Gadfly
Crusader
The question is – did Hubbard consciously instill beliefs into his followers below their awareness level? Or it happened accidentally and naturally like in many cults?
Do you really need to ask that?
That is HYPNOSIS. The intentional and conscious instilling of beliefs below conscious awareness (in self or in others).
Hubbard was a very good hypnotist. That is a known fact. Hubbard knew much about the subject. But there is more. Much more.
I have read a great deal about magick, the occult, modern visualization techniques, etc. In these subjects, one learns methods to alter the contents of his or her OWN subconscious mind. These subjects also contain the notion that what one expects at the deepest level tends to happen in reality. Said another way, the reality one experiences mirrors ones deepest self - in terms of beliefs. Or in Hubbard terminology, postulates and considerations precede all mechanics.
Hubbard never makes this point clear, but the postulates and considerations that affect you the most are the ones that you are unaware of. When you find yourself saying, "I know it is true", and fail to recognize that what you think with is a "belief", THEN it is below your awareness. At least the aspect of it as functioning as a belief is below your awareness.
An important part of legitimate paths to enlightenment and self-awareness involve bringing many or all of these unconscious beliefs into conscious awareness. One becomes acutely aware of the fact that a great deal of what we each hold as true is of the nature of an IDEA. In a certain regard, what I consider to be legitimate paths to enlightenment involve breaking apart the content of ones mind. In various Buddhist and Hindu systems, the mind itself IS THE PROBLEM! One needs to learn to be able to get rid of it, or at least temporarily suspend its activities and influences (at will). Much meditation has to do with exactly that.
These various occult and magickal methods all involve the student intentionally changing his or her own unconscious beliefs. The reason one does so is because, as the theory goes, when you change what you believe at a deep level then the universe itself reforms itself in terms of your own personal experiences. While the universe doesn't actually change, your experience of it very much changes as one changes his or her deeply held beliefs (postulates, considerations). In a very real sense this involves self-hypnosis. It is NOT a "bad thing".
Let me make an analogy to Einstein's theory of relativity. In his model, the universe is what it is, but in terms of EXPERIENCE, for any specific observer, the experience of some aspect of the universe is always and only RELATIVE, based on the condition of the observer. In other words, what and how the observer sees the universe depends entirely on from where and HOW he is looking. In psychological terms, the condition of the observer is determined by ones set of deeply-held beliefs, agreements, considerations and postulates. There is a subjective component to Einstein's theory - that of the observer. While the objective universe never changes, ones subjective experience of it very much does. The moment any observer assumes a position, and a viewpoint, then what and how this observer experiences some aspect of reality is greatly limited and conditioned.
So, how one experiences some aspect of the universe is determined and molded by ones own (personally created) set of beliefs. It is because of this relationship between 1) the state of the observer and 2) the experience of the observer that all magick, occult and New Age visualization methods exist at all. Just as in Einstein's theory, when the state of the observer changes, so changes what and how this observer experiences some aspect of the universe. Magicians understand that the power to change his or her reality resides entirely in his or herself. I tend to agree with this view. One IS responsible for ones own condition and sets of experiences. If you change what you hold to be true, you will also change how you see and experience the world around you. Hubbard knew about all of this sort of information. He NEVER explains it to you in basic terms that empower you. He used it AGAINST you!
Hypnosis can be bad when it is done TO YOU without your consent or awareness. In fact, Hubbard manages to get followers to greatly modify their deeply-held beliefs and convictions about a great many things through the Scientology indoctrination system. Hubbard was very familiar with all this information about magick, the occult, visualization and the mind. So YES, he KNEW what he was doing. In Scientology, it was not an "accident" like in some other religions.
I have studied both Scientology and a great many other related subjects, so it is easy for me to see where Hubbard got many of his ideas from - or how he altered them from the original. But he leaves much out in various regards. In the occult it is up to the practitioner to choose what new ideas and beliefs he wants to adopt through self-hypnotic techniques. In Scientology, you have no choice - you are given Hubbard's exact smorgasbord of ideas, beliefs, convictions and certainties.
The basic ideas is that with these methods one is changing the content of ones subconscious mind - in terms of deeply-held convictions, beliefs, agreements and considerations. One can do so by using various methods of affirmation and visualization. In such cases one does so knowingly and intentionally, according to ones own purposes and plans. This involves hypnosis, but self-hypnosis. In Scientology the method of changing the deeply-held beliefs and convictions is spread over time and is done through the indoctrination system. But it is STILL "hypnosis". And, as ones beliefs change, one sees a different world. In fact, the Scientologist sees and experiences a very different world than most others!
While there is some version of hypnosis in auditing, and I do not think it is at all "all bad", the really harmful hypnosis involves the indoctrination of the nutty belief system. The fanaticism of the KSW ideology is far more dangerous than the results of most auditing (at least up until OT III).
Last edited: