A Fresh Opinion

If you are here for the first time, click here to read why this blog was started.

When Will We Stop Drugging Our Children?

I'm not really one for "shock video" but sometimes we need a slap in the face when confronted with the depth of greed and corruption on this planet.

The Purpose of the Blog...Revisited

I started this blog just under two years ago. I figured I'd take a moment and reflect on its performance.

My very first post stated the blog's purpose: To give one Scientologist's observations of day-to-day events. To offer how Scientology may be able to help us understand these events AND help a person live a better life in their own estimation. To provide "a fresh opinion" as the title of the blog suggests.

After writing 55 posts, I hope I have made some inroads into accomplishing the blog's purpose.

Not every post was written with a view of disseminating Scientology. Sometimes I ran across items that were just so compelling, I wanted to share them:

An elephant painting

Using music to uplift an entire generation

The power of the human mind

A world-wide "hugging campaign"

Each of these posts, however, did have a common thread. They spoke of creativity and ability. If you interview a hundred Scientologists and ask them how has Scientology helped them—probably a good 90% of them would tell you their creativity and/or ability had been significantly improved. L. Ron Hubbard once said that the "accent is on ability."

Some posts discussed the field of mental health. Others the environment. A few on the media. There were several on marriage and parenting. War and terrorism were mentioned. Celebrities and fame. Sports and even human rights. A wide variety of subjects have been addressed here.

I also gave my personal views of what Dianetics and Scientology are. Not official views, but simply how I understand these two subjects.

Sometimes the world can be quite chaotic. We see people strapping bombs to their chest and walking into crowded restaurants and then exploding themselves and others. We see a media fixated on what the latest celebrity has done to devalue their life or top sports figures (role models to many) cheating or being harmful to people and animals. We see kids going onto school campuses killing fellow students.

On a more personal level, we are confronted with a high percentage of marriages failing and too many people experiencing too much physical and/or emotional pain.

Some of us try to make sense of these things. Some of us prefer to look the other way and just keep on pushing along.

After thirty-five years of helping thousands of people with Scientology, I've learned one thing with absolute certainty: if there's some area of your life that you'd like to improve, there's most likely a piece of Scientology that can help you do just that.

Thank you for reading this post. If you're a subscriber to this blog, thank you for wanting to stay connected here. I'll continue to offer ideas and ways to better understand our world.

60 Minutes Gets It Right

I'm not a big fan of "60 Minutes" as they too often hurt people under the guise of investigative journalism, but this time they got it right.

The following video demonstrates how music  can save lives. Very Well Done "60 Minutes" and continue to bring this kind of information to our TV sets!

The KEY Reason Relationships Fail

i just produced a video slide show that gives the KEY reason relationships fail and how to remedy this. Here is the video:

(Note: after pressing the "play" button, it might take a few extra seconds for the video to start playing)

Get the book

Politicizing the Environment

In an earlier post I discussed the ongoing contentious debate about the environment. I'd like to add to that post here.

First of all, I'd like to say:

"Calm down, people!"

When one side of the "debate" rants on about how there will be no life on this planet in the foreseeable future (or at least no human life) and the other side counters that anyone too concerned about the environment is a self-serving, overly sensitive fruitcake, well, I get to thinking that these two somewhat fixed points of view may not be capable of solving whatever problem does exist.

Would I like to see the world subsist on a continually renewable source of energy? Yes, who wouldn't?

Would I like to see any areas that have been polluted cleaned up so that we have full use of our natural resources? Yes, who wouldn't?

Would I like to know the legitimate environmental factors we need to understand and address without any political bent whatsoever? Yes.

I guess part of the problem is that one side of the discussion rolls out their experts (with many initials after their last name) and these experts tell us what's wrong. The other side then rolls out their experts (also with the initials) and they tell us what's wrong with what the other experts just said.

It kind of reminds me of being in a court room when someone is on trial for murder. The prosecution and the defense both present their "experts." One expert testifies that the person was insane when he committed the murder. (Duh! Who isn't somewhat insane when they murder another human being?)  The other "expert" comes on and of course tries to refute the first expert's testimony. A very interesting drama.

