SweetnessandLight
Crusader
Ack at ya!
Thank YOU, Pandy!
This continues to be one of the best threads on ESMB, thank you all.
Thank YOU, Pandy!
The Little Thread Which Grew - the Apollo '73 to Everything But
- Thread starter lkwdblds
- Start date
- Status
lkwdblds
Crusader
I received a phone call from Carmelo.
Out of the blue I received a call from Carmelo today congratulating me on our thread moving up to 2nd place on ESMB. First place FCDC is so far ahead of us that if we both continue at our cerrent paces, it would take us 6-8 months to overhaul them. Therefore, for those of you who do not like stats, we will not be talking about them for many months. Instead, we are going to work on impoving the quality of our posts.
LOOKING FOR THE GOD WITHIN US
Carmelo shared a few of his secrets with me. He believes that at the core of every human being there is a Godlike entity. One of his secrets is to look for the God within when talking to someone . If one is ticked off with him, instead of blowing up at them, he will look for the God within the person and communicate to that facet of the being. Dealing with people this way has had some unexpected results. Carmelo related to me several incidents where he had dealt with businessman or stopped at a dinier while traveling, 5 to 10 years earlier, and the persons involved recognized him when he passed through again. In one instance he had picked up a package at some establishment such as a drycleaners and the person behind the counter was having a bad day and Carmelo spoke directly to the God within the person. Years later, Carmelo was in the same town on his travels and went to that same store and the clerk there greeted him with open arms, saying his life had changed as a result of talking with Carmelo years ago.
REGIMENTATION OF PEOPLE AND THE CHANGES OF THE 1960'S - Carmelo believes that the rebellions of the 1960's which challenged regimentation were a direct result of soldiers who were killed in WWII being reincarnated and protesting the types of leadership and concepts of life that led to WWII. Independently, I touched on this subject myself, only a few days ago.
In an interesting comparison, I was killed as 13 year old boy by the Nazi's in 1938 just prior to the War. This was not enough to put me or people of my generation into the class of people who changed society starting in the 1960's. Carmelo told me that he was a soldier killed in WWII as an adult and that spawned a whole generation of youth, only about 5 to 10 years older than me who rebelled against society and refused to be regimented.
THE TRANSFER FROM BELIEVING WE ARE ALL ONE TO BEING TOLD WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS
Carmelo believes many people, including many Scientologists and ex Scientologists once had a concept that we all split off from one being and are intimately connected to every other being and are on a journey trying to restore ourselves back to a oneness. Scientology introduces the concept that we are all separate, we are all individuals. Carmelo says that there is a built in frustration and resentment in beings when they are first introduced to this concept. There is a tendency to lash out in resentment for harmful acts which people perceive have been committed against them. A LOT OF RESENTMENT WAS PREVENTED FROM OCCURING BECAUSE PEOPLE BELIEVED WE WERE ALL ONE. IF THAT CONCEPT IS PULLED AWAY, STORED UP RESENTMENTS ARE UNLEASHED.
TO HAVE AN EGO OR GIVE UP ONE'S EGO Carmelo believes happiness and success in life arises from keeping and enhancing one's own individuality while at the same time pursuing the approach that life is a God like activity.
He is not onboard with Eastern religious approaches to life where it is sought to subdue one's ego. He does not fight this point of view or campaign against it but simply does not follow it himself or teach it.
ON AGE -On one's body age, he says it means nothing. He told me that my age is irrelevant. In talking to me on the phone, there is no perception at all of age in either of us, if someone was eavesdropping on the conversation, it would seem as if two men in the mid thirties were talking.
ON WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE - Carmelo tried to explain to me a concept which he thought was hard to put into words. As he was on about his second sentence, I picked up immediately the entire gist of what he was saying and told him so. It has to do with dealing with some small topic in life while also juggling what is generally perceived to be a huge major topic. Carmelo gave as an example something like he had bought a new tool to do some kind of work on his garage floor and he was intensively studying the owner's manual and figuring out how to use the tool when his wife approached him about taking care of some emergency. From that point, he would not give up on the tool and multi tasked and got both things handled. The unusual point was that both items were for musts for him to do, he did not place the wife's demands above figuring out how to master the tool. He was totally immersed in both cycles simultaneously.
DID I GET A SESSION ?
I was addressed as a Godlike being over the phone. Many key areas of intense interest to me were taken up and talked to a flat point, there was an exccellent communication cycle going on from both his end and my end. I was validated for doing a good job. I validated in return. I noticed I was becoming happier and higher toned. The topics were taken up in a certain order in a "one thing leads to another" order of progress. The last thing we touched on was the concept of whether to keep creating our ego or not. I sensed that figuratively my TA was floating and we agreed to end our long call of at least half an hour duration. Was the conversation a form of auditing? You be the judge.
Good communication can act as a therapeutic session in and of itself. The lack of a formal regimented session format in no way impaired the concept of a session taking place. The freedom to not only inflow but outflow and validate the one guiding you is of enormous importance in making spiritual gains. As I write this, I am having an epiphany going on. Just imagine an auditor evaluating for his pc, "saying you are doing good a good job." Imagine the pc saying back to the auditor, "I believe you are doing an excellent job yourself." Can you imagine the amount of personal gains being achieved in a cycle such as this?
By the way, I am not bashing Hubbard at all, he set up the patter for a formal session which was necessary to do for sessions in general and also the maxim not to evaluate for the pc in session is a vital component. These are major achievements which Hubbard pioneered. I am just exploring that if an auditor and a pc already know each other and have a background working together that perhaps the tech envelope can be pushed even further to where no formal session patter is necessary and an auditor and a pc can both compliment one another in a session.
INSTEAD OF A MANDATORY SUCCESS STORY WHERE A PC MECHANICALLY VALIDATES HIS AUDITOR, HIS C/S AND LRH AFTER SESSION, THIS IS EVEN BETTER. Just imagine a counselor telling a pc in session that the pc is doing a good job. Imagine a pc having the freedom to tell his counselor that he is doing a good job. The prospects for case gain are staggering!
My decision to partner with Carmelo on this thread was a wise move for me. It is one of the better moves which I have made in life.
Lakey
Out of the blue I received a call from Carmelo today congratulating me on our thread moving up to 2nd place on ESMB. First place FCDC is so far ahead of us that if we both continue at our cerrent paces, it would take us 6-8 months to overhaul them. Therefore, for those of you who do not like stats, we will not be talking about them for many months. Instead, we are going to work on impoving the quality of our posts.
LOOKING FOR THE GOD WITHIN US
Carmelo shared a few of his secrets with me. He believes that at the core of every human being there is a Godlike entity. One of his secrets is to look for the God within when talking to someone . If one is ticked off with him, instead of blowing up at them, he will look for the God within the person and communicate to that facet of the being. Dealing with people this way has had some unexpected results. Carmelo related to me several incidents where he had dealt with businessman or stopped at a dinier while traveling, 5 to 10 years earlier, and the persons involved recognized him when he passed through again. In one instance he had picked up a package at some establishment such as a drycleaners and the person behind the counter was having a bad day and Carmelo spoke directly to the God within the person. Years later, Carmelo was in the same town on his travels and went to that same store and the clerk there greeted him with open arms, saying his life had changed as a result of talking with Carmelo years ago.
