All I know is that Tom Cruise looked pretty jacked up last interview I saw him in and he is involved with this cult.

snipped......

The Church of Scientology upholds the notion that individuals can discover for themselves whether Scientology works through personal observation and experience rather than blind faith.[citation needed] The Church promotes a type of counseling called "auditing" as a means of spiritual rehabilitation.[3] Scientology runs several promotion campaigns through closely related organizations[10][22] in the form of a set of moral standards, an anti-drug program, an education methodology, a volunteer organization and a business management method.



Do you believe in this crap?

Well, I guess I certainly came in late on this one. So many responses.

I'm no longer in the Church - I left it in 1984 and I had started in 1971. I didn't do the whole "shabang", but I did read and download a lot of stuff when it was first being put out on the net. I have all Grades and the OT levels in writing, but haven't actually "run" them on myself.

It took me years to be able to differentiate between what actually will work and what is just hype and propoganda to get you sucked in. It took me years to also be able to speak in every day terms again. I have to say that I'm "still" getting rid of certain beliefs that I no longer need apply, but its a lot easier to do that now.

I've learned to simply take what works and leave the rest. I still like to experiment and have a good time with some of the theories, etc. Some of the exercises or drills from the older books are fun to do. The newer books have changed some of the methods, very slightly, but enough to where its not as effective in my opinion.

If you have no idea or have never recalled anything from a past life then anything else that has to do with something from before a person was born, isn't going to make any sense. Its a moot point.

What I found is that if a person has a release and whatever it is that was bothering them, no longer bothers them, then whatever it is, whether it be from another life or not, worked and that's good enough for me. I don't care if a person can remember their past or not. I care whether they handle or fully release the upset or "charge" of whatever is bothering them.

I personally would never go back into the Church as I totally disagree with how its being run. However, that doesn't mean I'd throw out the baby with the bathwater. What works, simply works.

I do other things besides Scn and I combine certain things with some basics from Scn, which would be unheard of in the Church, but I enjoy doing it and many a time what I do does help a person change their views, which then helps them in their life.

I've heard so many stories from people who have known LRH and others who haven't and I still hear stories, ad nauseum. I'm on a list currently that has people who used to be on the boat with him and knew him during the 60's. I knew people who knew him from the 50's. There is such a diverse amount of stuff about the guy, its amazing.

I don't defend him, but at the same time I can't say as I totally hate the dude as I never met him. What is lacking, so far, from what I've seen here on this particular thread is the pro's. I've seen more opinions not based on personal experience. Yet, I can actually tell you that I've seen some pretty astonishing changes in people after applying something as simple as Dianetics, during the days that I did nothing but that.

To be able to differentiate between how the Church is "run" administratively and what is written in many different books of processes and theories, are two totally different things, yet they are constantly confused with each other. LRH makes a promise that you can go Clear on Dianetics and you'll get these super-human abilities - blah blah blah. Well, that's just PR, hype, sales, etc. The real thing is actually doing it and finding out that, hey - things are actually going better and my headaches are completely gone, etc. and on and on. You may never go Clear with Dian. but your life might go better. Never mind what the sales says, find out yourself. The nice thing is that you don't need to go to a Church to find out. There are plenty of people who have left the Church that are willing to help along those lines.

As far as the history of how Scn got started, etc., that's probably something that would create a whole book and there are several of them out there. It didn't need to be a religion, but apparently, LRH found out how religions work and figured it was the way to make money and stay out of trouble - how wrong he was as far as staying out of trouble.

So, there's a lot of stuff in Scn that isn't applicable to every day life and there's a lot of stuff that is. It all depends on what is being addressed.

Well, there's my few cents worth on the subject.

KozeeLady

Yes very interesting. Thanks for your candor.

Scientology is a farce among farces. To quote Hubbard himself, "Scientology's sole purpose is to make money...".

I remember filming a TV show near the Scientology building in Hollywood back in 2002. As usual, they got the cute brainwashed twenty-something girls who came straight off of the Greyhound bus to pass out passes for "free auditings" to all passers-by. At some point, a couple of co-workers and I were given cards.

Being the eternal wise-ass I am, I thought, "Why the F*** not???!!!" and went in, just to be able to say I went through a Scientologist auditing process.

