L. Ron Hubbard once designated the entry level of Scientology as Scientology Zero. Scientology Zero consisted initially of demonstrating to a person that the environment was not as dangerous as he had been led to believe. It educated a person on the existence of merchants of chaos who traffic in painting a picture of danger so that they can profit by protecting one from that danger. It is the old organized crime protection racket.
As we have seen over the years Scientology has become that which Scientology Zero warned of. The church continually plies its public with end-of-world scenarios that can only be handled by contributing more greenbacks to the church. Some folks on the outside engage in a similar game of designating the church as the enemy that will consume humanity if not combatted continually.
One purpose of this blog from the outset was to demonstrate that the church of Scientology was not something to be feared; that it in fact had simply perfected the protection racket game, giving folk the illusion that it was something to continually fear.
I came across a little something by Bruce Lipton from The Biology of Belief (Hay House, Inc. 2005) that explains why obsessing with fear inhibits growth:
In a response similar to that displayed by cells, humans unavoidably restrict their growth behaviors when they shift into a protective mode. If you’re running from a mountain lion, it’s not a good idea to expend energy on growth. In order to survive – that is, escape the lion – you summon all your energy for your fight or flight response. Redistributing energy reserves to fuel the protection response inevitably results in curtailment of growth…
…Inhibiting growth processes is also debilitating in that growth is a process that not only expends energy but is also required to produce energy. Consequently, a sustained protection response inhibits the creation of life-sustaining energy. The longer you stay in protection, the more you consume your energy reserves, which in turn, compromises your growth. In fact, you can shut down growth processes so completely that it becomes a truism that you can be ‘scared to death.’
Maybe that is a scientific explanation for Lao Tzu’s having wrote the following in the Tao Te Ching:
There is no greater illusion than fear, no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy. Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe.
Moving On Up a Little Higher 