My Ups and Downs

[FoTi]

My intro to Scn starts back in the early 70's. I received a flyer in the mail which peaked my curiosity so I bit and went to an office building in West LA to check it out. When I got there, there was a small reception area and I was ushered into a small office where a guy sat behind the desk and told me that they could solve my problems if I would give him $2,000.00. I told him....I don't think so and got up to leave. When I came out into the reception area, there were about 4 people standing around and a table of books on one wall. They were all intending me to buy a book. Me alone with 4 other people plus the guy who interviewed me got me scared because they had me surrounded and weren't about to let me go until I bought something. I looked at the table and picked up a small book and paid for it and got out of there....whew! While I was there nobody mentioned the word Dianetics or Scientology. The name of the book I bought to get out of there was Problems of Work and I took it home and never read it. That was my first experience with Scientologists, but I had no idea that they were Scientologists until later.

Many months later I ran into an old boyfriend - someone that I was very uncomfortable around who also had a bad case of asthma. We had lunch together and he told me he was getting this auditing and it had helped him. He wanted me to have some of this wonderful stuff and said he would even pay for it. I was working full time and going to college full time and had no time for anything else, so I declined. But I did notice changes in him....he no longer gave me that uncomfortable feeling and he wasn't having trouble breathing. He said that it got rid of his asthma and it looked like that was true. I was impressed.

A few weeks later he invited me to an event at the Paladium on a Saturday. My boyfriend said that he was working on Saturday, so I said okay to going to the event with my old boyfriend, only to find out that my current boyfriend was going to be there also. Turns out my boyfriend didn't tell me he was a Scientologist because he had to disconnect from his former wife and two kids because she didn't like Scn and he was afraid that I wouldn't like it either.

This event started in the morning and lasted until about 2am the next morning. My old boyfriend told me that if anyone came up to me at the event I could just say no to them and they would accept a no from me. While I was at this event, at one of the breaks, someone did come up to me and said "Come with me". I remembered what he had said and I said "no". She repeated "Come with me" and I said "no". She repeated it a third time and I said no a third time and she just looked at me and said..."okay" and turned around and walked away. So it seemed like I wasn't going to be forced into anything and I felt comfortable with that.

I really enjoyed the event. Quintin was there and gave a demo of auditing, which I didn't understand and I was very impressed with Diana's stage presence and she looked like an angel with her long white dress and long red hair. I also was quite impressed with the way children were treated there. Most places where there were crowds of people usually meant kids crying and parents scolding, but at this event, the kids were happy and parents seemed to treat their children with more respect - more like they were responsible adults and the environment was more peaceful than other places I'd been where there were crowds of families. Normally I couldn't stand crowds of people for more than 15 or 20 minutes and I would get antsy and have to leave, but I was at this event from about 11am one morning until about 2am the following morning (it was a long event) and I was perfectly comfortable the whole time. The whole space felt different to me. I liked being around this bunch. I also found an Advance Mag on the seat next to mine during the event and read one of the OT Success Stories and suddenly felt like I'd found home. I was sold and I didn't know anything about auditing or training. I just wanted to regain my OT abilities.

After I went home, I asked my current boyfriend - how do I get started with this? The following Saturday he took me to Celebrity Center. I walked in the door and asked reception...."How do I get started with this?" I was escorted to the Reg. I asked the Reg..."How do I get started with this?". He started laughing.....said he couldn't believe it...because he didn't have to handle me on anything. I paid for the Comm Course and started that day and came back Sunday for more. Then Monday I went back to my usual routine of school and work and had no time to do more Comm Course.

I got a call from one of the Course Sups one night when I got home asking me why I wasn't on course. I told her I had work and school and couldn't come in during the week. She gave me a bad time and told me I had to come in on course. Nobody had ever made a schedule with me and I thought I would just go in when I had time and do this course. She put a lot of pressure on me and ordered me around and really made me mad. The next time I went in on course, I told them that I didn't ever want her around me ever again and if she was going to bother me, I wasn't coming in. They made sure that she didn't come near me again. They also set a schedule for me to follow to be on course, which I followed. Step one in getting me to conform to the group.