REGIMENTATION OF PEOPLE AND THE CHANGES OF THE 1960'S - Carmelo believes that the rebellions of the 1960's which challenged regimentation were a direct result of soldiers who were killed in WWII being reincarnated and protesting the types of leadership and concepts of life that led to WWII. Independently, I touched on this subject myself, only a few days ago.
In an interesting comparison, I was killed as 13 year old boy by the Nazi's in 1938 just prior to the War. This was not enough to put me or people of my generation into the class of people who changed society starting in the 1960's. Carmelo told me that he was a soldier killed in WWII as an adult and that spawned a whole generation of youth, only about 5 to 10 years older than me who rebelled against society and refused to be regimented.
THE TRANSFER FROM BELIEVING WE ARE ALL ONE TO BEING TOLD WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS
Carmelo believes many people, including many Scientologists and ex Scientologists once had a concept that we all split off from one being and are intimately connected to every other being and are on a journey trying to restore ourselves back to a oneness. Scientology introduces the concept that we are all separate, we are all individuals. Carmelo says that there is a built in frustration and resentment in beings when they are first introduced to this concept. There is a tendency to lash out in resentment for harmful acts which people perceive have been committed against them. A LOT OF RESENTMENT WAS PREVENTED FROM OCCURING BECAUSE PEOPLE BELIEVED WE WERE ALL ONE. IF THAT CONCEPT IS PULLED AWAY, STORED UP RESENTMENTS ARE UNLEASHED.
TO HAVE AN EGO OR GIVE UP ONE'S EGO Carmelo believes happiness and success in life arises from keeping and enhancing one's own individuality while at the same time pursuing the approach that life is a God like activity.
He is not onboard with Eastern religious approaches to life where it is sought to subdue one's ego. He does not fight this point of view or campaign against it but simply does not follow it himself or teach it.
ON AGE -On one's body age, he says it means nothing. He told me that my age is irrelevant. In talking to me on the phone, there is no perception at all of age in either of us, if someone was eavesdropping on the conversation, it would seem as if two men in the mid thirties were talking.
ON WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE - Carmelo tried to explain to me a concept which he thought was hard to put into words. As he was on about his second sentence, I picked up immediately the entire gist of what he was saying and told him so. It has to do with dealing with some small topic in life while also juggling what is generally perceived to be a huge major topic. Carmelo gave as an example something like he had bought a new tool to do some kind of work on his garage floor and he was intensively studying the owner's manual and figuring out how to use the tool when his wife approached him about taking care of some emergency. From that point, he would not give up on the tool and multi tasked and got both things handled. The unusual point was that both items were for musts for him to do, he did not place the wife's demands above figuring out how to master the tool. He was totally immersed in both cycles simultaneously.
DID I GET A SESSION ?
I was addressed as a Godlike being over the phone. Many key areas of intense interest to me were taken up and talked to a flat point, there was an exccellent communication cycle going on from both his end and my end. I was validated for doing a good job. I validated in return. I noticed I was becoming happier and higher toned. The topics were taken up in a certain order in a "one thing leads to another" order of progress. The last thing we touched on was the concept of whether to keep creating our ego or not. I sensed that figuratively my TA was floating and we agreed to end our long call of at least half an hour duration. Was the conversation a form of auditing? You be the judge.
Good communication can act as a therapeutic session in and of itself. The lack of a formal regimented session format in no way impaired the concept of a session taking place. The freedom to not only inflow but outflow and validate the one guiding you is of enormous importance in making spiritual gains. As I write this, I am having an epiphany going on. Just imagine an auditor evaluating for his pc, "saying you are doing good a good job." Imagine the pc saying back to the auditor, "I believe you are doing an excellent job yourself." Can you imagine the amount of personal gains being achieved in a cycle such as this?
By the way, I am not bashing Hubbard at all, he set up the patter for a formal session which was necessary to do for sessions in general and also the maxim not to evaluate for the pc in session is a vital component. These are major achievements which Hubbard pioneered. I am just exploring that if an auditor and a pc already know each other and have a background working together that perhaps the tech envelope can be pushed even further to where no formal session patter is necessary and an auditor and a pc can both compliment one another in a session.
INSTEAD OF A MANDATORY SUCCESS STORY WHERE A PC MECHANICALLY VALIDATES HIS AUDITOR, HIS C/S AND LRH AFTER SESSION, THIS IS EVEN BETTER. Just imagine a counselor telling a pc in session that the pc is doing a good job. Imagine a pc having the freedom to tell his counselor that he is doing a good job. The prospects for case gain are staggering!
My decision to partner with Carmelo on this thread was a wise move for me. It is one of the better moves which I have made in life.
Lakey
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SweetnessandLight
Crusader
Good for you!
Glad you had a good talk, guys. This mutual flow of listening and validation is at the heart of all good counselling, no matter what form. 
Blue Spirit, very glad to hear that you are healing so well...keep up the good work and take good care of yourself! Hope to see you on July 4th!
I'm looking forward to welcoming another Newbie onto the board.
Glad you had a good talk, guys.
This mutual flow of listening and validation is at the heart of all good counselling, no matter what form. Blue Spirit, very glad to hear that you are healing so well...keep up the good work and take good care of yourself! Hope to see you on July 4th!
I'm looking forward to welcoming another Newbie onto the board.
SweetnessandLight
Crusader
Hot News!
Hey everybody!!!
Jesse is in the house!!!
http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=18684
Hey everybody!!!
Jesse is in the house!!!
http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=18684
lkwdblds
Crusader
Some Red Flags we could have seen at the time
The fascination with the Sea Org of getting recruits very early, around age 12 before they are educated and indoctrinated into society is really scary. It seems like Hubbard pioneered this with his expansion of the CMO. The stated Sea Org concept is that these young people have not picked up all the False Data which societal education indoctrinates them with, so they are more capable of following orders. Since they are not really teen agers but beings billions or trillions of years old, they are just as wise as an adult.
THE ASSUMPTIONS THEY ARE OPERATING ON ARE COMPLETELY ABSURD! A teen age human being is not mature, they usually have no wisdom at all and are very immature. There are some exceptions. This period in human life is an adjustment period where children's bodies become adult and the child transitions into an adult. Proper parental supervison and supervision from teachers, role models and mentors is needed at this time of life more than any other. If proper supervison is not forthcomming, the child's life is often a train wreck.
Despite all this, Hubbard and his Sea Organization seeks out teen agers and gives them power which they have not earned. The results are predictable and they are not good.
As early as 1972, I saw a stellar Scientology exec, Yvonne Jentzsch, the Founder of Celebrity Centre in L.A. being bossed around by idiotic robotic young missionaires, either teen agers or very early 20's. Actually they were either missionaires or the new Deputy Guardian, Flag Rep, or LRH Comm who had just arrived in the Org to be permanently posted as her senior. This nonsense was originated by LRH and was part of his grand design.
