Clear (Scientology)

Clear (Scientology)
Description A condition in which Scientologists say a person is free of the influence of unwanted emotions and memories of trauma
Early proponents L. Ron Hubbard
Key texts Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950)
Subject Religion

Clear in Dianetics and Scientology is one of two levels a practitioner can achieve on the way to personal salvation. A state of Clear is reached when a person becomes free of the influence of engrams, unwanted emotions or painful traumas not readily available to the conscious mind. Scientologists believe that human beings accumulate anxieties, psychosomatic illnesses, and aberration due to receiving engrams throughout their lives and that by applying dianetics every single person can reach Clear.[1]

A Clear is defined by the Church of Scientology as person who no longer has a "reactive mind", and is therefore free from the reactive mind's negative effects. A Clear is said to be "at cause over" (in control of) their "mental energy" (their thoughts), and able to think clearly even when faced with the very situation that in earlier times caused them difficulty. The next level of spiritual development is that of an Operating Thetan. A person who has not reached a state of Clear is called a "pre-clear."[2]

Dianetics states that a person's awareness is influenced by the stimulus-response of the reactive mind. Achieving the state of Clear means a person has overcome the reactive mind and is in complete control of their analytical mind. According to Hubbard: "A Clear is a being who no longer has his own reactive mind, and therefore suffers none of the ill effects the reactive mind can cause. The Clear has no engrams which, when restimulated, throw out the correctness of his computations by entering hidden and false data."[3] Sociologist Roy Wallis noted, “Being Clear meant being able to do all those things which one could currently not do, and to which one aspired so desperately.”[4] It is estimated that the cost of reaching the Clear state in Scientology is $128,000.[5]

The state of Clear

In Dianetics, L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, states that becoming Clear strengthens a person's native individuality and creativity and a Clear is free with his emotions. In The State Of Clear a Clear is defined as "a being who no longer has his own reactive mind, and therefore suffers none of the ill effects the reactive mind can cause".[6] Hubbard states that merely knowing what the cognition is does not have the effect of realizing it for oneself:

Now, we've known for a long time that a thetan made up his own bank (reactive mind), but telling him so didn't get him over it. And we've just found out again that telling him so didn't get him over it, too. Even when he's almost Clear. We say, "Hey, you're mocking it up," and he'd say, "Hey, am I mocking it up ? Yeah, I am mocking it up." And he'll go Clear — pshew! — and he goes off that bottom step that isn't there, you know? And he's got to go back on and finish it up the way he should. It's got to be his cognition.[7]

Hubbard described Clears as having "an awareness which can create energy at will, and can handle and control, erase or re-create an analytical or reactive mind". Hubbard claimed that Clears have complete memories and know why events in their lives have happened, which leaves them free to pursue their goals without hindrances (the "reactive mind") emanating from past experiences. Religious scholar Pat Cook compared being "clear" to Nirvana in Zen Buddhism, a state of being that is much desired and respected in Scientology.[8]

The Clear state is said to be achieved through the Scientology practice of auditing. A person undergoing auditing is called a "pre-clear" or "pc" in Scientology terminology. The Church of Scientology claims that if all individuals in the world were “clear” the world would be “free of drugs, war, pollution, crime, mental illness and other ills.”[9]

Steps after Clear

After attaining the state of Clear, a person may go on to study the Operating Thetan levels, which are described in Scientology materials as states where the ability to operate outside the body via "exteriorization" becomes commonplace. Beyond that comes "Cleared Theta Clear," which Hubbard describes this way:

"A thetan who is completely rehabilitated and can do everything a thetan should do, such as move [matter, energy, space, and time (MEST)] and control others from a distance, or create his own universe; a person who is able to create his own universe or, living in the MEST universe is able to create illusions perceivable by others at will, to handle MEST universe objects without mechanical means and to have and feel no need of bodies or even the MEST universe to keep himself and his friends interested in existence".[10]

Early Clears

There are several conflicting accounts of who first attained the state of Clear, and under what circumstances. In August 1950, amidst the success of Dianetics, Hubbard held a demonstration in Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium where he presented a young woman called Sonya Bianca (a pseudonym) to a large audience including many reporters and photographers as "the world's first Clear." However, despite Hubbard's claim that she had "full and perfect recall of every moment of her life", Bianca proved unable to answer questions from the audience testing her memory and analytical abilities, including the question of the color of Hubbard's tie. Hubbard explained Bianca's failure to display her promised powers of recall to the audience by saying that he had used the word "now" in calling her to the stage, and thus inadvertently froze her in "present time," which blocked her abilities.[11][12]

Later, in the late 1950s, Hubbard would claim that several people had reached the state of Clear by the time he presented Bianca as the world's first; these others, Hubbard said, he had successfully cleared in the late 1940s while working incognito in Hollywood posing as a swami.[13]

In 1966, Hubbard declared South African Scientologist John McMaster to be the first true Clear.[14][15] McMaster had joined Scientology around 1962, having experienced relief of chronic stomach pain after his first auditing session. He became a leading public spokesman for Scientology and later a member of the Sea Org. He left in November 1969, expressing continuing belief in the Scientology Tech, but disapproval of the way Scientology was managed.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Goldstein, Laurie. "Defectors Say Church of Scientology Hides Abuse", The New York Times, March 6, 2010.
  2. ↑ Bromley, David G. "Making Sense of Scientology", in James R. Lewis. Scientology. Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 92.
  3. ↑ What is Scientology web site
  4. ↑ Urban, Hugh B. (2011). The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion. Princeton University Press. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  5. ↑ How Much Does Scientology Cost?
  6. ↑ The State Of Clear: Catechism of Scientology official web site
  7. ↑ Saint Hill Special Briefing Course lecture # 434, 26 July 1966
  8. ↑ Cook, Pat (1971). "Scientology and Dianetics". The Journal of Education. 153 (4): 58–61. JSTOR 42773008.
  9. ↑ Newport, John P. (1998). The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802844309.
  10. ↑ Hubbard, Scientology 8-8008, pg 114 (1st ed), pg. 151 (1990 ed.)
  11. ↑ Miller, Russell (1987). Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard. ISBN 0-8050-0654-0.
  12. 1 2 Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed. ISBN 0-8184-0499-X.
  13. ↑ Hubbard, L. Ron (October 1958). The Story of Dianetics and Scientology, Lecture 18 (Speech). by 1947, I had achieved clearing.
  14. ↑ Levy, Alan (1968-11-15). "Scientology". Life.
  15. ↑ Michener, Wendy (1966-08-22). "Is This the Happiest Man in the World?". Maclean's.

Further reading

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