Experts. Hmm. Well, my concept of an "expert" includes the ability to listen, observe and make independent and reasoned judgements based on data and not opinion or politics or funding.

So, let me repeat what I said earlier in this post:

"Calm down, people!"

Let's get some rational data collected, understood and then applied. It is our environment. We are in command of it. Let's get in command of our own emotions on this subject and move forward without all of the political posturing.

Net Etiquette and What to Do When It's Not Present

Net etiquette, or as it also known: Netiquette.

When I move around the net, read other blogs, read comments left by people, I notice a fair amount of communication that can only be classified as rude and offensive. And after considering this for awhile, I concluded the following reasons for this behavior:

1. People who do this realize they can do so with anonymity and therefore are more likely to let their distempered comments fly. Some people recognize this character trait as cowardice.
2. It requires a bit of effort to step back and look at the other person's viewpoint. And after doing so, it requires another bit of effort to compose a response that shows respect for the other person. That's more effort than some people wish to expend. This character trait is known as laziness.
3. And I guess there are those who just seem to enjoy this kind of thing. They seem to enjoy bating other people. They seem to enjoy seeing this kind of communication broadcast to the world. Now I say "seem to" in each of those last three sentences, because I'm not inside of these folks, so I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.

When you see someone act offensively on the net, you could engage them and perhaps some rational dialogue will turn things more civil. But I think there's a certain "type" of person on the net (he also exists in the real world) who just doesn't turn civil.

What to do?

I realized a great strategy to use when this type of behavior presents itself:

IGNORE THEM.

Don't engage them. Don't respond to their comments. Don't get caught up in their tactics. Don't even recognize them. Simply ignore them and move on.

You see, this "type" of person actually derives a good deal of his power from the good works and the good intentions of others. When you don't lend them any of that power they are, well, quite weak. Therefore, the more you ignore them, the less power they have and the less current and future impact they have on our world. And I mean both the online and offline world.

If you employ the above, I'm fairly certain you'll feel better and if you recommend this strategy to others, you're moving in the direction of putting more sanity and reason in your environment.

So there you go. Feel free to share this with your friends, families and associates. And ask them to pass it on.

That's NOT an Elephant Painting...Is It?

I didn't believe this even while I was watching it:

What IS Scientology?

The Church of Scientology has provided a new web site that does a fabulous job of answering the question: What IS Scientology?

The web address is www.Scientology.org.

This new web site is a collection of short videos explaining not only what Scientology is, but also how Scientology has helped people in various areas of life:

• Greatly improving literacy for millions of people. This includes kids and adults!
• Helping hundreds of thousands of people recover from the horrible effects of drugs
• How a simple moral code has enabled millions to lead more ethical lives
• Rehabilitating criminals better than any other system has in history
• Volunteer efforts around the world
• Promoting human rights
• And of course how Scientology counseling and classes helps people live a better life in their own estimation

I particularly enjoyed the short videos where people from all walks of life explained how Scientology has helped them AND how Scientology has enabled them to effectively help others.

This is a superb collection of videos about the world's fastest growing religion.

Enjoy!

A Very Simple Moral Code

I borrowed some text from The Way to Happiness web site:

The Way to Happiness is the first moral code based wholly on common sense. First published in 1981, its purpose is to arrest the current moral decline in society and restore integrity and trust to Man.

Written by L. Ron Hubbard, the booklet fills the moral vacuum of an increasingly materialistic society. This code of conduct contains 21 basic principles that guide one to a better quality of life. Entirely nonreligious, it can be followed by anyone, of any race, color or creed and works to restore the bonds that unite humankind.

But the real power of the booklet is realized when it is distributed to others, hand-to-hand. Since actions of those around you can profoundly affect your life, you are improving your own survival when you present several copies of The Way to Happiness to friends, associates, employees and customers. In this way, you help others better survive and lead happier lives. They, in turn, pass copies of the book to those whose lives they influence, encouraging others to treat their fellows with kindness, compassion and respect.

A short video has been produced demonstrating each of these basic principles. Click here to view these.

Kids, Anti-Depressants, and Violence...Connecting the Dots

My good friend, Tom Solari, just posted a great article on his blog. He has given me permission to reprint it here in full:

Anti-Depressants, Kids and Death
by Tom Solari

In April of 2007, America was horrified by the shootings at Virginia Tech, where over 30 people were slaughtered by a lone gunman with a history of taking psychiatric medications.