The CMO didn't exist yet. Often in Scientology management, a bad trend is started which introduced injustices and people hoped that steps would be taken to correct it. Instead an even greater menace was created to reinforce it.
An Examples is the RPF morphing out of the EPF (whhich was legit and useful) and then the RPF's RPF morphing out of that. Another is that of all the various alphabet soup groups originating on Flag, the FBO, GO, Flag Rep Network, LRH Comm Network, ESTO Network, etc. to come into the Orgs and boss around the successful local executives. One hoped for some relief from this but instead OSA took over from the GO and then the crowining glory of this method of management, the CMO was born and expanded and engulfed everything in its path including Hubbard himself.
Lakey
After the Atlantic crossing the Apollo sailed its’ last days in the Caribbean. Some of the Ports were very nice, like the Bahamas and Curacao, and some were backwater at best like St. Vincent and Grenada. I was hot, very hot and the only air-conditioned spaces on the Apollo were El Ron’s and Family.
I was in Greneda on a regular cruise ship in 1980. What a dive! The entire main city smelled like sewage.
It was at this time that El Ron decided to resurrect El Ron, The Photographic Genius and, with entourage in tow, would travel around various Islands adding to Hisself’s “Photo Tech Breakthrough” portfolio.
The Crew and Outer Org Student compliment steadily increased and the berthing and dining conditions concurrently worsened. Added to this was the fact that the Ports pretty well became the Netherlands Antilles and close by backwaters. The heat, humidity and beyond over-crowded conditions was accentuated by a steadily decreasing quality of food. The period that Leon talked about was very similar to the conditions of this era. It got so bad that many of the crew formed little “co ops” and contributed to a “fund” that designated co op members would use to go ashore and make purchases, so that the membership could “supplement” their diets with actual food. The perennial roach population on the Ship exploded and several waves of severe fevers and flu set in.
There was no Ship’s Doctor, only a couple of Medical Officers that had some “Wog” nurse training. The worst cases were put in isolation in makeshift hospital wards and the rest just toughed it out. Face was one of the ones that wound up in isolation, but my conditions were better than most of the others as I was from the Midships Upper Decks bunch. Even with that, for 3 weeks I was the most miserably sick I had ever been. I lost a tremendous amount of weight, and was obviously very weak and debilitated when I was finally allowed to leave isolation. That day, when I returned to my post, El Ron breezed by, entourage in tow, off to another photo shoot. Hisself stopped for a moment to welcome me back and “Cheer” me up. Placing Hisself’s hands on my shoulders, he looked squarely into my eyes and said, “Well now, Face, nothing, nothing could be as bad as all that!” I managed a little smile and said, “No, Sir…Thank you, Sir…I’ll be fine, Sir.” And, with that he was off and by the end of the day I was up to eyeballs with a plethora new El Ron Orders, delivered by a steady stream Messengers. A month passed…a very miserable month…before Face was the “old” Face again.
The lack of even one medical semi professional for a crew of perhaps 200 was a real read Flag. I thought that Hubbard just did not care for medicine as a valid tech. Nevertheless, all Scientology literature of the time stated that if one was physically ill, they had to first consult a doctor before beginning their audting. On Flag this edict was ignored. Ron seemed to have adopted the nutritionist, Adele Davis, as his health Guru. As late as 1999 in Clearwater, if you had any physical problem at all, the Medical Liason Officer would insist that you read the Adelle Davis books from the early 1970's. Those books had been surpassed by many times over by newer nutritional researches in the decades since LRH policy had recommended Adelle Davis but since Hubbard never changed his recommendations, Davis's books were still the health "Bible" at Flag.
This complete lack of acknowledgement that medical tech had any validity at all was a tremendous red flag. The thing was that most of us were young when we were in and medical ailments were not fully real to us. Now that many people on ESMB are in their 50's, 60's and 70's, many of us have had medical conditions requiring medical treatment. Medical tech has advanced commensurately in the intervening years and there are some very fine people doing very professional work in the medical community. Look at Blue Spirit's recent post. He is into raw foods and natural remedies and he just had a hernia operation and had rave reviews for his surgeon and his anasthesiologist.
Meantime, El Ron was having the time of his life playing with his cameras and other toys, Hisself and Family dining on the finest of foods flown in from the US, or purchased from the food stocks of resort hotels on some of the islands.
This time period saw the genus of what Face felt, at the time, as a very dangerous “Bright Idea” of El Ron’s that has, ultimately, destroyed anything and all things that were “good” or tolerable about the SO and the CofS. El Ron took his little Frankenstein Monster, the Commodore’s Messengers, and gave it a “brain” and let it procreate. The CMO began to grow, become its own autonomous Org and consolidate its power base. Every opportunity the CMO had to usurp or grow in power was rapidly, aggressively and increasingly viciously taken. In the old days on the Apollo, especially if you were currently one of El Ron’s “Pets”, you could often work with, and around, these little “Children of the Corn”. However, in this new era, the Commodore’s Monster Org was slowly, incessantly taking on the personality and “aura” of its’ Creator/Master. A group “mind” developed that was instilled into the slowly but steadily increasing numbers.
With the CMO as point, El Ron, The Genius Director emerged and the genus of “Cine”, “Gold” and all that other crap—the “Photo Shoot Org”— was born. The RPF, DPF and folks in lower conditions needing a place to do amends projects were cobbled together, under authority of the CMO, to build cheesy sets, make even cheesier costumes and apply even more cheesy makeup to randomly “drafted” crew for “scenes” that El Ron, The Photographer, would shoot rolls and rolls and rolls of film of. It was hot, humid, miserable, frenetic and chaotic duty.
When the “Power of Source” album bombed and none of the fools in the record industry in Hollywood were willing to take a flyer on it, Never Wrong El Ron announced that his plan all along for that p-o-s was as a “test” to see if Pub US could market a new product. The new products, Hisself now announced, were going to be books, like the Volunteer Ministers Handbook, What is Scientology, etc. and the “sets” were being done so that El Ron, The World’s Best Photographer could shoot the photos that would be in the books. When it became obvious that the sets, costumes, makeup and models, and the photos themselves were crap, Never Wrong El Ron announced that the photos were for Hisself’s untrained, but with some budding, raw artistic talent son, Arthur to use to produce illustrations for the books.
While all this was going, El Ron, The Brilliant added another bright idea that would also forever change the CofS and would, in part, along with the advent of the CMO ultimately lead to the Mission Holders Kristallnacht.
Flag was going to go into the Public Service and Mission/Outer Org Staff Training Business...Bigtime!
I’ll pick it up from there in a day or so with Part 2.
Face
The fascination with the Sea Org of getting recruits very early, around age 12 before they are educated and indoctrinated into society is really scary. It seems like Hubbard pioneered this with his expansion of the CMO. The stated Sea Org concept is that these young people have not picked up all the False Data which societal education indoctrinates them with, so they are more capable of following orders. Since they are not really teen agers but beings billions or trillions of years old, they are just as wise as an adult.
THE ASSUMPTIONS THEY ARE OPERATING ON ARE COMPLETELY ABSURD! A teen age human being is not mature, they usually have no wisdom at all and are very immature. There are some exceptions. This period in human life is an adjustment period where children's bodies become adult and the child transitions into an adult. Proper parental supervison and supervision from teachers, role models and mentors is needed at this time of life more than any other. If proper supervison is not forthcomming, the child's life is often a train wreck.
