Around 1984/85, for a while, as part of my re-investigation of Scientology - from outside the "Church" - I audited a number of people, mainly on Dianetics and Lower Grades actions, with occasional detours to some interesting 1950s procedures, such as running "help" on identities, etc., and also running NOTs type procedure when that "phenomena" came up in session, as a "problem," and the person was interested and able to explore that area.
Even though I was still fairly naive regarding Scientology's "dark side," I knew something was "wrong" with Scientology, and wanted to have another look. I still retained my old (Dianetics/Class 4, now "Class 5") auditing know-how, after a lapse of being away from the "Church" for several years, and did the C/Sing for those I audited - for the most part staying with the conventional program of Objectives, ARC S/W, Dianetics, Lower Grades, etc.
I was in touch with a break away "Mission" which delivered all Scientology auditing services, and which consisted largely of people doing their "upper levels" and NOTS. I did consult them, particularly the "old timers," from time to time, but only used their C/S on one occasion, when a particular "PC," who I had run on a 1958-era help/identity procedure had such a dramatic positive result, that I felt some sort of major acknowledgement, and "check" (outside of my own) seemed appropriate. The C/S was accustomed to "Dianetic Clears," which, in comparison, IMO, were a rather limp-wristed version of "Clear," in contrast to what I had stumbled upon while exploring the procedures that led to "GPM" running of the early 1960s. Unlike those running "GPMs," who, from my observation, tended to fall into near endless lint-picking complexities, I ended off, after the initial "big win" and that was that. All these years later, the person is still doing well, having - at my advice - avoided the Hubbardian labyrinth.
My impression of the "upper level" people at this Mission was pretty much the same as my years-earlier impression of other "upper level" Scientologists: At best they were getting "states of mind," and fragile states of mind at that, being just as vulnerable to upsets in life as most any "ordinary" person. Additionally, they were subject to specialized upsets that only Scientologists can have, such as feeling panicked when their needle wasn't floating at the examiner, or their TA was high at the start of a solo session.
It became apparent to me that many of these folks were engaged in a lengthy program that insisted that they "fix something that isn't broken" in the first place. It was an unnecessary action.
Those that seemed to being doing well had been doing well priorly, and their time on NOTs was brief. Usually someone would be happy to be done with the NOTs program, or with any "OT level" program, and that delight in being done with it (meaning no longer having to endure doing the particular level, which usually addressed a problem they didn't have in the fist place) was taken as a "win," when, in fact, more realistically, it was a sense of relief at no longer having to daily re-visit L. Ron Hubbard's bleak inner-world - or the bleak inner world he had insisted other's had as a "problem" to be corrected per his instructions.
As far as NOTs goes, I would break down the action in two parts: One was the know-how (or familiarity) of addressing a (seeming) "BT" with two way communication. This involved being an auditor to the "BT," although, in BT-addressing upper levels, this often consists of little more than reading-off Hubbardian significance (Inc. 1, Inc. 2) and tossing it at a "BT" or "cluster" and having it/them "blow." Or on NOTs, doing the "What are you, who are you," ritual, with accompanying repair lists, etc.
It seemed very sophisticated and serious, but old fashioned "Hello and OK," simple communication (mental 'touch assist'), and "two way comm," "run on an entity," or "pressure point," or whatever, would have done much the same, but more cleanly, IMO.
The other part, aside from the simple skill or familiarity of being an "auditor" for (apparent) entities, energies, bodiless intentions, etc., was the long program of NOTs itself, in which, IMO, for the most part, people spend years addressing a problem which wasn't a problem in the first place.
Personally, I think some of the wisest people I've known have been those who sampled some Scientology auditing (and sometimes some Scientology auditor training), sometimes just a Communications Course, other times, the Student Hat/basic auditor training, and other times making it through the Lower Grades to "Power Processing," and then got the heck out of Scientology, never to return. At one time such people puzzled me, and I thought they were missing out. Now I realize that they were very wise.
In any event, here are two perspectives from two experienced Ex-Scientologists:
The first is self-explanatory:
http://forum.exscn.net/showpost.php?p=77530&postcount=18
The second is an excerpt from the book, 'Messiah or Madman?', from a chapter titled 'Are you Haunted?', and omits a lengthy presentation of other writings, from Paracelsus, Gurdjieff, Mouni Sadhu, and even Omar Garrison and Thomas Edison. Still the brief except is of some interest. Incidentally, the chapter begins with a quote from an anonymous L.A. Newspaper ad, from the early 1980s, which states simply, "I got into Scientology because I was inhibited. Turns out I was inhabited!"
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/NOTs/origins/corydon-messiah.html
Tory rocks 
