How to Choose A Candidate

This may be a little late, seeing as how there are only a couple of days left before the election, but if you haven't voted yet, here's something that will help you to select the best (or least worst) candidate.

Go to the "Accurately Predict Human Behavior" course page, click on the "Play Video" button and watch the video. It gives you a basic intro to a method of predicting human behavior. Then take the free online course.

At that point you will be able to evaluate which of the candidates to vote for.

A couple of tips:

• Ignore all rumors
• Ignore all unproven accusations
• Look at the candidate's actions
• Look at how they treat others
• Look at how they handle others
• Look at how they react to setbacks
• Look at how they react to attacks
• OBSERVE

Good luck!

The US Presidential Campaign

People sometimes wonder about politics and Scientology.

In 1965, L. Ron Hubbard said. "I hereby declare Scientology to be nonpolitical and nonideological. ... Scientologists may be members of any political group on this planet without restraint ... Scientology is for a free people and is itself on this date declared free of any political connection or allegiance of any kind whatever."

That is official Church policy and has been since 1965.

Individual Scientologists are free to make up their own minds about who they support and who they don't support.

I know Scientologists who are Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Libertarians. I know some who yawn about politics and some who get very passionate about it. They are as varied as any other group of people.

Kirstie Alley recently announced her support for one particular candidate, but that was her choice and doesn't reflect either the policy of the Church nor the choice of most other Scientologists. For example, I sure don't endorse the guy she chose and wouldn't vote for him if he were the only candidate running.

So, there you go. A little official policy and a little personal opinion for you to chew upon.

Just one more thing. If you are a US Citizen, make sure you vote. It's an important right that should not be wasted.

The "Science" behind Psychiatric Drugs

I just came across this fascinating article about The Psychiatric Drug Crisis in the pharmaceutical industry.

The article covers not only that crisis, but also the history behind many psychiatric drugs and the complete lack of science behind them.

For example, the use of the drug lithium for people who experienced mania came about because it sedated guinea pigs that had been injected with the urine of manic patients. Honest, I kid you not. If you don't believe me, read the article (see the link above).

Here is a quote from the article:

By 1960, the major classes of psychiatric drugs—among them, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs, known as anxiolytics—had been discovered and were on their way to becoming a seventy-billion-dollar market. Having been discovered by accident, however, they lacked one important element: a theory that accounted for why they worked (or, in many cases, did not). That didn’t stop drug makers and doctors from claiming that they knew.

The article also exposes the truth about the myth of the "chemical imbalance," which even its long time proponents no longer espouse.

It's nice to have someone in the actual industry completely validate everything you've been saying for the past twenty plus years.

Church of Scientology Opens National Office in Washington, D.C.

On September 12th the Church of Scientology opened the latest in a long list of new churches and facilities, with the grand opening of the National Affairs Office in Washington, D.C.

The Church will use the new office to coordinate its many social and humanitarian initiatives on a national and international level.

You can read the full article here: Church of Scientology Opens National Office in D.C. Landmark

Basic Questions about Scientology Principles

martin jeffrey asked:

Hi Grahame,

I'm curious as to what the differences are between the mind and thetan. More specifically, I would like to know if memories and emotions are a product of the brain, or if the brain is more so used as a machine to interpret such things as memories and emotions that are a property of the thetan itself.

Further I am curious if the reactive mind is solely contained within the brain itself, or part of the thetan?

Sorry if my question seems a bit off mark, Scientology is an entirely new set of concepts for me.

Thanks

Hey Martin,

Excellent questions. They are totally answered in the book "Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought", but to save you the wait after you order it :) , here is the short version:

I'd recommend watching this video if you haven't already: "The Parts of Man". It gives you some useful background data in just a couple of minutes. I think it will help with understanding my explanation.

Now let's define our terms. Definitions from The Scientology Glossary.

Thetan: the person himself - not his body or his name, the physical universe, his mind, or anything else; that which is aware of being aware; the identity which is the individual. The term was coined to eliminate any possible confusion with older concepts. It comes from the Greek letter Theta (Theta), which the Greeks used to represent thought or perhaps spirit, to which an n is added to make a noun in the modern style used to create words in engineering.

Mind: a control system between the thetan and the physical universe. The mind is not a brain.

Body: the organized physical composition or substance of an animal or man, whether living or dead. The body is the thetan’s communication center. It is a physical object. It is not the being himself.

Your Questions:

Q1: I'm curious as to what the differences are between the mind and thetan.