Despite all this, Hubbard and his Sea Organization seeks out teen agers and gives them power which they have not earned. The results are predictable and they are not good.
As early as 1972, I saw a stellar Scientology exec, Yvonne Jentzsch, the Founder of Celebrity Centre in L.A. being bossed around by idiotic robotic young missionaires, either teen agers or very early 20's. Actually they were either missionaires or the new Deputy Guardian, Flag Rep, or LRH Comm who had just arrived in the Org to be permanently posted as her senior. This nonsense was originated by LRH and was part of his grand design.
The CMO didn't exist yet. Often in Scientology management, a bad trend is started which introduced injustices and people hoped that steps would be taken to correct it. Instead an even greater menace was created to reinforce it.
An Examples is the RPF morphing out of the EPF (whhich was legit and useful) and then the RPF's RPF morphing out of that. Another is that of all the various alphabet soup groups originating on Flag, the FBO, GO, Flag Rep Network, LRH Comm Network, ESTO Network, etc. to come into the Orgs and boss around the successful local executives. One hoped for some relief from this but instead OSA took over from the GO and then the crowining glory of this method of management, the CMO was born and expanded and engulfed everything in its path including Hubbard himself.
Lakey
afaceinthecrowd
Gold Meritorious Patron
Au contraire mon ami. You are at the right place and right time for each of us, exercising good communication with heart and soul. What more could anyone expect? What more could be expected of each other?
About 8 years ago I had determined that I had enough of internet postings. I had stated all I wished to state regarding clearing, scientology, Hubbard, the church, good auditing, bad auditing, good management, bad management, insane orders... You name it. Have even discussed other techs, extraordinary releases, and so on. Thought I had said it all. Then someone like yourself comes along to liven the exchange and, damn it, I am still here. So thank you very much, I think.
One of my lingering interests is that of inspecting what gets run in during processing along with what gets run out. Hubbard put attention on running stuff out. So what gets run in? So far I have not been happy with what I have found because it ain't pretty.
From the ted.com web site: "Michael Shermer says the human tendency to believe strange things -- from alien abductions to dowsing rods -- boils down to two of the brain's most basic, hard-wired survival skills. He explains what they are, and how they get us into trouble."
Believing strange things?! Hello dianetics and scientology! Take me to your train station on Venus!
Among other things, this talk answers for me the fallacy of "earlier similar" and other scientological brain rewiring. The vision of all the know-besters and self anointed authorities doing what Hubbard would do according to their own limited perceptions still disgusts me.
At this point I will add my disclaimer: I have had and produced great gain with dianetic and scientology auditing. Yet, I feel it is severely bugged. Being bugged is like having an open back door that any hijacker can use at will.
I hope you all enjoy the talk and get something out of it.
<http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_the_pattern_behind_self_deception.html>
Thanks, Bro'...thanks a bunch.:wink2:
The “run in” thing made my internal “tuning fork” resonate…gotta few comments.
Thanks for the Shermer link…gotta a few comments.
I’m in “defrag” mode so will have to get back at “it” Sunday or Monday.
Face
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Ted
Gold Meritorious Patron
Thanks, Bro'...thanks a bunch.:wink2:
The “run in” thing made may internal “tuning fork” resonate…gotta few comments.
Thanks for the Shermer link…gotta a few comments.
I’m in “defrag” mode so will have to get back at “it” Sunday or Monday.
Face
Defrag away!
Looking forward to your continued communication whenever you are ready. :wink2:
SweetnessandLight
Crusader
Me, too!
Much Love and Happy Father's day to all the Dads and Dad figures out there!
Much Love and Happy Father's day to all the Dads and Dad figures out there!
CarmeloOrchards
Crusader
CarmeloOrchards
Crusader
From the NY Times June 18, 2010
June 18, 2010
Want the Job? Tell Him the Meaning of Life
This interview of Michael Mathieu, C.E.O. of YuMe, an online video advertising firm in Redwood City, Calif., was conducted, edited and condensed by Adam Bryant.
Q. Do you remember the first time you were somebody’s boss?
A. Yes, my first management job was at AT&T, and I went from being an individual contributor to managing a small team.
Q. How old were you at the time?
A. Late 20s. I’ve always been pretty confident in my ability to do a job, so I kind of had this fearlessness. If I’d known what management was all about, I probably would have had a lot of fear, but going into it, as a young kid, I figured, “I can do this.” There was some apprehension because I’d never really managed a team before. So I had to learn very fast.
I think part of the reason I got the job was really my personality, which is about, how do I make everyone around me better? What can I do to help make people more successful? And I always thought that if I do that, it will ultimately make me more successful. So the transition was relatively easy because of that perspective.
I never had this management style where I would order people around. It’s really about, what’s our goal, and how do we, as a team, collectively make it happen? So my first management job was really treating myself not as a manager. I may happen to be on the organizational chart above you, but think of me as a colleague and how we can help each other be successful.
Q. How did you learn that lesson at a young age?
A. My parents were immigrants from Haiti, and both of them are doctors, against all odds. They’ve persevered, and the lesson they taught me was not necessarily humility, but that the key to success is to wake up every day and do the best you can do.
Their focus was never about competition, although I am competitive because I was an athlete as a kid. But my parents always taught me to be introspective and go after success with my own measurement, not other people’s measurements.
Luckily for me, my expectations were higher than what other people expected of me. I learned that collaboration and getting the most out of other people seemed to be where most people got their success.
I did karate when I was a kid. In karate, 90 percent of success is internal, preparing for that moment to win, and you do that by struggling internally about who you are, what you do, and how can you maximize your skill set for that moment when you do need to compete against other people. My sensei in karate never talked about himself. He never talked about what he could do. He always talked about the group, how we could help each other.
Because of the six kids in my family, I had to learn how to compromise and maximize. I think it’s a combination of having a large family and getting some early leadership lessons from something as simple as karate class.
Q. What about leadership lessons from particularly good or bad bosses?
A. You’re a collection of all your experiences, good, bad, indifferent, and great leaders you’ve worked with. Actually, you learn a lot from the worst managers you’ve had. You learn probably more than from the great managers.
Q. Did you?
A. Absolutely. I think my worst bosses were hyper-controlling. I’ve learned that leaders actually do the opposite, which is to give their best people complete freedom to do the job. The worst managers come in and believe, “O.K., I’m going to control this.” They’re very structured. And what I’ve learned is that actually stifles high performers.
People who are really good at what they do want freedom. They want to be able to be innovative. So I try to hire the best people and give them the freedom and flexibility to do the job they were hired to do. But they have to sign up for things to get that freedom.
Q. What are those things?
A. One is, make people feel like they’re part of the team. To do that, you’ve got to make people feel like they can come in and talk about anything with absolutely no fear of, “O.K., this could be stupid.” They need to feel like their voice is heard, and feel completely fearless to have those conversations with me.