More recently, on February 14, 2008, another lone gunman with a history of taking such medications, burst into a geology class at Northern Illinois University, killing 5 students and wounding many others before killing himself.

But these were just the latest in a long string of shootings in past years by individuals taking these drugs: Westside Middle School in 1998, 5 dead; Columbine High School in 1999, 15 dead; Red Lake, Minn. in 2005, 10 dead, to name a few.

MEDIA COVERAGE

It is interesting to note how the news media have treated these incidents through the years. Often it is several days before it comes to light that the killer has been taking some type of psychiatric drug—usually one or more anti-depressants.

With this last incident, however, at Northern Illinois, it was less than 24 hours before the word got out about the shooter’s psychiatric drug history.

The Human Mind

Stephen Wiltshire was given a short helicopter ride over the city of Rome. He was then given 5 and 1/2 yards of blank canvas and three days to reproduce what he saw. The intricacy and detail he portrayed is astonishing.

As this video reminds us all, the human mind is indeed quite powerful.

Politics and Scientology...

With so many things happening in the political world these days, I thought I'd answer some questions people have about Scientology and politics.

First and foremost, the Church of Scientology is apolitical. In my 30 plus years as a Scientologist, I have not read or heard of any political stance the Church has taken. It simply leaves this subject up to individual Scientologists.

So what about Scientologists? What are their political views?

You would have to ask each one. I have seen the complete spectrum of political views held by Scientologists. From very liberal to very conservative and everything in between.

My own personal political views are along these lines:

• I believe government is there to help put order into our environment (roads, bridges, etc.)

• I believe government is there to protect us (from attacks, terrorism, crime, etc.) and therefore should be strong enough to achieve this.
• I do not believe government is there to preach morality to us.
• So, generally speaking, I believe in less government, not more.
• I believe that if you reward production, you get more of it. If you reward non-production, you get more of that. I believe governments should follow this principle.
• I believe in replacing all forms of income tax with a National Sales Tax as laid out in the Fair Tax bill. This is explained very nicely in the best-selling Fair Tax Book.
• I believe America is the greatest nation in the world with no country a close second and this is why millions continue to flock to it.
• I believe in maintaining America's sovereignty.
• I believe in the separation of religion and state but not the removal of expressions of religion in the public sector.
• I believe in the inherent and enduring strengths of our Constitution.

I have other political views but this is a good idea and you've been good enough to read this far.

Children, Anti-Depressants and Violence

To follow up on my post a few days ago "Children and Ritalin", here is a very informative video that recently aired on the Fox News Channel:

For more information on this subject, go to the web site: Citizen's Commission for Human Rights.

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The New York Times Says...

We often see an article, book review, endorsement or something of the sort followed by the words: — New York Times

Or statements like these:

"The New York Times says this is a great book!"

"According to The New York Times, this movie is not worth your ten bucks!"

"The New York Times stated yesterday that the mayor wasn't following his conscience when he..."

I'm not picking on The New York Times. Insert any other media source you like: The Washington Post, USA Today, CNN, ESPN, etc., etc.

When we read a review of a book, movie or any other artistic creation, that review is almost always done by a SINGLE PERSON. Last time I checked, The New York Times is not a SINGLE PERSON. This one individual's opinion was presented in a newspaper entitled The New York Times. Now this individual could be on the staff at The New York Times or perhaps he was hired as a freelance for this particular review.

Who cares?

It is NOT The New York Times that wrote the review. It was most likely not even a total of two people who wrote the review. It was ONE PERSON.

The same goes for political opinions, social commentary, restaurant critiques and on and on and on and on. The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN are behemoth media groups, companies, conglomerates, whatever we decide to call them. When one person writes (or speaks) for them, they are not the will of all of the people at that media outfit.

Yes, I know most media outlets have a particular slant they like to give the news and therefore they'll gladly publish one opinion more likely than another. But that's not the point to this post.

The point is this: When someone says, "The New York Times says" or "it was recommended by The New York Times" or "it was panned by The New York Times" — step back a second and understand exactly what's being communicated.

