Chapter 19
- It's the only Church I've ever seen with a cashier's booth.
- -- a woman who quit after one session. -- Time{1}
When people first enter this exciting world of the totally free, they rarely realize just how expensive it is going to be. After all, the first course costs only $15, and for that price one gets close to sixteen hours of Scientology. What people usually don't realize is that they will never see this $1-an-hour rate again. Later it'll be more like $25, and sometimes more. One man who paid $1,200 in advance for a 50 hour course completed it in 20 minutes, which meant he spent about $1 a second for auditing.{2}
Scientology has two goals, and two types of courses to
match: "auditing" people or "processing"; and teaching people to audit
others or "training." The first series on the Hubbard hierarchy,
auditing or processing, consists of several courses or grades, which
enable a "preclear" to become a "clear." If each course is taken
separately, it costs approximately (the prices are always changing)
$750 just to go from O-IV grade, $500 for the next one,
$1,200 for Grade V ("Power Processes"), $775 for Grade VI,
$600 for "Solo" (in which you audit yourself) and finally
$800 for the final "clear" or a total of approximately
$4,625, although package
deals bring the price down a bit lower.
But that's not all, since one can also go eight levels
beyond "clear"to achieve the state of "Operating Thetan VIII" -- for
only $2,850 more.{3} An Operating Thetan, by the
way, is someone who can function apart from his body,{4}
and OTs (Operating Thetans) are said to be able to lift telephones off
the hook in another room and read books while some distance away from
them.{5} The value of this accomplishment may not be
readily apparent, but one practical Scientologist claimed she could
visit her parents in Texas while her body remained in Washington, D.C.{6} Fortunately for the travel industry, not too many
Scientologists can do this.
But processing or auditing is only half the story.
Scientology also trains its followers to audit others.To qualify for
this doesn't even require a high school education -- just another
prescribed series of Scientology courses.{7}
Scientologists generally suggest people start with this series, and, in
fact, unless specifically asked, they don't even tell them about the
prices of the other group until later.
This second group starts at a modest $15 for the first
course, $30 for the next, $45 for the third, and then suddenly leaps to
their more typical rate of $1,300.{8} It generally takes
at least a couple of months to become an auditor, although
Scientologists have boasted that they can train some people to become
auditors "in less than twenty minutes."{9} Those who
wish to take more courses must go to the special Scientology academies
in Los Angeles, Scotland or Saint Hill and pay additional expenses for
room, board, books, equipment and transportation besides.{10}
In addition to the price of the courses, there are many
other expenses. A Scientologist must buy many of Hubbard's books, and
often attend special lectures or Congresses, which usually run tapes of
Hubbard, or speeches by top Scientologists. In addition, a Scientologist
may take extra auditing (at about $25 a session) or additional courses
that are outside of the prescribed levels of treatment or training.{11}
For example a number of
the Orgs used to offer a special "Money Processing Course" which was
supposed to increase the Scientologist's "money making potential."{12} (This course consisted of having the person think of
a number of ways in which he could waste money, probably under the
principle that one must find what a preclear can do and then "better
that ability.")
If a preclear complained that he couldn't afford the
Scientology rates, he was told to take this course for only $35 to help
him learn how to earn more.[*] The "Money Making Potential" course may
have helped many Scientologists but one wonders how. One man who took it
said it was so worthwhile, he "made $5,000" a few days after completing
it. When he was pressured to tell how he had done this, he finally
admitted that after the course was completed he had gone to a bank and
taken the money out on loan.{13}
Usually, the Scientologists will refer to their free "Personal
Efficiency Course" as an example of their altruism and proof that they
provide Scientology for free for those who can't afford it. They
admitted in their United States tax case that the purpose of this course
or lecture, however, was to get people to take paying courses.
This becomes painfully apparent in Hubbard's HCO Bulletin of
September 29, 1959. "NEVER let anyone simply walk out. Convince him he's
loony if he doesn't gain on it because that's the truth ... get the
people in fast ... and boot them through to their HAS [Hubbard
Apprentice Scientologist course].... And never let a student leave or
quit.... If he walks in that door for a free PE, that's it. He doesn't
get out except into an individual auditor's hand in the real tough
cases, until he's an HAS." This PE "course," by the way, is the first
night lecture, film of Hubbard and personality test.{14}
If a Scientologist decides he doesn't want to spend extra
money on additional auditing or courses, he may not have a choice in the
matter. Scientologists progress at their own speed and are not permitted
to continue until the Student Examiner is satisfied that he's mastered
the previous lessons.
Thus a Scientologist can be made to take and pay
for more hours than he originally signed up for at the discretion of
the leaders.{15} These extra courses are sometimes
given as punishment, and it was said in Parliament that a Scientologist
could be made to take additional courses if he tried to leave
Scientology or if he questioned the accepted doctrines of the group.{16}
A Scientologist may also discover that Scientology is
costing him more money than his original calculations indicated because
the courses themselves may change. Hubbard often redefines the levels,{17} and while the motivation is probably sincere, some on
the way to a certain level have discovered that they've had to sign up
for a whole new series of courses in order to reach their goal.
In addition, after a person has reached a certain level,
say clear, the HCO (Hubbard Communications Office) Board of Review can
call for a retest at its own discretion after a lapse of time.{18} Whether the person who fails has to take any courses
again, or even new ones, is not known.
It's not surprising that a really dedicated Scientologist
can easily spend $15,000{19} in this "world of the
totally free," and one wealthy Floridian, who had complained of
"nervousness" but was told he was in good health at the Mayo Clinic and
Johns Hopkins, spent $28,000 in Scientology.{20} But
most people who join it don't have that kind of money to spend. Many pay
for their courses by leaving their jobs{21} and going
to work for Scientology in exchange for training units -- often for a
small salary besides ($40 a week for about 40 hours of work in New
York).
Those who didn't wish to break completely from their
outside contacts, were able to get credit at one time,{22} which the Church extended at six percent interest
with a twenty-five percent surcharge returned if the note was paid on
time. One person who wrote the Church and said he couldn't pay his bill,
was written back not to feel that way because "there's nothing a thetan
can't do."{23}
But they haven't always been that kind to debtors. Unpaid
notes have been turned
over to collection agencies, legal action has been threatened,{24} and debtors and their family have been harassed and
intimidated, sometimes quite cruelly as shown in the letter below. This
letter was received by a man in the mid-west whose son took $550 worth
of courses but only paid for $200 of them. The father was then billed
for the balance in a letter saying he had "agreed" to pay the other
$350. The father wrote back saying he hadn't "agreed" to any such thing,
and reported the Scientologists. On October 13, he received the
following threats and accusations from a Scientology Reverend.
Rather than let my lawyers have all the fun, I will
write to you this once and straighten you out. I have a great urge to
beggar you to your last pair of socks, but I will curb the desire a
little longer. If you had the wit of a demented swineherd you would have
read those pieces of literature I so graciously had sent to you ... do
not judge people by yourself. Not everyone is a mass murderer like
yourself. Yes, I know quite a bit about you and your various projects
during the war. And how do you sleep at night? I hope tis ill.... I am
expert at harassment, try me and find out. You are not strong enough.
You are not smart enough. You haven't the funds to go through long
lengthy court battles. We have. Bigger men than you have done their best
to stop us. They failed. So will you because you are a blatant moron in
comparison. We joust only with our peers, others -- like you -- we will
simply gobble up ... one more word out of you and I'll have you
investigated. I might anyway. I have never seen one person yet that
resisted Scientology who didn't have a great deal to hide. And you
evidently won't look at free books sent to you, so you must, perforce
have a great deal to conceal.{25}
The letter continued with more accusations of guilt on the
part of the father, along with praise of Scientology and concluded on
this ominous note.
The letter, written on the Church of Scientology
letterhead, was signed "with the utmost sincerity possible" by the
Reverend Andrew Bagley, Organizational Secretary. There was a short P.S.
appended: "Don't reply to this letter. If I want to get in touch with
you, I'll be able to find you. Anywhere." P.S. The father paid the bill.