Two, they have to be clear on what our goals and vision are. This is the mountain we’re trying to go after, and let’s be clear on what we have to do. And if you do sign up for that, you’re going to be accountable. If you give good people clear goals, you can let them be accountable and go after it in their own way. And then reward and recognize.
Q. Give me an example of how you reward and recognize.
A. I bring all of the U.S. employees together every two months. I want to tell them how we’re doing, what’s on my mind, and recognize people who’ve exhibited the leadership characteristics that we foster at YuMe. We give out an award, and that particular employee has it until the next vote. Then they hand it to the person who wins it next.
Q. How do people win the award?
A. People vote for the person who best epitomizes my mantra, which is: Be passionate about what you do and interested in making the people around you better. These people show humility. They’re selfless. They will work for other people’s success. The people who win are the ones who are the most team-oriented. They’re not the ones who have the best skills. But they’re passionate about what they do. They’re a positive influence. They’re not in the lunchroom gossiping about somebody.
That’s one of my tenets. If you have issues with a colleague, go to your colleague and say, “Joe, this is what I’m thinking.” Have a candid conversation.
Q. How do you hire?
A. By the time people come to me I know they can do the job, whether they’re engineers or salespeople. So when I interview people, I look for their leadership characteristics and their ability to thrive in ambiguity. So I try to ask questions about how they handle adversity. I want to get people’s thought processes on how they deal with something that’s not black or white, but gray.
I ask questions about their leadership, like, are they selfless mentors? Do they try to make people around them better? Are they proactive? Do they take initiative, so they don’t wait to be asked to do something? I try to get examples of that.
I try to really form a picture of this person outside the job. On a scale of 1 to 10, are they naturally curious people? Do they read? Do they want to learn? Do they have this thirst for knowledge that leaders have? Do they have the ability to find clarity among chaos, to have this calmness to be able to get stuff done? Does this person have a history of just being proactive in their life and not being told what to do?
I try to find people who are a 10 in tactical ability. And if they’re naturally curious people and they handle adversity with grace and they understand what they bring to the table, I’ll hire them tomorrow.
Q. What are your best questions to get at those qualities?
A. What I try to do now is find examples of how they’ve worked. One thing is, depending on the job they’re in, I ask about a situation where something didn’t go your way. How did you handle it? Explain that to me. And I love asking people what the meaning of life is. It’s a fun question because no one’s expecting it.
Q. What kind of answers have you heard through the years?
A. Some people automatically say happiness. For a lot of people it’s family, the people in their life, the quality of their relationships. I also say, "On your death bed, what do you want to be remembered for?" I love asking those questions because the folks who are completely prepared are not prepared for those questions.
Q. Have you heard some odd answers?
A. I have. My favorite is, "Are you talking about my business life or my personal life?"
Q. What does that tell you?
A. It tells me somebody is really disconnected from being passionate about what they do. They’re going to come in and say, “How can I position myself to be really successful?” versus just be who they are. Those are the people that will always be angling for something. The minute they say that, I’m like, “O.K., next.” We don’t need anglers in the company who are just trying to position themselves and managing up. We try to stay away from those kinds of folks.
Q. What other questions do you ask?
A. I try to ask: “When things don’t work your way, how do you deal with it? What’s life about? What’s the most important thing that’s happened to you over the last three years, something that’s really changed your life?” I try to ask questions that give me a sense of the person’s character and how they process information.
Q. So, what’s the meaning of life for you?
A. Two things: happiness and the quality of the relationships you’ve had in life. The impact you can have on people is why you’re here. Hopefully, you do that with enough people, and you have fun doing it.
From a business perspective, you try to generate a ton of revenue, keep the investors happy, and above all make customers happy. I try not to spend too much time talking about this stuff, because they think Michael’s going to be coming in here in his Buddhist outfit soon. But it’s about, am I present and here?
When you have a conversation with somebody, you’re not going to get the nuances of the conversation if you’re doing too many things. I try telling people, if somebody picks up the phone, stop your e-mail, stop what you’re doing, listen and have that conversation with the person and then move on. With most people in business, they’re on the phone and they’re on e-mail, and you know when they’re on e-mail.
Q. You can hear it in their voice.
A. Yes. So, I try to wake up in the morning, be connected, and have conversations with people. Don’t be distracted, and the little nuances of life will show up, and you will hear things. I’m not immune. I have to do a lot of things, and I try to slow down sometimes. I try to be present so I can enjoy the richness and quality of interactions with people. Most people can’t multitask without losing something in each of those tasks.
June 18, 2010
Want the Job? Tell Him the Meaning of Life
This interview of Michael Mathieu, C.E.O. of YuMe, an online video advertising firm in Redwood City, Calif., was conducted, edited and condensed by Adam Bryant.
Q. Do you remember the first time you were somebody’s boss?
A. Yes, my first management job was at AT&T, and I went from being an individual contributor to managing a small team.
Q. How old were you at the time?
A. Late 20s. I’ve always been pretty confident in my ability to do a job, so I kind of had this fearlessness. If I’d known what management was all about, I probably would have had a lot of fear, but going into it, as a young kid, I figured, “I can do this.” There was some apprehension because I’d never really managed a team before. So I had to learn very fast.
I think part of the reason I got the job was really my personality, which is about, how do I make everyone around me better? What can I do to help make people more successful? And I always thought that if I do that, it will ultimately make me more successful. So the transition was relatively easy because of that perspective.
I never had this management style where I would order people around. It’s really about, what’s our goal, and how do we, as a team, collectively make it happen? So my first management job was really treating myself not as a manager. I may happen to be on the organizational chart above you, but think of me as a colleague and how we can help each other be successful.
Q. How did you learn that lesson at a young age?
A. My parents were immigrants from Haiti, and both of them are doctors, against all odds. They’ve persevered, and the lesson they taught me was not necessarily humility, but that the key to success is to wake up every day and do the best you can do.
Their focus was never about competition, although I am competitive because I was an athlete as a kid. But my parents always taught me to be introspective and go after success with my own measurement, not other people’s measurements.
Luckily for me, my expectations were higher than what other people expected of me. I learned that collaboration and getting the most out of other people seemed to be where most people got their success.
I did karate when I was a kid. In karate, 90 percent of success is internal, preparing for that moment to win, and you do that by struggling internally about who you are, what you do, and how can you maximize your skill set for that moment when you do need to compete against other people. My sensei in karate never talked about himself. He never talked about what he could do. He always talked about the group, how we could help each other.
Because of the six kids in my family, I had to learn how to compromise and maximize. I think it’s a combination of having a large family and getting some early leadership lessons from something as simple as karate class.
Q. What about leadership lessons from particularly good or bad bosses?
A. You’re a collection of all your experiences, good, bad, indifferent, and great leaders you’ve worked with. Actually, you learn a lot from the worst managers you’ve had. You learn probably more than from the great managers.
Q. Did you?
A. Absolutely. I think my worst bosses were hyper-controlling. I’ve learned that leaders actually do the opposite, which is to give their best people complete freedom to do the job. The worst managers come in and believe, “O.K., I’m going to control this.” They’re very structured. And what I’ve learned is that actually stifles high performers.