A couple of well-dressed types with what I call "Disney" smiles (totally fake, pinned-on smiles that don't hide anything) gave me some shpeel about how great L. Ron Hubbard was and how he was a genius and a visionary and how he was the only dude who could beat Chuck Norris. Then they started up with what Scientology could cure me of- depression, anxiety, anti-social behavior, blah blah blah yackety schmackety.

It was then where they hooked me up to their auditing machine, which they said could read the impulses from my thoughts. They told me to think of the happiest thing I ever had in my life, at which point some lights on the contraption went off and some numbers started to scroll.

Then they told me to think of the SADDEST thing that happened in my life, which made lights beep and numbers scroll.

Within minutes, they gave me a whole deal with what was "wrong" with me. They even showed me a bunch of print-outs and stuff, and then proceeded to ask me what I thought.

I called total bull-honkey on them.

What they DIDN'T know (and apparently didn't detect) was the fact I did the exact OPPOSITE of what they told me to do when I was hooked up to their auditing machine- instead of the HAPPIEST memories, I recalled the SADDEST ones, and vice-versa. Their machines didn't turn out different responses, nor did were they even CLOSE to telling if I was jerking their chain or not.

That was, until I went ahead and TOLD them of course, which (needless to say) made them look like total goofs. I then related the experiences a couple of my friends had with their organization which resulted in one being placed in a mental institution and the other being DEAD from their brainwashing.

They THEN proceeded to call their bigger, burlier (though still well-suited) Scientologist bodyguards up to "escort" me out of the building. And by "escort", I mean they "bum-rushed me out of the building... with feeling!".

Yeah, landing on that sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard was a wee bit painful, but I had made my point- the organization was (and is) a total scam.

Scientology is a farce among farces. To quote Hubbard himself, "Scientology's sole purpose is to make money...".

I remember filming a TV show near the Scientology building in Hollywood back in 2002. As usual, they got the cute brainwashed twenty-something girls who came straight off of the Greyhound bus to pass out passes for "free auditings" to all passers-by. At some point, a couple of co-workers and I were given cards.

Being the eternal wise-ass I am, I thought, "Why the F*** not???!!!" and went in, just to be able to say I went through a Scientologist auditing process.

A couple of well-dressed types with what I call "Disney" smiles (totally fake, pinned-on smiles that don't hide anything) gave me some shpeel about how great L. Ron Hubbard was and how he was a genius and a visionary and how he was the only dude who could beat Chuck Norris. Then they started up with what Scientology could cure me of- depression, anxiety, anti-social behavior, blah blah blah yackety schmackety.

It was then where they hooked me up to their auditing machine, which they said could read the impulses from my thoughts. They told me to think of the happiest thing I ever had in my life, at which point some lights on the contraption went off and some numbers started to scroll.

Then they told me to think of the SADDEST thing that happened in my life, which made lights beep and numbers scroll.

Within minutes, they gave me a whole deal with what was "wrong" with me. They even showed me a bunch of print-outs and stuff, and then proceeded to ask me what I thought.

I called total bull-honkey on them.

What they DIDN'T know (and apparently didn't detect) was the fact I did the exact OPPOSITE of what they told me to do when I was hooked up to their auditing machine- instead of the HAPPIEST memories, I recalled the SADDEST ones, and vice-versa. Their machines didn't turn out different responses, nor did were they even CLOSE to telling if I was jerking their chain or not.

That was, until I went ahead and TOLD them of course, which (needless to say) made them look like total goofs. I then related the experiences a couple of my friends had with their organization which resulted in one being placed in a mental institution and the other being DEAD from their brainwashing.

They THEN proceeded to call their bigger, burlier (though still well-suited) Scientologist bodyguards up to "escort" me out of the building. And by "escort", I mean they "bum-rushed me out of the building... with feeling!".

Yeah, landing on that sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard was a wee bit painful, but I had made my point- the organization was (and is) a total scam.

yeppers, but then almost all of the organized religions of the world today would fall under the "cult" classification if the pactices they engage were really known. sad but true. God has only one church, it consists of those who are actually seeking the wisdom of, and trying to live as Christ taught. Not some dogmatic religious group whom is into self gratification buy showing off with huge congregations, buildings, nice clothing on sunday morning, etc. Christ was a man of service to all whom sought his wisdom. He was not about a proud and or a haughty look.