What follows is a detailed insider view of the Flag Land Base (Scientology Inc’s Mecca is Clearwater Florida) of late. Former RTC and Flag Auditor, Silvia Llorens gives a credible state of the dis-union of Scientology Inc.
Hello! My name is Silvia Lloréns. I started in Scientology in 1978, joined the SO in 1983 and left in early 2007.
I have read the numerous accounts on the experiences and viewpoints others have had and that have been expressed in various web pages; I do understand them.
All of them share one common point or conclusion: the suppression is coming primarily from COB (Chairman of Scientology Inc. David Miscavige) and some of his followers.
Now, I will share my experiences from the viewpoint I had then as a 24 years Sea Org Member. The years as a Scientologist are still counting as I have not ceased being one; we all have experienced the immense benefits LRH´s tech can provide.
It matters to me to make clear that the following personal story has the purpose to provide my viewpoint regarding RTC, COB and his followers; in no way is it intended to include Scientology as a the Philosophy or LRH as these are way, way, way apart from what COB has perpetrated inside, outside Orgs and towards Scientologists at large.
Having said that, here we go,
I worked in RTC around ´84. In ´87 I was heading toward the RTC Offices at Int Base to return the pin I was given when I joined that Organization; it was exactly the time DM was taking over, all the offices were a mess, most of the Sea Org Members were being routed back to their original Orgs, thus I ended back at FSO.
Early ´90s FSO was visited by higher Execs such as Guillame Lesevre, Ray Mithoff, Marc Yager; they all deal with staff with their landmark professionalism; they listened to the staff, observed the various scenes occurring and improved them.
Late ´90s COB used to do some visits here and there; at that time I did not understand why some staff tried not to cross his path, it could have been that the few that did ended usually off post…
So, time goes on, early 2000s are in progress; each day, every time and more and more RTC starts to take over, meaning:
-Whenever one of the RTC member spoke the rule was to keep quiet.
Specific: during a meeting at the AO with Miscavige he did ask a question to the AO staff gathered there; one staff answered it. He said “What? You probably are not fully hatted.” Hours later that staff was removed from post, even though she had been doing well on it and was usually upstat.
As the time went on many other Execs fell into “RTC´s valence” of meaness and cruelness.
-The fences were put up at Hacienda Gardens, where most of Sea Org members lived, the security guards started to question every simple move anyone did, such as “How come you have 3 hours libs (liberty, day off)?”
-Orders such as: No walking on the streets, no talking to anybody outside the base started to appear. As well as: No communication with public.
Most of the Tech terminals were very aware that cutting COMMUNICATION with the public and people in the community will cause a direct fall on the ARC Triangle; but the orders against such a basic increased as the time went on.
Tech terminals, and Execs such as Debbie Cook, were all the time working in finding ways and actions where somehow we could standardly audit the pcs while, on the other, were to communicate to RTC Reps that: “of course the stats were under control”
As time went on, obviously things got worse:
-Public literally, with “kind words” of course, were forced to return again and again in session to “re check a question that was said to have FN´d” to ensure standard tech was applied to him or her- The truth was that the VSD target had to be met “over dead bodies” which was the favorite RTC Reps´ phrase.
– Every Thursday, after 2pm of course, AO DTS called her pages who ended carrying from the warehouse about 25-30 folders, no exaggeration. But why?
To go over each, page by page, to re count the VSD and magically find the minutes, or even hours, that “were missed in the past” and add it now; this will always get the PT VSD stat up. Yes, as far back as ´98, ´99 etc…folders were reviewed and always, no fail, the VSD stat ended up.
This was occurring in 2003, 2004, 2005 and so on.
KRs were written to no avail.
You needed to be stupid to not figure our some things- the above point was always related to the Advanced Tech VSD – RTC Stat. That was the point.
By Friday every staff had turned in their Conditions, CSWs, Battle Plans and what not. By now, to expect a full Saturday LIBS was something of the past, you were lucky to obtain 2, 3 maybe 4 hours. It did not matter if you were in Affluence with 40-50 hours of well done auditng.
