asked to make a donation for a service provided by my church. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints requires their parishioners give tithes (a tenth of their income) and most churches ask for a donation when you go to church on Sunday. I am proud to support my church. My boyfriend works for a Scientology Church as a minister and he is paid with these donations, as is any minister of any church.

Your next question was: "Please share your opinions on the Xenu mythology that is part of the Wall of Fire indoctrination of OT III..."

I hate to say this, but I have no opinion. I have not done OT III, nor have I ever heard this mythology mentioned by a church member or within the church. The only times I've ever seen it is on the Internet or on South Park. I don't really think those are credible sources. Sorry to disappoint.

Lastly, you thanked me for my blog. You're so welcome! I'm sorry if I can't always answer every single question - I don't know where some of the stuff people say comes from... but if I can answer any other questions, I certainly will.

A Note about Clear

I have recently been re-reading some of the books on Dianetics - which is the methodology developed by L. Ron Hubbard to address and handle the effects of the spirit on the body.

One of the many reasons I have been re-reading these books is to find a good definition of Clear. I've been asked many questions about this subject, and it seems that a lot of people think that achieving Clear means that the person who has achieved this is no longer him or herself - that they no longer have their own memories. This is not the case.

The basic idea is that there are two parts of the mind. One part contains the ability to reason, the other contains all of the times that a person was unconscious and/or felt a lot of pain. The first part is called the analytical mind - because it can analyze. The second is the reactive mind - because it causes the person to react to certain stimuli that that particular part of the mind considers dangerous - whether it is really dangerous or not.

Basically a Clear has had all of the moments in his reactive mind re-filed into his analytical mind. This means that all of those points of pain or unconsciousness are not able to be consciously accessed by the analytical mind and evaluated for validity. This restores the "Basic Individual" to his full consciousness and makes him more himself. In Dianetics the Original Thesis L. Ron Hubbard states:

"Man is not a reactive animal. He is capable of self-determinism. He has willpower. He ordinarily has high analytical ability. He is rational and he is happy and integrated only when he is his own basic personality.
"The most desirable state in an individual is complete self-determinism."

So far I have found that the best way of really understanding what Dianetics is and what a Clear is would be to read L. Ron Hubbard's books on Dianetics. They are really extremely interesting and I've found that the development of Dianetics is best understood when these books are read in order.

Do you have any questions about Dianetics I could help you with?

Scientologists - What Do We Believe About Hell and Earth?

I was at the post office the other day. It was pretty quiet, but a gentleman who had survived the Vietnam war was talking to the teller in front of me and saying that earth is heaven. The teller smiled and nodded until the gentleman left, then said to me, "I wonder what he thinks happens to him after he dies?" I said I didn't know and the teller went on to say that he'd heard of various religions believing various things, mentioning the Scientologists believe that earth is Hell. I thought that was pretty funny, since I'm a Scientologist and I don't believe that one bit. However, I figured out where that nice teller at the post office may have gotten the idea from.

It could have been from this excerpt from a Scientology policy:

"If you were looking for hell and found earth, it would certainly serve. War, famine, agony and disease has been the lot of man."

This is policy goes on to say that Scientology can change these conditions by helping individuals rid themselves of the reactive mind. Nothing about the earth actually being hell.

Anyway, I just wanted to debunk any ideas that Scientologists think the earth is hell. If we were in hell, we wouldn't be able to change conditions, there would be no good in the world and we'd all be getting tortured constantly. Nothing beautiful like art, religion, nature, etc would be around and life would generally suck. This is not the case. World conditions can change and I'm betting that they will change for the better. So there you go. :)

I'd be interested to know if there are any other things that seem strange about Scientology that you've encountered. Comment and let me know.

Challenging Environments

I read an interesting piece of information today. Here's the quote:

"Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment. That isn't my theory. It's a fact." - L. Ron Hubbard.

I find it interesting because I cannot think of one environment that man has not strived to overcome, and all environments are challenging. It's pretty thought provoking. I mean, what if we had a completely unchallenging environment? Would we make up something to make the environment challenging or would we let it be and enjoy it. I think man would invent something to make it challenging, but that's just me. What do you think?

