Information on L. Ron Hubbard on the Scientology Theology Web Site

On the site called Scientology: Theology and Practice of a Contemporary Religion is an excellent description of L. Ron Hubbard that I haven't seen elsewhere.

As the founder of the Scientology religion and the sole author of its Scripture, L. Ron Hubbard is respected by Scientologists throughout the world, and he has no successor. He is remembered not as one to be idolized or worshiped but as a man whose legacy is the religion of Scientology which still lives on. Some understanding of his background serves to illustrate how he came to discover the truths of the Scientology religion.

on of United States naval commander Harry Ross and Ledora May Hubbard,
L. Ron Hubbard was born March 13, 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska. Frequent travel was the rule rather than the exception for a military family, and shortly thereafter, the Hubbards settled in Helena, Montana. While there, Mr. Hubbard became friendly with the indigenous Blackfeet, and particularly a tribal medicine man, who was ultimately to honor the young Hubbard with the unique status of blood brother.

With his father’s posting to the U.S. naval station on the island of Guam in 1927, L. Ron Hubbard began a period of travel that would consume the next several years. Included were extended voyages throughout the South Pacific and South China Sea and treks across China to its western hills. >> continued

Scientology in England

With the grand opening of the Church of Scientology of London I thought I'd post a little bit on LRH's years in England, and how Saint Hill came to be the center for Scientology in the UK.

This is from the web site: L. Ron Hubbard - Shaping the 21st Century

(This is what David Miscavige was referring to when he said, "This day will go down in history. Of all the foreign lands where LRH lived and worked, he called England home.

"This is the city wherein he first defined the human spirit as an immortal being possessed of capabilities beyond anything predicted and so arrived at the axiomatic truths on which the whole of Scientology is founded."

Here's what the web site says:

In 1959, Mr. Hubbard and his family moved to England, where he purchased Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex. This was to be his home for the next seven years, and the worldwide headquarters of the Church of Scientology. There, in addition to his constant writing and lecturing, he began intensively training Scientologists from around the world so they, in turn, might return to their homelands and teach others. The mid-1960s saw him develop a step-by-step route for anyone to reach states of higher awareness. He also codified administrative principles for the operation of Scientology churches — work that brought about the expansion of the Scientology movement on every continent.

What a Day in London and What a Weekend! David Miscavige Dedicates New Church

L. Ron Hubbard's Dream for England

Mr. David Miscavige describes L. Ron Hubbard's dream for England in his speech at the grand opening of the Church of Scientology of London yesterday.

Here's a description of the event, that I found on CreativExpressions blog:

What a Day in London and What a Weekend! David Miscavige Dedicates New Church

"We are about to drive home the message ‘This is Scientology ‘ like you have never seen," said David Miscavige , chairman of the Church of Scientology (sic.) [David Miscavige is actually the Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center.]

So reports Robert Booth on Saturday in the Sunday Times - a story that got picked up internationally.

And Sunday’s grand opening was everything Mr. Miscavige promised.

The Scientology Press Office announces the news as follows:

With thousands of Scientologists, local residents and officials in attendance, the new Church of Scientology of London opened its doors.

Mr. David Miscavige , Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center and leader of the Scientology religion , stressed the historical importance of London. "This is the city L. Ron Hubbard himself [founder of the Scientology religion] selected as home to the first Scientology organization. This is also the city wherein he first defined the human spirit as an immortal being possessed of capabilities beyond anything predicted, and so arrived at the axiomatic truths on which the whole of Scientology is founded. Your early London organizations were also the original proving ground for the bulk of Mr. Hubbard’ s social betterment programs which are used to uplift neighborhoods just like this one."

L. Ron Hubbard's Legacy

Here is how L. Ron Hubbard is described in the book What is Scientology

"To say that L. Ron Hubbard was a remarkable man seems somehow incomplete. As any reader can see by now, Mr. Hubbard left an extraordinary legacy: an immense body of wisdom that leads man to spiritual freedom; the fastest-growing religion in the world today; and an extraordinary organizational structure which allows the religion to expand without limit.

"Furthermore, his works have touched the lives of millions, and not only the lives of those who are Scientologists. His study technology, his Purification Rundown, his administrative technology, his drug rehabilitation program, his nonreligious moral code and more, all have broad secular application. "

L. Ron Hubbard -- Research into the Mind

The Dianetics site goes into how L. Ron Hubbard came to discover the reactive mind.

It states:

As the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard’s discoveries on the subjects of man, the mind and spirit have helped people all over the world to better understand “To know life,” he once wrote, “you’ve got to be part of life. You must get down there and look, you must get into the nooks and crannies of existence, and you must rub elbows with all kinds and types of men before you can finally establish what man is.”

And throughout his long and adventurous pursuit of knowledge, L. Ron Hubbard did just that, in the process also becoming one of the twentieth century’s most influential authors, with more than 160 million copies of his works in worldwide circulation.

His abiding interest in the human mind was initially sparked when, at the age of twelve, he studied under Commander Joseph C. Thompson – an early student of psychoanalysis and the first United States naval officer to study with Freud in Vienna. Although Ron would ultimately reject Freudian theory as both impractical and unworkable, he nonetheless reached one pivotal conclusion: “Something can be done about the mind.” >>

One of my favorite photos of L. Ron Hubbard.

Code of Honor - Point 2

The second line of the Code of Honor by L. Ron Hubbard is:

Never withdraw allegiance once granted.

