Article 231153 of alt.religion.scientology: Path: casaba.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!cam-news-feed3.bbnplanet.com!delphi.bc.edu!Pjust From: segger@netlink.com (Sandra Egger) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: THE SCOPE OF TRAINING IN SCIENTOLOGY Date: 5 Nov 1996 00:15:36 GMT Organization: Boston College Lines: 182 Message-ID: <55m0v8$ndi@delphi.bc.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: 206.171.236.30 X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Many falsehoods and inaccurate statements regarding several aspects of the religion of Scientology have been observed on ars. The purpose of this message is to give you a sample of the true data from the book 'What is Scientology?' and show you where you can look to get the full contents of this book. ------------- The broad scope of Scientology is divided into numerous courses, ranging from introductory courses that teach basic principles, to more extensive ones that train professional auditors, to courses which contain knowledge about the ultimate capabilities of the thetan, to those that cover the full philosophic and technical materials of Dianetics and Scientology. There is much to know but all of it is knowable and as one learns more, his view of life becomes clearer and more understandable. At the heart of all instruction in Scientology are the auditor training courses offered in the Academy of Scientology in any church. Scientology Academy training gives one an understanding of man, his potentials and the difficulties that confront him, far in excess of anything taught in the humanities or social sciences. Here, one becomes aware of how Scientology principles apply to situations anywhere in life. With this knowledge a person understands why some people are successful while others fail. He understands why one man is happy while another is not. He knows why some relationships are stable and why others fall apart. Life is not a mystery to someone who has studied Scientology. In this respect, training offers every bit as much personal insight as does auditing. All lives are occasionally beset with trouble. A child falls and gets a scrape, the drinking problem of a neighbor's wife is discovered, a friend's business is failing, a parent becomes ill. The trained Scientologist can bring to bear what he has learned in the Academy to any situation in life and he can do something about it. In a Scientology course room, people study Dianetics and Scientology materials at their own pace with the help of trained Course Supervisors. In addition to reading L. Ron Hubbard's writings and listening to his recorded lectures, students practice the application of those materials to improve their own lives and help others. The skills acquired in training are a discipline in living and a know-how of the parts of life. Training in Scientology is the bridge between one's own learning and experience and livingness, and the truths offered to him in Scientology. It is a bridge from every human being to an understanding of life. The Academy courses teach different aspects of this understanding as well as methods of their application, a combination which brings about certainty that one does, in fact, know. Since life is an activity the emphasis is on application. The student, then, learns the actions which constitute their most important application, auditing. This encompasses an understanding of the communication which takes place between auditor and preclear and how to foster good communication. Once one has learned to do this within the discipline of auditing it becomes simple to do it in life. The student thoroughly studies the theory and mechanics of the E-Meter and then drills with it until he is proficient in its handling and operation. He learns the basic rules of auditing and how to administer a session standardly to a preclear. Each step is studied and then drilled to competence. He watches training films in the Academy film room in order to learn the correct way to perform a particular aspect of auditing. He learns the various codes, laws and axioms that pertain to auditing so that he has a thorough grasp of these basics. Later steps of his training build upon earlier steps and the student is gradually brought up to actual handling of specific laws by which life operates. The student next learns exact auditing processes and drills them with other students to the point of proficiency. After two weeks of intensive training the student can complete enough study and drilling to be ready to begin auditing another on elementary processes. His preclear can be a friend, a fellow student, church staff member or anyone. His sessions are carefully supervised by highly trained auditors in the church who help him correctly apply his materials. The student audits his preclear daily and fulfills specific auditing requirements listed on his checksheet. Application, whether in life or in auditing, is the prime purpose of his training. By bringing improvement to another person the student gains the certainty that he in fact does understand his materials. He confirms his competence in handling the elements of life and his certainty in his own abilities rises. This is a factor equally as important to one's spiritual advancement as the personal gains one receives from being audited. UNDERSTANDING COMES FROM TRAINING L. Ron Hubbard stressed that half the gains in Scientology come from training in its principles. The truth of this becomes obvious when one considers how much a knowledge of Scientology clarifies a person's view of life. This naturally includes a greater understanding of what goes on in his own auditing sessions and so makes his own progress as a preclear more rapid and certain. Such understanding is gained by training. In addition, there is considerable pride and personal satisfaction seeing another become more able and happier as a result of one's help. But regardless of whether one chooses to audit professionally, one is alive, and, trained in Scientology, he has new understandings he can use. After completing the auditing requirements on the checksheet, the student is graduated from his course. An auditor does six major courses in sequence as part of his Academy training. The completion of each signifies a level of skill attained by the auditor and is denoted by a classification, Class 0 through Class V. More advanced classifications, numbering up through Class XII, can be obtained on higher-level training courses available at specific churches around the world. Each course follows the efficient and thorough pattern of instruction described earlier, but adds more advanced theory and procedures. The result is an auditor who becomes more and more knowledgeable in the subject. In this way the different levels of training parallel the levels through which a preclear advances in auditing. Upon completion of specific training courses, the graduate gains further know-how in applying what he has learned under highly qualified supervision on an internship. Interning turns an auditor into an expert by doing. The auditor audits many different preclears on actions in which he has been trained. Such experience imparts the unshakable certainty that comes only from experience of doing something over and over. Auditing techniques work 100 percent of the time if they are applied correctly. Though the basic principles of auditing are simple in themselves, skill in the application of auditing techniques must be gained by an auditor before he will be able to produce invariable results. Precision is a requisite for accomplishing many things in life but when one is dealing with life itself, which is the preclear, slight variations in application of a procedure can considerably lessen the result obtained. It has long been established that greater gain accrues when the procedure is delivered precisely in all its aspects. The miracles of auditing are the culmination of dozens, even hundreds, of precisely learned, drilled and applied points concerning the wording of procedures, operation of the E-Meter, communication with the preclear and so on. The many steps of an auditing session, correctly taken, result in giant strides of improvement for the preclear. A highly trained auditor spends thousands of course room hours learning his skills and perfecting them in practice. It is usual for an auditor- in-training to put in forty or more course hours per week. He invests far more time in a study of the mind than does a practitioner in any similar field. At the highest levels of classification, an auditor will have studied a number of course hours comparable to twelve years of classes at a college or university. Training in Scientology enables one to face and handle existence. The skills of effective communication, of how to really help another, and how to face whatever life may present - all of these attributes have as many applications as there are situations in life requiring a handling. The need for auditors is great since it is plain that individuals can be salvaged only one at a time. Unlike congregational religions, this salvation ultimately occurs in Scientology in the one-on-one relationship between auditor and preclear. Many Scientologists train to become auditors, and anyone who wishes to help his fellow man can do the same. But of no less importance, one can gain greater skill in handling life than he ever thought possible. There is no more worthwhile purpose than helping one's fellows and no better way to accomplish this purpose than by becoming an auditor. Auditors apply what they have learned to help others with auditing and to change conditions wherever they find that conditions need improving. This is the mission of the trained Scientologist, and it is in his understanding, his compassion and his skill that the dreams of a better world reside. For more information go to the following URLs: http://www.scientology.org http://www.lronhubbard.org http://www.dianetics.org (c) 1993 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.