The following lecture passage succinctly differentiates between where the Church of Scientology is headed and where Independent Scientologists are going. It is LRH from History of Dianetics, 28 December 1954:
Phenomenna, Phenomena. Phenomena. Phenomena. They wouldn’t have turned up, don’t you see, if we hadn’t been going in a direction of ability. We’re trying to discover ability so, naturally, disabilities announce themselves and all the phenomena there is, actually could be cataloged under disabilities. So you see the direction of research? Do you see why we got someplace in Dianetics and Scientology? We’re goin in the opposite direction. We just reverse things. And instead of trying to write down, “The number of insanities are…” (fellow by the name Kraeplin did this) – number of insanities are catalog, catalog, catalog, catalog; category, category, category; catalog, catalog, catalog, catalog, category, category, category and unclassified. It’s real cute. That’s the most enormous list you ever saw in your life.
It didn’t get anybody on the road. Why? He was going around looking for disabilities, looking for disabilities, looking for disabilities, looking for more disabilities. And of course he’d find a disability, he’d simply fix on it because that’s what a disability does. So research and investigation of disabilities would continually wind people up in trouble and with set ideas – with catalogs. It would wind them up with an enormous variety of disabilities, were they able to take their attention off the last disability they’d found. But they don’t.
Let’s get a case. He starts into examination of himself and he goes right straight along. He’s doing fine, by the way, he’s just swell. He’s a hit at parties, he can play the piano with his shoes on, he can do all kinds of things. And he goes into his case on self-examination to discover what is wrong with him, since the last five girls that threw him over has given him some clue there must be something wrong with him.
So he says, “Let’s see, what’s wrong with me?” And all of a sudden he turns his attention a little bit introverted and he hits some kind of a psychic trauma. He wants to increase his ability, you see, and he hits this little trauma and it says, “The thing that’s wrong with you, Joe, is you’re no good.”
And he says, “Well, I’ll look around and see what else I can find.” [laughter]
There goes your case, fixated on one idea. Everywhere he goes, he has that idea in front of his face. What happens, though, if you actually, actively start increasing his ability? His attention comes right off that circuit – ping! And of course, another one will pop up. You take his attention off that one, another one will pop up. Off that one – another one. Off – another one! This is the reaction of the mind going toward freedom. Freedom lies beyond barriers. And as soon as you start to go in the direction of freedom, you’ll find some barriers. And the trick is not to stand around and look at these wonderful barriers inside the head.
Let’s find out how able a fellow can be and how free he can be. And if we discover this, we will discover immediately why research and investigation in the field of Dianetics and Scientology will continue to expand – because the direction toward ability is the only direction it has ever really had. The more able we can make a person, the freer he is. The more dynamics he is surviving along, the more beingness he is.
And so we are able, if we pursue ability. If we pursue disability, we are disabled.
And the first and foremost of these abilities is communication.
Moving On Up a Little Higher 