From International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 20 - January 1995
See Home Page at http://www.ivymag.org/
Sense and Scientology Nr. 1
What Auditing Can't Do for You!
By Eric Townsend, England(1)
OVER THE YEARS many unrealistic impressions of the benefits that could
be gained from auditing have been allowed to build up.
A number of factors have contributed to this. The first was probably
the sweeping claim made in Book One that Dianetics would remove
all unwanted physical conditions, including poor eyesight! With the
increased emphasis on Book One in recent years, this extreme
assertion has been brought back into prominence.
More recently, the promotional slogan 'To make the able more able'
was featured prominently by the Church. This unfortunately led to
the impression that Scientology could provide more of the same.
A good golfer or financier could be forgiven for thinking that the
offer was to make them better at their chosen occupation.
Then there was the particular emphasis put on money making skills
by the high prices of recent years. The impression was allowed to
develop that people who were not very good at managing money would
at some point develop an ability to acquire and handle money in large
quantities.
Finally it should be said that for these impressions to have taken
root and grown, there must have been a willingness to believe them
by people who should have informed themselves better. Most of these
people must have had contact with the phrase in scientology writings
which states clearly that 'Scientology and Dianetics ... were
intended for spiritual gain!'
So it may be wise to go back to basics in looking at what gain
auditing
can achieve for us.
Areas of gain
Firstly there is the area of 'spiritual gain' or spiritual
awareness and capacity. There is not space here to deal with this
very subjective issue but for those who have experienced it, there
is little need to dwell upon its merits or value. Those people would
probably agree that if there were no other benefits they would have
enough to make it worth all the work, hassle, time and expense to
obtain.
In looking at the other areas of gain it is helpful to look at what
auditing is doing. At its simplest it is freeing us from stuck thought
processes that are held in place by charge and which absorb hefty
chunks of our attention. The more charge that is released, from any
part of our 'case', the more attention units are available
for living life.
So if we have an individual who wants to be a tightrope walker, but
is unable to learn because of his fear of heights, what might auditing
do for him? It could remove his fear of heights but he will then have
to start at the beginning to learn the skills of tightrope walking.
Let us apply this to Level 0. The EP is 'To be able to communicate
with anybody on any subject!' That again however is only made
of any value if the PC actually makes the effort to do it. The PC
may not have the polish to do an after-dinner speech but they can
start on the road to take them there. They need to acquire the skill
and confidence by actually doing it on a gradient and setting
themselves
bigger and bigger challenges.
The same can be said for improving one's marriage, bodily health,
performance at work, or financial skills. We can be released from
the self-imposed obstacles that prevent us being able in these areas,
but we still have to work at doing it. In fact we are at an initial
disadvantage to others in starting late. We have a lot of 'tech'
to help us but applying it still requires considerable effort and
dedication. These are however the games that we need to develop and
fulfil ourselves. We should be continually stretching ourselves by
increasing the scope of our goals.
The worst advertisement we can be to people who are approaching the
subject of Scientology is to be unsuccessful in life. With the help
of auditing we can be free of the barriers that hold so many people
back and with the 'tech' we have the key to success in many
areas. However we must still put in the effort and determination to
achieve anything. It is unrealistic to rush up the Bridge hoping that
it will make us 'Healthy, Wealthy and Wise' without any effort
on our part.
To put it another way, there is little likelihood of an OT level ever
becoming available that will turn anybody into a ready-made tightrope
walker.
(1)This series first appeared in The Edinburgh Journal in 1985. Ed.