Scientology and eyesight: The familiar totem of claiming clarity of vision to emulate Ron

After I completed the Purif I felt light, with a renewed source of energy, could focus more clearly and I’m more determined and excited for the future. My eyesight has improved slightly. I also feel very above and in control of my body. Thank you to the Purif staff and to LRH.

I was trying to work out what was so different and then it all came to light literally. Colours became so vibrant, my sense of smell improved and all of a sudden a massive release and my eyesight improved.

After a few weeks on the Purification Rundown, I noticed my mood generally improved, I could see things better at night and my vision wasn’t going blurry after reading.

Every Scientologist is required to write up a “success story” after completing a course, and they all sound very similar. For the Purification Rundown the success story almost always includes a claim of improved eyesight. It’s one of the central claims of L. Ron Hubbard that Scientology can cure poor eyesight. “You are only three or four hours from taking your glasses off for keeps.” (Dianetic Auditor’s Bulletin vol. 2 no. 7 January 1952.) Hubbard claimed that he cured his own eyesight, which he said was damaged during World War II. He wrote to the U.S. Navy “It began to fail after prolonged exposure to tropical sunlight in the Pacific in the spring of 1942.”

 
He later claimed to have been blinded by the muzzle flash of deck guns. “The muzzle flash of a deck gun had left him legally blind, while shrapnel fragments in hip and back had left him all but lame. In consequence, he could barely seat himself at a typewriter, could not focus on a printed page and, for that matter, could not discern the pages of his own books.” (Ron — Letters and Journals, 1997). His Navy records do not support that claim.

Hubbard does not appear in any photographs with corrective glasses, but that could be vanity. We asked Janis Gillham Grady, who spent years in close contact with Hubbard aboard the yacht Apollo, her memories of Hubbard’s eyesight. She tells us “he did use a magnifying glass when reading small print such as certain dictionaries, Physician Desk Reference or an encyclopedia. On the bridge he was known to sight ships on the horizon before several lookouts. He would also use binoculars while on the bridge. I would say it was fair to good as he did not seem to have problems with his sight when doing regular type life activities.”

Claiming to have improved eyesight makes a Scientologist feel closer to Hubbard. Through the bridge they are following the path that Hubbard blazed and part of that is curing one’s own physical injuries. The problem is that Hubbard’s claim of eye injury was part of his fraudulent attempt to get disability pay from the Navy, and his miraculous recovery part of his attempt to promote Scientology. It was two scams in one.

 
The Purif is one of the first steps on the Scientology bridge. If curing poor eyesight was actually common in Scientology there wouldn’t be so many Scientologists at the higher OT levels wearing glasses, but most of those writing success stories that include this do claim believe it. After all, the easiest person in the world to fool is yourself.

— Rod Keller

 
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Bonus items from our tipsters

Would they need to offer so many incentives to their salespeople if church members were actually signing up for services?

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Source Code

“Get a picture of a cat and say it belongs in 1810. A picture of a cow and say it belongs in 1830. Picture of a pig, say it belongs in the year 1. A picture of a woman, say it belongs in the second century BC. Continue with that exercise, any picture, any date. Any picture, any date. OK. Now let’s find some places you are not. All right.” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 16, 1954

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“While it seems true that LRH didn’t complete his engineering degree, he had some engineering schooling, he was a consummate engineer in how he thought; and many engineers were confident he had an engineer’s mind, including my father who was a software engineer. I was once shown a 1950 dictionary whose entry for Dianetics read ‘a mental science developed by American engineer, L. Ron Hubbard,’ and so I wonder if history has been revised/files have been corrupted, as dictionary writers tend to do good research work, I think.”

 
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Random Howdy

“It’s just like the mob, if you’re a money maker, you’re golden. You can molest the kids, murder your mistress etc but as long as you’re UPSTAT you’re a HERO. This statement by Hubbard is all the proof that the indies or anyone else should ever need to convince them that it was never about anything else except the money.”

 
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Start making your plans…

 
Head over to the convention website and meet us in St. Louis!

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!

Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] In homophobic Scientology, you are required to write up your sins or else
[TWO years ago] Scientology scare tactics used against woman who reported its quack therapy for kids
[THREE years ago] Louis Theroux enjoys UK award for ‘My Scientology Movie’ ahead of US release
[FOUR years ago] Science Fiction smackdown: L. Ron Hubbard, the pith helmet-wearing ‘pipsqueak Prometheus’
[FIVE years ago] The paranoid, depressed L. Ron Hubbard: Jim Dincalci’s 1997 ‘Secret Lives’ TV interview
[SIX years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology is having a grand re-opening at Big Blue this Saturday!
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: And With Help From Harlan Ellison!
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s Secret Ranch: Where LRH Will Reincarnate?

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 16, 2020 at 07:00

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The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2018 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2018), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

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