You've just been given ONE PERSON'S opinion.

Act accordingly.

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Children and Ritalin

To quote Dr. Joseph Mecola from his web site:

"Prescriptions for Ritalin are up 600 percent this decade. If the current rate of increase continues, some 8 million American schoolchildren will be on the drug next year. The United States uses five times more Ritalin than the rest of the world COMBINED."

It almost seems like a race against time. The major contestants in this race:

1) The psychiatric profession and the pharmaceutical companies intent on producing "customers" for life and

2) You, me, other parents, educators and the general public who are finding out every day about the dangers of drugging our country's children.

Did you know that Ritalin and cocaine share virtually the same properties? Did you know the list of DOCUMENTED side effects for this drug include aggression, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts?

There are so many other factors involved with the child who gets quickly shunted over to the psychiatric/pharmaceutic solution. What about his diet? Is he getting adequate nutrition? Lack of certain nutrients cause symptoms identical to those a misguided psychiatrist will quickly label as "ADD" or "ADHD."

Does the child have allergies? These also can produce oddly similar symptoms.

Oh, did I mention nutritional deficiencies and allergies are treatable? With a bit of care and common sense these can be rectified in your child. And guess what? You DIDN'T HAVE TO DRUG THE CHILD.

Here's a chilling fact: Some schools get kickbacks for labeling children. A financial incentive for labeling children who could then end up on drugs. I understand that schools have financial pressures, but this is NOT one of the ways to relieve that pressure.

So if you are being pressured to put your child on Ritalin or other psychiatric drugs, do your child the biggest service you could possibly do and get informed first. Don't push a cocaine-like stimulant into your child's brain because someone believes it will help.

Here are a couple of sites to find out more:

Fight for Kids

Dr. Mary Ann Block

Does Psychiatry Produce a Cure? / How Scientific is the Psychiatric Evaluation?

"The War" Documentary by Ken Burns

I had a chance over the last few weeks to watch a good bit of Ken Burns' documentary on World War II, entitled "The War." It was quite a creation. A main theme was to take four towns (Sacramento, Mobile, Waterbury and Laverne) and look at how the war impacted the people and life in these four towns. Of course, the film encompassed the entire U.S. but it was made a much more personal documentary by concentrating on certain areas of the country.

We got to see an enormous amount of footage in both the European and Pacific theatres. War is horrific, and this point really came home during this documentary. We saw this from the point of view of the foot soldier, the navy man and those in the air force.

World War II was responsible for a tremendous loss of life. I don't know the figures, not sure anyone really does, but we're talking millions upon millions of people who died as a result of fighting, as a result of being in a place that was bombed over and over again, or the result of being carried off to death camps, to be slaughtered for reasons only a psychotic would offer up.

One thing really affected me about this documentary. I was deeply moved by the effects the war created on those who survived it. Not just the soldiers, but the loved ones back home who every day feared that ominous telegram from the War Department.

Many soldiers came home and had trouble returning to "normal life." What they had seen was so gruesome, what they had experienced was so unsettling, the friends they lost so frequently, all of it immensely changed them. And those at home who lost loved ones were also changed forever.

Every war produces emotional trauma. Unfortunately there hasn't been a uniformly effective method of handling this trauma. Until Dianetics. If you are a veteran of a war and are still experiencing emotional pain or discomfort, you have a real solution available to you. If someone you know is a vet and you can tell that the quality of their life has been reduced by their war experiences, you can make this solution known to them.

Go to this web site and find out how Dianetics has been helping millions of people for decades. You'll also see a link: Locate a Dianetics Center.

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional trauma, realize that Dianetics can and will bring enormous relief.

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Young People Speak Out About Their Human Rights

If you'd like to see short videos of all of your Human Rights, click here and enjoy!

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Parents and Kids Getting Along

I'm at one of my favorite places: the cafe at Barnes and Nobles. It gives me a chance to get out of the office, sip a cool one and observe the most incredible thing happening on this earth: people.

I'm surprised by a short exchange between what appears to be a daughter and her mother (very good resemblance). The daughter is sitting at a table underlining some items in her book when her mom walks up to the table and timidly stretches over to say something to her. The daughter does not look up, says something short and the mom fearfully kicks back and withdraws.