Happy Fourth of July

In honor of the Fourth of July, I'm going to go over a section of the book The Way to Happiness that I feel is applicable for today. This is the idea: "Support a Government Designed and Run for all the People".

Today we celebrate the independence of our nation. We celebrate an ability to make our own decisions and to elect our own government. This puts America in the unique position to create a better government, and thus a better world for us all. By supporting those aspects of the government that you feel are right, and shunning those you feel are wrong - or using the governmental systems to voice your concerns about such situation, you are supporting a government designed and run for all people.

I'll leave you with a quote from The Way to Happiness
"Doing nothing illegal, it is yet possible, by simply withdrawing one's cooperation, to bring about an eventual reform. Even as this is being written, there are several governments in the world that are failing only because their people express their silent disagreement by simply not cooperating.

"On the other hand, where a government is obviously working hard for ALL its people, rather than for some special interest group or insane dictator, one should support it to the limit."

How can we go about doing this? What do you feel should be supported in our current government? Let me know.

Q&A about Communication

The other day I got an email from one of the readers of this blog and I am posting it (the question) and my response (the answer) here. The names have been removed to protect the innocent. :)

Subject: Scientology / Communication question...
"I was reading your blog and wondering if you could help clear something up for me. I've been reading up on the Communication formula in the Scientology handbook (intention, attention, duplication, acknowledgement). Is there a way you could provide some everyday examples of it at work? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it!"

Response from Julia:
"Hmm... an example at work. I'd say that there have been times that I needed a piece of paperwork and I called the person I needed it from, stating my intention. Since they were paying attention to what I was saying, they understood and duplicated what I wanted - sending me the paperwork. Once I received the paperwork I called them back to acknowledge the receipt."

Does anyone else have examples of this they'd like to share or questions on the communication formula?

Youth for Human Rights

I haven't mentioned Youth for Human Rights lately, but I just saw some of their Public Service Announcements on tv today and I thought I'd share their link and info with you. I'm going to leave you with my favorite PSA:

The Purification Rundown

I have been asked to do a post on the Purification Rundown. I googled it really quickly and saw that it's listed as "controversial". I'm not sure what could be "controversial" about a detoxification program that thousands of people have done and experienced great results from... but I digress.

The Purification Program or "Purif" is basically a detox program based on the idea that long after drugs have been used, they remain in the fat cells of the person. The same thing goes for various toxins a person picks up in daily life. What the program does is allows the body to release those toxins and sweat them out - while replacing the old, drug engorged fat cells with new, clean cells.

I did the Purif about 10 years ago and, though I hadn't even taken any drugs, I felt much better afterwards. During the sweat program I dealt with some novocain that was stuck in the fat cells of my mouth and sweated out some pretty gross stuff that I think I must have picked up from the air in Los Angeles. I lived in LA when it was incredibly polluted and I didn't realize it, but these toxins were affecting my eyesight! I'm glad I got them out of my system.

So, does anyone have any questions?

Link Roundup

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I'm going to do a little round up of interesting, Scientology related posts. Enjoy!

Grahame posted a great response to a student, answering some interesting and universal questions about Scientology.

Max posts about change as it relates to programming. I love his blog because, though it's about programming, it's very easy to extract life lessons from it.

Val at Scientology Lives tells us about a class she's taking.

Scientology Celebrities talks about a friend of mine Jason Dohring.

Grahame participated in Blogging for Human Rights

Jenny blogs about Scientology and kids.

The Dianetics Video Channel

Earlier this month (while I was out of town) the Dianetics video channel was brought out. It came out around May 9th - which is the anniversary of Dianetics. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Scientology and... Mint?

Okay, I got asked the funniest question by a coworker a bit ago and I've been meaning to share it here. She asked me if Scientologists were allowed to have mint or mint-flavored products. Apparently her dentist told her that he didn't have any mint fluoride (only that disgusting cherry kind) because Scientologists aren't allowed to have mint.