Shortly into the Comm Course, I saw a notice on the board that they were giving intro auditing sessions for $5.00. I went and paid for an intro session. I kept going on course, but I couldn't keep my attention on the course very well because I was more interested in this auditing session. It seemed like I had to wait forever...it was probably two weeks before I got in session. When I finally did get in session, it lasted about 4 hours and I went whole track. Wow! This was fascinating and I had a nice result from the session. I went from thinking about 6 thoughts at once to being able to just think one thought at a time...so much more comfortable....this was so wonderful that I went to the reg and told him that I wanted to do the HQS course and to train thru Class IV and to get 100 hrs of auditing as well. We made a postulate together and I think he had me make out a phoney check just to write it down in the physical universe (nothing he was going to cash)...kind of a wish check. After this one session I was so blown out, I wanted everyone to learn about Scientology and experience what I had just experienced.

I went home that night and when I laid down on my bed I noticed a pain in my body so I did what we had done in session and ran it back and spotted the incident and it blew. Wow, this was great stuff. I was so pleased with this ability to do this. The next time I went to the org, I mentioned that I did this and got in trouble for self auditing.

(I'll continue with more later. It's late and I'm too tired to continue now.)

[Operating DB]

In looking back to your early "wow" experiences with that auditing do you now view those wins differently or was it just a frame of mind you had then?

[FoTi]

In looking back to your early "wow" experiences with that auditing do you now view those wins differently or was it just a frame of mind you had then?

Are you trying to psychoanalyze my experiences?

[uniquemand]

I don't understand why psychoanalyzing would be considered a bad thing. Nothing wrong with taking a look at your mental state, and considering how it's changed with events.

[Zinjifar]

'Psychoanalysis' is a sub-sub-category of Psychology and even a sub-category of psychiatry and has been debunked as equally ineffective as Scientology, for nearly the same reasons, although, psychoanalysis has been subjected to far more cogent testing and review.

However, the psychoanalysts are in general not out to overthrow secular government, subvert business and social organizations or force the entire population into a 'therapeutic relationship'.

Zinj

[uniquemand]

Penis envy has been debunked, I think, but "psychoanalysis" has many components, just as "the Tech" has many components. Some of them are effective, and some are twaddle, just as in Scientology. Either, as a whole system, is "bunk".

[Div6]

the popcorn icon is inserted by typing :-d-r-a-m-a-: without the -'s. But you do need to type the colons.

[dchoiceisalwaysrs]

Welcome FoTi

You got started around the same time as I did I believe, when was the Chateau Elysee purchased?

I too spent some time at CC and met Yvonne and Heber at the 8th St center.

Keep telling your story. I really like the how your writing flows.

and some for you too salt? butter?

[FoTi]

DIV 6 & Happy Girl....Thanks for the info on the popcorn icon.

Welcome FoTi

You got started around the same time as I did I believe, when was the Chateau Elysee purchased?

I too spent some time at CC and met Yvonne and Heber at the 8th St center.

Keep telling your story. I really like the how your writing flows.

and some for you too salt? butter?

My guess is it was purchased in 1973.

Thanks for the comment on how my writing flows. I'm glad somebody likes it.
That encourages me to continue.

Thanks for the popcorn too.

I've got my popcorn and I'm ready to type.


This time, I'll leave ASHO for a bit and talk about the Manor Hotel.

I moved into the Manor with my king size water bed, my art supplies (My major in college was Interior Design) and my many plants. I fixed up the room and made it more homey.

Most of the time, I really loved living there. It was such a friendly place and most of the people were really happy most of the time because most were getting auditing either at ASHO or the AO Anex right next door to the Manor Hotel - on the Manor grounds.

Mealtimes were really fun because people doing their OT Levels in the next building would tell their wins (that they could tell) at the table, and I loved listening to them. I remember one gal who had finished OT II and then she went to the dentist and came back all elated because she didn't have to use any anaesthetic and she didn't have to experience the pain she would have normally experienced at the dentist. I thought that was pretty cool. It was also fun because I enjoyed just walking into the dining room and sitting down and ordering and not having to cook or wash dishes for a while. I lived there for 4-6 months in the early 70's.

felt kind of sorry for the staff, though. They worked like dogs in a hot kitchen and running their tails off serving everyone at meal times. Sometimes I wondered why they did it, but I figured if they didn't like it, they could just leave, couldn't they? No one was twisting their arm to stay (were they?)