I'm a bit saddened on two scores. Saddened for the mom who is afraid of someone very important to her. Saddened for the child who has lost the glow of respect for one's parents.

Now I may have misperceived this exchange. It's possible these two were having an off moment and normally they have a great relationship with each other. Regardless of the correctness of my observartion, I'm reminded of how often kids give their parents a hard time: the 8 year old in the grocery store screaming at the mom to buy him something RIGHT NOW; the ten year old who curses at the parents who won't let him go out to play after dark; the teen who defies her parents guidance and gets into trouble.

Before I go any further, I will confess that growing up, I was guilty of all of the above and then some. I could blog every day for the next six months listing out one thing after another that caused my parents to age prematurely.

Back in the day I wish I had read and taken to heart the booklet known as "The Way to Happiness." If I had, my life growing up would've been quite different and I would've spared both of my parents considerable grief.

The Way to Happiness is an astounding booklet. It is a common sense guide to a happier, more successful life. Translated into 96 different languages, it has helped people the world over.

If you're a parent, get yourself a copy of The Way to Happiness Activity Book. I highly recommend that.

There is even a Way to Happiness eBook that costs $5 for a dozen copies.

The Way to Happiness is simple and powerful.

Enjoy!

*precept: a rule on which a way of thinking or behaving is based

 

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The "Free Hugs" Campaign

I bumped into this video several months ago. At that time, it had been viewed just over a million times on YouTube. The video showed what one person could do to bring a bit of joy into people's lives. (I checked today and it has been viewed over 17 million times).

Make sure your speakers are turned on and then press the "play" button at the bottom left of the video screen.

Then a friend of mine told me of a Free Hugs "campaign" that was happening in Santa Monica. Here's a link to that video.

Then I found out there was one in South Korea, Amsterday, Hollywood, Israel, China and on and on.

One guy, Juan Mann, started this "phenomenon" of simply giving out "free hugs." Go here to see an interview with Juan that is definitely worth a couple of minutes. After viewing that video, give a click here and Juan will tell you what's happened in the two and a half years since he first started giving out free hugs.

If you head over to YouTube and type in "free hugs", you'll find a ton of videos on this incredible wave of friendship and affinity.

Juan Mann decided to brighten up the lives of passerbys in Sydney, Australia by giving them free hugs. A couple of years later, hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of "free" hugs have been dispensed by complete strangers!

You gotta love it!

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A Way to Happiness

L. Ron Hubbard wrote a book providing a common sense moral code. The book is entitled The Way to Happiness and there are over 67 million copies of this book distributed in 91 languages! More importantly, millions of people are using this book to help them make better decisions in life. And now this incredible book is available as an eBook. For more information, click here.

The news gets even better. The Way to Happiness Foundation created a video for each precept* of this moral code. All twenty one of these precepts are now being broadcast worldwide in the form of Public Service Announcements.

Click here to view these Public Service Announcements.

*precept: a rule on which a way of thinking or behaving is based

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My Take on Dog-Fighting

I'm not here to pass judgement on Michael Vick, the quarterback from the Atlanta Falcons, recently indicted on a variety of issues related to dog-fighting.

I'm here to express shock, outrage and grief for this inhuman activity. And I'm here to give a solution to those who feel compelled to provide this "sport" to others and to those who watch, enjoy, gamble on and in any other way involve themselves here.

First of all, I have a dog. I've had several over my lifetime. My dogs have been very, very close friends of mine. When you see videos of these dogs going after each other over and over again, you can NOT miss the fear in their eyes. They are fearful of dying. They are fearful of more pain.

I guess you can breed a dog to do just about anything, but it's not what THEY want. They want to serve their master. Give them regular feedings, a place to sleep, and they'll go out of their way, day in and day out, to make YOU happy they're around.

I actually cried when I saw some of these videos. Perhaps a certain segment of society would consider me weak because I can't take a "good dog fight." Maybe so. But here's another possibility: a certain segment of society may have lost sight of their own personal dignity. And that may have happened for them so long ago, they don't even know that it happened.