The answer to this question is... drumroll please... Scientologists are indeed allowed to have mint and/or mint flavored products. There are no dietary restrictions in Scientology. You can eat or drink whatever you want.

It's so funny to me because I see all these outrageous things that people say about Scientology that have zero basis in fact. Where do people even get this stuff? I mean, do they just make it up?

Anyway, if you have heard some strange, outrageous thing about Scientology, by all means tell me and I'll let you know if it's true or false.

Personal Integrity

Hey! I'm back from vacation. :)

This post is about something I should have gone over earlier - Personal Integrity.

In Scientology, personal integrity is defined like this: "knowing what you know, what you know is what you know - and to have the courage to know and say what you have observed. And that is integrity and there is no other integrity."

In the article (called Personal Integrity) written by L. Ron Hubbard, he goes on to say, "Nothing in Dianetics and Scientology is true for you unless you have observed it and it is true according to your observation. That is all."

This is one of the things I think is so cool about Scientology. You are not asked to take anything on faith, but you are asked to apply the information in Scientology and see if it works. If it does, they you'll know it's true.

What do you think about this?

Next Two Weeks

Hi! I'm off on vacation for the next two weeks, so please expect my next post to be on May 18th, 2008. Thanks for following my blog!

The Rumormill

I've been posting definitions of various Scientology terms lately. You may have wondered why. So, here it is: I've heard a lot of strange rumors about Scientology running amok. As a Scientologist, they don't make sense to me, so I simply assumed people didn't understand what Scientology was and thus, decided to define the basic terms for everyone.

This approach hasn't gotten me any amazing responses, and the responses I have gotten are a bit out of my league. Most have asked me about things I honestly know nothing about. However, because people have asked such penetrating questions, I felt a need to answer them and found two really great websites to tell you what is fact and what is fiction when you search the web for information about Scientology. So, here are some great links by people a lot smarter than myself:

Grahame answers the burning question: is Scientology a Cult?
(This is something I also addressed in a post called Is Scientology a Religion?)

Grahame also addresses a very touchy subject - Scientology ex-members.

He talks about "Fair Game" here and here

I could go on and on with the questions Grahame has taken on - from aliens to how one joins the Church of Scientology, but that would make my blog be a list of his posts... so I'll move on.

Another great website that tackles and separates fact from fiction is Scientology Myths. Ever wondered about Clambake, Lisa McPherson, Copywritten scriptures and more? Got to Scientology Myths. Or, if your questions aren't answered there, ask them on the Scientology Myths Blog.

I hope these links help clear up the rumors and confusions that have surrounded Scientology. I would personally like to point out that Scientology is a very new religion - the only religion that I know of that was developed in the 20th century. And, as all new religions get attacked for what they stand for - goodness, peace, humanity, etc, I'm not particularly upset about the attacks Scientology has weathered. I've experienced nothing but good from my religion and I hope everyone who reads what I have to say will check out more about Scientology from the horses mouth - like reading a book, talking to an actual church member, touring a church, etc.

The Two Parts of the Mind

In an earlier post I went over the four words you need to know to understand Scientology. It'd be a good idea to review that post before reading this one. So, I'll give you a moment to review...

Okay, this post is about the two parts of the mind. I mostly am going over what they are, as it's probably a new concept to a lot of people to have the mind divided up this way. And, if you missed reading it, I cover the Scientology definition of the mind in this post. So, here are the two parts of the mind.

Analytical Mind n. The conscious, aware mind which thinks, observes data, remembers it and resolves problems. It would be essentially the conscious mind as opposed to the unconscious mind. The analytical mind is actually the awareness of awareness unit plus some evaluative circuits (or machinery to make the handling of the body possible). The thetan plus his machine.
Analytical means capable of resolving (problems or situations). The word is from Greek analysis, meaning "resolve, undo, loosen," which is to say, take something to pieces and see what it is made of.