A thetan is the person him or herself. The mind is the computer a thetan uses to store memories, make decisions, calculate things, etc.

Q2: I would like to know if memories and emotions are a product of the brain.

No. They are products of the thetan.

Q3: or if the brain is more so used as a machine to interpret such things as memories and emotions that are a property of the thetan itself.

No. The brain can be thought of as a sort of switch-board for the nerve impulses sent around the body. Emotion comes from the thetan, but can be influenced by the body and environment. Memories are recordings of the physical universe and the thoughts and conclusions of the thetan.

Q4: I am curious if the reactive mind is solely contained within the brain itself, or part of the thetan?

Definition of reactive mind: that portion of a person’s mind which works on a totally stimulus-response basis, which is not under his volitional control and which exerts force and the power of command over his awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and actions.

The reactive mind is not part of either the brain or the thetan. It is the part of the mind where moments of pain and unconsciousness are stored and thus is a difficult place for the thetan to get his attention into and is therefore not under his control.

I hope I've answered your questions. For more details you really have to read the book I linked to above.

If I haven't answered well enough or my answers have brought up more questions, then just ask some more.

The Basic Individual

Here's a quote I really like from the book Dianetics: The Original Thesis.

The basic individual is not a buried, unknown or different person, but an intensity of all that is best and most able in the person.

This is not just an opinion, but is what was actually discovered during the early days of Dianetics research.  The basic individual is you once the traumas, large and small, have been released from your life.  That's something you can achieve through Dianetics and Scientology.

Acting Contrary to Survival - Why?

I'm currently studying the fundamentals of Scientology. What we call the "Basics". What I'm doing is studying everything chronologically. I started with the book "Dianetics: The Original Thesis", which was the first description of Dianetics, passed around from hand-to-hand first by friends of L. Ron Hubbard and then by many more interested people.

I'm well past Original Thesis now, but today I was looking back at some of my notes and I found some things that I thought I'd share.

This first quote explains what is behind actions that you or others have taken that didn't make any sense.  For example, with all we know now about the damage drugs such as cocaine and heroine can do, why is it that people still take them?  Why is it that a suicide bomber does what he does?  Why is it that Joe yelled at Mary when in fact he loves her?  Why on earth did a seemingly successful marriage suddenly break up?

The explanation is in this first quote.  And it leads to solutions for all of the examples I gave and for any other behavior that just doesn't seem to make any sense.  Those solutions can all be found in Scientology.

Here is the quote from the book Dianetics: The Original Thesis:

When the individual is acting contrary to the survival of himself, his group, progeny, race, mankind or life, he can be considered to be unintelligent, uninformed or aberrated.

Unintelligent and uninformed are relatively easy to handle, but "aberrated" can be much more difficult.  The good new is that it is what Scientology and Dianetics handle successfully every day.

What is an "Illegal PC"?

Darren asked What is an "Illegal PC"?

It's a term used to refer to someone who, due to psychiatric abuse, is in a state which makes it unwise for them to receive Scientology Auditing. They have been so messed up by damaging psychiatric treatments, such as electro-convulsive treatment (ECT), brain operations or the use of damaging psychiatric drugs, that any attempt to assist them spiritually in a way that has them looking inward is liable to push them over the edge.

It is not a permanent status. There are things a person can do to demonstrate that they have recovered sufficiently that they can safely receive Scientology Auditing, at which point they can.

In the meantime, they participate in all the other services and practices of Scientology.

Definitions:
Illegal = in this usage of the word, it does not refer to the laws of the land, but to the rules of Scientology Churches. "Illegal" in this sense means a violation of Church rules, for example, it is against the rules to audit someone who has not sufficiently recovered from abusive psychiatric treatment, so it is called "illegal".

PC = Pre-Clear = a person who has not yet achieved the State of Clear and is undergoing or planning to undergo Scientology Auditing with the goal of achieving the state.

I hope that answers your question, Darren.

Selfish Spirituality

Jonathan said: I just get the feeling that with the clearing of the reactive mind, that morals would fly out the window as the search for spiritual ends, in the end are selfish, and your told to do it for yourself. I believe that people are good, But when environments make it SO easy to be bad, and even rewarded in cases that clearer lines should be made about how much you do it for yourself.

Thanks for your comments Jonathan.

You say "the search for spiritual ends, in the end, are selfish". If that comes from your own personal observation, then that is sad. Personally, I have found that the search for the spiritual is very far from selfish.

As an example, would you call Mother Teresa selfish? I sure wouldn't.

