Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Daytop Village
DAYTOP Did Me Great Harm in the Long Run
SEKTO:
Scientology to Synanon to DAYTOP. There is a common denominator, a common influence bewteen all of these groups, that I am in the process of unraveling. It all seems to have started with the publication of Dianetics, when you start to trace the history thing back. All roads lead back to Ron, the mad genius.
On the topic of Hubbard/Dederich, Scientology/Synanon connection, here are quotes substantianting a possible link between. Pay particular attention to the use of the word "game." Think of the Synanon "game." I think that Dederich most probably learned a thing or two from Hubbard. From A Piece of Blue Sky:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shel ... /bs9-2.htm
Thetans are all-knowing beings, and became bored because there were no surprises. Hubbard asserted that the single most important desire in all beings is to have a "game." To have a "game" it was necessary to "not know" certain things, so certain perceptions were negated ("not-is-ed"). More and more perception and knowledge had to be abandoned as time passed, and some Thetans started the "game" of creating traps for other Thetans. Believing it possible to harm others, Thetans learned contrition, and punished themselves for their own "harmful" acts. An ongoing part of this self-imposed punishment is dwindling perception.
One universe ended and another began, and there have been many universes, each more solid and entrapping than the last. An essential part of the game was the "conquest" of matter, energy, space and time by the life force, Theta. In each universe Thetans have become more enmeshed in matter, energy, space and time (MEST), to the point where many have identified themselves totally with it, and consider themselves nothing but MEST. Thetans are by now in a hypnoid state, having forgotten their quadrillions of years of existence and their original godly power, barely capable of even leaving their bodies at will.
Thetans nevertheless have the power of "postulate." Whatever they intend comes into being. Negative decisions and opinions, or "bad postulates," generate a negative destiny. For quadrillenia, Thetans have been "implanting" one another with hypnotic suggestions, and clustering other Thetans together (turning most into "body-Thetans' '). Scientology seeks to undo "other-determinism," and return the Thetan to "self-determinism," and eventually to "pan-determinism" where he acts for the good of all.
Most of these ideas can be found elsewhere. "Before the beginning was a Cause" is highly reminiscent of the central premise of the Tao Teh Ching. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches Arjuna that he is immortal and imperishable, that life is a game, and that in truth no harm can be done to others, as they too are immortal and imperishable. The comparable word for "Thetan" is "atman." The doctrine of reincarnation is common to several major religions. That we reap as we have sown, or karma-vipaka, even more so. The emphasis upon the development of Intention, or the ability to postulate, in Scientology comes straight from Crowley's "thelema" or Will, upon which most magical systems concentrate.
To sum up: Hubbard saw the individual's current state as a fall from grace, but the individual's own grace, not that of God. He saw the Thetan as an all-capable individual, who has gradually restricted his powers, over "quadrillions" of years, in part to have a "game," and in part for fear of hurting others. He called this degeneration the "dwindling spiral." In Scientology counselling, the Preclear is directed back to incidents in his past existences which have shaped his way of thinking (and consequently his current circumstances). A better future is to be obtained by release from quadrillenia of long forgotten conditioning and guilt. Sociologists use the term "neo-gnosticism" to describe such beliefs when they are allied to a supposed system of enlightenment (many of the original Christian gnostic sects spent their time learning the passwords which would give them entry to heaven after death).
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shel ... /bs9-1.htm
Having decided in 1952 that most science fiction is actually a recounting of real past-life experience, Hubbard's own preoccupations as a science fiction writer became the cosmology of his religion. He was an egomaniac who generated an egomaniacal philosophy, which had at its core the belief that whatever happens to others is their own fault. Whatever happened to L. Ron Hubbard was the fault of a great Conspiracy. He advocated personal responsibility to his followers, but almost uniformly failed to practice what he preached.
Lately I have been reading this biography of LRH called A Piece of Blue Sky, studying the life of LRH and the dissemination of his ideas. I find it to be quite remarkable.
In the recent past, I as well read So Fair a House, and find CED to be quite a remarkable individual. But LRH, he was the Donald Trump of cult leaders. Incredible.
I can certainly see certain parallels between LRH and CED philosophy, and how CED could have been influenced by Dianetics-inspired thinking, and even certain Scientology principles. Insofar as both are anti-psychiatry, and both claim to be an extension of Freudian psychotherapy. In both systems, (Dianetics and the Synanon method) the basic idea is that by re-experiencing unconfronted traumas it is supposedly possible to unravel and eventually resolve deep-seated neuroses. LRH in this respect appears to be a progenator of the "attack therpy" that Casriel and the rest later continued in a different context (ironically enough, as a form of psychotherapy!)
Both systems depart from Freudian thinking in that they both deny that sexual repressions are basic to psychological aberration. Both LRH and CED promised a new and improved mental state through the application of Dianetics/Synanon.