Reactive Mind n. That portion of the mind which files and retains physical pain and painful emotion and seeks to direct the organism solely on a stimulus-response basis. The reactive mind is ruggedly built and never stops operating. Pictures, of a very low order, are taken by this mind of the environment even in some states of unconsciousness. This is the mind that stores up all the bad things that have happened to one and throws them back to him again in moments of emergency or danger so as to dictate his actions along lines which have been considered "safe" before. As there is little thinking involved in this, the courses of action dictated by the reactive mind are often not safe, but highly dangerous. The reactive mind is an unknowing, unwanted series of aberrated (meaning deviating from the rational thought or behavior) computations which bring about a negative effect upon the individual and those around him.


One of the goals in Dianetics is to move the mental recordings of physical pain and unconsciousness that reside in the reactive mind into the analytical mind - so that you can easily remember such recordings without the pain or unconsciousness that has been recorded affecting your decisions or your body negatively. It's all covered in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health - which is a very cool book. I read it when I was 18 and I think anyone who is curious about their mind and why people act the way they do should check it out.


(Note, these definitions were excerpted from: Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Dianetics: The Original Thesis, Science of Survival, Scientology, the Fundamentals of Thought, Scientology 0-8: The Book of Basics and other writings by L. Ron Hubbard.)

Scientology Definition of Responsibility

I recently reread the definition of the word "responsibility" in the Introduction to Scientology Ethics Book and it always strikes me as incredibly true. Check out the definition:

"The nonrecognition and denial of the right of intervention between oneself and any being, idea, matter, energy, space, time or form, and the assumption of full right of determination over it...

"Full responsibility is not fault; it is recognition of being cause.

"Responsibility also means a state, quality or fact of being responsible, and responsible means legally or ethically accountable for the care or welfare of another. Involving personal accountability or ability to act without guidance or superior authority. Being the source or cause of something. Capable of making moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior. Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable. Based upon or characterized by good judgment or sound thinking."

Isn't that deep?! What responsible thing have you done lately?

Four Words You Need to Know to Understand Scientology

Here are some words that I've seen mis-defined all around the Internet:

Scientology n. A religious practice developed by L. Ron Hubbard which applied to man's spirit and his spiritual freedom. It is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life.
The word Scientology comes from Latin scio which means knowing in the fullest sense of the word and Greek logos, study of. In itself the word Scientology means "knowing how to know". Scientology is a route, a way rather than a dissertation or an assertive body of knowledge. Through its drills and studies, one may find the truth for himself. The technology is therefore not something to believe, but something to do.
(as excerpted from The Creation of Human Ability, Scientololgy 8-8008, Scientology, the Fundamentals of Thought, Scientology 0-8: The Book of Basics and other writings by L. Ron Hubbard.)

Dianetics n. A methodology developed by L. Ron Hubbard to address and handle the effects of the spirit on the body. Its application can help alleviate such ailments as unwanted sensations and emotions, irrational fears and psychosomatic illnesses.
Dianetics comes from the Greek word dia, meaning through and nous, meaning soul.
It is most accurately described as "what the soul is doing to the body through the mind".
(as excerpted from Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Handbook for Preclears, Scientology, the Fundamentals of Thought, and other writings by L. Ron Hubbard)

Thetan n. The person himself - not his body or his name or his mind or anything else; that which is aware of being aware; the identity which is individual. The term was coined to eliminate any possible confusion with older, invalid concepts. It comes from the Greek letter theta, which the ancient Greeks used to represent thought or perhaps spirit, to which an "n" is added to make a noun in the modern style. It is also "theta to the nth degree", meaning unlimited or vast.
(as excerpted from The Creation of Human Ability, Scientololgy 8-8008, Book of Case Remedies and other writings by L. Ron Hubbard)

Mind n. A communication and control system between the thetan and his environment. The mind is a network of communications and pictures, energies and masses which are brought into being by the activities of the thetan versus the physical universe or other thetans. It is not the brain. It is everything used as part of the individual's thinking process, plus the thetan. A mind has to be alive to be considered a mind. Thus, a computer or electronic brain cannot be a mind; it can only be a thinking machine, as there is no life connected to it.
(as excerpted from Handbook for Preclears, Scientology, the Fundamentals of Thought, and other writings by L. Ron Hubbard)

An easy way to prove the difference between the brain, the mind and the thetan is: Think of a cat (you actually have to try this now...). So, you've got a picture of a cat? Who's looking at it? Where is it located?
Let me know what happens when you do the above.