Let me give you the Scientology view on this:

First: the dynamic principle of existence is SURVIVE! In other words that is the driving force behind everything we do.

Next: the purpose of the mind is to resolve problems relating to survival.

And third: When we talk about survival we don't mean just for oneself, we are talking about survival of self, ones family, the groups one is part of, of mankind, of all living things, of the physical universe, of all things spiritual and of God or Infinity.

The analytical mind in its optimum state tries to bring about the best possible survival in all those areas, not just self.

The reactive mind gets in the way of this. The selfish and destructive things you see in this world are products of the reactive mind.

Once a person has gotten rid of his reactive mind, all that is left is the analytical mind - the optimum mind. So a Clear acts in the best interests of all and a Clear is as active as he can be in that direction. He or she works toward the best possible survival for all the areas I mentioned above.

So, in my experience, people who are improving spiritually become more and more interested in the rest of existence and they become more and more active in helping others - that's why the Scientology Volunteer Ministers are such a huge organization and why you see them whenever disaster strikes. They have improved enough spiritually that they want to, and do, help others.

You say "you're told to do it for yourself". Perhaps there are religions where that is the case, but Scientology is not one of them. Yes, it does require active participation if you want to improve spiritually, and yes, it is necessary sometimes to look inward at your own existence in order to understand yourself, but it is not a solo effort, you need to both give and receive help in order to make it.

I hope your own path towards the spiritual is successful and that you too can help others be unselfish and help their fellow man.

Scientology Logic and Political Solutions

Although "logic" is a very important subject, the tools and methods you can use to come up with logical conclusions and solutions are not well defined. If you don't believe me then just wade through the Wikipedia article on "Logic" and afterwards try to apply something from it to your everyday life to come up with a decision. Good luck.

This lack of tools for logical reasoning is manifested all over our society, but one of the most obvious places is in the field of government. Sadly this is a field where logic is most needed and where it is apparently least used.

The recently concluded war over the debt ceiling was a horrible example of this and almost every day we see others.

I'm not going to attempt to solve the country's financial problems in this article, but I will attempt to help you understand, a little better, the type of logic being used.

In Scientology we have practical and workable descriptions of Logic and we have many tools that are easy to use when you need to come up with logical solutions.

In observing the back-and-forth up on Capitol Hill and in the White House here is what immediately comes to mind for me: They are working on "Two-valued Logic".

So, what is that?

Back in the middle of last century, when he was trying to figure out what made man tick, L. Ron Hubbard had to first work out what was "logic". One of the first things he did was describe the evolution of logic:

"Ancient Times: One-Valued Logic. Exists as the logic of 2/3 world's population today as 'Fatalism'. No Decision. All action based on "The Will of Fate." No Right - No Wrong.

Dark Ages: Two-Valued Logic. Absolute Right or Wrong. Wrong. Right.

Present: Three-Valued Logic. In general use, 1949. Wrong. Maybe. Right."

Two-Valued Logic is the sort of logic sports fans use: "My team is good. The other team sucks."

Three-Valued Logic is used in computers: The smallest value a computer deals with is 1 (right), 0 (wrong) or no-value (maybe).

If you are willing to cast aside your political biases for a moment and just look at what is, then I think you will see that the main method of logic being used in attempting to solve the country's problems is mostly Two-Valued Logic: If you are a Republican then what your side says is right and what the Democrats say is wrong. If you are a Democrat then what your side says is right and what the Republicans say is wrong.

This is the method of logic that was used in the Dark Ages and so the solutions coming out of Washington are of the quality you'd expect from a pitched battle in the muddy fields of Medieval Europe.

Some in Washington have managed to rise to the level of Three-Valued Logic: "Maybe some of the suggestions from the other side aren't all wrong." But that's about as high as it gets.

The sort of logic they should be using was first described by L. Ron Hubbard in a 1950 lecture and is called "Infinity-Valued Logic". This type of logic has "degrees of right" and "degrees of wrong". "Absolute Right or Wrong Unobtainable."

He described this more fully in a set of rules of logic called "The Logics". In one of these rules he said:

"Gradient scales are necessary to the evaluation of problems and their data.

This is the tool of infinity-valued logic: Absolutes are unobtainable. Terms such as good and bad, alive and dead, right and wrong are used only in conjunction with gradient scales. On the scale of right and wrong, everything above zero or center would be more and more right, approaching an infinite rightness, and everything below center would be more and more wrong, approaching infinite wrongness. ... Any datum has only relative truth. ... Truth is relative to environments, experience and truth."