Breeding dogs to fight is cruel. It's not only cruel to the dogs, it's cruel to the people associated with the activity. Each and every one of us has a time track. This time track goes back quite a bit. On this time track are various acts of cruelty: acts we received, acts we dished out, acts we observed others dishing out and even acts of cruelty we inflict on ourselves.

When you get into a cruel activity in present time, you "re-stimulate" acts of cruelty from the past. The mind just works a certain way. Not because I say so, because it just does. When you pile on more and more of a harmful act, you just make less and less of yourself and it's gets harder to turn it around.

Fortunately there is a solution. I wrote a post a few months back, "Where Does All the Irrational Stuff Come From?" Give that a read and you'll find some very helpful information.

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A Legitimate Solution to the Steroids Problem

Yesterday I wrote a letter to the Commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig. I sent a copy of the letter to Don Fehr, the Executive Director of the Baseball Players Union. I also sent a copy to various media points. I initially posted this on my other blog, but I see that it is pertinent here as well.

In this letter, I give a real and legitimate solution to baseball's steroid problem, a problem that is also prevalent in other sports and apparently at all levels (college, high school, even earlier).

More On Human Rights...

Here is another one-minute video describing one of our Human Rights. Click the "play" button (second button from the left under the screen) to start the video...

Would you like to see short videos of ALL of your Human Rights? I thought you might. Click here and enjoy!

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The "Shift" of World Events

Here is a video entitled "Shift Happens" — I found it quite fascinating...

(turn on your speakers)

By the way, the music is from the "Last of the Mohicans" movie soundtrack.

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Another Viewpoint on School Shootings...

I am reprinting here an article written by Tom Solari:

WHY DO THEY KILL?
INHUMAN BEINGS - The Chemicalized Personality

A mother murders her five children. School students massacre their classmates. An Iraq vet stabs his wife 71 times. How can this happen?

A common thread in these occurrences is the fact that the killers have been taking psychiatric medications.

But that is too simple. So we hear about “post-partum depression” and “combat stress.” In the case of the teens, it's “the breakdown of the family" or it’s the music, the movies, the video games.

The real answer is the dehumanizing effect of drugs.

The Tragedy at Virginia Tech

It was very difficult to watch. Yet another school shooting. This time 32 innocent students lose their life, with many others in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds. My daughter attends a college and I simply cannot imagine what it would be like to lose her at such a young age.

Parents, administrators, city officials and millions of Americans are all asking the same question: Why? Why does someone go into a school and start killing other students? Desperate to understand this kind of senseless violence, the airwaves fill with people offering possible explanations:

— Our country needs a much stricter gun control policy.

— The schools need to implement tighter security measures.

— Law enforcement needs to be trained to respond faster and more effectively.

— Troubled children need to be better identified and dealt with.

When Somebody Asks Me the Question: What Is Scientology?

From the beginnning of this blog forward, I've offered a number of perspectives on current events. These have and always will be: "one Scientologist's view of current events." In this post, I'd like to discuss Scientology from a more direct perspective.

Let's say a good friend of yours tells you he's been having a problem with his marriage, a problem that's been persisting for about 2-3 years. You were aware that he was having problems in this area, but you had no idea to what degree. Now you find out they had been seriously discussing divorce. Your friend goes on to tell you that he met someone who knows how to really FIX a marriage. Your friend and his wife sat down with this individual and a couple of weeks later, their marriage is completely restored. Their relationship is now better than when they first met. They're no longer discussing a possible divorce, they're discussing plans for an exciting and fulfilling future together. You're of course very happy for this couple.

Have You Lived Before This Life...and Does It Matter?

More than half of this world's population believe they have lived before. In the U.S. and other western societies, this is not a commonly held belief. From time to time, I hear (or read) that very early Christian and Jewish texts discussed the subject of past lives. If this is true, one might wonder why this information has not moved forward into present time. I have some ideas on this, but we'll leave that for a future post.

For now, I simply want to put forward the notion that YOU may have lived before this life. And if this is true, then by simple logic, YOU will continue to exist after this current life. How you exist will be up to you to a large degree, but the quality of your life from this point forward can be significantly enhanced by considering this possibility.