Scientology: A Short History

Here's another question that could fall under the heading of "What is Scientology?" and that is, "How did Scientology Start?" Here's a short history of Scientology:

Basically, L. Ron Hubbard was an engineer who had traveled the world and began studying the mind in 1923. In 1947 he wrote a manuscript laying out some of his discoveries and that manuscript was circulated around by friends, who copied it and passed it along. (This manuscript is now published and is called Dianetics, The Original Thesis.) As copies of the manuscript got passed around more and more broadly, L. Ron Hubbard received more and more letters asking him questions about his discoveries. He decided to write a comprehensive text on the subject to answer all those questions. This is where the book, Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health sprang up from.

When Dianetics was published, people all across the world began to put the techniques that L. Ron Hubbard lays out into practice and after thousands of hours of Dianetics counseling was conducted, evidence had been gathered about the fundamentally spiritual nature of man. L. Ron Hubbard had discovered that man was a spiritual being, inhabiting a body and using a mind. These discoveries made him realize that he had entered the realm of religion.

In 1954, the first church of Scientology was formed in Los Angeles by a group of Scientologists. Within a few years churches had been formed across the country and around the world.

In the years between 1950 and 1986, L. Ron Hubbard finished his research on the spiritual nature of man. These writings are available in most libraries across the US. Further writings are available at Scientology churches.

Is Scientology a Religion?

I've been asked why Scientology is a religion recently, so I thought I'd explain it here.

Scientology is recognized as a religion all over the world, but why? Why is it called a religion? I think to answer that question, I'm going to have to look at what "religion" means.

The Encarta dictionary (my favorite) says:

"Religion
1. beliefs and worship: people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life
2. system: an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine
3. personal beliefs or values: a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by"

Scientology deals with man as a spirit and distinguishes itself from material and nonreligious philosophies that say that man is the product of the material. Scientology doesn't ask for blind faith, but helps the individual find past experiences and shed the trauma or guilt connected with those experiences. The Church of Scientology also provides basic services that any religion provides, such as Sunday Service, Sermons, Christenings, Weddings, etc.

So, there you go. I hope I cleared up any confusion as to why Scientology is called a religion.

Fun Links for the Week

Here are some great links to end your week with (or start your new week with... depends on how you look at it):

It seems that everyone is talking about the new Scientology Video Channel.
Here are some links with what bloggers have to say:

Philosopher L. Ron Hubbard posted about it
The Scientology Religon Blog posted about it
Celebrity Scientologists posted about it

Code Simplicity blogs about Creation in Programming

The Scientology Religion blog posts about where to get L. Ron Hubbard's books for free

Happy Birthday L. Ron Hubbard!

Today is L. Ron Hubbard's birthday! L. Ron Hubbard was the founder of Scientology, and though he passed away in 1986, Scientologists still like to acknowledge his birthday.
To celebrate his birthday, I'd love for my readers to become more educated about who he was and what he represented to Scientologists everywhere. Here are some great links to do just that:

The Official L. Ron Hubbard Website
All About L. Ron Hubbard
A Series of Publications about L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard's Discoveries in Relation to Dianetics
An Informative Publication about L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard and Education
L. Ron Hubbard, Founder of Dianetics and Scientology
Various Articles and Information about L. Ron Hubbard

Check 'em out. Hopefully you'll find out something you didn't know about L. Ron Hubbard. If you do, I'd love for you to come back here and comment about it.