So "suggestion A" for solving some political crisis is not "right" or "wrong" but is relatively right or wrong. If right is 10 and wrong is 1 then maybe it scores at 6. Maybe "suggestion B" gets a score of 7. If we rate all suggestions and then take the top 10 perhaps a workable solution acceptable to both sides could be derived.

This is how thinking should be done and how solutions should be derived.

One can only hope that at some time in the future our government will catch up with the rest of us and move out of the Dark Ages when it comes to the method of logic it uses.

What is Golden Era Productions?

Golden Era Productions is the international dissemination center for Scientology. They produce training films, videos of international events, public service announcements for various social betterment groups (anti-drug, human rights, etc.) and much, much more. But rather than bore you with a lot of words, see for yourself with this video: Golden Era Productions

Criminal conduct by Eli Lilly costs them 1.42 Billion

Here is a report on the criminal conduct of Eli Lilly and how much it is costing them. But why aren't we seeing the people who did it prosecuted and thrown in jail? Well, let's hope someone in authority decides soon that it's time to put these criminals behind bars.

Criminon

Criminon is a criminal rehabilitation organization sponsored by the Church of Scientology. It is the most effective criminal rehabilitation program in existence with an 80% success rate - that means 80% of Criminon graduates DON'T end up back in prison.

Here is a short video introduction:

Format Change

I hope the blog's format change is to your liking. The old format was okay but a little dark and too thin for the average video. To post a video I had to modify the width and height so it fit into the skinny left hand column. With the new format all that is ancient history and the default width for YouTube videos is no problem.

So, come, read, enjoy. And if you have any suggestions for improving the format even more then just add a comment.

The Story of Human Rights

They are vital to us all. Without them we are not free, there is no justice, we cannot speak our mind, we can be starved, we can be controlled against our will and worse. Yet many people have no idea what Human Rights are.

So what are Human Rights? Where did the idea come from? What do they have to do with you and your everyday life?

This amazing vidoe tells you all that in just a few minutes. It's like a mini documentary and it's both interesting and entertaining:

The end of the world is ... not

Well, 6pm on May the 21st, 2011 has come and gone and we are still here. Just in case the end really was on the way my wife and I had a really good lunch and then went shopping in the afternoon. After all, when you only have a few hours left you have to make the most of it.

But all joking aside, it sort of amazes me that so many people actually want the world to end. Is this world so bad that the apocalypse is to be so desired? I know it's not perfect but whatever the bad conditions, we can do something about it and make some improvement. Personally I enjoy my life, my family, my friends, my possessions, mankind, the birds, the animals, even (some of) the insects. To me the world is what we make it, so if you are dissatisfied, do something about it.

Anyway, just some brief thoughts I wanted to get down now that we know the predictions of the end have turned out to be so wro...

Meet a Scientologist Video: My Friend Cindy

There are now over 200 videos in the Meet a Scientologist series. These are short (1 - 2 minutes) videos of everyday Scientologists who tell you a bit about their lives and the difference Scientology has made to them.

There is a new one out featuring a friend of mine: Cindy Gainsforth. Check it out and see what she has to say about Scientology (or in this case Dianetics) and what it has done for her.

It's appropriate that in her video Cindy is talking about Dianetics, because the 61st anniversary of the publication of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is rapidly approaching.

Dianetics: 61st Anniversary

May 9th is the 61st anniversary of the publication of the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.

If you've never read the book then you don't have a sufficient understanding of your greatest asset so that you can use it to its fullest extent. So what is your greatest asset? Your mind.

The human mind is an amazing thing. Just take a look around you right at this minute and notice how much of what you see was created by the human mind. From where I sit at the kitchen table I see the walls, floor and ceiling. I see the fridge, the stove, the table, the lamps, the cupboards, etc., etc. About the only things not created by the human mind are the potted plants, and even they were put there by the human mind.

You use your mind 365/24/7. It is needed for your livelihood, for your fun, for your dreams and even to tie your shoes. So it seems that this mind of yours is pretty important.

So how much do you know about it? Do you know as much about it as you do your car or your computer or even your fridge? The answer is most likely: no. In fact you probably know very little about your mind.

Do you know:
- How your mind works?
- How to use it effectively?
- How to repair and maintain it?

If your answer is "no", "sort of", "maybe", "I guess", anything other than a 100% certain "yes" then you need to read Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, because that is where the answers lie.

A Quick Tour of the KCET Studios

Here's a quick video tour of the KCET studios in Los Angeles that the Church of Scientology just acquired:

More on the KCET Studio Acquisition