People who are really good at what they do want freedom. They want to be able to be innovative. So I try to hire the best people and give them the freedom and flexibility to do the job they were hired to do. But they have to sign up for things to get that freedom.
Q. What are those things?
A. One is, make people feel like they’re part of the team. To do that, you’ve got to make people feel like they can come in and talk about anything with absolutely no fear of, “O.K., this could be stupid.” They need to feel like their voice is heard, and feel completely fearless to have those conversations with me.
Two, they have to be clear on what our goals and vision are. This is the mountain we’re trying to go after, and let’s be clear on what we have to do. And if you do sign up for that, you’re going to be accountable. If you give good people clear goals, you can let them be accountable and go after it in their own way. And then reward and recognize.
Q. Give me an example of how you reward and recognize.
A. I bring all of the U.S. employees together every two months. I want to tell them how we’re doing, what’s on my mind, and recognize people who’ve exhibited the leadership characteristics that we foster at YuMe. We give out an award, and that particular employee has it until the next vote. Then they hand it to the person who wins it next.
Q. How do people win the award?
A. People vote for the person who best epitomizes my mantra, which is: Be passionate about what you do and interested in making the people around you better. These people show humility. They’re selfless. They will work for other people’s success. The people who win are the ones who are the most team-oriented. They’re not the ones who have the best skills. But they’re passionate about what they do. They’re a positive influence. They’re not in the lunchroom gossiping about somebody.
That’s one of my tenets. If you have issues with a colleague, go to your colleague and say, “Joe, this is what I’m thinking.” Have a candid conversation.
Q. How do you hire?
A. By the time people come to me I know they can do the job, whether they’re engineers or salespeople. So when I interview people, I look for their leadership characteristics and their ability to thrive in ambiguity. So I try to ask questions about how they handle adversity. I want to get people’s thought processes on how they deal with something that’s not black or white, but gray.
I ask questions about their leadership, like, are they selfless mentors? Do they try to make people around them better? Are they proactive? Do they take initiative, so they don’t wait to be asked to do something? I try to get examples of that.
I try to really form a picture of this person outside the job. On a scale of 1 to 10, are they naturally curious people? Do they read? Do they want to learn? Do they have this thirst for knowledge that leaders have? Do they have the ability to find clarity among chaos, to have this calmness to be able to get stuff done? Does this person have a history of just being proactive in their life and not being told what to do?
I try to find people who are a 10 in tactical ability. And if they’re naturally curious people and they handle adversity with grace and they understand what they bring to the table, I’ll hire them tomorrow.
Q. What are your best questions to get at those qualities?
A. What I try to do now is find examples of how they’ve worked. One thing is, depending on the job they’re in, I ask about a situation where something didn’t go your way. How did you handle it? Explain that to me. And I love asking people what the meaning of life is. It’s a fun question because no one’s expecting it.
Q. What kind of answers have you heard through the years?
A. Some people automatically say happiness. For a lot of people it’s family, the people in their life, the quality of their relationships. I also say, "On your death bed, what do you want to be remembered for?" I love asking those questions because the folks who are completely prepared are not prepared for those questions.
Q. Have you heard some odd answers?
A. I have. My favorite is, "Are you talking about my business life or my personal life?"
Q. What does that tell you?
A. It tells me somebody is really disconnected from being passionate about what they do. They’re going to come in and say, “How can I position myself to be really successful?” versus just be who they are. Those are the people that will always be angling for something. The minute they say that, I’m like, “O.K., next.” We don’t need anglers in the company who are just trying to position themselves and managing up. We try to stay away from those kinds of folks.
Q. What other questions do you ask?
A. I try to ask: “When things don’t work your way, how do you deal with it? What’s life about? What’s the most important thing that’s happened to you over the last three years, something that’s really changed your life?” I try to ask questions that give me a sense of the person’s character and how they process information.
Q. So, what’s the meaning of life for you?
A. Two things: happiness and the quality of the relationships you’ve had in life. The impact you can have on people is why you’re here. Hopefully, you do that with enough people, and you have fun doing it.
From a business perspective, you try to generate a ton of revenue, keep the investors happy, and above all make customers happy. I try not to spend too much time talking about this stuff, because they think Michael’s going to be coming in here in his Buddhist outfit soon. But it’s about, am I present and here?
When you have a conversation with somebody, you’re not going to get the nuances of the conversation if you’re doing too many things. I try telling people, if somebody picks up the phone, stop your e-mail, stop what you’re doing, listen and have that conversation with the person and then move on. With most people in business, they’re on the phone and they’re on e-mail, and you know when they’re on e-mail.
Q. You can hear it in their voice.
A. Yes. So, I try to wake up in the morning, be connected, and have conversations with people. Don’t be distracted, and the little nuances of life will show up, and you will hear things. I’m not immune. I have to do a lot of things, and I try to slow down sometimes. I try to be present so I can enjoy the richness and quality of interactions with people. Most people can’t multitask without losing something in each of those tasks.
afaceinthecrowd
Gold Meritorious Patron
Very good points, well said.
By the time of the "Exodus" to land the Ships compliment, including FCCI's, was well over 300.
Face
afaceinthecrowd
Gold Meritorious Patron
Personally, I had some really big "wins" in Scn and Processing. I also had some really bad shit happen...really bad shit. I've had really big "wins' outside of Scn and Auditing...and had some bad shit happen, too. It is my opinion that Scn Processing is a crap-shoot. I think Carmelo’s post re: “God” and God-like…loving your PC, etc. has great truth and wisdom.
I think that Scn Processing can open up shit that it can’t handle…I think it also “handles” shit that wasn’t there to begin with. I think it can titillate you and lull you into a position or state wherein you are the unknowing and willing “Host” for “Parasites”. .
Shermer’s stuff is excellent. It raises important issues. I think all of us are “exterior”. I think “being in one’s head” is an illusory perception. I think all of us are our own “Philosophic” machine. Without the brain, there is “meaning” but no “context”. Without our “Essence”—or whatever you want to call “It”—there is nothing but context and no deciphering of meaning. Context is meaningless noise without “Us”. With “Us” it is still noise, but “meaning” inters in—and that can get very confusing depending upon what parts of the noise are focused on or given attention by “Us”, OR accentuated by the “feed” from the brain. There is no “Universal Best or Only Tech” for each of “Us”…there is no “Universal Path or Way” for any of "Us”. But, without “Us”, all of “Us” are without meaning and “lost” in "context".
Face
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SweetnessandLight
Crusader
Facey, this is very wise...you are going onto "Golden Quotes"! 
CarmeloOrchards
Crusader
June 6, 2010
Result of the "Worst Call Ever": Class
Bill Geist on How a Mistake, an Apology, and Forgiveness Became News
(CBS) Just about every baseball fan has thoughts about this past week's disappearing perfect game . . . and that definitely includes our Bill Geist:
When I was coaching my kids in Little League, I was always looking for role models … major leaguers who exemplified sportsmanship.
A few days ago, I think I found a couple,
Amidst the usual bombardment of catastrophic news, umpire Jim Joyce seemed to be contending with BP CEO Tony Hayward for "America's Worst Person of the Week," when he blew a call that ruined Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galerraga's perfect game
It was looking like just another depressing news story when something shocking occurred: The umpire admitted his mistake and … and apologized.
