The FNing Chair
by Glenn Samuels
From: Ex-Flag, LRH trained Auditor and CS Glenn Samuels
Since I announced my return to counseling I have mostly been working with clients who left Flag that have been messed up by extreme and malicious tech delivery from the current Church of Scientology. The odd title for this blog is from something a European client audited by a Golden Age Flag trained auditor told me*. A lot has been documented about FNs on your site and others; but this story beats them all. My poor client had to switch chairs to get an “FN!” True. As a joke we talked about having one chair for processing, one for assessments¸ one for FNs, and one special golden leather chair for the elusive Floating TA. How sad and abusive can the tech get? *Used by permission.
I wanted to share some of the main errors I have come across in the hopes that it will help those put through similar ordeals to gain understanding and perhaps get some relief:
- Thought stopping and filtering what one says due to fear of punishment from session data. Not being able to talk freely, cutting their own communication to the auditor which obliterates the basic reason auditing works.
- Similar to number one, but in some ways worse; collusion between pc and auditor to not say things or write things down in session for fear of reprisal from CS, leadership, or ethics.
- Meter abuse; FNs and Floating TAs not being called. Ignoring, refuting, and invalidating the pc by making the meter senior to their information.
- Heavy Overruns. Hand in glove with this, re-running the lower levels again on advanced cases for no reason other than greed.
- Political and financial reasons to invalidate the state of clear. No real or true understanding of the state.
- False responsibility run on cases; a pendulum swing away from identifying the source of a problem as advanced course material causing extreme confusion resulting in nearly impossible messes to repair.
- Sexual discrimination resulting in behavior modification rather than case gain.
- No or faulty meter training for auditors.
- Selling unnecessary rundowns that are not client centered with expectations and promises that have nothing to do with the intent of the rundown.
- Rote and executive programming that is not fashioned to the person’s needs nor addressed to their life; not using a complete and holistic approach for dynamic problems essential to the person, their family, business and goals. (Then auditing over it for no gains.) One obvious example is auditing over crippling debt.
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The worst of these practices is number one on the list. Thought stopping is a key to cult-type control. Thought stopping occurs when a cult member thinks a critical or contrary thought about the leader or the group. Then feels guilty and stops it. He then looks inwardly to see what it was he has done wrong (i.e. for an overt) to cause the bad thought. The bad thought is replaced by a fancied sin or overt that could have caused the impurity. After the overt is spotted the person then replaces it with a pure thought and a recommitment to purity and loyalty to the leader or group. Thought stopping allows the group to exert control and undue influence when the person isn’t in organization environment. An example is thinking about checking the internet because a co-worker mentioned that there was an article in the paper about Scientology. It is natural and healthy to be curious. But the person stops the thought, feels guilt for having it because it is against the rules, then looks inwardly to see why he would even think that way. A false overt is found to replace the natural desire to know. Thought stopping is a continual source of introversion and charge as truth is incorrectly assigned. Critical thinking is fundamental to learning and mental health. Once critical thinking is driven out of a being you then have a robotic true believer; disastrous results can follow like Jonestown, the Applewhite led suicides, and the Tokyo bombings led by Asahara*. It leads to personality splitting and a dissociation of the mind which can cause severe psychological and spiritual damage. Scientology is by definition knowing how to know; creating a mind controlled environment is antipathetic to the subject itself. *See Robert J. Lifton’s lectures on the internet for more about mind control www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yDoPD5GeCE
The fact that thought stopping has permeated into sessions demonstrates the insidious and treacherous environment brought about by the current leadership of Scientology. I have had to literally say to my clients who were hesitant, “Go ahead; tell me what’s on your mind, it’s OK to tell me what you are really thinking…” They had been accustomed to replacing their true feeling and thoughts with acceptable communications, cutting their own comm thus creating charge session after session.
The relief that occurs by getting sessions in a safe space is threefold; one the gain in saying what they need or want to say, two the relief in knowing there is no threatening reprisal, and lastly, knowing that what we are doing is for them and no one else. Eventually we just get down to business and it is up to me to get results, but at first just the joy of being able to freely say what they want gets tremendous gain in its own right. Safety is essential to gains; thought stopping makes it nearly impossible for wins to occur.