By early 2000s, and from there on, Tech and Qual staff knew we all have to wait for Saturday noon to see if the CSWs were approved, it all depended on one thing: if the Advance Tech Stat was down by Friday night all CSWs were cancelled, sometimes on Saturday,just when you were about to leave for 2 hours LIBS the D of P came to tell you she was truly sorry but all “partial LIBS had been cancelled”… you guessed it right…the Advance Tech stat had dropped. CSW Policy letters were unmocked- you would not dare to ask what PL the Tech Sec was using to cancel an already approved CSW.
Stats – individual staff had no more stat; the matters of the Org were handled only based on the Advanced Tech Stat- schedules, libs, conditions, golden rods, states of emergency all was based on that stat.
What upset us the most was not even if we could have or not Saturday Libs, it was the continuous violations of Policies as basic as; your production, your stat, your condition, your rewards or penalty.
The other amazing, I should say, aspect of this was to see RTC Reps, such as Ty Webb, literally “running the board”, being there ensuring the VSD target pcs were placed first on the line up, it did not matter if the other pcs had had only one session the prior day, no, they did move the pc tags so the VSD targets were to happen first.
One day, after seeing Webb been at the PC Board for over two hours I asked myself: if he is running the Board, who is KSW? Wasn´t this the primary purpose of RTC?
Execs – They used to be dedicated, professional, honest, working always with you and all the other staff on how to handle matters; as RTC stepped in more and more… as years moved from 2000 to 2006, Execs turned into desperate people who only shouted at staff demanding the VSD to be made, such as Donnie Webster throwing things at you when you informed him the pc was out of hours and need to be re-signed before she could be gotten back in session. In the early 90s he would have accepted it, after 2000s he (and others) turned livid, shouting how would one dare to not go in session just because a minor Policy Letter and so on.
RTC Reps usually ended talking “loudly” to excess such as Janet Herring, Debbie Cook and others; this infuriated me and the rest of the auditors. Those excellent, professional Execs had always supported and backed up the Tech and Qual terminals as well as any other staff member, now they were left to cope with the constant demands for the Adv. Tech Stat while on the other hand they were trying to prevent forcing pcs and auditors to go out tech in order to get that stat up.
MAAs turned into the “blind performers”, of course all under RTC Instructions. Lets say several auditors were in Affluence as they had accomplished 50-60 hours that week (the past stat of 35 hours normal – 40 affluence was by now obsolete, that did not apply and up till now I have not seen an LRH reference cancelling those PLs).
This was reported as usual Thursday after 2pm. By thursday 8pm or Friday 10 am Golden Rods “reprimands” were issued on all auditors (independently if their past week´s production had been of 50 hours,) who were at 3-4 hours by Friday morning…this was “downstat”, and a Non Existent Condition was assigned, name by name, on any and all auditors who were not above 7 hours by then.
Yes, I know, this could affect Advance Tech VSD if hours are allowed to go down, heaven forbid!
CSWs… for 3-4 hours Saturday libs guess who was the final approval terminal? Correct-RTC, this being Elsie Tucker, Francine Ladoucer or whoever was on the scene.
Again, if RTC Reps needed to approve Saturday LIBS CSWs, who then was KSW?
Not only that, the Form of the ORG PLs were un-mocked. If an RTC Rep was running the Board or roaming the HGCs to ensure auditors were in session and no Danger Condition was assigned to this staff or area being by passed, then a Non Existence Condition would occur on that staff or area. As this went on for years, and being that no Non Existence Condition was ever applied, the staff and the area kept sinking into lower Conditions; that is the only way to explain how Execs of the Division condoned and participated in such a massive stat push.
Such was the obsession for this stat that MAAs, FLB Ethics personnel and RTC terminals were all day around the HGCs ensuring pcs received “intensive auditing”. Getting pcs in session is not the Hat of an MAA, far less the one of RTC.
