Hello Darkness, My Old Friend…

He knew.

One of the core beliefs of Scientology is that Man is immortal and fated to return over and over. By extension, they also believe that their Founder and Source, L. Ron Hubbard would one day return, pick the reins back up and continue to lead them ad infinitum.

For Scientologists, all the words and works of Hubbard constitute their sacred scripture. These scriptures are to be followed exactly and without interpretation or change.

There are a lot of words to follow.

“The Scientology Scriptures are the sole source of all the doctrines, tenets, sacraments, rituals and policies of the Scientology Faith. They encompass more than 500,000 pages of writings, nearly 3000 taped lectures and over 100 films.”

—Church of Scientology IRS Attachment Statement Form 1023, P. 3

Hubbard’s words are filled with contradictions, misinformation and unproven or even disproven psycho babble.

In Dianetics he clearly states that this new “Science of the Mind” is not a religion, yet the book is called Book One and is the foundation for the so called Scientology Religion.

Dianetics spends a great deal of time convincing the reader that with the proper application of the “tech” found between it’s covers, “The hidden source of all psychosomatic ills and human aberration has been discovered and skills have been developed for their invariable cure.”

Later, in his Professional Auditors Bulletin, number 62, dated September 30th, 1955 on page 3 Hubbard writes “DON’T ever promise people you will cure them. If people want to know if Scientology will help their arthritis, tell them it often has been known to do so but that isn’t an auditor’s goal. If a person becomes more able, he’ll usually feel well. But DON’T advertise that you cure things.” (Emphasis is Hubbard’s)

The biggest contradiction however, is hiding in plain sight.

Found on the opening pages of every bulletin, there is a small bit of verse written by The Man Himself that seems to convey ideas diametrically opposed to those two firmly held beliefs.

“I will not always be here on guard.

The stars twinkle in the Milky Way

And the wind sighs for songs

Across the empty fields of a planet

A Galaxy away.

You won’t always be here. But before you go,

Whisper this to your sons And their sons —

“The work was free. Keep it so.”

—L. RON HUBBARD

“I will not always be here on guard”.

In 1975 Hubbard had a stroke that saw him in the intensive care unit for two days. His health had always bothered him and it was obvious that the very tech he created and claimed could cure anything was certainly not working for him. The Creator and writer of the texts of Scientology could not make any of it work for him. He lied about his war injuries and healing himself so he knew full well it was all bogus.

Hubbard knew he was as mortal as anyone else. One day he was going to die and that was it.

The second stanza effectively nullifies the idea of one returning over and over. Why bother leaving any legacy to your children or grandchildren if you will return to continue the work?

When someone in Scientology is sent to do a job, they are expected to be proficient at it because at some point in a past life they’ve done this work before. All the member need do is remember and the skill set will return. If one is supposed to have this level of recall, why say “you won’t always be here”?

Either one is returning to pick up where one left off or not.

This little poem, at the beginning of so many of Hubbard’s writings is easy to overlook. After all, the Scientologists have seen it many times before so it fades into the shadows due to familiarity.

If all of the writings of LRH are to be taken literally with no room for interpretation then even this bit of verse is important.

It shows Hubbard’s idea of life after death.

A vast, empty, lonely place.

Space is a vacuum, devoid of life as we know it.

“And the wind sighs for songs

Across the empty fields of a planet”

Empty.

Sad.

Desolate.

The stars casting their small light into the dark, cold silence. Some of these stars have already died, their light fading with time until finally the dark reclaims the space.

“I will not always be here on guard”

He knew.