Both LRH and CED were apparently obsessed with the idea of abortion. I see many similarities. LRH was a tall-tale teller, plagarist, and pathological liar. So was CED.
Sure, there are many obvious differences too; CED didn't come up with some system paralleling LRH's Reactive/Analytical/Somatic division of the human mind, for staters.
Will keep studying it out. What are your thoughts, fornits denizens?
Inculcated:
Question for Sekto:
‘Been a while. ‘Still reading?
I hesitate to ask this. I’d hate to cause you a flash, but were you ever subjected to Marcy singing that song she wrote about that f*ing bag of love? She’d plunk away on her guitar and yodel it out in morning meetings …and well, just about any other opportunity she had to subject her captive audience to it.
I felt compelled by some commiserating urge to ask you. In the song she “sang” of herself “sitting upon this window sill …“. I used to imagine her leaning too far and falling through it. Then we’d have been spared the bruised fruit of her inspiration by her having fallen before ever jotting down her lyrics.
I hate that that song is still in my head. Granted, there are also commercial jingles in there from ages ago, but none so chilling as Marcy's creative process.
Ursus:
--- Quote from: "SEKTO" ---Both LRH and CED were apparently obsessed with the idea of abortion. I see many similarities. LRH was a tall-tale teller, plagarist, and pathological liar. So was CED.
--- End quote ---
They all are!! Add to that list: megalomania and narcissism! Lately, I've been reading about Paul Twitchell of Eckankar (who also delved into Scientology at one point). Good Lord, I never knew... Plagiarism, in particular, seems to be de riguer for these harbingers of new "truths," lololol. They all steal from each other.
--- Quote from: "SEKTO" ---Sure, there are many obvious differences too; CED didn't come up with some system paralleling LRH's Reactive/Analytical/Somatic division of the human mind, for staters.
--- End quote ---
Chuckie did not exactly have a "contemplative turn of mind," if ya get my drift! :D
SEKTO:
--- Quote from: "Inculcated" ---Question for Sekto:
‘Been a while. ‘Still reading?
I hesitate to ask this. I’d hate to cause you a flash, but were you ever subjected to Marcy singing that song she wrote about that f*ing bag of love? She’d plunk away on her guitar and yodel it out in morning meetings …and well, just about any other opportunity she had to subject her captive audience to it.
I felt compelled by some commiserating urge to ask you. In the song she “sang” of herself “sitting upon this window sill …“. I used to imagine her leaning too far and falling through it. Then we’d have been spared the bruised fruit of her inspiration by her having fallen before ever jotting down her lyrics.
I hate that that song is still in my head. Granted, there are also commercial jingles in there from ages ago, but none so chilling as Marcy's creative process.
--- End quote ---
Hey there friend. Yes, I still check in here to look for new posts.
Thinking about the old days in DAYTOP is not particularly triggering to me anymore, as I have processed the experience thorougly, and well realize what was going on and what happened to me (us) there. I do not at all mind your asking about my recollections.
Basically and simply put, it was just one long process of coercion there, and the residual psychological effects lasted well into my adult life. Once I opened up that door in my mind, a metaphorical door that had been nailed shut for all of those years, a whole lot of old baggage got unpacked and reorganized relatively quickly.
The only song I specifically remember Marcy singing in Morning Meeting was "Is This America?", which was this downbeat acoustic lesbo-folk number. I don't remember the tune, or any of the words. She had more songs in her repertoire, which I can very vaguely recall, but America? is the only one I know by name.
Yeah, I remember now how she sang while playing her guitar, sitting in a chair in front of that big window in the room in the back of the building, the one where we had Morning Meeting. You could look out of that window and see the pool behind her as she sang.
More later. I need to cook dinner. It's good to be back!
Inculcated:
--- Quote ---Basically and simply put, it was just one long process of coercion there, and the residual psychological effects lasted well into my adult life. Once I opened up that door in my mind, a metaphorical door that had been nailed shut for all of those years, a whole lot of old baggage got unpacked and reorganized relatively quickly.
Yeah, I remember now how she sang while playing her guitar, sitting in a chair in front of that big window in the room in the back of the building, the one where we had Morning Meeting. You could look out of that window and see the pool behind her as she sang.
--- End quote ---
Laughs. My baggage is currently being handled by a parade of porters, bellhops, and pall bearers. It gets rifled through sometimes and has all too often been checked for contraband (by those who helped pack the trunks). Essentially, this means I’m simply glad to occasionally organize a thought.
Same staff different buildings. I was there when the “family” had just carpet bagged their way to Texas. We typically had morning meeting on the racket ball courts (no windows) Marcy’s window was in her song. Still, reverie is a way out of anywhere and I think she might’ve benefited from a fall.
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