Writing folders in between sessions as per HCOBs? No mister, no; that was Admin and it delayed production thus the C/S and Senior C/Ss were swamped at 10pm or later with all the folders from all Auditors. Needless to say they hardly slept.
Somehow, we auditors, developed tricks such as to leave the “IN Session” sign ON so you can be in your room writting up your first pc´s folder; but unfortunately sometimes you were caught up and it was the D/Tech Sec who, personally had gone out into the pc waiting area, had asked your pc to follow him while a tech page was grabbing the folder you were writing up and handing you the pc that the Exec was escorting into your auditing room.
PC tired, no, not a consideration despite the Auditor´s Code. DTS had ensured pc had been stuffed of energy bars. had napped 10 minutes, had taken a walk, whatever necessary all in the name of a almost godly stat Advance Tech.
So, pc in the chair, metabolism test failed, pc and auditor agreed to leave the session for tomorrow, walked to the waiting area with your pc where he was immediately approached by DTS or higher Excec and, with hidden propitiation the pc was asked to follow him or her who will ensure session ability could be gotten.
But there was a new trick we auditors developed: while pc was taking a deep breath your thumb was strongly on the TA; you needed to sit in a certain way to ensure your body was covering the camera so this trick won’t be caught by those who were watching the session. So, pc takes a deep breath, you hold the TA and move it little by little and slowly in a way that prevent the “metab” to show up on the screen where the faces of Tech Sec. DTSs and even RTC were expectant to see the needle fall on the metab so they could start counting the minutes that were need to “officially” count the VSD target.
Gross!!!! Unbelievebale!!! Yes, but we had a choice, either do this “trick” or audit an un-sessoinable pc that already had had three or more attempts to metab and was obviously un-sessionable. As far as Auditors were concerned we always choose to follow the Auditor´s Code.
We auditors did this or whatever else was needed to allow our dearest pcs to go to bed and rest and prevent the horrendous harassment that were subjected to.
It may seem these points are small compared with other humongous irregularities carried out by COB; yet, add this to every auditor, every pc, every C/S not only at FSO but all around the planet and it is a complete disaster- you are dealing with matters that LRH considered to be key for Scientology: a simple, honest application of the Tech and Tech and Qual personnel who can deliver it standardly so we can have satisfied pcs and well trained auditors.
Now, the Events- it´s true what a public wrote on the web: The public was totally jumped on after each event literally by the thousand SO members that composed the FLB plus all the Outer Org Trainees. Before events,and about twice a week, all the FLB staff was gathered at the auditorium to drill, 1) NOT to communicate with the public as that was fraternizing and that was out of the question 2) to ONLY ask each public “Cash or Credit?” while handing them a bag with whatever New Releases there were.
Later on was added the order to tell every pc you audited to buy, donate or whatever; yes, before exams or right after. Unacceptable to return for the next pc without having sold something or at least having asked about it.
Eternal late nights for drilling, calling, letter writing, selling and re-selling and selling again and again the “New Releases”.
Sessionable? Nobody was.
These no sleep nights were preceded by reminding to all the staff ” that COB was so dedicated that he worked 24/7″.
Well, me and other staff thought and quietly voiced amongst us: “Well that is his problem and HIS game. I refuse to take his beingness or act like him, if he wants to work so much, let it be that is his decision; that ain´t my choice”.
LRH worked as much as he wanted but he never rubbed it in the face of others, far less demanded “every body should do the same”; he was himself and, most important, he allowed others to be themselves.
On the few situation related above I am proud to say I violated every “order” – never asked my pc to buy or donate specially if we were coming out of session; I always talked with the public after events and the hell with the crush selling.
Related a bit to the Events category and after the video of Tom Cruise came out where he was talking about KSW and so on, suddenly, RTC Reps started to do star-rates on KSW # 1. This was due to the mention by Cruise about this Policy and the idea was “if TC said it it was a big message, then all Scietologists should ensure KSW was left with no MUs”. RTC Reps went all over giving checkouts on that PL even though W/Cers were available and Twining HCO Bs still existed.
