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In Scientology, When the Prices Kick Up, What Do You Get for the Money?

MoneyStackClaire Headley is taking us on our journey to train as Scientologists. She and her husband Marc were Sea Org workers who escaped from Scientology’s International Base in 2005. She spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. Go here to see the first part in this series.

Claire, we’re starting to get into some serious money this week as things suddenly kick up. And that’s exciting. Up to now, we’ve noticed that our trip up Scientology’s Bridge to Total Freedom has contained a lot of repetition and rather simple concepts about communication, learning, and control. So far, there’s been no space opera and even less excitement in our Scientology training. But with the price increasing, can we expect some thrills?

CLAIRE: Well, Expanded Grade 0 is our next step, and it’s the level in Scientology that deals with communication on all “flows.” The ability gained for this level is: Ability to communicate freely with anyone on any subject.

THE BUNKER: How…thrilling.

CLAIRE: “Flows” are defined as:

Flow 1 = something that happened to you.

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Flow 2 = doing something to another.
Flow 3 = others doing things to others.
Flow 0 = you doing something to yourself.

And generally speaking, process commands are varied to reflect the above. For example, your auditor might say the following to you:

Flow 1 = Recall a time someone was in good communication with you.
Flow 2 = Recall a time you were in good communication with someone.
Flow 3 = Recall a time others were in good communication with others.
Flow 0 = Recall a time you were in good communication with yourself.

THE BUNKER: Those are…earthshaking. We went ahead and looked through all 18 processes in Grade 0, and found these other gems as well…

“Look around the room and discover some object which you don’t mind being present.”

From instructions to the auditor: “Have his shoe think a thought, have a rug think a thought.”

“Tell me a thought you would be willing to receive from another.”

“Recall another’s no-communication with others.”

“Spot some enforced knowingness.”

“Spot some owned sex.”

“What wouldn’t another mind others communicating with?”

“What solid could others have others understand?”

Claire, what are these universe-expanding consciousness-unlocking secret questions going to cost to have an auditor ask them of us a few hundred times?

CLAIRE: I’d say $2,500 per 12.5-hour “intensive” for a new person in a Class V org (the sort that you’ll find in most large cities). So let’s say we’re talking five intensives, for $12,500 minimum.

If these same levels are delivered to a more advanced student by a Class XII auditor (the highest level of auditor possible) then you’d be looking at $12,500 per intensive.

THE BUNKER: For that kind of money, and with questions like “Recall a time others communicated with others,” are we really unlocking the secrets of the universe?

Up_The_BridgeCLAIRE: Whatever you do, don’t actually say that out loud at the org. I truly believe a good portion of the language and labels of Scientology are designed to keep you in check and ensure you never question anything you are doing.

If you don’t come out of session with a life-shattering cognition and a Cheshire Cat grin, you are sure to be labelled NCG — No Case Gain, and, off to ethics you go.

Maybe there are some people who have serious difficulties with communication, and perhaps this material would help them. But I can think of numerous other things that would help at a much lower cost.

And here’s the kicker.

In 1993, Scientology leader David Miscavige issued an RTC order (called an IG Network Bulletin) decreeing that all grades had been “quickied” — Scientology jargon for cut short.

So he announced the “new and expanded” grades. He’d had every single process on communication exhumed from the archives and now these were the new and improved Grades.

The new versions were expanded to 40 to 60 pages of processes for each Grade level.

So for Grade 0, it was turned from something that took one to two 12.5-hour intensives into something that took a minimum of five to eight intensives.

Miscavige also decreed that anyone who was Clear who had not done each of the Expanded Grades had to go back and do them.

This is was what happened to me. When Miscavige issued these changes in 1993, I was Clear. The next thing you know I’m programmed to do all the Expanded Grades. I did them co-audit style with Katie Feshbach, daughter of Matt Feshbach.

Cut to 2004. Miscavige now “discovers” that the Grades are taking way too long.

He “investigates” and finds out that Dan Koon, SP that he is (and long gone so he can safely be blamed), added arbitrary processes to the Grades and made them way longer than they were supposed to be.

New and faster Grades are piloted, and suddenly they can be finished much faster. (I’m betting the new grades still haven’t been released to all orgs.)

THE BUNKER: Short, long. Either way, this is some serious coin for what looks like more repetition and mind-numbing material. When do we start getting to the wild stuff?

CLAIRE: It’s amazing to me, in retrospect of course, how much people will grind through in the hopes of finally getting to the OT Levels, the thing you only ever hear people rave about — OT abilities, OT perceptions, exterior with full perception, on and on and on.

I know for me, that was always what I was curious about — what were the OT levels all about. But we’ll get to that in due course.

THE BUNKER: At this point, despite what we’ve already paid, we’re still working on communication and other basic concepts — and reinforcing the layers of control. Amazing.

CLAIRE: Yep, you got it.

COST THIS WEEK: $12,500

COST SO FAR: $38,197

 
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CTVStillMore Self-Promotion from the Fringes of the Internet

Your proprietor has been in steady demand since our story about Leah Remini filing a missing-person report on Shelly Miscavige broke Thursday morning. Yesterday, we were live on the television airwaves in Canada and on the radio in Los Angeles, and also on Sirius XM. Each was a little different, so we’re going to plague you with them today.

Note how generally good the questions are from each of them — the media is definitely getting smarter about Scientology and its controversies!

First up was our early-morning live appearance on CTV’s New Day program (though we were actually sitting in the CNN studios in midtown Manhattan). We can’t embed the clip, but if you follow this link, you can watch the segment.

Then, we were interviewed by Doug McIntyre on KABC 790 radio in Los Angeles…

And finally, we enjoyed a more far-ranging talk with Sirius XM host Brett Winterble…

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 13, 2013 at 07:00

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