Scientology Documentation of Anonymous' Criminal Actions

Some nutty group called "Anonymous" has been protesting Scientology. I don't really understand how any group of people can be as creepy as these guys, but hey, back in the day there were the KKK, and those people really freak me out too. (Strangely, the KKK also wore masks and threatened to kill people... connection anyone?)
Anyway, here's a video from youtube that documents what Anonymous have been up to, as apposed to the PR stuff they've said to news media.
Just as a little aside before I post the video- I KNOW that at least some of the activity in this video is true as my boyfriend works for a Scientology Mission and some of the actions in this video were directed toward the Mission he works for. It made my life really crappy for a few weeks and I wish they would stop being so hateful, open their minds and hearts - take a real look at Scientology and apply what Mr. L. Ron Hubbard says: "What's true for you is true." That's what I've always done, and I've decided to stick with Scientology all my life, even after studying other religions.
Now, without further ado, the video about this strange group, "Anonymous" (or just "Anon" to some):


And now for some lighter news... today is L. Ron Hubbard's birthday! I have a post for that coming up in a hot second.

03/17/08: Here's a post from Eclectic on A Fox News Report about Anonymous

Links About Scientology for This Week

Here are some great links about Scientology for this week:

Grahame posts about Fair Game and about A Scientologists' Life

The Scientology Religion Blog posts a great quote by L. Ron Hubbard

Celebrity Scientologists reports that Jeff Conaway kicks his drug habit with Scientology

Do the Right Thing answers the question - Why do some people attack Scientology?

A Blog About Dianetics posts about the history of Dianetics

What is Life as a Scientologist Like?

I think that I cannot define what Scientology is without an aside about what life is like as a Scientologist. This was also a question asked in a previous comment - which at the time I thought was kind of odd, but shrugged it off. After talking to some friends that I have who practice other religions, I discovered this is actually a common question.

So, though it's pretty boring, I'll tell you a little about my week and you can decide if it's much different than your week:

Weekdays:
I get up at around 7 AM, do a little writing (I'm working on a novel), some exercise, get showered and dressed.
Leave home at 8:30 and get to work at 8:45 AM. (I'm so glad that I live close to my office!)
Work from 8:45 AM - 5:45 PM. I have lunch in between that time. Usually I go home or to the park for lunch, sometimes I go out to eat with co-workers.
I eat dinner, then drive down to my church. At 7PM I do some study there as I'm working on a Scientology course. I end off at 10PM and go home and to bed.

Weekends:
Friday night: I went and saw 10,000 BC. Pretty cool movie. Now I'm blogging.
This weekend I have a very fun excursion with my best friend planned. I'm taking her out to brunch and then to a spa for her birthday. I LOVE spas, so I think it'll be a pretty fantastic Saturday.
Saturday night I'll probably hang out with my boyfriend.
Sunday I'll sleep in, I have a work meeting I need to attend, then I'm mostly free. I've been invited to have a dinner with my boyfriend's family on Sunday night, so I'm sure that's where I'll be then.

So, that's my week. Is it much different than any one who is actively involved in other religions? In my experience, it's not. There's a lady I used to work with that did Bible study every night. Another lady at my office used to be very active with her church and dedicated her entire weekend, along with a few days a week to youth activities. What's your opinion?

A Week in Links

Here are some excellent links regarding Scientology to start March out with:

Grahame adds to my article"So...What is Scientology?"

DoTheRightThing has a great article on criticism of Scientology

Max talks about finding beauty when writing code

Val talks about Scientology "beliefs"

So...What is Scientology?

I looked over my blog and discovered that I have never defined Scientology for you! What was I thinking?! So, here's the 5 million dollar question: What is Scientology?
Here goes:

Starting with the basics, what does the word Scientology itself mean?
The word Scientology means "The study of knowledge" or "Knowing about knowing". Further, Scientology means the study and handling of the spirit in relationship with itself, universes and life.

Scientology is all about providing the exact principles and practical technology for improving self-confidence, intelligence and ability. It's not something you have to have faith in or believe in to work, it's an applied religious philosophy - meaning if you apply the principles of Scientology, you will see the results in your life.

I'll be delving deeper into what Scientology is and is all about in the next few posts, so stay tuned and let me know if anything I say confuses you or if you have questions!