This doesn't include any conditionals.

It doesn't say "If you were right to grant it in the first place..." or anything like that.

So what if you find out that the person or group you granted allegiance to has gone off the rails or was wrong to begin with?

I guess you have to assume responsibility as a member of the group to get it back on the rails.

That's a tall order. But just think how much better this joint would be if we stood by that kind of commitment.

That means friend, family, group -- even country. No turning your back on it now that there's a problem. Roll up your sleeves and do something about it.

Loyalty and the Code of Honor

The first point in the Code of Honor by L. Ron Hubbard is:

"Never desert a comrade in need, in danger or in trouble."

Not always easy to do, especially under pressure, or when the friend is in serious trouble and association with him/her could "reflect" on you -- but this is a very black and white point, and it doesn't say "when you can" it says "Never."

I think it is a point of integrity and courage to be able to adhere to this point of the code.

And it is a measure of true friendship as well.

The Joy of Creating by L. Ron Hubbard

Force yourself to smile and you'll soon stop frowning.
Force yourself to laugh and you'll soon find something to laugh about.
Wax enthusiastic and you'll very soon feel so.
A being causes his own feelings.
The greatest Joy there is in Life is creating.Splurge on it!
-- L. Ron Hubbard

One of my favorite photos of LRH.

It's the friendliness that comes across, and that is one of his qualities that I love the most.

When you listen to one of his taped lectures or read one of his books, his friendliness shines through so clearly.

Scientology Today has an article on Guiness awarding L. Ron Hubbard 2 new world records last week at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Writers of the Future

I've been reading last year's Writers of the Future (I'm afraid I'm a year behind -- the latest edition just came out last month).

I am really enjoying it.

The first two stories were complete winners.

Sometimes I find SciFi short stories annoying - self-serving, a bit cultish. But these are the genuine article.

Leave it to LRH to have created such a terrific program. Not only does it give terrific opportunity for writers and illustrators in Sci Fi and Fantasy, but it's a truly great read.

L. Ron Hubbard on Freedom

"Freedom is for honest people. No man who is not himself honest can be free – he is his own trap."

L. Ron Hubbard in England

L. Ron Hubbard lived in East Grinstead, in Sussex, England from the late 1950's through the mid 1960s.

He purchased a manor called Saint Hill, and that name is a very famous one in the Scientology world. It was there that he developed not a tremendous amount of technology that all auditors (Scientology counselors) train on, but he also discovered and codified administrative technology used not only in Scientology churches but in organizations of all kinds, all over the world.

It seems so short a time for the immense amount of work he did while he was there.

While there he gave 2 hour-long lectures to students a special course he named the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course, describing the course of the technology he was developing.

The other thing Saint Hill is famous for is the Saint Hill Organization -- the Scientology church Mr. Hubbard created on his property while he was there. In a few short years that church expanded so much that it became a model for how every Scientology church should be.

In 1982, Mr. Hubbard wrote an executive directive to all Scientology staff, where he asked them to expand their churches to the size of Saint Hill in its heyday.

When a church reaches that point, it is called "Saint Hill Size" and the significance is that at the point a church is that big it is able to really service its community.

Since Scientology has so much to offer their communities, not only in terms of service to the individuals, which itself is priceless, but in the form of social betterment activities, that's a very important stage for every Scientology church to accomplish.

“A song can racket down the ages. It doesn’t corrode. It doesn’t have to be polished, maintained, oiled, shelved or put in a vault. It happens that a song is far more powerful than any blaster ever invented.”

L. Ron Hubbard

L. Ron Hubbard's Legacy

Bridge Publications has a really nice page on L. Ron Hubbard and his legacy to mankind.

The greatest testimonies to Mr. Hubbard's vision are the miracle results of his technology and the millions of friends around the world who carry his legacy forward into the twenty-first century.

Greatness

L. Ron Hubbard exemplified Greatness, and beautifully explained what it is comprised of in his essay, What is Greatness.

It starts with the following:

"The hardest task one can have is to continue to love his fellows despite all reasons he should not.

"And the true sign of sanity and greatness is to so continue."

Now, I agree that it takes a pretty special person to do this, and that this does define greatness, but I really never looked at why it would also be a gauge of Sanity.

But let's look at it. Let's say you were involved in a conflict with a person. Or a group. What if you were in conflict with a whole segment of you society as in a civil war. Or what about being at war with another country.

Is it really possible to love another when you are in mortal combat with them?

This is answered in part in another discovery by L. Ron Hubbard -- that each of us survives not just as an individual but as part of life. Each of us has the urge to survive and exist as 8 drives. They are called, in Scientology, the Dynamics. But they exist and have always existed and explain so much of life.

There is an excellent description of the Dynamics in Scientology: the Fundamentals of Thought -- a really fabulous book that lays out all the basic concepts of the Scientology religion.

Having read that book, this actually makes complete sense to me, and I can see, too, where I need to straighten out my own viewpoint to be really truly sane.

Making Marriages Work

Wrecked marriages and broken families create lifelong scars.

So the following little piece of wisdom is well worth learning and applying:

“Communication is the root of marital success from which a strong union can grow, and noncommunication is the rock on which the ship will bash out her keel.”

— L. Ron Hubbard

The Scientology Handbook has an excellent chapter and marriage, and several others that give very simple tools on how to improve communication.