"It was the biggest call of my career and I kicked the s--- out of it. I just cost that kid a perfect game," he said.
He didn't make up excuses, didn't say the devil made him do it, didn't announce that he was going into umpire rehab.
How old-fashioned! Nobody takes responsibility and sincerely apologizes anymore (often on advice of their attorneys).
But what about the victim? The wronged pitcher? He forgave the umpire, saying "Nobody's perfect."
"You don't see an umpire after the game come out and say 'Hey, let me tell you I'm sorry.' He felt really bad," said Galarraga.
Such an act of grace, class and maturity is so rare in these contentious times no one quite knew what to do! General Motors presented Galarraga with a Corvette.
Before the teams' next game, Joyce and Galarraga met at home plate, the umpire wiping away tears, and many Detroit fans cheering them both … even the fans were showing sportsmanship!
One man admits his mistake, the victim forgives him. That shouldn't be news … but these days is.
Result of the "Worst Call Ever": Class
Bill Geist on How a Mistake, an Apology, and Forgiveness Became News
(CBS) Just about every baseball fan has thoughts about this past week's disappearing perfect game . . . and that definitely includes our Bill Geist:
When I was coaching my kids in Little League, I was always looking for role models … major leaguers who exemplified sportsmanship.
A few days ago, I think I found a couple,
Amidst the usual bombardment of catastrophic news, umpire Jim Joyce seemed to be contending with BP CEO Tony Hayward for "America's Worst Person of the Week," when he blew a call that ruined Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galerraga's perfect game
It was looking like just another depressing news story when something shocking occurred: The umpire admitted his mistake and … and apologized.
"It was the biggest call of my career and I kicked the s--- out of it. I just cost that kid a perfect game," he said.
He didn't make up excuses, didn't say the devil made him do it, didn't announce that he was going into umpire rehab.
How old-fashioned! Nobody takes responsibility and sincerely apologizes anymore (often on advice of their attorneys).
But what about the victim? The wronged pitcher? He forgave the umpire, saying "Nobody's perfect."
"You don't see an umpire after the game come out and say 'Hey, let me tell you I'm sorry.' He felt really bad," said Galarraga.
Such an act of grace, class and maturity is so rare in these contentious times no one quite knew what to do! General Motors presented Galarraga with a Corvette.
Before the teams' next game, Joyce and Galarraga met at home plate, the umpire wiping away tears, and many Detroit fans cheering them both … even the fans were showing sportsmanship!
One man admits his mistake, the victim forgives him. That shouldn't be news … but these days is.
lkwdblds
Crusader
One doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
One doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Joyce's actions were correct but they should be routine actions and probably would have been during the Revolutionary days in America or in the frontier days in America as well.
Admitting one's mistake, a big mistake at that - In the final analysis I believe we should rejoice in Joyce's feelings of contritition and his decency in publicly admitting his mistake and also in the series of cheers, applause, good feelings and good fellowship which his gracious act fostered. We have misgivings that his act is no longer expected by society and when such a thing occurs, it is so rare that it causes society to perk up and take notice. Yet, the good feelings and fellowship caused by Joyce are the more important phenomena because they illustrate that people still appreciate and respect honesty of character and still applaud it when it occurs. This tells us that our society is still alive and kicking and that there is still decency to be found within it!
Lakey
One doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Joyce's actions were correct but they should be routine actions and probably would have been during the Revolutionary days in America or in the frontier days in America as well.
Admitting one's mistake, a big mistake at that - In the final analysis I believe we should rejoice in Joyce's feelings of contritition and his decency in publicly admitting his mistake and also in the series of cheers, applause, good feelings and good fellowship which his gracious act fostered. We have misgivings that his act is no longer expected by society and when such a thing occurs, it is so rare that it causes society to perk up and take notice. Yet, the good feelings and fellowship caused by Joyce are the more important phenomena because they illustrate that people still appreciate and respect honesty of character and still applaud it when it occurs. This tells us that our society is still alive and kicking and that there is still decency to be found within it!
Lakey
lkwdblds
Crusader
Re: Comments on auditing tech
I agree with what you say about Carmelo's approach in addressing with love the "God like" portion of the being. I don't have any idea of what the limitations, if any, are to this approach to auditing. I see it as an excellent way to communicate out of session as one moves through life. In session, I got a dose of it in my phone conversation with Carmelo. It was very powerful and drove me way up scale. The biggest win was complimenting him for doing it. After that, I was too blown out to continue.
If this method were to be applied to try and tackle various negative case phenomena such as predispositions to illness, engrams, overts, withhold, GPMs and all those types of things I don't know if the method would bite or not. It would be good to hear Carmelo's opinion. In any case, if this were to be a a valid form of auditing for the long haul, it would need to undergo more testing and development in my opinion.
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE EARLY 90'S C of S HAD SOMETHING SIMILAR TO CONFESSIONAL IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WHERE A PC WAS FORGIVEN FOR HIS SINS?
I remember a tech film about it and it used an Angelic looking woman in a Gown made up to look like an Angel and I think she had wings pasted on the back of the gown and after a preclear gave up his/her overts, the Angel would formally absolve the person of their sins. I had this run on me a couple of times where the auditor would tell me that through the power invested in him by the Church of Scientology, I was forgiven for my sins and transgressions. This always produced a good effect, a feeling of being cleansed and one would walk out of session feeling pure.
Face, in my auditing I never felt knowingly that I was wrapped around a pole, everything always went smoothly. The two worst things which happened were my End Phenomena on OT 3 and then paying megabucks for Flag Services in the summer of 1978 only to find out later in the year that most of what I ran was no longer considered valid or legal to run and that I would have to come back in for a clean up.
First situation - OT III. I ran it well for about 3 to 4 weeks and suddenly had a rock slam. I changed to another meter and it still rockslammed. I ended it off and wrote it up. The next two days, I tried to go back in session but the rock slam turned on immediately. I had a persistent rock slam on OT III. I went in and turned in my work sheets at AOLA and they had me wait around for perhaps an hour to an hour and a half. I was worried that something terrible had happened but finally they called me in and announced that I was graduating. They played the William Tell Overture and I went from being frightened to being ecstatic and gave a success story. From that point forward, I believed that a persistent Rock Slam was the EP of OT III. It was not until only a few months ago that Leon explained to me what really happened. If an OT level would not bite on a person, they had him attest and continue to the next highest OT level, hoping that whatever it was that prevented the earlier level from biting would be handled on the next OT level.
The Second thing was the summer 1978 auditing at Flag. I received a lot of R3R auditing in both my trips there in 1977 and 1978. They were looking into and clearing up all my 300+ hours of Expanded Dianetics as well as a couple hundred hours of regular dianetics. I was already OT III and running all this R3R auditing and even giving wins that R3R Dianetic type auditing ran much more smoothly after one was OT III. Suddenly in late 1978 it was announced that it was illegal for OT3's to run R3R. I had just paid approximately $12,000 to do just that, when you combine my 1977 and 1978 trips. I received no apology or credits of any kind for spending the equivalent of proably $50,000 in today's money for something and then being told a couple of months later that it is not illegal and should never have been run in the first place.