Great Links About Scientology

Here are some great links about Scientology:

A free eBook about the Theology of Scientology

What do Religious Scholars say about Scientology?

Scientology Celebrity David Pomeranz accepts an award for L. Ron Hubbard

A great post about one of my most favorite quotes from L. Ron Hubbard

Citizens in Santa Cruz are campaigning for a psychotropic free zone

Applying Scientology to Computer Programming

Communication and How it Affects Relationships - Continued

Have you ever been annoyed by how long it took for your significant other (or anyone else for that matter) to answer a question or do something? I know I sure have. I was once in a relationship where my boyfriend would rarely respond to a question without a good 20 minutes to think it over. I am not the kind of person who likes to sit around and think a simple question like "How was your day?" over for 20 minutes (okay, I might be exaggerating), so I got annoyed with him.
In Scientology, there is a test you can use on your significant other (or anyone else, friends, family, whoever!) to see if you will be able to communicate with them or if you will go crazy trying to communicate with them. This is an interesting and important test to make, since communication is so important in a relationship.

So, without further ado, here it is from the horse's mouth (meaning as written by L. Ron Hubbard):


"There should be some parity of intellect and sanity between a husband and wife for them to have a successful marriage....

"In Scientology, there is a test for sanity and comparative sanity which is so simple that anyone can apply it. What is the 'communication lag' of the individual? When asked a question, how long does it take him to answer it? When a remark is addressed to him, how long does it take to register and return?

"The length of time intervening between the time a question or remark is addressed to a person and the time that that person answers the original question or statement is known as his 'communication lag'....

"Marital partners who have the same communication lag (meaning that their rate of response to questions or remarks addressed to them is similar) will get along; where one partner is fast and one is slow, the situation will become unbearable to the fast partner and miserable to the slow one."


So, there ya go. If you want to know what kind of person to start a relationship with, use the communication lag rule. Works every time I've used it! Let me know how it works for you.

Communication and How it Affects Relationships

I've been meaning to write something on this for a little while now, but haven't gotten around to it. As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently completed the Starting the Successful Marriage Course. No, my boyfriend hasn't proposed, so congratulations are not in order - but we did do the course together!

Anyway, that's beside the point. I wanted to do a post regarding one of the things I learned on the course, with regards to communication. In Scientology, there is something we call the ARC Triangle which stands for Affinity*, Reality** and Communication***. If these point are all used, they bring about Understanding. This is incredibely important in a relationship. In fact, one of the biggest complaints I hear from my friends are "He just doesn't understand me." Maybe the problem is that he doesn't get why she simply has to buy that $200 pair of jeans or she doesn't like it when he checks other women out or whatever, it really doesn't matter. It can all be solved by using the ARC triange. The whole principle of the triangle is that these three things (Affinity, Reality and Communication) are all related. As Mr. Hubbard puts it in the course booklet for the Starting the Successful Marriage Course:

"Without affinity there is no reality or communication. Without reality there is no affinity or communication. Without communication there is no affinity nor reality."

So, the basic idea is that if there is no affection between people, they will have no reality and will not be able to communicate.

Have you ever been in a relationship where you felt your partner didn't listen to you? Did it do well or poorly? Anytime I've had that scenerio - it always led to a fight, which is to say, a lowering of affinity, reality, communication and finally a lowering of understanding. You don't feel like they "get" you because they aren't communicating, which makes your affection for them less and makes your relationship less real. Have you ever experienced this? Let me know!




*Affinity: means emotional response. The feeling of affection or lack of it.
**Reality: means the solid objects, the real things of life.
***Communication: means an interchange of ideas between two people

Would Life be Better Without Promiscuity?