I do remember one time someone who came back from the ship talked about the overboarding of the Class VIIIs...I reminded myself never to go to the ship for training. I thought that was pretty severe and pretty stupid and pretty scary. How the hell was that supposed to make them audit better? And didn't LRH say that punishment doesn't work to make a person better?

I also remember one of LRH aides that had just come back from the ship...she talked about how LRH hardly ever slept and he would wear out his aides rather quickly because there was so much work for them to do. She said he wore her out and that's why she wasn't on the ship anymore.

At night, after everyone got off course and auditing, a bunch would gather in my room and party....play guitar, make music - I remember one night we got a bunch of pot and pans and had a band. LOL It was fun.

The gal who got me to move into the Manor also ran the switchboard at the front desk sometimes. One day I said..."Would you teach me how to do that?" She said "Sure." So I went and sat at the switchboard and she taught me how to run it...it was one of those old fashioned ones. Well, I got a few calls mixed up and the execs from upstairs came charging down to see what was the matter. I wasn't allowed to run the switchboard anymore. I didn't get in trouble, I just felt bad for her because they were all mad at her for letting me do it.

One night, shortly after I moved in, and after I started getting my auditing at ASHO, I was in bed, going to sleep and the next thing I knew I was hanging out about 10 feet up in the air over the stairwell that went into the underground garage at the south end of the Manor. I was just looking down at the steps..ho hum...dum..dee..dee.....all of a sudden I thought.. I'm going to fall (as if my body was up in the air - but it was still in bed). I slammed back into my body and sat up with a jolt. That was my first real experience of being exterior a distance away from my body that I was aware of this lifetime. It surprised the hell out of me. I liked it.

One night after everyone was off course, I went to the room next door to mine to talk. The only person there had just completed OT7 that evening. A brand new OT7. We sat on the floor in the forier in the dark - there were no lights on anywhere in his room and I sat watching in fascination because the light he was radiating lit up the space where we were sitting. I wanted to go OT.

Another evening after course, a friend of mine knocked on my door. He was solo auditing on OT III and it was right before he completed. When I opened the door and looked at him...he was all fuzzy looking - kind of like his body was blurred..that's the only time I ever saw anyone look like that.

It was so much fun living at the Manor at that time with all the interesting things happening with all the people there who were getting auditing. It was so different than today. Scientology was fun then....sometimes scary...but mostly fun. Scientologists seemed to be a much happier lot then.

I remember one lady that lived across the hall from me...she was Ray Charles mistress She had her car parked in the Manor parking lot and someone stole it and she was quite upset about it. I asked her if she had had any thoughts about wanting to get rid of the car. She said she had. I said...well wouldn't it be better to sell the car instead of having it stolen? She said yes...she decided to get her car back so that she could sell it and a few minutes later the police phoned...they found her car...so now she could sell it. Fun stuff like this happened alot around that time. It was a kind of magical time.

One day when I returned home to my room, a Manor Reg came to tell me that I had to move out of my room because she had rented it to someone else for twice the amount of money that I was paying. WHAT??? She had showed my room...all decorated....to someone who thought it was nice...sure....but when I move out....it won't be there anymore. I was pissed. They got me to move in there and now they're going to kick me out? So, now she gives me this rule that says that I can only keep the room if I am living with a 2D. ?????????????? What kind of rule is that?
So, my boyfriend, wanting to help me out moves in. Now, they can't kick me out. 2 weeks later he announces to me..."I can't do this...I'm not in love with you"...he ends the relationship and goes down and handles the Reg on this issue and I get to keep my room.

Before I got involved in Scientology I was so bored. After I got into Scientology I don't think I was ever bored...there was always something happening.....somebody was being entertaining or there was always something new to learn and some new experience to be had.

It was quite a fun experience to be living at the Manor in those days. This was my first time living at the Manor. I lived there again at another time period, but that's for another story.

I'm out of popcorn here.

Catch you later

[scooter]

Wow - can't wait for the next installment!!!