P.P.S. His son took approximately $4,500 worth more courses in
Scientology, paying for them himself the next time from a $5,000
inheritance.{26}
Scientologists get people to pay substantial fees by
promising to refund their money if they are dissatisfied with
Scientology -- and they are quick to point out that no psychotherapist
returns money if therapy proves unsuccessful (although they are just as
quick to point out that they are not a form of therapy).{27} In fact, the Scientologists haven't always returned
the money either, and have sometimes set up certain conditions that have
made it difficult for people to collect.
The person must usually ask for his money within thirty
(sometimes ninety) days after the course is completed.{28} Some people have also been made to take the security
test before they can get a refund.{29} Others have
signed a contract that obligates them to obey their Ethics Officer "in
advice
given me to facilitate my case progress and that any failure to do so
renders this contract null and void without rebate." (The Ethics Officer
can, of course, tell them not to ask for their money back, because that
would be hindering their progress, and tell them to facilitate it by
signing up for more courses instead.{30})
In one case, an Australian woman signed up for three
hundred hours of auditing, took 175, and then asked for her money back.
The register wrote her back that "the only way out is the way through,"
in other words, that she would have to take all 300 hours before
she could leave Scientology and ask for her money back. This could cost
her another $600 which she didn't have, so she wrote them back again.
Again they wrote her "I repeat, the only way out is the way through."
The following is a portion of her extremely pathetic
reply, listing the emotional and financial difficulties that she felt
Scientology was responsible for.
... my situation has in every way worsened under the
influence of Scientology.... I have to struggle to even stay awake, and
as a consequence, I fear to lose my job and the little security that
gives me. It takes a frightful effort not to go to sleep.... I am slow
in my work and make mistakes.... I am always exhausted and sometimes can
hardly walk along. This is the result I have obtained from spending all
my money on something that is claimed to increase alertness and
intelligence and generally benefit people....
Under these circumstances it is no help to be told "the way out is
the way through." I have no money left for further auditing and no
chance of saving any since I barely make ends meet.{31}
When nothing happened, she wrote directly to Hubbard, as
do many Scientologists, putting letters in special boxes in the Orgs
that say "You can always communicate with Ron."
At the commencement I had a job I liked, which paid me
fairly well, and enough money put away
to feel reasonably secure. Now I have a job I don't care for, which does
not pay so well, my money is largely gone, and instead of being
reasonably content I feel that nothing is worth doing, having periods of
absolute exhaustion, and look forward to the remaining years of my life
with complete hopelessness, as just a dreary round of work, work, work
at something I don't care for to earn enough to exist to go on working.
Hubbard referred this letter to the Melbourne Org, where
it was diagnosed as a case of "Missed W/H."{32} She was
persuaded to undergo twenty-five hours of free processing for her
"Missed withholds." Two years later she was still a Scientologist -- and
paying for it.
{1} first quote
[156]
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{2} man who paid $1200
[141a]
{3} cost of auditing
[126, 277]
{4} thetan function apart from body
[254, 261]
{5} lifting phones; reading books
[261]
{6} girl with family in Texas
[256]
{7} no high school degree
[255]
{8} cost of courses
[277, 126]
{9} time to become auditor
[255, 261, 277]
{10} go to St. Hill
[277, 261]
{11} extra auditing
[255]
{12} Money Processing
[277, 278]
{13} man who took course and borrowed money
[277]
{14} (31) PE course quote
[79]
{15} (14) pay for more courses than planned
[97, 255]
{16} (15) England if he tries to leave
[257]
{17} (16) Hubbard changing courses
[255]
{18} (17) clear can be retested
[38]
{19} (18) $15,000
[139]
{20} (19) $28,000
[142]
{21} (20) leave jobs
[255, 278]
{22} (21) credit
[255]
{23} (22) nothing a thetan can't do
[124]
{24} (23) collection agencies; legal action
[255]
{25} (24) Bagley letter
[123]
{26} (25) end of story
[273]
{27} (26) psychiatrists don't refund
[277]
{28} (27) money within 30-90 days
[254, 255, 278]
{29} (28) sec test {before money is refunded}
[25]
{30} (29) ethics officer
[141a]
{31} (30) woman who signed up for 300 hours
[261]
{32} missed W/H
[10]