The collusion between auditor and pc to withhold from the CS and not write things down in the worksheets is of great concern to me and is poisonous on many different levels. The reason for this is that the environment is dangerous for the pc and the auditor. It is normal for both pc and auditor to not want each other to get into trouble, so collusion and complicity occurs. There is an item on the Green Form repair list; “Engram matching present time dangers.” This question applies to the current C of Scn auditing environment. It is so unsafe for auditors and pcs alike that they withhold and/or lie to the CS. This environment is so treacherous that it actually can create engrams of a sort. Both auditors and pcs I have worked with were heavily over-restimulated from the environment alone (akin to war veterans with post traumatic stress syndrome; nightmares, flashback-type key ins etc). I am not just talking about those on sea org who were forced to work in toxins or were in the RPF; I’m talking about paying pcs who are getting auditing and the auditors trying to help them. For those on advanced courses it is of particular concern because these engrams can go undetected unless it is understood that the environmental stress in itself can cause them.
A lot has been said on this site and others about FNs and overruns, points 3 through 5. When I started auditing again I didn’t have a meter. The results were still excellent. (A friend of mine gave me one eventually because a meter is a useful diagnostic tool, but it only comprises 1/4th of end phenomena.) In the definition of auditing there is no mention of an E-meter. When LRH used to pull a distressed crew member into his Apollo office to audit them he hardly ever used a meter! The folder would come down the next morning into the auditor admin room with a red card clipped to the folder summary with his notes on the session. No meter!
This is an important point. He was there for the person, comforting them, listening and observing them; then he would ask a few questions and listen and send them on their way, happy. Are the auditors trained this way today? Are they trained to comfort, care and make people happy? Or is it something else?
I was trained on the meter by an old timer from LRH’s academy at Washington, DC. He trained us to asses a list without a meter and then tell him what was the person’s item was. After the non-metered assessment the item was verified on the meter. If our original non -metered assessment was wrong, we had to do TRs, obnosis drills, and work on up until we could get the item without a meter. He learned this from LRH. That’s the way it was done, that was the Golden Age of Tech*. *By the way what happened to word Standard?
Point #6 is important because of the question of responsibility and ownership. It gets overlooked due to the proliferation of overrun and the rerunning grade chart actions for profit. There is an inherent liability in claiming the source of behavior is from an engram or from an outside source, it can leave one’s own responsibility out of the frame. Internalized environmental sources like an engram can lead one to continue to look to an outside cause for one’s ills rather than pointing the finger at yourself and your own actions. When an outside source is the cause of something, then it is. When it’s not it’s not, it is as simple as that.
You can see the resultant irresponsible blame in today’s Scn leadership who has not embraced the true meaning of responsibility. Training and proper auditing can nurture responsibility in a case and overcome the human tendency to avoid responsibility in any given situation. There are different flows in anything that occurs in life. Cross influences do exist and victimization does occur with or without complicity. Due to executive CSing and meddling in the tech of Scientology there has been a pendulum swing making the pc responsible for most everything that occurs to him. This has cases traumatized. Advanced cases run en masse causes severe problems and takes precise and exacting repair to unfold the ball of wax that this new misapplication has caused. Volatile questions that ask for sources of evil on a case like the False Purpose Rundown can have disastrous results if the true genus of the evil is not found. Overrunning and meter abuse only serves to compound this error and runs evil into the case. This has caused nervous breakdowns, illness, and reportedly fatalities. The Scientlogy public does not hear about these cold hard facts.
Auditing and programming a case based on sexual bias and for political reasons is one of the worst kinds of discrimination and alteration of the intent to help that there is. It leads to behavior modification and “white knuckling” the evaluated problem instead of handling what is needed. It is an easy way out to not handle a person and shows the futility and insecurity tech personnel have in helping people who outwardly appear to be different. All cases are the same.
It is easy to say that all behavior is due to evilness and overts. But it is not the truth. Undermining the intent of good hearted auditors to help is the lack of love present in the C of Scn and its leadership. It runs across the boards but is missing completely and replaced with cruelty in terms of sexual and other bias. That bias and sexual slurs from leadership filters down into the way CSs look at a case and what auditors are ordered to run. The person is made to feel different, an outcast and is often CSed that way. The person’s mind is not paralled, but the CS runs what he or she thinks is wrong with the person. One case I CSed recently was simply just thrown out of his org due to sexual discrimination. To say that only certain people can receive help is malicious, in a non-church environment it is against federal law.