I have covered the Way To Happiness Precept Don't be Promiscuous in a previous blog post, so I won't quote it again. If you'd like to read the earlier blog post, click here. Here I'd like to address why I think the world would be better if people were not promiscious, because I have read plenty of magizenes and news articles that seem to have the opposite idea. The idea that the modern world seems to have agreed to is that it's okay to sleep around, to just hang out, to have a f*** buddy, and so on. I wholeheartedly disagree with this general idea and I will share a very personal experience to show you why.
A few years ago I was between boyfriends and I decided that I would try the whole "one night stand" concept. I had never done it before, but thought that if my friends were into it, why couldn't I be? So, I had a one night stand. I went home the next day and discovered that not only did I feel degraded and cheap, but I also had a much lower opinion of the guy that I slept with. I basically had started out the night thinking that he was pretty good looking and nice and ended it thinking he was a total jerk.
Basically, the above experience is one that I will never repeat. I don't like feeling that way about myself or other people.
Now, was that "promiscuous" per se? The word "promiscious" is defined in The Way to Happiness book as: casual, random sexual relations. So, yes, it was. I certainly could have lived without the experience, too.
Anyway, I've given my view on promiscuity. I don't think it's something that is necessary for life on earth. It doesn't seem very natural to me. If bald eagles and other animals can apply this precept, I think humans can too.

Internet Down!

I have an internet connectivity problem. I will get a post out before Sunday... just not until my darn connection works.

7 Scientology Principles That Could Help Increase Property Values in Your Area

I work with real estate agents for a living and I was thinking about this the other day: If someone were to apply the information in the book The Way to Happiness in their neighborhood, wouldn't that help make their community a better place to live - thus driving up home prices in the area? Realtors say that the three key things in selling a home are "Location, Location, Location". Improving the location that your home is in without even having to move seems like a pretty sweet deal to me. Take a look and you decide.

1. Set A Good Example
If one were to set a good example in their community, wouldn't their neighbors respect them more and want to help them out? Wouldn't it also make for less community dispute? For example, if a neighbor ran out of room in his/her garbage can, you could set a good example by offering to let them stick their trash bag in your garbage can. I'm sure you could think of a million little ways this would work - like you wouldn't allow loud parties at your home late at night - so no neighbors would have to call the police to tell you to keep it down.

2. Support A Government Designed And Run For All The People
If one were to support a government designed and run for all the people - and rallied others around the idea - wouldn't that make for better, more sensible laws in your community? The silly laws would be thrown out and the helpful laws would be voted on. Also, decent people would be voted in as community leaders - not uneducated or downright criminal people. You'd have a decent person representing you and your community in government.

3. Do Not Harm A Person of Good Will
If your community was a place where no one of good will was harmed, don't you think the word would get out and people would want to move their? Certainly the people who were of good will. Also, wouldn't that make it a better place for you and your family to live? It would definitely make for a tighter community.

4. Safeguard and Improve Your Environment
Haven't you ever looked at your neighbor's lawn in disgust? Or perhaps you live in an apartment - have you ever walked past someone else's apartment that simply smelled terrible? I know I have. If you were to go on a campaign to safeguard and improve your environment, that neighbor couldn't help but be involved. Most people would rather live in a clean, beautiful environment than a rundown, dumpy one. This point alone could help property values for an entire block.

5. Be Worthy of Trust
Have you ever "borrowed" something from your neighbor and somehow never got around to returning it? Come on - I may not be able to see that sheepish smile, but I know it's there. :) What kind of relationship do you have with that neighbor (or friend or colleague or enemy)? Probably not as good as when they trusted you. Work on being worthy of trust. Not only will you become known as a "good guy (or girl)", but your community will listen to you if you have an idea, want to do something helpful, etc. People who are not trusted, aren't listened to.

6. Try Not to Do Things to Others That You Would Not Like Them to Do to You and
7. Try to Treat Others as You Would Want Them to Treat You
Ah, the golden rule. How many problems do you think you would have avoided had you not stared down your neighbor, left an angry note on their car, let your kids TP their home or even got into legal battles with them. Of course, legal battles have their time and place, but don't you think a lot of that nonsense could be avoided if you were just able to treat them how you would want to be treated and didn't do things to them that you wouldn't want them to do to you?

So, there you go. It seems to me that if someone were to apply all of thse principles, they would make their neighborhood so awesome that no one would want to move and everyone would want to move in! Tell me what you think.