To call Flag the Mecca of Technical perfection was really a joke. How could technical perfection be possible when the subject was still in such a developmental state?
Face, your last paragraph is quite esoteric. You need to get your butt over to the Scientology forum where Gier Isene and Vinaire post and discuss such deep topics. That last paragraph of yours should be posted over there.
Lakey
Personally, I had some really big "wins" in Scn and Processing. I also had some really bad shit happen...really bad shit. I've had really big "wins' outside of Scn and Auditing...and had some bad shit happen, too. It is my opinion that Scn Processing is a crap-shoot. I think Carmelo’s post re: “God” and God-like…loving your PC, etc. has great truth and wisdom.
I think that Scn Processing can open up shit that it can’t handle…I think it also “handles” shit that wasn’t there to begin with. I think it can titillate you and lull you into a position or state wherein you are the unknowing and willing “Host” for “Parasites”. .
Shermer’s stuff is excellent. It raises important issues. I think all of us are “exterior”. I think “being in one’s head” is an illusory perception. I think all of us are our own “Philosophic” machine. Without the brain, there is “meaning” but no “context”. Without our “Essence”—or whatever you want to call “It”—there is nothing but context and no deciphering of meaning. Context is meaningless noise without “Us”. With “Us” it is still noise, but “meaning” inters in—and that can get very confusing depending upon what parts of the noise are focused on or given attention by “Us”, OR accentuated by the “feed” from the brain. There is no “Universal Best or Only Tech” for each of “Us”…there is no “Universal Path or Way” for any of "Us”. But, without “Us”, all of “Us” are without meaning and “lost” in "context".
Face
I agree with what you say about Carmelo's approach in addressing with love the "God like" portion of the being. I don't have any idea of what the limitations, if any, are to this approach to auditing. I see it as an excellent way to communicate out of session as one moves through life. In session, I got a dose of it in my phone conversation with Carmelo. It was very powerful and drove me way up scale. The biggest win was complimenting him for doing it. After that, I was too blown out to continue.
If this method were to be applied to try and tackle various negative case phenomena such as predispositions to illness, engrams, overts, withhold, GPMs and all those types of things I don't know if the method would bite or not. It would be good to hear Carmelo's opinion. In any case, if this were to be a a valid form of auditing for the long haul, it would need to undergo more testing and development in my opinion.
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE EARLY 90'S C of S HAD SOMETHING SIMILAR TO CONFESSIONAL IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WHERE A PC WAS FORGIVEN FOR HIS SINS?
I remember a tech film about it and it used an Angelic looking woman in a Gown made up to look like an Angel and I think she had wings pasted on the back of the gown and after a preclear gave up his/her overts, the Angel would formally absolve the person of their sins. I had this run on me a couple of times where the auditor would tell me that through the power invested in him by the Church of Scientology, I was forgiven for my sins and transgressions. This always produced a good effect, a feeling of being cleansed and one would walk out of session feeling pure.
Face, in my auditing I never felt knowingly that I was wrapped around a pole, everything always went smoothly. The two worst things which happened were my End Phenomena on OT 3 and then paying megabucks for Flag Services in the summer of 1978 only to find out later in the year that most of what I ran was no longer considered valid or legal to run and that I would have to come back in for a clean up.
First situation - OT III. I ran it well for about 3 to 4 weeks and suddenly had a rock slam. I changed to another meter and it still rockslammed. I ended it off and wrote it up. The next two days, I tried to go back in session but the rock slam turned on immediately. I had a persistent rock slam on OT III. I went in and turned in my work sheets at AOLA and they had me wait around for perhaps an hour to an hour and a half. I was worried that something terrible had happened but finally they called me in and announced that I was graduating. They played the William Tell Overture and I went from being frightened to being ecstatic and gave a success story. From that point forward, I believed that a persistent Rock Slam was the EP of OT III. It was not until only a few months ago that Leon explained to me what really happened. If an OT level would not bite on a person, they had him attest and continue to the next highest OT level, hoping that whatever it was that prevented the earlier level from biting would be handled on the next OT level.
The Second thing was the summer 1978 auditing at Flag. I received a lot of R3R auditing in both my trips there in 1977 and 1978. They were looking into and clearing up all my 300+ hours of Expanded Dianetics as well as a couple hundred hours of regular dianetics. I was already OT III and running all this R3R auditing and even giving wins that R3R Dianetic type auditing ran much more smoothly after one was OT III. Suddenly in late 1978 it was announced that it was illegal for OT3's to run R3R. I had just paid approximately $12,000 to do just that, when you combine my 1977 and 1978 trips. I received no apology or credits of any kind for spending the equivalent of proably $50,000 in today's money for something and then being told a couple of months later that it is not illegal and should never have been run in the first place.
To call Flag the Mecca of Technical perfection was really a joke. How could technical perfection be possible when the subject was still in such a developmental state?
Face, your last paragraph is quite esoteric. You need to get your butt over to the Scientology forum where Gier Isene and Vinaire post and discuss such deep topics. That last paragraph of yours should be posted over there.
Lakey
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afaceinthecrowd
Gold Meritorious Patron
Lakey,
The Confessional “forgiveness” patter was in place in the early ‘70’s…it was powerful and civilized tool but, sadly, not true. Nothing in a Confessional…or any session data…was ever forgiven or forgotten by El Ron or the “Powers That Be” then or now.
I had the “Clear Cog” and more, BIGTIME, in my first session, as the first PC in a Student Auditor’s first session, in the latter ‘60’s on single flow Grade 0…it’s still with me today. That session, alone, is why I joined Staff and later the SO, and threw my heart and soul into the forwarding of SCN and continued to do so for 20 years of my life.
I’m not gonna drivel on and on about my supposed “case” but I will say this: I’ve been R3R’d, Sec Checked, L&N’d and Repaired for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours and the only things…and they were HUGE…that I got that was of any lasting value occurred in 2 or 3 of all those hours.
That other shit is another story. Amazing—and please forgive the “evaluation”, I don’t mean anything personal—that you were sent to attest to “Freedom From Overwhelm” when you were, apparently, in fact “overwhelmed” by the R/S reads on the meter dial (which is a bunch of BS anyway). R/S is a “pretty” little “pat and pet theory” but even El Ron abandoned it for Pre-OT’s when it served his personal purposes and gave Hisself’s the “answers” that worked for Hisself. The reason that there was no “Technical Perfection” at Flag is, IMO, that a significant amount of the “Tech” itself is badly flawed. To paraphrase El Ron El Rey, the only “errors” Flag made was because you (and the rest of us audited there) were “Broken Straws”.
Sorry for the esoteric last paragraph…I’d prefer to write erotic paragraphs but I’ve got brain damage. I read Isene’s and Vin’s stuff over there from time to time, but I don’t want to get involved there as Yall are more fun over here and I don’t have the time to do both…and, besides, I’m not all that smart, anyway.
Oh, and thanks for talking ‘bout my butt, you brut.
Face
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