New Scientology Blog: Pepper Willis desribes her Scientology experience

"All I can say is WOW! If you’ve ever wondered about that unexplored territory “half an inch back of our foreheads” these books have the answers. I’ve taken some psychology courses in high school and college that were required, and I was able to spit the answers that the prof’s wanted out on tests, but I never really understood what was up with the mind. I mean, really, what makes one person in a train wreck come out a “Normal” person while another becomes a raving “Psychotic”? And what exactly are the definitions of normal and psychotic anyway? There were never any really satisfying answers in my textbooks or from my teachers. It seemed like no wonder to me why the mentally ill didn’t get better when dealing with psychiatry as a whole when even the most basic terms were only vaguely defined, if they were defined at all. Another thing my profs were famous for was the sort of condescending “pat on the head” attitude whenever I had a question starting with “why” or “how”. Then would come the inevitable “it’s over your head, you’ll never understand, but of course I understand so you should just do as I say” speech. In the end, I had concluded that they must not have known any more about the subject than I did, and gave up.

Then, about 6 years later or so, my husband and I got into Scientology. I read some of the books, out of order, and in the pre-Golden-Age-of-Knowledge formats, and I was still kind of confused, but I felt like I knew more. I did some of the courses in the Volunteer Minister’s lineup, and that data really helped. It was workable. My husband was on staff at the Church of Scientology Twin Cities Day organization for about 2 and 1/2 years, and that was really nice. We moved back to his hometown after our daughter was born, and didn’t really do any more with it for about 2 years.

Then, last summer, The Basics were released.

We couldn’t swing getting the whole linup at once right then, so we got Dianetics:The Modern Science of Mental Health, the Dianetics Lectures and Demonstrations cd’s and the DMSMH extension course. I started the course right away when I got home, and IT WASN’T THE SAME BOOK! I’m sure it wasn’t. I had read Dianetics when we started out in Scientology, and there was stuff in this book that I had never encountered before! The publishers went back to the author, L.Ron Hubbard’s original notes and manuscripts and put the book back together exactly the way Mr. Hubbard wanted it. Whole chapters that were missing are now included, and they make a world of difference. Just reading the Synopsis was a revalation. I had mind blowing, life altering cognitions during every chapter, and I came away with the knowledge and confidence that I can give anyone whom I can communicate with a Dianetics auditing session and make a positive change in that person’s life. I was never that certain before.

And as for defining terms–well, Ron was a master. Every time a new term was introduced it was defined very exactly. And in addition to that, the publishers have added a glossery of words, terms and phrases at the back of the book that is so complete, I never even had to crack a dictionery to find out what things like ergs and ohms were. And get this, Normal, Neurotic, and Psychotic are all clearly defined for the first time ever! I understand them now, and I know what to do about them, too.

We got the rest of our Basics by November of ‘07, and now I’m on the Technique 88 lectures, which are about halfway through the lineup. I definately recommend getting the full set, and start studying right away. If you can’t get to an Org for the full Books and Lectures course, there’s an extension course available for almost all of the books. That’s what I’m doing, since our Org is a 5 hour drive away, and boy! do you learn a lot! In Dianetics, I learned what a Reactive Mind is, and what to do about it. In Science of Survival, I learned what the Tone Scale is, and how to use it to predict human behavior and how to best audit someone. In Self Analysis, I have a truly valuable tool for moving from sadness, anger, antagonism and boredom up to cheerfulness. Advanced Procedure and Axioms helps you understand and use new techniques in auditing, as well as the fundamental laws of life. And the Handbook for Preclears takes you on a journey through your own mind. And to top it all off, the lectures that accompany the books are just like having LRH sitting right there in your living room giving you a personal tutoring session in how to use his Technology of the Mind.

I can’t wait to see what the next half has in store for me.

Love,

Pepper