YOU are not your body or even your mind. You have a body. You have a mind. But those two "things" are not YOU. You are a spiritual being with many, many previous lives and when your current body runs its course, YOU will still be alive, VERY MUCH alive. And as a spiritual being, YOU have tremendous capabilities. Scientology helps you tap these capabilities.

As a Scientologist, I don't "believe" in past lives. I know from personal experience that I've lived before. Through Scientology counseling, I've looked at certain events that occurred well before this lifetime and these events were significant because, in some way, they were having an adverse affect on me in present time. I wasn't looking at past life incidents for entertainment purposes, I was viewing them to help me resolve something I wanted to resolve in the present.

Most people have reality on the fact that things that happened to them in the past can have a negative effect on them in the present. As L. Ron Hubbard was developing the subjects of Dianetics and Scientology, he found that certain problems did not resolve until the individual located things that happened to them before this lifetime. I imagine Mr. Hubbard was very intrigued by this entire subject, but he made it very clear that his approach to the subject of past lives was solely to help an individual resolve unwanted conditions in the present.

When people did look at certain incidents in their past (prior to this lifetime) and were guided through this properly, then the present-time difficulties resolved. And they stayed resolved. That was really all that mattered. Not the excitement or entertainment value of what we were doing in the year 1805 or 500 B.C, but specifically what occurred at a certain point in time, that, when fully viewed, delivers tremendous relief AND allows us to be more able, more aware, and more understanding of ourselves and others.

That is a very good reason why it matters if we've lived before this life or not.

For more information on this subject, read Have You Lived Before This Life.

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Getting Rid of Pain

I brought my laptop to Barnes and Nobles with the intention of posting something new. I wasn't 100% sure what the subject matter would be until I saw a woman reading a book on "cancer." Of course I didn't know if she was reading because she knew someone who needed help, because she needed help herself, or if she was simply eager to know more about the subject. I sensed from looking at her that it was not the last possibility.

I've written earlier about how Scientology can help with pain and how Scientology can help with the loss of a loved one. Those are very helpful items.

When I think about how much pain I've experienced; when I think about the pain I've observed others experience; when I think about how many people on this planet are daily struggling with pain, well, it just staggers me the enormity of pain that exists. What staggers me almost as much is that the vast majority of this pain does NOT need to exist.

Yes, there is the physical pain of stubbing one's toe, the pain of burning your hand on the stove, the pain of bruising yourself from bumping into something. And yes, there is the pain of bones breaking and muscles cramping. These pains are all very real and understandable. But how about that pain in your toe a few months later, long after the stubbed toe healed? How about those unexplainable pains in the place where your arm was broken...fifteen years ago?

If you were to survey a group of seasoned medical professionals and ask them what percentage of the ailments they treat do they consider NOT physically generated, but rather coming from "the mind" — you might find the percentage exceptionally high.

A tremendous amount of the pain we experience comes from something that happened to us in the past. This fact is brought out in great detail in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. If you would like to reduce the amount of pain in your life or the life of someone you know, this book will be very helpful.

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Creating Fear and Those Who Benefit...

Here's a great research project: Figure out what percentage of our day-to-day news ends up provoking fear in us. People in accidents, houses burning down, children being kidnapped, Iran and North Korea with nukes, spreading diseases, etc. I'm thinking the percentage of fear-provoking news we are pummelled with is exceptionally high.

Why is this?

My first impulse is to ask the simple question: who profits by a populace in fear?

When you consider the answer to that question, you certainly come up with some very interesting people. Unethical politicians can definitely profit by instilling fear in you and me. Oppressive governments maintain their very existence by ensuring its "citizens" are fearful of any kind of independent action. The intimate connection between fear and increased profits is not lost on those creating and selling the weapons of war.

What about the media? Many of them believe it's absolutely essential to broadcast every possible tragedy, at times in excruciating detail. After watching the news, are you just a little less certain about taking a walk at night? Are you more OR less confident about your child's safety?

I mentioned in another post that you might just see a resurgence in your mental well-being by simply staying away from all forms of news input for a week.

Is the world really as dangerous as we are led to believe? I for one do not think so. If you think about who profits by pushing fear and if you then separate out these influences from your life, even if just for a short period of time, you will find that you are less fearful, more alive, and indeed more willing to create the future for yourself, your family and mankind.

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