The mixing of church politics along with the leaders bullying tech personnel with SP declares and threats of expulsion have made it possible for the tech to be perverted. Senior tech personnel have been forced to give in and forego what they know is correct for cases as laid out when LRH was alive. Advanced cases are told they are not clear and have to redo the grade chart for impure motives. In all the years I worked under LRH he only cancelled a few clear certifications. But, it was evident in the person’s life and post. There was drunkenness, lewdness and criminal behavior in public, not only org rule violations. The action of pulling clear and OT certs was not done whimsically nor for political/organizational purposes, but for the person’s betterment. LRH usually followed up afterwards with a personal program to help the person get back on his feet. That is a far cry from what happens today. One case had clear and OT certs cancelled because the executive wanted to discredit her and break up a marriage. The person had a strong voice against injustice in the organization so was shut up and devaluated. Other cases that were clear were told they had to redo levels for no other reason than Flag needed money.
The understanding of Clear and what it is has been lost in the Golden Age of Tech. This example should demonstrate what real understanding of what the state is; a messenger was getting the run around on her Dianetic Clear attest. She insisted she was clear, but couldn’t prove it with a specific cognition from a session in this or a previous life. But she knew she was a Clear. She was on watch and was upset. LRH asked her what was wrong, so she told him about the clear check. He told her that she was Clear, her perception was far above that of a Clear…….. It was evident by demonstration to LRH so he sent down instructions in her folder and the attest went through.
On the other hand when the Dianetic Clear bulletins first came out there was a pendulum swing towards solving troublesome cases by saying that the problem was that clear went unacknowledged. A lot of people ended up at Flag with bypassed cases without the awareness or responsibility level of a Clear. That is a degradation of the state and invalidation as well. It serves as an injustice to the person because they are robbed of the rewards of the levels and their attainments. When someone is a Clear it is demonstrated in life; what they do, what they say, their dynamics and their perceptions. It should be plain as day to a wise CS in how the person processes Dianetics. When someone has gone Clear there is a definitive change. Understanding that and all the facets of the tech is the key. I don’t think that the depth of understanding and the ability to play all the notes on the piano keyboard is there for those who manufacture difficulty for pcs on something as apparent as a Clear state. When understanding is shallow or not there in the first place then roteness, case abuse, and invalidation flourishes.
One good thing about being in the independent field is that you can choose who you want to work with. But be sure to check out qualifications; when, where, and whom they were trained by. Some professing to know how to deliver the Ls and advanced levels do not have proper or complete training to do so. One example is an auditor who has a glossy website, but was only RPFd trained. He put a person on the OT levels who was not clear and didn’t even do the meter drills beforehand! One of my friends has pointed out that today’s RPF can take many years unlike its original intent. This perhaps makes it possible for the person to understand the tech on more than a read it, drill it, do it basis. However, the RPF is not designed to make a polished interned Class 5 or Class 8, nor an Ls auditor by definition. The question really is can the person deliver Standard Tech at the level the pc needs; Book One, Dianetics, grades? The upper levels and Ls by their nature can be volatile and if not done correctly can result in damage to the person and others. When this material is approached please ensure the person you entrust yourself to is qualified so you have a safe journey.
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To summarize David Miscavige and the Church of Scientology has an agenda. The agenda is not for individual betterment. It has been said loudly and clearly that it is all about greed and schemes. When any organization takes it sights off each and every individual who walks in the door it will fail. When doctrine is more important than the individual to succeed then all is lost.
I wanted to mention these points in a precise technical manner for those of you who read this blog as well those you may know who are still in the church struggling with these and other serious errors. I can cite many more examples of case histories that have had these and other gross tech errors. But, I’d like to hear your stories. If you wish to write me about any questions or concerns about your auditing, field auditing, or if you are an auditor who has any tech queries feel free to write me: glennsamuels@gmail.com
With love,
Glenn
Moving On Up a Little Higher 