Staff and Sea Org - What was it like?

[Adam7986]

You're thinking in a long term mindset that has input from outside sources.

In the SO all the news you see and get comes from the SO.

You live a day to day life. You're too busy trying to make your senior happy and stay out of trouble to really reflect on the past or think about the future.

You don't get to read the news or watch TV.

Leaving the SO was like coming out of a daze. All the new information sources, TV shows, movies and the internet are shocking.

Its a mindset that you can't understand unless you have experienced it.

[Mick Wenlock]

You're thinking in a long term mindset that has input from outside sources.

In the SO all the news you see and get comes from the SO.

You live a day to day life. You're too busy trying to make your senior happy and stay out of trouble to really reflect on the past or think about the future.

You don't get to read the news or watch TV.

Leaving the SO was like coming out of a daze. All the new information sources, TV shows, movies and the internet are shocking.

Its a mindset that you can't understand unless you have experienced it.

My wife and I refer to it as "the day we landed from the mother ship"

[Adam7986]

My wife and I refer to it as "the day we landed from the mother ship"

A excellent analogy to be sure. Although instead of physical probing, scientology is more like a mental probe.

[apocalyptic]

I am wondering what is going on in the mind of the staffer's and Sea Org members when they are working their tails off and nothing changes? What was that like - REALLY?

Well we can't speak for others, but for us it was like this:

#1. Anywhere between 7 and 9 am we would roll out of bed (depending on how we felt).

#2. After eating breakfast (which the butler brought us at the ring of the bell) we would wonder out to the golf course and shoot a few holes.

#3. Eventually we would mosey into the office and spend a few minutes looking things over.

#4. At 11:00 am it was time for lunch. By 2:00 we were required to go back to the office.

#5. At 3:00 our day at the SO office was done and we would generally head down to the beach for a little r & r.

#6. At 7:00 pm every night (like clockwork) we were given the choice between steak, lobster or some exotic dinner specially designed and prepared by David Miscaviage himself.

#7. Around midnight we would generally call it a day.

The Sea Org was good.

Apoc

[GreyLensman]

You're not going to find this idealistic mentality solely in Scientologists.

If you think about it, it's no different than the thousands of "born again" Christians who are convinced they are doing their part to save humanity from Hell. There are many, many Christian missionary organizations where members struggle to survive on dirt-poor wages & have to make things work for themselves while doing God's work.

There are many Christians that believe living in poverty and struggling to survive, builds personal character & emulates the suffering of Jesus Christ, which makes them holier, even when their efforts seem to be in vain. That's where their faith kicks in.

I suffered alot when I was rejected from the Sea Org... I attended a military high school.. and saw myself doing great things in the Sea Org. My experimenting with LSD in high school did me in.

Your experimenting with LSD saved you from an even greater level of insane-ness.

[GreyLensman]

A excellent analogy to be sure. Although instead of physical probing, scientology is more like a mental probe.

not that different.

[still here]

I think most of us can be very good at delusion. What does a public Scientologist tell himself when he spends a fortune and does not have the expected results? He is given reasons why this may be, he has some other problem, needs a different rundown, needs ethics handling, is PTS etc, or of course it HAS worked..buy the next level!

It is not just the group's affirmation of these things it is also that he has invested and WANTS to believe it. Placebo's are powerful.

SO/Org staff are no different, you see what is wrong, not how you thought, awful etc, and there is a book full of stuff to tell you why that may be, what could have kept the stats down, but more importantly, you and everyone around you WANTS to believe it.

I am sure someone will know far better than I that somewhere I remember a quote saying something along the lines of...if you want someone to buy auditing or believe you have the solution to their ruin..don't tell them it costs £5 or it will seem you do not think their problem is very big..They think it is huge, so it will cost Thousands to handle it! (and it does, but it doesn't handle it)

I likened my joining the real world to "re-entry" it took a long time to acclimatize!

[StickbyMe]

Well we can't speak for others, but for us it was like this:

#1. Anywhere between 7 and 9 am we would roll out of bed (depending on how we felt).

#2. After eating breakfast (which the butler brought us at the ring of the bell) we would wonder out to the golf course and shoot a few holes.

#3. Eventually we would mosey into the office and spend a few minutes looking things over.

#4. At 11:00 am it was time for lunch. By 2:00 we were required to go back to the office.

#5. At 3:00 our day at the SO office was done and we would generally head down to the beach for a little r & r.

#6. At 7:00 pm every night (like clockwork) we were given the choice between steak, lobster or some exotic dinner specially designed and prepared by David Miscaviage himself.

#7. Around midnight we would generally call it a day.

The Sea Org was good.

Apoc

This is actually what it was like being in the FBO program. Almost.

[Claire Swazey]

Staff is an odd phenom. Particularly SO staff but also any staff work.

Think about the SO. It's their "religious order" and is set up on (influenced by his Navy experience, although that was less than stellar) paramilitary lines.

But that being said...the Knights Templar they ain't.

[smartone]

You're right. When I was on staff and in the SO I bought it hook, line and sinker. The feeling that I was single-handedly doing my part to save mankind was one of the most beautiful things I've ever felt. I wish I had that again, albeit in a more sane environment where we were actually doing something.

As for why the stats don't improve, there's a lot of answers. LRH provided a lot of loopholes for himself. Basically, any failure to expand has to be found somewhere besides the tech, and that leaves a lot of places to find it.

Yeah, like if the tech doesn't work, SOMEONE has to be out-ethics.