Similar, TC also mentioned something about PTSness, well after that, at least one of my pcs, was asked to re-do de PTS Course. She alleged to the MAA she had done it 3 times including the GAT one; it did not matter, “it was an order to be followed after T Cruise´s mention of it”. Eventually she was told she was out ethics and forced to do the Course at Tampa Org (we can assume with this someone could report “numerous public driving in at Tampa Org”).
And don´t take me wrong, Tom Cruise is a good movie actor, but as far as I remember LRH IS SOURCE, isn´t he?
Study time – of course RTC had study time, some of the Execs and most the Admin Staff- after all they started at 9.30 am directly into the course rooms and were on post by 12pm. That is fine, Study time is per Policy but….
… a new Policy came up too “Auditors do not study, specially if they have incomplete Internships plus they usually get crammed and that counts as study time”- Nowhere written by LRH.
F/Ns- the statement of COB that “every miscalled FN was suppressive and always called for a minimum condition of Liability” led to the following:
On one hand you had the Adv Tech VSD Targets – on the other Standard Cramming.
Solution, as soon as you received your Cram Order starting with “To MAA first, Liability for miscalling F/Ns” you sat down and wrote, by now, a robotic Liability Condition.
It was so, so, so routine that after 1/2 an hour you had gathered a few dozen signatures from your fellow auditors who were very well versed on the situation. Later on auditors were upgraded by a rushed MAA, who in turn was being chased by D of Ps, or DTSs or Tech Secs to return the auditor in session while at the HGCs were the RTC Reps demanding at the few Execs who happened to be there “how come the auditor is still in cramming?”
Debbie Cook, by then Captain FLB, was very often called to the HGCs to “debug” the delivery obviously with the purpose to ensure the RTC Stat up. She may have wanted to do her post, but this was an RTC order, you see?
What a waste, such and extraordinary Exec Being called to do the DTS or D of P hat, really, what a waste!
As we auditors had no study time, I worked out something: to wake up at 6am, get to the base around 6.30 and study on my own the LRH tech up until 8am.
When the schedules to start auditing pcs moved from 8.00-8.30 to 7.00- 7.15 I had no chance to study anymore and that was the end of it.
I knew I had all the right and choice to do my bridge-this was being supperssed and I decided the Hell with it. I joined the Sea Org to deliver Tech to the public so they could get better, I did not join to be the slave of anybody, far less to contribute to this horrendous and continuous criminal stat push.
It seems the RTC Stat never took into account what the public expected and deserved; what standard tech was able to give them: self determinism, power of choice and the right to live their lives the way they choose to.
So, I wrote my OWs and felt good, I was clean in my own eyes and could proudly said so to LRH.
I “ended sick, very sick” and off post on MLO lines. Then, and intentionally, I did use “the condition” to stay away from the base.
But, while being out of the base, in a place where, by the way, another 5-6 tech and Qual terminals besides me were also “being handled” on various illnesses, I realized that I was not going back, I just simply was not a slave and could not audit just for “VSD” instead of auditing FOR the pc.
I had two choices: to spend a year or more being hammered with incorrect conditions and forever on sec checks or “use” my situation to leave right now.
I knew what a “Threat to the base” meant, by now three auditors had used it and were rushed out of the base, so I took that road, very consciously and intentionally pretended that I was so, so, so in bad shape that, in the blink of an eye, I was “helped” to leave. A year later my Fitness Board was mailed to me.
My contacts were back here in Mexico City, so I travelled back home, recovered from my “awful illness” in less than two weeks, managed to handle IDs and what not and went on with my life. I haven´t been sick ever since!
I was shocked to see the world outside- NO Dianetics, NO Orgs, NO Scientology, NO books in the Bookstores, NO Ads on Radio or TV; hardly anyone had heard about it; yet I had the impression that half of the planet was already a Scientologist, a false idea promulgated at the events, of course.
