Monday, August 25, 2008

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.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

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?

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

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.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

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