It took me about two years to completely break the habit of “explaining” whatever I did; at the Org, even going to the bathroom in between sessions needed to be explained and justified to the D of P, the MAA who was always roaming around and even sometimes to an RTC Rep that happened to be there.
Since I left I have remembered many times my old friends, specially the Auditors, Class XIIs, C/S, Senior C/Ss and Cram offs- most of them originally had the clean and straight purpose to deliver standard tech- most of them are great people. Deep in my heart I knew I was not the only one wanting to leave that suppressive scene, and some of us had hinted at it here and there; but I also knew most of them lacked the courage to do it in whatever way they could.
The worst was to see the public manipulated, ordered to do this or that, their self determinism ignored completely. What the public went to obtain through LRH’s tech was not being delivered. Public was lied to by MAAs, Execs, Regs; Standard Tech was no more a concern, selling was the primary “duty” of every staff. Veteran Scientologists fought a little, the new public had no clue really of the mess they have gotten into.
If a public was reading a novel or working on his I Pad while waiting for session, he or she was asked to please put that aside and grab an LRH Book, anything else was unacceptable. It did nor matter if that public had read all the LRH Books or even if he was a trained Auditor. The point being that LRH would not have taken such an approach, he would have allowed that individual to live his or her life; using a computer in the pc´s waiting area would not have meant “out ethics” for LRH. Never, believe me.
CMO was now “messengers” running to ensure stats were up, RTC their “senior”.
Execs were overpowered, Janet Herring, Debbie Cook, there was no way to combat RTC pressures and keep standard tech far less run the Org plus EVERY SINGLE DECISION had to be OK´d by RTC Reps.
Other minor Execs turned into “RTC´s valence” – shouting, degrading every HCO or PL that was in their way to get the stat up.
Other staff as Board I/Cs, pages, etc were so, so, so, so tired that apathy became their chronic tone.
The Form of the Org un-mocked; staff individual production and stats also un-mocked; all was assigned and run based on the RTC Stat.
Oh…I remember in one year we had 6-7 States of Emergency declared-highest ever! Shame this was no one´s stat!
Now, COB and “The Hole”, yes, it is real. That brought to mind an incident in late 90s, a meeting with him and all AO staff; again he was stating whatever, a staff member said something then, COB grabbed one of the biggest pebbles he could find, those that were used as demo kit, and threw it very hard at the staff; luckily he dodged it and came out safe. Interesting behavior from an assumed ¨the highest” Sea Org Exec.
Comparing his behavior with those of real professional Execs such as Mr Heber J, Mr Guillame L, Mr Mithoff, Mr Yager and many, many others…well, actually there is no possible comparison; the gap is just too wide to even think of comparing one with the others.
How can Miscavige call himself a Sea Org Member when he is using millions of parishioner´s money to buy cars, clothes and live as, god knows what!! Enough said about this off the rail individual; is not worthy to give him more attention.
No, we all rather remember LRH who only wanted the individual to regain his self determinism and power of choice; remember the true Sea Org Member Execs, the staff that honestly joined with the mind set in using standard tech and admin, the genuine great Auditors and C/S, Supervisors and Tech-Qual staff that know what standard tech can do; it is worthy to have attention on those that are true to themselves.
Lets acknowledge all the public who basically are each one a unique individual who found Scientology, saw a way to a better conditions and decided to attend the Orgs to receive Standard Tech, and learn it too.
Lets remember another fact. LRH is Source and Scientology works when standardly applied, that includes HCO Bs and HCO PLs too.
Lets move on with the Independent movement of Scientologists which is now well in progress, lets carry on with our lives using Scientology; the action which will bring benefit to oneself and others, and lets leave the criminals sink into the world of oblivion that awaits them for eternity.
We Scientologists have better things to do.
And truth, though fought, always at the end prevails. LRH
Wish you the best,
Silvia Lloréns
Moving On Up a Little Higher 